color grading.

This dresser was in my room when I was a teenager.

Since I am terrible at choosing wall color,

I have about 80 paint samples in my garage.

5 of them were used for this update.

The rope pulls are my favorite part.

They were also the only things I had to pay for,

so this "new" dresser only cost me $2.50.

stenciled floor.

Our Guest Room carpet was thrashed:

stains from hair dye,

worn parts in high traffic areas,

and some mysterious melted spots...

I know it doesn't look that bad in the picture,

but I was not a happy camper.

I have envisioned something like this for a while now.

I think it's beautiful, and I wanted to recreate it.

So, while Eric was on a business trip, 

I ripped up the carpet, pulled out the tack strips, 

scrubbed glue, and patched many holes and seams.

I was afraid I was in over my head when after 2 days of hard work

 it still looked this bad:

But, I carried on.

I tried to purchase the stencils in the picture above,

except they were no where to be found ...

so, I made my own.

I painted the base coat, stenciled the designs, 

applied the poly floor finish, and 

vuala!

I'm in love.

There are a ton of imperfections 

due to the crappy sub-floor and homemade stencils,

so instead of hiding the mistakes, I highlighted them.

It's better than I even imagined.

desk subtlties.

I got this desk for $20 at our neighbor's garage sale.

It's a good little desk, 

but its knobs weren't doing anything for me.

So, I changed them to match some other aspects of the room.

I got this drawer organizer for free from a different neighbor.

I didn't like the light color, 

so I changed that too.

My new office chair fits right in.

office chair.

This chair was sitting out on the curb in our neighborhood.

I could see it's inner beauty immediately.

I'm not sure what its previous owner was thinking
when they drizzled varnish all over it.

It also had a busted seat that needed repair ...

but after a makeover, it's inner beauty was able to shine forth!

Isn't it darling!

table tribute.

6 children

12 feet

120 toes

bare feet

basketball shoes

heels

moccasins

church shoes

vans

flip flops

socks

Rough edges rubbed smooth.

custom birthday cakes

Sunday afternoon waffles

rummy q

morning scripture study

$3 day stew

tacos

procrastinated school projects

thanksgiving feasts

polish rattle

family home evenings

grandma's china

smooshed blackberries in cheerios

Homemade everything.

"I get the middle chair!  Bomb, bomb no erasies!"

"Mommy ... I love you.  Can I be done eating?"

"I don't want to straddle the bar!"

"Moded!"

"What did you learn in your Sunday School class?"

"This is the wall ... don't touch me."

Over 30 years surrounded by our family.

who.

Remember this mirror?

I kept just the frame and paired it with these fun items.

(my sis-in-law gave me these owls last Christmas for our tree, 

but I thought they were better suited for Halloween Time)

Now I have a Halloween Decoration!

hung and hidden.

Here is our television.

Here is our awkwardly placed outlet.

Here is our properly hung television with our outlet happily hidden.