Office Rearranging

A couple weeks ago, I got a crazy hair to change our office around.  I just walked in there and could.not.take.it.any.more!  Does that ever happen to you?

Here it was before.

See those cords?  There was really no getting around them and no hiding them.  I loved the desk in the middle of the room because the front of it is b-e-a-utiful!  But I seriously couldn't handle the cords anymore.  Plus I store all my decorative items and gift wrapping supplies in the closet in there and getting to the closet meant walking between the desk and the chairs and it was a tight fit.

So I took all the drawers out of this soild wood, very expensive desk, cleaned it all out (seriously, we had some junk in there), and started pushing and maneuvering until I got it where I wanted it.*

And here ya go.

Ahh, no cords.

The room looks 10 times bigger and getting to the closet is easy-peasy now.  The two chairs in the room are actually our extra dining room chairs.  I don't put the leaf in unless we're having company, so this room is the perfect spot for them.  I picked up some paint chips at Lowes last week, and I'm thinking this room will end up some shade of dark blue.  This room gets tons of natural light from the big window, so even though it's a small room, I think it can handle a darker color on the walls.  Now I just need some bookshelves (all our books currently reside in two or three bankers boxes) and some curtains and this room will look fabulous!  I've actually put off doing anything to this room thinking it would *eventually* (don't be getting any crazy ideas Aunt Missa!) be a kid's room, but our guest room will turn into a kid's room first so this room has a few years left as an office.

*Note to self:  Don't try this again because your back hurt for two days and you had matching bruises on the outside of both of your knees from where you'd leaned up against it and pushed with all your might.  Remember, this desk is a BEAST.

Sink Area

Ahhh, sorry I've been so MIA lately, but an extreme case of laziness set in and I'm just now getting over it.  I have approximately 10 half-finished projects and 10 half-started projects and I haven't felt motivated to do much of anything.  Plus I can't find my camera charger.  But I did snap a few pics before my camera died, so here ya go.

For the last few weeks, my sink area has been an source of frustration.  I just felt like it looked a mess all the time, plus I still had a Christmas snowman soap dispenser out.  It's spring people!

I found the milk glass soap dispenser at Target for $12.99 which I loooove.  It made a huge difference because I put my dish soap in it so the ugly soap bottle is banished beneath the sink only to resurfaced for refills.  That was as far as I'd gotten.  It was better but I still didn't love it.

Then I found two of these little crates at Goodwill.

Yes, only $1!

I spray painted one of them black, and voila!

I found the glass soap dispenser at Target as well for $17.99 (a bit of a splurge but I just loved it).  I switched the dish soap to it and put the hand soap in the milk glass one.  The ceramic dish to the right corrals my rings while I'm washing dishes.

I think it looks much neater and I love doing dishes now!  (Ha, if only a little black crate could make me love doing dishes.)

P.S. The other crate is in its natural state in my laundry closet holding dryer sheets.  Love!

Freshened up for Spring

It was time for some new springy decor around here. 

First up, a CSN Stores bowl filled with faux green apples. (Small ones: Target - $5, large ones: Walmart - $1 each) I saw a Houzz ideabook on green apples and just had to incorporate the look! I know apple season is fall and not spring, but I think the green apples make it springy.

Vintage Reader's Digest books picked up at the Habitat Restore (50 cents each!). Tray was a Goodwill find for $1.50. Got the a-freakin'-dorable cast iron owl at Urban Outfitters for half off (came to about $7). 

Isn't the little tealight birdcage sooo cute?  I got it and the faux flower and sparkly greenery at Michaels.

Okay, this isn't really springy, but two of the three pieces are new so I had to share!  My new blue vase from CSN Stores and a piece of funky pottery I picked up at my favorite pottery store in Pigeon Forge.  I got it to replace the piece my kitties broke, but I still don't love it as much as I did that pitcher.  They didn't have anything even remotely similar to it, but I still like this piece with all its quirky curves.

I got this table runner and the napkin rings (those things around the votive holders) at the same pottery store in PF a few years ago.  This picture kinda stinks and doesn't do this display justice, but I just love it.

So that's my springy decor around here.  I can't wait until it's shorts and flip flops weather!

Woo hoooo: New Curtains!

Eeeee, something exciting for you today!  Okay, maybe you're not that excited, but just humor me, mmkay?

I got curtains for my naked dining room windows!  Wahoooo.

Here they were in all their sad "before" glory.  (Although don't you just love that bunting? hehe)

And here they are now with simple white sheers ordered from Target.com with a birthday giftcard.

Rods from Lowes.

I think this area looks so much more "done" now.  I really wanted to stay light and simple with the draperies because this is such a small area.  I didn't want the curtains to compete with any of the decor in the living room since this is essentially part of a great room.

Sidenote:  See the holes above the rod on the right?  Yeah, a few miscalculations occured, but it was smooth sailing on the left window!  I just need to sand and paint and you'll never know!

While we're in the dining room, I thought I'd show you my spring tablescape!

I am loving the monochromatic look this spring.  I used some of the same elements as my winter tablescape, but switched the focal point to this cute little white pitcher I got at Michaels (50% off!), with a fake hydrangea in it.  I noticed while I was at Michael's that day that I really don't like any other fake flowers, and really, hydrangeas are my favorite real flower.  I just love the fullness of hydrangeas because it really only takes one to make a statement.  What I wouldn't give to have a hydrangea bush... too bad I have a black thumb.  Feel free to pity me (or gift me with fresh hydrangeas!)

Burlap, Book Page and Jute Bunting

I had a crafty urge one day and I thought, what better than to combine four of the most popular trends in the blogosphere now: burlap, book pages, jute, and bunting!  I had some leftover burlap from my table runner, an old book I was willing to rip up and some jute, so cost for this project = free!  I used my Cricut to cut the bookpages into pennant shapes, then I freehanded triangles out of burlap, hot glued it all together, and voila!

Okay, so I did this project a while back (note the Valentine's decor on the table), but I've been a really bad blogger lately!  Mostly it comes down to laziness.  I wish they had some kind of medication for it.  It's really a very debilitating disease.

Steven came home after I put this up and asked if we were having a party, but he just doesn't understand.  I forgive him.  I think it's cute and only took an hour or so, and most of that was spent loading book pages into the Cricut!

Love.

Lamp Revamp

Last week I found these beauties at Goodwill:

Yes, you read that right:  Only $4 each!  And they matched!  And the only thing they needed was a little spray paint!  I snatched these babies up quicker than I could say "gimme!"

Before I show you the big reveal, a quick little anecdote.  I was so excited about painting these today that I rushed outside to lay out a plastic tarp to protect my patio, slammed the door shut behind me and immediately regretted it.  I tried the knob thinking maybe my suspicions were wrong, but nope, locked out (I unlocked the deadbolt to get out, but forgot to unlock the actual knob, which lets you get out but not back in).  I had on a pair of flip flops and my PJs with a sloppy sweatshirt over them, and my only option was to run across the street to the neighbor's house that we've never met in almost four years of living here because I saw that her car was in the driveway.  She answered the door probably thinking I was some hoodlum and I told her I lived across the street and I'm an idiot and could I please use her phone to call my husband?  She obliged, I used her phone, and then she promptly showed me to the door and I had to wait for Steven on our deck until he got there.  Luckily he was off work this afternoon and was on his way to meet friends for lunch, and wasn't stuck in some marathon conference call or something.  So next on our list to buy:  Remote keypad for the garage door. 

Okay, back to the lamps.  Here they are all nice and shiny black with cute Target drum shades.

Ignore the kitty paw prints all over the table.  For some reason, it's their favorite place to jump up on and proceed to walk all over.

Here's the before with the mismatched lamps.  The one on the left is too short and the one on the right is too tall.  It has always bugged me.  Well, it's bugged me for the two months we've had a living space down here.

And here's the room with brand-spanking-new, perfect height, matching lamps.  Don't get me wrong, I'm all about mismatched lamps, but this room just screams for symmetry.  (Ignore the computer and heated blanket cords in the following picture.  Laziness again rears its ugly head!)

I'm going to jazz up the shades a little bit with some some ribbon or stenciling or something, but I haven't decided what yet and will probably hold off a while until we decide exactly what we're doing to this room.

These totaled up to $17 per lamp + $5 for the spray paint.  Not too shabby.

Here's another before and after.

Symmetry just makes me happy.  Love!

Winter Tablescape

My dining room table had been empty and lonely since the Christmas decor came down on New Year's.  Well, last week I decided it could be bare no more!  I made a trip to Hancock Fabrics and got some burlap and a couple other wintry-looking fabrics, and voila!

I gathered a bunch of glass vases I had lying around the house (the one on the far left was used in my reception centerpieces, Steven bought the taper holders in college when he was trying to woo me with candlelight, the candlesticks in the back were on sale at Hobby Lobby a year or two ago, and the other three are all from flower arrangements I've received over the years).

I unraveled the edges of the burlap to create a fringe.  Sooo easy and such fun for the kitties.

I think the combination of jute, blues, tans, and glass screams *winter*.  Or else it screams beachy.  I can't decide, but either way I like it and it's staying until I decide to do something for Valentine's Day.  Which, by the way, I'm thinking about skipping this year.  I usually at least do a tablescape for V-Day, but I'm so burned out on it already (no offense to you bloggy friends who love V-Day and have been posting a V-Day craft a day since before Christmas, but I'm just over.it.).  Is that Grinchy of me?

I was just doing some random Googling when I came across this article about "White Day" which is celebrated in Japan on March 14th.  Basically, it's just like Valentine's Day is for us Westerners.  The thing is, the Japanese (and other Asian cultures) celebrate V-Day on February 14th, but it's like a Sadie Hawkins holiday, where the women give gifts to the men to show their love and affection instead of the other way around.  But then when White Day rolls around a month later, the tradition is that the men should spend three times as much on their significant other than their ladies did on them for V-Day.  Interesting, eh?  Just a random bit of useless trivia for your Tuesday. :)