Monday, August 29, 2011

Roomspiration Blog Hop & Link Party


Come one come all... and get your rooms camera ready!

Myself and 11 other bloggers are hosting...
Roomspiration Blog Hop & Link Party! 
And it starts in two weeks!


I am so excited to be a part of this with such an amazing and talented group of bloggers, and of course I'm looking forward to seeing everyone strut their stuff rooms. It's going to be roomspiration overload - no doubt!
abode love: a man\View Along the Way


  Involving Color
{ All Things Bright and Beautiful }  Touch of Gray


The Blooming Hydrangea  The Mustard Ceiling


 The DIY Show Off
Thank you Ange from {The Blooming Hydrangea} for conjuring up this hop and for asking me to participate! And thank you Elizabeth at {The Mustard Ceiling} for designing Roomspiration's announcement. 

Friday, August 26, 2011

Bring on the Weekend!

 Is it really already Friday? Wow, this week has flown by! I have definitely been MIA.

Buuuut... next week I have a little announcement about something fun some blog friends and 
I have in the works. Stay tuned!

Also, I wanted to say thank you to Layla from {The Lettered Cottage} for mentioning our master bathroom! Her photos were featured in the same issue of Cottages and Bungalows magazine! 

Check out her post about it {here}.


I've been a huge fan of hers since I was first introduced to this crazy blog world. She and Kevin are brilliant together and I love reading about their adventures. They are crazy good at design and have definitely been an inspiration to me. It you haven't browsed around {their blog}... it's a must!

Hope you all have a fab weekend!

Monday, August 22, 2011

Guest Posting Today @ A Lived in Home

Hi everyone! I'm guest posting today over at {A Lived in Home} in Megan's Makeover Monday series! If you haven't found your way to her blog you should definitely check it out! Here are some glimpses of her beautiful spaces...






Gorgeous right? And she does it all with the most adorable one year old running around! 
And as Megan says, "Pets and children don't mean you have to compromise great style". 
Amen sister! 

A Lived In Home

Friday, August 19, 2011

Happy Friday!

I'm very much looking forward to my weekend here in town. I have a long to-do list, but I also hope to get lots of RELAX TIME in.

Doesn't this bed just make you want to jump on it? 


I definitely plan to spend a couple extra hours (than usual) in my bed tomorrow morning. 
I need to catch up on my sleep! 

Hope you all have a great weekend! 

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Laundry Time!

If you know me personally you probably know that I despise doing laundry. I will try and wear every piece of clothing I have before I give in and throw it all in the washer. I know I wouldn't mind it as much if I did it more consistently and didn't make it into such an ordeal.

Or maybe I'd learn to love it if I had a beautiful and pristine laundry room to do it in. 

Here are some of my favorites that are easy on the eyes...  

{via}

Of course Elizabeth's fab laundry room makeover is at the top of my list. 
You can read more about it {here}.


{via}


Urban Grace Interiors

{via}


{via}

Meredith Heron

Ken Gemes Interiors
When I scroll back through my inspiration photos I notice a few things they almost all have in common... light cabinetry, pretty hardwood floors, storage galore, counter space for folding, sinks... and awesome front loading washer and dryers.

If you're looking for a washing machine, then why not view the range at www.very.co.uk. 
 They have a huge selection!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

This Week

This is your warning it's going to be a light posting week for me. But first I wanted to give you a tiny recap from the weekend.

We celebrated right with lots of champagne...


The bride looked absolutely gorgeous...


Her new husband was looking mighty handsome too...
 
 Notice all the drapes -- so beautiful and romantic!

Hubs got a dance in with the Mother of the Bride...



And we even got some photo booth fun with the bride...


Such a fun wedding! I'm so happy for my best friend and her new husband -- I know they'll make such a great life together! 
Can't wait to come visit again! 

Friday, August 12, 2011

Wedding Weekend


I'm off to Atlanta to watch my best friend getting married! I'm soooo excited! 

This is the venue...
It's going to be amazing.

And this is the bride and groom...


I mean how cute are they!?

Love this family shot! :)

I love you best friend! 

Let the celebration begin! This is going to be one fun wedding! 

Hope you all have a good weekend! More house updates coming soon, promise! 

Thursday, August 11, 2011

Summer Time

It's the middle of summer and all I can think about is wanting to spend a day {ok, how about a week} cooling off and relaxing by the pool. Preferably one like these....







Dreamy, right? I can see my cares melting away already...

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Whitewash Treatment

As you guys know, we white washed our wood paneling in our living room and dining room. It was sort of a shot in the dark, but we figured we could always just paint it solid if we didn't like it. That was our original plan anyway. Our paneling is real wood, not the veneer stuff you see sometimes so thats what sold us on keeping it. We knew we needed to lighten the room, but didn't want to completely compromise the wood look. Thus began the white wash discussion, and luckily my MIL decided she'd come up to join the fun... aka help our clueless selves out! 

Here's what we started with... 

Feel like you're in the mountains? 

Yes, we know -- loooots of brown, but look at those huge windows. Pretty green views were what we were looking at when we bought the house... not all the paneling. 
We knew we could change that part.


BEFORE, hand me down furniture and all... 

My MIL and master mind behind how to white wash! 

First step: clean clean clean
We used a Trisodium Phosphate (TSP) spray and sponges - wear gloves!

50+ years of DIRT - yuck!

Then you sand... 

Then it was time to paint. We chose a whitish paint color with a tint of grey {your surprised, right?}. We mixed it with paint thinner. Gosh, this was done a year ago so I have no idea what the ratio was {yes, I realize this is an important step}, but I want to say it was about 80% paint, 20% paint thinner. We messed with it a little.

My MIL and I explored all kinds of ways to apply it to the walls - sponges, paint brushes, towels/cloths - but what we found worked the best was a sock. Yep, a sock. So we went with it! 


The next part was just trial and error. I found it best to dunk half of my sock in the paint/thinner mixture rub it on the wall then use my drier end of the sock to smear it around a little more.





The white wash really doesn't photography well, but the photo below is the best representation of how it looks in person. We love that the knots and grain show through so you can still tell that it's wood.


But look how much it lightens the room! 

BEFORE

AFTER 

Then we replaced the trim, added crown molding, painted the fireplace white, added new furniture, and.... 

NOW

See more about the process of renovating our living room and many more AFTER photos {here}.

And look! Tyler Wisler on Design Star even did it in episode 3! What gorgeous arches!

What do you think of the white wash? 
It might not be a look for everyone, but we absolutely love it.