Friday, December 31, 2010
Christmas Decorations
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ's
The loggia is complete for now...I must wait until spring to redo the planter and DH has to mount the new outside tv...I have done a pretty good job sticking with one room at a time...it is hard but feels good to keep within the budget and have one space all complete! It is like being on an HGTV show but just a MUCH longer time frame!
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
A Loggia Update
We have been sticking to our plan to work on one area of the house at a time with the first being the pool loggia. Here are some pictures of the furniture we purchased before moving to our new home along with the pillows and the granite table I made. We also purchased a grill- a must for weekends! Using money from my birthday- thanks Dad and Bubbie- I was able to buy five new bamboo chairs to go with the one we already owned that complement a table left by the previous owners...we are also using their small console table to hold the lamp and mirror I made. Bradford purchased a TV with money we saved by using our own muscles to move most of our household thus saving on movers...he will be mounting it on the wall above the little console...we have already watched many a Razorback and Jags games out there and it is wonderful....
Still left to finish this area: two chaise lounges and landscaping the planter box above the pool...fun, fun!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
6+1=2
6 weeks later
plus
1 Sunday afternoon
equals
2 cars in the garage...
Love all the organizing it took to accomplish this...2 cars, 4 bikes, lawn equipment, beach supplies, toys etc....flooring the tiny attic space and adding pull down attic stairs to store all of our holiday decorations but WE DID IT!
plus
1 Sunday afternoon
equals
2 cars in the garage...
Thursday, September 2, 2010
Lemons into Lemonade...
Remember the Craigslist lamp??? Well it is history...it lasted fewer than 24 hours! Our youngest threw something over the railing from upstairs and it hit the lamp shattering the base...I was left with a socket and lampshade...so I salvaged what was left and made a GORGEOUS lamp for the new loggia...All who know me well know that I have a lamp fetish...forget shoes, give me a great lamp or better yet, let me design one!
This is how I did it: I bought the bottle base at Hobby Lobby on 1/2 price for $35...it is the color of green sea glass and is made to look like old glass...filled the base with $8 worth of sand... added a base to hold the light socket- $1 from Lowe's- something from the electrical section there...an electrician who was doing work on our new home (we are all moved in!) worked the socket into this flat base for me and I attached it with liquid nails to the top of the bottle and now I have a very heavy, beautiful lamp that can withstand both the winds of Florida as well as my youngest daughter...hopefully!
In the picture below you can see the monkey fist I blogged about a while ago, a sea shell mirror and the lamp...they are all handmade by me...they are sitting on a cabinet left by the sellers of this home...we will be replacing it with a longer console table when the budget permits...I will keep you posted...This little vingette can be seen from our den window and is especially pretty at night...
This is how I did it: I bought the bottle base at Hobby Lobby on 1/2 price for $35...it is the color of green sea glass and is made to look like old glass...filled the base with $8 worth of sand... added a base to hold the light socket- $1 from Lowe's- something from the electrical section there...an electrician who was doing work on our new home (we are all moved in!) worked the socket into this flat base for me and I attached it with liquid nails to the top of the bottle and now I have a very heavy, beautiful lamp that can withstand both the winds of Florida as well as my youngest daughter...hopefully!
In the picture below you can see the monkey fist I blogged about a while ago, a sea shell mirror and the lamp...they are all handmade by me...they are sitting on a cabinet left by the sellers of this home...we will be replacing it with a longer console table when the budget permits...I will keep you posted...This little vingette can be seen from our den window and is especially pretty at night...
Saturday, August 21, 2010
When the student is ready, a teacher appears...
I am sure you have heard the Buddhist proverb, "When the student is ready, a teacher appears." Well, today, I found a wonderful teacher, Kelly. We really met a year ago as our youngest daughters were in the same kindergarten class but I never knew that Kelly was a professional landscape designer. Imagine my surprise, as I am just chatting away at our daugthers' friend's birthday party about our upcoming move and how I needed help with the planter by the pool...Kelly told me this is what she does for a living!
Well, I have been carrying around in my purse, several pictures of our planter that we are wanting to redo soon after our move (which is Monday BTW)...I have carried those pictures just in case we stopped by a nursery that was having a super clearance or some other seredipitous moment such as this one...Well, Kelly spent an hour with my DH and me after the birthday party drawing out a wonderful design sketch that gives us such inspiration! Thank you SO much Kelly!
I have included a link to Kelly's landscape design website. Also included are some of the BEFORE pictures of our planter...the AFTER will be something we can all look forward to!
Keep dreaming and enjoying the ride,
Kristen
http://www.theelegantgarden.com/
Well, I have been carrying around in my purse, several pictures of our planter that we are wanting to redo soon after our move (which is Monday BTW)...I have carried those pictures just in case we stopped by a nursery that was having a super clearance or some other seredipitous moment such as this one...Well, Kelly spent an hour with my DH and me after the birthday party drawing out a wonderful design sketch that gives us such inspiration! Thank you SO much Kelly!
I have included a link to Kelly's landscape design website. Also included are some of the BEFORE pictures of our planter...the AFTER will be something we can all look forward to!
Keep dreaming and enjoying the ride,
Kristen
http://www.theelegantgarden.com/
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
I Married a Map Guy...
My sweetie has always been obsessed with maps...he could literally travel from Florida to Oregon by car WITHOUT looking at a map! Anyway, preparing for the move, we cleaned out the playroom and found this wonderful Pottery Barn US Map puzzle...the girls put it together and we wanted to hang it in our new home's playroom....
Traditional framing for it would be out of the budget (remember all the decorating budget is allocated for that pool loggia area until it is complete!) so I put together two foam boards with packing tape and covered it in fabric that coordinates with some of the newer pieces we have in our current playroom...
Can't you just picture little photographs of our trips around the edges and thumbtacks on the map of all the places the girls have traveled? Of course, Daddy-O is hoping that by osmosis the geographical knowledge will be passed onto his little prodigies... I, on the other hand, appreciate its asthetic qualities!
Traditional framing for it would be out of the budget (remember all the decorating budget is allocated for that pool loggia area until it is complete!) so I put together two foam boards with packing tape and covered it in fabric that coordinates with some of the newer pieces we have in our current playroom...
Can't you just picture little photographs of our trips around the edges and thumbtacks on the map of all the places the girls have traveled? Of course, Daddy-O is hoping that by osmosis the geographical knowledge will be passed onto his little prodigies... I, on the other hand, appreciate its asthetic qualities!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
The Monkey Fist
Perusing other blogs, I found a tutorial on how to make this monkey fist nautical knot decoration or doorstop for our future loggia...I had seen these in Ballard Designs catalog for $39! With the help of blogger Design*Sponge, I was able to make my own using an old tennis ball and $6 worth of rope...My digital camera is still giving me problems, so this picture is from my little one's Fisher Price digital camera...hope you can tell what it is! Thanks again Miss Design*Sponge! Here is the link...
http://www.designspongeonline.com/2010/06/diy-project-sailors-knot-doorstop-paperweight.html
http://www.designspongeonline.com/2010/06/diy-project-sailors-knot-doorstop-paperweight.html
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Ladybug, Ladybug Fly Away Home (to your new home that is!)
Our new home does not have a swing set...a purchase we might make later, but for the mean time, we are going to go "old school"...a tree swing...I searched the internet and found some cute pictures of ladybug tree swings and made my own pictured here...
Here is how I did it...bought a 15 inch premade wooden disc, 15 feet of 3/4 manilla rope and exterior latex gloss red paint at Lowe's....My DH cut a hole in the middle using a specialized drill bit (second trip to a home store, this time Home Depot)...I painted three coats of the red paint allowing for days of drying in between b/c of the humidity here in Florida...using a Sharpie marker I outlined our hands and we signed inside them on the bottom of the swing....again, with Sharpie I drew the ladybug...three coats of spray polyurehane (third trip to a home store- this time Wal-Mart) and it is ready to hang...
So for a total of $27 and three trips to hardware stores, we now have a new, albeit old-fashioned swing! Now my oldest wants a knotted rope to climb as well...I see a fourth trip to a hardware store in our future!
Here is how I did it...bought a 15 inch premade wooden disc, 15 feet of 3/4 manilla rope and exterior latex gloss red paint at Lowe's....My DH cut a hole in the middle using a specialized drill bit (second trip to a home store, this time Home Depot)...I painted three coats of the red paint allowing for days of drying in between b/c of the humidity here in Florida...using a Sharpie marker I outlined our hands and we signed inside them on the bottom of the swing....again, with Sharpie I drew the ladybug...three coats of spray polyurehane (third trip to a home store- this time Wal-Mart) and it is ready to hang...
Monday, August 2, 2010
Craigslist...I think I love you!
Look what I found on Craigslist today...a clear glass lamp perfect for the loggia of my dreams...even the shade has a linen texture that is just right....$25 later and it was mine....all mine...
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Enjoying the ride...room by room- August 1, 2010
We are embarking on a journey...a ride of sorts...not unlike those carnival roller coasters where you are sure to be thrilled as well as a little scared with all the ups and downs and unexpected twists and turns...we are buying a new home...mind you, it is not our first home...in fact it is the third one we have bought together...but something about this one feels different...it is newer (we have always lived in old homes), it is one story (we have always had two) and it is in Florida (we have always lived in Arkansas)...different for sure but a place where I know we can make wonderful memories not only for my husband and me but for our two precious girls...we will be moving in the end of August but that has only made me more excited to get this process started...speaking of the process....I want to really enjoy the process...slow down and savor it...and "enjoy the ride"
If you have ever seen HGTV's Sarah's House, you know that in thirty minutes you can watch her turn a room from scary to divine...I know it is the magic of television but it gave me the inspiration to really begin this makeover of our new home "room by room" instead of trying to do a little here and a little there...
Because we live in Florida and the outside is such a big part of our daily lives, we will be starting on the loggia and pool area. We are lucky that the home has a great pool area...a BIG reason we picked this one to be sure- so we have great bones to start with...
I have culled some pictures from magazines for inspiration and have found a few of the pieces to start putting it all together...first came the fabric, a remnant and then a few more coordinating pieces from Garden Ridge- total spent $31- with this I have already made some great pillows. We will be using our fourth bedroom as a playroom so all the old guestroom pillows can be used (they coordinate perfectly) and those that cannot have already been recovered with the new fabric...
I had also been searching for some blue and white garden stools with no luck...on the way home from our "fabric day" I spied an Oriental grocery store...stopped in and for a fraction of what I found online I was now the proud owner of two new garden stools for a total of $75...
A few weeks later, we were shopping at World Market and noticed that an almost identical patio set from the inspiration picture consisting of a wrought iron love seat and two chairs complete with cushions was marked down as clearance...I spoke with the manager, really to find out if there were additional pieces, and she offered me an additional $50 off because they were already assembled (I think my husband would have PAID to have them assembled so this was a real coup!) So for $211, we brought home a patio set...these are now set up in the foyer, where I can play with the pillows and the garden stools and await their new home...
"Now I really need a table in front of this little love seat," I thought to myself...the garden stools might become casualties of our children's pool horseplay if left in front of the loveseat rather than to the side..."What to do????" I remembered in the attic a leftover piece of beautiful Venentian Gold granite from our kitchen remodel in Little Rock...A visit to Hobby Lobby for a very sturdy clearance patio table that will serve as the base for the little granite slab and "Voila!" we have a WONDERFUL new coffee table (or more likely cocktail table since we are on the loggia!)...total cost $21...I do need to attach the pieces together...tomorrow....
One last note...I have been searching for literally months to find barstools...I had no idea how expensive these can be! Each and every day I have searched Craigslist to find ones that invoke a coastal style...made of bamboo or banana leaf or seagrass...once I got close...I found some great ones but someone beat me to them...well, not this time, I found two this week down in St Augustine that were PERFECT! In fact, they were a step up from the ones that I had picked out for myself at World Market that were just too expensive...Can you say yippee??!!!!
A few more items on the loggia wishlist and I will be sure to keep you posted on my progress and post pictures when I figure out how!
Wishlist
- two chaises for reading to my daughters poolside- a favorite activity
- large table to seat at least six
- two large black urns for the planter by the pool
- console with closed storage for beach towels
- outdoor lamp (clear glass) on timer
- and for my DH...a tv to watch football outside this fall
- and a grill (saw some FAB ones in candy apple red....wouldn't that make dinner taste even better?)
Looking at this wishlist and thinking about our budget...I better enjoy the ride because it is going to be a long one! Fun for sure, but not quick!
Enjoying the ride,
Kristen
If you have ever seen HGTV's Sarah's House, you know that in thirty minutes you can watch her turn a room from scary to divine...I know it is the magic of television but it gave me the inspiration to really begin this makeover of our new home "room by room" instead of trying to do a little here and a little there...
Because we live in Florida and the outside is such a big part of our daily lives, we will be starting on the loggia and pool area. We are lucky that the home has a great pool area...a BIG reason we picked this one to be sure- so we have great bones to start with...
I have culled some pictures from magazines for inspiration and have found a few of the pieces to start putting it all together...first came the fabric, a remnant and then a few more coordinating pieces from Garden Ridge- total spent $31- with this I have already made some great pillows. We will be using our fourth bedroom as a playroom so all the old guestroom pillows can be used (they coordinate perfectly) and those that cannot have already been recovered with the new fabric...
I had also been searching for some blue and white garden stools with no luck...on the way home from our "fabric day" I spied an Oriental grocery store...stopped in and for a fraction of what I found online I was now the proud owner of two new garden stools for a total of $75...
A few weeks later, we were shopping at World Market and noticed that an almost identical patio set from the inspiration picture consisting of a wrought iron love seat and two chairs complete with cushions was marked down as clearance...I spoke with the manager, really to find out if there were additional pieces, and she offered me an additional $50 off because they were already assembled (I think my husband would have PAID to have them assembled so this was a real coup!) So for $211, we brought home a patio set...these are now set up in the foyer, where I can play with the pillows and the garden stools and await their new home...
"Now I really need a table in front of this little love seat," I thought to myself...the garden stools might become casualties of our children's pool horseplay if left in front of the loveseat rather than to the side..."What to do????" I remembered in the attic a leftover piece of beautiful Venentian Gold granite from our kitchen remodel in Little Rock...A visit to Hobby Lobby for a very sturdy clearance patio table that will serve as the base for the little granite slab and "Voila!" we have a WONDERFUL new coffee table (or more likely cocktail table since we are on the loggia!)...total cost $21...I do need to attach the pieces together...tomorrow....
One last note...I have been searching for literally months to find barstools...I had no idea how expensive these can be! Each and every day I have searched Craigslist to find ones that invoke a coastal style...made of bamboo or banana leaf or seagrass...once I got close...I found some great ones but someone beat me to them...well, not this time, I found two this week down in St Augustine that were PERFECT! In fact, they were a step up from the ones that I had picked out for myself at World Market that were just too expensive...Can you say yippee??!!!!
A few more items on the loggia wishlist and I will be sure to keep you posted on my progress and post pictures when I figure out how!
Wishlist
- two chaises for reading to my daughters poolside- a favorite activity
- large table to seat at least six
- two large black urns for the planter by the pool
- console with closed storage for beach towels
- outdoor lamp (clear glass) on timer
- and for my DH...a tv to watch football outside this fall
- and a grill (saw some FAB ones in candy apple red....wouldn't that make dinner taste even better?)
Looking at this wishlist and thinking about our budget...I better enjoy the ride because it is going to be a long one! Fun for sure, but not quick!
Enjoying the ride,
Kristen
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)