DIY: White Owl

I got my inspiration for this DIY from Michelle at Three Men and a Lady.  I found her blog when researching sunburst mirrors.  She is so talented and has COMPLETELY inspired me.  So after reading through her entire blog (I think in one night) and all her DIY's, I set myself up on a mission.  I, too, would find an owl. 

You would not believe this, but the next day, I went to Goodwill and found myself an owl.  Really!!!!  $2.99 

Here it is with some white lacquer spray paint.  Thanks for the inspiration!

Color Drama

While we were having our family room painted, I gathered all our accessories and put them on our dining room table.  There is definitely a color scheme in our accessories...white, some wood, some silver, and some more white.  I love it though, don't think I'd have it any other way.

See the white birds in the back (amongst the white)...I will have a DIY tutorial on those soon. 

We have paint

I loved the color of the family room.  It was a perfect shade for the room, but I was ready for a change.  Here it is before...Sherwin Williams, Basket Beige.

 

Here it is the day we got it painted.  I almost did the painting myself, but I am a very messy painter.  I asked my husband for help and he said he'd rather pay someone then paint himself.  That made the decision very easy.  Cutting in on the 4 windows, 3 sets of doors, and wood beams was not something I wanted to attempt on my own.  I think the $150 was well worth it.

I am loving the color. Its Sherwin Williams Anew Gray with a little of Mega Greige in it.  It's perfect.

Fabric Find

A couple of weeks back, I was at Goodwill, and happened upon this piece of fabric. Upon inspection, I found a little tag on it stating that it was 100% silk and 2 1/2 yards.  The colors seemed perfect and the price even more.  At $4.00 for the entire piece, I couldn't pass it up. 

I thought of covering some old pillows and putting them on my new grey chairs. 



Not bad for $4.00?  

Found Chair

I just picked up this chair from a pile on the side of the road. Not sure what I am going to do with it yet, but I like the style of it.  The leather is pretty dirty, but not damaged.  The sitting cushion was quite gross and ripped, so I finished ripping it off. 

I am just not sure how to clean the leather or where another chair would go in my house. 

Arc Lamp - First Craigslist Purchase

We sold our old bedroom furniture on Craigslist, but I had never really bought anything.  I got my inspiration from Nuestra Vida Dulce, where she does a Craigslist search called what's good in your hood.  She happened to find an arc lamp in her search that day.  I hadn't even thought of looking on Craigslist before that.  That very second, I checked and what would you know, an arc lamp listed for $125.  I sent a text to the seller and was on my way to see it the next day.  I loved it.  Slight problem, it's huge.  How the heck would it fit in my small SUV.  My husband tried unscrewing it, and ripped up his hands in the process.  At this point, it's about 9:15 p.m.  The only solution...run to an Open Late Home Depot and get a plumbers wrench to unscrew the lamp.  My loving, sweet husband did just that (with just some slight complaining).  We were back in 35 minutes loading the lamp in my car.  I love it.  Here it is in my family room. 

Now to paint...you see the swatches on my wall?

Red Chairs, my inspiration

A couple of years ago, my husband found these chairs at a garage sale.  I loved the chair, the upholstery, not so much. 

We lived with them, as is, dreading the cost of upholstery.  I added some West Elm pillows found on clearance and a throw from Ikea.  I also added some punches of red around the room hoping to incorporate the chairs.  It worked for the time, but the novelty was wearing away.  Reading all these beautiful blogs and seeing these amazing homes, I felt the need for change in my house.  My family room was one big, beige room with red chairs. 

So I found this beautiful, grey linen-like upholstery fabric at a local fabric store and started stripping, sanding, and staining the chairs.



They have become the starting off point for a family room redo. I can't wait!

Our Family Room

Our family room has definitely changed in the last 6 years.  I want to give you an idea of what we were working with when we bought the house.

Everything was brown, the floor, the wood paneling (notice the patch job in the second picture), and the great wood beam ceilings. 

We got rid of everything, the paneling, the tile, the jalacy windows, even the fireplace.  We did a lot of the work ourselves, including building up the walls.  Thanks to both our fathers and lots of great friends and family we were able to demolish this room.  We installed 4 sets of windows, 3 sets of double french doors (2 where the fireplace was), lighting, marble floors, and air conditioning.  Decorated and here it is. 



We love this room.  It is bright and sunny.  The size of the room is great and our TV hangs on the wall opposite the couches.  We originally had 2 West Elm daybeds, but the white cloth was not husband friendly.  After three years, we bought these couches from Macy's.  We decided to go with 2 full sofas, as we wanted as many people as possible to be able to sit comfortably. 

I'm working on redecorating this room, including painting and upholstering.  More on that later.

Thanks for reading.



Our Home

We bought our house 7 years ago on a whim.  J and I weren't really looking, actually, we weren't even engaged yet.  He asked me to drive by this house that had a bigger than average size lot for our area.  I drove by a couple of times, but always kept driving.  You see, it was quite a dump.  There were a few old boats on the property, some old cars, and an old looking house.  We finally decided to call the realtor and take a look.  The house really was a dump, but it had these beautiful wood beam ceilings, a huge oak tree out front, and an even bigger Royal Poinciana (that happened to be in bloom)  outback.  The backyard was worse than the front.  I think we counted 6 old boats, a welding machine on the patio, 2 sheds, and an area towards the back of the lot where the owner had put up a makeshift tarp with electrical cords running across the yard. This is where he listened to the radio drinking his Old Milwaukee. 

Let's buy it!  Everyone, including ourselves, thought we had lost it.  My dad, not even concerned about the house, was more worried there wasn't a ring on my finger and we were buying a house together.  J reassured him that the house needed plenty of work and not to worry.  Well, a whole year later, still no kitchen and plenty more to do, we walked down the aisle and stayed at our house on our wedding night.  We were so excited. 

So here we are, 6 years married, with plenty more to do.  We did most of the construction work before moving in, a lot more while living here, and still have a list of things I'd like to get done.  My decorating style has evolved over the years, with one thing staying consistent, I love simple, modern design.  As of recent, I have started liking a bit more of the eclectic, vintage, mid-century type design.  I also love a great find and seeing what I could do with it.  Through this blog, I hope to share the evolution of our house, the evolution of my design style, and of our family.  Thanks for reading!