Sun Room Makeover Update

We hit a painting snag. Ricky and I know how to paint the perfect stripe on smooth walls, however these very uneven wood walls we are painting over in our sunroom have proven to be a pain in the buttock, the left one.

On top of that my camera's battery is somewhere within a million boxes in the living room so we had to use the kid's 3DS for update pics, obviously the 3Ds isn't the best device to use for photos, so sorry for the poor photo quality. Hopefully I'll find my camera battery soon so I can take a proper photo!

Warning!

DO NOT forget to wear a bra when snapping your 3DS XL shut! You may clamp your nipple in the process. Just sayin'......

Why yes, that is a bunch of unpacked boxes in my dining room. Thank you for noticing. : p

I had hoped to show the whole room painted but we are trying new tape and having to repaint things, so we are behind on everything.

Hopefully, next week I"ll show you the whole room painted and the week after that hopefully the moulding put up with window updates.

If your new here, here is some art I bought for the sunroom makeover.

Hopefully visually crisp photos next week!
Now if you will excuse me I"m going to the ER to have something checked out.

                                                                                       

Gender Neutral Nursery Design

Some alternatives to the mirror, which is from One King's Lane, is the carved Lotus mirror and the carved floral mirror below.

                                                                            

        The chandelier is pretty expensive at 1,268 dollars, but you can shop an alternative, the Camilla, at Pottery Barn for 449 dollars, seen below.

                 


baskets
rug
crib
artwork
gold clip lamp
organic swaddling cloth
glider
sheep rocker
chandelier

Linking up with these lovely ladies HERE 

Sunroom Makeover in Progress

We are working on a makeover in our sun room since that is where we will be spending most of our time.

It will probably be a several week makeover but I will post updates regularly.  Here is a very small hint on what to expect.

This is from the Boutique on Matchbook Magazine. Yes, I bought this print and received it in the mail today! I love it!

More to come within a week!

Restoration Hardware's Harmon Pendant Alternatives

"Ricky" and I are planning our kitchen updates. We spent last night checking out some ideas from Restoration Hardware. One of those lights is the Harmon Pendant.


This transitional fixture might be perfect with it's shiny sleekness juxtaposed against the traditional wood shelving and white cabinets I have planned. They are temporarily on sale but regularly priced from 379-529 dollars and have a 11", 15", and 19".

Here is the Harmon, I believe, on Houzz:

                               Contemporary Kitchen by Jacksonville Beach Interior Designer kmh design, inc.

I have no doubt they will be awesome but am looking at cheaper options because we are on a small budget.

What do you think about these options?.....

                                                                                    
                   
                                                                              

The Chadwick 1 Light by Landmark is nice 14" of shiny curviness at $218.00 on Amazon for New and $154 for used. This seems to mimick the look of the Harmon the closest of the lights.

This is the  Emery Traditional 1 Light Pendant Light In Imperial Silver by Quoizel it's 249 dollars at a comparable 13.50 inches. I definitely like the silver on this one as opposed to the other 2 above.



Here's the Emery in "action" but it's the mini version:

Last but not least, I think this is my favorite so far.......

This is the Jamie Young Pendant in St. Charles Large Mercury Glass some places have it for 196 for the large version which is only 9.75 inches diameter.


Here is the Jamie Young Pendant in "action."

This is via Garden Webb from user Michelle16. I think she chose beautifully!




Here is one more shot and you can see the rest at Garden Webb

Of course I have to take in account if anyone's head will be bumping into it in my tiny kitchen. Usually a pendant is reserved to go  over something, like an island, but my kitchen is too small for an island, or anything, really.  I really want some sort of pretty pendants, though, so I'm not following any rules so nanny nanny boo boo!


Ok, last light, realty, this time.  I just happen to like it, though it doesn't look like the Harmon.

It's the same light as above except it's in Celadon green seeded glass:

Linking up with these lovely ladies: HERE

Biocide Room Shocker Review

 Hey guys! I just moved into my house over the last few days and it stinks! It's not a moldy smell, or even a something crawled up in here and died, smell. It's more like straight up thrift shop in here.  It's just old smell.

Speaking of thrift shop, we've been singing that song for 3 days straight while moving. We can't get it out of our heads. I even sing it before bed time.

 I'm pretty sure my husband and I could have made our own cover. " I'm gonna pop some tags, I've got 20 dollars in my pocket, then I cluck like a chicken to the tune, this is crazy awesome!"  Yeah, I always edit any bad words out with my own.

You can see the official video on youtube

Anyways, I'm getting distracted. I googled what to do to get rid of old house smell and Apartment Therapy had an article on using something called, Room Shocker.  They weren't sure if it worked or not but suggested it wouldn't hurt to try at 25 dollars a can.  I jumped up and bought 6 right away.

This company claims that it can get rid of any smell in your house. ANY smell. I also read somewhere that they used these to get homes ready to move back into for families affected by Hurricane Katrina. I have no idea how true that is, as it was a comment somewhere on the web.

We bought 6 of them and let me tell you, we followed directions to the T as it seemed like the reviews were by people who just didn't read the directions, and this stuff did NOT work for us. In all fairness there were reviews on Apt. Therapy and Amazon, that swore by it's effectiveness. There were also reviews on Amazon, that indicated it did not work.

Some of the things you have to do to ensure it's effectiveness is make sure it's above a certain temperature which I think was 50 degrees, block the light from coming in the house (we used blankets), eliminate drafts and turn off central air or heat, etc...

So, now I'm hoping I don't get hassle about getting my moolah back! That moolah can go towards something more useful in our new home, like some art, or curtains or something.

 I need to find something that rids the house of the smell  and not just mask it, which is what Room Shocker claims to do.

Until then, I'll be using lots of windows to air the house out and natural products with essential oils.

Linking Up Here

Look 4 Less: Capri 1 Light Pendant & DIY

I'm shopping for light fixtures and ran across this:

 

 

 

Home Decorators Capri 1 Light Pendant is 22"Hx10"D at 184 dollars.

        Shades of Light Pendant is 15"Hx6"W at 99 dollars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or, to me it looks like you can diy one with this:

I haven't tried this yet, so feel free to add whatever to make it work.

 

 

 

 

 

Step 1: Purchase a Glass Jug (maybe something without a handle)

via Label Peelers

 

 

Step 2: Cut the bottom off the jug:

via The Bella Files on Glass Cutting

 

 

 

Step3: Add Light Pendant and Chain

 

via Pottery Barn

 

Or

 

 

 

 

Or

Maybe one of these:

 

Portfolio accessory kit

 via Lowe's

 

 

You could add one large chain link to the chain to keep it from slipping through the jug.

Summer Lovin'

 

I'm browsing Matchbook magazine's boutique.

I'm in the mood for Summer!  I'm loving black and white stripes with the addition of emerald green and a little coral.

                                                        

Spiffing Up A Plain Jane Home: No Porch Issue

If you're new to the blog, you do not know that we bought a house recently, almost.

 I'm leaving so much out but buying it has been sheer torture, but it's hopefully, crossing my fingers, throwing salt over my shoulder with a 4 leaf clover in my pocket, hunched over in a corner and timidly peering over my shoulder with one eye squinted because I'm waiting for one more thing to go wrong, praying to Jesus (which is the only thing I did which works), finally over. : D

One of the things I've been looking at in a home is something older, (older homes tend to evade the cookie cutter factor that I'm not very fond of), something with a nice sized yard, and something with character to the exterior of the home.

Well, because of circumstances beyond our control, and me just wanting to get the agony of it all over with, we ended up settling for a plain Jane house. 

BTW....if your name is Jane, I absolutely do not find that a plain name at all, it's actually one of my favorite names, and far from boring in my mind, but the phrase is quite common in American culture. Why, I don't quite know.

While I love our house and actually prefer a project, it is rather plain and without a porch, unless you count  a 3 by 5 ft plot of cement in front of your door a porch.  A porch is something I could have really worked with to bring in some wow factor to this box on a lot.

Which don't get me wrong, I'm thankful for our box on a lot!

One of the solutions we decided on was to build a pergola to the side of the house. Pergolas do not have to stay at the back of your house. Think front or side when replacing a non-existent porch. This solves our "no porch" issue, brings character to the house, and adds value to the home in one fell swoop.

While these houses are far from plain it helps to get a visual.....

Traditional Patio by Millbrook Architect Crisp Architects

Traditional Patio by Menlo Park Architect Ana Williamson Architect

Traditional Exterior by Boston General Contractor Woodmeister Master Builders

Traditional Patio by Hinsdale Design-build Normandy Remodeling

Contemporary Exterior by Alexandria Architect Moore Architects, PC

Traditional Patio by Frederick Interior Designer JB Interiors, Inc.

Contemporary Exterior by Portland Interior Designer Jessica Helgerson Interior Design

Traditional Landscape by Far Hills Landscape Architect Deborah Cerbone Associates, Inc.