Dare I go DARK!?

So I mentioned in my last post about life after craigslist that we are moving to a new (to us) house. It had been a foreclosure so it's got some work to be done. One of the major areas to tackle will be the kitchen. The previous owner took all the appliances (which were stainless...ugh). We've also got to texture and paint the walls instead of keeping the wallpaper from the 90s when the house was built. Also to go are the green laminate countertops and backsplash.


I have been inspired by browsing the internet looking at painted cabinets. I really LOVE the look of these ...

So my question to you is... do I DARE paint these cabinets dark? My favorite of the three is the middle (and darkest) kitchen. My husband and I went back and forth about whether we should paint them white and do the walls dark. Finally (after his suggestion) we decided just to go for it! We're going to live in the house and eventually when it's time to sell if it's a huge stumbling block for buyers we can paint them again or give a credit. Shouldn't we love the house we're in?

Am I crazy!?

Life after Craigslist

Do you ever wonder what happens when people sell their entire set of bedroom furniture 2 months before they plan to move out?
THIS!!! Yep, the hubster, three kiddos and I are packing up and changing addresses. We're in escrow for a house a few minutes away that *shockingly* needs work! :) Apparently we do that sort of thing. I figured now was as good a time as any to start purging my house of the furniture that I didn't LOVE anymore. I am very impatient and so I decided I'd start trying to sell things now. My husband said I can use all my Craigslist money for new pieces. Which means now I'm on a tight budget that has me scanning my house thinking "what ELSE can I sell?" HAHA!

The only thing left in my bedroom are two nightstands I just bought at Round Top and our mattresses. I went out and bought plastic storage tubs to keep our clothes in for now. Here's the catch... we aren't moving until the END OF JUNE!!!
Meanwhile it gives me PLENTY of time to search for the perfect dresser to buy for the new place. I've already ordered a new bed. And this experience makes us really appreciate being able to buy and have furniture.

And just so our kids don't feel left out of the "fun" - I sold all their bedframes too. My family puts up with a lot dealing with me! :) I love them for it.

Stay tuned for pictures of our new "fixer-upper" and join me (with Tiffany's signficant help) on the journey to making that place our new home.

Are any of you Craigslist junkies? Please tell me I'm not the only one! :)

Lindsay

My first build...

I'd love to say that things at That Village House have just been SOOO busy that I haven't had time to blog. Really, I've just had a lack of motivation! That changed the other day when I re-stumbled upon Ana White's website. This lady is amazing and if I'm ever in Alaska I will have to find her and give her a great big hug for being so generous with her talent.

Soon we will be putting our two girls in one room and our son will have his own. This creates a problem when it comes to beds. Our matching beds are more "boyish" and our single bed is more "girlish"... see the issue here? SO, I showed by hubby the plans on Ana's website for the Farmhouse Twin bed and convinced him that we could do it! To my surprise he said, "sure, let's start tomorrow". So, Saturday afternoon we gathered all our materials (which included a new/used Mitre saw he's been wanting) and got to work. Our goal was to finish the headboard... check!
Later that weekend, we got to work on the footboard.

I'm so excited! I am so proud of us. I can't believe we actually BUILT A BED!! Of course it's not perfect. And I'm still not technically finished. I will need to go back and fill in all the nail and screw holes, sand, prime and paint it. Then we will decide whether to use a bed frame or build the rails like Ana's plan shows.

The wood material cost us just under $50. We had to buy some nails, screws, wood filler, and glue so that brought our total to around $80. Those things will be used for the next project (which I've already got brewing in my mind!!).

Headboard

The footboard

And so you can sort of see how it will be layed out (and the nastiness that is my garage!!)


We hope you had a blessed Easter.
“Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here; he has risen!" Luke 24:5b,6a

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Accessory Challenge

Are you tired of your accessories??

Instead of buying new ones, just try moving them to new locations around your house.

This was my coffee table yesterday, covered with just about every accessory I own. I cleared end tables, bookcases and my fireplace with the intent to not put anything back in it's same location. It's harder than you think!

I learned a few things in the process...

1. Mix colors & textures to add interest.

2. Use varying heights, even if you have to build things up.

3. Keep things fresh by keeping up with the holidays.

4. Fight the urge to make things symmetrical.

5. And place your favorite things in places that you see the most.

Are your accessories gathering dust? Move them around.

What can it hurt??

Embracing Blue

Hi everyone!! It's so great to be back!!

Thanks for your thoughts and prayers over our newest little one, Davis. He's sweet & perfect and keeps me busy, hence my lack of blogging!

Perhaps he's the reason I'm finally embracing the lighter side of decorating. Reds and yellows and greens have always been easy for me to decorate with, but throw in cool colors and I'm lost and confused. I see beautiful blues in Pottery Barn magazines and love them, but inevitably think that I could never pull it off.

Note: If you struggle with this as much as I do, check out this post from the Nester. She has some great tips!

So I started small.

I picked up this shutter at Round Top last week and was determined NOT to paint it red or green. The rug in the powder bath has plenty of colors to choose from, so I went with Sea Breeze Blue, a color (spray paint, of course!) that I found at Walmart. It's a beautiful color, but I have to admit, I was cringing while painting it. "What was I thinking?"...

But I actually think I like it! Take that back, I LOVE it! It's such a little thing, I know, but I think I'm finally embracing blue! Per Lindsay's suggestion, I hug this boxwood wreath on it, just too soften it up a bit. Plus, with it being green, I'm not completely abandoning my comfort zone. Baby steps, ya know?!

What about you??

Do you struggle with mixing up colors? Patterns? etc?...

Easter at my house

Wow... what bad bloggers we've been. Tiffany has a cute, adorable excuse in the package of a healthy baby boy. Me on the other hand can only claim laziness or lack of inspiration. I have a few things that need to be blogged about... but WOW when I get out of a habit it makes it real hard to jump back in. So, I figured I'd start VERY easy today and show you what Easter is looking like in our house this year.

I found this cute topiary to stick under a cloche dome which has found its home on the mantle.

My side table has a springy topiary and two ceramic rabbits that I dug out of my mom's attic.

My piano has anothe cloche, greenery and a rocking horse rabbit (again dug out of my mom's attic). Thankful for some FREE decor!

Inside the dome is this egg covered with little flowers.

The table has a little hint at Easter too... these little eggs coordinate well with my candle stick and I've set them on a rarely used tray from Southern Living.

Well, it isn't much...but it's at least got me back into the blogging game.

Master Bath Reveal

Remember when I showed you the destruction which was my master bathroom? Well I'm glad to say ... It's FINISHED!

This was the final piece of the interior renovation we needed to do to our 1960s ranch style home. Let's take a trip down memory lane...
THE BEFORE

Tile overload... shower, floor, wall, countertop. Whew... it was a lot.



DEMOLITION


We raised the height of the shower about a foot by taking the coffer down. Beadboard was installed to cover the area that had been tiled. Rather than having the wall re-sheetrocked and textured we opted for the beadboard... which I LOVE and would have everywhere if that wouldn't be an overload. :)

We chose to use an inexpensive unfinished wood sink base from Lowes which we painted to match all the new beadboard and trim.

We also used an inexpensive prefab counter top from Lowes (for $44). I used my jig-saw to cut the hole for the sink.

New hardware

New plumbing fixtures

Clean clean clean

New mirror & lighting

New shower door (that actually closes!)

Colors Used:
Olympic Smoky Slate
Olympic Cake Batter

Lindsay

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