Hutch Makeover

Hi friends!

Hope you all had a great weekend! We did - perfect mix of family time, projects & fun. We bought our tree, went out to lunch & decorated for Christmas. I was able to squeeze in a little shopping with my mom and a power nap on Sunday. And (one of my) favorite things from the weekend? C refinished my grandparents hutch, and I'm IN LOVE.

Here was the original picture (taken from my grandparent's condo over the summer)

And this is the spot in our kitchen that we were looking to update. The island was C's before we moved in together, and while it served its purpose, it definitely didn't fit our decor anymore. I wanted a 'statement' piece, that I could accessorize, but would also give us some much needed storage.

If you follow me on Pinterest, you already know I  been pinning a lot of painted furniture inspiration. I had narrowed it down to 2 Annie Sloan Chalk colors, but had yet to order anything online. The whole time I was searching, this was the one pin I kept going back to.... I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to whitewash, in order to achieve this exact look.

Source: 4.bp.blogspot.com via Jillian on Pinterest

When C mentioned he'd like to get this out of the dining room & start refinishing it, I grabbed Anthony and ran some errands so that he could get started. When I went out to check his progress in the garage, I couldn't believe how much I loved it. We decided to leave it 'as is', until we decide on a paint color. Part of me is thinking we'll never paint - isn't she beautiful?!

  

I love the rustic wood tones and how it almost looks whitewashed. LOVE.

Here she is all decorated for Christmas (with and without the interior light on).

I'll be back tomorrow to share the new bathroom artwork, which I also love. See? I told you it was a great weekend!

:)

Linking up with
Liz Marie Blog
Miss Mustard Seed 
Kelly's Korner

Monday Ramblings

Happy Labor Day!

• While catching up on blogs this morning in Google Reader, I couldn't help but be surprised how many bloggers were posting on Sunday. Usually, Sunday is a pretty quiet day in blog-land. A few hours later, I realized it was actually Monday. So here I am, just now writing my Monday post!

• Last week I launched my labor of love, Bella Carta Boutique. I spent so much time focused on the launch, that I lost sight of my other responsibilities. I forgot to pay a bill (thankfully we were able to submit a payment on the due date), forgot to send out a birthday card, and forgot to call and cancel a doctor's appointment. I'm so excited that Bella Carta is up on Etsy, but I'm even more excited that I can get back to my day-to-day stuff. This weekend I cleaned the house, caught up on laundry and wrote out my calendar for the next month. I'm trying to make a concerted effort to pre-plan my blog posts, too, so that I don't have to play catch up at night. Let's see how that goes!

 • I may ruffle a few feathers by saying this, but I really dislike election season. I love the United States, and that we live in a democratic country where we get to elect our officials, but, I don't like the atmosphere it creates. Everyone is on one side or another, people argue about the issues at hand, and honestly, it all makes me uncomfortable. I realized this weekend that I dislike election season even more now that I'm a mom. We read everywhere about bullying and respect, and how important it is to teach your children those things. And then, we turn on the TV, and the two men vying for the next Presidential seat are doing just that. Making fun of each other, being mean and undermining the others' values. I realize the Presidential race is a far-cry from bullying in schools, but shouldn't Obama and Romney play a little nicer? After all, the President is a position that children aspire to. When the entire country tunes in to the Republican or Democratic convention (including teenagers across the country, who probably have to watch for a school assignment), what should parents be saying to their kids? It's OK that the Presidential candidates are rude to each other, but just so you know, it's not OK for you to treat others like that.

• A few weeks ago, we picked up A's big-boy bed. I realized yesterday I never shared a picture of it, or my inspiration board for his room. I'm only sharing the bed today, but the inspiration board will be up soon!

Here was my original inspiration photo for the bed...

Source: bhg.com via Jillian on Pinterest

And here's the Land of Nod version, retailing at a mere $549...

via

And here is my Craigslist find, an antique, for $125!

• We're making progress in the bathroom! Tile samples came this week, and we absolutely loved one of them. We bought the mirror, picked out a vanity and tried to narrow down our to-do list in order to get this done Columbus Day Weekend. I'll be sharing our purchases later this week.

• I'm pulling out the fall decorations today. While September 2nd may seem a little early, a cool, rainy day on a long weekend seems like the perfect reason to start!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Linking up with Debbies Doo's

Antique Shopping Finds

The gallery wall wasn't the only thing we were shopping for last weekend! I was on the hunt for the perfect dresser for our bathroom renovation. I didn't find it... but, I did find some other great things. Not all of these items came home with me (but I wish they did)!

Great coffee table for $100. How amazing would this be painted in some Annie Sloan chalk paint?

This pine cupboard was $250. Would be amazing as kitchen storage, or as linen storage in a bathroom. I spent most of our time walking around thinking about where I could possibly fit this in my house. 

Almost every store we stopped in had old ladders flanking the walls. This one was my favorite! It was a great grey-blue, and was easily over 8 feet tall.

This child's play table and matching chairs were only $50! Would be perfect for a playroom, refinished in red with a chalkboard top (like Lyndsey did here!).

And lastly, this mirror was a steal at $40. I actually had to kill a spider to get to it, which meant that I really, really liked it. This picture doesn't give justice to it's height or quality. I can assure you that this was one of the heaviest mirrors I have ever seen!

  

I'll be sharing what we did with the mirror next week, so make sure to check back for that update!

Gallery Wall Project Update #2

Last weekend, my mom and I were able to sneak in some shopping for their gallery wall project. The intention for the gallery wall is a 'collected over time' feel, and what better place to shop for vintage frames than my favorite antique stores?

Here is the hallway to their master bedroom. It's hard to tell from the pictures, but this wall is just over 8 feet long, and over 9 feet tall. While we want to fill most of the wall at eye level, we also want to leave room to add more frames down the road.

To say the shopping trip was successful would be an understatement. We had so many frames to choose from, that we had to lay all of them out in each store and narrow down our choices. It may be hard to tell from this picture, but this was the arrangement we ended up with when we returned home.

One frame/picture is missing (in the lower left hand corner), but once my mom is able to find it, it will complete the gallery wall. Our next step is to bring all of the frames to Michaels, and have some custom mats made.

Our last purchase was this frame and canvas. This one will be used to create a chalkboard for the entry of their home. The sweet lady who wrapped up all of our items was so concerned about us damaging the canvas of this picture. I didn't have the heart to tell her that we wouldn't be using it!

Not all of the frames pictured above were second-hand: the black frame with the map was purchased new, as well as the two light grey frames. The street sign was a salvage find, but not from our trip last weekend. We spent roughly $200 for 7 of the frames for the gallery wall, and the giant frame for the chalkboard.

I'm so excited about bringing all of these frames to have mats made next weekend - you'd think they were going up in my house! I will say (from experience), that the easy part is over. The hardest part of a creating a gallery wall is choosing the pictures to feature! Have fun, Mom!

You can find the original post for this project here, including our inspiration photos!