Kitchen Makeover....L o n g... Process!

Well, this is the colors I'm going for in my kitchen...Modern isn't it? Light aqua/blue on the walls....with chocolate brown on my backsplash.
The aqua/blue is done already...Now I'm priming my light/wood colored kitchen cupboards and trim...After the 1 coat of primer...I'm planning on doing a glossy bright white on them...I just loved how the white popped with this vibrant color. Its quite a long process since I have quite a few cupboards. I'm taking my sweet time with this room since the primer is oil based...(strong SMELL) about makes ya sick if you don't have a lot of ventilation. The oil based primer is the best to use since it seals the cupboards/trim from peeling away later on when the final coat is applied. Stay close, I'll unveil the final before and after pics soon, well...hopefully. I think I'm planning on adding a lot of red accents to the completed room when finished.


Oh yea, and the vacuum above...oops almost forgot....This little life saver has came to the rescue at our house. I recently purchased this suction less vacuum...(a large roller under it kicks back everything...and I mean EVERYTHING, including nails, beads, pins, cereal) which I absolutely have fallen head over heels for. Any mom/dad/child/ grumbling teenager...human being..would love one of these. I have retired my broom and dust pan, (which I used to use four to five times a day on my kitchen a dining room floors). This vacuum is a Shark, its cordless...rechargeable battery (within 30 min, and usually lasts that long, as well)...it goes in vehicles, under couches...and has a swiveling handle...Can I say anything more about this God-send of a household item :) The best thing about it...only $29.96...at WalMart...I know, I know, some of you don't step foot into WalMart, I'm sure they'd have 'em at Target/maybe Kmart.. as well. :) They are completely worth every cent of that amount.. for sure ! Man I should be on their advertisement team for a commercial...whatcha think?

Rooms Slowly Getting Completed !

We have completed a few rooms in our house so far. Our Family Room has almost a dark olive green color to it... very warm and relaxing, I must say! Our toy room has almost a aqua/blue color, its called St. Croix...I need to finish making a few more signs to add into the decor. Our bathroom: we painted a red, khaki, and bright white trim. Let me tell ya, if you are thinking about painting with red of any shade...be prepared to use at least two to four gallons depending upon what your painting over.
(We painted over white, I'm sure that makes a heck of a difference... We used two gallons, and our bathroom is relatively large, but not large enough to use two gallons of any other color paint. When Bart rolled the first coat, we instantly looked at each other and thought, "What in the heck are we doing? It looks 'hot pink'!"...After three coats of red...it finally deepened up quite nicely...thank God ! :) I need to finish a few accents for the walls in there, and purchase a double sink, since the counter space is large enough for it, Yea! Five kids fighting to brush their teeth before 7 am... is almost too much. The boys ended up acquiring the basement shower/sink since it enables them to move more freely, and not get the girl's routine out of sort... :) Imagine that, boys trying to get a rise out of their sisters:) We ended up getting our Den/Sitting Room finished up a month ago...it is a tea dyed color...very pretty. We inherited some nice furniture from my parents that goes rather exquisite in there....its fun to read/study/rest in that room. My last accomplishment was the hallway...I painted that in a dark gray in color...I added some accents to the walls so far...Gonna do lots of white frames and such....Haven't quite gotten that far. My next hurdle is going to be my kitchen, which currently has wallpaper from floor to ceiling with red check, bird houses...basically more of a 'country' theme...Definitely not my taste in decor. So I am anxious to get this accomplished, since I do spend majority of my time in there making meals and cleaning up. I am not sure what color as of yet...But I am steaming off wallpaper today...(btw, are the best things in life, thanks to my mom giving me the idea in purchasing one) I'll let you know when I accomplish some much needed work in my chef area...... :)

More Thrift Finds...

The yellow tea set is another of Bart's super thrift finds...(I swear he loves shopping more than a woman, which I love that 'bout him...) $3.99 for the both :)
The olive green delicates shown here is what my latest weakness is for 'vintage' style decor...I just am drawn to all of it, not the bright green, just the olive in color...I acquired all of this here shown for under 5 bucks.
The white delicates in this top hutch is what I started collecting when I moved into our house...I got about everything shown for under $10 :) Antique dealers are selling each piece for 7 to 8 bucks.
The sage green lamp is a vintage lamp I scored on a month or so ago...We ended up paying $3 for it, then I got a shade for it at WalMart for around $3...so a vintage style lamp for $6 bucks.
The purple flower tea cup set I purchased at an antique dealer for $4...Now that makes about a dozen that I have in my collection. They are so neat, I collect any tea cup saucer sets that are in my price range ...The are displayed in my Dining Room.

Jackpot Thrift Finds !

This beautiful piece of furniture was found by Bart..It was $35 bucks! It had the inside tray...and even a key attached. I would have kicked myself if we didn't buy it...:) Makes a great addition to our family room I must say !

This high top chair was found by Bart as well :) Neela instantly took to it, even sat on it inside the cart...I have big plans for painting this piece of treasure, stay tuned !

Top Thrift Store Finds for this week !

Found these lil beauties at a local thrift shop...as you can see I paid a buck for each of them ! Not sure what is in store for them, but as for now...I think I'll keep 'em just the way they are. They are going out by my front door ! Also found some other hot finds, will post pics later...Lovin my husband for sharing the passion of thrift store shopping and other junk finds ! :)

Signs...Everywhere !

Well, here are a few signs I've painted thus far...My family/friends have been asking me to post these, so here they are for you to see ! :) I have an order for my sister right now I'm doing...She wants an Amazing Grace sign like the one posted here, and a Nebraska Husker sign as well. I'll post them when I'm done with the finishing touches.

Signs...Everywhere !

Signs....Everywhere!

Signs, Signs & More Signs....

Well, here it is...my blog about our house....in other words..Decorating&Painting of anything, (meaning junkier the item/piece the better)....Yea, even that 70s stuff that thrift shop clerk gives Bart and I that 'eye', meaning, "What in the world would they want with this for, they just can't possibly put this junky thing in their house." I've longed for decorating since we moved out of our house quite a long time ago, 7 years as a matter of fact. It is so nice to actually call where you live "home" again. Some where you can go home to feel secure, safe, warm, relaxed, (well, not always the case having seven kids trampling through the house)....a place definitely defining ~ comfort. We settled in a little town just south of Blue Earth, Minnesota called Elmore. It is about 750 people, and has quite a few elderly, which all are extremely polite to our family. Now, about the house it was built in the 1900s. It has tons of room for our family to stretch out and relax. I have taken decorating/painting/refinishing/glazing to an all new level since I got a lot of house to paint/decorate and accent with our family's taste. Watch out thrift shops, hobby lobby, hardware stores in our surrounding area...Lots of wall space to add life and color to. So stay tuned I'll be posting my latest paintings/signs/decor or latest thrift store find for the week ! Or even just how to make a piece of decorative accent for a room that costs little or nothing. Thats my game, if it isn't dirt cheap... Is soooo not for me!! Above are two signs side by side in my family room, just made out of plain ply wood...I think I spent $7.00 for the pair...Some leftover trim paint for the background, and cheap acrylic paints for the final finishings..and a few late.. late nights unwinding/painting away...So ya think you can find those decorative accents anywhere else that cheap? :)