Man Room Bar

I mentioned last week that John and his handy friend made a bar and installed it in the Man Room. Well here it is in all it's glory.

The section of bar that spans across the closet opening actually folds down to allow access to the closet. John took off the closet doors and the plan is to put up curtains to cover the closet (and all the stuff inside). We're still debating whether we should stain the wood or not. I like the way the poplar looks, but John thinks a light stain will bring out the wood even more. It's up to him...it's his bar. So we'll see what happens.

Not bad for his first bar!

Handmade basket

It was just a normal day. John and I got home from visiting his family. John graciously offered to grab the mail before we headed upstairs, and of course I agreed. :) When he finally made his way upstairs he was carrying a package. Since neither John or I were expecting anything, we were very excited to get a surprise package. It turned out to be from my dear friend Laura. We tore open the package and inside was a special gift...

A handmade basket from Africa! My friend Laura is working with an organization that helps African women sell these baskets to make money to provide for their families. By making baskets, they are able to stay at home and take care of their families while making money.

Laura even picked out a basket that matches our living room! Isn't she the greatest! So John and I decided that it was the perfect basket to put on our entry table to catch our keys and cell phones when we walk through the door. (After John lost his keys a few days ago, we determined an entry basket to be of great necessity.)

And now that we have a basket from Africa on our entry table, I thought it was also fitting to have a mail holder from Africa on the same table! :) I got this mail holder while I was in Africa and I LOVE the elephants on it. They were my favorite animal to see in the wild. I even had a ring made with elephants engraved in it. It is one of my favorite rings...well before John gave me my wedding ring, of course.

Thank you Laura! We love our new basket!

Newest Craigslist Find

John and I haven't really been in a "buying things for the home" place recently, but when I saw this dresser on Craigslist for $20, we couldn't pass it up. It has 9 drawers and a modern feel...(well not the paint, but the structure). We got it home and have been trying to decide what color to paint it.

This is what we have come up with....the 3 middle drawes will be white and the 6 outter drawers will be teal to match the new color scheme in the bedroom.

I can't wait to get started on this project!

Pillow Love

My new pillow arrived today and I LOVE it! And I also loved the $9.95 price tag that came along with it. It's going to look oh-so-fabulous in our master bedroom. I see it living on a black chair in the corner of the room. Now we just have to find the perfect chair. I'm hoping to find a thrift-store chair on the cheap that needs a makeover. And when I'm done, I would love for it to look like this.

Man Room Art

This is the newest addition to the Man Room (our third bedroom that John persuaded me to let him transform into a Man Room until our family grows).

John was inspired to use syringes (yes, you read that right) filled with paint to achieve this masterpiece. I must say it was fun to watch him while he worked. Eventually it will be hung on the wall directly above where it sits right now.

And what is that wood-thing that it is sitting on right now? That's the hand-made bar that was installed a few weeks ago. We need to get some curtains up before I take any more pictures...it'll make sense once you see the full thing. But I must say it looks fantastic! John and his handy-friend made this out of poplar, 2x4's, a latch and a hinge. A hinge, you ask? Yes, that also will make sense once I post the full pictures.

Do I have you on the edge of your seat yet?

Layla's Surgery

Layla had surgery on her back left leg about 10 days ago. When we got her from the shelter we had no idea how jacked up her leg really was. She had broken her leg when she was little and it was never addressed. So the bones hadn't healed properly, and even had a jagged edge. Her patella (knee cap) was located 1 cm higher and to the right of where it should have been, and her ACL was torn. Talk about pain! Our little girl is a trooper though. She didn't let a break, torn ACL and misplaced patella slow her down...but we just couldn't let her keep going knowing she was in pain!

Here she is with her bandage, right after the surgery. The fabulous Dr. Zern hooked her up with a purple bandage and added a red heart for some flare (not shown in this picture).


Layla only had to sport that bandage for about 4 days and then it came off. I'm amazed at how fast her little leg seems to heal. For the last week, she's been sporting stiches and a swollen knee. She has 2-3 pins in her knee so I guess she's allowed to have a bit of swelling....but not too much.

Look at those bad boys! She's going to be sporting a massive battle wound scar when she's done with all this.

Today, Layla gets her stitches removed and the next phase is physical therapy. This will be the longest part of the healing process and it could last up to 4 months. But we'll do it for her!

Blog Fascination

So I'm totally obessed with design blogs. I love reading about other people's projects and getting inspiration for our home. It also makes me feel like I'm meeting new people and making new friends :)


Here are some that I'm following right now...


All Things G&D - love her kitchen color scheme & a man cave that John would die for

Bower Power - so funny! and John and I both love the basement they renovated

Bryn Alexandra - love her idea boards

Centsational Girl - a Nor Cal girl who loves spray paint and proves she's queen of DIY

High-Heeled Foot in the Door - new to me....but love the low-budget room redo she just finished

I Suwannee - bookcases, Rowdy, and lots of Home Good finds

Making it Lovely - all things Pink and Brown...and a new baby!

Young House Love - love everything about their home...maybe they'll let me stay there if I'm ever in the area

The Lettered Cottage - beachy + cottagey + sweet + inspirational = love

Babysitting

I babysat for my realtor and his wife last night. They have the most adorable two little boys who were really wonderful for me. We played games, read books and went potty! Then they sang me songs before they went to bed. It was seriously precious.

Yay for babysitting!

A Little Addition to the Coffee Table

Just a little update to our coffee table...white placemats under the glass. I think it lightens up the table and it was super easy! (Don't mind the melted wax that I need to clean off the box)

Do-It-Yourself Artwork

John and I tackled a few canvases that we had lying around and turned them into artwork for the master bedroom. All we used was canvas paint (Basic brand from Michael's) and painters tape. Pretty nice since we like clean lines and shapes. We brought our two accent colors, yellow and blue, into the art to bring more pop to the walls. The bigger piece will live above our bed, but we're not sure where to put the little one. It might end up living on the walls shelves that are going up to the left of the bed. We'll see. :)

New Duvet Cover!

Our new duvet cover arrived yesterday and it sure looks pretty! It's actually reversible...which is totally awesome and unexpected. I'm so excited because it really does change the look of our room. And Layla loves it too :)

Here's a close up of the fabrics. So exciting!

Next on the list....art!

Master Bedroom Update....again

We got new lamps!! And they look stunning! I thought they might be too big, but we needed big! Now just imagine the pillow below on our bed, because we got that too! :) Just wait until you see the duvet cover we got on ebay last week. You're gonna love the way it transforms our room!

Fabulous Friday: Bedroom Inspiration

Aren't these fabulous rooms? I'm hoping our bedroom turns out like one of these. I love the gray and yellow color combination.

(Courtesy of Design Sponge)

Master Bedroom

While John has been totally consumed with the man cave (pictures coming soon), my focus has been on the master bedroom. It's going to be a process, but a plan is formulating. This weekend I cleaned our room and hung two frames above our bed. I don't have any artwork in the frames yet, but that will be coming very shortly, probably this week. I'm really excited because I'm going to download free art from Feed Your Soul.

There is a lot more to come including new bedding, new lamps, more artwork, and some surprises. Looking at this picture I think there's too much matching furniture so I might consider painting the nightstands to break it up a bit.

Layla was a huge help this weekend too...she really liked the level :)