Style is Where You Find It

Here's our living room when we first moved in.

Most recently it looked like this...

Then after my sweet sister, Hannah helped me paint, it looks like this...

The color is Behr 'Antique Leather'

What a difference it makes!  Exact same mantel arrangement as above, totally different look.

Calming, don't you think?

I love this color, because is it warm and neutral without being boring (to me, anyway!).  J said he was (pleasantly) surprised because I usually go for more color, but maybe soothing is just what I need right now.  He bought a shirt this color for my birthday last year, and I have loved the color ever since.  You never know where you'll get inspiration!  I had a college professor that said "Style is where you find it--at a thrift store, an antique find, or an expensive furniture store." 

Once I found a gorgeous 'pineapple' design accent table for a client.  The table was perfect for her entry way.  It was well made, but by a 'value' furniture store.  It took her months to even bother looking at it, because she didn't want to buy something from that store.  When she finally did, she loved it and it looked stunning in her entry with a custom floral arrangement I made her. 

So look around, and find something that inspires you.  It might be something in nature or in your closet or your best friend's dessert plates that inspire a whole room.  Style is where you find it.

And then he turned 6.

 

It's true. That cute little screaming baby of mine is 6 now.  I can hardly believe it!  We celebrated his day with homemade pizza,

an alien/monster theme birthday cookie,

and presents that included a remote control Millenium Falcon.

We continued the celebrating to his 'friend party'.

Monster plates

Sassy monster cups

Worms in dirt

Eyeballs

Lady monster toes

And bandaged monster toes

More eyeballs (made from $2 worth of styrofoam balls, round stickers and a sharpie) 

Assorted body parts

The party scene (Buddy had pants on by the party, don't worry)

Monster making supplies

My super cheap and easy 'pinata'

Monster footprints leading up to the house

I made stencils out of  parchment paper and sidewalk paint

All the party people

J serving up swamp slime drink

It was a 'make your own monster' affair

And mummy pizza

The birthday wish

Pin the eyes on the alien

 

Assorted posterboard monsters

Happy birthday, my sweet son!  You are so bright and talented and you amazing me every day.  Thanks for lighting up my life and teaching me so much.  I love you a million, billion, zillion.

Yet More of the Darndest

They just don't stop.  They don't.

Girlie:  For a long time I thought that the handicapped parking pictures were of people sitting on the potty. I thought that people who really needed to go potty could park there so that they could get to the bathroom really quick.
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At breakfast one morning:

Sammy:  Hey, let's play 'I Spy'.  Okay, I spy with my little eye, something that is black.
Me:  Is it a sign that says 'You need to eat your breakfast before you play this game'?
Sammy:  No.  (pause, wrinkles up his forehead) I don't think we even have a sign like that.

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Every time I turn onto an on ramp.

"Free-way en-trance.  This is the freeway?  I love the freeway!!!"

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Ah, my little Buddy.  I wish you could spend some time with this kid.  He's actually our funniest kid.  He's had speech delays, and has apparently compensated with facial expressions and body language.  It's hilarious to see a 3 year old look disgusted, put out, or shocked.  He can roll his eyes with the best of them.  So, he's more of a 'visual' funny guy.  He's much improved thanks to weekly speech therapy, and can even say whole prayers by himself.  They usually go something like this:

"Dew Heavy Fa-yer, Dear Heavenly Father,

Fakey fo mine day. Thank Thee for my day. Fakey fo mine famee. Thank Thee for my family (and then he names each of us). Fakey for bookies (bookies are blankets), an puppies, an pate paint, an coe-tins curtains (I recently redid the boys room, in case you're not getting that), an diggos diggers, an dup chucks dump trucks.  Pease hep me be good boy, obey Mommy an Daddy. Name Jeez Kise, Eemen."

Oh, I just love it.

Continuing the conversation and please help!

Just a couple things:

The rug:  I kept it.  It is living happily in my living room.  After some serious vacuuming, it is behaving nicely, and I'm thrilled.  J is still not a fan, but I love it!!  Thanks to all for your input!! 

My shoes:  Thanks for all the compliments on my family picture shoes.  I love them too.  For those asking:  I got them a few years ago at Dillards, a store in St. Louis.  We don't have it here in Seattle (you Midwesterners are so lucky), but it is a Jessica Simpson shoe, if that helps at all.  I did make and attach the flowers, and I am going to do a tutorial on the super easy flowers.  Stay tuned.

Now, a problem:  Believe it or not, my blog told me that I ran out of picture space.  I don't know what to do.  The options that I can think of are

1-Pay an annual fee for more space.  (Not a fan of this one)

2-Start a new blog. (Not a big fan of this one, either)

3-Only writing/no pictures on this blog (Again,...)

4-Start a new blog and put an update link on this one going to the new one. (you guessed it...)

5-Don't blog anymore. (um...)

Has anyone encountered this before?  Or heard of it?  What should I do?  I have a couple things already uploaded, but after that, no more pictures!!  Help, please!!

A little like giving a mouse a cookie...{hall & bath makeovers}

I told you I had plans for that humongous window hanging out in my living room, right?  So here's what I did with it.  The only 'before' picture I could find of my weird little hallway was when we first moved in.  So here's the 'way before'.

And here's the after:

Of course, said J, why wouldn't we hang a window in front of the window?  That's just common sense.

And then I went after the powder bath, since it was right next to the hallway.

Before

And then I bought this little sign:

So of course I had to go antiquing to find an old frame to put around it:

And then the black and white of the sign reminded me of the fabric I had left over from the kitchen valance,





Which made me think that buying some fancy-fancy chair rail and painting it black (and painting the wall white since I had the paint stuff out) would be a good idea...



as well as hunting down some old French books
(So that any French people who use our bathroom have something to read? --J)



and French made me think of lavender, naturally...




so I thought I'd hang it all on my wall...

and then maybe I stopped because my husband is "project'd out."  But I'd have a new powder bath, and it would smell like lavender.  And then I'd go looking for a new sign.

I think this is one of my favorite projects!  What do you think?