Stanley

Oh, good old Stanley...

Wait... not Stanley Roper from Three's Company. Oops. Everyone... be prepared...

He's Stella's older brother. I got him at Scott's the last time I went. But snow days and rainy days kept me from doing much with him. That and the fact that he was glued in the frame (I love the ones you can just unscrew and spray paint- no taping off!) You don't think much of him? Just wait. I'll show you.

The minute we got a little "spray paint" weather (what I like to call it), I ran outside and laid out the drop cloth! <-- which was gross and soaking wet from the week of rain we had before. Ooops.

I repurposed my subscription to Business Law as a great way to tape off the mirror... (I was going for much needed printer paper at first- what was I thinking?!) I won't lie, I started reading some articles while I waited in between coats to dry ha!

 Make sure you tape the middle down, I made a mistake last time and as I started spraying the pages were blowing up and off allowing particles of paint to get on the mirror.

Goodbye to that brassy gold hue..

I wanna know why I didn't do this sooner!? I am absolutely obsessed with Stanley! That's not his home... he's just chilling in the landing for NOW... his real home is in the new office (whenever that happens!) Check back in soon to see Stanley in his real spot!

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the highlight of my day yesterday... waking up to a tweet from Krylon DIY about my design on a budget post. Whoop whoop!

tip junkie

Meet Stella...

Stella, {the newest member of our family} used to be ugly, tacky, gaudy, and just plain awful. She is now refreshing, bright, cheery, and delightful. {and fantastic, and beautiful, and awesome, etc}. She got her name because she is quite simply stellar. And I couldn't name her stellar, so i named her stella. she. is. incredible.

When I adopted her, she was a sad thing but had tons of potential. TONS.

I couldn't sleep for days {if i'm lyin', i'm dyin'!) because I was SO excited to see Stella's transformation. It was too late the first day I bought her, then the next 2 days it rained, then the 4th day I had to go to class all day {bummer}, so it was a lot of waiting. I hate waiting for projects!

Ordy Boy, being the sweetheart that he is, totally knowing his Joon Bug and her antsy-ness, started the project without even being asked. We discussed color options and of COURSE I wanted white, but he made encouraged me to go a little crazy. I was hesitant but i'm so happy with the color now!!

I had a choice of three different Krylon yellows, but ultimately went with the "Bright Idea" and I am super happy I did!  It. is. perfect.

he sent me these pictures while i was in class, and my responses to his texts where less than enthusiastic. I was notttt feeling the color. I regretted my decision and felt too bad to tell him to go white. plus i didn't know if it was even possible after his 5 coats of yellow and shine... ugh. regret.

BUT THEN I SAW HER IN PERSON. she was the most BEAUTIFUL shade of sunshine yellow! I was ecstatic. I couldn't wait to take her home and hang her up! Alright, here she is in her new home!

she is so me!!

The Chandy

Ok, so the pictures look grainy because it was dark and I wanted the only light to be from the chandelier- so here the pics are!

i am in lovvvve with it!!! I still can't believe that Ordy got this for me. I love the lighting it gives off. so cozy. it's gonna be awesome around the holidays to have this and the fireplace with some old christmas classics playing...

the pillow bugs me... sorry

This is random, but HOW EXCITED AM I to have found this mirror in an antique store in Blue Ridge... when we went to the cabin I got TWO mirrors, this is one of them. The other looks different but i just love this one and how awesome it can be with a coat of paint!!!! (just use your imagination) I can't paint it until my friend uses it for a photo shoot. It's gonna be so cute :)

Please vote for me!

The Grand Reveal!!

I don't even know where to start with this post of "before and afters" but I will start by addressing the check points I mainly wanted to address after my "uncozy crisis"

List of things I got done this weekend (aka: in 18 hours)

1. Painted my dining room walls (I went with Grey and LOVE it!) Thursday night after 12 hours of class, determined to have it dry by Friday!
2. I picked up some small "details" to sprinkle in around the place from yard sales and such and think they're GREAT touches. I dunno, you tell me!
3. Redid the outdoor area a little (added an adorable plant- mums, took off the old wreath-- about to put the NEW one up after GNI!!! and swapped out the lights)
4. Swapped my couches. I read in the recent H&G magazine how unpractical love seats are... no one wants to share an intimate couch with someone they hardly know, and no one ever sits on it... you can't have anyone crash on the couch (unless, they're under 4 feet)... and I also just didn't like how "blah" they were... the beige on the white tile- ehhh not so much..
5. I put in the new tables from  the Scott's Antique trip and love them! Just breathes a breath of fresh air to the living room. I'm so glad the modern coffee table is gone!
6. Added a side area in my dining room (i thought it would cramp the area, but with the mirror it actually makes it look bigger)
7. Added stuff to my dining room walls. DON'T JUDGE ME! I couldn't get a hold of the other letters to complete the look- so when you look at the pictures, yes, i understand you're perplexed about the random "T" floating around on a shelf...
8. FINALLY bought a Bigger TV and mounted it above the mantle! It looks so good! Like a real living room, as opposed to the "fake one" i had hahaha. it was just so awkward on the wall before in the right corner of the room taking up so much space and not in a comfortable viewing area. 

Please note: for TRUE before and afters, refer to the previous blog post where I took pictures of the living room area. These are kind of "during" and "after".

And Now For Pictures!!!

Outdoor Lamp Makeover

Yes, I believe my light was from the 1960's when the building was originally built. I also know for a fact that it is yellow from dead moths, not age. Yuck.
The "new" light is actually one I picked up from a yard sale this weekend for a whopping $1.50! It was one of those things that was never on my "list of things to buy", but when I saw it, I knew I had to have it....

proof that it was only 1.50!

It was hard to not be overwhelmed at this point... I had stuff everywhere and couldn't think of anything other than "HOARDER!" and also wish I could just wiggle my nose like sam from bewitched and have everything just fall in its place... or just like Matilda :)

look at this mess!

I think the brown leather couches just make the living room walls pop! And the rug! everything just stands out. I love how big the couches look and almost define my walls. It made me realize how big my living room is, and it's practical space! (obviously, these pictures are with the new coffee tables in both, but i had that glass modern one)

-- those gorgeous roses were my Wed flowers this week :) love the color...

Looking on Craigslist and estate sales/yard sales for "the perfect" shabby chic chandelier. Going to look at one in Dallas, GA tomorrow to replace. Please imagine that I have the letters "E" and "A"!!! JOANN is killin' me! and there isn't one near me... So, I have to just post pictures and hope you understand :)

OK, this makes me the MOST excited! I grabbed the table that WAS in the living room and put it in the hallway of the dining room. I think it was a GREAT idea. there was nothing but a small mirror there earlier. I moved the table, and then finally the mirror.

This is the $8.98 mirror I got. After $10 I made it look amazing! (in my opinion).... (I used gift wrapping paper to cover the mirror so i didn't get overspray all over it...)

I had two random picture frames I had (they were an AWFUL gold color- soooo Jersey) and wanted to paint them high gloss white (like everything else- i'm so boring!) but after i primed it- i fell in love with the matte grey look!!!! I really didn't have an empty space to frame a pic of me, bandit, or ordy- so I turned them into "book ends". I cut out some scrapbook paper with an exacto knife and just stuck them in there and put one on both ends. I know it's not "practical" but it sure is cute!

I got the huge white shelf from a thrift store- it was $20, but it was a certain color sticker so when i checked out it came up to $10!! SCORE! It's so awesome. I ran to hobby lobby and got 3 "crystal" looking knobs for $4 each- only when I went to check out- 50% off! So i got all 3 for $6... I'm a happy camper. I picked up a yard of burlap and THAT was also 50% off... so for $1 I added burlap detail to my little green pieces sprinkled around the house...

The tiles on the left of the tv used to be white and hanging in place of the tv... and Ordy got them for my 23rd birthday (yes, i am that cheesy- i ask for home decorating items for my bday!) and we decided they'd blend in on the white/beige walls... so he had the idea to paint them with the leftover paint from the blue wall behind the couch and create that color on the opposite wall. I'm all about symmetry and thought i'd go nuts with only 4 on one side, but he had a point, soon I'll be adding a shelf for my dvd player on the right. So it'll balance out somehow...

We were going to "antique" them, by sanding them down, only we got parts of the tin shining through and it made it look black and dirty... so we kept them just blue.

After tonight, the door will have a new wreath!

Thanks for coming! I will upload more pictures once I do more to the place! I had to just finish it up before the girls came over tonight- and I'm so pleased!!

It's SO cozy!