Would you distress this coffee table?

This coffee table and I have a history. We have been together since I was in 6th grade I think. My mom kept a big pillow underneath it and my sister Traci and I would pull it out and watch TV. My mom gave it to me when Sam and I were first married. It was brown and looked like it had been around for a while so after spending alot of time at the Thrifty Decor Chick and Domestic Fashionista I decided it was time for me to paint it black. Let me say that when it comes to painting furniture, I am a fan of oil paint all the way. I did do a gray primer and then a coat of satin black latex paint but it just looked kind of sad. So I went over it with a coat of glossy oil paint the same paint I used on a mirror hanging in the same room. I am digging it. However, I am unsure if I should sand around the edges or not. What do you think? It would be distressed in the same way as the mirror.

I know this is a weird picture. I cropped out our family name plate thingamajig from the top.



And for my friend, Alissa--here is picture of the beadboard that my handsomely handy husband put up. It was a snap and click sort not the large sheet you can find at Lowe's. Sam preferred it and I agree. The kit came with the baseboards--which you can't see here. I am going to give it a clear coat of polyurethane. I was going to paint it the same color as the cabinets but since all the other wood tones in the room are blonde colored I have decided to not paint it. Here is a sneak peek of it before the stain. I could have taken a better shot of the room to show how well it does fit in BUT I haven't cleaned the kitchen for the evening yet and it was somewhat cluttered. So, I left that part out. I am sure you understand. ;) The whole project was under $30.


And this is one of my next projects. I found this on the corner on my neighbor's yard. Tomorrow is bulk trash collecting in our neighborhood. It opens like a toy chest...ah sweet storage. Now I just need to figure out what color to paint it. I think I am going to use it a sofa side table. I think I will use it to store games and blankets. If hubby says it is sturdy enough I could upholster the top and use it as a sort of ottoman chest seat. It will be in the same room as the black coffee table, the black mirror and that gorgeous painting in the last picture.

Mommy and Me HGTV

So pictures of things we did when she was here.

We redid my kitchen window treatment and hung some wrought iron above it.

We laid some rock along the edge of this flower bed.

She bought me some bedding. Sorry for the odd angles. I am using a zoom lens and couldn't get far enough away without cutting parts of the room bed off.

Hung some things over the bed.

Added some more drapes on the edges of the window treatment. I had been wanting to use these faux silk curtains forever! You likely can't tell but the pattern in the silver blue coverlet is VERY similar as the pattern in the white curtain.

My first brand new piece of furniture. It was 75%off. I paid $189 bucks for a 100% top grain leather pushback chair. It was originally $800. It even came with a CD-ROM to tell you how to take care of it. You can also see the curtain tiebacks that we bought and screwed into the wall.

We used some extra sheer purple curtains and fabric napkins to dress up this decorators table and my "sofa table"--which is really a piece of wood supported by some buckets of oats from my food storage. That fake orchid was $10 at Costco.

Mystery Flower

Can you tell me what these bulbs are? They are in my front yard island and I was thinking it was muscari for the longest time but I can tell that they are definitely not muscari. If you can tell me what these are I will owe you big time. These were taken on the same day. Click on it for a larger version.


My friend Janeth has identified this flower as

Ornithogalum umbellatum

otherwise known as Star of Bethlehem!

You are so smart and extremely helpful. I like to know what is growing in my yard and I was oh so curious to know what it was. I think this is the first time I have ever seen Star of Bethelem.

Thank you!

It's Monday--What do hair and Randy Jackson have to do with it?

It's Monday--my list for the week is full, my girls need lots of attention and here I sit. UNMOTIVATED. I feel very tempted to skip the laundry and bathrooms BUT that won't help anything. It is less than an hour before I have to take Olivia to school which means it is time for lunch and my hair needs to be done. I always feel BLAH when I don't do hair. So before I ditch all housework for the day, I am going to do my hair, make lunch, take O to Kindy and then do a little home decor something to lift my spirits. The laundry and bathrooms can be easily and quickly done on commericial breaks during naptime, right?

UPDATE-2:15 pm- For me, hair is the key. If I feel frumpy, I feel lazy. When I have lipgloss and my hair done, productivity follows. So I did my hair, cleaned the upstairs bathroom, tidied the kitchen and have all the chairs on the table and counters for a good sweeping, the dishwasher is loaded is washed, the sink is shining. I have clothes in the dryer begging me to dry them and the little girls are napping.

So now, I am thinking about folding my clothes in the company of a little HGTV or Sense and Sensibility. I am feeling happy with my efforts. If Randy Jackson from American Idol was here he would say, "Dude! You worked it out!" Thanks Randy!Iit was worth it ;)

Blame it on my mother

What a perfect post for the week leading up to Mother's Day, right? Don't you love my title? It may sound like I am going to blame my mother for all of my weaknesses but that would be bunk. My mother gave me all of my strengths.

She taught me how to discover the world thru reading. She taught me how to become better with each surfacing of every weakness, she also taught me how to dance with wild abandon--in the kitchen and behind the wheel of the car, how to sing in the kitchen, how to love black and white movies and other good media.

Because of her I know how to quote random movies, playfully roll around on the floor with my kids, how to laugh so loudly that your kids can hear it in the opposite side of the house and come running to see what is so funny, how to love the Lord, commit myself to truth and live it, how to be prepared and have a deep love of food storage, how to live abundantly on a budget, how to be content with the things I have and take care of them, how to emote and how to see myself as a daughter of God.

She showed me how gardening brings peace to a hectic life. This is something I rejected until I was 25 yrs old. When I was a teenager my mom would give me a choice--you can make dinner or you can work outside in the yard with me and your dad. I rolled my foolish teenage eyes at the thought of gardening and gladly set out to make dinner for the family.

She also was the world's best and most creative decorator. I remember how proud she was when she finished her home beautifying projects and how she liked to graciously show her friends what and how she did them. She watched HGTV regularly, subscribed to Southern Living and Better Homes and Garden. I was UNINTERESTED. I preferred Family Circle for the articles on fitness, nutrition, fashion, beauty and cooking.

My mom also loves rocks, she has asked for rocks, bricks, pavers and dirt ,for that matter, for every Mother's Day since I was a teenager. She'd make us stop on long trips when she'd see some gorgeous (to her eyes) rocks and load them into the back of the van. All of us kids lovingly mocked her but she got dirt and rocks for Mother's Day.

Then when I was 25 yrs old, my neighbor Chellae, talked me into starting a garden with her. I was hooked from the first moment despite reacting in a wussy girly squeaky way when I encountered worms. Six years later, I still hate worms and have to contain squeals but I LOVE gardening. I think it amuses my mother how obsessed I am with it. I went home for Christmas at fell in love with two magazines- Better Homes and Gardens and Garden Gate.

Becoming a homeowner has apparently unlocked and released the obsessive nature of decorating and gardening in me. The gardening was already there but the decorating...I have a confession. I am now an AVID HGTV watcher. I think about decorating in my sleep. I love decorating blogs. I have to restrain myself from browsing them all day. I also LOVE rocks. I find myself browsing the side of the road for rocks that don't look like they belong in anyone's yard or construction yard.

Well, my mother was in town a few weeks ago and boy did we have fun. We raided my rock pile in my yard (left my the guy who bought, renovated and flipped our house) and bordered more flower beds, we found FABULOUS deals at TJ Maxx--I only paid 25% of the original price for a gorgeous top grain leather pushback chair and Mom treated me to some beautiful bedding, we shopped for accessories and laughed so loud in some stores with my sister that we were afraid they might kick us out, planted my hibiscus plants fresh from QVC (she taught me how to shop QVC by the way), climbed up my countertops and rearranged some things on top of the cabinets, brainstormed on future projects, reworked some window treatments in the kitchen, spray painted some wrought iron (did I mention I am obsessed with wrought iron?). She got me out of my fear of putting holes in walls while we raided Sam's tool bag, broke out the drill driver thingy and put up some curtain holdbacks. We trampled on my lovely bedding and hung sweet little pieces on the wall above my bed and she did laundry for me everyday.

*Sigh*...*Bliss* I love that woman. It is a low down dirty shame that we live a 26 hr drive away (24 if she is driving).

However, now I am even more obsessed with decorating, gardening and staying on top of my laundry. I blame all that on my mother. Isn't she wonderful?

Pictures coming in the next blog post--maybe a wordless Wednesday sort of thing.