Sunday, February 24, 2013

Orla Kiely & Method Giveaway




Exciting news for those readers who love Orla Kiely designs and Method cleaning products, I wanted to let you know about the following giveaway.  You simply click the link below and "like" Method on Facebook in order to enter the contest. 


 
Wishing everyone good luck!

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Love.........it!

A Valentine's gift I made for myself.  (All of the beads came from Micheals.  The pendants are from the "Industrial Chick" collection by Susan Lenart Kazmer) 

I have so many things to be thankful for this Valentine's Day.  A wonderful husband who shares my love of projects (big and small), two wonderful little boys who can find laughter in anything, and a family that is always there for me (this means you..Mom, Dad, and Sis).  I hope everyone has a wonderful Valentine's Day.


Some Yummy Fresh Strawberries cut into heart shapes (my boys loved them)

My Valentine's Wreath



Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Family Room Renovation Reveal "the other side of the room"


 

It has been a long time coming, but I finally got a chance to take photos of our family room renovation (this really means I finally had a little time to dust and get the toys semi-picked up).  The family room is adjacent and open to the kitchen.  I featured our kitchen renovation back in May of 2012; you can read the full post by clicking here..  The family room renovation was actually completed about 5 months after the kitchen, but I am just now getting around to photographing the "other side of the room". This space is far from complete, but it has definitely come a long way!


kitchen/family room before
One of the biggest changes in this space was the ceiling and lighting.  The original ceiling had a popcorn texture and only one low..low..low..hanging ceiling fan/light combo in the middle.  At night this room was like a cave.  To the rescue was some new evenly dispersed can lighting.  After some plumbing work and the removal of the ceiling hung cabinets/sofit; we had so many holes that it just made sense to replace the entire ceiling with a new smooth version. 

 
The other big (hard to overlook) addition is the new built-in media center and mantle.  Before the room was impossible to layout.  You had to stick the TV in the corner which then made the room seem unbalanced with the fireplace.  The bump out in the corner next to the windows made it impossible to place furniture, not to mention you had to watch your head anytime you walked near the ceiling fan. This space was basically begging for built-ins.

After a couple of sketches and some "craftsman" inspiration we landed on our design for the new mantle and media cabinets.  My husband is a true diyer, but we found a cabinet maker who quoted us a better price to custom build this unit than it was going to cost for stock cabinets from the big box stores.  The cabinet maker matched the chocolate glaze finish from our kitchen island almost perfectly.


My husband painted the brick around the fireplace the same off-white as our kitchen cabinets prior to the installation of our new mantle.  We still want to get new furniture and accessories for this space (we are still using what I got right out of college), but with two small and sometimes destructive young boys in our house there is not a rush. 

For now we are enjoying tons of storage and a great open space that functions 100% better for our family.


there isn't anything fancy on these shelves...some of our favorite items are the boys' toys
 renovated family room
renovated kitchen


Family Room
Sources & Materials

  • Paint:  Sherwin Williams' color-Loggia
  • Cabinets:  Custom made by Chris Young
  • Rug:  clearance Allen & Roth from Lowes  (I think it looks a lot like this "Henley" rug from Pottery Barn...but it was a fraction of the Henley's original price.  I just saw that the "Henley" rug is now on clearance...check out link below.) 
 
  • Furniture (in need of replacement) I have been looking for pieces  all the way from IKEA to Ethan & Allen.  I am sure you will see update posts when I land on something new.

Friday, February 1, 2013

Some Birthday Fun!


It just so happens that my mother and mother-n-law both have birthdays in January, only 4 days apart.  This year we invited both families over to our house for a celebration.  Above are some potted tulips that my husband and I got for our mothers. 

With a two and one year old,t hings got a bit rushed...sorry this isn't the best picture

You can't celebrate a birthday without a cake.  I was inspired by the yellow tulips to whip up a yellow cake.  I just added some green and white ribbon at the top and bottom.

It was great to be able to celebrate with our mothers this way!

Has anyone else put together a birthday celebration recently?  I would love to hear what you did.