Friday Update ~10/23/2015

I am here! I promise!  Things have gone quiet on the blog and much of my social media.  Just not feeling it lately plus I have been unbelievably busy.  This post started last Thursday and was supposed to be finished for Friday but I couldn't make it happen.  Even my friends were starting to wonder.  We see each other every few days usually (we all live less than a mile or two from each other) and I didn't see them for over a week.  I refuse to complain because I am so grateful for all the work but not going to lie...I am tired.

The past three weeks have been extremely productive even if the blog wasn't updated!  We went out of town for a wedding, finished the fire pit area, I hung the shelves in the bathroom (LOVE THEM), rearranged our living room layout, bought new chairs, finished/started several FWF projects, cleaned and reorganized the shop, my parents came over one evening, my mom visited a day, and Blittle's parents visited several days.  And those are the highlights.

A quick pic of us looking like fancy adults at the wedding.

MASTER BATHROOM

I do not have pictures of the bathroom shelves.  For now on, no more bathroom pictures.  The kitchen I kept mostly hidden and only showed certain parts until it was finished.  The final result, for the most part, was a surprise. The bathroom has been blogged about a lot and the surprise factor is out.  Now that we are down to the finishing touches, I want to wait until it is complete to post more pictures.  There needs to be a few unknown things for the big reveal.  :)


FIREPIT

The actual construction part of the fire pit and side yard is complete. I built some benches last weekend and we hung patio lights.  I still need to decorate to make it feel "homey" and set up the cooking area.  Blittle wants to build a smoker as well.  Still lots to do but we can enjoy the space while it is in progress.

FURNITURE

These chairs went home.

I will get after pictures later.  They are now a gorgeous blue and covered with new fabric.

This vanity is finished.

Again, I'll get photos of it in it's new home next week.


I built this cool out door table out of an old fence gate and legs the owner got from the Galveston Historic Foundation Store.

Now I am working on our entertainment center.  My mom bought it and wants it navy.  The table to the dining set she bought will get its makeover next week and I have two end tables to refurbish.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.  It is supposed to rain A LOT here over the next few days because of Hurricane Patricia (No, it is not hitting us but the rain will make its way to Texas).  The weather person is saying 100% chance over the weekend.  Pretty sure its going to rain.

Hopefully with all the rain, I can get my blog posts for the furniture before and afters done today or this weekend.  There will be a post about the fire pit are and the benches I built soon, too.  Another goal is to get all the quarter round installed in the bathroom and start painting the trim.

Friday Update ~ 10/2/2015

Happy gorgeous, Friday.  The weather is amazing here today!  As usual, things have been busy and I can't seem to keep up with everything.

MASTER BATHROOM

The sink and faucets are installed!  I also got the plumbing hooked up but there is a tiny leak at one of the plumbing connections but it works.  The vanity is almost finished.  I have been touching up paint this week and started the clear coats.  The original hinges will be sent to the same shop as my kitchen hinges to be chrome plated next week.

OUTDOOR FIRE PIT

This project has been moving fairly quickly.  The first two, heavy duty steps we hired some local guys that had the equipment to make things easy.  Grass was removed, then crushed concrete was brought in.

We put down another layer of landscape fabric and started laying the river rock pebble on top of that. The first section will be all pebble to save money and it makes the space more usable.  We might have to use that area to park a trailer or for storage in the future (hopefully not).  The back section will be a mix of large pavers and pebbles so we can easily place furniture and walk.  The fire pit has been laid out but not glued together.  Hopefully we will get to all that next weekend.

The pups are loving the pebble.

Blittle finished the walkway to the dock and installed more sod.  Sabine helped with keeping the new sod watered.

FURNITURE

The shop is full!  I am finishing up a vanity and chair set early next week as well as 4 dining chairs that will be painted and the cushions covered with new fabric.  There are two end tables that need to be refinished and an old fence gate I am turning into an outdoor table.  Lots and lots of work going on.

Here are the before pictures.

MISCELANEOUS

ROUND TOP,  TEXAS

This week, some friends and I took a day off to shop Round Top, Texas antique markets.  Y'all, its crazy!  You drive down the highway and there are tons of markets set up.  Hundreds of venders each.  The Original Antique Market is where we started but once we were done there we made our way south, stopping when we saw some venders that we wanted to shop.  Even if you aren't looking to buy anything, it makes a great girls' day.

We stopped by Round Top town square which is super cute.  Each little building has a store in it ranging from clothes to Royer's Pie Haven.  I got the sweet n' salty with a scoop of ice cream and it was worth every calorie.  One friend got a slice of apple pie and the other a shake.  All was delicious and a perfect sweet treat to get us through the afternoon.

I bought one thing on the trip.  A cow skin rug.  I have been shopping around for some time now but they tend to be very expensive.  My husband grew up on a ranch and I have been looking for a skin rug to bring some Texas country into our coastal home.  I plan to layer it with a jute rug in the living room.  Speaking of, changes are coming to that room.  Two years after moving in, I still have not revealed that room.  It is an interior design nightmare right now and I refuse to show y'all all the rules I am breaking.  More on that later.


I also found a vintage ring I loved but I didn't buy it.  Eyeroll, I know.  After shopping for over two years, I still haven't purchased a ring.  At some point I am going to give in and actually buy one.  Here is the one from Round Top.

It really is perfect.  Overall size isn't too big.  Platinum.  1920s. Good diamond quality.  Doesn't even need to be sized.  Remember the one I found in New Orleans a few years ago?  I didn't realize how similar they were until I got home and searched for the picture.

I like the one from Round Top better.  :)


Anyway, if you have an opportunity to go, it is a fun time and worth a day off.  We had a blast.




THINGS FOR SALE


Pottery Barn Seagrass Wingback Armchairs - $350 each or $650 for the set.


I have 2 Pottery Barn Seagrass Wingback Armchairs in the Havana Dark Weave. (29"w x 33"d x 42"h) Both chairs have had minimum use, come from a smoke free home and are only a few years old. The removable cushion covers have no stains and are in great condition. Each chair is priced at $599 new from Pottery Barn. 

Upholstered Oversized King Headboard - $350


I custom made this for our king size bed several years ago but it does not fit our bedroom space in our new home. It is framed with MDF, filled with high density foam, and the custom sewn cover is Robert Allen fabric. The 2" nailhead trim is an antique nickel. The dimensions are 80"W x 46"T (top of curve to base of headboard) x 2"D. The overall height can be adjusted with the legs to fit your mattress height.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!  Be sure to follow me on Instagram to get behind the scenes pictures and daily updates.

Friday Update ~ 09/18/2015

It's Friday!  This was the quickest, long week ever.  Things were super busy, I worked hard every day,  my body made me go to bed by 9:30 most nights (8:30 last night) and now it is Friday already.

FURNITURE

My shop is filled to the max.  I finished up my mom's dressers, worked on a desk, stool, and  sofa table for a client, plus had another client dropped off a vanity.  Earlier this week I shared our master bedroom bed side tables.  Love them!  Read about that makeover here.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

MASTER BATHROOM

If you follow me on Instagram you know that we have made tons of progress over the last few weeks.  The goal for the weekend is to have all the water lines and plumbing hooked up!

PAVER PATIO

Apparently I don't feel busy enough so we started the side yard/paver patio makeover.  Really, the bathroom is taking longer than expected since I took time off of the project to focus on furniture work and here we are in September already.  We want the side yard ready for fall and oyster season.  There is a plan for a smoker, fire pit, setting up a grill area, outdoor furniture and much more.  After lots of discussion we decided to hire out most of the prep work.  

One of the biggest struggles we have as DIYers is knowing we can do it.  Blittle and I did a paver patio at our first home.  There is no part of the project beyond our ability.  The problem is time....and energy.  We decided investing the money for someone else to do the heavy work was worth it.  And I am not going to lie, writing those checks have been painful but the work has been done in hours, not days.

First step was to tear out all the grass and frame the patio.  This work was done late last week then Brian and I framed the space over the weekend.  Today, the crushed concrete will be brought in and leveled.  That leaves us (we will actually DIY this part) laying the pavers and building the fire pit.

Blittle started the paver walkway to the dock last weekend.  The house originally had a concrete walkway that was putting pressure on the bulkhead and was broken.  It was the very first thing we tore out.  Seriously, our first weekend at the house we rented a jack hammer and tore it out making tons of noise that I have no doubt the entire neighborhood could hear.  Two years later we are putting in a new path to the dock.  We decided to do a simple paver walkway.  The grass will be removed and each paver will sit flush with the grass.  

And that's what I did this week.  This weekend will be busy with hunting, furniture delivery, birthday party and bathroom work.

Have a great weekend everyone!  To see what we are up to this weekend, follow me on Instagram.

Master Bedroom Bed Side Tables

At the top of my "must have" list for the mini master makeover was more folded clothing storage.   The first step was getting a larger dresser which I shared last week.  Next step, bed side tables with storage.

These bed side tables are another great find by my mom.  She is my personal furniture shopper.  :) Thanks, Mom!

Not sure where she got these but they are great.  And weird.  The wood is not super smooth.  It has these strange indentions in it.  They are actually considered small dressers so there is tons of storage space.

Before.

I decided to paint them instead of stain to match the dresser.  Matchy, matchy is not a design tactic I practice.  The room is in need of a little pop of color so I went with a light blue that is in our bedding.   Its a pretty contrast with the navy and white curtains and the newly gray walls.  Also, there were some problems with the wood.  The top pieces of wood were coming unglued so all of that had to be glued, pressed and filled to create a smooth top.  Other than that, the dressers are in good condition.  The original hardware was painted a soft iron to coordinate with the new hardware of the large dresser.

After.

It is nice to have a place to store more of my folded clothes and on Blittle's side, I have our extra bed sheets and pillow cases stowed away.  They turned out really pretty and are the perfect size for us.

The master bedroom mini makeover is almost done.  There is new bedding, bed side tables, dresser, curtains and wall color.  Now I need to get some decor and art on the walls as well as figure out what I want to do with the headboard.  Our current headboard was my first thing to build from scratch.  I built it for our New Orleans home and I do like it.  BUT when we moved to this house the headboard doesn't fit in between the two windows on the wall with the bed.  I built it oversized to compete with the 12-15ft tray ceilings and large wall in our NOLA bedroom.  It just isn't working for me here.  So do I sell the headboard and build or buy something else?  Do I keep it and just deal?  I haven't made up my mind yet.

The entire makeover will be revealed soon!  The bathroom, too!  We are so close to being done.  I can't wait!