WORKING ON THE SCREENED PORCH...

When you buy an old house that pretty much needs a complete overhaul there is always a project in the works.

Each year we try to pick one or two majorish projects and lots of little projects to complete. As far as major projects we try to pick the thing that is in the most dire need of attention. The first summer we lived here our major priority was to give the house a new paint job. While it was a big cosmetic improvement, it was very NEEDED as we had lots of exposed wood on the house that needed to be protected from the elements.

The following summer we put a new roof on the house and garage along with an addition to the garage to store the hubs' boat and to protect it from the elements (because you know that is of the utmost importance)...Haha, and last year we replaced the front door and did a few energy efficiency projects.

This year it's the screened porch's turn to be revamped. YAY!!

You know it NEEDS it!

I have been waiting for 4 years to get the porch done. Truthfully, it was the project I would have loved to have tackled first because it's my favorite part of the whole house and probably the very reason we purchased the house, but...one must prioritize! Those other things HAD to come first. However, I'm giddy with excitement to finally be getting the screened porch redo underway and wanted to share the progress with you.

All the original panels had to come down leaving nothing but the corner posts...

They were completely falling apart and had some rot.  There was no saving them. Sorry I do not have any good before pics to show you because I have pretty much avoided taking pictures of this porch. Just know that it was BAD...reeeally BAD.  It had missing pieces, torn screens and was all sorts of U.G.L.Y.

My father-in-law started making new wooden frames for it, just like the originals, over the winter.  It didn't dawn on us until we started installing the frames yesterday that we could have done things a lot differently by building the framing right in place and saved ourselves and pops a lot of time, trouble and a lot of cuts. Probably would've even saved on materials too but this is the first screened porch we have ever attempted so you live and you learn, right?  It's for sure that if we had to do it again we would do things the easy way, but so long as the job gets done and it works that's all that matters!

Besides, it's looking pretty good, right?

While the hubs is putting the remaining two frames properly in place this evening, I will be sanding and getting everything ready for paint.  I hope to have the painting done by Saturday and then we will be ready to add the screen.

By the end of next week I hope to be sitting comfortably on my new screened porch sipping some iced tea without the company of flies, spiders and wasps. I can't wait!

What are your plans for the weekend?  Are you tackling any major jobs around the house?  The comment section is open. I would love to hear from you.

Ciao,

I FINALLY FOUND LEO'S REPLACEMENT...MEET SHELBY!

Leo, my long time friend, has FINALLY been replaced, y'all!

If you have been reading my blog for any time at all you know who I am talking about when I say "Leo". Leo is the name I lovingly gave this lion print that I have had sitting on the mantel for the past 4 1/2 years we have lived in this house.





He also was a long time friend hanging around in our last home for about 5 years. So, sad to say, Leo is a bit outdated old and needed to be, shall I say, retired. I have attempted over the past few years to find something to hang over the mantel in his place but never found anything that was quite my style or that suited me.  I tried my DIY starburst mirror, my DIY sunburst mirror AND other prints but nothing I truly liked up there better than Leo.

I did spy a mirror at Marshalls that I really liked and it was cheap enough but with 2 failed attempts with mirrors I passed it up as I just wasn't sure another mirror was what I wanted there.

I also saw this gorgeous horse print in the Restoration Hardware catalog that I knew would be a fabulous replacement for Leo and is just my taste and style...and it would work great with the color scheme and things I have planned for my living redo later this year. It was the $1500 price tag that kind of threw a wrench into me getting that.

So I was back to searching and have been casually looking here and there and everywhere. I would look at the art in every store I went into to see if I could find something worthy to take Leo's place. I even looked at many places online but there was NOTHING..at least that I could afford!

Then this weekend we took a day trip to a wildlife refuge in St. Louis that just so happened to be near an AT HOME store (used to be Garden Ridge). Since we were already in the area I talked the hubs into stopping to have a look around. I wasn't planning to buy a thing. Really! Wink, wink!

I went directly to the art and looked diligently through everything that was in the size range I needed but there was nothing...absolutely NOTHING. Awww, I was soooo sad and discouraged thinking that I would never be able to send Leo off to retirement in style; but, just as we were getting ready to leave something caught my eye in an aisle of smaller prints. I spied a large blackish frame hidden behind and among the smaller ones. I had no idea what kind of art the frame held but I just had to find out. After all the frame was the PERFECT size and it was the PERFECT style and color too; so, I sauntered over and gingerly threw moved everything out of the way so I could see the art that this perfect frame held and as I pulled the last piece away, I gasped in jubilation as I could see that it held Leo's PERFECT replacement.

Say hello to SHELBY...

She's absolutely PERFECT!!!

Doesn't she look so good with the sconces that I recently updated with black shades?

In my eyes she's very Restoration Hardwareish and is the perfect compliment (or will be) to the rustic luxe living room makeover I have planned for late this year, once the dining room is finished and the bathroom gets a little refresh.

I am truly over joyed because of how perfect she is for the vision I have for this room...even better than the $1500 print from RH in my opinion. I'm just tickled, tickled, tickled!  Can you tell I'm tickled? Hahaha.

The hubs LOVES her too that's why I didn't have to beg to get her. He instantly put her in the cart for me and didn't even hesitate over the price, which is VERY rare for him. I've caught him staring at her several times since I placed her on the mantel. That's a good thing because I feel it's important that my husband is happy with my home decor choices too...since he has to live with them as well.

I'm not sure what else I will add to the mantel in the way of accessories. For right now I put a couple small pieces of drift wood I had here at the house up there. I like the simplicity of it and I'm not sure it needs anything else.

I know one thing, Shelby has given me a new incentive and excitement to get the dining room makeover done and to get moving on the rustic luxe style changes I want to make to the living room.

So tell me, what do you think about Shelby?  Do you like her?  You know horses are coming back into style right now in a BIG way.  As a matter of fact At Home had a ton of horse and equine statues and decor at really great prices. I have also spotted a bunch of them at Marshalls, Homegoods, Target and Joss and Main, just to name a few. I've even spotted them appearing on some popular blogs lately so...does having Shelby technically mean that I am finally in style? Hmmm, now there's a question! Hehe

What did you do over the weekend?  Find anything special that you have been wanting for a LONG time? The comment section is open and I'd LOVE to hear all about it!

Ciao,







Sharing at these fabulous blogs...

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
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NEW SIGNS FOR THE DINING ROOM ARE FINISHED...

Okay, so I have not even started on the china cabinet redo, as promised, and I may not even get to it in the next couple of weeks because of the many, many things on my to do list, but I did get the new signs for the dining room done...and just in time for a rainy, no good for nothing, picture taking day.

However, they turned out so good that I wanted to share them with you anyway...lousy pictures and all!

Have no fear though, I have no doubt you WILL be seeing better pictures of these fabulous signs again...over and over again...because I am so proud of them as I show you progress of this dining room redo. Hehehe

The Ristorante sign was conjured up from my very own little imagination but was inspired by this cute Patisserie sign from Restoration Hardware...

Oh and no "Restaurant" is not spelled wrong...Ristorante is the Italian spelling!

AND though I made it myself, there was no conjuring of the imagination for the Today's Menu sign...we've ALL seen those signs around everywhere. I could have just bought one but I needed it to be the same size as the Ristorante sign.

BESIDES, I already had all the stuff in my stash of left over materials to make them both, with the exception of the framing materials. The framing supplies cost me around $12 so this was a very inexpensive project.

I LOVE them for sure and think they work SO much better in here than the column prints. I loved those too but after I got them done realized they just weren't right for the space. No biggie though, I will use them somewhere else or sell them. It's for sure they won't go to waste.

I was thinking that these would look even better if I lowered them a little and hung some art gallery picture lights above them.  Like these...

Not sure, but it's something to think about; and, of course, it would be something I do a little ways down the road after my few remaining projects in here are done.

Besides painting the china cabinet I pretty much just have a little tweaking left to do before I can call this room "DONE" and after looking at these pictures I think I need to add one more little project to my list. I need to do something with those black sconces. Not sure what. I either need to take them down completely, move them to a different spot, paint them or something. What do you think I should do with them?

Can't wait to hear your thoughts!

Have a fabulous weekend. Ciao

PICKING UP STICKS, MAKING TWIG PENCILS...AHHH, RECYCLING AT ITS BEST!

I'm not normally a recycling sort of person. Well, I shouldn't really say that. I do recycle, just not in the normal ways of separating the cans from the plastics and so on. My recycling is a little different than sorting things into bins to send to the recycling plant in order to save the environment. I recycle by turning junk into useful stuff. Trash into treasure!  Yeah, that's what I do...or at least that's what I tell myself anyway...hehehe.

In an effort to clean up the yard lately I have been picking up a ton of sticks.  The trees in our yard shed horribly over the winter. Yours too? Now normally we rake all that sort of rubbish into piles and burn it but this year I decided to recycle a little of it. You ask, how in the world do you recycle sticks?

The answer...you make TWIG PENCILS out of them!

Why?, because they are just so darn cute and rustic and cool...and...Why not?...It's a super easy, free project that even the kids will enjoy doing. You might even get them out in the yard to help you pick up all those sticks...just sayin'!

Cute right?

Here's what you will need if you want to try making some for yourself...

If you are even somewhat of a DIYer you most likely already have all of this around the house.

Here's what to do:

• Cut your twigs into 6" long pieces. The straighter your twigs, the better.
• Drill a hole into one end of  each twig using your 3/32 inch drill bit
• Extract lead from old spent pencils you have lying around the house (this may take a little bit of effort). You will need a 1-2 inch piece of lead for each twig pencil you make.
• Dip one end of the lead in wood glue and insert it into the end of your twig. Break off excess lead and wipe off excess glue. Let dry.

Oh, and don't forget to sharpen your new pencil with a whittling knife so you can get to writin' with it.

THAT'S IT! Easy peasy!

Now that's recycling at its best!!!

Perhaps if you are going to be doing any yard work over the weekend you can incorporate this fun little project into your plans.

No matter what you do, have a fantastic weekend.  Ciao,







Sharing at these fabulous blogs:

Home Remedies
A Stroll Thru Life
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No Minimalist Here
Bless'er House
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From My Front Porch To Yours

INDUSTRIAL STYLE WINDOWSILL HERB GARDEN...

Happy Friday Y'all!  So glad it's the weekend.  How about you?

Have you heard about the Lowes "SPRING BLACK FRIDAY SALE" going on April 9 - April 20?  Yes? no? maybe?  Well in case you haven't heard, Lowes is having a BIG sale in the garden and landscaping area for the next couple of weeks.  It's HUGE!  I went last night to pick up a couple of things I had been wanting for a while and got them all on sale.

I discovered a while back that I love cooking with fresh herbs (mainly I love eating them, hehehe); however, they can be quite expensive to buy in those little packages in the produce section at the grocery store.  Needless to say I would usually end up using powdered herbs and spices in my food, a less tasty option for sure.

I decided the best way to have fresh herbs at my disposal was to have a small windowsill herb garden in the kitchen. Fresh herbs all the time right at my fingertips!  It would have fresh Basil...

Rosemary...

& Cilantro...

And they would all be contained in a super cute, really cool windowsill sized tray like this old electrical box I found at a local antique store a while back.

With it's cute little name plate

and adorable little handle...It's PERFECT!!!

I bought peat pots and soil and tried to start my herbs from seed more than a few months back.  While the seeds did germinate and start to grow, they never got very big and just didn't pan out. See, I told you I have a black thumb. Ugh.

I knew my only other option, if I was going to get my cute little herb garden, was to buy live, already grown (by someone else) plants BUT...that is not possible in the dead of winter around here.

So I had to wait and wait and wait and then finally a week or so ago the stores FINALLY started stocking their shelves with garden goodies. Yay, I could finally fulfill my dream of having a small indoor herb garden at my cooking fingertips.

When I saw Lowes "Spring Black Friday Sale" add yesterday I couldn't get there fast enough because Y'all...they had my herb plants on sale for just $2.00 each.  THAT'S CHEAP!!!  Regular price is $3.68 each so I got mine for nearly half price.  YAHOO!!

I loaded up my cart with a pot of fresh Basil...check....Rosemary....check.....and Cilantro...check

and for just a little more than the cost of a few snippets of fresh herbs at the grocery store, I will have fresh herbs in abundance right in my kitchen year around!!

That's why today I am totally excited to FINALLY be able to share with you my super cute, yummy smelling, very tasty INDUSTRIAL STYLE WINDOWSILL HERB GARDEN.

 Isn't it cute?

I wish y'all could smell them through the screen. Oh my goodness, it's heavenly!

Now I can't wait to get cooking!

I may just have to go back to Lowes and get a few more varieties of herbs this weekend...maybe some Mint, Thyme and possibly some Lavender...BEFORE THEY'RE GONE!

Maybe I'll see you there. Ciao!

A WORD ABOUT EASTER...

Need I say more?...

Just wanted to pop in on this GOOD FRIDAY and wish you a fabulous Easter weekend and in a word (or three) remind you of the reason we celebrate!






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Stonegable
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DINING ROOM WALL ART CHANGE UP...WHAT'S YOUR OPINION?

Raise your hand if you like these DIY Restoration Hardware inspired column prints.

What's not to like, right?

Now raise your hand if you think I am crazy for wanting to toss them after just a few months of having them finished and hung.  Well not toss them, just change them out with something a little more dining roomish.

Though I do love them and think they turned out great I do plan on changing them out soon. Before I do though, and just for grins, I would like your opinion of whether or not YOU like them.  Do you think they are too themeish, do they work for this space, or not, and if you think I should keep them here or replace them with...well here, let me show you a little peak of some partially done signs I have been working on...

So what do you think, keep the columns or finish the signs?

I can't wait to hear from you!!!






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Savvy Southern Style
Bless'er House
Imparting Grace