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Thursday, February 27, 2014

Pinspiration: DIY Side Yard Lounge


Since we have bought our house, I love entertaining. We have family over quite often but being that our house is small, it gets crowded REALLY easily. Therefore, I have a dream; I want to create a hang out spot in our side yard with plenty of seating.
This is what I am working with
I am not sure how long that deck has been there and the trash? Sadly, that has been spread out over the back yard for over six months. I took the first step with this project, cleaning up the backyard last weekend. Hopefully this weekend we will complete the next step: ripping up the deck.

I have some pictures on Pinterest that are serving as my inspiration. Here is a peek:

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/debolts-backyard-small-cool-ou-154415

This is the very first picture I found when searching for inspiration. I love how cozy it looks with the lights and the mix matching chairs but still looks uniformed. I think I also saw a similar yard with a dart board on the wall which I would love to add to our side yard as well. I also love how the stone is in the ground and I look forward to creating that with our side yard instead of a deck. The only thing I want different is a larger table. Something like this:

Source?

I love how informal the table is and how much room it has. Our "dining" space in the house is tiny. We have a four seated round breakfast table. If we had a large farmhouse table like the one pictured above, I could host many more dinners with family and friends.

We are hoping to have this project completed before the end of summer. I was originally aiming for end of Spring but with how long I take making progress it wouldn't be realistic. I hope you stick around for updates!

Do you like entertaining? Do you ever wish you could just snap your fingers and your project will be completed within seconds?

I am sharing this post with A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, Raising Mighty Arrows, Made in a Day
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Monday, February 24, 2014

Master Bedroom


We started progress in our master bedroom shortly after moving in. My inspiration came from the Katy Magazine. I was flipping through it before we moved into the house and found this picture.

http://www.katymagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/Katy-Texas-Homes-Feature-Color-Trends-2012-Katy-TX.pdf

In our apartments, I always went with the calming blue and cream colors to resonate peace and relaxation. I was in love with the dark color and how these rooms just spoke romance. I wanted that for our master bedroom.

I first chose our paint color and decided on Red Delicious by Glidden but I got it color matched with a cheaper brand, America's Finest.

Although I enjoy the color that came out, I wouldn't use the same brand again for two reasons. The color is more of an orange red than the red red I was looking for and when I clean off the walls, the paint comes off as well.

Overall I was satisfied with how the room turned out. I enjoyed the dark colors all combined.






However I am completely redoing the entire room. I want the room to have a rustic glam with romance all thrown in one.

Here is my list of changes:
• paint the trim
• touch up the walls with fresh paint (same color)
• add crown molding 
• replace the lighting with a chandelier (which I already found from Craigslist)
• add a door to our custom closet (the closet is another post all together)
• custom headboard
• new bedding
• make pillow cases for decor pillows
• new dresser and night stands
• possibly add a built in book shelf to our window seating area.
Chandelier, Above Bed Decor, Duvet, Wood Sign (source?), Headboard and Pillow

I don't know when I will ever get to these changes. It may take me a few months (or longer) to get it all completed. My first goal is finding a new home for our bedroom set. I will keep y'all posted with the progresses I make along the way.

How do you decide on the design for a room? Do you choose paint color or fabric first? How often have you changed your mind about a design?

I am sharing this post with Craft-O-ManicThis Gal Cooks, Made in a Day, and A Wise Woman Builds Her Home.

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Saturday, February 22, 2014

Quick Frame Makeover


Remember on this post, I said I was going to try gold leaf on this frame?

Well I did. Kinda. I used Liquid Leaf in gold because that's all I could find at the time. I am not sure if it is the same thing as Gold Leaf since this is my first time using any kind of Leaf. I bought mine at Wal Mart, it was more than I though it would be but than again I was originally planning the Gold Leaf. It was almost five dollars for this little bottle.
The bottle is 0.75 fl. oz.

This project took less than five minutes to complete however I let the frame dry overnight.

I first gathered all my supplies and unassembled (is that a word?) the frame. My supplies were the frame, the liquid leaf, a paint opener (to open the frame), a small paint brush and a board to lay the frame on while I paint it. I would suggest a type of mask because liquid leaf has a very strong smell similar to spray paint and I painted while indoors since it was during the night.


I only had to apply one coat because the liquid comes out pretty thick even with applying small dabs at a time. I think with the frame being painted a type of gold before also helped having to use one coat.

And here is the finished product

For the most part, it looks the same. The biggest difference is there is now a shine to it. The previous paint job looked really dull so I am satisfied with this quick and easy makeover. I am anxious to try out liquid leaf on other things now!

Is there a difference between liquid leaf and regular gold leaf? Are you a fan of liquid leaf? What projects have you completed using liquid leaf?


I am sharing this post at nancherrow, RemodelaholicSerenity Now, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, and Made in a Day.
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Tuesday, February 18, 2014

DIY Steal


As I mentioned before I have a love for home decor. It is more like an obsession, it should be illegal. I am always checking out people's decor from pictures they randomly take at their house.

So one day, I was casually scrolling through my Instagram feed and I came across a picture from Jefferson Bethke's profile. I noticed this on their end table:
(Isn't his wife beautiful?) Any who, you see that tiny picture frame with the initial B? I fell in love. I wanted to recreate it with our initial, R. (Is it weird that I spotted the tiniest thing in the picture?)

I began my search for a frame at thrift stores and I found this one at Goodwill a few weeks ago.
I really didn't care for the picture inside. I was looking at the perfect square shape of the frame plus the frame was previously painted a gold color. At first the paint job looked good but once I further inspected it at home, it was a sloppy job. I am leaving the paint for now but I plan to try out gold leaf on it in the future. I will post about that once I actually get to it.

UPDATE: You can read about my experience with liquid leaf here.

Back to the inspiration picture.
I wanted to recreate the picture with burlap but didn't have any on hand so I went through the craft paper I had. I found a textured brown paper from my Thanksgiving banner I made and figured it would work. While I scrambled through my craft stuff, guess what I found? BURLAP!!

I gathered everything together and started to get to work on it.
This project cost me two dollars total (only the frame). I had all other supplies on hand from previous projects. Once I buy gold leaf, the project price will go up by a few dollars but that is nothing. I feel like I practically stole this for how beautiful it turned out with such a cheap overall price.


Do you find inspiration from social media? Am I the only creeper who notices the littlest of things? Do you love a good DIY steal?

I am linking up with A Wise Woman Builds Her Home.
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Monday, February 17, 2014

Home Sweet Home


About a year and a half ago, we bought our first home. It wasn't new but it wasn't a fixer upper either. It was built in the 1980's and the previous owners did the very minimum in keeping up with it so it was move in ready when we bought it.

I was so excited about the new house that I forced my husband to throw our queen pillow top mattress on the roof of my car so we can start sleeping at the house. (We still had a month left in our apartment lease but I just couldn't wait any longer).

Almost immediately, we had my father-in-law and my husband's uncle assist my husband in painting the master bedroom and our living/dining area. It wasn't perfect but it made the place feel more homey. (Is that a word?)

Anyways.

After painting, we began moving our furniture into the house which included our bedroom set and a breakfast table. We bought a new sectional and added family pieces such as a coffee table, buffet table, end table, entry table, and a silver chest all handed down from my grandmother.

A year passed and I still felt something was missing. I hadn't hung much on the walls since I wasn't sure what I wanted to do exactly so I started to play around with ideas in my head and would often search Pinterest for inspiration. 

This is where my new passion began.

Over the past few months, I have been adding little things here and there to make our home feel more like us.

The rooms that get my attention the most is the living and dining area and occasionally our master bedroom.

The guest room has only seen paint and complete closet renovation but still needs work. The mini entry way only has a nice rug and my silver chest but it needs some loving. The side and back yard also needs attention and I want to give the laundry nook some TLC.

Here are a few pictures of what our house looked like before moving in.
These pictures are of our living room, 
dining room and the entry way before moving in. 
The beige walls were painted yellow.


The kitchen wall color is the same but I have dreams of painting it grey. 
I have only decorated above the cabinets. Maybe I will do a short post on it in the future. 
Archway leading to the bedrooms and restroom (the wall colors are now yellow here as well).
 
The shower wall now has new tile but I have so much more changes to make in here.

 Picture angle sucks but this is our master bedroom. 
We painted the walls a dark red, the ceiling and window seat remained white. 
We also created a custom closet in here (I don't have a before picture). 

 The guest bedroom is still a work in progress. 
We just painted the walls beige a few weeks ago and redid the entire closet 
but haven't made anymore progress.  

I will start posting more on these rooms individually while I make progress in them. Stay tuned!!

Where do you begin when it comes to decor? How do you pull a room together to give it a finished look? What are your favorite decor items?

I am sharing this post with A Wise Woman Builds Her Home.
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Saturday, February 15, 2014

Smell the Roses


A few days before Valentine’s Day, Anthony and I sat down to look at our finances. We have started seriously budgeting and wanted to be sure to stick with it even with this holiday approaching.
After bills were paid and savings set aside, we did not want this holiday to leave us broke for an entire week so we gave ourselves a tinsy budget. I told Anthony I didn’t need the expensive things to make me happy. I just wanted a nice dinner with him, roses and to have fun. I would rather collect memories with him than things.

Don’t get me wrong, things are nice to have but aren’t an essential. By finally getting serious about budgeting and reading some amazing blogs about thriftiness, I have a new take on things. I don’t want to worry about obtaining the newest thing.

I want to enjoy the time I have with my husband.

I want to create memories with him (sometimes that is hitting the thrift stores or the golf course or just staying home watching netflix).

I’m not perfect and sometimes I (ahem) whine when I don’t get what I want. Having stopped to smell the roses, I realize grass isn’t always greener on the other side (haha I used two cliché phrases in one sentence). This new time set aside for budgeting each week has created a stronger bond in our marriage. It is quality time well spent where we talk about our dreams and goals. I look forward to more of these moments of budgeting, laughing, and dreaming together.


Have you smelled the roses lately? Do you budget? What is your take on budgeting?


I am linking up with  A Wise Woman Builds Her Home and Yes, They Are All Ours.


P.S. I am making progress on one of my many projects, here is a sneak peak.
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Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Return to Life


For those of you who stuck around, (*crickets*..any one?) you might notice some change. The most obvious? We have a new name!

When I first created my blog, I had the hardest time choosing a name. I could never pinpoint what exactly I wanted so I went with the vague but factual name: "For His Glory"

Don't get me wrong, I love the title but it just never felt like THE one so I was always playing with names in my head while I had this one sit in.

A little over a year ago, we participated in a ministry at our church called Heart and Home. The basic idea was three families gathered together for a meal (each one bringing a dish - main, side or dessert) and invite a guest family. Preferably, the guest family would be a neighbor or even a family who just visited the church the previous Sunday. Or it could be a member family who we all would like to get to know more. 

These families would gather for a meal at one of the families house and share theirs hearts. 

Whatever they wanted. 

The name of the ministry always hung to me. I loved the way it sounded together. Heart and Home.

Heart and Home.

See what I mean, it just has a ring to it.

For months... MONTHS, I wanted to change my blog title to Heart and Home but I don't like taking others ideas so I decided on not going through with it.

As I came back to trying to decide on a name, I played with different words:

Home

Hospitality

Homemaking

Heart

My blog after all was always about sharing life and recipes with everyone but I found another love. Decorating. So I wanted to start incorporating that into my blog plan (even though I haven't wrote a post in almost a year... Oops).

So how the heck do I find a name that talks about homemaking in the aspect of decor and recipes along with life thrown in it here and there??

Heart & Home

AGAIN?!?

This name doesn't want to leave me alone. But I love it! So why not use it and give credit to my inspiration? The name is so perfect for what my blog. 

Sharing my heart. The things I love. In my home.

So the name is here to stay. Welcome to Heart & Home.

Sneak Peek: I have now begun designing a logo for our new look using paint and possibly Word but I don't know yet.

Have you ever struggled with finding a name for your blog? How do you handle when a name stalks you for nearly a year?

I am linking up with A Little R & R.
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