A Tour of Our Town

We had lots fun with our company this holiday weekend (my aunt, uncle, cousin and her husband).  Saturday, the "girls" (minus the baby) spent the day shopping in our little downtown, just outside of Charlotte.  I brought my camera along so that I could give you a little tour as well. 

Happy Memorial Day!

Greenery Gone Bad

I am slowly but surely trying to add some life to our breakfast area, and thought I would start by adding some live greenery.  The sticks weren't exactly saying "lively."

I've never been big on house plants but I envisioned some type of topiary in this area.  So, I bought this small flowering plant, already trimmed to a topiary, called "duranta" at a local nursery.  I also added a small fern. 

I decided to spray paint the pots, both of which I already had, the same color to give it a more uniform look.

So far, so good.  I added some moss and snapped this picture the day after I bought them.

  

Fast forward a month later and my plants aren't quite so perky.  (And, yes, I did water them on a regular basis.)

The fern is still hanging on. . . .

And, I now have this dang water mark on the dresser where they were sitting.

I still haven't given up on the idea of some type of topiary.  So, for those of you with thumbs a little greener than my own, I'm asking for your suggestions.  Any ideas of a good indoor plant that I could trim into a topiary?

Hallway Inspiration

I want my upstairs hallway to look like this.

House and Home

While most people start gallery walls from the center point and work their way out, I like how they started this one by lining the frames up at the top and working down. 

My Dining Room Project: Botanical Art

After finishing my dining chair makeovers, I'm feeling a little more inspired to finish the room.  I'm thinking of adding green panels like these: 

Hoping this will break up some of the blue and white of the chairs:

I also have some wall space to fill in the room.  It just happens to be one of the first things you see when you walk into our home so I want something that will make a big impact visually.  I had been thinking of a gallery of some type, when one of my online clients sent me a picture of some botanicals she recently framed for her guest bedroom:

I had never even considered botanicals for this space, but the colors seem to be just right.  Better yet?  You can buy the entire 300-page book of these from Amazon for around $30 and frame them yourself. 

And more beautiful botanical gallery inspiration (in case I wasn't already convinced. . . )

Layering Patterns

Layering patterns within a room is easier than you may think.  Today, I'm sharing my best tips for mixing patterns over at Lakeitha's blog, Home to Three Duncan Boys.

Faux Fur, Faux Rug

Thought I would share a quick addition to my 4-year-old daughter's pink polka dot room.  I'm a huge fan of layering rugs on carpet to add texture and color, but just hadn't found exactly the right fit for her small room so far.  So, I bought one yard of this white faux fur fabric at a local fabric store for $13.99.

The only thing I had to do when I brought it home was to throw it in the dryer on low heat to get rid of the excess "fluff."  No trimming or cutting--so easy!  Time will tell how well it will hold up, but for $14, I thought is was worth a try.

And, the best part?  She thinks she can make snow angels :)

For another fun project using faux fur: check out these cute cut-out sheepskins from Young House Love.

My Dining Room Project: Chairs Complete

Good news!  My husband finished re-attaching the chair seats, so my company later tonight will have an easier time sitting down. . . .  Like any dramatic reveal, here is the "before" (picked up six of these for $12 a piece):

Floral fabric circa 1980 and glossy wood finish

And, after their little makeover. . . .

While not a hard process, it did take a little time (and alot of spray paint).  First, I removed the chair seats and got to sanding.

I ended up using 10 cans of spray paint (Valspar white gloss from Lowe's).  I'm sure I lost some brain cells from inhaling the fumes.  All I can say is thank goodness for those little spray paint guns, which made the job much easier. 

Next, on to recovering the cushions.  I wanted a more modern fabric so that the chairs didn't end up looking too "sweet" with their curvy lines.  I went with this Raymond Waites outdoor fabric because of its durability and cost.

Because the cushions already had a couple of layers of fabric, I removed the floral.  And found this (yikes, even worse!):

Trying to forget about the hard life these cushions have seen, I quickly got my staple gun and began recovering, folding the front and back over first.

Not too far off from my original inspiration pics.

I really like the way they turned out and the contrast they provide to my large, black table. 

Here's the final tally:

6 chairs at $12.50 each = $75

3 yards of lattice fabric at $8/yd = $24

10 cans of white spray paint at $3.50 each = $35

Grand total = $134 or $22.33 per chair!