Taking my lunch break to hunt down fabric for this guy…
We all remember the unfaithfulness that led this furniture friend to a life destined for a little girls room, so this lunchtime brainstorm complete with the fabulous finds at Rosenberry Rooms and Boulevard’s caprese sandwich is particularly satisfying for me…
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Now that my quarter life crisis has come and gone and I’m entering my late 20s, I’ve been thinking a lot about where I’m headed in the next 5 years. I’ve had so much fun in my early 20s, met so many wonderful people and have had so many opportunities that I’m thankful beyond believe to have had. I can’t wait to see where life takes me as I creep towards the big 3-0.
You know the list maker in me always wins, so I’ve decided to put together a bucket list for the next 5 years. With ideas still fresh on my mind, I’m excited to share it with you as I get further along, but I want to hear from you!
What is one thing that you want to check off of your list in the next 5 years? Skydiving? Finishing War & Peace? Taking off on a new career adventure? I wanna know!
Happy Birthday to…me!
It’s a big one guys. This weekend I make it to 25. Half way to 50. Quarter of a century. Slice and dice it how ever you want.
With over 25 years experience living in construction sites—and yes, I am most certainly counting my time spent in the womb since I am 98% positive I can round up evidence documenting my mom swinging a sledge hammer while I was busy baking—I’ve collected more than my fair share of life lessons that DIY manuals conveniently fail to share, but we’ll just stick with the top 10 for today’s purposes. Here we go…
1. Pretty nails (the kind you grow on your fingers, not the kind you smash with a hammer) and construction sites do not go hand in hand. Manicures don’t happen for this girl.
2. Leaving a paint tray unattended on the floor may result in puppy paws tracking Sherwin Williams’ high hiding primer all over your kitchen.
3. When it comes to removal, not all wallpaper is created equal. Some will remove without a hitch and give you an inflated sense of hope. Others will make you want to rip your hair out, glue it back on and then proceed to rip it out again.
4. Kicking a hole in the wall when you just can’t handle another second of your three obnoxious kids is perfectly acceptable when you know how to patch sheetrock like a pro…right, Mom? Love you.
5. It’s impossible as a teenager to sleep until noon when your dad fires up the miter saw at 8:30 a.m. sharp.
6. All families have a matching set of bandanas, right?
7. Current testers will tell you if an electrical outlet is hot…so will little brothers armed with curious minds and bobby pins.
8. “What’s changed since last time I was at your house?”: A common remark among my childhood friends…my adulthood friends are still saying the same thing.
9. Who knew that hauling other people’s trash home from the side of the road was hereditary? I guess we can thank Mom for the birth of the Rehabilitation Station.
10. Nothing makes me happier than when the electrician/plumber realizes that I actually know what I’m talking about. Oddly enough, it’s also about the same time he drops his price…Thanks, Dad.
Happy weekend, ya’ll!
While I’m off visiting my sweet brother in Fayetteville and cruising over to Eureka Springs for a girly spa day with my pretty sister (complete with laptop and cell phone, of course) enjoy Ana @ Knock Off Wood’s fabulous recreation of Pottery Barn’s Hyde coffee table…
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| Pottery Barn: $399.00 | Knock Off Wood: Make Your Own! |
Just a few favorites from around the blog-o-sphere…
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| DIY Passport Cover A Spoonful of Sugar …I need a round trip ticket to Paris AND to learn to sew. | Take a Look…Shannon’s Home Simply Grove …This one left me wanting to re-redo my entire house. Oh geez. |
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| Bedroom on a Budget Eddie Ross …Before & after from the Madonna of furniture rehabs | DIY Placemat Clutch Blue Eyed Freckle …Love this! Definitely feeling orange/chocolate brown for fall |
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| Mad Med Screening Party Hostess with the Mostess …I’ll take any excuse to plaster Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce across my front door | DIY Wainscoting How-To Shanty 2 Chic …a majorly inexpensive (and easy!) facelift for any room |
When I received Beren’s email about revamping her patio, I was excited for two reasons: I’ve yet to put together a Room Redesign for an outdoor space AND with summer coming to an end, there are killer deals to be found on outdoor furniture and accessories. Let’s revisit Beren’s email…
| Hi Cara! Do you have any recommendations for patio furniture? They are in the process of repainting the outside of our house, so we have really been waiting to do anything out there until after they get that finished. The patio is pretty small and we also have a grill that we want to put out there. I’m thinking that a dining set will be the best use of our space. Thanks my friend! |
No worries, Beren. I’m on it!
On to the game plan…
1. Sitting Pretty: Most importantly, Beren and her soon-to-be hubby need a place to kick back after a long day. Enter the patio furniture. The first option offers a table narrow enough for a small space but still allows plenty of seating. The second set folds and stacks for easy storage in the winter months or to take inside for additional seating when a large group joins for dinner.
2. Personalize the Space: Let’s warm up the large wall behind the new patio furniture with a decorative & functional wall sconce. Not only does it help break up the large wall but will add a calming glow when lit. Top off the chairs with fun cushions, throw a few planters into the mix and we’re in business.
3. Grill It Up: Using concrete pavers, let’s extend the patio a bit to create a space especially designed to house the grill. This quick and easy project adds the perfect space for grilling without taking up valuable patio square footage better used for entertaining and relaxing with friends.
I had a hot date Saturday evening with this soon-to-be handsome fella. In need of a major facelift, he and I spent a little time sweating it out in the carport.
Forget dinner and a movie, this ottoman and I had a rehab date planned. Obviously the first step was to free him of the layers of fabric and batting locking him into 1973. Not an easy task considering three layers of material equals three layers of nails & staples to pluck. One. By. One. It gave us plenty of time to get to know one another, and I thought we were really hitting it off…
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…until I found out my furniture friend was cheating on me. Caught red handed, buried under the last layer of of batting I discovered a piece of paper with not one, not two, but three girls’ names complete with address.
No worries, ladies. I have the ultimate revenge planned. Instead of rehabbing him into a sleek and contemporary ottoman, I’m now thinking an ultra feminine fabric fit for a little girl’s room will suit him better. Much better.
PS…as the first of several rehabbed furniture pieces donated by moi for the upcoming Habitat for Humanity ReStore & After auction, this piece could be yours! Check back soon for more info on the fundraiser and to catch a sneak peek of the after shots.
The cutest before & after on the block and I am already stewing on how I can have one just like it in my life…
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High fives all around to the crew of amazingly wonderful bloggers that have linked up to Live the Home Life! Be sure and pay them a visit. You’ll love them just as much as I do…
A Touch of Arkansas
AJW Design Co
At Home in Arkansas
Bellatina Creations
Brixton Nole
Bubbles and Money
Building Moxie
Cara Beth Photography
Casa Sugar
Custard By Design
Details Weddings & Events
eHow
Home Decor News
Jessica’s Journey
Keeping Up with the Joneses
Life Lessons
Live the Life You Love
Lovely Tonight
Oh The Place I Want To Go
Rambles with Reese
Show Home Staging & Design
Take Life with a Grain of Chocolate
Tearing Up Houses
The Buies
The Cape on the Corner
The Divine Mrs. EM
The Flipping Couple
The Good Life
The Jones Family
The Rich Hard Life & Sons
Two Poms and a House
UAMesSing It Up
As always, my friends, if you’ve linked LTHL to your blog and you’re not mentioned above, don’t be a stranger—click here to let me know!
Happy weekend!
Today’s eHow post by yours truly!…
As a self-proclaimed home nut and bargain shopper extraordinaire, nothing makes me happier than coming across a killer steal-of-a-deal at my local thrift store.
Stumbling upon a hidden gem is thrilling for two main reasons:
When Kristen sent this furniture flip guinea pig my way, my rehab wheels immediately started cranking. This beast of a hutch spells fun in my book and I couldn’t wait to get started…
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First things first, let’s clean this guy up a little by kicking the two upper cabinet doors to the curb, along with the decorative molding resting just below the doors.
A definite piece of cake, but the next step took me a while to nail down…I brewed over a game plan for this guy for a solid week, pulling dozens of possibilities from the furniture archives tucked away in all corners of my mind. Nothing felt quite right. What’s a home junkie to do when she catches a serious case of creative block?…Turn to Martha, of course! Silly, Cara.
After a quick flip through of the latest issue of Martha Stewart Living, an audible sigh followed by a happy dance resulted from page 154. This is it! The inspiration I needed for Kristen’s hutch.
I know the angels sang to you as well. A rustically distressed storage option? I’m onboard any day, so let’s get crackin’—no worries, my friends. The aquatic china is not a part of the master plan…
One of my favorite qualities of this piece is how you can catch hints of wood peeking through the paint. Good news about sticking to a distressed look? No priming involved, so we can jump head first into the fun part.
1. For this piece I wanted the distressed character to take center stage, not the pulls. These unfinished wooden knobs were the perfect fit for this projects since they can be painted, sanded and stained right along with the rest of the hutch.
2. As a base coat for the entire piece, a light creamy neutral gives us a head start on the old world feel we’re looking for.
3. Just like Martha’s photo, a chocolate brown paint on the two drawer fronts and bottom shelf adds interest and helps us visually separate the two functions this piece offers: concealed storage on the bottom and an open area for display on top.
4. Now that we are covered in paint, let’s really have some fun! Grab your sander and stain of your choosing (it looks like Martha’s piece went with a lighter, honey stain) and get creative. Sand to expose a hint of the wood underneath, stain to give the paint an aged look, use paint thinner to add a little wear and tear…the options are endless! There is no “right” way when it comes to distressing furniture, so get your hands dirty and have some fun!
I’m super pumped to share with ya’ll my exciting news!…at least it’s exciting to me, being the home nerd that I am. I was thrilled when the do-it-yourself powerhouse better known as eHow asked me to hop onboard as one of their home bloggers.
You mean another soapbox for to me to preach my home-loving heart? Yes, please!
Click here to head on over to eHow’s home channel and check out my first post focusing on how to create an easy outdoor space…
The crew at eHow was even so gracious as to position my smiling face among the “experts” but we won’t tell them the truth. Not yet.
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