Guest Posting

Happy Halloween!

Source: marthastewart.com via Michelle on Pinterest

Before you crash from your sugar high (or does that only happen to me?), come visit me over at Type A.  I'm showing off some of my favorite things around my house.

Lisa from A Vintage Vine's Dining Room

I'm so happy to have Lisa from A Vintage Vine sharing her fabulous dining room with us today.  I first "met" Lisa when she linked up to one of my House Party's and I'm so glad she did.

I immediately fell in love with her dining room.  The color palette is perfect and she did an amazing job finding and refinishing the furniture in the room as well as stenciling the walls.  Stop by A Vintage Vine to see tutorials on how she made the faux stone top on her dining table as well as lots of other great furniture before-and-afters.  She is one talentedand sweet lady!

Good Morning Friends! I am Lisa from {A Vintage Vine}. I am so happy to be here at Suzy's wonderful blog! I was very excited when Suzy asked me to Guest Post for her today! Thanks Suzy!

As you know, her blog is a wealth of inspiration and her weekly House Party is a linky party you can not miss!

Over the summer, I took a break from blogging. When I returned to blogging, I ran across Suzy's Blog and it has fast become one of my daily reads! I am here today to share with you my most recent room makeover, the Dining Room....This room had many faces before it became the "Dining Room" again. It had been an office, a dining room and finally an extra bedroom for child #4...Needless to say this room was having an identity crisis!

I started out with a very blank canvas. All this room had was paint on the wall and 4 black chairs. In order to complete this room makeover...I needed furniture! I found a table at my local thrift store. The table had great legs but the tabletop was a wood laminate and would need painting. I created a faux stone finish on the top and painted the legs with a homemade chalk paint.  

The next piece of furniture I wanted for this room was a buffet. Again, my local thrift store came through for me! I found a 70's something bedroom dresser that would work wonderfully as a buffet in that room! It even had the original "Bassett" furniture stamp located inside the top drawer. The buffet also needed some TLC and a new paint job. The original hardware was in great shape, I cleaned it with "KRUD KUTTER" and decided to keep it.   

To complete this rooms makeover, with Hubby's helped, we installed bead board below the already existing chair rail. I also added a chalkboard wall and made a homemade stencil to put above the chair rail and bead board.

Here are a few more after pictures....Hope you enjoy!

Thanks again Suzy! It was a pleasure to Guest Post here today!

Suzy's House Party #15 - Link Up!

It's time for another party! The weeks seem to be flying by faster and faster.  I've been looking for the perfect gray to paint my kids' bathroom and vanity and in browsing Pinterest, I discovered a new blog that I am in LOVE with, A Perfect Gray.  You might already know about this blog because it has a pretty large following.  A Perfect Gray has helpful posts on all thing gray and even has a post to help you pick the perfect gray and favorite gray paint shades.  If you you're in the mood to paint something gray, go check it out.

Here are the features from last week's party.

Life We Live 4 rocked the stencil on this pretty dresser.  I haven't painted a piece green before, but I love it on this:

This project by Two Thirty-Five Designs looks like it took A LOT of time, but the end results are spectacular.  It adds so much texture and interest to the wall.

<div align="center"><a href="http://savedbysuzy.blogspot.com" title="Saved by Suzy"><img src="http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd408/lizzygal18/Savedbysuzypartyblogbuttonchevron-1.png" alt="Saved by Suzy" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

•Link up your home decor project. Pretty much anything to do with you house is fine.

•Please provide a link back to my blog. A text link is fine, or feel free to grab my "Saved by Suzy" party button from the sidebar. The more people that know about the party and participate the better for all of us.

•Be sure to share the love and leave comments for others.

•That's it.

Big Plans for the Bathroom

Have you ever done one project in a room and the next thing you know, you are re-doing the whole room?  Kind of a snowball effect?

Well, that's exactly what's happening in my girls' bathroom.  I started by tiling the mirror and planned on stopping there.  But, I don't love the way the tile looks with the sandy brown walls.  Take a look:

Here's what I have in store and I can hardly wait to get started.  Unfortunately, this week is crazy busy with my real work.  Maybe I'll get started on Sunday.

First up is painting the vanity a gray that will match the tile.  I'm loving the look of gray cabinets right now.

Source: tenjuneblog.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

Source: Uploaded by user via Suzanne on Pinterest

If only I could magically transform the Corian counter into white carrara marble.  Hmmm...probably not in the budget right now.

But, paintable bead board wallpaper is an affordable option to add some white interest into the room.  I've never used this before, but I think I can do it.  I think I can, I think I can....  Hubs is definitely not going to want to help with this project!

Source: hazardousdesign.blogspot.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

Source: gallery.apartmenttherapy.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

I'm planning on painting the beadboard and trim white and then a light gray above the beadboard.

My only concern is that the color of the tile in the tub-surround and floor is this:

I think it will be OK.  I can hide it behind a pretty white shower curtain and a fluffy white throw rug.

What do you think?  Have you ever used the beadboard wallpaper before?  I'm so excited that I want to run out and purchase all of the supplies right now!

Tile Mirror Tutorial

As promised, here's a little tutorial on how I created a tile "frame" for my boring builder's grade mirror.  This project is cheap, easy, and quick (AKA - "the holy trinity" in my decorating book).

Maybe it's the angle, but the tile looks kind of wonky in this super-close up picture. It's not. Trust me, it really is flat and smooth.
This mirror is in my girls' bathroom.  As you can see, this room has been sorely neglected.  It's hard to have motivation to decorate a room that is generally covered in blobs of toothpaste.  I definitely did not want to spend a lot of money on a new mirror.  I considered building a wood frame, but that sounded tricky.

Here's what I started with...not very impressive. 

Here's all you need for materials:

I found this glass tile at Lowe's for about $5/sheet.  I bought 4 sheets.  I used this sealant to adhere the tiles to the mirror.

First, start separating your tiles from the mesh backing.  I did this by cutting the tile into strips and then pulling the tile off of the backing.

Next, take your sealant and add a tiny dot to the back of a tile and stick it right onto the mirror.  Be sure to fit your tiles as close together as possible.  Continue this step millions of times and you'll be finished.  Actually it only took me about 2.5 hours total.

Stay tuned.  I've got a couple more projects in store for this sad space.

Linking up to some of these great blogs:

Today's Creative Blog, Sugar Bee Crafts, Not Just a Housewife, Reasons to Skip the Housework, Bella Before and After, Primitive and Proper, Home Stories of A to Z, Savvy Southern Style, DIY by Design, Tip Junkie, Type A Decorating, http://sistersstuff.blogspot.com/, The Thrifty Home, Domestically Speaking, Primp,
A Diamond in the Stuff, Restore Interiors, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Somewhat Simple, Beyond the Picket Fence, Fireflies and Jellybeans,My Simple Home Life,
Addicted 2 Decorating, Just a Girl, Remodelaholic, Miss Mustard Seed, Finding Fabulous, Tatertots and Jello, Under the Table and Dreaming, Thrifty Decor Chick, Coastal Charm, Junker Newbie, Serenity Now

Mood Board Monday Challenge

You may remember that I participated in a mood board challenge hosted by Pewter+Sage about a month ago.  

It was so fun that I am excited to announce that  Sarah will be hosting another Mood Board Monday.  This is a linky party where you can link up a mood board you created based on an element chosen by the hostess.  Last time, the challenge element was wallpaper.  This time, the element or theme is dinnerware and dining rooms.

Here are the four dinnerware choices that you can design a dining room around:

Source: pewterandsage.blogspot.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

Source: pewterandsage.blogspot.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

Source: pewterandsage.blogspot.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

Source: pewterandsage.blogspot.com via Suzanne on Pinterest

I'm leaning towards the first pattern.  What do you think?  Would you like to design a dining room around any of this dishware?

It's really fun to create and moodboard and join the party.  The party happens on Monday, November 14th over at Pewter+Sage.  It's fun to see how people use the same elements to design totally different spaces.

Don't worry if you've never created a mood board or are not a "designer."  I'm certainly not a designer and had never created a mood board before the last challenge.  Check out Olioboard to help you get started creating your mood board.

Big Weekend!

Wow, this was a huge weekend for our family.  Chloe had her last soccer game of the season.  You couldn't have asked for a more beautiful day.  That's her in the upper right.

I worked all day Saturday and Big K took the girls camping with another dad and his two kids.  When I woke up and saw frost on the ground, I was worried they might have frozen to death.  But, they all had a great time.

While they were gone, I upgraded the boring builder's grade mirror in the girls' bathroom.

BEFORE

AFTER

Come back tomorrow for a little tutorial on that bad boy.

Biggest news of all is that we picked out a new puppy!  Some of you might remember that we lost our sweet Golden Retriever Gracie to cancer back in August.  We've been debating getting a new dog.  As soon as we saw these pups, we were in love.

They are Goldendoodles and they are so cute they don't even look real.  They are only four weeks old, so we won't be able to bring her home until right before Thanksgiving.  The girls have already named the cutie pie "Emma Kipling Keith."  Why?  I don't know.  She lives about 1.5 hours away so we won't get to visit her again until we bring her home.  So excited!

Target Clearance

I don't usually blog on the weekends, but I just saw some great finds on clearance at Target that I just had to share them with you, dear readers.

I thought this mirrored tray was cute for $12.

Fun little mirrored boxes were only about $3-$4.

Drum lampshades for only $6.  I'll take two please.  These can always be zhushed up with trim, fabric, and/or paint!  I kind of love mirrored furniture, but unfortunately it wasn't on clearance.

Can you ever have too many pillows?  No, especially if they are only $9.

My New Toy

Last weekend we stayed at my brother-in-law's house.  Look at this little goodie he gave me.

Kind of scary, huh?

Yes, that would be a paint sprayer!  I'm so excited to give it a try, but haven't had time to get it up and running yet.  I've got a bunch of furniture to be painted, but was waiting until I could pick up the sprayer.

I've been a roller and brush kind of girl.  So, I'm a little intimidated by this thing.

Do you use a paint sprayer?  Do you have any tips?

Here's what's going under the gun first:

Suzy's House Party #14 - Link Up!

Hello!  The weather is definitely feeling more fall-like in my neck of the woods.  Cold in the morning, but warming up to beautiful crisp days.

I thought I would share a couple of pics I snapped on a recent run.

My dog Ty and I came upon a field of llamas and a donkey.  Usually animals run away when they see us coming, but these guys all ran right towards the fence to check us out.  How cute is this donkey?

This llama reached right over the fence and gave my dog a huge lick on the face.  I wish I had gotten a shot of that.  I think my dog was in shock.

Obviously, not the greatest pic, but that llama in the background makes me smile.  He looks so proud of himself.

On to some really pretty pictures....the features from last weeks party!  This week, I am featuring two amazing room makeovers.  You will definitely want to visit these blogs to learn more about the transformations.

First up is A Vintage Vine with her lovely dining room is shades of gray and white.  I love every piece of furniture in here.  It was hard to choose just one picture to show you.

Next, Lisa from Shine Your Light turned a utilitarian storage area in her garage into a fabulous mud room.  You have to see all of the before and after pictures.  She basically took the room from storage shed to super cute.  I know it took LOTS of work!

<div align="center"><a href="http://savedbysuzy.blogspot.com" title="Saved by Suzy"><img src="http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd408/lizzygal18/Savedbysuzypartyblogbuttonchevron-1.png" alt="Saved by Suzy" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

•Link up your home decor project. Pretty much anything to do with you house is fine.

•Please provide a link back to my blog. A text link is fine, or feel free to grab my "Saved by Suzy" party button from the sidebar. The more people that know about the party and participate the better for all of us.

•Be sure to share the love and leave comments for others.

•That's it.