I'm no fan of wallpaper

So, I mentioned in my last couple of posts that the fam and I will be moving to a new (to us) place that we bought as a foreclosure. Most of you are aware that buying foreclosures usually mean WORK is involved to make them better or liveable.

This one was no exception. For the most part it needed little to be 'liveable' but we like to create more work for ourselves and go ahead and do most of the updates before we actually move in. I've been spending most of my free time at the house peeling wallpaper so that we could have the walls textured and then painted. I'm convinced that if you've ever removed wallpaper you will NEVER put it back up... NEVER. But I know there are a few of you loony enough to do it. :)

So... here's a sneak peak of the two bathrooms with wallpaper that needed to go!
MASTER BATH
(I'm going to regret only having 2 before pictures. Sigh)
straight out of the 90s with gold fixtures to boot

Finally a house with a toilet room!! I will LOVE being able to lock myself in to escape from my kids. Cause you know they only come to find me when I need a minute alone, right!

KIDS UPSTAIRS BATHROOM

This will be the perfect set up for our 3 kids (one boy and two girls). See how much space there is and we can won't have the issue of someone showering when another needs to potty! Oh how I am loving this already.... and they are only 5 and 3 now!

So, there you have it... wallpaper has been removed and the texture is complete. Now we've been working on priming and painting everything!


My tips for wallpaper removal....
1. Be PATIENT.... I keep saying I feel like I've got this part down in life...but God likes to remind me how wrong I am by putting me in positions where I have to learn all over again!
2. Soak the heck out of the walls. Score and WET WET WET it down. We bought a sprayer (that people use for fertilizer, bug spray, etc) and filled it with a solution of water and fabric softener.
3. Have a partner... it feels so much better to do such a mundane task with another human being. :)
4. Promise me that you'll never, never, never put wallpaper up again. Your future home buyer will thank you! Hee hee.

I'll be back soon with a sneak of how the kitchen cabinets turned out.... thanks for your input on my last post.

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.