the master bath

I decided the original pictures were going to have to work if I ever hoped to post the after shots of the master bath.  Although they are not great photos, chances are the bathroom wouldn't be as clean again this summer. So, this bathroom isn't anything amazing, but it is a transformation with practically just paint alone-something DIYers will appreciate :)

1.The tile is a major disappointment in this bath.  Live and learn I guess, but it kinda bothers me every time I look at it.  It is, however, better than the vinyl that was there.  You can look into the bathroom from our bed.  Pretty unfortunate.  I hung the drape in hopes that it would hide the shampoo and stuff.  It softened the space and does hide the unsightly shower head.

2.The vanity was painted black, a new faucet and light.  Remember how Todd is emotionally attached to the mirror{weirdo!}, I had plans to trim it out, but it wouldn't work{something about the way it is mounted in the wall-it sticks out to far and I couldn't find molding that would work-I gave up}, so I just put  a coat a paint around the aluminum frame. Glass nobs make it look more like me. 

3.  I searched for something above the toilet, but it is narrow and off center-nothing seemed to work.  I hung plates.  My friend Jen said "Hmmm. Plates in a bathroom, I would have never thought of that".  She's right.  It doesn't make a lot of sense, but for right now it stays.

4.  I found the most perfect towels at Target, and after buying two to see if it would work, they no longer have them in stock.  Bummer!   

I really wish I had taken more before shots because this bathroom was pretty boring before the black paint. I'm still dreaming of my dream bath, but it will have to wait for another house{according to Todd} :) 

content with consignment{at least I thought I was}

It never fails.  Just when I think my consignment store outfits rock,

I get one of these in the mail.

Dreaming....

a new favorite

This morning I had the boys journal what they liked about summer and why.  If I were making my list ,basil would be near the top.  Probably behind watermelon{we eat one every other day practically} but ahead of the swimming pool{is it just me or would the pool be much less stressful if we had eyeballs in the back of our heads and five arms}.

A garden is on my list of things to do{in the next couple of years}, but in the meantime I just grow my herbs in pots.  Basil always, Rosemary for sure, this year Oregano too.

My favorite summer sandwich goes like this:

crusty bread {buttered to toast}

a smear of pesto{store bought will do}

a smear of goat cheese

lots o basil

sliced tomato 

 {boy tomato-get ready for a close up.  I'm not messing around with the zoom}

It was love at first sight. 

Enjoy!

working on some curb appeal

Not so long ago my husband declared us DONE! with the house. "NO more projects", he said.  "NOT ANOTHER PENNY!", he exclaimed.  "I can't wait to move", he fumed{move? sounds like lots more projects to me-let's go!}.  That man of mine, he just still doesn't know what he got himself into when he married me. 

After painting the shutters and putting in river rock last summer, it was time for stage two of the front yard spruce up{I think there are three more stages to come}.  When driving by a little cottage with a beautiful marigold door I was inspired to do my own door redo, it was also time to add color to the front in an attempt to make my not so cottage like house a little more quaint.

The Adirondack chairs were finally painted.  Some potted flowers, and my mom, bless her little heart{yes, I live in the south}, made the outdoor pillows for me.

New blinds for the front windows.

A freshly, unpainted-painted-distressed door and things are looking good{way better on a sunny day though}.The gold door handle will eventually be changed out.  I need a flag or a something else on the brick wall, but that might be next year. All and all, from the curb the door makes the house look much more inviting.  Hey! that's curb appeal-hooray!

I have to say, even though this was not what I intended for the door, I like it.  I had wanted to strip and stain it originally, but the paint from years ago had saturated the wood too deep to strip.  It is pine, and there were white and grayish splotches-I was in a bit of a panic with no plan B.

Clearly someone wasn't panicking at all. It took A LOT of stripper, but mom and I had fun{I think-mom did we have fun?}. 

I ended up liking the white blotches and the pine-who knew!  To even out the look I painted the whole door with white paint stain{Cabot brand I think}.  I then went back and sanded it off, put a coat of Waterlox on the top{left over from the counter tops} and that was it.  Deciding if I should put house numbers on it, a knocker or just a wreath hook. I mean really, as if I would ever be DONE with it :) 

remind me come September

I had every intention of posting yesterday.  I had composed{in my mind}a beautiful entry about my amazing three year old.  Yep, it was Sloan's birthday yesterday and let me tell you why I wasn't posting pictures and sonnets about his handsomeness{which he so totally deserves}, I was armpits deep in frosting and cake batter.  Boy, is birthday cake making a labor of love or what? 

I know you've all done it, stayed up into the wee hours beating and frosting and cursing.  For years I wouldn't have it any other way. " I'm making that ridiculous elephant cake if it's the last thing I do", were words I've heard come from my mouth before.  Well people, Buzz Light Year kicked my booty  and I may not recover.  I found myself saying, "All I'm doing from now on is a round cake and number, just round cake, just a darn number". That Buzz Light Year, he didn't turn out so great.  That Sobee, he didn't notice.  Next year, remind me of this post.

That's right, Buzz is a different nationality than the movie. We support all super heros in this house.  I think I hear Toy Story 4 calling.  Just put the check in the mail.

Oh that Sobee, he is something else!

bathroom sneak peek

Our master bath makeover is done.  Well, as done as it's ever going to get, and at the same time I can't guarantee that I won't redo it soon-because I'm just like that.  I've taken pictures of it, but it just isn't a photogenic room and so I shall try again when it's in a better mood and feels more like smiling.

I do however want to show you what I did with an old window my friend Jen gave me. 

She gave me this window several months ago and I literally carried it around my house trying to figure out what I could do with it.  She had used the clear panes as frames to photos, which was adorable, but I have lots of frames already.   I considered making it into a {faux}fireplace screen, I almost just hung it up "as is" because it was just cute enough, but after spring rolled around and I started wearing more jewelry, I thought it might actually work in my bathroom.  I had visions of Anthropologie knobs and hooks, but that meant waiting until I felt like I could blow $60.00 on hardware, so I just used Home Depot knobs and they are simply good enough.  I love it!  It adds great color to a very beige space and I needed it to organize my accessories.  Hooray!

Back with more next week. I HAVE to show you my finished door and let's be honest...I have a million projects on my mind!  Enjoy your weekend.

let's catch up shall we...

You'll never believe who finally made it to my blog. Me! I know, has it really been almost a month since my last post-and I call myself a blogger. Summer isn't here yet and I'm completely slacking off.  Well, not exactly, although you can bet that this summer my posts could very possibly be few and far between. 

So, I have a legitimate reason for not blogging.  My mom and John came to visit!  So what that they left a week ago and I am just now posting about it, there has been a lot of catching up going on because when my mom visits that's all I{we} do-visit. It has not helped that this is by far the busiest week ever at school and all that sort of stuff. So why don't I just get on with it and show you the pictures.

 My all time favorite picture of us.  Mom's camera was set on some sort of "effects" setting and I say "effects" is the best thing that ever happened to my face. It should be called "the fountain of youth" setting.  You think it's kinda blurry, I think it's kinda perfect. Like a light shining down from heaven and erasing wrinkles.  Amen!

What a great Mother's Day picture. Love you mom!

 Awhh, look at those boys with their Gabby. 

I'm not sure you know this, but when my mom and I get together we do crazy wacky things like buy antique dressers, comb small towns for junk, visit Joann's fabrics seven days straight and a new for even us-take off my front door and strip it{more on this little project later}.

 

  The boys had a great time while they were here. Sloan isn't to sure about taking this picture, but he loved having Grabby and Grandpa at his house.  John taught them all sorts of things, one morning at the breakfast table I think he was discussing physics{I think that's what it was, hard to say because I wouldn't know physics if it bit me on the nose}-there was some major brain power being used and it was not coming from my boys :)  They also did lots of fun things like skip school...

to go to the Titanic museum in Pigeon Forge.  They thought that was a pretty good idea.

I stayed home and worked on this{did I mention my mom has crazy wacky ideas!}. 

Love you mom and John, thanks for coming and having so much fun with us.  I'll be back again this week for a little more catching up.  Have a great rest of your week!