Keepin' It Real!! {2012 Home Goals}

Well, I finally broke down and am deciding to post some 'real' pictures and let you all know {out loud...and publicize!!} what my goals are for this year.

The list could be longer, but for sanity reasons. I am gonna start 'small'!!

{please if looking at horrible photos and decor choices isn't your forte...and you have a weak stomach...please just don't read any further!!}

Since we rent our current pad, it does make it simpler for home decor {since we are not allowed to change anything...but our decor}.

1) I'll start with my bedroom.

There is reasons why I've never posted pictures regarding this room....

I've never EVER been happy with my decorating choices for this room.

{obviously haven't made anything decor wise ...just the dump pile area for the entire house}

{yes...it's gross}

Thank goodness for blogs and pinterest!!!

I've got my little ideas, sketched out and ready to go-

2) My front porch/stoop/stairs...

lol!! It really is not much of a porch...but it's still an easy spot to collect shoes...and rustic items...and apparently phone books... {seriously..does anyone use those anymore??}

Want to look like this-

Gonna need some mold/moss solutions...need to research something ecofriendly/safe for kiddos and people, like me, with severe asthma!! Thankfully there isn't any mold/mildew on the inside of the house...it's allll in the lawn and the exterior paint...hmm.

3) Do something a lot more ATTRACTIVE..with this corner...I'm stumped... 

I'm having piano placement issues....traffic flow is an issue...

Also the antique photos on the wall behind the floor lamp...need to be put somewhere else??

Need to do a wowzer affect with a piano bench...hmm

Again, thankful for some inspiration...from you know pin that interest!!

4) Bathroom...umphf schlumphf!!

Used to be browns and golds....back in the day...found awhile ago a white and gray dainty-ish shower curtain at Ikea for 10 bucks...so thought it would lighten up the space...yeah it does....but now needs a wow factor!

Needs storage/something above toilet...gotta get on that...

Inspirations-

I LOVE this saying!!

Thankfully for me, I've got lots of paint, extra materials, and time!

Progress:

The bedroom doesn't even look like the pictures anymore!! 

Already has been rearranged...and have more neato ideas up our sleeves...lets brake out the saws, hammers,  sewing machine and the paint brush!! 

I am MOTIVATED!!!

Joining with over at the 2012 Home Goals Party hosted by: 

The Nester!!

tata!

~*Jessica

Excited!!!

I've been cooped up too long!! We've been here the last five days. I'm excited {much to my husband's chagrin} to get home and do some tweaking!! I've got a couple more things yet to do in the living room, then it will be done, until winter decorating :), got one {yes...one} more thing to do in the dining room. A couple tweaks in the bathroom, my room, and the girls room {exciting 'new' room arrangement idea...hopefully it will work out}.

I've been staying busy with other activities, tried to take it easy while Maci was in the 'easy' stage of treatment. This next 'intense' stage will start on November 17th. We will be stuck at home for two months, no going out in public {especially this time of year}. We have a lot of fun planned!!

Here is a little eye candy, {well I enjoyed it!} and hopefully can incorporate this kinds of things into the decor soon!!

Happy weekend!!

Dining Room Update & DIY curtains

I'm thinking I finally re arranged everything in this little room to my liking....for awhile anyways. This current arrangement fits our family's style...or whatever you want to call it. Let's just say it 'flows' for us.

I had on my to do list to paint the dining room table from black to white. I am really loving the transition.

I've slipcovered my craigslist parson chairs {picked up beginning of summer for $60 for all four}in a cotton duck fabric. Everything else in this room has been rearranged and 'house' shopped!

I showed you the giant {especially for my house}leaning wall mirror my hubby picked up few months ago at a garage sale for...$40!! I've decided to antique gold the frame, and distress it. Something like this:

{via}

I've also been admiring these curtains for sometime now....knowing I would love to do this:

{via}

I had some extra drop cloths laying around {I did need to spend $9.00 for this project on drapery rings}

I layed out my dropcloth, {this one had three panels, I cut off the end two}, smoothed, ironed, then got to measuring. 

For myself, I wanted about 12 inches per stripe. But it wouldn't have ended right- the total length of the cloth was 102", so I had to figure out a couple of different measurements. The closest I could come up with was 11.25".

The painting part was...interesting. I didn't have a roller so I grabbed Josh's biggest paint brush. I found out that almost a dab method worked best! {These babies soak up allllooott of paint!}

I started with a half pint can of black paint {Thank God I had a few extra cans of blacks in the garage...or I would have had unfinished curtains!}, and ended up going through total almost 1.5 quarts of paint, plus a large tube of black craft paint {didn't make a different when all was said and done}

After I finished each one...I took the blue tape off, and left them to dry overnight.

With the hubby's help, we moved our curtain rod brackets higher up the wall {underneath the top moulding}.

After clipping on the panels...I discovered I didn't need to paint that last panel, I had to trim that much off...it was too long! {Well it was a nice guide to trim off}

Here they are {if you ever come over, please don't inspect tooo closely because they definitely aren't perfect, but they work for me!}

{please keep in mind that someday, hopefully soon, that mirror will be an antique-y gold color!}

Have a wonderful weekend!! 

~*Jessica

Linking up to:

"Air Your Laundry Friday" Textile Party
Home Sweet Home
Feathered Nest Friday

~To Inspire~

I've been browsing....Pinterest.....and have compiled a list of inspirations....and {sorry hunny!!}a longer todo list!  Maybe I should change 'ToDo List' to 'Wish List'?

Would love to do something like this in my hallway...Gallery theme would be centered around family. Console table would be very small....and would hold our wallet, keys, and phones.

Spotted this saying about children....pretty much is my heart about my little lovelies.

My couch will soon look like this...all cream/white pillows

Need to find a coffee table similar in style....someday....

More coming on these....hopefully soon! Hint: Dining Room!

This barely scratches the surface....

Have a great day!

~*Jessica

Welcome Fall & My New Fireplace Mantle {Yay!!}

If you remembered my 'todo' list that I posted a couple of weeks back, then you'll remember that we were intending to make a mantle to cover our fireplace insert. A HUGE thank you to my husband and two of our friends for spending their whole Labor Day at our house making this thing. I have always dreamed of decorating a fireplace mantle, and now I can!! This was extremely low cost....just some food and a strip of moulding. {We had the wood already}. You might be thinking, you rent...so isn't that a waste of money? Naw...it's removable!!

We used 'reclaimed' wood to build the main body, along with some Olympic paint in Delicate White {primer & paint in one}...and yup, I forgot to get the 'during construction' photos....oops!

*Please excuse the quality of the photos. I can't find my camera anywhere :( So I used my iPhone for all these*



Let's just say I'm "in Love!!"

I enjoy the shelf being wide enough to be able to place my two little lamps with the burlap shades on it for extra light.

Grabbed items last night out of my seasonal bucket for some fall 'love'. I really like the burlap runner mixed with the grapevine garland that I forgot about in my tub!!

Some of my vintage silver pieces, along with my silver peacock bird my little sister brought back from Peru...I love it!

Think this sums it all up into one word for me this year. I definitely have TONS to be thankful for!!

Can you find my "h" I love initials!!

Birdie closeup

A different angle. Also gotta love my antique mirror my mom 'let me hang' on my wall!!

So here's a before shot of the wall {yeah..it's kinda embarrassing}

{After}

Hmmm...what's your favorite???

Thanks for reading today!! I'm linking this up to:

Tabletop Tuesdays

Wow Us Wedsnesdays

Transformation Thursdays

MMS Furniture Feature Friday
Feathered Nest Friday