Show Us Where You Live- Bathrooms

Today is Friday, and thus another Show Us Where You Live Friday!!! Enjoy the tour...


We begin our tour in our guest/hall bath. This blue and white theme was the hubs doing. It was the only thing he wanted to register for when we got married (well that and the fancy-shmancy coffee grinder/pot). It's not really my taste but it has grown on me. Lots of work to do in here. I should mention that we are planning on painting the vanities, and putting down the granite tile from the kitchen in both bathrooms. We are about to lay down the bamboo floor in here too. The paint and tile will be next summer...the floor will be next week!


I have had the little indoor/outdoor table and frame for years. My sister bought it for me when I was in jr. high. But it works so well in here! The frame has been dropped so many times, all the glass is gone, but hey, who cares!!! By the way, I do NOT recommend white bathmats.



And now on to the master...

This is a great little door hanger I got at StienMart. 3.00 and the perfect colors!!!
This was a wedding gift from some friend's of ours. It is beautiful and is perfect in here!

I can't believe I am showing the INSIDE of my closet! This is the linen closet...the only closet in our house that is consistantly organized and neat. Thanks in large part to our baskets! My makeup hangs on the door, and my jewelry box is in there too. Baskets hold washclothes, lotions/perfumes, hair stuff, meds, and other odds-n-ends. The towels are there on the top shelf...hubs isn't allowed to fold them. He doesn't do it right. :)

Here is the view walking in. It was hard to get a great picture because of the odd shape of the room. The color is Kilz Chocolate Indulgence. I wanted something dark and rich, and this is it!!! Everyone said I was crazy going that dark, but I love it!!! (and now they admit they like it too...these people need to learn to trust me!!!)

The "Business" area. You will note the hamper is pulled away from the counter...this is because our little Brussells Griffion Hugo likes to jump up onto the counter from the hamper. A basket on the back of the toilet holds reading materials and a diffuser, for those "long business trips."
Our vanity. The only thing I like about this is the double sinks. Again, we are going to paint the vanity and lay granite tile on the countertop.
These gems were a HobLob find...on mega sale. I think I paid like $2 each? They were black but that didn't work against the dark wall, so enter my brushed nickel spray paint! Now they proudly hang above our closet doors...in case we forget who's is who's...

I just love my shower curtian...
This beauty was at a place we have called "the worlds largest garage sale." It is sort of an overstock designer store. I thought it was so pretty...lots of movement. And I love sticks. They add some texture and drama.


I hope you enjoyed my bathroom tour!!! Stop by next week to see my beautiful laundry room!!!

Awesome Give-Away and new Etsy Shop!!!

Okay, my five loyal followers...you need to go here and enter the giveaway! TOO CUTE!!!! A personalized monogrammed cake stand...perfect for parties, birthdays, holidays...or just when you are in the mood for some sass in your life!

http://fancyschmancydesigns.blogspot.com/

Go enter!!!
R

Wait...what time is it?

oh yes...time to clean. Now my house is still a construction zone, although I am assured I will have a kitchen back by the end of June (fingers crossed!). But my father-in-law has to have surgery tomorrow, and would like to come down with his girlfriend and spend the night tonight so he doesn't have to get up insanely early tomorrow. And I am totally okay with that. But now I am in panic mode. Cole is back up at AT and isn't coming home for the surgery. So I am in full-on panic mode!!! How do you host company without a kitchen or really any "guest quarters" to speak of? Seriously...both of our guests rooms are storage right now, the hall bath is a kitchen (if you think I am kidding, there is a watermelon in the bathtub. No joke.), and our master is the only semi-normal room, although it is super dusty- as is every surface in our house these days!!! My craft desk is now the computer desk since the office is still out of commission, so my craft stuff I have been working on is on the dining room table. WOW. I have a lot to do! My plan is to FORCE my guests to take my bedroom (sheets are already changed and everything!) and I will crash either on the couch or in the guest room if I can dig it out by then. Sigh...Okay. I gotta go. So much to do, so little time to do it!!!

Peace Out!
R

A couple of big praises!

I have decided that I complain too much about Cole being gone. He is gone because he wants to provide for our family and there just isn't the opportunity to do so close to home right now. So instead of complaining, I am going to try, each Sunday, to make note of at least one praise that happened during the week. And as it happens, I have two this week!

So many of you (all 5 of you...) know that my father-in-law was recently hospitalized with serious trauma after an accident involving one of his horses. We are not sure what happened because his memory about the accident is fuzzy, but Kent sustained a broken cheek bone, several large gashes to the face, and a broken vertebra. Thankfully, no lasting damage was done with the broken neck. How lucky and blessed he was!

And my good friend Jamie married my cousin Matt last night! This was a long time coming. They will have been together three years this August. I introduced them, and tease them about my finders fee. But the reality is that God brought them together...I was just lucky enough to be used by Him to do so!

Have a blessed day!
Rachel

Show Us Where You Live- Offices

So I am currently stalking, er, I mean following Kelly over at Kelly's Korner. I LOVE her blog! She hosts "Show Us Where You Live Fridays", and mostly my house is a total wreck because of the current reno, but I did have an old picture of our office, so I thought I would share!

This is the picture of the office before we moved in. I feel this is a good time to share a little about our house. It was a complete cosmetic fixer. Every wall was flat white (and poorly painted to boot!). All of the light fixtures and hardware were out of date. One word- BRASS! I think I have finally rid the entire house of that nasty finish! The office area is right off of our kitchen (which is connected to the formal dining room) and is really intended to be a breakfast nook. But we didn't really have a need for two dining areas, and although we did have an extra bedroom aside from our guest room, we really wanted to leave that space open for a workout room and eventually a baby (yeah, that whole workout room thing didn't work out...it turned into our junk/storage room).


And here is a sort-of after. This photo was taken some time ago. We are in the process of renovating our house, and this room now has blond bamboo floors. But it isn't put back together, so this is the best I could do. Please know that my rooms really do usually look better than this!!! :) Also, the picture I wish I had to show you is on my husband's laptop, which is with my husband, who at work.

Yeah, that little corner back there...that is our office nook. But it is great! My husband, who is a commercial pilot, does a lot of computer courses and pilot-y stuff there, so when I cook...or microwave....we can still talk and be together. I think it will be great when we have kids too...I can keep an eye on them and their computer activities! Please excuse the ugly cabinets. They are now resting in peace in a dumpster somewhere.

Since I am just now jumping on this bandwagon, I thought I would post just a few pictures from the rest of our abode. I am always changing things, so it looks very different from when these were taken. But the layout is basically the same. Just some window treatments here, some paint there...and lots of new accessories!

This is our guest bedroom. I struggled with a color on this for a while, and finally settled on Fiery Steel from Kilz. I have since added some more lime accessories, but I am still not loving it. I am thinking of painting a light blue and changing the lime to light blue to make it a softer space. Thoughts?

The bed is an antique iron bed that has been in my family for decades. My grandmother used to sleep on it when she was a little girl! It is one of my favorite pieces of furniture! The wicker has been around a while too. I like it because it is dainty and a good size for the space. I have also now added art above the bed.

This is our living room. That coffee table was a $10 craigslist find. I just painted it black with spray paint and replaced the knobs on the drawer. Good as new! We have window treatments now. I don't like naked windows, but the wallet doesn't like buying curtians all at once. What's a girl to do!
That is my favorite light fixture that we have put in our house. Hubs calls it the "cow udder" fan, but I love it! My fireplace looks so different now!
This room now also has the bamboo floors. We love them. Our dogs are not fond...it's more like an ice skating rink to them now! Hope you enjoyed my home! Can't wait to show you the after pictures from the reno!!!!
Rachel

My Boys

The house project is still coming...and I anticipate being able to post lots of impressive photos after this weekend (fingers crossed). But in the meantime, it donned on me that I had never shared any pictures of my kids. I know, I don't have biological children. Yet. But I do have a couple of furry four-legged kids that I love with all my heart, so I just wanted to share some of my favorite pictures of them! Enjoy!!!

Tug of War!!!

"See mom, we know how to share!"

"Whatcha doin'?"

"It's tooooo early!!!!!"

:) Rachel

Another Day, another trip to Hobby Lobby!

So my dad had to work today, so I went shopping! I know, you are shocked!! So I finished my cross wall, and am really excited about how it turned out. And my door art for my outside entry way came in, so here are some pictures of that too. I really welcome any feedback or criticism. Really. It is so helpful!!!

Here is the cross wall unfinished. I had two of the crosses, and wasn't sure how many I would need. Turned out, I needed more!!!

Here is the cross wall finished. I LOVE it!!!! I was a little unsure when I first started the project, but I think it turned out great. And the best part....the crosses were all on sale at Hobby Lobby! Some even 50-66% off!!! Whoohoo for saving some green!

Here is my entry way. I like it but I am worried it's looking a bit cluttered. Thoughts???

I found the lantern at Tuesday Morning for cheap cheap cheap! The rug is Lowes.


It is hard to see, but the basket has a star on it. It is Garden Ridge, and the big star was a gift from my Aunt Nancy.


This came from www.scribbleitonline.com. I LOVE it, and it was only 10$ plus S&H. Not bad!!!


And now, some Rachel Randomness...

My flowers. I love them, and they love me! Well, they haven't died yet and it's been over a month. A good sign in my book!!! The pot was on mega discount at I Like It All, a local metal and pot store. It is damaged on one side, but I don't really care about that because I am going to bury that side and plant a crawling ground cover coming out of it. It was only $8.00!!!!


This is a small version of a rug I want for my new kitchen. The colors are perfect! I have narrowed it down to this or a simple Jute rug (I love the grass rugs, but A. Hugo would eat it, and B. I think it's too casual for our new space). But how do you feel about rugs in kitchens? I want it to protect the floors, be a soft space for the pups who live in there when we are gone, and help with the slipperyness of the new floors. Thoughts???


And my final thought...I thought I would share the room that has really kept me sane and been my sanctuary during this renovation: our master bedroom. I love it!!!



Have a wonderful evening!!!!
R