Archives for March 2012

Features & A March Room Evolution Party!

Hello Friends!

It's that time of the month again (well, not that time of the month, but you know what I mean) - it's the March Room Evolution Party!

I love seeing all of your projects, and before we get the party started, let's do a recap with some features.

Look at this adorable room that Andrea at Oak Ridge Revival created for her daughter. You'll never believe where this space began, and the attached bathroom is the bees knees.

And would you look at this adorable baby girl nursery that Cathy helped her cousin pull together at Room Rx? Could it be any sweeter?

I must have baby on the brain, because I can't resist sharing this bright and beautiful nursery from Young Nesters. She included so many wonderful elements! I love the pom poms hanging from the ceiling, and the framed map pages are fantastic!

Check out this divine boy's room from Maple Leaves & Sycamore Trees. Holy Toledo my friends - the ceiling is off the hook! Not to mention all of the thoughtful touches she added - talk about character!

Speaking of ceilings, get a load of this beauty at Calypso In The Country. A-mazing. I love beadboard to begin with, but put it on the ceiling? You had me at hello.

Thanks again for linking up - looking forward to seeing what you have in store! While you're at it - stop on by Lisa's blog at Shine Your Light, for her Before and After Party!

The Rules:

Grab a button off my sidebar or link back so that others can join the fun.
Two links per person (because I don't want you to run out of rooms to share!)
By entering your link, you are giving me permission to use any part of your post, including pictures to feature you and your awesomeness (with credit given to you and linking back to your blog)
Please post the permalink (the link to your post), not the general link to your blog.
The link party will be open until April 6th, 2012.

Our latest project finally nears the end and here's what it looks like!

For those of you who have been kind enough to read my posts, I have to apologize for the lengthy time in between each one. Lately, it seems as though I only get to write about once a month. Rather than go into the trials and tribulations of the Design/Development business and what keeps me away from my computer, I figured that I would just show you. For the last seven months, we have been feverishly working on a new prototype called 'the Rayburn' and in the past seven days we have come alarmingly close to completion. Other than a few open items such as paint touch ups and landscaping, we are mostly done. Those who have been keeping up with my Design philosophies will be able to see how those manifest themselves into three dimensional form. And for the rest of you who just like to see other people's houses, here's a look inside of our latest project. Thanks to all of you for your patience while we put this together and of course, we would love to hear any comments about the work. I will return to my regularly scheduled Design commentaries next session, but for now, enjoy "the Rayburn". Better images can be found on our Facebook group or our web site at www.poconomodern.com

First Day of Chemotherapy

I'm writing this morning because there was no way I would be sitting up, much less typing, after my day yesterday, but this morning....I am a little better.

Yesterday, was the first day of chemo, it sorta felt like the first day of school, I didn't know anyone, didn't know where to go, where to stand, what to do....my MIL was with me so at least I didn't have to feel like a goof ball alone (which is how I felt on first days of school :)

All and all it went pretty smooth, I didn't start to feel bad until a couple of hours after I got home. I felt ok, then all of a sudden I didn't feel so hot. I was given nausea medicine before the chemicals so I didn't feel nauseated....I felt like I'd been hit by a truck and I couldn't move....later a killer headache came...I just laid in bed and never got up. I finally shuffled out to eat dinner and to watch The Voice...then shuffled back. They told me in Chemo Ed that the first time is going to be the worst...my body was just going to be in shock for a while. I've got three more days and Wednesday and Thursday are six hour drips. God give me strength.

Wanted: One Outdoor Oasis

Hello friends,

I have been in the middle of an Appliance Apocalypse here, so bear with me. After six long weeks, we finally got a new dishwasher, so the dry dishes in my sink no longer resemble a house of cards. But immediately after that, our air conditioning went on the blink, resulting in the financial equivalent of another new dishwasher to repair it. And on top of that, my washing machine decided to join in on the fun.

Thankfully, my repair skills seem to have solved the washing machine problem. Apparently, unplugging my washing machine essentially wiped its memory clean of all technical problems. :-)

With the onslaught of warm weather, my mind is turning to outdoor projects, and in our case, there are many. The yard was overgrown when we bought the house a little over a year ago, so we've avoided it long enough. This year we're going to try and whip it into some sort of shape so that we can maintain it vs. always trying to keep up with it, if that makes sense.

Let me illustrate. Ordinarily, I love anything tufted. Except when it's my lawn. And yes, we do have a lawn service. Actually, we just canceled our service and hired a new one. For obvious reasons...

What makes it worse, is when you look next door and see a lawn like this:

And then we have the mulch beds. Truly. Embarrassing. I want to put a sign out in the yard that says, "This house isn't abandoned and we do care about our home. The lawn is a work in progress. Thank you for your patience, and please don't report us to the Homeowners Association." I sprayed all of the weeds with Roundup, and I'm getting quotes from landscapers for a serious spring clean up.

On the positive side, this scraggly lawn does provide me with these, so it's not all bad.

So, while I'm waiting to get my lawn whipped into shape, I'm dreaming of lovely outdoor spaces. For things like outdoor dinner parties and warm summer get togethers.

Source: Uploaded by user via Jenny on Pinterest

Source: atlantahomesmag.com via Jenny on Pinterest

Source: apartmenttherapy.com via Jenny on Pinterest

Source: southernliving.com via Jenny on Pinterest

Source: houzz.com via Jenny on Pinterest

Source: decorpad.com via Jenny on Pinterest

Source: lh6.ggpht.com via Jenny on Pinterest

Source: pinkpersimmon.tumblr.com via Jenny on Pinterest

So, are you getting your lawn ready for Spring? Is it looking good already or is it in need of some TLC?

Hand Painted Coffee Table

Well, before we get to the coffee table, I have to show you these two chairs that I recently scored. No, they are not matching (which is ok) and now I am faced with the decision a.) whether to paint or not and b.) fabric choices. Even more thoughts....fabric paint for the one on the left and I wonder what a bleach and water mixture would do to the one on the right.....although I really don't mind the navy fabric on it and it's in excellent condition...who knows what I'll do....any way you are here to see a painted coffee table right?

We have had this coffee table since before we got married (yikes!) and it was used then...the stamped date underneath is circa 1983....needless to say, she's not a precious antique...so through all these years of abuse from a house of boys....her age was beginning to show.

But the shape is fantastic, I've always adored the legs, but you can really see how bad the top is in this first picture...
chips, dents, dings, water marks...you know the story...boys.

Keegan hauled it outside for me and set it up on my 'painting pallet'. I sprayed the entire piece glossy black. It is not a great departure from the dark walnut, but really cleaned up the finish

Once the table was completely dry, I broke out the gold leaf pen and hand painted some leaves around the perimeter. Gold leaf pens are really great to work with, great control, so I was able to finish the design in under 30 minutes.

I worked 'backwards' so I wouldn't smudge my work, although it dries fairly quickly.

The pattern added just enough to the top of the table to keep it from being just another piece of black furniture. I also added gold to the 'knuckles' (for lack of better word) of the legs...you'll see a better picture below, again bringing a little more detail in.

Once the the gold leaf was nice and dry, I put on a coat of poly and let it cure a couple of days.

Better picture of the legs:

I moved it back into her regular spot in front of the sofa.....

...we'll see how many more years we can get out of her!

I styled her up pretty neutral (there is a lot of color going on in the living room as it is!) but I love the air of formality she's got now.

Now what to do with those chairs.......:)

Fantasy Front Doors

I don't remember how the subject came up, but somehow the idea of staining our double front doors in a deep, rich, warm tone is now on my project radar. I love beautifully done double front doors. Or just beautiful front doors for that matter. Like these...

Love the glass on these beauties - although I don't think I'm a tidy enough housekeeper to pull it off. (I need to be able to shove stuff in a drawer at the very last minute)