Big Boy Bed

We are in the process of turning Rhett's room into a big boy room. It's not quite finished yet, but I'm happy to say it's close!

I had big plans for his new room when the time was right to change it. But, he wasn't quite ready for a new room. He decided that he liked the nautical theme. No biggie, and much cheaper and easier on our wallet and backs. So, boats will stay... at least for a while longer. I will post complete pics of the room once everything is done, but for now, here are some pics of the big boy bed!

My dad found the bed at a garage sale for $2o! It looked just like some that Pottery Barn Kids carries, but needed a little work.

So, Jeremy (and Rhett and I) got to work sanding, priming, painting, and repairing. I've never really "painted" furniture before. (At least not the proper way-- if spray painting doesn't count). This was a painstaking process to say the least. I don't think Jeremy or I will be painting anything else anytime soon.
My house has been turned upside down for the last month or two. It sometimes looked like a war zone. I'm thankful to have some peace and harmony back to our home!
The weather wasn't so cooperative, so much of the painting was done inside. This is mid-process. Still needing more coats.

But, Rhett LOVES his new bed. He keeps telling me, "thanks for decorating it!". Sweet boy!
Makes it all worth it!

First night in the new bed! He's so excited!

Fast asleep and dreaming of trucks!

More pics coming soon!

Screen Door

I love Springtime!!! I love to have the windows open and let the breeze blow in. I have so badly wanted a screen door for our back door since we moved in to this house almost 5 years ago. Well, this Christmas, I received a screen door from my inlaws. It took some convincing to get my dad over to hang it for me, but last week he finally did!


I think I have had the door open almost every day since! It works so well. It keeps the dogs in (or out), keeps the bugs out, lets the breeze in, and most importantly, keeps a certain little boy from going out into the mud!

I love it!

Getting Organized!

I recently won an AWESOME giveaway from Sarah at Life {Sweet} Life! She seems to be an organizing queen, and had extra organizing labels left over that she was giving away to one lucky reader. I am always in the need to get organized, so I entered and WON!!! These were not any ordinary labels, they were 1" copper colored labels from Wonderful Graffiti! And, I received a TON of them! I was so excited, you all really have NO IDEA (unless you are my family or close friends reading this) how unorganized I am! So, this giveaway prize was a blessing because it made me make some much needed organizing improvements to my home! I am so thankful I won Sarah! Thanks again!
I really have to work on my photography skills- hard to see these behind the clothes bar, but they say: Detergent, Bleach and Fabric Softener.

I got to work immediately upon receiving the package in the mail. The words were taller than my shelves, so I got creative and labeled the shelf itself, not just the side profile (if that makes sense). Some of the labels were not something that I could use for one reason or another, so I cut them up and made my own, as seen below. (All were made from cutting up other words). It worked perfectly:Except my "x" above-- that one was a little tricky and it certainly shows.

But no matter-- I am ORGANIZED! And I LOVE IT! I even checked out Wonderful Graffiti's website and am considering ordering more!!


Thanks a million, Sarah!

P.S., Sarah is expecting a baby boy soon! Go over and give her a big congrats!

Yesterday and Today

What I did yesterday:

I added all of those knobs! All by myself! I am becoming pretty handy with the power tools (when not getting my hair caught in them)!





What I did today:


I found this houndstooth fabric at Hobby Lobby on clearance. It was a remnant, so I bought it thinking I could definitely use it for something. Then, I saw the link below, and knew just what I'd use it for. I made 3 of them, cut dead limbs off of my Japanese Maple and painted them gold, and voila! Cute fabric pumpkins, no sewing necessary!
(Step by step instructions with photos, from here.)

Laundry Room Makeover

I have been pretty unsatisfied with my laundry room for a while now. It is small, and has absolutely zero character. Besides the entry door, and the chalkboard door, it was pretty much lifeless. It has a white washer and dryer, white walls, white shelves and LOTS of junk filling those shelves. Most of the "junk" are things we use, almost on a daily basis. A few years ago, my husband, trying to overcome a major lack of storage space, added a second shelf above the original shelf in our laundry room. This shelf became a storage space for many of our rarely used, small kitchen appliances.

So, my friend, Betsy, has had a curtain hanging from the clothes bar in her laundry room for a while now. It hides all of the wall directly behind and above the washer and dryer. I have always thought it was cute, but it would never work for me because I use that clothes bar to air dry most of my clothes. I am 6' tall and have long feared highwaters! ha! So, rather than pay a lot of money for jeans or pants, only to have them shrink in length in the dryer, I have long been drying my pants elsewhere.

They say necessity is the motherhood of invention. And, while I'm sure I didn't invent this idea, it occurred to me that I can have a curtain in my laundry room and it can conceal my junk! So, I got a shower curtain tension rod, and a cute turquoise shower curtain at Target, and began. I had some extra red fabric that I cut up as if I were making a ragamuffin garland, and used it to tie the curtain to the rod. I hung it at the top of the wall, almost to the ceiling, concealing two rows of shelving, but not the clothing rod! Then, I found where Glidden was having a paint promotion and you could get a quart of paint in your choice of color for FREE!

Once my paint arrived, I got to work, and though it took a few days, I am pleased with the outcome. I re-hung several of the things I already had, to keep this makeover VERY low budget. I re-painted some of the little signs I had already in the room to make them match my red and turquoise theme.

Sorry for the blurry pic.This sign used to be green. While I do not think that I am a "desperate" housewife, I do love that show. When I found this sign, I had to have it, hanging it appropriately in the laundry room.
This sign used to be blue and it used to just say "laundry". I got a catalog in the mail the other day that had a sign with this saying on it, so I painted over the blue and made this.This calendar used to be hot pink. Again, sorry for the blurry pic.

I thought that my favorite thing about this laundry room would be this project:
My dad is known for his "salvaging skills". He "salvaged" this piece of iron gate (aka, pulled it from a trash pile) and I took it to my house. Jeremy cut the pretty part off of it to be hung in the back yard. I had this part left over and didn't know what to do with it. Then, I got the idea to make a drying rack for my delicate laundry. So, I spray-painted the iron, and went to Hobby Lobby to find a way to hang it. I had almost given up when I found the "Laundry" sign and it was 50% off of $12.99! My goal was to make it similar to this (which I have always wanted).

But, I would have to say my favorite part of this laundry room is now this:

I went to Target and Hobby Lobby looking for a cute rug, and couldn't find any in the style or price range that I liked. So, I decided to make my own. I took the blue chindi rug that was previously in the laundry room, painted it with the same paint as I used on the wall, cut smaller pieces of ragamuffin strips from the same fabric that I used to tie the curtain, and painted white polka dots on it to mimic the curtain.
I LOVE how it turned out, so whimsical!

My low cost laundry room makeover is now complete, and it only cost $43.47+ tax!

Now, if I could just convince hubby to get me these, the room would be complete! HA! :)

From Drab to Fab!

Throughout the end of May and beginning of June, Jeremy worked his little booty off expanding our patio, and it looks wonderful! His parents gave us some old patio furniture that used to belong to Jeremy's grandmother for the new space. There was a rocker and an armchair and a coffee table. They were painted green and had some rust spots and some areas that needed welding.All it took was a little spot weld courtesy of Jeremy, some sanding, and a few coats of black spray paint, and this patio furniture was in tip-top shape!I added some red cushions from Wal-Mart and some of the CUUUUUUU-TEST pillows that I found at Pier 1. Ever since I found them, I racked my brain trying to find a way I could use them. Well, I think they make the perfect little addition to my FREE outdoor furniture. I am very grateful to Jeremy's parents for the donation. It saves us money, and it is nice to have something that belonged to Jeremy's grandmother. I am kind-of sentimental like that, and don't plan on EVER getting rid of them!

Lights, Camera, Action!

I saw this idea over at For the Love of My Home. Since the tops of my cabinets don't have much space on this side of my kitchen, I wanted to do something to bring some attention up there. I thought that this project seemed easy enough, so I grabbed my left over Home Depot gift card and headed out to buy some rope lights and a lamp timer. I drilled a hole in the top of the cabinet above my microwave and plugged the timer and lights into the extra outlet. The drilling made quite a mess, but I am pleased with the way it came out. I have always wanted lights over and under my cabinets. But, this is a cheap way to get them, post-construction. I just laid the lights on top of the cabinet, and because of the moulding, you cannot see them from the floor. They look much brighter in person, but you can get an idea.

That little hole produced a TON of sawdust. I even vacuumed out my stove top!