i heart ruffles.

Welp, here we are Sunday evening and still no "after" photos of Jack's big boy room.

What can I do?

It's January. In Ohio.

And I honestly cannot tell you the last time the sky wasn't gray.

To think, I love gray.

Just not when it's the color of the sky.

Not for weeks at a time.

So, what's a girl to do?

When the temperatures are too frigid to paint (even in the garage).

And the skies are so gray?

Well, move on to another room makeover of course!

The newest 'updated on the tightest of budgets and within the general likes of homeowners in our area' room in the house is the guest/Jack's bathroom.

What exactly does all that in italics mean, you ask?

Well, this isn't our forever home. Oh no, far from it.

So when we update, we have to keep in mind not to update so specific to our likes and not over-update it and it not be worth our investment considering the market we're in.

So it's nothing spectacular.

But, it's better. Alot better.

And, it's not done yet but I'm already seriously considering a "splurge item".

Since nothing in the room was a splurge, and the one I'm considering can go with us to our forever home when that day comes.

That's not the bathroom.

I WISH!

And, I'm unsure of where I came across that picture.

But it's beautiful, wouldn't ya say?

The wall color is "Horizon" by Benjamin Moore.

And that's the color I painted Jack's room and the bathroom.

Soooo, I'm torn between which of these to go with:

my all time favorite item from Anthropologie?

If ever there was perfection found in a shower curtain, that's it.

 or one of these Urban Outfitters beauties?

Which would you pick?

I hope you all had a lovely weekend.

We had family in town, and my sister and neice are here tonight because my neice turns 4 tomorrow and we plan to have a super fun time with the kids...

going out for breakfast...

baking cupcakes...

opening presents for our upcoming beach trip...

and

laughing, hugging, cuddling

the day away.

:)

Hope your week gets off to a great start!

Jack's bedroom makeover (before).

As you may already know, I've been working on turning Jack's boring, plain, "no longer my style" nursery into a "big boy" room he can love and I can be proud of.

Well, it's complete.

For now.

And just as soon as the sun decides to shine again here in the state of Ohio,

in the month of January,

I will quickly take all the photos I can before the clouds again hide the rays I love so much.

Until then,

I have nothing but the "before" pictures.

The ghastly "before" pictures.

Of his room.

Of furniture for his room.

And, of items in his room.

So, if your eyes (and stomachs) can handle it,

here is his room, furniture, and items in all it's hideous glory.

anyone notice the sneak peak? ;)

$20 antique dresser I found on Craigslist.

$20 desk and chair from a local thrift store.

$10 Craigslist find that I'm glad I measured before we bought Jack's mattress.

Previous owner said it was full sized. It's queen.

what the old light looked like.

via: young house love.

What I used to make the new light.

Thanks to A LOT of help (and patience) from my dad who knew I had a vision and trusted me enough to keep working on this seemingly never-ending project.

Love you Dad!

Are y'all still with me?

Have you frantically hit the "stop following" button after all that mess?

Or is your head hanging over a bucket/toilet from how sick you are to your stomach after seeing those images?

If you're still here, you deserve an award!

But, I promise you, the "after" in my completely biased opinion is soooo cool.

It brought me to tears.

Happy tears.

Sad tears.

Happy to see my "baby" boy so excited about his big boy room and "gigantic to him" bed!

:)

Sad to see I no longer have a baby boy.

:(

But, he's happy so it makes me happy.

And, the weather forecast is showing sunshine for Thursday so hopefully that will be the big reveal day!

If anyone knows of any good par-tays (i.e. parties) I can link up to, and share the room makeover, please do let me know!

Until then, thanks for hanging in there through the good, the bad, and the ugggg-ly with me.

aluminum dining chairs (deal).

I'm embarrassed to admit that over a year ago I posted about some things I wanted to add to the house. And, quite a few of them we have. I.e. beadboard (which I should share in an updated kitchen post), a chandelier and a couple other lighting changes I should also share, lots more white of course, and a comfy chair I am crazy enough to think I can slipcover. But, the embarrassing part is that over a year ago I said there was a farm table I was working on. And, welp, I'm still working on it. If having the legs and chairs cleaned and primed but waiting to be painted and the top waiting to be sanded and stained can be counted as "working on it". Anyhow, I saw this photo and fell in love with the look.

*an old Country Living photo I found via google.

Imagine those chairs, around this table.

*also found via google.

I'm not yet certain  I want the legs blue on the one I have, I may opt for white. But I do want them distressed like mad, and a dark stained top. It's lovely and seems most practical with a wild little 3 year old boy in the house.

I do have three windsor chairs that came with the table but I thought of mixing in a few aluminum chairs to keep things interesting. And today Mary posted these chairs from Sundance Catalog.

Beautiful, right?! I mean, wow. Bad news, for me, is the price tag. $245 each. NO WAY would the hubby agree to paying that for a metal chair he can't recline in. You get the point.

So I had some searching to do, and *drum roll please*...

homedecorators.com

$79 each

on sale from $99 each.

I got the okay to order them because Travis likes them too!

So my question now is, order four to have all matching chairs around the farm table I am determined to finish this Spring just as soon as the frigid temperatures subside and the garage doesn't feel like an icebox. OR, order two and place them on one side together while placing a windsor chair on the opposite side, and one on each end.

*windsor chairs*

Although the ones I have will be painted white.

I'm the.most.indecisive.person.ever so come on ladies, share those opinions!

Please.

And, thank you.

:)

P.S. I have a lamp steal to share tomorrow. AND, maybe, just maybe,

 my first ever GIVEAWAY coming soon!!!

antique love, close to home!

While browsing Craigslist

(and wathcing football since I'm in a Playoffs Fantasy League... yes, you read that right.)

I came across a dresser at a flea market less than an hour from home.

The dresser was cute, and had a good price so I kept looking and came across "old beauty" that I think I need.

Wouldn't this be great for holding magazines or books?

Lately, I have an owl obsession.

I purchased two ceramic ones from Goodwill I plan to spray a glossy white.

Perfect for the blank space above our front door. Maybe with an "M" in that space in the middle.

I can think of 101 uses for an old chair. Love them, and at just $8 each, I want them all.

After seeing Maria's Master Bedroom I want two of these old doors to use as a headboard!

The old mantels above also remind me of this setup in her living room.

That frame, painted white and holding just about anything (other than the floral painting it holds now)... yummy.

Dresden Junk-shun is only open two hours tomorrow but I bet I could have an SUV size load of goodies picked out in about 2.5 minutes!

pretty little side table.

Back in the summer I picked up a french looking side table at Goodwill for a great price.

I primed it.

And, it sat. In the garage. Waiting.

Causing me anxiety by being another thing on my "to do" list staring me in the face.

Then Winter came. And we all know what that means. I can't be outside painting, and I don't want to be in the frigid garage painting.

So, on Christmas Day (of all days), while Jack napped and Travis worked out, I painted.

In the basement.

Don't underestimate how good it can feel to paint the old-fashioned way. You know, with a brush and roller. And my little 'two-season' project was complete.

*i realize i may be the last person on the planet to have the amazing and talented Rachel Ashwell's

"Shabby Chic Interiors"

but man oh man, if I'm not, you must buy a copy.

I sat in Barnes and Noble one night on an uncomfortable little step stool and could not pull myself away from the beauty this book holds.

Santa knew how much I loved it. ;)

*edited to add*

The always "i can't believe that" before picture:

 

Since I got THIS recently, I decided to sell the bookcase that was previously on this wall since I had nowhere else in the house to put it. And although I intended to put that buffet on this wall, I happen to like the simplicity of the little table and chairs there so we may end up using the buffet as our media cabinet as it would balance out our extra large sofa.

We'll see.

I'm indecisive, and seriously considering paying for professional help with our living room.

However, the suggestions you lovelies have are always welcome.

flower power and a PARTY!

I'm obsessed.

made with love for one of my best girlfriends.

tutorial found HERE.

Once I successfully made that necklace, me and my glue gun were unstoppable.

three headbands and an ear warmer for my niece.

(it's about 1 a.m. so the lighting is, um, not so great.)

Alivia Leigh will be 4 years old this month and we're celebrating with a party at Chuck E. Cheese tomorrow.

Jack has never been but has seen the commercials and excited to celebrate "Ee-yah's Bir-day Pardy" there so although all went well at his 3 year check-up, I'm hoping a bit of the flu bug that seems to be creeping in on him due to the vaccine (which actually was not an injection!) holds off so he can have fun with his birthday girl cousin.

I'll be sure to snap lots of photos amongst all the skee-ball and ticket counting chaos of Alivia sporting her new girly headbands and share some soon.

I better get to bed and calm down my toddler who decided a nap from 3-6 pm then again from 8-10 pm was good enough rest for him, so that I can keep up with the excitement tomorrow.

P.S. I got the buffet!!!

*can't wait until Spring when the weather allows me to fire up the paint sprayer and make that thing even more beautiful.