Backyard SOS

Now that it is almost porch weather in Dallas, we need to get our backyard in tip top shape.

Ever since we moved into our house, we have been trying to tackle the mess that is the landscaping. The previous owners went completely over the top and covered every single square inch of the yard with something. There was practically zero grass, and the grass that was there is not in good shape. Pretty soon we are going to rip up everything in the backyard and re-sod and add just a couple of plants.

I think there are at least two things that are important for a good backyard porch - seating and outdoor lighting. Last year we bought a new patio set and this year we need to get some good lighting. My favorite is the lantern style.... we really don't have that much lighting out there now, so this will be a fairly easy project.

And after we get some new lighting, we need to get a swing set for Miss A, a new fence and some grass that is not DEAD!

Once we get all of this completed, I can guarantee that we will be living outside - at least until the temps start to boil.

CSN sponsored post

House Tour - Kitchen

I love seeing how people live....I want to see how their house is decorated, what their curtains look like, what color Kitchen Aid mixer they have, etc. I love it when you drive by someones house and you can see inside. These little glimpses into someones life helps you know someone. Which brings me to my first ever house tour.

@allie_in_ga suggested that I start with my kitchen. The kitchen was a big selling point for me when we bought the house. I loved how open it was and how it was connected to the main living area. Plus, the double ovens, marble countertops and stone back splash did not hurt things. So, here you go - my kitchen.

I love the little windows that are on either side of the stove. And the white cabinets - perfect. Would I change anything about it? Absolutely. More counter space, more cabinets, and maybe some wall space. The eating area has a light fixture that I would not have picked out, but it will do for now. Ordering this light fixture is high on my to-do list.

Not sure what room I will do next.... stay tuned!

Pottery Barn rustic

My latest home improvement project has been refinishing our dining room table.

This farm house style table was in our house growing up. My parents had it made many, many moons ago and we ate dinner at this table.... as a family, every single night.

Fast forward 10 or so years and I am now the owner of this table. Farm house style is not exactly my thing, but Pottery Barn rustic is definitely my thing. (Let me back up and say, one of my brothers started to sand it a couple of years ago, and never finished. Hence the sanded top and unsanded benches.)

I spent a lot of time trying to decide how I wanted the table to look. Did I want to paint it black? Did I want to stain it? Did I want to distress it? I finally decided on a PB rustic type of look.

My first step was to sand the entire thing. Growing up I can remember my brothers and I would lay on these benches and do our homework. And if you looked close enough, you could see the intentions of years and years of math problems, spelling words and science equations. As much as I love this little memory, those little marks are now all gone.

After sanding everything, I primed the entire thing. By this point I knew I wanted to paint it white, so I had to make sure the dark red legs were nice and primed.

After the priming, I applied the first coat of white paint. The next step is the fun part. I painted all of the edges turquoise. At this point Mr. thought I was nuts. What? A white and turquoise table? Just wait and see.

After the turquoise, I rubbed a white taper candle all over the turquoise areas and then did 2 more coats of white paint.

After all of the white paint was nice and dry, I lightly sanded over the areas I had painted turquoise.... this gave the table the rustic look I was going for. But, now the rest of the table looked too new, so I went ahead and distressed the rest of the table with a fine grit sandpaper.

The last step was to apply 2 coats of satin polycrylic. We plan on using this table all the time, so I needed to protect the surface from water spots and cleaning products. I sanded in between coats to give it a smoother finish.

So... here is the finished product! I love the way it turned out. This was my first real venture in refinishing furniture, and since I have completed this I have already refinished another piece for our living room!

I am going to use one bench and store the other one. I have a set of 4 antique chairs that I am in the process of recovering, the 2 chairs that are currently there are from other rooms in the house. We needed additional seating for Christmas dinner.

I hate carpet

Carpet is nasty.

There is no way around it.... you walk on it. You spill things on it. Animals pee on it. Toddlers do all sorts of things to it. It is full of dust and dirt. All sorts of stuff just seeps down into those fibers and lingers. And eventually it ends of looking like crap.

Our house is about half carpet. If it were up to me, we would rip that stuff out and replace it with polished concrete or something cool. I don't even want wood - too many things can mess up wood. Anyway, back to the disgusting carpet. Our master bedroom is carpeted as well as the entire upstairs.... including the bathroom - genius idea - right? I hate this carpet. It was brand new when we moved into the house 2 years ago, but I want it gone. I have horrible allergies and I don't even want to think about the amount of dust mites that are shacking up throughout my house.

The master bedroom is the baaad.... basically, Jake used our room as his puppy training area. I have tried zillions of cleaners and none of them really worked. So, the other day The Foundary had a Bissell sale. I snatched a Little Green Machine and it arrived on my front porch yesterday.

As soon as Miss A went down for her nap I went to town in that room.

I used ALL of the cleaning solution that came with the machine and that was not enough. I am pretty sure this is only supposed to be used to clean small areas, but I did the entire room. I won't go as far as to say that the carpet is as good as new, BUT it looks a heck of a lot better.

Want a glimpse as to what the crap looked like that came out of the carpet? Heck no will I show you what came out of MY carpet. But, I will show you a picture of someone elses nasty carpet water.

When you adopt a puppy or become a parent, you should automatically be given one of these. And, one of these just for good measure. I use our steam mop every couple of days and love it.

**I was NOT paid or compensated for this review.

Faux Bois Wallpaper

I have mentioned before how I want to redo our half bath. It is a perfectly fine half bath, but it is covered in dark red wallpaper.... and I am not a dark red wallpaper kind of person.

At first, I wanted to cover the existing wallpaper in grasscloth wallpaper.... but then I started reading and it is recommended that you not use grasscloth in bathrooms.

Ok, onto idea 2. I thought about installing bead board on the bottom half of the walls, then grass cloth wallpaper on the top half. I am sure this would look great, but I want something else.

Idea 3 - Paintable wallpaper!

I found this great Martha Stewart faux bois paintable wallpaper and I think it will be perfect for the space.

I want to paint it a light grey.... Now, if I could just decide on the right shade of light grey.

Now I ask: Have you ever used paintable wallpaper? And, have you ever painted anything light grey? If so, start talking!

Photos from Home Depot and Restoration Hardware.

My Collection

Do you collect anything?

I have been collecting turquoise glass for the past couple of years and have it displayed throughout our house. I have a variety of pieces and have purchased them all over - anywhere from design shops in Sweden to antique stores to Pottery Barn. I love having a collection that I can continually add to - no matter where I travel or shop.

Here is a peek into my collection.....

Hey Punkin'

Hello there... I am still here, just had zero desire to blog last week. I mean, how interesting are car wrecks, doctor appointments, trips to the ER and gall bladder sonograms? Yeah, sounds like a real snoozer of a week - don't you think?


Anyway, now that it is officially fall, this means it is time to start seasonal decorating! I love to decorate, but when you try to cram in Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas decor all in 3 months, it is enough to make me insane. Seriously - I would just get the ghosts and goblins put away and it would be time to get out the tinsel. So, to make things easier, I stick to pumpkins for October and November. Nothing too specific for Halloween, just little things that are easy to fill with peanut butter M & M's or Reese's Pieces. And I don't think I have any Thanksgiving specific decor.


Last night I decorated some pumpkins for our dining room table.

I love how they turned out! Aside from the hot glue gun burns, these were fun to make. I just made up of the patterns as I went, but these would also be great with ric rac or pom pom trim.

**New pictures on Baby M**

Adios contractor beige

I have mentioned before my love/hate relationship with color. I love bright vibrant colors, but at the same time I also love the calming whites. This can make for a heck of a fun time in the Home Depot paint section.

We have only painted 2 rooms in our house - the dining room and the nursery. Other than that, everything is a boring contractor beige. I think the previous homeowners painted the entire house the same color before they moved out because I can see hints of sea foam green and red in places. Eek!


I had finally had enough of our living room being the blah beige, so I finally made a color selection.


Silver Sage by Restoration Hardware


I bought a sample can, painted 2 small areas and then slept on it. I still loved it the next day, so we decided to take the leap and paint the living room. Our house is very open and the entire downstairs flows from one area to another - this is great, except when trying to figure out which walls to paint. We left one huge wall blank (only for the time being) because it is about 100 feet tall and I need to either hire a painter or find some scaffolding.

We love it. The pictures do not do it justice.... it is color, without being too in your face. It looks wonderful next to the white trim, white mantle and white built in book shelves.

Now, I just need to pick a color for the game room....and the master bedroom.... and the study.

Like my homemade Martha Stewart paint fan?

**New pictures on Baby M**

Playing in the dirt

Last summer I caught the gardening bug. I love to be out in the sun, playing in the dirt, watching something grow from a little seed.... plus, it is fun to eat what you grow! Last year I only did basil, rosemary and sage, but this year I have added all sorts of other plants. In addition to my assortment of flowers and such, I am growing a variety of veggies and herbs - tomatoes, jalapenos, green and red bell peppers, mint, basil, cilantro, sage, parsley and dill.


I have all of the veggies growing along our side yard.

There are also a couple of basil plants over there. I love basil so much, I grow lots and lots of it. And, we have food!

In the backyard, I have the majority of the herbs. I started all of these seeds off in small biodegradable pots and then transferred them to larger pots.

I spruced up the pots by painting and labeling them with the name of the herb.

Now, I won't have to worry about mixing up the cilantro for the parsley.... or making a pesto sauce with sage. And, it serves a practical purpose - keeping Jake out of the flower bed! I planted zinnia seeds a while back and I am just waiting for this area to be alive with color. Unless that dang dog destroys everything first.

**New pictures on Baby M**