Summer Clean Up

So you know what happens when my kids are home all summer playing and making messes?!

Yep this is what happens!!

My children have played hard this summer and in return our family room

looked like a hot mess.  

I finally got so tired of looking at it and decided to take action.

That meant going through ALL OF THE TOYS, organizing, throwing away, and donating.
The pile went from this...

To this...

And finally this!!!

That is one bag of trash and one full yard trash bag of donate down.

Not too bad for an afternoon.

Whew that's better!

And that's about as big of a project that I've gotten

done around here all summer.  

Now I have to start working on their bedrooms...

~  Kim :)

Coffee Table Switcheroo

Ever since I saw this coffee table in the living room from Young House Love's first house, 

I have been on the look out for one similar.  

If you remember this is what our family room looked like a few months ago after I found 

this wicker trunk on Craigslist.

...and the family room after scoring a similar glass table from Craigslist last week for $30.

I really like how the glass reflects the light in the room and I can display things on both the top and bottom.  It is more upkeep but I think it is totally worth it.

I did finally wash three of the slipcovers on the seat cushions.  I did not use bleach or Oxi Clean but I was really disappointed by how they turned out with regular detergent.  They all came out with yellow streak marks.  I have a front loading washing machine, so I'm not sure if that had anything to do with the way they washed.  I plan to try again with Oxi Clean next time and hope they come out better.

I have friends and family tell me all the time that they can never find anything on Craigslist and I just say to them that you have to look all the time.  I down loaded the Craigslist app on my iPhone and it has made finding items so much easier.  Plus, I get to save my favorites so I can keep track of what I love.  I have posted two pictures of items that are listed on my local Craigslist right now. 

If you are looking for an easy DIY project, these matching dining chairs would be a breeze with some spray paint and new fabric.

...and if you are not the DIY type, this dresser is already beautifully done.

Our summer vacation started yesterday and I am really hoping to keep my sanity this summer.  Two children who want to be kept busy will be a tough job!!

~  Kim :)

Link Party... cute little table

 

  I haven't shown off my little in-the-trash-on-the-side-of-the-road find yet.  I am linking over at Miss Mustard Seed blog to show it off.  I thought about distressing it but I just did the top and then we had a party and I haven't gotten around to do the rest.  But it's a cute little table and the best thing... it was FREE (except for the cost of primer and Rust-oleums Heirloom White spray paint)!!!  Love it.

I didn't even bother filling in the holes from the drawer pull, I just turned it around!!

~  Kim :)

Let there be... COLOR!!!

  There are two things that I have learned about myself.  One is that I do not like dark or busy area rugs... I would buy a rug and would get tired of it at the six month mark and be ready for something else.  But rugs aren't cheap and it seemed that I was spending a lot and not getting a lot of use out of it.

  Two is that although I LOVE LOVE LOVE a white room in a picture or in a magazine, in my own home I crave color.  Not red slipcover color like I had before but color that is fun and bright, especially this time of year.

 I bought some fabric for $35 and made 4 pillows.  I like how the pillows bring in other colors than the yellow but also brings it all together.  The pillows are fun and will be easy to change out when I feel like it... and the sisal area rug from Ikea that I purchased for $99 has been down for a year, and I still love it!!

... and I am still loving the yellow lamp!!!  It is such a fun and easy project that anyone can do in just a few hours!

So I am interested to know, is there anything that you have learned about yourself in regards to decorating?

Before:

After:

I'll never win Seamstress of the Year... my sewing skills are basic at best!

Fun, colorful, and easy to change out... yes please!!!

~ Kim :)

Inspiration Friday No.7 ~ Fabric

It's Friday!!!  

The kids have been on Spring Break this week so we've been busy taking in the nice weather

... lots of bike riding!

  Now that I have a light and neutral slipcover I am craving a bit more color on the pillows than the ones that I made here.  I was browsing through the pages of http://www.fabric.com/ to get some ideas and came across these pretty fabrics.  I also ran into Hancock Fabrics earlier and found a few I liked.  So we'll see, we might have some pretty new pillows soon!

Premier Prints 

Premier Prints 

Premier Prints 

Robert Allen 

Robert Allen 

Waverly  

Waverly 

Waverly 

Premier Prints 

Waverly

Have a great weekend!!!

~ Kim :)

Family Room Slipcover Round #2

*** I want to apologize ahead of time if anyone is sick of looking at my Family Room, it's new to me so I am excited to show it off... the newness will wear off soon.  I promise :)  

 I was looking at the pictures from yesterday's slipcover reveal and I didn't care for the placement of furniture.  It felt lopsided to me.  So I messed around with the room today and it went from this:

To this:

 I think there is more symmetry to this layout.  One day I plan on doing two matching side tables with matching lamps, but for now this will have to do.

 Our dog, Zoe, she was comfortable so I didn't want to move her.

  I left out the Pottery Barn chair (on the left) in yesterday's post because the slipcover was being washed.  I thought that the two fabrics would match perfectly but the sofa slipcover is a much creamier color than the chair slipcover.

 I created a little display on the wicker trunk of books, shells, and a green potted plant.

Okay, so I have a question and would love some feedback.  Below is a picture with the yellow garden stool that I purchased at HomeGoods.  It is very yellow and I'm not sure that I want to keep it that color.  If you compare the two pictures below one has the stool and one doesn't.  What do you think, keep the stool yellow or spray paint it another color?  And what color do you think?

 With yellow garden stool.

With out stool... I definitely plan on incorporating it somehow, just unsure about the yellow.  What do you think?  

Thanks for stopping by!  :)

Family Room Slipcover

  I am in love, I am in love with something that can not love me back...I know this and I still love it so.  I've thought about it, dreamed about it, and imagined it with me.  :)  It is my pretty new slipcover!!!  I love it.  It is exactly what this house needed and I feel like finally all of my hard work to make this our airy, beachy, modern style home is coming together.

  I saved $500 on a brand new slipcovered Rowe Nantucket sofa.  How'd you do that you ask??  Well let me break it down for ya!

New Sofa $1,100 + cost of upgraded fabric = around $1,300 when all is said and done.

I paid $810.00 for mine!

 This is how... I paid $165 for the sofa with existing cranberry slipcover off of Craigslist awhile ago and I paid $645 for a new slipcover.  Ridiculous I know, but I'm saving $500 here in the long run!!!  When you think of it as paying around $800 for a quality, name brand sofa that will last for years, most people wouldn't even blink an eye at that price.

Some people I know...(Mom and DH) think I'm crazy for paying that much for a slipcover when "the other one was perfectly fine".  Well yes, the other one was not in terrible shape but it was CRANBERRY for goodness sakes!!  I lived with a red leather sofa for 8 years (bad design choice I know, I was young).  I am so OVER red.  So that's how it happened and I am so happy that I did it.  We might be eating mac n' cheese for the rest of the week, but we'll be stylin' while we're watching the tube! :)

So here is the before picture of the sofa:

Not terrible but everything in our house is blue or white.  

It just didn't go with the style of our home.

And here she is all dressed up in her new slipcover!!!

 I made the pillows today.  I didn't even bother buying new pillows, I just stuck some old ones that weren't being used into the new case.

 A crate found at Goodwill.

 The lighting is hard to work with in this room in the afternoon.  For some reason the pictures come out dark when it actually really bright in here.  Speaking of lighting... the fan is hideous, I know.  I have plans.

Okay now watch this... you see this little person walking by, watch what happens...

Do you see the blanket?  He did that on PURPOSE.  Just walked by and pulled it down and kept on walking!!!

 The garden stool is from HomeGoods.

The view from the kitchen.  Sooo pretty! :)

So I put the slipcover on late yesterday afternoon and by last night there were already shoe marks and jelly. JELLY.  on it.  It was a total accident that the jelly got onto it but still I was like are you kidding me?!!!   I need to ScotchGuard this sucker ASAP.

Thanks for looking, I hope you all like it as much as I do!

~ Kim :)