Jill's Dining Room Reveal

I finally got over to Jill's house and got some pictures of her finished dinning room.  I didn't want to leave!  I love how her room turned out.  It looks young and hip just like Jill and Kevin are.  It is a great WoW room as you enter their house.  I hope you enjoy these before and after pictures as much as I do.

Before

After!

Jill has a great milk glass collection that she inherited from her husband's family.

The milk glass looked old fashioned in the brown hutch but it looks updated and impressive in her newly painted piece.  I want it!!

Dinning room chairs are a great place to add a throw pillow.  It can add pattern, color , and interest without changing the fabric on the chair.

I'm head over heals for the plates Jill picked up.  They add one more layer of color and texture.  The green wicker chargers could not be more perfect under the new china addition.

All the furniture got a fresh new look with a few coats of paint.  I covered the seats in black and white chevron, then repeated the black and white with the shades on the buffet lamps.  This room is completely transformed with no new furniture!  Just paint and a new light fixture.
What room are we doing next Jill??

Welcoming Front Porch

We have a front porch that changes almost as often as the direction of the wind during a Nebraska spring. There are so many events and holidays that scream for something special to welcome guests as they approach my front door.  I have my front porch ready for spring.  This year I opted for spiral topiaries and pansies.  In the years past I have done ferns, boxwood, flowering vines...  the list goes on.  I like to have a little something from the inside make it's way to the porch.  This spring I have a small accent table with birds on the handles.  I placed a lantern with a candle that illuminates the porch at night.  I do a variation of this by placing a lamp with a flowering potted plant.

I stuck a urn with similar tones to the stone on the front of my house in my landscape.  The urn adds height to the color I adore to have in the front of my house.  I like to see some flowers from the street. This urn does the trick!

2 years ago my poor husband consolidated all the boxwood from our landscaping to our front walkway.  This year my now hedge is coming together nicely.  I like how the boxwood stays green all winter and defines the walkway to the front porch.

I love changing what is on my front door.  I have pansies welcoming my guests right now, but that will soon change to a summer arrangement.  

I clearly have a thing for topiaries!  These guys put up with a lot.  They get bows regularly, christmas lights, footballs, baseballs, basketballs, bird nests, kids who pick the needles to add to their latest mud stew.  Lets just say they take a beating and continue to shine.  We have landscape lights that shine on these beauties at night.

Dinning Room Chalk Board

Do you have a big wall that you just can't seem to find the right art for?  My dinning room had one of those walls just above the buffet.  I have tried several options but nothing spoke to me until I had the idea to paint the recessed nook with chalk board paint.  The best part is I'm a sucker for menu's and personalized messages during dinner parties or special celebrations.  This chalk board is giving me a place to  show my guests what awaits them when they come to my house for dinner.

I used my kids sidewalk chalk to put a huge frame in the middle of the wall.

This is the view from my entryway.  I really think my quart of paint made a big impact!
I'm hosting my first celebration this weekend since my chalkboard went up, and I can't wait to put it to use!  Happy Friday friends.  I hope you all had a great week.

Spring Break at IKEA

I have gone to a new low!  We took our first step into a IKEA this spring break.  My hubby is a living saint and he accepted the proposition of a family trip to IKEA, and mall of America for our spring break this year.  Stephanie spent hers on a beach in FL...  What is wrong with me???  So now that we are back in the swing of things I must show you what we literally hauled out of the IKEA.

I have struggled with furniture placement in my Family room since we moved in!  I had one couch and one chair in a big long room.  Needless to say I could never get it to look the way I wanted.  The answer was 2 EKTORP couches.  Tada!  I love it!  It finally works!

Here is the before...  I kept trying to angle the furniture in the room so I could make it look more full with the pieces I had.

Here is the after.  I love the balance that having 2 couches gives this space.  Even though I have more furniture the room looks bigger!

Monday is finally coming to a close!  I think I had too much Easter candy yesterday...  I'm feeling very sluggish today.  I'm going on a sugar fast starting tomorrow. (I Swear!)

Office Paint

Spring break has officially started!  Stephanie and I are off to enjoy some family time this week.  Before I go I wanted to share with you how my office is coming.  My office before was very dark!  I loved the color scheme but not the feeling of living in a dark hole.  So I kept the color but ditched the dark hole part.  Take a look...  What do you think?

Here is the before picture

Here is the After

The whole room got a fresh coat of white paint and then I stenciled the back wall navy blue for a accent wall.  The chair is from craigslist $10.  People ask me if I live on craigslist.  I really don't!  I swear!  If I find a need in my house I hop on and tool around until I find the cheapest thing I can that meets my needs.  The thing is I always try craigslist before going to a actual store.

This room is finally starting to feel like mine.  I have a few more things to do like drapes and some accessories but I'm getting there.