The Last of the Nest Tour

I think a Master Bedroom should be a place of refuge and peace. I chose a nice shade of sage green for the walls and we love it! When we close the drapes, it’s like a cave!

I like to decorate my home on a budget so when it was time to work on our bedroom, I looked for something dramatic to go above the bed. The wall space is so large, I needed something to fill the space.

I found 4 of these scrolled iron pieces and decided to make an arrangement over the bed. I think it cost me around $25 for the whole thing! Bargain!

The ceilings are so tall in our room and regular curtains wouldn’t work. I found these drapes at JCPenney’s (on a major sale!) and added fabric to coordinate at the bottom to lengthen them..

The knobs were tricky. I priced them (I needed 30!) and it would have cost a fortune to buy that many actual metal knobs. So I decided to get creative.

I found large unfinished wooden knobs online (for cheap, I mean CHEAP) and painted them black. I then rubbed metallic paint on top of the black to make them look like the metal above the bed.  

Now how to attach them to the wall? I hot glued them to long sheetrock nails and nailed them into the walls. My mom found the drapery rings and clips at a discount store and Voila! –Custom drapes!!

Now, on to my son’s room…

You know, boys kind of get the raw end of the room deal. Usually, the girls get the bigger rooms, and admit it, they have the cooler room decorations! Right?

I wanted to create a room for my son that was “him”. He loves loved baseball. At the time we decorated his room, that is. Now he’s moved on to golf and has declared that golf is “his sport”. I’m cool with that! (I can drive a mean golf cart!!)

So, here is his cool room. You can do anything with denim, so when he wants to update it with his golf “stuff”, it will be an easy redo.

I also made more space in his room by removing those lovely closet doors and replacing them with curtains. These were panels I found for $8 at a discount home store.

****************

We have one more room in the house which is the study/home office. I’m starting that project this week! Oh, the joys of ripping down wallpaper border and painting. I hope it turns out in reality how it looks in my head!  I’m so excited because this is the last room in the house yet to be updated. I’ll post before and after pictures when it’s finished.

So, the moral of this tour is: You can look like you spent more money than you did if you just look around and get Creative!

Blessings,

Sandi

 

Nerf Party for Mason!

The party was to celebrate a little boy named Mason who has beaten cancer! What a great reason to have a party!! We were so excited to attend the Nerf Party hosted by Kristen at We are THAT family.  Bridget of Bake at 350 was there and so was Amanda of The Eck Life. We always love a reason to get together. What a party!

The weather did not cooperate, however, so the party was moved inside. The kids thought it was FABULOUS to get to shoot NERF guns inside!!

 

 

Boys….

 

       vs……

 

Girls!

 

 

 

 

Nerf bullets were flying…kids were screaming….Moms and Dads were laughing. It was a party that would make Mason proud!

I pray that Mason will feel the love of others all across the country who have never met him but are praying for a long and healthy life for him! Way to go, Mason!

Dodging bullets in Texas,

 Sandi

Pretty, Spunky Girl’s Room

When we first began to work on my daughter’s room, I went to the paint store with a color in mind for the walls: Pepto-Bismol Pink! I completely let the “paint lady” talk me out of it! I ended up with a pastel pink……that is NOT my daughter’s personality! Every time I walked into her room, I kept thinking it didn’t look right.

What do you do when you don’t like something? Just cover it up, right? LOL    

SO, we bought one of those really cool loft beds at Pier 1 Kids and they were fun BUT, she outgrew them very quickly (we have very tall kids and the ceiling got in the way!)

Before

Don’t ever let anyone talk you out (or into) something you don’t want to do! You have great ideas!!! Go with it!!

So, here is the AFTER…

A cool, spunky girl needs a spunky chandelier, right?

I looked everywhere but the ones I found were too plain.  Until this one….

I found this chandelier at a little shop in Fredericksburg, Texas. I saw it and knew it was THE ONE! It was made to plug into a wall outlet, but my Father-in-Law cut the wires and hardwired it just like a ceiling fan.  That was $100 well spent because it really completes the room.

We took off the closet doors and hung curtains. It really gave her more room. Don’t you just love her “self-portrait”? She painted that in 1st Grade. LOVE it!!

 

Every little girl needs a mirror to primp!

I bought 2 full-length mirrors at Wal-mart and used super strength tape to attach them to the wall. My daughter helped me paint the border. She’s quite the crafty little girl!

The perfect room for my pretty, spunky little girl!

Blessings,

Sandi

Live, Laugh, Laundry!

Sort…..wash….fold….put away….I don’t know about you, but laundry is not the most exciting thing in the world to do. It is definitely needed, but not much fun.

Our laundry room was drab and plain so I wanted to spice it up and make it a room that is nice to walk into and stay for a while, but is also practical.

Here’s what I came up with:

I painted the walls a mustard yellow, which I LOVE and used black accents. I created a gift wrap station for convenience and it is incredibly handy. I used paper towel holders bought from a discount store to store my ribbons and tissue. Very handy!

Don’t you just love the chalkboard? I got the idea from my sweet friend Kristen over at We Are THAT Family. It was so easy to do and it looks great!

The skirt around the counter can hide a multitude of sins (ha, ha!).

I absolutely LOVE my new Laundry Room!

Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Happy redecorating!!

Sandi

My Warm and Cozy Nest

Since I’ve been blogging lately about ways to build your “nest”, I thought you might like to have a tour of my “nest”.  I’ll start with the areas we live in the most.

I really do enjoy doing home improvement projects. Most of the changes we made to our home were made before I started blogging so there aren’t many “before” pictures. Just imagine seeing most of the walls white.  Ick!!

I wanted to create a warm and loving environment for my family so I chose warm colors. It feels cozy.

Are you ready? Here we go….

 

     The Entry

 

My parents gave me the table for my birthday several years ago.  I LOVE getting furniture as gifts!!

 

 

                                                      The Living Room

  This sofa used to have a very bright navy floral fabric on it until my mother reupholstered it. Great job Mom!  

Have you ever had a truck come through your neighborhood selling furniture from North Carolina? When we moved into our first home outside of Austin, Texas in 1994, we bought this green Thomasville wing backed chair off of a truck!                               

The Dining Room

 My parents found this dining set at an Estate Sale for $600. It had been in the seller’s family since the 1920’s. I’m sure lots of interesting conversations were had around that dining table.

This piano was my Granny’s piano. So sweet… I have so many memories of my mother playing this piano when we would visit my grandparents. My dad’s dad loved to hear my mom play!

Do you like my cross collection? I only have a few (ha, ha). All of the crosses have a story. Some were given as  gifts, one of them I made at a paint-your-own-pottery place, and some were handmade. My collection continues to grow. The Psalm 91 iron piece was given to me by my brother-in-law and sister-in-law several years ago. They didn’t even know that was my favorite chapter in The Bible! How cool is THAT?

Do you see the “Koele” doily in the frame over the doorway? My 90 year-old Great Aunt Hazel had her 93 year-old sister make that for us. What a treasure and heirloom.

Now on with the tour…

The Kitchen

I’m planning on painting my cabinets an antique black, so watch for pix very soon!

Eventually, we’ll be changing the countertops and flooring, but we’ve got to save our pennies for that big job! 

Our Den

Powder Room

This room used to have ugly, outdated wallpaper in navy, dark green, and burgundy. I used the same plaster technique from the Kitchen on this Powder Room. I love this even better! While the plaster was still wet, I used a sea sponge to create more texture for the tea stain to cling to.

  

 

Can you see the texture?

 

 

 

 

I’ll show you the rest of the house tomorrow!

Have a blessed day, Blogging Friends!

Sandi

Kitchen Makeover- Part 1

When we bought our *previously loved* home about four years ago, it was mostly white. I REALLY don’t like white walls! The only 2 rooms that were painted were the Master Bathroom and it was SALMON. Yes, ugly, peach! {shudder} The Study was/still is a “lovely” shade of gray with, you guessed it, wallpaper BORDER! (I think it’s been there a while). The Study will be my next room to conquer!

Since the kitchen is the heart of the home, I wanted to make it warm and inviting. The only BEFORE pictures I have is of the kitchen.

The Breakfast Room had very outdated wallpaper. Don’t you just LOVE that border??

I decided to tackle this room by removing as much of the wallpaper that would come off easily by just pulling. Then, I used Joint Compound that comes in the big 5 gallon bucket from Home Depot or Lowe’s.

I spread it over the walls using a cake spatula and flat trowel. It’s just like icing a cake. It’s very forgiving.

The Joint Compound goes on gray and as it dries, it turns white. You must let it completely dry for at least 24 hours.

I wanted my kitchen to be red, but since the plaster was very white, I needed to put a dark gray paint on first (didn’t get a picture of that, sorry)

I then painted it a great brick red. You can see the texture if you look closely.

Once the red was dry, I used a dry cotton cloth and rubbed antique tea stain glaze on top. It clung to the grooves and created depth. I love it!

The light fixture was very dated with the brass ring around the globe. I painted the ring with oil-rubbed bronze craft paint to buy us a little more time before replacing it. It works for now.

It was then time to tackle these….

The cabinets were “pickled” pink. Hmmmm.

I cleaned them really well with Krud Kutter (available at any home improvement store and Walmart) until my cloth was completely clean. Then, I mixed an oil-based honey colored paint with an oil-based glaze until I had it to the consistency I wanted (sorry, I don’t have measurements for you).

I think it warmed up the kitchen quite a bit! The countertops and floors will hopefully be replaced before too long. :-)

I wanted to “antique” them a bit so I mixed regular black craft paint with the glaze and painted it in the grooves.

Added some nice hardware that I bought off of Ebay and voila!

My new kitchen!!

P.S.: We want to put new flooring in the downstairs and I think it will clash with the cabinets. SO, I’m going to be painting my cabinets black with an antique finish. Tutorial will be coming soon!! You know, it’s already been 3 years since I painted them the first time. It’s time, don’t ‘cha think??

Blessings,

Sandi

LiveJournal Tags: Painting cabinets

Going to Kenya

My sweet friend Kristen from We Are THAT Family is on her way to Kenya TODAY! A few months ago she was asked by Compassion International to travel to Kenya and blog about her trip. How cool is that???

I ask her all the time if she is praying “The Prayer of Jabez” in I Chronicles 4:10.

“Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, ‘Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.’ And God granted his request.”

God certainly is “enlarging her territory”! The way this trip came about and the way that God is taking care of all of the details amaze me. Why am I surprised?

She will be gone from March 2 through March 12. Please pray for her husband and 3 children while she is away. They are one of the most amazing families I have ever met. They are all thrilled for this adventure for their mom and have welcomed it with open arms. In fact, her husband Terrell has created a beautiful necklace to honor her and her trip. It is available at their shop on Etsy. Check it out! Part of the proceeds from the sale of these necklaces will help to raise money for their ADOPTION. That upcoming chapter in their lives will begin shortly. See, I told you that God was enlarging their territory!

You can follow Kristen’s story every day on her blog We are THAT family. I know you will be blessed by her transparency and willingness to show all of us a country that struggles and children who have nothing. Our family will be following daily and discussing how God can use us to touch others around the world. I hope you will be inspired to open up your mind to those opportunities as well.

Blessings,

Sandi