Monday

Oh Craigslist How I adore you.

So Nate was away all weekend at a Tennis Conference. I spent all day decorating our house, we have a total of 3 trees, lights, holly, evergreen live wreaths, and garland. It really is a winter wonderland and that is exactly what he wanted!!
I started to come down with something Sat.  so that lead to a late Saturday evening following/stalking all my favorite decorating blogs, seaching pottery barn website for inspiration and looking thru craigslist to see if I can score any cool vintage pieces. Well guess what ladies and gents.. I told you I loved to have a WM table and we were going to be saving for the piece (hoping bday $ and xmas $ would help us out) but deep down I really wanted that Pottery Barn table but Nate was hesitant because the ones that aren't 1200 bucks are made with veneers now.. Nate couldn't rationalize spending 700 dineros on veneer table.  SO I decided I could have the next best thing.. World Market table.. That was till I found what I found on craigslist.


Sorry the picture is sideways.. turn your head..work with me here. But that is my Pottery Barn table bought online for gasp wait for it 35 bucks. I originally went to see a more expensive table the guy had for sale and I saw this beauty. It barely fit in our new SUV.. but it fit and I may have driven an hour there and back but hell 35 bucks for a PB table.. umm worth it!

I absolutely love her. The pic looks hard to imagine her great size because there are only 2 chairs but she can sit 6 comfortably.  She is in great condition and I love the farm house look with the planks across the top. I just feel that the finish blends with the chairs too much and the floors. It is a beautiful stain..just not my taste. Of course I have to personalize it.. I mean I don't sit and read all those blogs for nothing . I have an obsession now with DIY and decorating.  I have decided that  I would love for her(dining table) to be black to match our console table in the entry way and the gallery frames. Our entry opens straight into the dining it is like an alley way to the dining on the right is the formal living with our pool table and see thru fireplace that on the other side is the living room. So I feel that since the console is black the table would match it and bring your eye to it rather than blend with the chairs and rug. She deserves to be noticed. I also just dig the black look with distressed edges. If I had spent 700 big ones on her I would feel bad restaining her.. but I paid 35 and she is all hard wood and sturdy. All she needs is a facelift to be Tricia Vintage Cottage Style.

Now this is where I ask you to imagine in your head.. My hubby has a hard time envisioning things. SO I search online for design inspiration just to show him- if you are the same way well read and keep scrolling down I posted pics.  
I than will add 4 more parson chairs slip covered (so you can wash them) in white linen from Ikea, WM or PB. Also a Jute seagrass rug and I have my eye on a beautiful light fixture that the hubby likes also ( have a sneaking suspicion I am receiving for my bday next week). We spent sometime this past week in the home improvement stores both of us debating which lights would look better. 
It is so funny because I always loved decorating, but it wasn't till we bought this house my passion really sparked. When I previously ask Nate his opinion on paint or furniture selection he had none. 
But I explained to him decorating is like a hobby- like golf for him and he is starting to great interest in it now. Well I can't say great.. he goes with me to the stores (sometimes) and puts his two sense in now.  He took me antique shopping last weekend. It was nice. He would tell me what pieces he liked and which one he dispises of because they look country to him..lol.  But I truely  appreciate his voice in decorating  more than I dunno that is your thing so buy what you like. So debating on a light fixture in our house is a sign of love!  But than today I told him my grand plan for our table.. I explained the steps I learned from Alter'd.com on how to paint and distress the table to black. He was reluctant until I showed him pictures.  He than told me well I can help on the weekend with the sanding and priming. Ill help you finish the table..  I was in shock. The man hates projects, admits he is not handy and would rather cook than start a DIY project but he just offered to help me. It made my heart beam..because he wasn't offering because he likes it but to be with me and make me happy! Oh I love him.
But on to my inspiration rooms.. now I don't want them to look exactly like these- just giving u a sense of my style and taste.. First is from Jones Design, the next couple from Decor Pad than from Lettered Cottage and PB.

 From Jones Design. I love that she paired seagrass chairs and linen parsons with a black table. Such a dramatic but still casaul feel.



 These two pics I like the style of the rooms.. but really it is our light fixture Nate & I agreed too.
 The common trend is a traditional table but with a mix of chairs. Currently I have two seagrass chairs and I want to pair with linen parsons like Jones Design did in the first picture. And the last two pics I love because  well the design but that is the beloved light fixture Nate and I agreed on. Its modern yet traditional and I love it. Nate thinks it will look great with the iron accents we have in the house. I agree..amazing!! So now you have seen my inspiration stay tuned for the progress. I hope to have it stunning by Jan. when I go back to school from winter break. But I have a very busy break so we'll see how many DIY and decorating projects I work in.

Below is a PB pic of a bar. I showed it to Nate because I love this buffet and the way that they used the shelving. Nate particularly liked it because entertaining purposes of using as a bar ( but hello storage also).  Our dining room is open to the great room but is not that wide for a table and large buffet. So I need to find a smaller piece. PB sells a vertical one but I am not drawn to it. So I am on the search for something similar to work as a buffet or a bar as Nate would say.  It will also be black.. I might buy it a different color and stain too..haha. But we can't afford the hefty price of 1399 for this piece either. I do lust after it though. Jones Design took an antique french buffet and painted it and I love it also. She has it staged as bar so that might be what I look for on criagslist next! So many great finds to be found on there!! I should have been listening to Nester and Mandie a long time ago.


To change the subject---Well School is in till Dec 17th.. than we are off to Illinois till the 28th of Dec. On the way there since it is a 15 hr ride there and back (30 hrs in a car) I figure Ill catch up on grading and studying for my 6-8 generalist test to get certified to teach Jr. High.  So I don't think Ill have much time to do DIY, we also close again on the house when we get back. Scott is also flying in to stay with us from Costa Rica for a couple days. While he is here we are going to go to Lake Charles to gamble.. my husband loves casinos. I hate em but like decorating I will try to tolerate. So busy break!  Hopefully I will find time to relax before we go back so I feel as if it really is vacation.  I am really excited to finally have the same vacation as Nate and not be rushed up north to have christmas and rush home so I can get back to work. We can take our time getting there, staying there and coming home. We also have our new Limited Edition 2011 Santa Fe which has so mch more room for our luggage, books, Scout, and presents that it should be a great comfortable trip! 
Happy Holidays I'll Post pics of the house all jolly and merry in Christmas Spirit next time!!





Friday

Making Memories

We are currently in the process to refinance our house. If everything goes as planned we get to close on this little cottage in the burbs once again at the end of December. I think that after living in this house for three years there is so much more excitement and emotions in closing on this house again.

Part of the process of refinancing is having the house re-appraised. Yesterday the appraiser came to the house and walked around my home.. to put a price on my home. It took him less than an hour to survey the house. To him it was just a brick house in the burbs with kids running down the sidewalks. To him it looks like a two story cottage home that any family could enjoy. But to me this house is my home. Nate & I have made soo many memories in this house and it isn't just walls, cement, and brick to me.  If you know our story we bought this house as a foreclosure. Nate was deathly afraid of what we would have to put in to this house to get it to living style. You have to remember doors were missing, there was no floors upstairs, the stair well railing gone, all the lights gone. The pool was a swamp- we didn't even know how deep it was and the backyard a jungle.  I could see the bones of this house and imagine in my head what it could be. It is still transitioning but it is 120% better now than then. I had faith in this house that it could be a beautiful home and now it is.

We bought the house and immediately started renovating it. We poured our savings, sweat and blood into this house and in the process I fell in love with it. YES I AM IN LOVE WITH MY HOUSE.  But than Hurricane Ike came and destroyed it. I was so distraught by the damage- the $$ it was gonna take to repair it that I was willing to just walk away from the house. I am so glad that Nate & I sat it out. The house is the home I finally saw it could be. I am now nesting and putting all those finishing touches on the house now that the trauma of getting the mold, a new roof and walls redone.

But yesterday after the appraiser took an hour to look at my house and put a number on its worth, I started thinking there is no value you could put on my memories in this home and the memories to come.  Nate and I bonded thru projects in the yard, installing floors upstairs, and trips to Lowes. We learned that we could make it thru a hurricane and the rebuild. We got engaged while living in this house (technically we got engaged in Bahamas, but we owned the house) and than we got married in Hawaii to come home to this house.We have laughed at so many things togeather sitting in our kitchen, watched our dog run the edge of the pool in joy, and floated the pool in the summer with friends.  We have shared sadness, loss of family member and friend's childrens in this home. We have shared the loss of our own child in this home. We have been sick and well. This is the house we love, the house we have hated- but it is ours. This is the house I picture us living in when we have our first baby. This is the house I will always remember as our first house. It isn't perfect and if I could change things I would! Like I would love to magically move the master downstairs and make the laundry room larger. But I am in love with this home and the memories we have. 

The appraiser can put a number on our house, but it has no value on what has really happened in this house.  It is our home and I can't wait to close on it again!