Just a Touch of Spring...

I just love these two pictures of small touches of s.p.r.i.n.g in our home...I know it is right around the corner but why does it seem so far away? 



Hello, birdie!



Hydrangeas...love

We are *thisclose* to being finished with the wainscoting project in the guest bedroom. Need to paint the trim and then blog the after photos.  I also have another project in the works for next week! I'm pretty excited about it.  I stole it from another blogger.... :-)

Linking up to

 Centsational Girl

Peace, Love & Harmony

{Wainscoting Adventures: Day Tres}

It continues, my lovelies!  I'm OK with it. We got a lot done today between eating 8-10 cookies a piece thanks to my momma, breaks to watch the big miserable KU game :-( and meeting with the deck guy! Holler!

Firstly, WE BOUGHT A SWEET NEW COMPUTER! Look what this chick will be blogging on. Yes, the MacBook Pro! I love it.

Our New Baby!  What a great computer! We wanted this one so bad & we got it! Apples are the bomb dot com.



Look at that dreamy keyboard.  It's like typing on a cloud...

Next, we talked to a builder today about a NEW deck.  As most maybe none of you know, Spring is the best time of the whole wide year to build a deck.  We wanted to do it last year, but never got around to it with the wedding and all that jazz. Our rinky-dink deck is seriously, no seriously, 10x12.  It's re-deck-u-lous (pun intended), people.  So friggin' small. We can barely fit our small table on it. L.A.M.E.  If you know us, then you know we love to entertain.  We love having people over and we love hanging out on our deck.  If the weather is nice and the Chiefs aren't on that's where we hang out.  In fact, in the summer Mr. Le Inspired Nest and I eat more dinners outside than inside.
It's only fitting that we need a larger deck.  Enter Larry Swain (our super-duper deck builder).  We are going from a 10x12 box to *drum-roll* AN 18X24 BEAUTY!  I wish I had before pictures. I guess I could go and take some.  To be honest, I'm pretty comfortable and it's snowing outside. And it's spring. And supposed to be about 65-70 degrees.  Sorry, folks, no deck pictures tonight.  Try measuring it out if you want to see how small it is. 

We decided to get iron spindles (my favorite touch), and a wide stairway (4 ft.) going out to our huge backyard (P.S. Why such a teeny tiny deck for such a HUGE back yard? I never can understand that...) Needless to say, I'm pret-ty excited about it. 

Next topic, wainscoting...Come on, people, give a sister a break.  I've been working.  Slowly but surely!  We didn't finish today like I had hoped.  But, hey, that's life!  It never goes as planned, and I can deal.  Hopefully Tuesday we'll be done.  I make no promises.  We are still progressing and here are some highlights.


Primed.  No molding up yet.  We still need to miter cut it.  See that green tape? Amazing!



The boxes by/under the window.  I think I did such a good job! YAY! Still painting the trim around the windows and doors.  And, yes, that is paint *gasp* on the floor.  It comes off of wood floors so easy. 



Taking the tape out from underneath the baseboards after painting!

Spackling IS FUN!

Spackling smooths out the rough edges and the corners that don't meet perfectly.  There were quite a few, but now it's like they always met perfectly!

I am so excited to see the final product! My mom came over today, fattened us up a bit with some delish chocolate chip cookies (going to get my ninth (? lost count) one now....) and she said she "loved it" and that it looked "perfect".  I love my mommy!

The two items that have helped me so much on this project: Frog tape and Liquid Nails.

1. Frog tape: The green tape in the pictures above.  Please! If you are doing any painting at all, USE. THIS. TAPE.  I will never go back to that blue tape.  It may be cheaper but what's a few dollars more when the paint bleeds underneath it.  I wish I could show you a paint line with the blue and then with the green tape.  Such a difference! GO GREEN, PEOPLE! You'll totally thank me later and I'll say "told ja"!

2. Liquid Nails: It's not literally liquid nails (that'd be weird), but seriously this stuff is AH-mazing.  I wanted to use a nail gun but my mom was basically like "Are you friggin' crazy, lady?" and was probably going around telling random strangers that I'd lost my marbles, or fallin' off my rocker or something of that nature.  It was almost like a "You'll shoot your eye out" moment from A Christmas Story.  She literally said to me " No, nail guns kill people."  Mom, nail guns don't kill people, people kill people.  Athankyou.  Long story short.  I ended up with Liquid Nails.  We have used it before on our mirror in the master bath.  I liked it then and I like it now.  One tube put up all of the boxes.  I bought two but know I will use it eventually.  It makes the wood stick...well...like nails. :)

The single most important advice for this project: MEASURE TWICE, CUT ONCE! Heed this advice and all *should* go well.  Measuring is so important if you plan to do this project! Send me a message if you are interested in doing it and I can give you numerous tips! Have a beautiful day, and thanks for tuning in!

{Wainscoting Adventures: Day Dos}

Well, as much as I hate to say it, there is going to be a "Wainscoting Adventures: Day Tres".....We worked sort of hard today.  We didn't really stress about it...well, Mike didn't.  I was kind of a drama queen/diva today (at least I admit it).  I messed up on the measurements and Mr. Hubby just cut where he saw the lines, I sort of freaked because I didn't want to got to the Depot again!!! They should probably know me by name now anyway.  There was a slammed door in the midst of the measuring/miter saw fiasco.  We were not friends for about 3 minutes.  It was short lived and we got it all figured out, kissed on the stairs when we were passing each other, and I, yes I, apologized first.  Then all was right in the world again.  No biggie I just have to get a little more molding on my lunch tomorrow...Is it the end of the world? Maybe...Should I have been mad at my hubs? Nope. I was wrong! Moving on, let's not dwell on my wrongness any more than is necessary.

Oh, and to thank me for all the miter sawing I made let him do, he made me a crab dinner complete with sweet potatoes, carrots, and rice! Yum.  Be jealous, ladies!



I love love love our compound miter saw.



I have about three pages front and back that look like this! I can do math!

Progress! This was the first piece up on the wall.

 The chandelier! Oh, the chandelier! I love this piece of art! I am so grateful that I spent the $3 on this beauty.  I thought we would have a difficult time putting it up, it had some older looking wires.  We turned off the breaker for the guest bedroom.  It literally took us 15 minutes.  I was holding it and Mike was connecting the wires.  Went downstairs flipped the switch, and we had a beautiful light fixture! It was so simple that I want to get one for the kitchen and re-finish it! I thought for sure it would be an hour ordeal.  Boy, was I wrong! I was so BEYOND excited.  Like, literally people, jumping up and down, smiling ear to ear, kissing my husband.....all for a chandelier....Oh, my exciting life!  I even told Mike, "It's like God is looking down at us and saying you guys really worked hard and did a lot, I think you deserve to have the chandelier be easy to install..."Hallelujah!!!! I opened the shutters and turned on the light tonight so all of our neighbors could see my new light and be green with envy.

Chandelier in it's new home. It's so gorgeous here!

Again, the one wall we finished.  I was so proud to get that far! Obviously, it needs painting and caulking AND spackling, and I'll add some sanding in there too for good measure.

This is what it will look like with the chair rail type board, It's not attached yet, we just held it up to see what it would look like.

So pretty.  I'm happy with the progress. I expect to be totally done by Sunday!

 Thanks for stopping by. Have a nice day!

{Wainscoting Adventures: Day Uno}

Hello!

Well today, Monday March, 21st, 2011 began the first day of our WONDERFUL WAINSCOTING ADVENTURE!! How very exciting (if not for you, definitely for me).  I was off work today and it was positively balmy today.  We opened the windows last night, and it made for some amazing sleeping time! It rained and we had a mini-thunderstorm last night.  I LOVE that type of sleeping weather! I was so excited to wake up and get the project rolling. 



All the tape was up!



The two wonder workers!  Don't they make a cute couple?  I will always use this white for trim...It works well, covers well and is my favorite brand! Behr! Oh and Kilz (Primer: what a name right?), is amazing too! If you haven't tried it you must!



During/After priming



The door color doesn't totally match the Ultra Pure White, but until it starts to bug me I'm just going forget about it :)

I got all of this done before my hubby came home for work (a.k.a. worps as Mr. Le Inspired Nest and I call it. It's kind of an inside joke, maybe another day I'll explain) if you can BELIEVE that!  I also ran to CVS, the Home Depot (ran out of paint), got some stamps, and had nice lunch outside!  I started at about 9:30-10...That's pretty good! On my little lunch break I checked the mailbox and we finally got our picture from Shutterfly.  It had to be special ordered because of the size.  I love this picture of our wedding day.  And the PB shelf I got at a bridal shower we FINALLY put up (almost a year later...can you say s.l.a.c.k.e.r.s?) The M&K I also bought around our wedding and they were not cute a.k.a. golllllldddd, same goes for the pedestal candle holder.  I spray painted both items, the letters Canyon Black and the candle holder my old standby Heirloom White! I love everything about this shelf! Pictures don't even do it justice, it's really a sturdy long shelf and takes up most of the wall it's on.

Wainscoting Adventures Day Dos:  I'm sure everyone is just chomping at the bit to see the finished project.  It will *fingers-crossed* be done tomorrow.  We will still have to paint around the doors, but I will post pictures of an update if we don't finish it! Mr. Le Inspired Nest has a dentist appointment tomorrow  then we're going to breakfast, then we're ON IT!! He even said to me last night "I really like to use the miter saw, it's fun!" You better like it, and you better like it a lot, Mr. Man, because you're going to be doing it for 4 hours tomorrow.....Shhhh, he doesn't normally read this blog, don't tell him the good news! We wouldn't want to ruin the surprise now would we?  We'll see if after tomorrow he likes it...

Adios Amigos!!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

In honor of Saint Patrick's Day, here is my favorite Irish blessing! I found it on canvas a long time ago, so long ago I don't remember where! I still love it!  Isn't it cute? All my girlfriends got this photo as a text this morning. Yes, it's another iPhone pic, I can't break the habit! It's home is actually in the guest bedroom but I moved it for this picture because that area is sort of a construction zone right now and there is no light up yet! Soon, there will be! 
My family went to Ireland a couple years back. If I had to describe it in one word: beautiful! If you ever get a chance to go, TAKE IT!

Also, I hope you are enjoying the music selection today.  I carefully chose these songs off of my iTunes playlist entitled "romance".  Such a sap I am, it's sickening really.  I just love this type of music and since I'm letting you in on some of the 'sights' in my house I might as well let you in on some of the 'sounds'.  This music is always played around here! I love to listen to it when I'm cleaning or just lounging on the couch.  It's so calming and I thought it would be the perfect accompaniment to my blog.  I hope you continue to enjoy because I sure am!

Before & After and Update!

Hello Mates!  I completed one project and am progressing quickly on the other two! I am completely finished with my chest (I hate to say that can't we call it something else?) project!!  Remember the little oak (?) chest that my sweet little mother-in-law wanted to give away?  I was seeing all sorts of projects when I met eyes with this beautiful piece of furniture!  I was visualizing it as a little bench behind our front door.  Like a mini-mudroom feel. I would get some pillows and a mirror to go above it and maybe some wall sconces, a la this picture...



I know, I know! Bad quality. I guess that's what you get for taking a picture of a computer image on your iPhone. You'd think I would have learned by now..

I am still looking for a bench like this. There is one at (MY FAVORITE STORE) HobLob that I like but don't love. And my motto is if you don't LOVE it don't buy it! There is way too much junk out there.  You will definitely be able to find what your looking for with some time and patience (the latter I struggle with daily...).

I then came up with the brilliant idea to put in in our room.  What a great decision it was! On to the before and after.



Before







   



After



It is the perfect size to hold our heated blanket during the warm months.  So, so, so much better.  The significance of the numbers you may ask? First off, the little n. stands for number (I love the number trend) and to be honest I wasn't going to do this but with all the numbers that are everywhere (Pottery Barn, Ballard) I thought I would do something CrAzY today!! The numbers 51510 are our wedding date (May 15, 2010 Romantic I know). 

There is a funny story behind this...When I texted Mike the picture of the finished project (he is at work, I'm off today) he texted back " It looks good but why 51510?" .............Pregnant Pause............. ummmmm HULLO?? Hi, I'm Earth, have we met? (Name the movie and you get a cookie) 

I sent him a text back with a bunch of periods my favorite overused punctuation ".....our wedding date...." I better be getting a really nice dinner soon, or maybe some jewelry, or we could just go to Home Depot and make a day of it. As long as it doesn't involve a time of the year that begins with "M" and ends with "arch Madness".  Oh, I despise it!! But I think I'll be OK if KU takes everyone down! I digress...

I L.O.V.E the result. 'Nuff said!

I also am progressing on the pretty gold chande that I snagged for $3. Take a look at it's fancy new coat of Heirloom White. Of course, I had to prime, then sand, then prime and tape off the copper wires. Beauty is pain people, beauty is pain.  I think she's looking like a breath of fresh air, which is convenient because it is starting to feel just like spring outside. 

Edited To Add: I am NOT hanging this chandelier outside.  My mother-in-law texted me and said "I'm looking at you blog and I'm confused about the chandelier".  I didn't clarify in this post, so for everyone thinking I hang chandes on trees, I don't. This chande is going in our shabby chic guest bedroom.  We had an ugly gold dome light in there before that met it's new mommy named Goodwill today, and I think this chandelier will be the perfect addition to that room.

Oh, How I love the look of chandeliers hanging from trees, especially at night.  If only all of my trees could have chandes hanging from them. I would be the neighborhood weirdo...

On another note, we now have all of the wood for our upcoming wainscoting project! So exciting, this project is going to cost us a total of about $70! Can you believe it?!  Well, that is considering that there are no major problems, which is highly anticipated!

Mike and I both took off Thursday, lets see what kind of shenanigans we can get ourselves in to.  Actually, we both decided we are finally going to  r   e   l   a   x  on Thursday.  It's supposed to be 74 degrees and we are going to enjoy the beautiful weather!  For now I'm going to go get some Starbucks Starmoney and enjoy this day after all my hard work! YEAH!



I Found It!!

I found it, friends!! What you may ask? I had almost given up hope of ever finding a cheap old chandelier that I could make beautiful until two days ago, walking around one of my favorite antique stores (River Market Antiques.  If you ever visit KC you will find many gems in there) I FOUND IT!! The chandelier! Ahh so pretty, the gold has GOT to go but look at the shape.  Literally just what I was looking for.

I feel it maybe was mismarked. One price said $10 and one said $3, so I stuck with the $3 price tag because one thing I've learned from working retail is that they have to honor whatever price is on the item. Even if it is wrong.  Even at $10, this would have been the DEAL OF THE CENTURY!!

I'm planning on priming and then spray painting it Heirloom White.  I may at some later date add some little crystals as there are some tutorials for that online and I can tell it's very simple! I am so excited to get our guest bedroom looking a little more French/shabby chic.  It will also be an easy transition to a nursery when that time comes!

Yet another project for that room has taken off. EEESH, our guest bedroom is making all the other rooms in the house GREEN with envy.  We started taping the walls in there to map out where the wainscoting will be. Let me tell you after every piece of tape that went down, I got more and more excited.  This room is really coming together exactly how I want it to and I can't wait to see the final product. Don't lie, you can't either! I can see it in your eyes...

The wood that we bought for the middle molding was $1 for each piece and one will cover a whole wall (THAT'S $5 for all that wood!)! I got an extra one just in case. I'm a novice at big DIY projects and Lord knows I need that extra room for mistakes!  We still do need to get the molding for the picture frame boxes.  This may be the cheapest project ever! On another note, I love our compound miter saw! It makes projects like this SO easy!!

Here are some pictures of the taping process.  The blue tape is obviously where the molding will go.  Moving right along. Woohoo!

That's all for today. You saw the beginning of some projects, stay tuned for the happy endings!

Vacation Inspirations and Other Ramblings

Before I begin today, I would like prayers for my family, especially my Uncle Ed and his family. We lost one of our family members last Wednesday for a terrible reason. My cousin Andy was 41 and had two beautiful daughters, so everyone please say a quick prayer for the Enderson family.

On a happier note, and completely unrelated to my house blog as well, we found a puppy last night! Long story short, he had no tags except a rabies vacc. # so we had to wait until the clinic opened this morning to find the family. We had just the sweetest overnight guest. What a lucky family to have such a great dog! Look at how sweet he is...My little Buppy...
Next topic, before I start contemplating stealing him back from his family to be my forever dog.

New Zealand Inspiration

Yes, This blog post is going to be very random. We went shopping. If there was something I liked I took a picture of it. Simple.

Every single one of my inspiration pictures for NZ were taken in the tiny community of Arrowtown. It was the cutest little town about 10 minutes from where we stayed. Look at this sweet little restaurant in Arrowtown.

These mini vases came as a pair. They were connected on the side. I thought they would be so precious on my nightstand, or in the kitchen in our little catch-all tray. They had an $85 price tag...for these little things. I bet know I could replicate these for much less using cheap glass from HobLob and spraypaint.

You know I love my burlap, and anything French looking!

In NZ, they serve water in these bottles. I say we do this in America, much less work for waiters/waitresses and they look so cute here don't they?

Oh, Pillows, How I Love Thee!

Oh, Baskets, How I Love Thee...as well...

Ok, see the Paris basket? I just decided what I'm going to do with the chest (below) that we acquired from my mother-in-law yesterday. I just think it's so functional that I couldn't let her give it to disabled veterans! Hey, I can use that!!

I'm going to sort of white wash it with Heirloom white and then paint our wedding date, or "Paris" or something of that nature on it. Our bedroom has sort of a romantic French feel. It's so peaceful! I'll keep you posted on that project

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this saying. I wasn't quite sure where I would put it though. Solution? Write it on my chalkboard. Pefect!

Have I showed you my cute guest bedroom? Well now I have an excuse? See that little furry white pillow that is a real sheepskin (not really their skin) their fur (?) pillow. And I kept seeing them all over NZ I finally had to have one and bought it. I was thisclose to buying two but didn't.

Hope you enjoyed today's post. I think I set a record for the closest together posts ever! Love

Vacation Inspirations

We're baaaaaack! Our New Zealand vacation was absolutely AMAZING!

I got to thinking while we were over there how lucky we truly are. We are able to have a lovely little home, all the love in the world within both of our families, not to mention our marriage, and the ability to see the world. How many people really, truly, get to travel and see the whole world? Not many. Not many are able to, and I really feel happy and blessed for that reason.

From when I was little, travel has always been really big in our family. My parents love to travel and instilled that into us kids. Maybe that's partially where mine and both of my brothers' creativity comes from. My little brother Johnny is very creative and into art, decor and fashion. My other little brother, Kyle, is very adventurous and actually lives in Australia! Next stop Brazil if it's up to him. We have no fears and are able to chase our dreams thanks to our upbringings. I love it! So grateful! If you can imagine the most beautiful peaceful place, New Zealand would be it. Here is a family picture from New Zealand:

My mom, Mike, myself, Johnny, & Kyle

This was taken on a boat in Milford Sound. It is said to be the kind of overpowering place where "poets run out of words"...and let me just tell you, it was breathtaking!

And another for good measure..

Folks, I took 544 pictures on this trip. Blogger would be mad at me if I uploaded all of them, and, par for the course, I don't have the patience. I will, however, upload the chosen ones to my Facebook page so my LUCKY friends can see them! Ahh I want to go back what a breath of fresh air!

While we had a layover in San Fran on the way there, we went to visit my cousin at the (amazing) restaurant that he manages. It was very nice (we had a $185 bill...) and the food/drinks were wonderful!

I love this jug! I want one in my house! Not to mention the hurricane on the table and the table itself..

See that orangy drink on the left? It won some kind of award in San Fran...Yum

What a great idea, and on the CHEAP! Framed vintage cards!! I see a little antique store hunt in my future....

Governer's room, BREATHTAKING! Check out that limestone fireplace, can I borrow that? That chandelier *sigh* I asked Mike if he thought it would be too big for our guest bedroom. All I got was an eye roll :(

This is Cafe des Amis in San Fran! If you get a chance go there, it is very uppity and my cousin said all the women that come "can barely get in the door because their rings are so big!" But what a great atmosphere.

No I'm not above taking pictures of a beautiful bathroom. I love all the mirrors!

So sweet!

Oh, Hello, Kailey! What, I said I loved the mirrors??!!

Ok, party people. It's getting late. I have jet lag, and I have to work tomorrow mornin'..Plus, the hubster is alredy in bed-o. See yas. Next post will be my New Zealand inspiration! There's a lot to look forward to! YES!