Living Room Redo

It's been a long time waiting but I finally rearranged the living room.  If you remember from one of my very first posts, Living Room Tour, we had an extremely large, ginormous 10 ft long couch (that may be a slight exaggeration, but not by much).  We got really lucky to find a very comfy, over stuffed love seat online for $50.  With the purchase of a super cheap slip cover we were able to make it a little more fun.

I guess those weren't the best of pictures and probably makes it look more chaotic than it actually is, but I love it!!!  There is a semi-library, office area, and social area.  I'm still working on the curtains and other decor pieces but I find this to much of an improvement.

I adore white couches but with two extremely messy children, that's just not ever happening.  Maybe in 18 years I can have my dream of the all white living room....

DREAM OF MINE

Solid Curtains

So now I have a big dilemma....What kind of curtains do I get with such a busy, over-populated room???  I have a couple ideas that I have in mind but I'm not sure if either one of them will work in our room.

Ruffled Curtains

Striped

I'm really leaning towards the stripes.  What do you think would be a good fit in our very active, busy, and bright living room??

Remembering of 9/11

Today, Jacob and I, have started a tradition that we plan to take part in every year on september 11. We are going to send a special thanks to our american heros and many others in our community.  Our hope is that no one will forget. Instead of focusing on the hate that brought on those events, we will remember how our nation came together and stood tall as a very strong entity.

This year we chose to send thanks to our local fire department. I really got lucky to have Daves family donate merchandise from their paving business In Line Paving. Not bad right??

I'm really hoping this act of kindness will be a tradition my kids will pass along to their children.

Did anyone else do anything for 9/11?? I'd love to hear.  Jacob is already taking notes for next year.

*Jennifer*

Just a quick thanks....

I want to send a big thank you to all my new followers!!! I've had alot of traffic to my blog since my recent link ups. I thank you sooooooo much!!!! I feel extremely encouraged by all my readers and fellow bloggers.

I would like to apologize for my improper post; if you're like me,i only like posts with pictures. We're currently rearranging the living room and we need to reroute wiring for the satellite and internet. I'm really loving our new furniture layout and I can't wait to share my first craigs list purchase; but until I can get the man to complete all the dirty work (I'm just kidding,i just need him to tell me what to do) our computer is going to be out of commission.

I have lots of projects in the work; living room layout, painted kids room, and my next decluttering project.  Hopefully, by next week everything will be complete and I can share our progress.

But until then thank you all so very very much!!

«jennifer»

August Trend of the Month + DIY Statement Necklace

I'm sure you know by now that I'm a DIY kinda gal.  Anything I could do myself for home improvements, fashion, decor, and anything else - you can always count me in.  I feel so fulfilled when I can bring something old and worn out back to life.  Why not right?!?  At least in my heart I know I'm saving something from going to the landfill.  This week I took my DIY passion out on my favorite old ratty scarf.

 

 

I was dreading getting rid of it, but I knew it needed intensive surgery because of the multiple tears it had.  I came across I Heart Jenny's Art: White Jersey Necklace on Pinterest  that helped inspire me to bring life back to my tattered 'ole scarf.

So I began cutting....I used two strips that I cut and twisted them together.  Then I stitched the two ends so the twist wouldn't unravel and after that I stitched the 2 twisted ends together.  Making the little flower was a bit hard (by no means am I a professional seamstress), but I did my best by rolling it up and hand stitching it to the twisted fabric.  And viola.....

 

can you guess what the trend of the month is @ Marionberry Style's Trend of the Month is??  You guessed it, Statement Necklaces.  I mixed my bright yellow DIY scarf remake with all black.  Look'n pretty classy - if I do say so myself.

 

I couldn't resist the urge to wear boots.  Oh how I dream of fall - all the sweaters, boots, and scarves.  I can't say that the weather in South Carolina changes much, but the fashion does.

 

Linked to:

 

Marionberry Style 

 

 

 

 

Clutter Challenge #2 - Entryway

This was a simple project I took on many many weeks ago and I'm really proud to say that it's finally done.  Our entry way - well, how would I describe it? - ummmm....it's just a freak'n door that opens up into our very boxy living room.  I really want a mudroom, but if you can't build it might as well improvise.  I was on the hunt for an inexpensive bench that had storage below for shoes, I didn't have any luck.....until I came across this $7 beauty at our local Goodwill.

 

With a little can of exterior white paint, plus a custom piece of wood to add support to the top, we made our own bench with shoe storage. 

 

 

I also got lucky by finding an very cool outdoor bench cushion at Walmart for $13 on clearance.  I had to alter it a bit but I really think it makes the bench very classy.

 

I couldn't be happier that our little house is on it's way to being organized. 

 

 

Linked to:

DIY Show Off - Blog

 

 

Remodelaholic

August Birchbox Picks

I can't tell you how excited I get in the middle of each month when I receive my monthly Birchbox.  This month's box was a back to school theme - "Beauty School".  Even though I don't attend any classes, my kids do and a little pampering for momma never seems to hurt this gal.  Plus 15% of the proceeds from sales in the Birchbox Shop will go to Pencils of Promise,  a non-profit that build schools in South America and Asia.


I got 2 faves this month.  My first pick is Juicy Couture Viva la Juicy La Fleur.  Yum yum, delicious;  I've always been a fan of Juicy Couture!!   I was so happy to find this little gift in my box!

Birchbox - $70

 

 

 

My second pick is Jouer Moisturizing Lip Gloss.  This lip gloss is so wonderful!!  It glides on so smooth without being sticky and the color is so beautiful!! 

 



Birchbox - $20

 

 

 

 

Well, those are just my thoughts.  If you've received a Birchbox this month I would love to hear about the products that you loved the most.

 

 



Kitchen + Quick Chair Makeover

I hope everyone is planning for a great weekend!  I realized in the midst of my shoe bench project I never showed off our kitchen makeover. The kitchen was the our first big project and it was a struggle.  It was the gloomiest room I've ever seen, I swear the first couple of months that we lived here I refused to cook because the wood walls, brown cabinets and the puke green sink made me so depressed.

 

After a ton of arguments and Dave's elbow grease we have our very cute and modern kitchen.  Our makeover included tons of paint, new hardware, new counter top, glass tile backsplash, a beautiful sink and my favorite, the faucet. 

 

Gosh, I thought that was stressful, but I couldn't be any happier.  I can't even imagine a full home renovation.  I also did a quick fix for the boring kitchen chairs that we have with a can of spray paint and chevron fabric.

 



 I'm getting really close to revealing our entry space bench.  With each coat of paint I can see my vision coming to life.  Well, until next time I hope everyone has a wonderful stress free weekend - and believe me I'm counting on one of those!



UV Nail Polish Kit

Today I got an awesome surprise in the mail.  My boyfriend's stepmom sent me a UV gel nail kit.  I love it!!  We don't have a dishwasher so painting my finger nails was truly pointless.  From what I understand this polish is to last 2 weeks.  That's a miracle compared to any regular nail polish that I've tried that didn't last more then a day in half.  I'll keep you posted to let all those dish wash'n divas know that maybe there is a nail polish to with stand the suds and scrubs.

Haute Polish

As of today they happen to be out of stock, but click the picture to go to website



I feel awful that I haven't posted much lately.  I'm still working on our entry way bench - it just happens to be raining so much lately in the Midlands that I can't paint the bookshelf that is soon to be a bench.  But in the mean time, while I wait for the rain to vanish, I have some fabulous nails!!!! 

It's supposed to rain for the rest of the week :(    Maybe this weekend I can get some painting done and get back to the plan of dissecting the disorganization in this small itty bitty house. 


Rain, rain go away so Jenn can get to blogging about the project she's about to make!

Itty Bitty Closet & Trend of the Month

Happy Wednesday!!!  I love Wednesdays because it means we're so close to the weekend!!!  Not that I have any plans (as of yet).  I wanted to talk about our itty bitty closet.  Closets in our house are pretty much non-existent, we only have 2 1/2.  What's the 1/2, you say.....I'm really not sure, its about 1 ft by 1 ft (maybe smaller) with a door on it.  We haven't installed a rack or any shelves, so as of right now I store my sewing machine there.

 When having a lack of closet space every piece of clothing should be loved and quite versatile.  Creativity seems to spark when you have to keep a small wardrobe.  I'd like to think of myself as a fashionista, but I'm not so daring as others.  This month I decided to test out my mini wardrobe for The Trend of the Month Challenge @ Marionberry Style.  This months challenge is mixing prints and patterns. 

My result was mixing a button down skirt, with a blue flower print belt, and a striped shirt.

I realized I don't have much print in my closet, I guess I've always been afraid of it.  I'm glad I participated, because now I can venture outside my comfort zone and add more unique pieces that would stand out above the rest.

If you haven't heard of Marionberry Style pop on over for all her fabulous fashion advice!!

Clutter Challenge #1 - The Mailman

I don't know how it is for most people but our mailbox is like the outside trash that we keep bringing in, most of the paper we bring in lays in random piles (on the desk, entertainment center, on top of the microwave and kitchen counter) and is never ever looked at.  Today I tackled the problem and made an efficient "Mail Station" for the family. 

Paper Overload



After  making a quick run to Target on my lunch break and fighting through the crowd of "back to school" shoppers in the office supply section, I came up with a plan, crossed my fingers, and got the heck out of there.

Target Haul = $22.32

I love the bright folders I found; how can you ignore a bill in a bright ass folder??!!  Right?!  I labeled 5 folders: Kids, Medical, Bills, Coupons, & Receipts.  I really think this is going to save our home from a being attacked by paper.

 The Bright and

                                                               Beautiful Mail Station

My mom was so sweet and got me a little planner and I brightened that up as well; by using mini sticky notes I was able to add color to each task. 

Another paper challenge is my over abundance of magazines.  Don't get me wrong there is nothing more beautiful then those colorful glossy pages, but after I look at it once they just collect dust.  I looked online for any places that accepted magazines as donations - no luck.  Looks like I'm leaving the house a bit earlier than normal to run to the recycling center.

It's strange why I have

                                                                      so many issues of Maxim

I think as far as first challenges go, it went pretty well....what do ya think?  Next is tackling our entry way.  Seeing as our entry way is pretty much a pile of shoes and comes straight on into the living room, it may take a bit of creativity to make it pretty and tidy.  We'll see what magic I can come up with.  In the mean time we're cheering on USA everyday and wishing all the Olympians the best of luck!





Clutter Challenge

It's Sunday already!!  Eek... I feel like I haven't accomplished much this weekend, as far as the house goes.  I did, however, have a great time spending time with all my family.  I think we're going to start planning for monthly game nights, which is incredibly fantastic because most times we only get together if we take a family weekend trip and that only happens about once a year.

I'm really happy to announce that I picked out the kids room color, Classic Khaki, thanks to the help of Olympic Creative Color Compos.  For once I found paint color to be an easy decision.
 

I already know that August is going to be a very busy month for us, but I'm really hoping all the painting in their room will be complete by the end of it.

Well, the real reason I'm posting is to share another personal challenge that I'm planning on taking on....as if living small isn't challenging enough.  I picked up the book 10,0001 Ways to Declutter Your Home on a Small Budget, my hopes are to post about each suggestion from the book I took on.  Most likely I won't take on all of them, since some of them are irrelevant to me.

I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea or anything, I don't live in a pig sty.  But there is a lot of disorganization in our home that leaves me stumped or unable to move on to the next project.  This is not going to be easy for me because I feel like I have some hoarding tendencies (you should see our shed).  So this is going to be my down and dirty, lets get to the bottom of this problem challenge.  Step by step my family and I are to become clutter free and we're going to share all the good, bad, and ugly with the world!!!

The plans are to take baby steps.  Tomorrow we're going to take on bills, junk mail and magazines!!  Bring it mailman - BRING IT!

Moving on out: Kids Shared Bedroom

I believe it's magic!!!  I rearranged both the bedrooms and I could not be any more happier about the sleeping arrangements.  For the longest time we were sharing the larger of the two rooms with the baby and her massive crib.  Yeah - she is a tad bit spoiled by her grandparents :)   But anywho... I moved Jacob into the room with the baby and Dave & I moved into his old room.


First let me say it was like pulling teeth to get the family to agree to this.  TADA, they finally agreed and helped too.  Like I said before right now I'm just searching for a place for everything and I think I may almost be there!!!  It is possible to live small and organized, it just take creativity!!

By turning the crib, to cross the room, and butting it up to a dresser we were able to create a partial wall.  We really created two rooms within one.  I still want create more of a "wall" from floor to ceiling ---  I'm going to rack my brain and maybe Pinterest for solutions.  But the next step for both rooms would be paint and I have a couple of rooms to use as possible ideas.

Inspiration For Our Room:

Knight Moves

In The Know

Inspiration For Baby's Side:

Interior Chocolates               Apartment Therapy


Inspiration For Boy's Side:

Remodaholic              Chic Spaces For Little Faces

Lots to do, but we'll get there.