Showing posts with label home. Show all posts
Showing posts with label home. Show all posts

results of severe boredom.

you can ask anyone who knows me well: i don't get bored. i just don't. i could sit at home for hours, reading, watching t.v., looking through magazines, reading blogs, surfing the internet; i just don't get bored. ever.


and then i got Mono. good times, right? well, i think it didn't help me that i could barely move, so at times i didn't even feel like holding my book for very long. i've watched plenty of tv, completely read 2 novels, read 4 magazines cover to cover, read probably close to 400 blog entries--all in the last 9 days since i got sick.

finally on friday (the day after my birthday--which was spent in bed--joy), i couldn't take it anymore. i was bored. it was a strange feeling.

i started cleaning out the drawers and cabinets in our wet bar. i rearranged all of the odds and ends, repackaged some of the Christmas china that was still out loose, rearranged the 18,000 margarita and wine glasses we have, and organized my recipes. this is quite comical, you see, as i don't cook. like, ever. :)

please enjoy the photos from my day of severe boredom.





here is my lovely recipe binder, given to me by clint's aunt carol at my bridal shower. look, i'm actually putting it to use!







I took all my loose recipes and labeled, cut and pasted them onto these loose leaf recipe pages. YAY organization!







I decided to keep the original recipe cards from family members and simply dropped them into a sheet protector that sits in the front of my recipe binder. I love the vintage recipe cards and beautiful handwriting! We just don't write in cursive like the older generations did. I call my own handwriting "prinsive," a random combination of print and cursive letters. It seems that's what most people use these days. Oh well, it's unique if nothing else. :)




here's my newly reorganized nook above the wet bar. i'm still not sure i love it, but i like it better than what was there before (margarita glasses with that same fiesta pitcher--too many glasses with the hanging ones).





now that i moved the cookbooks up top, it makes the counter a lot less cluttered, as seen here, with a lovely framed photo from one my musicals and a lovely crystal bowl filled with wine corks. the crystal bowl was a wedding gift, and i figured since i don't have a china cabinet, why leave it hidden in my cabinets? i need to drink some more wine, though...





here is the "new" left side of my mantle. i'm really liking this side. it seems balanced to me. i like the platter, but i'm constantly afraid it's going to come crashing down at some point (most likely in the middle of the night, waking a frightened yours truly to the faux sounds of an intruder).




here's the right side of the mantle, which just doesn't look right to me. i can never figure out what is wrong with my mantle groupings. i rearrange things a thousand times, i've read advice about it on several blogs, i've shopped the house and tried out new things (enter everything on this side now apart from the brown vase). i'm at a loss. oh well. it'll do for now! :)



here is the whole mantle (terrible photo, i know). what can you do? the problem is that i can't get too rustic-vintage in this room, even though i love it, because the living room is done in a new, mod version of the 60's flower power, including a chocolate brown shag rug, and pillows with large flowers in burnt orange, avocado, and red. we have an avocado accent wall to the left of the fireplace. what's a newbie decorator to do? :) just keep trying different things!





things i plan to buy covertly with my husband's Lowe's gift cards.

HA! i am such the sneaky one, n'est pas?

anywho.

#1: Electric staple gun: too costly for my taste, but the cheaper one only got 2-3 stars. Meh.

#2: Fire Pit: for my backyard parties, yes? YES! not too shabby for $79!

#3: Electric sander: are we sensing a trend here? that i'm lazy, perhaps? YES. Would you like to know that the Lowes' website did NOT offer what I was looking for?? And I would be shocked if they didn't HAVE an electric sander, but I sure couldn't find one!!! So I had to resort to Home Depot!

OK, moving down my list to things that can't (alas, sigh) be purchased with hubby's stolen shared (what's mine is yours, and so on, right?) ...gift cards.

#4: Paint from Restoration Hardware: for my newly redone kitchen walls (to be). Cappuccino, please.


YAY for home improvement!


chalkboard paint is my friend.

I am linking up with:

and
Check out Twice Remembered's party: Make Your Monday


This is the first "project" I've posted in a long time, and I'm sorry to tell you that it's probably the easiest and fastest one I've ever done!

Of course I forgot AGAIN to take a proper "before" shot, but you'll get the gist even with the blue painter's tape.




As you can see, all I did was tape around the edges of the opposite side. (I decided not to paint over the original print, as it's REALLY cute. I figure even if it doesn't match my kitchen right now, I just hated to cover it up! You never know.)

Then I just took off the lovely blue tape...



See? Isn't it cute??? Wait, that's not the project. OK, here's what I actually did: (hehe)


Boy, do I love me some chalkboard paint. Yes, this is my 3rd chalkboard project. One hangs in my bedroom, the other just to the left of this one, but I plan to rearrange this wall soon.

Also gotta love the Chalk Ink instead of regular old chalk. As a teacher, I use enough regular old chalk at work. Actually, mostly I just use my dry erase board, the chalk dust bothers me!

Next up isn't my very favorite project (or at least not my best result), but I'll show it anyway, simply because I spent the time on it.

The original box is actually really cute; picked it up at Goodwill for $2.99. GOD BLESS GOODWILL.


Just added a little of this lovely scrapbook paper:


After applying the paper with Mod Podge (Matte), I wanted a little something more, so I typed up some letters on Word till I found a font I liked, then I just freehanded a "C" for our last name, cut it out, and pasted that puppy on. (It's not my best work; I really should have made a stencil or something, but I'm lazy.)


And here's the finished product:








Like I said, this isn't the BEST project I've ever done, but it turned out pretty decent. The box now sits on the dresser in our master bedroom (which is done in browns and aquas), and it holds things that would normally be strewn haphazardly across the dresser. A prettier way to store all my junk and papers! Yay!

Happy Monday, everyone! 1o more teaching days till Spring Break, so I am pumped! I am considering undertaking the huge project of painting our kitchen cabinets over spring break! SCARY, but exciting. Still have to find the perfect shade of creamy white paint and the perfect new paint color for the walls! Any recommendations are welcome!

Thanks for visiting!!!

some inspiration via images.

Would this wallpaper work in my house? No. Do I still love it? Yes. And love the jewelry display! Have you noticed how popular these are lately?


Ghost chairs and spiral bookcase, oh my!


This kitchen's cabinetry is not only in one of my absolutely favorite colors, but I have always wanted to have some glass front cabinets like those. Sigh. I love beach-colored rooms. A true Pisces, yes?


I love shutters, and I LURVE this huge inspiration board!


How freaking cute are these curtains? The color and fabric, not so me, but I love the idea of having privacy that still brings in plenty of light and also boasts a beautiful window treatment.


Curtained, built-in bookshelves? Say no more, you had me at hello!


Doesn't this desk look like its owner gets a lot done? And does a lot of thinking? Solves the worlds problems? I love the footed white drawer organizer that sits atop the otherwise plain desk.


Sigh, again with the beachy colored rooms! Aqua, how I love thee! And I love the striped rug.


(All of the above images are courtesy of The Nest.)Link


I saw this last image of an eat-in kitchen on The Gypsy's Corner and loved it. This is exactly what I have pictured in the corner of our kitchen but have not come across anywhere. I love that what would normally be a wooden bench is comfortable upholstery, and the black chairs would be perfect for my fiesta ware/tuscan themed kitchen.

OK, so be looking for all of these wonderful things to happen in my house...when the lotto-fairy visits me.

trash to treasure extravaganza!

Thanks to Rhoda over at Southern Hospitality for hosting the blog party again. Please take a few minutes to head over there and check out everyone else's thrifty finds!

Also stop by Between Naps on the Porch, another great blog, for her Metamorphosis Monday link party. Good times; I love getting inspired by you creative bloggers out there!

Let's just start off this post with a picture of a gorgeous child, our niece, who is about to turn 1 year old. I mean, is she gorgeous, or is she gorgeous?


Moving on, when I say extravaganza, it's because I have been a tad obsessed with thrifting lately, so of course i've come across many great finds that just needed a little extra love (spray paint) to enhance their inner bling. Ahem. God, how I love spray paint.

Well, this is going to be long, so get comfortable.


Do you see that white, empty spot on the wall behind these thrifted candlesticks? Doesn't that look like a perfect spot to install a few shelves to hold my arsenal of spray paint and various supplies? Yes, I thought so, too; I'm glad you agree! Anyway, these guys became chocolate brown and now live on our mantel (is mantel spelled -el or -le?).


(That's one of them there with the yellowish gold candle. The other is on the left side. What a beaut! Did I mention they were 50 cents each?)

This little lamp was already a beauty for $5.99 at Goodwill. All I did was add a light bulb and a lamp shade! And a cat!

Love it! Makes a beautiful contrast against our brown accent wall in the master bedroom.



Remember this guy? Now he lives on my piano, also painted a chocolate brown and perched upon by a lovely orange candle.

Loved this scrolly bookend, so out came the spray paint again.

Here are the painted candle holder and bookend in their new home atop the piano.


Remember this little guy for 50 cents?

Just look at him now:

With a fresh coat of sky blue spray paint, now he organizes all our outdoor paraphenalia (including kitty's hairbrush...) on our bar. Guests need not worry about sunscreen or bug spray at the Cockrells house, as we've plenty to spare!


This one's my favorite! Here's my nightstand I was asking for advice about. I went ahead and painted just the drawer fronts for a new look, and I love it.


Yes, I really should have taken the time to cover the rest of the drawer, but I'm lazy. So there. And nobody will see the stray spray paint but me. Ha! Stray spray.

I loves me some Rustoleum!

Here is the new and improved nightstand in our bedroom. I'd like to get some new drawer pulls, but I haven't yet. And let's face it: I'm also too lazy to fill the ginormous hole left by this massive hardware and drill new holes. Yep.


I thought this frame was great; look at the lovely detail!


So...add the newly painted glossy black frame to...

THIS old fashioned glass triple photo mat...no wait, this photo mat became...

This new chalkboard!
Oh, you mean it doesn't look finished? OK, THIS new chalkboard:


Here it is hung on our bright yellow kitchen wall:

Can you tell I did a faux finish on the kitchen wall? You should have seen how bright it was BEFORE the faux finish. WOW. Looks great with the Fiestaware, though, I must say.

Hubby would like to point out that I should have written chicken or steak. Sorry for the confusion.


Another interesting frame (this time I used craft paint):

I'm sorry to say that (AGAIN) I forgot a before shot of this little friend, but before (got her for about 5 bucks at ye olde goodwill) she was a rusty dark metal with a mirror inside. Just look at her now!!

This quotation is from a poem by ee cummings, read by a close friend at our wedding. Now that you know it's by ee cummings, you'll forgive the run-on sentence aspect of it, yes?


I love how the new chalkboard complements my necklace holder and new lamp.





As for this little lamp, I loved the detail of it, but not the color, so (you guessed it) Heirloom White spray paint: enter, stage right!

Now, here she is (all decked out with a shade I already had), looking fabulous in our guest room:




Can you tell how tarnished this guy is? He was a mere 99 cents at Goodwill! I polished him all up, and now he lives in our bathroom, holding cotton balls and swabs.





This cute little piece was hideously discolored (I think it may be plastic?), but for 99 cents, with a fresh coat of paint, it makes a great new holder for all things lovely.





OK, I turned the antique bench upside down to examine its business, and look who thought this was clearly her new bed.
"What? And would you go away with that camera? You KNOW I hate the flash."



Precious little bird bath for--don't hate--$1.99.


More spray paint--anyone thinking I should invest in Rustoleum stock yet--and mr. birdie makes a perfect addition to our backyard, perched (for now, at least) on the cute little flower table you may have seen in a previous post:




Well, we've reached the end, thank God. I don't think I could type anymore. Wow. Hope you enjoyed these (super easy) transformations, and hopefully this inspired you to get out to your local thrift shops to peruse the aisles!

Tune in tomorrow, as I have a master plan for a lovely cream frame I found last week. YAY!


xo, Gayla


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