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Sunday, September 30, 2012

{What's the Right Age?}

Our daughter, Landry, is 16 months old.  
She's still in a crib & right now I think she needs to be.
She's busy.  Really busy.

I've been talking with several other moms about what's the right age to move her to a big girl bed.  In Landry's case it will be a twin.  My grandparents are bringing down the twin beds my sister & I used as children.  I'm excited to be using them in Landry's room.

I'm nervous about moving her into a big bed.  I've read & heard so many different opinions that I'm quite confused.  I know each baby is different so there isn't a set age but I want to hear your opinions.

What age did you move your toddler to a big girl/boy bed?
Is there an age that's too young?

I am having some difficulty planning the space too.
Her room is small.
It's a 10x11with two great windows & gorgeous maple hardwoods!
The wall space is limited on two walls.

I had 5 pieces of furniture in her nursery.



I eventually took out the rocking chair & side table because she doesn't let anyone rock her anymore.
I guess she's too grown.
It was easy to configure the room because the crib was horizontal against the wall but I don't want her twin beds to be up against the wall.  I hope that makes sense.

I am trying to decide if I want to use both beds too.
I don't want her room to be all furniture & no play space.

For some reason I'm just lost on putting the space together this time.

I do have some must for the room.

She has to have her TV.
I need to keep the chest & hutch.
I don't want her bed in front of window.

Other than that anything goes.

I do know that I am changing the wall color.
We are keeping the curtains because I love them!
The ceiling is staying the same color because I love it too.
I've got a stencil all ready to go.  I just need to decide what color & where it's going.

We've decided on the Savannah bedding from PB Kids.
I'm leaning more towards the blue.  It has tons of green in it which would justify the curtains & ceiling color.


So once I figure out the space planning everything else will fall into place. 

Please share your thoughts with me!

Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

{Bookcase Turned Buffet}

My sister & her family moved into a new home in April.  They gained about 1200 square feet so they've been slowly adding more pieces of furniture.  One of the pieces they needed was a buffet in their formal dining room.  I had a piece that I purchased a long time ago that I was using for paint storage but was willing to give up once I found the perfect hutch for a steal! 

The piece was originally a bookcase.
It's solid wood & extremely heavy!  Like it took 3 people to carry it.


It wasn't exactly gorgeous or ugly.  It was kind of in between the two & I knew I could make it pretty.  I had originally thought about using it as a TV media cabinet but realized it was way too narrow.  That's when we moved it to the laundry room to store my paints.  

Anyway, long story short she is gorgeous now. 


I painted the top in ASCP Graphite with a clear & dark wax.  


The bottom is painted in ASCP Chateau Gray with clear wax & lighting distressed.


My sister loved it.  
And to be honest I was sad to see her leave.  

I'm working on some chairs for their formal dining now.  
Things have been busy here lately as I'm working on painting the front door & working on a new gallery wall in the living room.  

If you follow me on Instagram than you are getting to see the sneak peaks of all the projects I'm working on.  If you aren't following me please do!  I mean you get a first look at all the fun projects & you get to see daily pictures of our beautiful daughter Landry!  

Happy Tuesday!

Friday, September 21, 2012

{A New {To Us} Dining Table}

We've been making some changes in our home & one of those changes is our dining table.  We have an extremely small dining area.  It's really just a nook not an actual room.

We had a rectangular table there before but in order to get to one side of it you had to pull the table out. We always made our niece & nephew sit in certain spots because they are so little.  

I knew we needed a round table but convincing my husband was another thing.  Or so I thought.  
He went to our favorite used furniture store the other day to pick up a hutch & some chairs I bought & came home to tell me about this gorgeous table he saw that would be perfect for our space.  I knew I married him for a reason! 

I had actually looked at the table a few days before for my sister-in-law.  It wasn't the style she was looking for as it is hexagon versus round or oval.  I loved the base of the piece.


It's what stood out to me when I first saw it.  
I have plans on painting it but not sure what color yet.  I'm thinking ASCP Louis Blue.  

It came with two leafs & 4 chairs that need to be reupholstered.
It's perfect for our space. 


Right now I have our old chairs with it but we picked these up that I think I'm going to use for now after they get a fresh coat of paint & some new fabric.


We have a lot of projects going on right now that I'm trying to prioritize so we can actually get rooms done versus projects.  Hope that makes sense.

Anyway, I've been running a fever the last few days so I've been a little down in the dumps.  My energy level is extremely low which means I am able to get little done.

Hope I'm back to normal tomorrow because this mom doesn't have time to be sick. 

Happy Friday!

Thursday, September 6, 2012

{What Was I Thinking?}

We purchased this amazing chest that is solid wood & in perfect condition minus the 5 coats of paint it had.    I knew I could make him handsome again with some work.  Little did I know how much work until late last night.


I decided it would be a great idea to start stripping it late last night because there were a few places that had paint that was chipping.  I normally don't strip pieces because I almost always use ASCP & there's no need for sanding, priming or stripping.  This is where I am now....


I seriously want to pull my hair out.  I don't know what I was thinking stripping this piece.  There are so many layers of paint & most of it won't come off no matter what I do!

I tried painting it & it's so obvious that the piece isn't smooth.


It looks horrible!
So I am going to try stripping some more & see what happens.  
I was so excited about this piece but now I'm a little disheartened.  
But I'm going to keep trying & see where I get.

The top actually looks good which gives me hope.


I am excited about the potential this piece has & I had a vision for it the day I saw it so I'm going to keep on trucking on.  

Have y'all tackled any projects lately that got the best of you?

Hope everyone has a great Thursday!  
It's almost the weekend!

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

{Small Desk Makeover}

We were lucky enough to grab two of these desk for literally nearly nothing.  They are solid wood with dovetailed drawers.  They were an ugly honey color & I knew that I would have to invest a little time prettying them up! The original hardware was gorgeous & I even loved the uneven patina on them.  

I've only finished one but this is what he looked like before

{Sorry for the bad iPhone pic}

This is what he looks like now


I painted the top in ASCP Graphite.
The bottom got a got of ASCP Old White with the drawers in ASCP Duck Egg.
The whole piece was sealed with a clear wax & distressed.  


He turned out gorgeous! 
Or since it's a he I should say handsome!

My husband said this is his absolute favorite piece I've done.  
I love it too.
The colors are so amazing together!

Last night we delivered this gorgeous piece to a dear friend of ours. 


I snapped these with my phone as we were getting ready to leave but I'm hoping to go back & get some good pictures with the camera. 
 I really wanted to keep this piece because it turned out so gorgeous!

I'm getting ready to work on this piece & I have amazing plans for it.


It will actually need to be stripped because it has several layers of chipped paint.  
And while loading it into the car we noticed that at one time it sat upon casters so I will be on the hunt to find some to add to the character of the piece. 

Well I have a beautiful little girl who refuses to go to bed so I'm off to play with her!

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day!
Happy Tuesday!