Allow Me To Introduce A Friend

Hi all! Hope you have had a great start to your week. It was a busy day here and I have a case of the jitters because my son starts kindergarten tomorrow. YIKES! I'm getting ready for bed but wanted to give an introduction to a friend of mine who is new to the blogging world!

My friend's name is Mel and she has some really cool ideas to help you organize and decorate your home! Her blog is called Mellywood's Mansion A Diary of DIY Delights and Disasters. She's very down to earth and has a fresh perspective on home projects. Check her out and enjoy!

Rugs

How was your Mother's Day? Hopefully it was good. I had a house full of sicklings. I just have to say that I love rugs. I don't know why but I always catch myself looking at various rugs and runners when I am in any type of home store. Here are just a few we have in our house. The one in the kitchen landed in the dining room b/c I am not the cleanest cook and didn't want to ruin the kitchen rug with spills. I was noticing that all of the rugs I have in our house have similar hues. They are all very close in color schemes and flow with the rooms and each other. Do you like rugs in your house?

Happy Fourth!

I've got lots of projects around the house staring me in the face. I went to the beach last weekend with girlfriends and wouldn't you know I got sick again. Boo hoo. :- ( Not sure what is up with this whole getting sick thing but on antibiotics again fighting it. As soon as I get my energy back I'm going to show you how I've made the front door a little more welcoming! Hope you have a great fourth today!

AHHHH The HGTV Smart Home

Wonder who is going to win this beautiful vacation home!?!? Oh my gosh I love it. I'm not much of a techie but this house is AWESOME. We watched the tour of the home on tv as a family and our six year old was begging us to vote to win it. Doubtful but it's so fun to dream. Wonder what lucky family will win it! Can't wait to find out!

Use Hairspray To Remove Marker Marks From Wooden Surface

The joys of children! I used to be so particular about things but over time my kids have certainly broken me of that! Here is just a small swatch of the marker they got on the kitchen table. It was like this for weeks until my mother-in-law told me you can use hair spray to remove it. I rarely ever use hairspray but I do keep a can around to spike up the boys' hair for fun every once in a while. This is such a cool trick and I am proof that it works. I had a can of cheap Tresemme.

Spray the hairspray on and wipe off with a warm damp sponge. You may have to rub with the sponge a few times before it all comes clean but what a nifty trick!

IKEA Lantern

How are you? Today I feel blessed, really blessed. They say when one door closes another door opens and I think this is so true. Lately I've had a lot of eye opening experiences and I really do think that if you have faith in something, it's very possible it will happen. You have to have a focus and push to make it happen, but in time I think with faith and motivation anything is possible. Today the sun finally came out and a new door opened!

With all that has been going on I haven't had the time to be able to update this site the way I would like. I have tons of ideas and projects but not the time to carry them through. I'm hoping to get back on track and start posting again. I love what my site is about and it's a great escape to create and have fun! I've met so many cool people who enjoy similar things!

If you've read any of my past posts you'll see that I like to keep things simple. Below is a galvanized lantern from IKEA. I used to have it hanging from the ceiling from a hook. I got tired of the look so I painted these wooden decorative balls and placed them in the lantern for an updated look. It adds a really nice color to my bathroom vanity. Do you have any lanterns? How do you display them?

Unhinged??? Nahh!

I am soooo excited! Bet you can't guess why! I have been procrastinating on a project but as soon as it warms up I can complete it. YESSSSS!

Guess what came in the mail today! I FINALLY found brushed nickel hinges that have the straight AND curved edge to change out the ones we have on our exterior doors. They came at a large price but I think it'swell worth it at this point. I started out painting them nearly a year ago and it turned out to be way more of a chore than expected. I can mark this purchase off the to do list. Now for the installation! More to come!

Spring Has Sprung

I'm so excited! This time of the year is the best! It was absolutely beautiful today so I spent the whole day outside in the yard.

I painted some things I have been wanting to paint for a while to freshen things up and I got a lot of flowers planted today.  I have three types left to plant too but I'm working on ideas for them. I am good with potted plants but when it comes to a  flower bed,  I get lost as far as what to plant. I'll probably make another trip to the hardware store tomorrow. Happy planting!

Early Stage of Gallery WALL

Above is the current and early stage of the Gallery Wall I'm going to do. As you can see I have nothing up on the walls yet. I'm a researcher and plan carefully when it comes to walls. I'm a skeerdy cat about hanging things. It took over year to finally hang the first thing on the wall when we bought this house. I guess you could say I am anal about it but I want to be sure I'm happy with what and where I hang something.

I am the world's worst when it comes to photos of my kids. The whole getting portraits made and framed to hang or use as decoration, I suck at. I have soooo many pictures from my oldest when he was born that are sitting in envelopes in a big bag. I have had this on my to do list for a long time so I am going to work on this one.

I found a wall I thought was really nicely laid out. It was casual and comfortable looking without being totally uniform and perfectly aligned. This is what I want to do. As of right now, all the pictures I want to hang on the wall upstairs are sitting on our coffee table behind the couch. They are in matching IKEA frames. I found this blog and LOVE the third picture down. This is what I want to try and do my own version of.

How do you display pictures in your home?

Upgrades To Your Abode?

Upgrades To Your Abode? 

If you had plenty of disposable income, what ONE change would you LOVE to make to your home? I know what mine would be! Mine would be to rip up this carpet on our staircase and install wood stairs. Then I'd like to change up the railing so the wood matches the hardwood flooring. 

 

We had pine flooring when we moved in and upgraded to a dark wood floor and the difference between the staircase railing  and the floor drives me bonkers. It's one of those things you notice, or I should say I notice every time i go up or down the stairs. Funny thing is - over the weekend I was trying to count the number of times I use the stairs and I lost count. So this is one of those things we will definitely change one day. For now, it's good to have carpet b/c we have a fairly new walker in the house and he's learning just how to use the stairs. So until the kiddos get a little better, we'll have a mismatched foyer. I really can't complain though because our house has come a looooong way in just the last 5 years. 

I'll eventually take on this challenge and try to come up with a reasonable way to update the stairs without spending a fortune! I would LOVE to do wood stairs with some sort of awesome,fresh runner up and down the middle of the stairs! Can't wait until the day I can share this project but I think it will be a big undertaking. For now my excuse not to attempt it is the kids! 

One of these days though, one of these days!  I would love to hear what you would change about YOUR house! 


For fun, simple reasonable DIY home decor ideas come visit www.keepitsimpleyay.blogspot.com