An Award? For Me?

The coolest thing happened this morning when I was checking my email. I came across a comment from Rachel over at Thrifty Inspirations. I found out that she is addicted to DIY and Home Improvement (a girl after my own heart!) and she lives right here in the Huntsville, AL area! But that is not even the best part. She had stopped by to give me an Award! What?! Talk about a great start to my day! Thank you, thank you Rachel! It is the Liebster Blog Award.

Of course, at the time I had no idea what the Liebster Blog Award was. Luckily, by just stopping over at the award giver's blog and I was able to get all the details.

Rachel has been busy DIYing her first house with her husband. They even built it from the ground up a few years ago just like Alan and I did! She has some furniture restyles that I am just drooling over like this dresser and this sofa table. Not to mention, that I would kill for an office that looks like hers.

But that is also where I learned about the Liebster Blog award.

Liebster is a German word meaning Dearest or Beloved, it can also mean Favorite.

The idea behind the Liebster Blog Award is that it is given to upcoming bloggers (with fewer than 200 followers) in order to create new connections and bring attention to wonderful growing blogs.

When you win the award, there are a few rules to follow:

1.) Thank your Liebster Blog Award presenter on your blog. You rock Rachel, thank you!

2.) Link back to the blogger who presented the award to you. Thrifty Inspirations!!!

3.) Copy and paste the blog award on your blog.

 

4.) Present the Liebster Blog Award to 5 blogs of 200 followers or less who you feel deserves it.

5.) Let them know they have been chosen by leaving a comment on their blog.

So, the five blogs I am presenting the Liebster Blog Award to are:

Melissa @ The Nest Chapter - Melissa and her husband Jim recently got married and are now improving their first house. I can totally relate! I love following all of their house projects especially this chalk board gallery wall.  

 

Heidi @ Lily Field Furniture - Heidi does some amazing furniture transformations. This chevron cabinet is gorgeous! She is always painting fun new pieces.

 

Maria @ Just Call Me Maria - She is from right here in Alabama and cooking her way through college. She is also my little sister! I'll be her taste tester for these Lemon Oatmeal Creme Bars any day!

 

Audra @ Simply Salvaged Restoration - Audra is also an Alabama gal! She loves fixing up furniture like this dresser she gave an "Auburn" makeover even though she is a Bama fan. Roll Tide!

 

Jennifer @ Tales of a Peanut - She is also a local Alabama girl (I obviously love some Alabama bloggers!). She has the sweetest family and I love following all of their adventures. She also has a Recipe Wednesday with tasty ideas!

I hope all of you are as excited to get your award as I was! Thank you again Rachel for presenting one to me. I just feel so special! It is a great way to so some love throughout the blogging community.

 

Feeling Artsy

We have nothing at all hung on the walls in our master bedroom, office, or guest room. It is about time we put and end to that. Especially since we have lived here 9 months now! I think that I could DIY some art for one of these rooms. Something colorful and abstract like some of these that I have pinned recently for inspiration.

I love this print from Michelle Armas. I wish I could afford one of her amazing paintings! But I think I would like to have some coral colors in with blue and green.

Like this one by Jenny Vorwaller. I like that some areas look like paint and some look like pencil was used.

I love the fact that Erin from House of Ernest DIYed this painting herself! That just gives me hope that I can do it too.

And finally, this painting that Danielle from Breakfast with Toast DIYed with a friend might not be so abstract, but I love the huge statement that it makes. And the colors are just so pretty.

Now I just need to summon up the courage to go buy a canvas and some paint. Who knows, maybe I will paint a masterpiece!

Custom {Graphite Chairs}

You might need to enlist the help of your imagination with this next restyle that we completed for a client. When they came to us these two twins were white.

For their new look we used Annie Sloan's Graphite on them.

Of course, they needed to be repainted before they received their brand new upholstery.

I love the way the distressing on the graphite turned out. It really made the details pop.

Our client plans to recover the chairs with a white/cream linen and then use nail heads around the trim. I can't wait to see the finished product. That sounds gorgeous! She has promised to send a picture once they are done and I will make sure to share it with you.

Custom {Barefoot Sign}

My sweet client had this sign custom made for her mother. Not only is this her mother's favorite saying, but it is also painted in her favorite color, pink! She wanted the background white and distressed with the idea that it would look great on her mother's porch. I really hope that she loves it!

You can now purchase this sign in our online shop! See the listing here.

Front yard

After we fixed our drainage issue in the front yard, we completely replanted the front bed. All of those plants that the builder had planted got moved to our new bed in the backyard. We are so much happier with the front yard and really excited to finally have some plants in the back. This is what the front yard looked like before.

All of these plants with the exception of the four daylillies (below right) came out and moved to the back. We went to our local garden center Catbird Seat and loaded up with all new plants.

And now this is how the front yard looks.

The whole goal was LOW maintenace. We don't claim to have green thumbs, but we are sure trying! The cryptomerias (the low green bushes) dont require any trimming and neither does the tall emerald green arborviate. The purple pixie lorepetulum will stay low to the ground in front. The four daylillies stayed, but got moved around to make room for some annuals that we will plant later.

We even put in a little bloodgood maple tree to fill in that area. I never would have thought about planting a tree in our bed, but after showing pictures to the staff at Catbird Seat, they suggested it would be the perfect spot for one. I couldn't love it more!

I can't wait to show you the backyard. Once it is done we can put pine straw down in the front and the back. All of this beautiful 80 degree weather is just letting us get tons of work done outside. We are enjoying it before it gets too hot!

Custom {3 Toned Dresser}

Happy Monday! I love starting the week with beautiful furniture to show you. This french provincial dresser originally had a mirror that I showed you last week, but the client decided to use them separately. This custom piece was painted Old White with Louis Blue drawers and topped off with a beautiful dark walnut stain. I will admit that the drawer pulls that you see here are not the original ones that they will use. The client forgot to bring the pulls, but she sent me a picture later and they look very similar to these. She plans to use this piece as a buffet in her dining room. It makes such a statement and is really going to look beautiful in the her new home.

Back Bed

After Alan fixed up the drain in our front yard, he moved to the backyard. He sure did get covered in clay as he dug up the grass. We decided a great place to start a plant bed in the backyard was right under the window.

Our backyard has nothing but grass in it. It was definitely time to plant something back there. The grass was so green when we moved in!

Now it is just brown. I can't wait for it to start greening up again.

This weekend we are getting all new plants for the front yard. That means all the plants that are in front will move to the back in our newly created bed!

These bushes will look so good in the backyard and finally give it some life. I can't wait to share with you the plants we picked for the front and why!

Custom {Paris Grey Mirror}

Paris Grey is one of my favorite ASCP colors, as you can tell it is almost the same color as my walls! I just love what it does to this mirror. I used Old White to accent the details which really made them pop. It was a custom order from a client that plans to hang it in her entry way. Originally, it belonged with a dresser that I refinished as well. I will share it with you soon!

Drainage

The bed of plants in front of our house is one of the first outdoor projects that we hope to accomplish this year. Besides needing to be weeded and mulched, we plan to move all the current bushes to the backyard (were there are no plants) and bring in some new ones.

But we couldn't do anything until we address our little drainage issue. This downspout not only washed all our mulch away, but it also was making a hole. It's not a pretty thing to see on the way to the front door. So Alan and my brother removed the curved end on the spout and dug a trench.

It went all the way to the grass where we removed a few of our boarder stones.

Then they attached the black drain extender that they picked up at Lowes. They made sure it was the right lenght and was laying at the right angle for the best water flow.

Once it was in the perfect position they covered it back up with dirt and mulch. You can barely tell that it is even there, especially from the street.

The weather man has been predicting rain for the past few days. Yesterday was supposed to have a 100 percent chance and I don't think we even got a sprinkle. I am waiting for one our big southern thunderstorms to come through, that will be the true test. I will have to let you know how it works!

Pantry Tour

Here is a space that you don't very often see and a space I know I haven't shared with you yet, the pantry! Ours is right off the kitchen. When you first look in the door you mostly see all of our kitchen gadgets that we didn't have room for in our cabinets.

As you go a little further in You can see all of our aprons. We love to cook.

And then the shelves to the right are all of our food and our plastic bag holder.

I recently grabbed up these three wire baskets from TJ Maxx for $12 each. They hold so much and I love that you can still see through them. Alan hates them, but I am sure he can eventually come to like them, or at least tolerate them.

What you caught a glimpse of on the left wall as you looked into the pantry was our bulletin board, calendar, and note area.

This is where we keep our grocery list so we can add to it throughout the week. We plan our meals and only go to the grocery once a week. This is also where our calendar and coupons are kept.

The last little goody in the pantry is this wine shelf that we scored for $25 at Packards Antiques (the same place where our booth is located).

Alan really wanted one and when I found this guy buried in the corner of a booth he was so excited! The size of the pantry was one of the reasons why we decided to build this house. I hope to one day get more organization going on in it, but for now I just feel so lucky to have one that I love.