Modeling

I enjoy looking at model homes. Back in the day (when I had 2 kids) we would go out and look at open houses. Well now I mainly look online. Here are some of my favorites. I've got an online folder with photos of my "dream rooms".

First this is my FAVORITE pool and outdoor area ever. This photo is taken from a home for sale in the area we are looking. Too bad the house is only 3 bedroom. I'd say SOLD fast. All time dream kitchen. Complete kitchen paradise. I can see the kids yelling down from the balcony... "Mom, is that cookies I smell."

My husband and I are "Trekkie's" yes I admit it. This would be our dream media room. We're in talks to add one like this to the house if we move.

I adore balcony's in the house. It's so grand and beautiful. Look how little the big kids were.

Will was thinking " Not another modeling trip"

Kate was thinking... hum can I throw my brother over??

A "mom cave" yes that's for me. What a great space for crafting and "me" time.

Can't you see a reading area by the window with a nice cup of coffee?
Could I ever fill this closet up with my clothes? Umm it would take some serious shopping. Each morning I could pose and make sure my outfit was just perfect.

Dreaming about all these wonderful things can be fun. When it comes down to it I'm perfectly happy with "simple". Although some "fabulous" wouldn't hurt.

If there was one room in your house you could make your dream what would it be?

I say kitchen.

Trash to Treasure

I enjoy reading home decor blogs. So many people saying they find furniture on the side of the road and take it home to refinish it.

I don't know about you but until the other day I NEVER see nice furniture or chairs out for the garbage.

We put stuff out like our blue plastic pool and it's gone in an hour, but not anything nice worth more than a few bucks.

So Monday after swim lessons we're driving home and we see 2 pieces of furniture out. This dresser, which I'm going to repaint for the girls room. Then this....... OMG I start freaking out in the car. You know why?

Because it matches this bed I bought off craigslist last year for Madeline.



My husband told me I'd never find another bed to match... ha!



Now the girls will have matching beds. Since we just cleaned out the garage I'm moving the bed with a new mattress to her room early. We now have an extra bed.



I think the two beds are going to look great together in the room. They aren't exactly the same but they're from the same collection. Now I'm off to order another bedding set.

Next week I plan to tackle the dresser, we just need some warm weather. Yippee!

Kids Art Wall

When I visit garage sales I always pick up chunky frames. I've had these frames in my closet for umm..... 8 months. Just waiting for a project.

Finally got inspired to get outside and spray paint.

I painted them all ORB (oil rubbed bronze)

Then I hung them up along the stairs to display the kids art work. I'm still looking for a few more chunky empty frames to fill in the gaps.


Madeline and Will just love to check out their art work. This is a great way rotate all those wonderful art projects the kids do at school.

As you can see when I took the photo we were still missing a few pieces of art work.

I'm going to get out some of my glazes I think it looks to black.

Built-In Update:
We've hired Cheap Thrills Decor to do the job. We should be on the schedule in about 3 weeks! Just in time for Christmas!!! So glad were finally moving forward.

Sweet Caroline's Room

I can't believe this little girl is 3 months old!

Really it was yesterday when I was blogging about being on bed rest and asking for your prayers.

Thank you Lord for my healthy smiley little girl! What a blessing she is! Finally a view of her girly room. Remember we thought she was going to be a boy. Here's a link to the boy version of the nursery.

I repainted the mural over the bed. I found this beautiful script and saying. I bought a new red crib skirt and added some rick rac.

Remember I scored this Pottery Barn bedding at a garage sale for $20.

Ribbon and ruffles can make a blue curtain girly. I love the way they turned out!


I'm using red as an accent color to bring out the whimsy. This changing table has been wood color, white, pink, black and red. It's held up for 4 children.
We've got a growing bow collection.

Madeline has the mother load so these sisters will share bows.


Caroline is sleeping in her crib now. The best news.... she's officially sleeping through the night. It's been a week now of going to be at 8 pm and waking up at 5:30 am.

However mommy still wakes up 3 times and sneaks in quietly to make sure she's ok.

Free Decorating

Having 4 kids has shown me I have little control over my life. What I do have control over is my house. That's why I enjoy decorating so much.

You get immediate results and gratification. Plus it just makes you feel all warm and cozy.

My favorite decorating projects.... the free kind. Rearranging and moving stuff around. I just love when my husband comes home and sees that I've accomplished something in the day. (You can't visually see the kids being taken care of)

Here's the way my eating area in the kitchen looks right now. I want to refinish and paint my kitchen table so bad... I'm thinking a dark top with cream colored based distressed a bit.

I'm getting out of my paint everything black phase. This is the way it looked at one time.
Update on our built in's: These darn things are so expensive! Who knew built in's would double the cost of 2 bookshelves at a furniture shop?

We're going to review all the bids this weekend and decide what we're going to. I'm ready to just get it done. My living room has 2 huge empty wall spaces that are driving me crazy!

Repurposed Cabinet Door

One of my many finds in Canton was this unfinished cabinet door. (I've got 2 more for other projects)

I've wanted a chalk board at the end of my cabinet for a while. I just needed to find the right shape.

I found one that had the same arch as our kitchen cabinets. I scored this for $5!I sprayed the whole thing with chalk board paint. Then I did some distressing and applied a natural color stain to the edge and trim. I left the middle un-coated so I could use it as a chalk board.

With some little wooden accent pieces I was done! I plan to use this as our menu board. The kids are always asking what's for dinner.

Functional Storage

OK, I have NO idea why my photos are on the other side. This is about how my living room looks right now. I've never liked the way it looks. I'm always changing this up. We've always wanted some built ins for storage.

I found this 2nd photo somewhere online a couple years ago. I've always envisioned built ins like this.

Remember my last frugal post, since we know we will be at our current home for a while we decided to get some built ins done! I'm so excited.

We are putting the flat screen in cabinets just like this photo too. That will really open up our room.

Our home isn't very large so storage is a necessity. It's all about functional storage for us.

We have a home to do list. We also have a project budget and priority list. So glad this project is next up.

Here is what the living room looked like when we just bought it. That is some bright yellow!

Hopefully the carpenter will get started next week. We want to do it right so we aren't even going to mess with this one on our own. We're even going to hire a painter to paint it right. I don't have the time or the want to.

Princess Table

My Little Miss loves dress up. With the addition of baby #4 we lost the playroom. So when we moved her to a big girl room I made little play areas for her.

This is her make up table. She actually uses this table... especially when she's supposed to be napping. I find her sitting here with her pretend blow dryer and straightener.

This is an easy and affordable little dress up table to mimic for your little princess. It just takes a few little pieces.

Chair: Ross $30 (couldn't pass it up)

Mirror: Bombay Kids about 5 years ago this is a hand me down from big sister. You could use any mirror.

Lamp: $5 garage sale find with one of her FABULOUS glamRbaby bows adorning the shade. This is a great way to display outgrown baby bows.

Table: Craigslist find for $10. After baby comes I am going to repaint and put tulle around the bottom. Similar to this one.

Accessories: Wallyworld (Wal-mart) has a great princess hair set with a bag, pretend straightener, blow dryer, brush and hair things.

Finishing Home Projects

I start projects and have big ideas but then I get distracted and never finish. This garage sale find is no exception. I bought it for $5 and spray painted it ORB.

I've had this iron thing on the wall for a year empty. It's right in the entry way so people actually see it. I've had many comments "What are you going to do with that?"

Well I finally did something. I did it all "Texas" with fake flowers and feathers.

For those of you who don't live in the south. Most of us just love feathers and fake flowers. Yes it goes against everything they teach you on HGTV. You know what? It makes me happy!

I do have some friends who are also fellow Texans and they hate fake flowers and have more of a modern style. Not me I love the statement "Everything's bigger in Texas".

Just fun and it welcomes my guests into my home.

Painting Wooden Crosses

I am back to some frugal home decorating... my fun hobby.

Oh how I love to paint! I can do this while I am on bed rest. I pull up my comfy chair to the kitchen table and go paint crazy.

My mom picked up these unfinished wooden crosses on her last trip to Canton, TX. We LOVE Canton First Monday Trade Days. If you live close and haven't been, go!

She scored all these crosses for $19! I got busy immediately, this is the one I did for Katelyn's room.

She's 13 and a full fledged teenager.

These types of crosses sell for $50 + at boutiques and online. It cost me roughly $4 to make myself.

I use the little acrylic bottles for paint. My favorite is the folk art brand.

Their paint is nice and thick, it covers great.

I did this one for Madeline my 3 year old. Can you tell the difference in my girls personalities?

I have 2 more to finish. One for Will and another one for the nursery.

Painting makes me feel so happy!

Brought a little "normal" back to me.

I am linking up to:

Southern Hospitality Thrifty Treasures Party

Domestically Speaking Paint Party

DIY Showoff Project Parade

Big Girl Bed and Menu Monday

The big girl twin bed has arrived! The first night we had no falls. Last night poor girl slipped out of bed 2 times. Thinking the silk sheets are to blame.

Yesterday I painted her chandelier mural. She picked the color.... surprise pink! I've got a ton more to do. This is the only part of the room put together. I think I am going to hang a rod and drapes around the bed. What do you think? If so what color? This was her nursery in her old room. Loved it!

This is the mess left behind. I primed the flowers and was able to touch up the paint with the old yellow color. It's the junk room until her new room is finished. Soon it will be baby's room.

Speaking of baby... this morning is our big 22 week sonogram! As of right now we aren't going to find out.

On to some food:

Monday: Quesadilla's with leftover fajita fixins from Sunday dinner.

Tuesday: Frozen Pizza Night

Wednesday: Breakfast for Dinner

Thursday: Freezer Purge Buffet

Friday: Grill Burgers

How I Met My House Party

I am joining Our Suburban Cottage for her How I Met My House Party.

We met our house about three years ago when I was 8 months pregnant with our youngest. We weren't looking to move quite yet but when this house came up for sale it had all the things on our list so we had to get it. My husband had a big restriction it had to be within 5 minutes from his office. I was thrilled to find a 5 bedroom on a cul-de-sac with great schools. It just needed some updating and TLC.

Remodeling and being 9 months pregnant not a good combo!

Let me show you some of our transformations.

First our dining room. It was mean and green....

Now it's my style. My favorite part of the room is the window treatments. Can you believe I found them at Lowe's??
Next the formal living room turned home office.

We closed off a wall and added french doors.
The perfect place for my husband to work when he's at home.

Our lovely old blue and white laminate counters. Oh joy! Love at first sight right? NO!!

Glad to see those go with new counter tops and my favorite a slate back splash.

We started with a bright yellow glowing room.
To a nice relaxing brown.
I tackled the laundry room making it an almost enjoyable place. I'd love it if I enjoyed laundry!
Black and Bold.
Thanks for visiting! I enjoy doing home decor projects on a budget.

Always looking for new inspiration. I am currently working on my youngest daughters big girl room. We are expecting baby #4 in August. Lots to do!

Bye, Bye!

Craigslist..... love it!!

Oh how I love to search Craigslist and find something wonderful!

You can imagine my excitement when I saw this photo for a twin bed.

An email, visit and $115 later. It's mine all mine!

It's beautiful and Madeline just loves it. Now waiting to buy a mattress and get in our bedding.

One more big thing, I have to clean out the huge mess of a playroom/ guestroom/ garage sale room.

For now it's in the garage waiting to send Madeline off to dreamland.

Weekly Menu and New Addition

Before you read about my menu I have something to share.

We said good-bye to a long time companion to our family.

Our old 1990's particle board entertainment center. Here is a reminder of how she looked. We also said good-bye to our tube TV. We moved up to a flat screen TV! A 55 inch one!

Finally all of my wood in the living room matches! All cherry wood. It only took 10 years :)

Of course we saved some money, we NEVER pay full price. My husband negotiated a floor model and an extra warranty. Got it for 50% off!

Sorry I am late with my menu Monday post. I took a 3 day vacation from the computer. It was much needed. I am making a priority to limit my time on the computer.

Monday: We had Grilled Chicken Sandwiches and Chips

Tuesday: Meals on the go - Grilled pannini and grilled cheese sandwiches with pasta salad

Wednesday: Baked Ziti, Green Beans and Garlic Bread

Thursday: Leftovers

Friday: Little Cesar's $5 Pizza and Salad

Painting Project

I did a painting project for my photographer friend Brandi right before Christmas. This is for one of her daughters. I've already painted the other 2 girls rooms.

I've seen this idea around and was excited to give it a try. I love the way it turned out.

Here is closer look. You can bling it up by gluing crystals to flat push pins.

I think I'm going to paint one for Madeline's big girl room in a couple months. I am picturing one above her bed between a curtain rod and drapery's pulled back.

I am linking up with Do It Yourself Day http://asoftplace.net/