Tuesday, May 31, 2011

random things...




Today, I am totally copying Teresa from Meadowbrook Farm. I love her posts with 'bullet points.'

She is pure genius, that girl!

Thank you, Teresa for letting me steal your brilliant, Monday 'morning and I am tired' blog-friendly idea.

Ok, here it goes. A quick little blog post with random things that make no sense together at all. My specialty!



- I know I promised you pretty photos from my weekend in Michigan, but I don't have any. It rained. Sideways. Every day I was there. Enough said about that. Moving on.

- If you have Blogger and see I am visiting your blog and not commenting...don't hate me. I am still just having problems leaving comments. Anyone find a way around this yet?




- I am totally obsessed with Pinterest. TOTALLY OBSESSED. The photos in this post were all from my the pins I was adding at midnight last night. When I should have been sleeping. Obsessed, I tell ya!

- By the time my head hits the pillow tonight, I have to paint a desk, a nightstand, 4 beds, a bookcase and 45 old picture frames. Kill me.




- I am thinking of buying an iPad. Anyone out there have one? Do you love it?

- If you purchased anything on Etsy from me since last Thursday, your package is shipping out today. Just so you know.




- I read a lot of blogs that give nicknames to their husbands that tie into their blog name. It seems too cruel to call mine "Mr. Farmgirl"...it would just strip his manhood right away...any suggestions? He does so much for me 'behind the scenes'. He is my furniture-fixer, truck-loader, delivery boy...anything I ask of him. It seems he deserves a proper name, no? How about Urban Farmboy?? Hmmm...maybe I should stick to just calling him "the hubs".

- We were at an antique shop in Michigan this weekend, and I was wearing my Hunter boots. I was at the checkout, and the older man working there had a thick German accent. He was a very flirty old man...and he offered me 10% off without me even asking because he said I had "nice boots". I have never seen my husband turn around so fast. I had to clarify that he did indeed say "BOOTS" and not something that sounds a lot like "boots"...only naughty...if you have a German accent.




- It is supposed to rain here AGAIN today. I can't take much more of this, I swear. Who did what to tick Mother Nature off?? Is it too much to ask for a summer that actually has sunshine??

- I know I promised a post on the wood wall in my guest room, but I have been so stinkin' busy getting ready for another show at the flea this weekend, I have yet to post it. Its coming soon, I promise!

Ok, signing off.

Did anyone actually make it to the end of this post?

If you did, feel free to leave me your suggestions for "Mr. Urban Farmgirls" nickname.

Happy Tuesday, all! Hope you had a great long weekend!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

michigan or bust...




I {love}...as in down to my toes...LOVE a good roadtrip! 

I am a traveling girl. A gypsy, at times.

 It is in my blood.




The open road is one of my favorite places to be. To get lost with my thoughts.

To see what I can discover.




Fresh air, open fields as far as the eye can see.

*sigh*...it just makes me happy.

Today, I am leaving for a quick roadtrip.




Just me and the hubs. Listening to music, laughing 'til our sides hurt.

Stopping to gaze at the majestic Lake Michigan. I love it there. I have so many wonderful memories on that shoreline.

Have you ever been to Sleeping Bear Dunes in the Lower Peninsula of Michigan??

If not, you MUST go. It is incredible. I can't wait to see it again!

I swear it is the best kept secret of the Midwest. The dunes are so beautiful!




Tomorrow I will be getting my workout for the day climbing the dunes and getting sand between my toes...

(Unless I fall and roll down. Which, if you knew me, is entirely possible.)

And you KNOW I am going to stop at a farm or two along the way to see what I can dig up...if they will let me.

{wink...}

I will be back with photos from our trip on Monday.

Until then, catch me on Twitter. I'll be tweeting about our adventures from the road!

Au Revoir!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

thought for the day...





(photo via pinterest...)

 
This says it all for me today!

{ smile... }

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

i needed some pretty today...




It has been a loooong couple of weeks. I have been MIA from blogland so I have a lot of reading and catching up to do. The last two weeks have been a blur...we are trying to transition my mother-in-law to an 'assisted living' facility.




Wow. What an eye opener that is.

Who knew getting older was so much work!




In between forms, phone calls, visits, buying her all new things for her new little apartment...I have been feverishly painting about 9,712 new pieces for my booth at the flea market next weekend. So this morning I decided to spend a few moments getting lost in Pinterest. I love Pinterest. Whoever came up with this idea...I would like to tell you...I think you are pure genius!! Oh, and thank you for saving my hard drive. It was 90% full before I found you.






These photos really have nothing to do with this post. Other than I wanted to check in to say Hi to all of you...and share all the 'pretty' I am finding.




I am noticing a theme here though...all the photos I am drawn to today seem send the message "relaxation"...I think my subconscious is trying to tell me something.





I am heading back to the land of Pinterest for a few minutes. I want to squeeze in a a few more pretty photos until I am switching over to catching up on your blogs. Then its off to my warehouse to finish a piece a client is picking up today, a metting and lunch for my mother-in-law at her new digs, then back to my warehouse to paint furniture into the wee-hours.

Anyone wanna come help me? I play really good music...and tonight there just may be margaritas in the blender to help up get through the night! And did I mention my warehouse sits right on the river? I can open up the back side...at night it is so pretty! The breeze last night was incredible! Come on, didn't THAT make you all want to come help me? It could be a big blogger painting party!

Oh, and since this post has no real theme, and my subject matter is jumping all over the place...I have to ask...do you Pinterest??

Happy Day to you all!


Wednesday, May 18, 2011

guest room...questions & answers



What a wonderful bunch of girls you all are! THANK YOU for the bottom of my heart for your sweet comments on my guest room update. I am always so busy painting furniture for clients, I rarely have time to show you snippets inside my home. Maybe I should start making time, it was so much fun!

I received so many emails regarding things I used in the room, so thought I would answer them in a blog post in case others were wondering the same things! So here it goes...your questions answered...part 1.




How did it happen that Cabbages & Roses became involved your guest room makeover?

I received an email one day telling me they had seen the post Andrea, from the blog Faded Plains, and I did about working together to make over my guest room. They wanted to collaborate with us, and each would get to do a space in our homes using Cabbages & Roses fabric. I was so excited they would even consider lil 'ol me! It was a very positive experience, and I would work with them again in a second!


How did you add the fabric to your headboard?

This is what my headboard looked like before:


(photo taken from the web, I forgot to take a "before"...oops!)

The headboard is from the Crate & Barrel Outlet store. I am lucky enough to live about 1 1/2 hours from Crate & Barrel headquarters in Naperville, IL. Their warehouse where everything gets shipped from is there, as well as an outlet store for damaged goods and overstock items. I was there one day and they had this headboard for only $59!! Score! I am a girl that *LOVES* a deal, so I threw myself on top of it before anyone else could snag it. (Seriously, I did. It was a Saturday and the place was packed! A girls gotta do what she needs to, you know!) It was marked down from some crazy price (I think about $1100) because it had a little black mark on the fabric. I knew it would be slipcovered someday anyway so that didn't stop me. I am a girl that always looks for potential, not necessarily the perfect piece.

I slipcovered it in the C&R Hatley fabric in Cerise, which is a wonderful faded red color. It is incredible in person!


Where did you get your duvet?

Pottery Barn. It is called the 'Hadley Ruched Duvet'. It was my one big splurge for this room. I am a thrifty girl, so it killed me to spend $179 on a duvet, but I love it so much. It was worth every cent!


Where did you get your bedskirt?

Target. It is from the Simply Shabby Chic line, and is called Snow White.


What color did you use on your dresser?
Where did you find the knobs you used on your dresser?

I used one of my favorite furniture grays...Silver Chain by Benjamin Moore. Pearl finish is my favorite sheen. I distressed it to show the white primer peeking through the gray.

The knobs are from Anthropologie. They are called the 'Gemstone' knob in clear.



Where did you find your gray curtain rod?

Well, I can never seem to find a curtain rod "off the shelf" that I like. Huge finials on the ends make me crazy, and I just wanted something more natural...vintage...simple. So I wandered over to the trim isle at Home Depot. It is actually just an unfinished wood 1 1/4" diameter closet rod, which cost about $10. I cut it to my length and finished it with white and gray paint I thinned with water. You can still see the wood grain through, so it looks a lot like my wood wall in the room.

The brackets are from Home Depot, too. They are in the curtain rod isle, and come in unfinished wood for $7.97. I just gave them the same paint treatment as the rod.





I will be back tomorrow to answer your questions about the wood wall! It was overwhelming to get messages from so many of you wanting to do the same treatment to a wall in your home! And to think I was hesitating on doing it! Poor Andrea was on the receiving end of about 10 phone calls where I was freaking out wondering if it would look "weird". Once is started to go up, I wanted to do it in every room in my house. I love it, and it was soooo easy!

Ok, girls. I am off to paint more furniture today! I have another  show in 18 days!

Monday, May 16, 2011

cabbages & roses guest room...the reveal!






Well, I never thought I would ever get around to showing you the "after" of the Urban Plains project...but today is the day! For those of you not familiar with the UP Project, you can go here and here to read a little about how our collaboration came to be. It has been an AMAZING experience, and I cannot thank Cabbages & Roses enough for the opportunity to use yards and yards of their gorgeous fabric in my guest room!

I am going to keep this post to few words...so I hope you like what you see!




The headboard in the room is fully upholstered...done in C&R 'Hatley Cerise' linen. The softness and texture are incredible. I am truly in *love* with their linen fabrics!




They sent me a few pillows for the bed..the two matching ones are from the 'Podge' collection in the color Cerise. The one in the middle is a white linen. All have the cutest shell buttons for closure.







Andrea has inspired me to embrace what she calls the "unmade bed". Love that girl...who knew NOT making the bed could look so fantastic! She has made my day one step easier...haha!




This is the nightstand to the left of the bed...with my coveted dairy box underneath.




This is the one on the right...I *LOVE* that etched mirror!




Above the bed hangs a vintage chandi...just for a little extra sparkle at night...




I painted an antique dresser pale gray...I thought it would compliment the 'New Penny Pink' curtain fabric well. 




I added new crystal knobs to play off the chandelier...the vignette on the top I put together from things I found around the house. My grandmother's house blessing print is framed with a little chicken wire, the crusty old bottle holds a love note from the late 1800s.








I have a serious affinity for driftwood. I believe I have a little in every room in my house. I added some old metal hooks to this piece...perfect to hold the totes Andrea made for me out of the matching fabric from the room. She used the pattern from Christina's book Romantic Home Sewing.




The room has such a wonderful softness...it turned out so cozy and comfortable. I love how the light streams through the curtains...




And the bed makes me want to crawl in and stay all day. I think I may eventually hang a piece of architectural salvage above the bed...but for now I am enjoying the barn wood wall. I have such fun memories of taking that old barn down. It was a lot of work, but its just another page in my personal history book.




The girls at Cabbages & Roses sent me such a pretty journal for the room! I cannot wait to put it to use, because I have one requirement of all my guests. When they stay, I have a "guest book" on the nightstand and I ask them to make an entry before they leave. Sometimes it is funny, sometimes it is sweet...but I love looking back months later to read about the visit we had. I cannot wait to read about their first stay in the "new" room!




* sigh *

I owe Christina Strutt, Lily & Suzie a huge THANK YOU for this opportunity! And Andrea too, for taking my 924 phone calls and helping me decide how to best use all this gorgeous fabric!

I think I just may go lay down in my guest room today...with my pjs still on  and with a big stack of magazines. Just relax and soak in the beauty of the room. Sounds like a perfect day to me!

Oh, and be sure to go over and visit Andrea at Faded Plains, too! She did something incredible in her foyer using Cabbages & Roses fabric as wallpaper!

And did you know Cabbages & Roses has a blog? They do...pop over and visit...it is a great way to keep up with their latest products and projects!

Happy Monday, girls!

Monday, May 9, 2011

stay tuned...



coming soon...I promise!


my Cabbages & Roses guest room make-over reveal will be coming this week!




 
It's been a crazy few weeks...due to family events and a set of gorgeous new closet doors arriving damaged...grrr....but I am working hard...so I hope you will love it!

Friday, May 6, 2011

one AMAZING DIY kitchen makeover!




Have you girls seen this gorgeous kitchen??? I am sure you, have...but I decided I just had to showcase it anyway! I am in L-O-V-E!  Kimberley, from Restoration House completed a DIY makeover on her kitchen...I am in crazy about every little detail!

It never ceases to amaze me what one can do with a can of white paint and a brush...

I know you are gonna love this as much as I do...so ENJOY!





One thing I love about Kimberley is that she is all about the details....




I can't stop staring at her faucet...is that weird??

I think I want one.




I love that she took basic, oak cabinets...




and transformed them into this gorgeous kitchen.

All.by.herself.

(Well, ok...the Hubby was right along side her, but you know what I mean.)


(All photos are property of Kimberley at Restoration House, and used with her permisson. Please do not copy.)


 
You have to see more of this kitchen, girls! It's a good one, so pop over to Restoration House and have a look at all her gorgeous photos!

Amazing.

Monday, May 2, 2011

these boots are made for sellin'...




Is anyone still out there??

I have not posted in...well...let's see...FOREVER!!

I have been in "show mode" all month, which for me means working a ridiculous amount of hours painting furniture. I get a little carried away. I forget there is more to life than painting anything that will stand still.  I have promised the hubs a more 'normal life' this summer...a little more play and not all work. This past weekend I had my inagural show for 2011 and it was an interesting one, let me tell ya!

Saturday I only had 2 hours sleep before I had to wake up and drive to the flea in St. Charles, IL. I am not a girl that does well on less than 7 hours sleep, and I don't drink coffee. 

Enough said. 

We set the booth up. We were ready for a fabulous weekend. 

But then the 35 mph winds started...with gusts up to 50 mph. 

Yeeeeaah. Not fun. 

It goes without saying that 50mph wind + flea market = one really bad day. But Sunday was fabulous and people were out shopping and buying so the weekend reedeemed itself. For the most part, anyway. I am choosing to be grateful and look on the bright side.

*smile*


(I have just had a slap in the face after looking in this photo. I think I need to do less painting, and more working-out. Skinny jeans + my thighs = SCARY! Sorry to do that to you so early in the morning! Hahaha!)


I thought I would show you some of the things I had at the show...this bed being my FAVORITE thing of all time. Can you believe the french style curved headboard on this little beauty of a bed?? And the best part...I had 2 matching beds!!

I so wanted someone with 2 little girls to take them home and put them side-by-side in a room full of girly goodness...but only one found a home, so the other is a orphan. If anyone is interested, let me know. I can ship it just about anywhere within the US.




I love the shade of this drop-front secretary desk. A light blue/gray...distressed to show some of the white underneath. The inside is awesome...little cubbies and drawers for storage!




This one is right in line with the french bed as one of my all-time favorites. A pale gray secretary cabinet...I painted the inside white...and behind the drop door the inside is white with all the cubbies painted in the gray. Soooo pretty in person! I was shocked no one took this one home!





Antique dressers with glove drawers are always a hit. This one found its home in a little girl's new room.




As did this armoire. There are drawers behind those top drawers. Always a favorite...storage is the name of the game!




The girl that bought this china cabinet had the greatest idea! I saw her take her shoe off and put it inside the door. Of course from across the booth I was thinking "what the heck"?? They when she was purchasing it, she told me Real Simple magazine showed a china cabinet painted with chicken wire in the doors to be used for show storage. What a cool idea! I didn't see that, but I guess Real Simple and I are on the same wave-length! She is going to put all her cute heels on display! Love that!





So there you have it. A little slice of the other side of my life. 

I am a girl obsessed with furniture. And white paint.

I met so many wonderful bloggers over the weekend! It was so fun to have you all come out and say "Hi". Thanks for making a girl feel so warm and fuzzy...and loved. Especially on such a windy day.

And you know what I realized over the weekend?? I was asked by a customer how long I have been doing this. When I did the math I realized that April was a milestone....11 years! I feel a celebration giveaway coming on!!!

I cannot even imaging what a 24 year old girl was thinking back then when she thought "Hey, I am going to start a business. I am going to give new life to antique furniture and sell it." My parents are proud of me now, but at the time I am sure they just wanted to say "You want to do WHAT??? Go get a real job!" Life is a funny thing, isn't it? You just never know where your path is going to take you.  

Ok, I am off girls. Right now my path is taking me to Target and the grocery store. The cupboards are bare.

Happy Monday!