MY WHIMSICAL TREE IS FINALLY ON THE WALL!

Every room should have a little bit of whimsy! 

I did it! I actually free hand painted a tree on my wall! Yay me. lol....

I am so pleased at how this tree turned out! And also, so pleased it is done! It was kind of a spontaneous last minute decision. I mean I have always wanted to paint a tree on my wall, but I wasn't prepared to do so. But today it was pouring rain and I got the itch and looked around to see what paint I had on hand and voila!

20 SOME YEARS LATER AND MARTHA FINALLY GETS A FACE LIFT!

So this week I decided to give my "Martha Washington" sewing cabinet a much needed and belated face lift. These little stands were made popular back in the early 1900's when everyone was broke and manufacturers were looking for smaller wares to sell during the Depression. I bought mine in my hometown of Madison Ohio at a yard sale back in the 80's. They actually have nothing to do with Martha Washington and came along after her time. 

They sell on eBay, depending on the condition anywhere from

MY LIVING ROOM FACE LIFT...SHE LOOKS 20 YEARS YOUNGER!

Here is my new living room! It's not exactly "done" because my home is always a work in progress. Always. But is done for a while. And it is definitely a much happier room. :) I think it's smiling now -I know I am!  Take a look! I absolutely love it...what do you think??  

So we went from this room which I also loved once upon a time too for all it's color.. 

MY LOVE/ HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH LEATHER...

Google image, Source not found

Yes, its true, I have a love/hate relationship with leather. I hate it for its stuffiness, dark and formal feel. I love it for its beauty, comfort and durability. I just purchased a small new leather love seat to replace my fabric couch in the formal living room. And please understand.... that it really isn't a "formal" living room at all but since we have a family room open off the kitchen that is what they call it. But, believe me, there's nothing formal about it. Or any other part of my house for that matter.

PAINT ME..PAINT ME.. PLEASE!!!

So this is a coffee table that I have had for.. oh about 12-13 years.
Not in the house, mind you, but it's been around. I haven't used it for at least 8 or 9 years. But it's still hanging out. I tried to give it to my son (He used it for a tv stand) and that lasted a while until it ended up back in my garage recently.  So here it is again. hmmm....I just can't get rid of it! So I think I might use it again. It's really not my style, especially the legs. But I might give it a try...only -not like it is of course. It's begging for a make over. I am thinking that this might be my next little project. Not a real "project" that takes an a considerable amount of time...just a Saturday afternoon kind of thing. But as easy as it is, I keep putting it off. So maybe this Saturday..... maybe. So I found a few painted ones online that give an idea of how it will look....

I AM DEFINITELY NOT A "PINK" GIRL!!!

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE MUSTARD COLOR BUT NOT FOR THIS PARTICULAR ROOM

AND I DO LOVE WHITE, BUT STILL, IT IS KINDA BORING......

   I think I want to paint it kind of a Citron color...like this.  

It will go in my living room which is a much smaller/cozier room than the family/great room and so it's size really works in there. My drapes in that room are from Pier 1 Imports and look like this...

so I want to get close to the color of them which is actually a citron kinda color even though this picture doesnt show that. What do you think?

Painted Interior Doors

So I was over checking out the most recent post of Kristi's, a fellow blogger that I follow. And can I just say that I just love her blog? (link below)

She is such an inspiration both in decorating and blogging itself! I am absorbing all the learning experience I can from her! But anyway.....she had a post about painting interior doors and was asking what others thought of it. I commented on it because I did just that. -I painted all my interior doors on the first level of my house about 2 months ago. And I LOVE them!

Kitchen "trash" door

I have always just had plain old white doors and never really thought much about it. But this time around I did. I first painted my front door (the exterior door) a beautiful turquoise and fell in love with it. You can see that beautiful door here. Then I painted all the rest of the doors inside the same color. Big mistake. What was beautiful in a small dose for the outside door, was way too much inside. So I repainted them a beautiful soft greyish blue called Yachtsman by Valspar. Check it out...do you like??? This color gives the whole downstairs a cohesive flow since I have used various greys, blacks, whites and yellows downstairs. 

Downstairs Powder Room door

view from standing in the kitchen to the hallway

So check out the link here if you'd like to see the original post that I was referring to of one of the blogs I follow! 

Heres a few more pics of the downstairs doors...

Pantry door with chalkboard

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES!!! ( And 30 bucks! )

YES!!! ONE DAY LATER... AND MY FIREPLACE LOOKS LIKE THIS....!!!

LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE....DID I SAY IT ENOUGH???????

INSTEAD OF THIS PLAIN JANE LOOK THAT IT HAD YESTERDAY !!!  

YAY! Love it!

AND IT COST JUST UNDER 30 BUCKS!!!  And let me tell ya...

BANG FOR YOUR BUCK!!! A Kitchen Re-do!

The big job that I have been putting off is my kitchen update.  I don't plan on doing a kitchen "remodel" with new layout and all that. -My kitchen layout is fine for this house and it can't really be changed without some major structural re-configuring. And we aren't sure if this is our "forever" home or not. If not, our next one definitely will be. But until we figure that out, I just wanted to upgrade my kitchen. And get new appliances. Because I hated the way my cabinets looked!  But I love how they look now! This is how great they turned out!!! And ya don't have to spend thousands of dollars to give your space a simple facelift. New appliances were a bit pricey but painting the cabinets was truly the biggest change for the least amount of money. 
                          Take a look now!!! I just love it!

AND ANOTHER CLOSE UP OF THE COLOR...

from this.... 

to this....

AND HERE ARE SOME OF THE BEFORE AND DURING PICTURES.......