Estate Sale Chairs

I just wanted to throw a quick post out there showing you the chairs that I scored at an Estate Sale last Friday. My aunt Linda called me early in the week and informed me of a sale where they were on a mission to clean out! So I ran up there to attend with her and this is some of the loot we walked away with.

The above chair reminded me very much of the chair that I gave a makeover a few months back (to see that project, CLICK HERE). This one is just begging for a little love. Not sure if it will get painted, but a newly covered seat is! For $2.50, this was my favorite find.
Then there were these two chairs... they just made me smile, so I had to take them home. Eventually they will get a paint/stain job and a new seat. For now they are waiting in a stack of projects, but for $1.00 a piece, they weren't going to be left behind!

Well, these are the chairs that were scored! We also picked up a beautiful giant yellow ceramic jar that looks great on my kitchen shelf (I'll snap a picture for ya sometime soon), some adorable owl trivets that were hung on the kitchen owl, big frames for artwork, a cute little white ceramic frog and box of scary owls who are going to goodwill very soon. We filled Linda's car for only $6.50. We grabbed supper at the cafe and spent the rest of the night yakking it up... it was a great day!

Wednesday Wishes: Clothesline

It's been a long time since I did a Wednesday Wishes post... so I thought it was definitely time! You know what I'm wishing for lately!? A clothesline!

I miss hanging sheets out to dry in the summertime and that fresh scent they come back in with... definitely getting added to the project list for next year! Happy Wednesday!

Tearing It Out

First, I thought I would show you a picture of the "front" of our house... this is an angle that I don't post a lot, for one reason... that darn porch. The porch has a flat roof (as well as the bay window) and I hate it... just doesn't fit in with the high peaks on the rest of the house. So we are going to change that.

We are not simply doing it for aesthetics... the porch roof leaks terribly, but that is something we knew when buying the house. So it was always in the plan to fix it up and give it a slope for water run off... right now it all pools in the middle and seeps on through.
So last weekend, Mom & Dad came over to help us start things off by tearing out the ceiling.

This will be the first step in the process, and next weekend we will actually rip off the roof and start replacing it.

Here is what it looks like now... and I have to say, it was not up to code at all. Modern wiring connected to century old wiring, rafters rotted and patched with 2x4s and most notably, they had removed part of the ceiling and placed an old Easter basket bucket up in there to catch dripping water... ugh... so we will be starting from scratch.

But we are happy we tore it out to discover everything that needs to be fixed. Saturday and Sunday that Helms come down to help with the next step, and I can't wait!!! I'll keep you posted, Happy Tuesday!

Local Find: 509 Design

For two years when I was living in Marshall, I drove by this place everyday downtown on Main Street. I had wanted to stop by this cute little shop... but never did. It pretty much faded from my mind, until a few weeks ago...

I was driving by on my way out of town and spotted the birch-looking branch vases in the window. I immediately turned around and decided it was time to venture in!
Wow, am I glad I did! I was like all of my favorite online shops and catalogs (ZGallery, PB, Ballard, etc.) had a baby and it's name is 509 Design! When I went in to check out the vases, I got distracted by this gorgeous tablescape, surrounded by drool-worthy parsons chains (I dream on these... no joke).

There was an adorable "pea-pod" candle holder that I thought was adorable...

And this small branches vase and mercury glass candle base...

And cute lamp, not to mention the artichoke looking thing... be still my heart...

Then I started to wonder into the other rooms and I was not disappointed... a Knight lamp! Oh Mylanta, I want to jump on that train!

Look at that head, the gorgeous sidetable and the see-thru-ish (yes, that's a word) lamp... sigh...

Then there was the glass pear (see if real tiny there!?)! De-lish!

And last, but most definitely not least, the faux fireplace! This is where I nearly passed out... I am working on a fireplace project of my own and I got all gushy over this one... simply stunning...

Now, I was looking at prices around the store during my whole excursion, but didn't write anything down... sorry... I can tell you that they are very comparable with the online shops, which can be a little pricey. But a needed splurge every once in a while (remember the Rhino HERE). I will definitely be back to this store again, when I feel the need for the one item to finish a room! Happy Monday!

Why I love photoshop...

Sorry for the lack of posts, it has been a busy week and I think the weekend is going to get even busier! So I thought I would do a quick post today regarding a conversation the hubby and I had last night. We have been discussing photography a lot lately and discussing potential prices. We got on the topic of time spent editing pictures… he didn’t realize that I spent so much time editing, he assumed they all came straight out of the camera looking like they do when I posted them on the blog. I assured him that was not the case, but needed proof.

So to show his what I do I created some before and afters, then I thought you might like to see these too! So here they are… the photos on the left are straight out of the camera and the ones on the right are the fully edited versions. I hope you have a wonderful weekend! (I’m off to an estate sale!)

Catting Around

I like to call the world that Chris & I live in, the world of half-done projects… seriously… It is very hard for us to concentrate on something… there are just so many things we want to do! And last week was no exception. Generally we start projects with all sorts of gusto, and then either get bored or we have need some more funds. But last week, we started a project during an odd time of the year, simply cause that was the way scheduling worked!

Chris’ dad takes a week every summer to work on projects around his house. See, he is a trucker and doesn’t get a ton of time at home with the fam. So last week was the week! The week where he works his backside off and he was still willing to come help us out!

The yard behind our garage was a mess! Many previous owners had left their mark. There used to be a sandbox and a dog kennel, oh and a “leftover” cement slab. So Gary (dad-in-law) agreed to come down with the bobcat to tear it all out! We pulled out tons of gravel, sand and cement. Not to mention toys, stakes and jumbo rocks!
After dumping it all, we headed out to my folks’ place to pick up new dirt and have a fish fry. It was super yummy, but we had to leave quickly to get back and unload our fresh stuff! After getting back a unloading, we realized we only got about half of what we needed. Bummage.

So now the longer process begins. Chris & I will haul loads of dirt in the back of our truck until we finally get it filled in. (So far we have gotten two extra loads)… and this fall we will plan on planting grass. I hate half done projects! But this one is out of my control, cause I’m simply too cheap to buy pricy sod! Happy Wednesday!

Making Wine

A few weeks back we started a new batch of wine, so I thought why not post about it!

This was my job! Tough, huh!?
Chris is the wine making wizard! I essentially get to pick flavors (since the wizard doesn't drink wine...) and do my jobs. Hold tubes, tip buckets and shrinky-dink wrappers after bottling, that's my favorite part!

I love making wine, cause it's pretty - nothing like a giant carbouy filled with pinky red deliciousness! Right now it looks like dirty water... I'm a tad bit worried. It will end up being a strawberry dacquari wine... but looks a little off to me. Chris assures me it will turn out... I'll keep you posted on the results!

Visitors!

Well this week's schedule snuck up on me... we took a breather last weekend and pretty much sat around, enjoying the beautiful weather. Then all of a sudden our week got busy... and we were excited!

Last night we got a visit from my oldest (longest?) friend, Jenna. We were born 11 days apart and have been close ever since. She came to see the house before she moves back south this weekend. And of course, she brought her little guy!

This is Finn, and he is simply adorable! He has a great personality that just shines! We love him! Jen & Lance cook up good kids, I'll order one up right now!
We loved having them over to visit. Wish you both safe travels, I'll see you next month!

Inspiration

So I have been trying to decide how I was going to compose this post for a few days now… here is my best whack at it.

Last weekend, my cousin Jayme ignited a spark in my brain. If you don’t read Jayme’s blog, you should. You can find it HERE. She is an amazingly busy and good-hearted woman, her posts are always fun to read. Her and her husband are expecting their first little one in October, and I can tell ya how excited I am for her! Anywho, Jayme also takes amazing pictures. On Sunday’s she always posts a beautiful picture she has taken along with words from the good book. The scriptures always seem to be unbelievably in sync with her images, this lady knows her bible business!

Jayme has been thinking about selling her “Sunday Scriptures” – so recently, she created a logo and slapped it on to keep people from snatching them up without permission. Now, back to the spark. See I take pictures of family and friends from time to time; it’s just something that I enjoy doing. When I create a CD for give to those folks, I put my own logo on it and send a copyright release just in case their photo printer people give them any grief. And in hopes that someone may see my logo and ask them questions.

This is where Jayme’s inspiration comes in. I had never put the logo on my photos on the blog or facebook, cause I figured the only people who would snag it up was the person I took the pictures for, and because I give them shared rights to the picture, I didn’t see it as a big deal! Now the wheels have started turning. Maybe this is a way that I can get my name out there… I have people who read my blog (Right? You are out there aren’t you? Someone has to be out there…) and friends on facebook… this idea should have hit me a long time ago. So let me introduce my logo.

I am hoping that you will see more and more of it. But I feel I have to give a disclosure. I am NOT a professional photographer. Now days, it seems like anyone with a nice camera is calling themselves a professional, let me assure you I’m not interested in doing that. I consider myself a hobby photographer, with LOTS to learn. I am working on creating a portfolio, but don’t know that I will ever see this as a full-time gig. Simply a way to keep enjoying photography for the moment and maybe make a little extra dough on the side. So if something comes out of this post awesome, if not, I tried. But if anyone reading this (or knows of anyone looking) let them know I’m here and I’m learning – translation: prices are very reasonable.

Here’s to hoping that you have a wonderful weekend! Happy Friday!

House Tour - Outside

I thought I would round out the house tour with a layout and some pictures of our yard. I was planning on taking some updated flower pictures this morning, but I was up until 2:23AM last night (well that’s the last time I remember seeing the clock) and I didn’t make it up in time this morning to snap any photos.

Here is the lot drawing. We have a decent size corner lot, measuring 140’ x 100’ - not ginormous, but plenty to mow! As you can see one of our concerns when buying the house was that there is really no “backyard” with the house/garage being essentially in the middle of the lot. We worried about where to put a swing set and a sandbox down the road, the privacy from the neighbors, what if we want a fire pit/patio, etc. BUT we quickly made a plan and a list of what we could do down the road if this still concerned us.
Here is a general idea of what we have discussed, please excuse my photoshop skills, but you will get the general idea! (Please note that none of my additions are to scale!) There is plenty of room for what we would like to do, while still leaving lots of green areas! The neighbors are wonderful and we are actually enjoying town life much more than we anticipated!

Right now the peonies are blooming and some of the rhod’s, but of course I didn’t get up early enough to snap photos. But last summer I posted all sorts, you can see them here, here, here and here. I am sure there are more, but those will do for now! None of the lilies have begun blooming but I did manage find some photos I took on a stroll a few weeks back of them starting to grow!

With a house turning a century old this year, we have lots of mature trees on our property, including this red maple. We actually have three of them. In addition we have three other large oak trees, four small evergreens and one birch that looks of have only been planted a few years ago.

The birch is planted between the deck and the garage, and we look forward to the day when it provides lots of shade! Afternoons can be awfully hot and sunny sitting out on our new patio set!

As you can see on the “idea lot” above, I would like some raised gardens. Chris decided to take a whack at gardening this summer, and plant a strawberry topsy-turvy. He was very excited, a little too excited for a guy who doesn’t eat strawberries… Any who, that’s our place! Wishing you a Happy Thursday!

House Tour - Second Floor

Alright, we’re back! Are you ready for the second floor!? (I can’t believe I am doing this…) no joke. My upstairs has never looked quite this bad. One room is torn apart and the mess has spread throughout the whole floor. The pictures I have are a combination of pictures taken yesterday, pictures taken over the past year and pictures from our first visit before making an offer. Anywho… let’s take a look at the plan first.
Here it is! I have renamed some of the rooms to what we called them. Certain things you will notice… old home, so shared closets. Guestroom 1 was made smaller by prior owners somewhere down the line, to account for an additional closet in the master. The stairs to the attic are between the guestrooms in the closet and again, small bathroom, lots of doors/windows and hardwoods. So let’s start the walk thru and I’ll share the to do’s.

Lets start with the master bedroom. You may remember our transformation of this room from looking very “collegy” to our grown up bedroom in prior posts. And yes, I did steal the pictures from there… today it looks the same except I didn’t make the bed and there is a pile of clothes on the floor!

Master Bedroom List
- Dresser for Her: DONE
- Dresser for Him: Still Looking, want a taller dresser to go in the corner where the flower pictures are.
- Headboard: DONE, so happy I don’t lose my pillows at night anymore!
- Curtains: Definitely moving up on the list since summer is rolling around again.
- Rug: DONE (Thanks Beth!)
- New Bedding: DONE (Thanks Jenny!)
- New Hampers
- Nightstands: Good for now!- TV/DVD: DONE

Now I know that we don’t have a baby yet, and no news on when that will be happening yet… but we do call the room across the hall from us the Nursery. As this is what it will be some day. Today I is a storage room for all the stuff that used to be in the guest room, as well as a large wardrobe that we don’t really use anymore and baby stuff that we have no use for but it was too good of a deal to pass up. (Yes, you can roll yours eyes if you want – my hubby does – but when I find a crib mattress for $10 in brand spanking new condition from someone I know is a gremaphobe , I’m sold!) Here is a photo from our first viewing of the house, they used it as an office… so yes a small room. But really close to us and will be perfect for a little noise maker someday! Nursery List
- Nothing at this time.

With no baby on the way quite yet, we are not focusing on this room. I just hope to finish up the guest room and get it cleaned out! Speaking of, let’s take a look at “The Blue Room.”

Right now we are trying to call this the guest room, but we usually resort back to “The Blue Room” or now-and-then “The Peacock Room” as that is what the new color theme reminds me of. Those pictures may look familiar to some of you from when this room was going to get some new makeup. Well a paint job turned into much more! 6 months later… it’s still under construction, but the hubby has been diligently working on it and it should be completed very soon! Here is what it looks like today!

Guest Room 1 List
- Paint: Partial, still need to do closet and trim.
- Take out Cabinet: DONE
- Rug: Purchased!
- Fix Baseboards: Partial, all done just need to install the last couple in the closet.
- Molding: Partial, ready to be installed!
- Nightstand: still looking!
- Bedding: DONE (Thanks Grandma!)
- Chair/Bench/Ottoman: DONE
- Headboard: still hunting!
- Wall Art: In Progress
- New Light Fixture: will come with time.
- Shelving in Closet: eventually, want shelves in closet to hold linens! (I have no linen closet upstairs)

As you can see it is a major work in progress, but as we find the time, it will get completed. More on that to come!

Now, moving on to the upstairs bathroom. Once again, old house = tiny bathroom. These pictures are older and from the day Chris decided to tear this room apart to fix a drip. Yep. A drip. He is patching it up as we speak! Woot woot!

Second Floor Bathroom List
- New Shower Curtain: DONE
- New Shower: we are in the researching stage. But we did fix the drip! Ha!
- Dual Flush: DONE- New Cabinets: In Progress

Sorry for the bad photos, it’s a tiny room… But pretty basic. Toilet. Shower. Vanity.

This room is a mess. When we moved it, Chris planned to use this as a “Game Room” for when his buddies came over to practice for zombie invasions… since then. We have gotten rid of the monsterous TV and moved in a queen size bed… other than that. Not much has been touched!

Guest Room 2 List
- Get Rid of Clutter
- Another Bed: DONE
- Rug
- Paint (and only paint!)
- Wall Art
- Curtains
- New Light Fixture

We have plans to turn this into another guest room, but for now it’s just going to have to wait. Eventually I will pack up all Chris’ leftover “toys” and move them into the attic… then we’ll get to work! Lastly, there is access to an attic in the closet between the guestrooms.

The previous owners were turning this into a master suite. And while I don’t know their entire plan, I know that they should’ve asked for some advice when undertaking this mission. The sheetrock has been slapped up with lots of confusing edges and they forgot a vapor barrier between the sheetrock and the insulation… so if we ever did want to turn this into a livable space, it would have to all be gutted and redone, including the bathroom they put up there. Ugh.

Attic List
- Nothing at this time.

This is just more space we don’t currently need, we have no plans for up here at this point in time. We are currently using it for storage, and because none of the plumbing is hooked up, we don’t heat/cool it. Simply storage.
Well I hope you enjoyed the tour, from the top to the bottom! If you have any questions, let us know! Friends and family are welcome anytime, just remember - “A clean house is a sign of a wasted life.” (Haha, or at least that’s what I try to tell myself!) Happy Wednesday!