Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Welcome to the Neighborhood

Recently, some new neighbors moved in across the street with two sweet children. We are so glad to see more children in the neighborhood. I never had neighbor children to play with, so I hope that we will be able to have that for Landry one day.

When we moved in, our neighbors from across the street made us brownies and brought them over to introduce themselves. I cannot tell you how thankful I was for those brownies and to have kind neighbors.

We literally have six sets of neighbors that are A-MAZ-ING. They have come to my rescue. They have looked out for our house. Really so great!

So, to welcome our new neighbors, I decided to whip up a small gift, so we could make an introduction and meet them.

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I had an extra soap dispenser that I found {Dirt Cheap} and kept just to give as a small gift for something. If you find something on the clearance aisle or even at some place like Dirt Cheap, it’s good to buy it to have something on hand for things like this. You never know when you might need it!

I added some raffia, soap, and this cute little tag to complete it. On the back, I put our names and our telephone number in case they needed something or had some questions.

Don’t pass those small deals up, you might just can use it as a small token of thanks or as a welcome gift of some type.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

Project Christmas Present

I haven’t even ordered Landry’s birthday present, and I’m already planning his Christmas present.

After suggestions from a few BGSG readers, I started watching Fixer Upper on HGTV.

Fell. In. Love.

Wish they would let me work with them. Or style my house. Or just meet them.

If you’ve never watched it, you’re missing out. Seriously. Joanna’s style is perfect, and I may or may not lust over her farmhouse.

She fixed up an old ranch home that had elements in it that I simply adored. I’ll talk more on that later.

For now though, let’s focus on this cute little farmhouse kids table and chairs. As soon as I saw it, I knew I needed it for Landry and all of his future coloring escapades.

kids farm table

I think this would be totally doable and a perfect addition to my office. I’ve already figured out that I’m going to have to make an area for him if I plan on getting any work done.

All they did was make a table top and attach four cut off table legs. My crafty daddy can totally make this table if I provide the legs. I, of course, could stain and paint and distress it, so it can meet the style you all know I love.

So…all of you antique and junk store shoppers. Be on the lookout for four table legs and four children’s chairs. The chairs can be just like in the picture {two pairs of matching chairs}.

I’ve also got my dad on the toolbox creation like what’s on the table. He’s already made me one super cute barn wood one to hold mason jars full of flowers. I’ve got to get the mason jars, so I can show it off with my lovely lime light hydrangea blooms. Cross your fingers that those blooms will last until his birthday!

Hope you’re all having a terrific week! We’re looking forward to meeting two new babies in a matter of days! My best friend and my SIL are having babies possibly on Sunday and Monday. One in Pensacola. One in Auburn. They’re keeping me on my toes, but I can hardly contain my excitement about these new little bundles of joy! I can see now that this time every year will be busy with birthday parties. Stay tuned to see some cute babies coming your way!

P.S. Go check out Joanna’s blog at Magnolia. It’s worth your time.

Monday, July 7, 2014

So Shiny and White

By now, y’all know how much I love white paint! We keep it in stock around here in all finishes.

So I told you all about my bookcase styling and accessory problems. Lately I’ve been considering just taking everything down and starting over and possibly even shopping some stores around town for some things to add.

Hello, Longevity, Treasure Chest, Habitat Restore, and The Rose Cottage! I will be a customer very soon!

Cross your fingers that I will find some good things while scouting out some accessories. I have to go to Andalusia this week, too. That might mean a stop by my favorite furniture/junk store, Peterson’s Furniture. If you’ve never been, you’re missing out.

That’s not what I’m here to share with you today though. A few months ago, my husband decided to tackle the built-in cabinets in our living room. Since I don’t paint things in the manner he would prefer, he did it all.

Before the built-ins were stained, which was fine, except that I like things to look bright and airy. This is how things looked on the day we first viewed the house.

before builtin

I researched good cabinet paints for quite a bit before deciding on Benjamin Moore Advance Paint in White Diamond. Colby primed them first, but unfortunately I don’t remember what it was. It wasn’t anything fancy though.

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This paint is everything I thought it would be. I knew I needed something that could be wiped easily and could take a good bit of abuse thanks to my growing little boy. Landry has rammed his walked into countless times, beat it with his wooden spoon, touched it all over with his sticky fingers and so far not. a. scratch.

It dried nicely and is so smooth thanks to delayed drying time to allow the paint to level out.

If you decide to tackle a project like this, talk to the paint expert in the hardware store that has lots of experience, so you can properly choose the right paint brushes and rollers. Remove the hardware and doors before painting. And if you don’t have a lot of money to spare for new hardware….break out the spray paint. It’s what we did!

Hope you all are enjoying your summer!

P.S. I’m still taking offers to come and style my bookcases {wink, wink}