UGH!!!

I have no internet! At this moment, I am bumming off my neighbors (don't worry I got permission) but I only can up on their signal if I sit in a certain spot and the weather is just right! I am learning to do without though! However, my blog is suffering! I just wanted to give you all a heads up as to why there havent been any new posts!

The house selling is going slowly, but it is going! People are looking and I expect that to pick up as the warmer weather slides in! Our hope is to have a contract by the end of May! But we will just have to wait and see what the Lord has planned. I really have not done any projects lately, so I don't have anything to share. I do have a couple of crafty things coming up that I might just need your help with.

My 7 year old is having "Fairy Tale Day" at school and he has to dress to up as character. This is not an easy task for a boy. Right now he leaning towards the Big Bad Wolf. Does anyone have any other suggestions? Thanks for stopping by and for being patient with me!

Withdrawls

I am in serious trouble! I need to paint! I don't care what, I just want to paint something. I really think I might have a chronic condition. I like to have I have a project going on a all times. With our house in prime condition and on the market to sell, it is hard to pull out all the paint supplies make the mess that comes along with my creativity.
So, what's a girl to do? I need a creative outlet, it is good for my mental health. I am doing all I can to stay busy, but honestly, I just want to MAKE something! For now though, I am keeping occupied! The kids and I are headed to visit my parents on Saturday. Next week is Spring Break, so I will have a week away from the day to day tasks that drive me crazy! And when I get back, I do have a small project to start working on. It is going to be fun!
Sorry there are no fun pictures today, just the ranting of a project addict in withdrawls. Thanks for stopping by and listening!

For the Love of Home

I love Houses! I love that no two houses are exactly alike. Even if they have the same floor plan and identical builder finishes, once they become someone's home, they take on their own distinct personality.

I could look at houses everyday! I scour the Internet and decorating magazines looking for inspiration. I can sit and Barnes & Noble for hours admiring beautiful pictures of stranger's homes. I am THAT person who will hit every open house in town, just to look! I have a three ring binder that I have kept for years; it holds all the inspiration pages I have torn out of magazines over the course of my adult life. As if that's not enough, there is also a folder on my computer entitled "house ideas" for the images I find online. You might say I am a little obsessed, I just call it Love! Love of style, love of fabric, love of color and texture, love of HOME!


Lately, I find myself looking for inspiration even more. Perhaps it is knowing that a new home is my future, maybe it is because I know I am forever done decorating my current house, or maybe I just have TONS of extra time on my hands. Whatever the reason, I have been looking.


I has been 7 1/2 years since I bought a house. That's a long time. My entire life, the longest I ever lived in one house was 8 years. So this home ranks right up there. I have loved this house. I have decorated and redecorated it many times over. I have painted EVERY wall in this house (even closets), most of them twice, some even 3 or 4 times. I have grown my decorating wings here. Here, I have found my style! Thanks to this home, I know who I am, what I want, and what I do not want in future homes.

So, through pictures of homes, I thought I might share with you a little bit of who I am. (I apologize for not knowing where all of these images come from. Some of them I have had WAY longer than this blog!)

This one is from Southern Living. I love the natural wood in the room combined with the bold patterns on the chairs. This is the kind of living room where you feel comfortable enough to curl up on the couch, yet obviously it is visually appealing enough for a magazine. And the family pictures on the plate rack are a GREAT personal touch!

If it is at all possible for a laundry room to be elegant, this one is. I have no idea where I found this image, but I LOVE it! If you have to do laundry, you might as well do it in style, right?

This bedroom is FANTASTIC! Cozy and Functional! I love the neutral green on the walls and the simple curtains. It makes the bedding stand out even more.




This could quite possibly be one of my favorite rooms EVER!!! It combines so many things that I want, all in one room! I am absolutely in LOVE with the arched doorway and the ceiling beams. These are two things high on my list of a dream house! I am also coveting the card catalog on the wall! I have wanted one for years! And then there are the mismatched chairs! LOVE!!! They look like old teacher chairs, so out of place in a dining room, which makes me love them even more! Throw the industrial light into the mix and you have the perfect room!



This one is for my Funky side! This Cottage Living photo appeals to the part of me that wants to live at Anthropologie (you can read more about that here)! This would be a super fun family room! Eclectic living at its best!

And then there is this one, also from Cottage Living! This is for my traditional side. All the fabrics in this room draw me in! The variety of textures, colors, and patterns, is so appealing! And of course the wood ceiling doesn't hurt!

And I can't leave out the kitchen! A farm sink and unique cabinets are very high on my list of wants! This kitchen has both! I'm also kind of loving the rugs! A little rustic charm never hurts!

This one doesn't have the farm sink, but look at those cabinets! Beautiful! And the ceiling beams are phenomenal! I also like the unexpected elegance that the chandelier adds!

I don't know if you enjoyed this post or not! I have just had houses on the brain and thought I would share my inspiration with all of you! Where do you find inspiration? I love comments, so let me know!

Thanks for stopping by!

An Explanation

I've go some "splaining" to do! (Imagine my best Ricky Ricardo accent)!



As much as I torment myself over the lack of blogging I have done lately, there really is a good reason! We Are Moving! We have been working non-stop since New Year's, getting our house market ready. And now that it is officially listed in the MLS, I figured I can share the good news with all of you!

This is our HOME!

We have lived here for 7 1/2 years. We have laughed here, cried here, grown here. When we moved in, we had a 2 year old and one on the way. Now, they are 9, 7, and the youngest is 5. This is their childhood home, the only home they have ever known, and hopefully one they will remember fondly.

All of that said, it is time to move on. We have OUTgrown this house. My boys share a room, which in and of itself is not a bad thing, but they would like to have their own space. As they continue to grow, we anticipate our home to be "the hangout" for all their friends, so we would like to have an extra living area. And with all of my furniture make-overs I could really use a work space (that is not my kitchen or garage)! And our biggest "want": LAND! We have done the neighborhood thing and it has been nice, but we are country to the core and would really like some room to stretch our legs.

So, after months of preparing our house for sale, now we have to maintain it. This means, I don't need to buy any extra pieces of furniture! So, for now I am sticking to custom pieces. I have a few coming up to show you, but I'm afraid the make-overs will be few and far between for a while! I will keep you all updated on our home search! And hopefully I will be back in the business sooner rather than later! Stick with me though. I am planning on finding small projects to work on. I already have a few that I have finished. I will post all of those for you to enjoy! Thanks for stopping by!

Go State!

For those of you who don't know me in "real life", we live in Mississippi. We are loud and proud BullDAWG fans! Both Mr. Rustic and I are alums (as is everyone else in my family)! And my kids bleed Maroon and White! In our opinion, Mississippi State University is the ONLY school!

Now, you may be wondering why I am telling you all this...I have been hard at work on this next piece of furniture! I hinted at it last time I posted. I told you I was working on a special piece for my boys' room. It started off like this:

This piece has been sitting in my garage for MONTHS! I kept putting it off because I knew it needed SO MUCH work! I finally got brave enough to tackle it!

I even got Mr. Rustic to do some of the heavy labor! We sanded, sanded, and then sanded some more.

Someone had painted it black, over red, over green. And at some point got some MAJOR drips in the finish! It was TERRIBLE, but what do you expect for $20?

You would think that would be the hard part, but then I primed it (twice)! And put 6, yes SIX coats of maroon paint on it! I don't what the deal was, but it was well worth it because this is how it turned out!

FANTASTIC! It has everything we love about the Bulldogs all on piece! My boys love it!

And it looks phenomenal in their room! Thanks for stopping by!

Excitement on the Horizon

This has been a busy time around here and the next few days will be more of the same! This weekend I FINALLY started a project I have been procrastinating on for months! I finally found the time to tackle it! I'm hoping it turns out as good as I envision, but you never know until it's done. I am trying my best to get it finished quickly. Every spare minute has been devoted to it, but I do have other commitments...my children do have to eat. And as much as Mr. Rustic loves my work, he doesn't want to become a project widower. Add to all that the fact that I am leaving on Thursday to go out of town and you get an extended timeline. Hopefully it won't take too long! Don't worry, I will be sure and share it with you. For now though, I do have a make-over to reveal.

Back in December, my friend Christy brought me a vanity set that she wanted painted. Her daughter is 13 and for Christmas they were redecorating her room. She found a great deal at an estate sale, but the piece was a little too formal for the look they were trying to achieve. (Now don't hate me, but I can' find the Before pictures anywhere.) So, you will just have to imagine what it looked like. But it's the After that you really care about anyway, RIGHT???

Ok, enough delay! Here it is:

It is so perfect for a young lady's room. I know she will spend many hours at this spot in the years to come. Her mom picked out an adorable fabric to recover the bench.

Christy opted for a distressed white finish. I used a glaze to make it look aged. And we kept the original pulls, but updated them with a copper finish.

We also refinished the "fancy" mirror that attaches to the vanity. (Sorry for the poor picture!)

Here's an up close picture of the finish! I am in LOVE with this piece. I hope it is a piece that this young lady will treasure for years to come!

Thanks for stopping by!

Love Letters

So, I have another make-over to show you! Remember I told you that my neighbors gave me TWO vintage sewing machine tables. The first one was painted to look like this:

The second table turned out dramatically different! This is how it look when I started:

I found a great Oops paint for $5. It is a lavender/gray color.It looked great, but those details on the front were screaming for something extra. So, I used a little antiquing glaze on it and just look at it now!

(OOPS! Ignore the crooked pull! I fixed it after this picture was taken!)
It looks so romantic to me! And the inside is remarkable!

A chalk board desk, perfect for writing notes.

And a basket was installed to keep letter writing needs in one place!

I named this piece "Love Letters" because it just looks so sweet and romantic to me! I can just see a new bride sitting at it writing sweet Thank Yous. Or a young girl writing in a journal about her new love! It has gone from a functional sewing machine table to a real writing desk!

This one is going up in the gallery! Thanks for stopping by!

Back in the Groove!

I finally got my Mojo back!!!! I've been painting like a crazy woman! I have tons to show you, but I'm going to take it slowly! One thing at a time! First, we will start with a fun piece I named "Twitterpated"! It all started with this old sewing machine cabinet, given to me by my neighbors:

I almost forgot the "Before" shot, so this is after I sanded and started priming! (Don't you LOVE the dropcloth?)

This is the inside, where the sewing machine was usually stored!
After painting, painting, and more painting and then distressing and glazing, here is the "After"

Isn't it just the cutest thing ever! I can just see in college apartment or young girl's room!

The drawers do not function, but they add so much to the design! I kept the original knobs, but spruced them up with a little paint!

The top is handpainted with whimsical birds, hence the name "Twitterpated"!

Both sides and the back are covered in polka dots, but the fun doesn't stop there!

Just look at the inside!

The fold out side has a chalkboard for keeping notes.

And the old sewing machine compartment now holds a basket perfect for hide away storage!

"Twitterpated" is going up in the gallery for sale! So, if you know someone who is looking for side table/desk! Pass this on! Thanks for stopping by!

Miss Linda

I have a great new piece in the works, but it's not quite done yet. I know I need to share something with y'all or you might think I have abandoned you for good! Fear not! I am here. We have just been under siege by the stomach bug! It made its rounds, slowly, one-by-one, to everyone in my house last week! Needless to say, I am so glad that last week is over!

Enough with the apologies! I do have a make over to share with you, it's just not new (at least not to me)! When my husband and I were first married, I was just getting into painting furniture. And my in-laws had a fabulous buffet that I commented on, more than once.


My mother-in-law, Miss Linda (I live in the South and we call everybody Miss and Mr. it's a respect thing), was the kind of mom we all wish for. She made all four of her kids a hot breakfast every morning, she taught them everything a mother can. Mr. Rustic can cook, clean, sew, and decorate a cake with the best of them. He can also install an air conditioner, fix a car, lay tile, and just about anything else you could want done. He is a jack of all trades, but I digress! This post is not about him, it is about the woman who helped make him who he is. Miss Linda was a preacher's wife and she filled that role perfectly. She was a lover of family and was there to help any wayward soul that might need a helping hand. In short, she was the kind of woman we all strive to be. Sadly, I never got to see that side of her.

By the time Mr. Rustic and I got married in 1999, Miss Linda was well into an extended battle with Huntington's Disease. If you are like me, you have never heard of this disease, so let me give you a short definition from the Mayo Clinic:

"Huntington's disease is a progressive, degenerative disease that causes certain nerve cells
in your brain to waste away. As a result, you may experience uncontrolled movements,
emotional disturbances, and mental deterioration."

It is not a pretty illness. It robs it's victims of years worth of living. It takes away their ability to function without around the clock help. Miss Linda fought this disease for more than 20 years and finally went home to Glory five years ago. I was so blessed to be there for her final moments in this world, to spend that precious time with all the people who loved her, to hear their stories of the woman she once was. I grew so much closer to my husband's family during that time and I am blessed to call them my own!


Not long after she passed, my sister-in-law offered me the buffet that I had loved from the start. Of course, I said yes! I am honored to have something that belonged to such a godly woman and phenomenal mother. I let it sit in our bedroom untouched for five years, afraid to touch her legacy. Then, this summer, I mentioned painting it Mr. Rustic. He jumped on board. It really did need an update. And I quickly realized that I could never take away how special she was and she would want me to enjoy this piece to the fullest.

I didn't take a "Before" picture because it was before I was blogging, but here is the "After"

I absolutely love the way it turned out!

Just look at the way the glazed finish jumps out and you!

And Hobby Lobby had the PERFECT knobs!

I hope you have a special piece of furniture in your home! Just remember you don't have to keep it just the way it is to honor the person who gave it to you! Thanks for stopping by!

Oh Blog...How I've Missed Thee!

I have neglected you all for WAY TOO LONG! I am sorry! I hope everyone had a wonderul holiday season! We had so much fun, SO much food, and a little TOO much family! Just Kidding!!!! We loved every minute of the break and honestly hated to see it come to an end! But that's how it goes and now it is back to the real world and back to the paint cans!

I have many projects waiting (patiently) in the garage! I have to admit though I am having a little trouble getting motivated! My new friend Laurie gave me the swift kick in the butt that I needed. She and her husband bought this awesome gray storage cabinet that I painted months ago!

It was originally the bottom half of our very first armoire! (The top half bit the dust during a move a few years ago!)I started out looking like this:

Look at the details on it now!

And if selling a piece wasn't motivation enough, Laurie threw in the prospect of a custom job!!!! Now I know I have to get crackin'! So, it may be slow going for a while, but I will be going! Keep checking in!
Thanks for stopping by!