WIndow shopping.

I literally mean window shopping. Our house had a lot of originals when I bought it almost 2 years ago. One of those "originals" was the single pane metal windows. Those babies sure were ugly.

Some of them wouldn't even open or would open "pop" open after you tried to open them 15 minutes before.

So...after numerous hours of listening to sales guys talk about their double-pane window and all that their company will of offer that the "others" wont.. we finally settled on Lowe's. And after the final measurements and the credit card application was approved for 12 months 0% financing the house looks like this.... I am beyond excited!!!

Wow! I can finally explore the options of blinds and really see through the windows! Not to mention the power and gas bill should be a lot less in February!!!

The big reveal

I finally feel like I have one BIG project complete! The past 21 months I have been working on all types of projects on the house. Some of been "mandatory" like cleaning gutters, taking down dead trees to "optional" like replacing green counter tops with granite. I felt like I was all over the place and doing a project in every room. Because of this I have NEVER felt like I completed a room. I always felt like I had a TON of things to do (don't get me wrong- i do- but it was a heavy feeling). So....with the help of a friend and interior decorator I tackled the living/dining room. For the past 2 months I have ignored all other rooms when it comes "how should I decorate" and "what color theme should I use" thoughts.

We started by coming up with a color theme...i loved the pottery barn rug and so I broke down and bought it. This was the start of the room makeover. Here is a look at how the room has evolved over time... i am so happy to have pictures on the wall and matching "stuff."

Take a look....

before i bought the house..

Now...what room to decorate next?

The end is here..

I'm back at the whole DIY thing. This time around it is an attempt to spruce up my family room. For the longest time I have just done what I could with the decor and furniture that I had. Well- I'm in my big girl house and needed to start to really decorate :)


I started with the purchase of the pottery barn rug (more on that in a bit)


THe next thing on the list- end tables! We were surviving with just one end table that didn't really add much to the room. 


So.. my dear friend Gina found these on craigslist..we had a vision of their potential..

After a trip to the good ol' Home Depot, I purchased some spray paint primer, black spray paint. 


I washed them, sanded them and started to coat them in primer. the transformation begins. 

Add caption

ta-da! 

perfect size, perfect color. I finally have a place to put my glass of wine while watching tv :)

Recap of this little project that only took a Sunday morning to complete..

2 tables- $30 (craigslist- plus the lady lived 2 miles from my house!)

Spray paint- $15 (primer and paint)

Sand paper- already had some

TOTAL: $45 for 2 amazing looking end tables! Whoohoo!! 

It's gonna be a white christmas

On Tuesday night the Mr. and I drove about 70 miles east of Atlanta and picked up this guy..

This white snowball/fur-ball is a 7 week old Great Pyrenees rescue. He is one of 5 pups that were rescued a couple of weeks ago. 

His name.. Mr. Boone Race (aka Boone). He is such an adorable pup!

Not only is he too cute! He has been soooo good! No accidents in his crate yet! And the only accidents in the house have been our fault....

what's not love about this face?

Living room re-re-re-do

I am the queen of being indecisive.

I am the girl who stood in front of the Target towels for 30 minutes try to decide on what color to pick- i even had a shower curtain that gave me some direction.

So the my next project shouldn't surprise you- i have decided to re-decorate the family room. i have never really been happy with the most recent re-do. So this time, I called in some help from the amazing talented Gina (she doesn't have a blog- but she totally should!). She is so creative. Once this Pottery Barn purchase arrives in 5-7 business days the real transformation will begin.

It wasn't easy picking out a new rug...dang are they expensive and there are so many different directions to go in.

After some major re-pinning on Pintrest, I found out that I like warmer colors and am not so afraid of yellow and with the help of Gina, realized that we can do a lot with the yellow and some gold undertones. So the first real re-do of the family room is about to happen.

So far it has included: moving of some major furniture, purchasing 3 things off Craigslist and finding some stellar wedding pics to frame :) stay tuned.... and if any one in Atlanta wants a rug from Target, let me know. I am selling this one for $40...

the past few weeks I have done a little re-styling of the living/dining room area. I am still not pleased with the look...but its getting there. i have such a hard time making a decision on color. i have to admit, i'm a little nervous to use color- but I love it when I do!

Here is a look at the old family room..

It was very beige and the rug in the dining room area did not really go with the lighter colored rug in the family room area. Given I didn't have a huge budget.. i decided to replace the rug in the family room (i would much rather replace both)... I also got new window treatments. The old ones were a little sort and didn't match each other...so I have decided to focus on the green/blue color combo for the room. still need to pull it all together. talk about frustrating. 

still waiting to do a photo wall on the blank wall by the front door!

suggestions anyone? i just feel like the room is still a little blah.

Weeds be gone!

The past 17 months I have been neglecting the outside of my house. I know they say how important curb appeal is, but I have been overwhelmed with making all the changes inside my house that I didn't even have a chance to take a before picture of this next project. 

bummer. i know. so without waiting any longer...here is a look at where a few trees came falling down (well...cut down on purpose)

The front corner of the house had a HUGE pile of over grown stuff...there were trees, bushes, weeds, sticks, you name it, it was there. so we hired a company to come chop it all down and hall it away. They also took down the dead dogwood tree that was next to the house. Oh yea- and my mum purchase from Home Depot. Gives a little pop of color to the front, what do ya think?

And then there was the backyard- let's just say that I let the weeds get a little out of control!!! So after we hired someone to weed-eat, spray, deliver and lay pine straw, the backyard looks MUCH better!! the weeds were probably 4 feet tall....

again...no before pictures :(