I don't know who this Allen and Roth are, but I am in LOVE!

I heart Lowe's!!! Let me start from the beginning, although I am fairly certain I will begin rambling at some point and it won't matter where I start...

I got the green light from T to start the redecorating. (NOTE: There is nothing like throwing an after dinner party with several couples that have never seen your home, AND are friends with your husband that will turn your hubby into a "yes man". So, I skip on into Lowe's today (yes, I was skipping...I was so giddy that I was skipping) and get my little paint sample that I color

matched with a Sherwin Williams color. It is called "Rainwashed". The paint sample was even on sale...I should have known that it was my lucky day! So pretty...the picture doesn't do it justice. It is a combo of robin's egg blue & dove gray.

Here is a test swatch on the wall...only one coat & not quite dry. I matched the SW color with a linen-like fabric that I will be making curtains out of for the living & dining room.
Anywho...as I was waiting for the paint lady to mix my color, I wandered (or rather chased my 2 and 3-year-olds) to the next aisle over. Then, right there next to the curtains, there they were...

Westaria mirror $68.88

I couldn't find this beauty online, so I had to take a pic with my phone (sorry 'bout that y'all). I don't remember the EXACT price, but I think it was less than $60. I know that I have seen this EXACT mirror somewhere before, but I can't track it down...all I know is that it looks a lot like

the Lavello mirror from Ballard Designs for $299.99.

Allen + Roth hovan arch frameless mirror $98.88A lot like Pottery Barn's Elise mirror for $189.99!

Allen + Roth pewter rectangular frameless mirror $89.88

Pottery Barn's Bevel Mirror ($179.99 - $279.00)
Allen + Roth windowpane mirror $78.97
A lot like the "Garden District Mirrors" from Ballard Designs (2 for $199.99)

Aren't they amazing? I also have to say that, yes Mr. Barker, the price is right!

I don't know who this Mr. Allen and Mr. Roth are, but I love you!!!

As time goes by...

Okay, bear with me as I share the latest pictures of my little W. As a mom I must confess that my children are unbearable cute and I am not the least bit partial. Model quality if I do say so myself. Those eyes, those munchable cheeks, that slight little precious gap in the front of those teeth. Yum. I can't believe my baby is 2. He is no longer a baby, but a toddler. I can hardly breathe! Anyone have a paper bag I can breathe into? Okay, better now. It is just amazing how time flies. All of those "Mom types" that told you about 5, 429 times that "time flies when you have children" were right, darn them! Anyway, on to other things.

Well, on the heels of time flying, the end of summer is quickly approaching, as is my freedom. I will be teaching 2-year-olds at one of the local Mother's Day Out programs and my head is in a whirl as to all of the projects that I wanted to complete this summer, but have been too hot, tired, busy, needed, sleepy, hot, otherwise proccupied, procrastinatory (nice word, hu?) and hot to do. Yikes! So...here's some absolutely urgent projects that need my attention. Yes, the world might actually fall off of it's axis if I do not finish these in the next few weeks.

Okay, so remember my laundry room project that I embraced with such gusto? Well, upon my dislike for the room, I kind of let it just be. I have tried to allow the retina burning aqua walls prove themselves to me, and they may have won. I have decided that I must get that horrible finish off of the cabinets and FAST. So, sanding, priming and painting look to be in my near future. Also, I have been dying to paint 2 of the 3 bathrooms (including the master) cream as well. (Cabinets, not walls.) So, I think I will try out the laundry room first.

Next, I have to confess that I have a master plan with the remainder of the redecorating in the house. Okay, don't tell my secret, because it might just ruin the plan. T. if you are reading this #1, I am proud of you for taking a moment to read your wife's thought and #2, stop reading at this point...seriously. Now, here is the plan: I have several frames that I need to repaint and remat to put some pictures in. If you have ever been to my house and know me, you know I LOVE pictures. I love taking them and looking at them. However, I am completely non-commital when it comes to getting them on the wall. I am sure that is some sort of disorder that can be cured through years of therapy, but that would cut into my decorating budget, so I will have to cope. Anyway, my plan is to remat and paint some of the frames and get them up on the wall. Then, when T sees how the new frames clash with the current decor of the house, and the fact that we are having a dinner party with about 20 people over in a few weeks, he will have no choice but to fork over the dough to let me repaint and purchase curtain fabric. Is that a plan or what? That or my house will look uber hideous and I will hide the entire evening...or I could just pretend that it isn't my house. Either way, at least I will have some pictures on the walls. :)

What is your passion?

When did you discover the love of your life? No, I don't mean that guy in the armchair watching football with a big bowl of Rocky Road in his lap, but your passion. The thing that makes your heart sing?
Those that follow my blog know that, among a few other things, I love being a wife & mom, and I LOVE design. I had a hard time accepting the fact that I really believe that the Lord put me on this earth to be a mom. I always thought that question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?", was a tough one. I always had something to rattle off: Solid Gold dancer, Dallas Cowboys cheerleader, astronomer, teacher...etc. (Yes, I know Solid Gold Dancer and astronomer...wouldn't that have been a combo? Could you imagine me at parties? Hey look, that is the Big Bear constellation, oh snap, is that Justin Timberlake?... watch me boogie!) These are all things that I wanted to be as a child (well, I secretly still would love to be a dancer), but I always thought of "being a mom" as just a part of life, and not as a passion. I never even thought of being a designer (and I still couldn't imagine doing more that jotting down my thoughts on a blog and rearranging things in my house).
Now that I am all "grown up" (I hear you snickering!) I have become completely content with my lot in life. I love being a mom. I love everything about it. I do feel as though this is what I am here on earth for. God put me here to train up my children, give them a good foundation, show them how a wife loves her husband, show them how much God loves them, and teach them they can be anything and do anything that God puts on their heart. I want them to see the world as being full of amazing opportunities, I want to teach them that being nice DOES matter, and that nice guys and girls do finish first...in the things that truly matter. I want them to grow up full of joy and a sense of adventure. I want them to know that their mom loves them with all her heart, no matter what, forever and always. I want to raise up the most amazing wife and husbands that anyone could ever hope for in a spouse, and I pray daily that God is raising the perfect spouse for them. I think that is a pretty important job.
Now, my passion for design. HMMM. I have wondered why I love it so much. I think my home is what helps define me. It isn't so much what it looks like, but how it feels. I want it to feel like home. I want it to be cozy and warm and inviting to my family and friends and even total strangers. I want things to look nice, but even more importantly, to feel nice. As I browse my catalogs and magazines and other blogs, I am always looking for something that defines me and my desire for my home to be a refuge and a place to land that feels like a big ol' hug. Wow, I am going to make myself cry! Sheesh!
I wondered where my passion to make a home came from, and it started stirring up memories. I think I have always had it, but really didn't recognize it until lately. I remember cooking at my Memom's house. She would let me have free reign and I would learn to make the most delish hashbrowns, cream puffs, and anything else that I could imagine. I still, to this day, love my cream cheese stuffed strawberries topped with brown sugar that I created one day on a whim when I was just a kid playing "cook" in my mom's kitchen. I remember "decorating" my room as a teenager. I am embarrassed to even tell you about it, but it was teal with white sponge painting all over. I was going for the whole Southwestern theme and it was hideous, but my parents let me do it. Bless them! My first little house that I rented was full of little treasures that I would find here or there, and looking back, it was kind of hideous as well, but it was all mine. I loved it. Now that I have a family, and a full house, it means more to me now than ever. I like to think that my style has evolved and that it is becoming more about "home" than what is purdy.
What is your passion? What do you lie awake at night and think about until you fall asleep? What do you find true joy in? Well, whatever it is, whether it is design, or your kids, or teaching, or tinkering with vintage cars, the joy that you find is all yours. Soak it up!

Closet disaster and organizing our mess

Well y'all. I have had 2 sick little birdies for the past few days, and they are just now to a point where I can peel them off of me and get to the computer for a bit. Oh, I have a boring story to tell, but it will 'splain the disaster below. One night, the hubs and I had just settled in for a long winter's nap, when out on the lawn there arose such a clatter...oh, wait, wrong story...sorry! T and I had gone to bed and were about to drift off to Neverland (no, not THAT Neverland...Michael wasn't anywhere around) when we heard a huge calamity in the hallway. It didn't take long to assess what had transpired. This had happened...

Well, it was worse than this. It has been a while since it happened, and I had to do a little cleaning up so I could get to my scrapbooking wares. So, I have been trying to figure out exactly what kind of configuration I need in my space. I need to make it very functional with lots of storage. It is a "coat closet", but it needs to function as scrapbook storage, vacuum cleaner storage, winter accessory storage, gift wrap storage and random junk storage as well. In light of this disaster, I have been perusing the newest IKEA catalog to get some ideas. Does anyone else have a multipurpose space like mine? I would love to see some of them or get some ideas to make it function well.

Okay, for the fun stuff.

This is right by my back door. Isn't it fun? Now we have a place to put all of our junk as we come and go. Please note: the green isn't staying. That is a whole other project in itself...I'll keep you posted.

On another note, I have considered adding baby bedding to my etsy shop. I think that there might be a need for vintage inspired, gender neutral and modern baby bedding sets. What do you think?

UMMM...not so much.

Since I am having issues with my laundry room, I thought I would try to get some good ideas over at BHG.com. True to form, after my cyber trip to the magical land of Better Homes and Gardens, I left inspired, but feeling rather inadequate as to my decorating abilities (or lack thereof), but it was worth it to look at the eye-candy awaiting me. Yes, a 30ish-year-old mother of 3 just refered to pictures of laundry rooms as eye-candy.

Be still me heart...the subtle cream and sage green stripes, the cute little shelf and vintage sign! Seriously, where does this gal keep her giant tub of Gain, Oxiclean & Shout sticks? Even a dirty sock or a clump of dryer lint would have made me happy. Maybe they are hidden under the laundry in the basket. I am going to pretend like there is. It makes me feel better. Don't judge me.

I have 4 words for you RI-DIC-U-LOUS. Well, 4 syllables, but you know what I mean. We all talk slow in the South. Clear storage jars, coordinating baskets, neatly folded sheets and towels. This person must have OCD. Yes, the only logical explanation for such perfection is a mental health disorder. Not making fun because I have a touch of it myself, but just trying to get over the quasi-disaster in my own laundry room...I'll show you pics later.

OMGravy! I am going to be dreaming of those blue/gray cabinets tonight.

Sooo, mine is looking kinda, ummmm not so much. The cabinets are way too dark and the paint is way to bright (you can refer to the "burning my retinas" comment in the previous post). The shelf paint is peeling off (I thought it was primed when I bought it...apparently I was wrong). So, please tell me that I am not the only decorating hack that has no eye for color and has to do-over every now and then. Lie to me if you must...

:) Blessed Mama