Chandelier is up!

The chandelier is up! Yay!  My dad came to the rescue again.  I was too scared to try to do the wiring myself for the chandelier, plus I didn't want to wire it wrong and blow something up.  I have a huge fear of getting electrocuted.  When I was really little, about 3 yrs old, I stuck a bobby pin in an electrical outlet and electrocuted myself. It turned my fingers brown and left marks of the bobby pin on my hand. I was only 3, but I can remember it clear as day! That's why I'm so traumatized by doing anything that has to do with electricity I guess.  That's the only thing I can pin point it to. (No pun intended)

Now I still  need to find the handles for my nightstand and get my large dresser refinished.  I'm also going to start working on my yard and landscaping soon, so I will have a ton of pics to show of that!  I bought some goodies for the yard today, so I'm really excited to get the outdoor projects started.

Office Area

Here it is finally, the office.  This is where I spend a great deal of my time since I work from home.  It's always a mess with papers scattered everywhere and I just got the curtains up on this side of the room recently.  I finally did all the little finishing touches, so maybe I can get more done at work :)

My office is shared with the laundry room. It's one big room, one end is where I do the laundry and the other end is where I work.  My washer and dryer are pretty quiet so it doesn't disturb me.  My little sewing area is a built in desk with electrical outlets all built into the cabinets.  I didn't want such a small place for my desk, so I got a desk with a little larger working space on top and put over on the other side of it.

Laundry Area

If you're wondering how they look combined, I took a full shot standing from my kitchen doorway.  The little sewing area sort of divides the room.  Those pictures above the sewing area of sea coral, I bought from Young House Love's shop.  I got my inspiration from them to paint the brick walls in this room from the before and after photos of their den.  I don't regret it for a second.  It really opened the room up and makes it feel so inviting now. 

Office/Laundry Room

It's come a long way from the way it looked the first time I saw it.

Office/Laundry Before

  I'm so happy with the way this whole room turned out...

 and to think, this was the room I liked the least when I first moved in the house.  

Each room is really starting to feel like home and isn't that what it's all about?

Drawer Ring Pulls

This is a little peak at the nightstand after I refinished it.  I haven't replaced the handles yet, so I don't like the way it looks right now.  I'm really detailed and picky that way!  (The bottom is white, it sort of looks pinkish I guess from the lighting.)

I have looked everywhere for the ring pulls and can not find them.  The problem is, the area that goes on the drawer has to cover the 2 holes that the other handle left.  If it comes down to it, I guess I could always fill the holes, but that never looks real smooth, especially since the drawers are finished and painted already.

I want them to be black, like an aged antique color.  This is an example of what I'm looking for...

Ok not exactly, but this is as close as I could come to what I'm visioning.  I keep thinking I will know it when I see it.  I've tried Lowes, Restoration Hardware, Anthropologie, and I Googled forever looking!

My search continues.

I did purchase the chandelier for my bedroom yesterday!  I love it! It's very pretty and I think will look perfect in my room.  I pulled the chandelier out of the box and held it up and thought, what? This isn't how it looked hanging in the store!  Then I got to looking and I realized, there were small boxes inside the box it came in with all the crystals and dangly thingys. You have to put it together yourself! Ack!! So there I was last night in bed putting each and every little hanging crystal on it. It took a while, but I finished and it looks so amazing now.  I've always wanted a chandelier and I finally have one.  It's the little things that make a girl happy :)

Now to figure out how to hang this baby up!  I've never changed out a light fixture before so I'm scccuuuurrrred!  Maybe I should wait and let someone else do it?  Are these things easy to switch out myself? 

New Lighting search

Yesterday when I was at Lowes, I was wanting to look at a new fixture for over the mirror in my bathroom.  I need a new fixture before I can put my wallpaper up.  I didn't really see anything I loved.  I did like this one, but I don't think it's large enough to replace the one that's already there.

I took this picture with my cell phone...

Here is what is over my mirror right now.

Here is a full shot of the area to get a better idea.

What do you think?  Would it look ok?  Keep looking?

I didn't  like anything else they had.  If I don't get this one, I would have to wait to get a new light when I travel to Winston or Charlotte, because as far as I know, Lowes is the only place in town that carries bathroom lighting.  I would love suggestions of other places to look.

While I was browsing the bathroom lighting, I happen to look up and see pretty chandeliers!  I didn't know our Lowe's had chandeliers like these.  I was so shocked, I had never noticed them before.  I've been wanting a chandelier for my bedroom so bad!  I found one I really love, too.  I took a picture, but it's hard to tell much from it.

Chandelier I want for my bedroom.

It's hard to tell exactly what it looks like from this cell pic, so I checked the Lowe's website and found it.  This one doesn't have the aged black color on it like the photo that I took above, but it's the same model.  I like the black better, but this is to give an idea.

Lowe's 3-Light Chandelier

Love it!! 

It will look pretty hanging over my bed.

I'm done refinishing my nightstand that you see in the pic above, except I need to get new hardware for it now.  I may go back to Lowe's today on my lunch and order some handles I found that I really liked, but it takes a week for them to come in. I'll post pics of the nightstand as soon as the handles come in.
 I should get this chandelier while I'm there, too, right?   :)

How I met my House

I was living in Atlanta, GA and had a really great Realtor sending me links of homes in the small town of Mount Airy, NC.  I decided to move to a small town from the big city to be closer to my parents and I was tired of the hustle and bustle of the big city.  I was craving small town charm.

The very first house I liked from the listings she sent, I started imagining how it would look with the walls painted, the carpeting ripped out... I was decorating it in my mind. I could even picture myself cooking in the kitchen of the house.  I found a bunch of other houses from the listings she sent, but that first one still stuck in my mind.

I drove to NC to look at the homes in person.  I had twenty houses lined up to look at that day.  Yes, twenty in one day!  The house I had told her I was most interested in was first on the list.  It wasn't much to look at on the outside. Just an old brick ranch.  I loved the neighborhood it was in.  As we drove to it, big beautiful oak trees towered over us and draped across the road like a canopy.  It was beautiful.

We get out of the car and walk inside. The first thing that hits me is the stench of oldness.  It had a musty old smell that I didn't think I was going to be able to get past.  I think the smell killed it for me, because my excitement vanished a little and I started doubting.  I remember the cabinets in the kitchen was the thing I liked most about the house and the fact that it had a fireplace.  I continued to look at house after house that day, but house #1 still had a place in my heart.  I found another house that I liked as much. It had more charm on the outside and I liked the layout, but the backyard was slanted too much. I wouldn't be able to have a garden or play fetch with my dog in it or anything, so that became the deal breaker.  We were back to House #1 and I get a call from my realtor saying, the house has gone into a short sale and the price dropped dramatically!  I ran back over to look at the house again to be sure this was the one.

I said yes, I want this house, signed the papers and closed on it 6 weeks later!

This was taken in the snow after I had already moved in, but this is my favorite picture of the house.  It doesn't look quite as bland wrapped in snow :)

One of my favorite things about my home is the fireplace.

The other thing I had liked so much when I first looked at the house were how the cabinets were custom made and had a cottage look to them.

I know I just posted before and after pictures of every room in my house, but I saw this link on the blog, Our Suburban Cottage and thought I would do a post on how I met my house, too.  I'm a little late, as this should have been posted yesterday I guess, but it was fun anyway! Go over to An Nicole's How I Met My House Party and check out all the other amazing stories or post your own story there.

To see BEFORE and AFTER pictures of my home, click here.

P.S. The house smells good now, clean from a good scrubbing and airing out or whatever I happen to be baking :)

Bathroom Collage

I'm wanting to spruce up my bathroom a little. I probably will only do a couple of minor things to it this year and save the other projects for next year.  The whole bathroom is sort of a sea of peachy beige and I figure the only way to break that up is to bring in some rich chocolate browns.

Bathroom before I moved in.

I'm not big on gutting houses.  I figure if it ain't broke, don't fix it.  Sometimes things aren't as bad as they seem.  I know people see tile all over a bathroom wall and scream - DATED!  I on the other hand see some charm in it.  I want to keep the tiles, dated and all :)   I don't like how everything is overly matchy-matchy though.  Too much beige going on. The walls are beige, tiles are beige, counters are beige, flooring is beige, can we say beige overload? It's not a pretty beige either, it's that peachy beige that doesn't exactly feel calming or anything.

Before

And I don't think the vanity is beautiful and yes the mirror is a tad dated and to top it off, it has the shiny brass light fixture over it.  First thought is to get that vanity out of there and put in all new bathroom fixtures.  Nope. I'm keeping it.  I'm going to just paint the cabinets a chocolate brown.  The color is by Valspar called Sumatra Blend.  The countertop is laminate, so that is an easy fix.  I most likely won't replace it this year though, this will be the bigger project I'm saving for next year. It will be marble like in the collage at the top.

Before

I'm also going to put walnut stained bamboo flooring in the bathroom, but not until next year.  I've heard that bamboo, since it's a plant and not actually wood, holds up to humidity better.  Bathtub is cast iron, so that's a keeper.

So what am I doing this year?  I'm going to wallpaper it!  I found some beautiful organic looking wallpaper that I absolutely love (pic is in collage at top).  It really compliments the beige tiles.  I also bought the faucet for the sink already, so that will go in now, too.  I have to switch out the light fixture before I can wallpaper, so that must also be done now.

Painting cabinets, wallpapering and replacing faucet and light fixture. That will be my bathroom makeover for this year.  I think these things alone will give it a much better feel.  I will keep you posted as to when I will start these projects. I'm hoping to get them done before May is over!

House Layout

I updated the layout of my house in the picture above.  I had posted this once before, but I've since made quite a few changes.  Sometimes it helps to see the layout so you can make all of the rooms make sense.  You can make one of these for your home at floorplanner.com.    It's fun to do, too!  I used the color on my walls for the colors of each room in the diagram.

 The tool has a place where you can add all the backyard things, like the patio furniture, sheds, everything!  So of course as I get those, I will be updating this layout again.  I showed on the left side where the carport and patio is.  I usually come in through the kitchen door since I park right there, so easy to carry groceries in.  I remember living in apartments and having to walk across a parking lot and lug my groceries up many flights of stairs and  how I wished I had a carport or garage and could just take the groceries right into the kitchen.  I got my wish.   My guests come in through the front door, which I like so they can come right into the living room.

Floorplanner.com

Antique store

I went to an antique store on Monday and can you believe, I didn't buy anything.  They do have some furniture there with really reasonable prices.  This is the antique store here in Mount Airy, NC on Main St.  It's three stories!

Antique store on Main St.

Mount Airy, NC

For those that live here, I was telling about some really inexpensive antique pieces of furniture that I really like, so I thought I would post some pics of them.  Each piece of furniture is around $250. or less.

Here is a cute little dresser. I wished I had got this instead of the newer modern dresser I have for my bedroom now. The faux bamboo ones I am making over because I don't like them.

This looks like some sort of display case, I'm not sure what room this is meant to go in, the dining room maybe? It's really pretty though.

This last picture here is sort of hard to tell because of the angle I took the picture from.   It is for the bedroom, to store clothes in.  I really love this!  I had an antique cabinet similar to this when I was a teenager and I didn't want it anymore, so my parents took it back.  I regret getting rid of it so much, I've often thought of going out and replacing it with one similar to this.

Yes, I walked out of the store empty handed.

Here are a couple of the little things I got at yard sales recently.  Remember my little plate rack?  I just put a coat of primer and white spray paint on it.

BEFORE

AFTER

This is a little wire, I don't know what you call it, table, basket?  

Anyway, it was hunter green. One of my least favorite colors.

I also put a coat of primer and white spray paint on it.

Just little things, but thought I would share.  I'm still working on refinishing my nightstand.  Will post as soon as that's done.

My House - Before & After pictures

1963 Brick Ranch Home

Before and After photos

LIVING ROOM

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

Living room details:  

• Paint: Olympic Crumb Cookie
• Floors: Solid Walnut wood (Mantle also solid walnut)
• Couch: Macys
• White slipcover chair: Ikea
• Coffee table: yard sale (Refinished)
• End table: antique
• Curtains: Ikea, Roman shades: Lowes
• Wall baskets: West Elm
• Armoire: Pottery Barn
• Area rug: JC Penney
• Throw Pillows: Pottery Barn

KITCHEN

BEFORE

AFTER

Kitchen details:

• Butcher block counters: Ikea Numerar Oak (sealed with Watco Butcher Block Oil & Finish)
• Backsplash: Subway tile from Lowes
• Faucet: Moeb from Lowes
• Rug in front of counter: Ballard Designs
• Canister set, towels, tier plate: Orla Kiely from Target
• Apple green whistle kettle: Zappos (My dream kettle)
• Herb pots on cabinets over sink: Ikea

LAUNDRY ROOM

BEFORE

AFTER

Laundry room details:

• Paint on brick walls: Sherman Williams Antique White
• Paint on built in cabinets: Olympic Light Sage
• White curtains: Ikea Vivan, Bamboo Roman Shades: Lowes
• Curtain Rods: Kmart
• Leaf rug: Target
• Burlap curtain under cabinet: fabric.com

MASTER BEDROOM

BEFORE

AFTER

Bedroom Details:

• Paint on walls: Olympic Pale Vista
• Floors: Solid Walnut Wood
• Bed: Beauty Rest pillow top and headboard: Ashley
• White sheets: Wamsutta
• Down comforter: Bed Bath & Beyond
• Duvet Cover: Pottery Barn
• Bedskirt: Nate Berkus
• Curtains: Ikea
• Nightstand: Kane

GUEST BEDROOM

BEFORE

AFTER

Guest Bedroom details:

• Paint color on walls: Sherwin Williams Natural Choice
• Floors: Recycled Walnut wood
• Curtains: Ikea Vivan
• Bamboo Shades: Lowes
• Duvet Cover: Ikea
• Throw pillows: Etsy
• Blue throw blanket: Ralph Lauren
• White throw rug: Ikea
• Wall Lamp and Nest pillow: Pottery Barn
• Desk: LLBean
• Tobacco basket: Antique store

BATHROOM

BEFORE

AFTER

Bathroom Details:

• Wallpaper- Kathy Ireland Home; Garden Silhouette NL58196
• Window Shade- Country  Curtains; Insulated Essex Roman Shade

COAT CLOSET

BEFORE

AFTER

I turned the coat closet into a library.  It wasn't getting much use before and  now I can store all my books and keep them organized.

• Wood for shelves from my dads farm.
• Primed and painted the shelves white.
• Painted the walls Benjamin Moore Bone White
• Unfinished french door from Lowes.
• Primed and painted french door white.

The Floorplans

Feel free to leave feedback about anything you want to say about the house, rooms, decor, etc.  I welcome all feedback.

 I'm putting a link over on the right side of my blog that looks like the photo on the left here, just click on that picture of my living room if you would like to come back to this post of my before and after pictures in the future.  I know one of my favorite things on blogs is seeing the before and afters of peoples homes.  You can bookmark or Follow me to find your way back to my blog.