Oh, what a weekend!

We had such a wonderful, crazy busy weekend! My baby sister Morna (pictured above with my mom) is graduating from High School, so we had her graduation open house at my parent's house on Saturday. Which meant lots of work and preparation, but it was so much fun! We made 200 cupcakes from scratch (Yowza!). I can't believe Morna has already graduated. It's kind of surreal to see my baby sister growing into such a beautiful, Godly young woman! We are all so proud of her. 

On Sunday, Josh worked on the flooring some more in the kitchen (we left a couple of tiles off in order to get the kitchen functioning again, so he had to lay those). Just an FYI to anyone who decides to put tile in their house: it doesn't take that long to actually lay the tile, but you have to wait 24 hours each for the different materials to set (grout and thin-set). Super fun. 

While he worked on that, I continued my efforts in our 2nd bedroom, which is more like the craft/sewing/music room right now! I painted the room last weekend while my dad and Husband were tiling, so the pictures below do not show the new color!

I am selling this desk (above) on Craigslist... I love it, but it's just not my style right now and I don't feel like repainting it! So hopefully that will be gone soon... 

My sewing machine is still there, but neatly folded into a table for storage. The green chair is also going bye-bye! 

The biggest reason this room needs a re-do is because I will be teaching piano lessons here starting tomorrow! I have 2 new piano students, and I want this space to be bright and cheerful and have a great atmosphere for that.  I also pulled out the bookcase from the picture below and will be using that out in the room again.

Sorry for all the "before" pictures, but trust me, the room is in utter chaos right now! I'm really looking forward to having it all finished.

So, what did you do this weekend? Anyone want to come help me organize all my crap? =)

New Wall Decor

Do you ever get the itch to change things up with your decor? I seriously wish that my living room was configured in a way that I could actually move furniture around. Unfortunately, the layout just won't work any other way. So, I am only left with the option of changing the decor to provide that fresh perspective.

One of the things that is really starting to annoy me lately is this shelf.


At first, I put the shelf up (or rather, Hubby did!) thinking that it would be so wonderful to change things in and out for different looks. Now, a year and a half later, I am finding that it is harder to come up with combinations that I like and that aren't awkward-feeling.

So, I'm dreaming about some kind of mirror/mirrors that would freshen up this wall. Like this lovely antiqued one:


Thanks, Sumo Paint for your help here. Not sure where that line under the mirror came from, but apparently I don't have the awesome magical powers needed to make it go away.

Some other options would be:

(Image via DecorPad)

Some pretty starburst mirrors. I don't think I've ever met a starburst mirror that I didn't like! Be still me heart. Look at all that orange!

Also, I promptly fell in love with the gorgeous mirrored windows that Centsational Girl has in her living room. I love how they brighten up the space, and the old-world vibe they give with their slightly antiqued look.

(Image via the CG archives)

I have to admit, the picture above is the one that really captured my heart at first glance.

What are your thoughts? As always, I would LOVE to hear them!

Accent Colors

Hello Everyone. Please meet my ho-hum living room.

It needs some serious intervention.

I have been thinking long and hard about a way to bring an accent color into our living room.... It's very difficult sometimes for me to "remove" myself from my own spaces and look at them objectively! I couldn't figure out what this room needed. Some green? More dark colors to make it cohesive? A bright pop of some color?

Well, one of the thoughts I had was to pull some of the color from our loveseat:

I really LOVE this loveseat. I don't know why, but the second I saw it sitting there in the thrift store I knew it had to be mine. It's from the 80s I believe, a Sears couch. Go figure.


There are some nice blues, greens, neutrals, browns, and even a lovely tangerine color in there! So, it gave me a lot of options for an accent color:



What's your favorite accent color? Is it one that's not even listed?

Just so you don't get mad when I do another post tomorrow, I already have chosen an accent color. I know, I'm a trickster. However, it occurred to me that it would be nice to hear your thoughts! So please, use the comment section and give me some brainstorming action!