I love COLOR

I don't love painting. It can be messy and time consuming. But, I do love what a can of paint can do to change the feeling in a room.
Did I mention yet that we just finished a major switch-a-roo of our children's bedrooms? My boys were ready to have their own rooms and my girls needed to move into a bigger room. So the boys split up and one took over the girls old room and the girls claimed the old playroom. Changing a room from a girl room to a teen aged boy's room required a new paint job.
I WILL TAKE PHOTOS OF THE KIDS' ROOMS & POST THEM SOON.

I usually get my inspiration from one of two places: Pottery Barn or Martha Stewart.

Yep, they are great at making a room look amazing so I trust them when it comes to paint colors.

My favorite paint brand is Benjamin Moore. I used their traditional paint for several years and then a couple of years ago I tried their low VOC line called "Aura".

I will never go back! I love the coverage Aura gives and it doesn't stink for days like other paints.

Now that the paintbrush and roller are out of the garage, I have the itch to paint another room! While at Home Depot yesterday to pick up a totally unrelated item, I happened to stroll through the paint section. Now my craft table looks like this:

I think I have the next room picked out that I want to paint. Now I just need to wait until my dear husband goes on a trip since he thinks all the walls look fine. This is how it works; he doesn't want to paint anything, then I paint somewhere, and he is happy and loves the result. We've got our system down!

My Inner Neat Nick

I am in the midst of a full on closet clean out at my house. I have completed my closet and the linen closet. I love to open the door and just gaze at theses closets and admire their tidiness. That probably sounds a bit weird to stare into a closet, but it gives me a moment of satisfaction and even joy to see a job well done!
Now I am working on the most daunting one: my craft closet. It's a scary task. My goal is to organize years of photos, baby books, scrap booking supplies, school artwork and all the stuff like glitter, glue, wrapping paper, and paint that I use for crafting. In the past I have done an okay job at corralling these, but THIS time my goal is total organizational domination (insert wicked cackle here).

I have learned that if I break down large projects and only spend an hour or so a day on them, I feel happier  and still have time to do other things. So I am giving myself extra time to accomplish this task.

I frequent a couple of FUN sites for those who aspire to be better organized:

SIMPLIFY 101 This site has loads of great tips and even online classes

PENELOPE LOVES LISTS I admit it. I am a "Penelope". If you love this site, chances are you are one too.

Autumn Decor- And A "Hair Raising" Surprise

I feel a bit sorry for my kids. I don't really get into Halloween decorations too much. Don't get me wrong, I love Halloween! Dressing up is a blast, getting candy is fun, and I am always ready for a good scare. But I fluctuate on decorations. Most (but not all) years I gravitate towards the Autumn Harvest theme more than the spooky stuff.

One reason is my home decor. It readily blends with Fall colors. 

I love this cream pumpkin!

My baby helped me fill this vase. She was all over the idea of sorting the different colors into piles. A four year old is great for this. 

I am drawn to lanterns. I would have them all over my house- inside and out- if it wouldn't look weird. Which it would.

I enjoy decorating with as many natural elements as possible. It is my way of bringing the outdoors into our home. I am going to ask my husband this week-end if he will cut some branches from the alder trees on our property. I have some ideas for branches.

I  bought this woven heart in 2009 while visiting Austria with my husband. We were on our way to Salzburg (the place where "The Sound of Music" was filmed) and stopped for lunch at a store/cafe. I saw this heart and decided I needed it. 

This gal (my daughter) is a regular fixture at my house, no matter what season it is or what decorations are up. She decided to do a little redecorating herself. ON HERSELF! While happily painting and cutting up papers, my baby gave herself a new haircut!

She was very happy with the result. I was less enthusiastic. We had a talk about who should and who should not cut our hair. Today we are headed to see Ronda to even out the rough edges.

Have a wonderful week-end!

Burlap Eye Candy

I love burlap for home decor! It seems to match almost any style and it adds a fun texture. Here are some pictures I gathered:

An adorable fall decoration from Brown Paper Packages. Click HERE to link to this tutorial.

What a fun footstool featured in Country Living Magazine.

Cute pillows from Dovetales Antiques & Home Magazine.

I LOVE this simple table runner from Living With Lindsay.

I may try this burlap wrap idea from ELLE Decor.

What a relaxing looking room shown by House Beautiful. Let's eat lunch there!

Doesn't this just beckon you to come curl up here with a book? (source unknown).

I want a burlap banner! (source unknown).

If you want one too, you can buy this one for $20 by clicking HERE.

It can even be made into jewelry! By BlissTree.

I have a general weakness for any pillow cover. Want it? Buy it for $24 HERE.

Remember the Pottery Barn $10,000 Giveaway??? If I win, I will be adding these to my cart:

I hope you enjoyed virtual window shopping with me. If you are feeling inspired, I have seen burlap at Walmart...

Happy Friday

Yay, it's Friday! We survived the first week of school. The kids are happy. I am happy. The house is ALMOST entirely clean. Face it, that is the best it will ever get. As long as I am raising a reasonably happy family there will be varying degrees of tidiness in my house.

For instance: This is my office this morning.

But it's okay! The kitchen is clean-gleaming actually! The living room is clean!

Should I tackle the office? Nah. I think I need a nap.

Early Autumn Decor

It is starting to feel like summer is over and fall is on its way. I like to make seasonal changes around the house. Here are a few new elements I have added:
Early Autumn mantel. I will add pumpkins and gourds in October, so for now I added pops of color with the basket full of balls and the patterned candlesticks.

I like paisley patterns, so I knew these would look great on my living room couches mixed in with the older, fuzzy pillows that everyone likes to pet.

These are more rustic than the candle holders I usually am drawn to, but I really like them.

 I took this photo at night without the benefit of natural lighting. I just added this to the mud room. I hope it helps us remember to take important papers with us as we head out the door!

I found these letter blocks while shopping in Utah with my sister-in-law, Laurie. I attached them to the wall with Velcro strips.

Snippets of Spring

We made it home from our Alaska road trip in one piece. I spent the day cleaning the RV, cleaning the house, grocery shopping, doing laundry, and generally settling in. I will post photos of our adventure later this week.

After all of the cleaning and scrubbing was finished, I did a bit of Spring decorating. Then I went outside and discovered that Mother Nature has been busy in my flower bed as well.

Project Update

It is amazing how adding a few touches can really make a difference to a room. Last week I made fabric wall hangings for our guest room. I liked how they added color to the room, but they seemed a bit bare all by themselves on the wall. Keeping with my plan to not buy very much for this room, I started to brainstorm what I already had in my house. I came across these candle sconces and decided to hang them next to the fabric panels. Love it!





















See the little blue bird on the left side table? She used to be brown. I wanted a pop of color there so I spray painted her a light blue. Since I already had the paint on hand, this project was free!