Dying for a DIY

I am in one of those moods where I am ready for another project and I want it to be a big one. I've been moving things around the house, cleaning out closets, and getting small tasks done but I'm hoping to finish something that has a little more impact.

Here are a few ideas in the running:

#1 Create a big, comfortable seating are for the deck.

This is first on my list because the weather is perrrrrfect lately and our deck is sitting there begging for a little sitting area to enjoy drinks with friends or dinner outdoors. I have researched patio furniture for months but I really haven't found anything that looks comfortable and is reasonably priced. I found this idea online today and I am pretty excited about it:

I love the idea of using wood pallets (SO trendy right now, I know) to create a base for a giant sectional with some cushions in a fun outdoor fabric. I even found someone selling 12 pallets on craigslist for $50! We only need 6 but if I can find a way to haul all 12 I'm taking them. This is the post where I found this fun idea.

#2 Update and beautify our side porch. 

We have this adorable little side porch on the house that has 2 chairs and a table but has never been used for anything other than receiving packages. It's still covered in some cicada shells from last year when they invaded Nashville (gross) and is not very appealing to sit out and relax on. Pat and I have talked about screening it in or adding some nice big windows all the way around it but I'm looking for a quick fix and I think I found it.

This is a before/after from Better Homes and Gardens website. The porch in the story is a wrap around and looks gorgeous after the makeover. Ours is just as tiny as this portion in the picture and is long and skinny in just the right proportions for a swing and a chair or two. I am in love with that curtain they have hanging in the back and the birds stenciled on the big stripes. I just found out what this "knee wall" thing is and I want one! Who knows how much of a project that one is so for now I'll just stick to finding my dream swing and some outdoor fabric to create a backdrop curtain. 

#3 The ultimate master bathroom renovation.

I'll have to keep dreaming on this one for a few years but I have a feeling when that day finally comes I will have EVERY detail decided because I could spend hours a day looking at beautiful bathrooms. It's a weird obsession. My pinterest page is full of the "look" I am going for when we decide it's a priority and in the budget to change our little bathroom + vanity area into a real master bath.

I am having a hard time even picking one of them to show you as my "favorite" because there are elements from each one that I would pick and choose but this tub is just calling my name:

Hoping to snatch up those wood pallets and get started on project #1 ASAP!

Painting Project

I decided to dive into my first real DIY on a piece of furniture. I tried out my painting skills on something small and not particularly beautiful so if I screwed up along the way I wouldn't feel like I ruined anything that was better before the painting.

Cabinet before above. Just a useful little guy that will hold important papers and looks a little cuter than a filing cabinet. The plain light wood was just begging for some paint.

The drawers came out and the lawn got covered in a trash bag.

Picked up some spray paint in "pistachio" and primer in white. (Also got some minwax satin finish for a top coat which I did with a brush at the end, 2 coats).

My little helper/paint sniffer and sneezer was WORN OUT after watching me paint that little cabinet. She needed a nap and wanted to use me as a human bed. 

Done! Pretty satifying little project for my office/craft room. I ignored the hardware and wheels and painted the entire thing. Totally impatient and didn't love the black plastic looks. Might respray those in white or silver later.

It sits under this bookcase on the wall that my mother-in-law found for me. Love all the room for storing and displaying books, crafty tools, pictures, and odds and ends that I don't want cluttering up countertops.

The new Parson's desk sits to the left under the window with my favorite sea urchin lamps and handmade (not by me, by Bee :) roman shade with yellow piping. The daffodil print is the month of April (my birth month) from a pretty calendar and is framed in a beautiful gold bamboo frame. Daffodils remind me of home because my mom always had them growing in our yard and would have little vases of them on bedside tables. The little square to the right is a Jonathan Adler magnetic board I found at TJ with fun little magnets. Those will both be hung somewhere in the room, not sure where yet.

The office is coming along! Pat came home from a business trip and said "Wow! This looks like a real room!" (because it usually is full of laundry baskets and paperwork in piles) and I said "Just don't open that closet..." But these little projects have kickstarted lots of organization and I'm excited to give everything a place to live. More posts to come as I pull this room together and create little spaces for getting things done.

This striped rug was a $3 find at Walmart! I love the neon yellow and pink stripes through it. It's new home is at my vanity upstairs. 

And with all this TJ shopping I was bound to come home with some new stuff. I found this owl/vase and couldn't pass him up. Here he is in our entryway/living room with some purple flowers peeking out which look like his owl 'fro. 

Instagram Addict

I have officially not used my nice camera a single time since I started using Instagram for my everyday photos. It's so easy to take pictures all the time on my phone and make them look decent with fun instagram filters.

Here's a bunch of what we've been up to lately:

Kate, Me, and Mariel at Tavern celebrating Kate's birthday after dinner.

Pat surprised me with tickets to Lady Antebellum. Could not have been happier!

Crazy lighting at the show. Darius Rucker opened for Lady A. I think I knew every word to every song all night long. That's my idea of a good concert. Plus ordering "double wines" at the concert bar and spending a fun night out with my cute husband. Such a fun mid-week treat.

My brother's wife Emily was in Nashville for work and stayed with us for the week. We love having guests! (Especially Shelby)

A good friend of ours is leaving Nashville to do a training program for work in SF. His wife is staying behind in Nashville for a while to sell their house etc. We are SO SAD to lose these two to wherever they end up. They have been great friends since Pat met Billy in business school (and coincidentally Billy played high school bball with my brother in Cali, weird). Thursday night we went to a little "see ya soon" party at Sambuca. 

Em left us some surprise flowers :) 

Took the Shelbster to the vet for her annual sheck up and vaccines. She was shockingly well behaved but only because they keep treats in a glass jar on the counter. She will sit and drool at anytime if there is food nearby.

I changed up the mantle decor. It never fails to make me happy to have the same old stuff in new places.

I hit the jewelry clearance bin for some new stuff. I was invited with friends to a fashion show and wanted to dress up an outfit with something fun.

The fashion show was so. much. fun. Oscar de la Renta clothes with a mini Carrie Underwood concert thrown in. One of my all time "I love Nashville" nights.

The colors were so exciting and a lot of the clothes looked like something real people wear. Loved it.

Carrie sang her new song "Good Girl". She was fantastic.

The details got completely washed out by my flash but I kind of love this. 

Final walk. The symphony center downtown was an amazing venue for the show.

The standout dresses up close and personal after the show.

Floral arrangements at the dinner post-show. Dinner was delish.

The girls all glammed up.

Enjoying this fantastic February weather (never thought I'd say that) and packing up for a wedding this weekend. Planning some exciting trips this Spring and Summer which is the only way I'm getting through my crazy long workdays lately. But busy is good in my second year as a small business owner! 

Janie is 1!

Photo taken by my sister's friend, Adriana. Check out her photography blog.

My goddaughter and niece Janie turned 1 on the 18th! I am so lucky to be this little one's godmother. I got to spend some time with her in Hawaii and she has such a fun little personality. She knows what she likes and dislikes and isn't afraid to let her sisters (and everyone else) know it. The photos of her devouring her birthday cake are amazing (on my sis's blog). I am so excited to watch her grow up and to spoil her with love (and presents).

Love you JJ!

p.s. we got the parsons desk and it's settled upstairs in our office off of the bedroom. Working some details out up there and excited to have a "finished" room finally instead of a dumping ground for laundry and mail.

Craigslist impulse buy: Parsons Desk

Craigslist surfing can be dangerous when you find what you're looking for. The office off our bedroom is desk-less and dying for some organization/place-to-put-our-crap. During the major home decorating overhaul my mother-in-law helped with we got shades up (homemade by Bee!), hung some pretty botanicals in white frames, bought an adorable rocking chair with a fun print, and when my mom was in town we found some adorable stacked sea urchin lamps at TJ. I've been waiting to find the right desk and was inspired by these gorgeous office spaces:

First one was from Pinterest, the other was tucked away in a file on my desktop (not sure of the source). So today while surfing Craigslist I came across the West Elm Parsons desk that I should have gotten on sale the one time I saw it marked down but didn't. 

Perfect condition, over $150 less than retail AND the seller has a fitted glass top to go with it. Sold! Picking it up today (with Pat of course). These are the days that I love driving my giant passed-down-from-my-mom suburban. Hoping all goes as planned and I scoop this up for a steal to create an organization station for our office. Here are photos of the other details in that room:

Antique dresser in a blue/grey with old maps lining the drawers. My Mother-in-law spotted this at a favorite antique store in Nashville for a great price. Love anything on wheels! Will be perfect for a nursery one day.

This photo is awful and does this shade no justice. Bee made this for me using this blog's tutorial that involved gluing fabric and edging to bamboo shades. I need to pull up those ugly old shades underneath and take some better photos. 

I love these pretty botanicals in simple frames from Target.

The botanicals hang above this little chair and bamboo side table. The chair was $20! I love the fabric it's recovered in and found more of it to use for the shade over our sink in the kitchen. 

Stacked sea urchin lamps for the desk. I can't walk through TJ Maxx without looking at the lamps and I think we may have more lamps than places to put them at this point. 

This is the William Sonoma rug we had up there and moved to the TV room. I love the colors and quickly discovered it was a little too close to white to have in such a high traffic area so I'm waiting to have it cleaned and it will most likely be back in the office where I can try to keep dirty shoes/paws off of it.

There is also a slight chance this desk will end up in the guest room and a cute little bamboo desk I have down there will come upstairs. Either way there is after-work furniture moving in Pat's future and I can almost guarantee he will not be thrilled about that. 

I'm kind of amazed I've posted 2 days in a row. Our blog stats say we have over 30 hits a day (big time, I know) so I decided I should try to update more often for the people I know are checking back!