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Life has become very busy with Gabbie starting school, Jason coaching at Calvin, and lots of church activities. I have found that my time to sit down and have time on the computer is few and far between. I was contemplating getting rid of both of the blogs that I attempt to keep updated. After thinking about it for a few days, I realized I need to get rid of the decorating blog, but keep our adoption blog. I decided to keep our adoption blog for two reasons. First I want everyone to have a place to check up on our process and pray for us. Second I remember when we were feeling fear about starting this process and reading other people's blogs brought such comfort and excitement to me. I continue to follow many adoption blogs. They have been an amazing tool for learning about the process, and preparing for the unknowns of international adoption. If our blog can be this for another family being called to adoption then I am for sure keeping it going. The crazy thing is that it already has been this for a couple families. I have gotten a few messages on my facebook page stating that they had read my blog and are just getting into the process. It is amazing as I have said before the benefits and blessings of technology. I can't even imagine going through this without my blogging friends. Some of them I have never met, while some I met at the AGCI picnic. So after this long explanation, I am planning on keeping our adoption/family blog, but will be eliminating the decorating blog. I am sorry to those who follow the blog and enjoy it, but family life and sanity are much more important.

DOLLHOUSE REDESIGN

I inherited this wooden dollhouse from my cousin. It is one of the best memories from my childhood. I was always so jealous of her, and now I own it.

BEFORE:



AFTER:
A LITTLE PAINT, CARPET, AND TLC. I HOPE TO FIND A FEW THINGS TO HANG ON THE WALLS ALSO. IT WAS SO FUN!!

Are you still there?

I know it has been forever again. I will admit I thought I would have more time to devote to this blog. I guess between three kids, adoption paperwork, design team at church, and just enjoying summer; I have been pretty busy. I will admit I am not finished with my bedroom. I am still looking for a few items and do not want to post pics until it is all finished (annoying I know). I do want to show you pictures of the cutest chairs I bought off Craigslist about 3 weeks ago. They were $25 for the pair. I had been looking for two more chairs for my family room that were smaller in scale, and had a "vintage" look to them. I found these and love them. I am contemplating covering them in an off white fabric. The green is growing on me, but I fell in love with the size and lines.




My other project will be posted soon. We inherited a family dollhouse, and I have been gutting, and painting. It has been a blast. My girls love it!! I will post pictures when I finish. I promise it won't take me 4 weeks.

I am back with a bedroom update

My blog renovation took a bit longer due to a virus on our computer. As soon as I got the first part finished, we had to bring our computer in to get fixed. Now that I am back I thought I would give you a tiny look at the progress in my bedroom. As you will see I decided on a completely different color scheme, and I am loving it so far. I still have small details left, that is why I am unable to show the entire finished product. Enjoy!
I will do a "bedding" breakdown when I show you the finished product.



I picked this lamp up at a thrift shop for a couple bucks, spray painted it, and now am looking for a lamp shade.


This dresser was supposed to be painted red, but got a beautiful blue makeover instead.

Blog renovation in progress

I am working on changing the name of my blog. When I started it, I was not feeling my creative juices flowing. I am still not sure they are at their best, but I do feel a small bit of inspiration. I am good at decorating bookshelves, dressers, and walls, but when it comes to decorating a blog I am lost. I am definitely not gifted in the technology realm. For the sake of this blog, I am ready and willing to learn. I will be seeking the help of my youngest sister who is very good at this computer stuff. Please stay tuned, there may be more changes than the name and look. I am going to bring back the "decorating tip of the week" section. I have had a few people say they missed it. If you have any suggestions for me or places to find cute blog ideas please shoot me an email or comment. Thanks for checking in.

Bedroom update and a few extras

It seems like eternity since I have posted. Do not fear, I have been hard at work here. A few posts ago I told you my plans for my bedroom redo. The plans took a completely differently path, but it is almost finished. In the midst of the redo I decided to paint two of my lamps that I had in the basement. I love the way they turned out.





I also decided to paint some sticks to go on my table. I cut a few branches off a tree from the backyard, and sprayed them the same color as the lamps.




I have had two consultations. One of them was a large basement room. The homeowner was going to work slowly on the room so those pictures may not come until the end of the summer. The other consultation I did was two teen boy rooms and a bathroom. The teen boy rooms were a bit intimidating at first but I really enjoyed doing the research and coming up with a great decor plan. They are going to be great! These pictures will also be a bit. Tomorrow I will go to my sister's home to help her with the small details of each of the rooms in her home. They did a complete home flip in about 4 weeks. It was a true dump, but looks amazing now. Thanks for checking in! My bedroom redo pictures will be posted within the next few weeks. It is a color scheme I never thought I would go for, but I am loving it!

$20 table makeover

Before:



About a year ago we inherited a dining table from my husband's grandma. It is a dark cherry wood. It is a bit formal for me, but I like that it had a leaf to enlarge the table, and cushions to recover. The table we had previous was a cute round table with country chairs. It was a bit too country for me. When we got the table I knew eventually I would want to recover the seat cushions. They did match our decor, but were a bit stained and faded. I looked at all sorts of fabric stores for cute outdoor fabric. I wanted it to be durable and easy to wipe off (all the qualities of outdoor fabric). I knew I wanted a black and white pattern, but did not find any I liked at the price I could afford. I was ecstatic when I stumbled upon an adorable tablecloth at Target that was the exact pattern I wanted, the durability and thickness I needed, and the right amount of fabric. It was all for the price of $19.99. After a few weeks of using as an actual tablecloth I recovered the chairs and I love the results!
Now this summer I hope to paint just the table black. It is in need of tlc.
After:

bedroom makeover

For Mother's Day I asked if I could try to find new bedding for our master bedroom. We have had the same bedding for almost 4 years (for me that is a record). I really wanted to redo the entire color scheme in our bedroom.



Here is my plan:
1. I am going to stick with the blue walls, and accent with black and white.
2. I will also have "pop" of red throughout.
3. Our furniture is from my grandparents and has great lines, but is in need of a coat of paint. I will paint it black.
4. I will paint the lamp bases and would like to make or purchase lamp shades with some kind of black and white pattern.
5. I would love to talk my husband into getting an actual light in the room. The only source of light in the room is from lamps. This is not working. This will only work if it is in my tiny budget.
6. I will paint the cute dresser at the end of the bed red.
7. I will need to change the window treatments. They will probably be black window panels.
I wish it could be done in a matter of a few weeks, but those who know me, know it takes a while to find those great deals and great treasures on a tiny budget. This will be a process. I will keep you updated as I go. My first job is to find bedding. I am not sure if I want a duvet, or a regular comforter. I would love opinions. Let me know if you like your duvet cover, or if you prefer a regular comforter and why.

TREASURE FOR MY GIRL'S ROOM:


I found this cute dresser on Craigslist. It was only $40.00 and in great condition. It had a curved front, which I love!!! I had to jump at the opportunity. We will need to have more furniture due to a growing family. Our youngest daughter will move downstairs soon, and she will need a dresser. I thought this worked great in the girl's room. It also allows me time to paint the other dresser for Maia's room.

Does this tempt you to become a thrift store shopper?

This was my great find at a local thrift store. It is brand new with the plastic still on it. As you can see from the price tag is was only $6.00. How could I possibly pass this deal up?




I thinks it looks really cute in my dining room.

Changes in Arizona

We had a great time enjoying the beautiful sites and sunny weather of Arizona. We had the priviledge of staying with my sister in law and her husband. They have a great home with a pool, hot tub, and plenty of space. Meghan had expressed the desire for me to give her a few design tips while I was there. Once I saw her place I could not wait to let the creative juices begin.
Here are a few pictures of her living room.

GOOD THINGS ABOUT THIS SPACE:
1- Paint color
2- Furniture colors work well together
3- Wooden blinds

CHALLENGES OF SPACE:
1- bare walls
2- Nothing is bringing the room together
3- furniture placement (Do we need all of the chairs? If so where do we place them?)





I had to first consider their personalities. They are not into details. My design needed to be simple but make a big impact. Like many of us they are on a budget. The items I found to put into the room are very affordable. They do not have any children. We were able to keep the white couch and chairs and not worry about dirty fingers and spilled juice.

Here are the additions I suggested for the room:

Color Palette= Neutral(off white), Accent (brown) Pop color (chocolate brown)

1- Purchase black silver curtain rods. Hang curtain rods 6" above window to bring attention to high ceiling
2- Purchase chocolate brown curtain panels for each window. Be sure curtains hang on the outside of the windows to take up some wall space. These curtains are from Walmart and are $19.88 for a pair.

3- Purchase 2-3 patterned pillows with blue, brown and off white color combination. All of these pillows are from Kohls. They are not what I would consider cheap, but they do bring all of the colors together. She could find pillows similar to these with a cheaper price tag.




4- Hang photo collage on large wall (we finished this before I left)
.
Ignore the ugly green frames. They still needed to purchase black ones in this size.
5- Purchase one large pottery peice within color palette to put in left corner of wall shelf
6- Extend blue paint color above wall shelf to make display items "pop"
7- Purchase a trio of vases, varying in size to put in right corner of wall shelf
Long term goals"
1- Purchase chocolate brown rug to go infront of couch. This rug is 5'x8' and is from Walmart for only $24.88. I ordered this for another client and loved it. It comes in a variety of colors.

2- Purchase 2 lamps. Put one on each side of couch.
3- Arrange furniture to look more "intentional".

When they make a few of these changes I will put the pictures up.

Sorry no posts enjoying sunny weather in Arizona.

"Going Green" kitchen is finished!

We finally finished the green kitchen I had posted about in an earlier post. It looks even better than I expected. The pictures below do not do it justice. I guess I need to invest in a really good camera. The cabinets look almost yellow in the pictures, but in person they are much more green. The homeowner sewed her own curtain panels from fabric we picked out. She did all of the painting herself and is very talented and patient. If you want the name of the paint color on the cabinets or walls you can email me or leave a comment and I will give them to you. I will post more pictures as we add finishing touches to the walls and table.


The cabinets used to be off white. They looked fine, but this is "WOW!" The walls were a gold color. The walls now are a sand color.

Easy Wall Art

My mom recently decided to turn a home office into a baby room. I helped her find a cute white crib on www.craigslist.com. We found a great bargain, I think it was only $75.00. Later that week my sister went to Kalamazoo to help her add a few details. They ended up doing fabric wall art. It is very easy and very inexpensive. They purchased coordinating fabrics that matched the crib bedding, and different size art canvas. You could use old frames, cork board, foam board etc. The nice thing about art canvas is it's thickness. It looks a bit more professional. Staple the fabric on and hang it on the wall. I think they did a great job. It is a great way to add a print to any room without it being too overwhelming.

One Step at a Time

BEFORE:


Many of us wish we had the financial means to demolish a room and start from scratch. We would love to purchase new flooring, new cabinets, new furniture, and all new decor and textiles. The reality is a small minority are actually able to do that. The rest of us make improvements to rooms as money and time are available. We need to look for the best deal, so finding the items we want can be time consuming and frustrating. I have found when a room needs a facelift, start with a fresh coat of paint on the walls. After you have painted the walls and decided on a color scheme, you need to make a list. I usually sit down and make a list of all the things I want to redo or purchase for the room. Some of these are items that may never get done, and some are as simple as buying a new rug. Below is a before and after picture of my bathroom. There are definitely things I hate about it, and things I really like. I have an ongoing list of things to purchase for this space. This allows me to focus on what needs to be done, and not get overwhelmed.

AFTER:





TO DO LIST:
1. New flooring so we can get rid of that hideous step connected to the shower (although it is great for giving my kids a bath)
2. A new mirror with a black frame
3. Accent towels
4. Put something on the walls!!!!
5. Rug by the vanity
6. New light fixtures

Spring Fever

Outdoor signs of Spring usually take longer than we like. Here are a couple ideas for bringing "spring" inside.

Put bright colored fruit into a bowl and place on a kitchen countertop or coffee table.



Purchase cheap spring fabric and cover your throw pillows.



Paint an old chair a bright color.

Replace winter items on your mantle with bright colored flower arangements, vases, or candles.

Add fresh cut flowers to your dining room table.

Plant herbs and place in kitchen window.

Going Green

I am very excited! A homeowner and I have been working on her kitchen for the last month or so. We have decided to paint her kitchen cabinets green. It will look very similar to the picture above (which I love!!!). Finding the right green for cabinets is tricky. We went through about 4 or 5 different samples in order to finally find the right one. When she finishes painting I will post our progress. Stay tuned....

Consultation Costs

$30 ONLINE CONSULTATION- Email me several pictures of the room you would like advice on, and I will study the pictures and make suggestions to improve the room. These suggestions can include furniture placement, color palette, textile options, and decoration placement. Within 2 weeks of you sending me pictures, I will email you websites and options that may include pictures of rooms that could inspire you and also examples of items you can purchase.

$45-NEW CUSTOMER CONSULTATION
All new customers need to have this consultation
Customers choose one large space (great room) or two small spaces(bedroom, bathrooms etc.)
I will assist you with the following:
1. Rearrange space using what you already own.
2. Decide what could be purchased to further enhance the space.
3. Choose new design plan and color scheme if needed.
4. Answer any design questions you may have.

Following the consultation I will send you a post consultation sheet. This will include the description and plan we came up with for the space.

$85-INITIAL CONSULTATION (description above)
-3 EXTRA HOURS TO USE FOR THE FOLLOWING:1. Shop for you or with you.
2. Pull a room together after design plan has been decided.
3. Choose another room to focus on.

$20 PER HOUR IF $85 PACKAGE IS NOT CHOSEN
IF I NEED TO TRAVEL 15 OR MORE MILES I CHARGE THE PRICE OF GAS

Dainty Daisy

My sister just starting sharing her creations with the world. These are just a few of her hats that she crochets. If you are interested in knowing more, go to her new Etsy shop called Dainty Daisy.