Thursday, July 28, 2016

Our First Home

It’s a little bittersweet to say we have SOLD our first home.
I bought this home as a young 23 year old and never expected that 5 years later this would be the home that welcomed us home after an engagement, marriage, and our first child. This home was an effort of love and devotion that taught Willie and I so much about each other and I will always cherish the special moments we had living there. This home really craved the foundation of our marriage of building a beautiful home and family together and I hope it brings as much joy to the next family.
I’m so excited to start our next chapter and can’t wait to share some fabulous before and after photos from our new house, but for now, here are some of my favorite before/after shots of our amazing first home. Each picture I’ve made little comments of what we did to transform the space.
Entry:
paint, light fixture, banister stain, flooring
Kitchen:
wallpaper removal, paint, crown molding, light fixture, flooring,
appliances, grantie, stone backsplash
Kitchen/Breakfast Nook:
wallpaper removal, paint, crown molding, light fixture, flooring,
appliances, granite, stone backsplash

Dining Room:
paint, light fixture, flooring,
Dining Room (other view):
this is my beautiful chalk painted dining table

Guest Bath:
paint, light fixture, mirror, storage shelf, granite, new faucet, new vanity hardware

Main Floor Bath:
wallpaper removal, paint, crown molding, light fixture, mirror, granite,
new faucet, new vanity hardware, painted vanity, industrial pipe accents

Master Bathroom: 
paint, mirrors, granite, new faucet, new vanity hardware, painted vanity
Basement:
paint, recessed lighting, new carpet, theather equipment

Friday, July 15, 2016

Simple Rustic Shelving

Hartley’s bathroom was my first project at the new house and it turned out fabulous! I just finished a few days ago and can’t wait to share the before and after photos.  But for now, how amazing did these simple (and cheap) rustic shelves  turn out? They were the perfect accent to complete my little girls fun boho/beach inspired bathroom.

I jokingly refer to these shelves as my vacation brain shelves. Originally when I started designing this bathroom I wanted to just buy a white storage cabinet and get it hung. But when our beach crew hit up the local TJ Maxx in our beloved Outer Banks over 4th of July and found these adorable quote pieces and the cutest elephant, I knew I had to display them somehow. So I was on a mission, and to my luck, I found the perfect brackets at a local store called Class and Trash (special thanks to my crew for running back to get them for me when I finally made an executive decision haha). This store had the most stunning pieces. I literally could have bought EVERYTHING! So thanks OBX for some wonderful inspiration!

To start out I bought a 1″x8″x8′ piece of whitewood lumber. For each shelf I decided on a length of 22″, which I measured and cut accordingly. I sanded all the edges to clear any roughness from cutting. Then, I used a staining rag to apply minwax’s espresso color stain. This went on super easy and I only did one liberal coat getting all the grooves well covered. Once applied, I did one last dry rag wipe down to remove excess and dried overnight. Motherhood lesson/ husband I told you so moment– clean up anything and everything…my little toddler thought finding my stain can and shaking and throwing it against our deck and her leg was so much fun!

Once dried, I attached the brackets. I measured them 4″ in from the end of the wood and attached them with small screws.

Then for the placement on the wall. We couldn’t decide center of the wall or center of toilet (both looked a little odd in the scheme of everything) so we compromised and put it just where we thought it looked good and just directly screwed in the brackets with the level on top…and hey it worked out!

Aren’t they the greatest? I love them so much and you can easy change the display over the years and add baskets, mason jars, etc.

The total cost for the shelves was about $30. $5 stain + $11 lumber (I have leftovers) + $17 for the 4 brackets. I had the screws from the hubby’s tool shed so we were all good!

Thursday, June 30, 2016

4th of July fashion bargain style

Ahhhh I love 4th of July because it means I get to go on vacation!! If you have been reading my blog for a few years, you know that Willie and I take an annual friends trip to Outer Banks. Last year we took our daughter but this year we are going childless so we can fully relax and enjoy some down time after a couple of extremely crazy and stressful months. I don’t think either of us have EVER needed a vacation more.

So happy Thrift Thursday 4th of July special! I wanted to do some bleaching/painting techniques I saw on Pinterest but my shopping trips to the thrift store failed and honestly I just couldn’t muster the strength after work this week to tackle a DIY project (instead my weeknights were filled with unpacking, home good shopping, chasing a toddler around her new yard, and trying to paint my daughter’s bathroom). The new house is coming along…yes we moved! Can’t wait to share more details soon!

My look was inspired more of the nautical look with hints of July 4th. The brand NEW Talbots red pants (these are cute too) were $6.50 from the thrift store and I paired that with my favorite Mossimo navy/white striped basic tee from Target (similar) that was on sale + a Cartwheel coupon about $4 (Cartwheel is the greatest, I think I saved about $40 that shopping trip by going into the app and making my list off sale items + my REDcard discount). Oh how I love stacking coupons! The american flag bandana headbandwas just one I have had for years that I styled like my favorite adorable country singer Jessie James Decker.

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday! I am hoping to come back refreshed and rejuvenated to tackle all the DIY projects I have planned for the new house! Get excited 🙂

Thursday, June 2, 2016

High Waisted Jeans

I know I have been failing Thrift Thursdays lately…but this one is a good one! Summer is officially here in Virginia. We went from a horrible 3 week span of rain and dreary weather to HOT summer temperatures. Where did spring go?!?!

I was a little disappointed because I found these awesome high waist jeans and cute white boho top that I only got to wear once…I guess I have to wait for fall now to show off this cute outfit. The jeanswere only $4.45 and the white top was $3.00. So this cute retro look was under 8.00!! Heck yeah! Ohhhh and BOHO is SOOOO in right now 🙂 I paired it with some cute strappy blue sandals that I bought on clearance in Park City a few years back on vacation and a TopShop floppy hat that I got on clearance for $22 (similar).

One of the reasons I LOVE thrifting is because you can experiment with your style. I would not normally pick out these jeans at a retail store, but I thought what the heck, if they look horrible it was only the price of a morning latte. It is just so exciting to be able to pick out styles that you would not normally try for extremely low risk in spending too much money. Hope this look inspires you to go for something WAY outside your norm and have fun with fashion!