Family Room Design Board

I'm getting ready for my finals, and the final is to design a living room. Only a living room...but I'm in luck...this is a room that needs to be updated. So, with a little research and some talking with dear hubby (ok, really him just rolling his eyes at me and telling me to do what I want), I finally made a first draft of a mood board for our living room. I may still change some things, but right now its getting me rolling in the right direction and some purchases have already been made. Drumroll please...

I'll keep you posted on the progress!!

Into the Blue

When I first started with our kitchen remodel, my husband asked me what color I was going to put with the white. "Blue", I said. Of course as he rolled his eyes, but I could see the approval. No matter how much I try to veer away from it, blue always comes back into my life. I'm beginning to realize that I surround myself with the colors that I love, grey or greige and blues. They remind me of the sky, which is georgous where I live in the Rocky Mountains, so clear and bright; the water, which is one of my true loves, and that is a constant peace for me. White is also a true love for me, it is pure, wholesome, divine and you can literally run in any direction with it. So I'm running with it...and taking some blue with me, too.

This scale I picked up last month while antiquing with my mother in law, I love the old chippy paint of the blue scale and its natural patina was so beautiful to me. It set me back $6...and the man in the store, he gave me a card with a "hug" on it to pass on to others, that was a good day.  Right now its holding my napkins in my kitchen.

This bowl I scored at a garage sale a few weeks ago. It too has the same patina and chippy paint. This set me back $1. I'm a bargain nut, so this was right up my alley. I had no idea what I would do with it once I got it home, but I had a pretty good idea. For now its resting nicely on top of my fridge holding my linen tablecloths.

I'm linking up today with Somewhat Simple, so stop on by!

Images: Ralph Lauren, My Picture (Scale), My Picture (Bowl)

Kitchen Remodel Reveal

So I've promised pictures of our kitchen remodel and was finally able to get some pics...lets look at the before shall we? Don't be scared...we seen the potential...well, i think :)

Remember the marble tile we scored at a garage sale for $250? Thanks to my boss who owned a masonry company, he helped us cut and lay the tile...which I am forever grateful to. This was no small project since the dimensions of the countertop were all differnent and then at the end, leave it to me to decide to cut them all into subway tiles for the backsplash...oh yes, I did...and sometimes I'm still surprised my husband is still married to me after that one. So...a basic breakdown: We took the upper dividing cabinets out and took down the small wall to open up the space. Primed and painted the cabinets a soft white, the tile is an unmilled grey marble so its veining and pattern is all different, I love it, painted the hinges, changed out the hardware, changed out the top molding to a 4" crown thanks to my dad, Mr. Marvelous for that one, replaced the glass front cabinets above the stove, new faucets and added chandeliers that I'm so excited to tell you about, they were from a restored building out of Idaho Springs from the early 1900's and they were FREE...yes nada, zip did I pay for them. To sum it up...we did this remodel for about $700...yes you read right...$700... because we did so much sweat work into it and salvaged what we could. We're not planning on staying in this house for too many years, so this was great for now. You can view the cost breakdown HERE. Hope you like it!

Linking up to: Shabby Chic Cottage 

Crazy Domestic 

Remodelaholic 

Just a Girl 

I'm hooking up with the CSI Project

Fingerprints on the Fridge Reature Yourself Friday

Room Remix Paint Party

The Lettered Cottage

Thrifty Decor Chick

Happy Friday

I'm linked up today to the The Shabby Nest and Somewhat Simple! Have a great Weekend!!

Tea, Tulips and Bridal Showers

The table centerpieces...tulips and lemons, all cradled in a clear paint can. My first inspiration for the whole thing was a lemon.

I apologize for the shortage of posts lately, but I have been so busy planning a bridal shower for a great friend of mine, actuall I'm the maid of honor, so the pressure was on! When I started, I decided to go with a modern tea theme, with the colors of white, grey and yellow. My friend is very modern, so no pink and no "fru fru" as she put it could I use. After, a woman that is an interior designer asked me if she could recommend me to the church to help with their future wedding planning and set-up. I was honored, that someone would find something from little ol' me that amazing and told me that I have a "flair" with things...who would of thought! I was just happy that my friend loved it so much, because after all, it was her special day.

The table settings for the tables...
They included candles for the guests to take home with greenery wrapped in the napkins. The cards and coordinating pencils at the top of each setting were for one of the games.

I made the hearts on the tea bags from a heart paper punch and scrapbooking papers.

Me (on the left) and the bride to be.

The menu included angel food cake, strawberries, a homemade marshmellow and cream cheese topping for them. Egg salad and cucumber sandwiches, chocolate covered strawberries of bride and grooms (thank you, Rhonda), a cookie bar, hot tea and lemonade. I had some suzanni type fabric at home with greys, white and yellow...so I used that as runners on the tables. I needed more plate stands, so I made some with some .50 cent glass candlesticks from the thrift store and used clear glass plates in varying sizes on top purchased for $1.00 from the grocery store. Couldn't have done it without my friend Gorilla Glue! All the other plates, pitchers or items that I had lying around my house.

The drink table included condiments for the tea, and yes, even the cups had ribbon borders. A last minute detail that turned out beautifully.

The gift table...

She was having fun with the tissue poms I made.

Thank you, my dear friend, for allowing me to give you something special, that was so much fun for me to do and hope it was all you had dreamed of for your shower...

Linked up to: Crazy Domestic

I Really Do Love My Dress Mommy...

...at least that's what I told myself she was thinking. She definately does not like to have her picture taken and this is full proof of that. You either get the head turned the other way, or the definate "glare of defiance". Maybe one day she'll see how cute she really is and let mommy go camera happy.

Kitchen In Progress

Sorry it's been so long since my last post, but we have been so busy with the kitchen remodel. But the good news is: The kitchen is almost complete! The cabinets are retrimmed and painted, hardware just came in, the chandeliers are up and are looking lovely all repurposed...If I do say so myself! I was able to get them for free from a person that was repurposing an old building from the early 1900's in Idaho Springs, and she gave them both to me for FREE off of craigslist. That is after all, my kind of budget! They ended up working great, excellent wiring and all. I'm waiting for my new faucet to come in...I have to admit this drove me batty. I was really set on an industrial faucet for our kitchen, but I didn't want one that was 28" high like most of them. I like the view from our kitchen window and wanted to accent to it, not draw from it. So...I finally found this faucet that is only 18.5" high, so a perfect height and ordered it in a chrome finish, to keep the classic flow going through the kitchen. I liked the classic line of the handles vs. most of the contemporary feel ones that I've seen. I am after all, still a farmgirl at heart. The hubby did inform me that this faucet reminded me of when he used to do dishes at the El Monte back in high school. Good! He'll already know how to use it then!! I'll update the full kitchen soon...but this weekend we're heading back to Nebraska to visit the inlaws. Cornhuskers...here we come!!

Keep Looking Towards the Light

After seeing the above pendant lights in this entry way, I'm on the search for something similar, or at least something I could revamp to look like this. If you know the source of these lights, or have any brilliant ideas on these, please comment and let me know!