Exterior Paint Selection for Modern Home

One of the things I love most about Interior Design is the variety of work that comes my way. Every job is a little different and my title encompasses quite a bit. And, Interior Designers don't have to only stick with the interior as far as work goes. Case in point a recent client project I was lucky to work on- choosing exterior paint colors for a new construction home in Australia. 

The wanted something with a little color and wanted to incorporate natural wood elements if possible. The roofing, garage door and gutter colors, and brick were already chosen. I gave  them a few options to choose from:

Antique Princess Bed Makeover

So right now it's snowing outside. Which some people probably love but being a southern girl growing up in warm weather this is no fun to me! But given that my birthday is 2 days away it will be cool to have a white birthday- you know since my birthday is in December and all. 

Anyway- today I wanted share with you a bed makeover I recently completed. I found the bed at the Salvation Army a few weeks ago. 

I loved it so much I really wanted to keep it for myself  (like a lot of my recent finds) but I don't need a bed frame and its kind of girly as my world is full of boys. And once again I was having an internal struggle as to paint or not to paint. The wood was gorgeous but was marred needed fixing in several places.

I went the paint route as this bed is going in the shop. Where we live painted furniture is all the rage so I kind of go along with it. After fixing all the problems the bed had (including screwing the top of the headboard back on and adding new decorative moldings) I sanded and began painting it with my homemade chalk paint.

After some distressing I finally got my hands on some furniture wax (MInwax Brand) and gave it a few coats. I love how it made the surface feels smooth and glass like!

I found myself wishing I had a little girl or space for this bed once it was finished but oh well! Can't keep them all I guess. Hopefully a little girl will have a new Princess Bed for Christmas!

Twin Nursery Reveal!!

Hello All! Today I am super excited to share with you the finished Twin Nursery!!! The twins aren't officially due until the end of December but with Mom put on bed rest a few weeks ago it was time to put this redesign into high gear. (Nothing like the prescription of bed rest to put a fire under your behind.) Babies don't wait for anyone!


For those just joining us this is a nursery design done for a friend. She is pregnant with boy/ girl twins, has 2 boys under the age of 4 and her husband is deployed right now. Can anyone say Super Mom??? 

My friend had an idea of what she wanted the nursery to look like and had most of the accessories we were going incorporate into the room; she just needed help bringing it all together. She has lived in some exotic places and wanted the nursery to have a International or Traveled feel. The room also had to be gender neutral. The challenge was reusing their existing furniture, working with the fact that this is still going to be a guest room as well as nursery, and that they live in base housing- so walls we painted they will have to repaint and the family may move into a larger home in the near future.

Here are some before pictures of the room:

A Sunny Chair Makeover

~Before we dive into our makeover today I just want to take a moment to remember those who lost their lives and were affected by the events on 9/11~

So I lost my first Fantasy Football Game. I thought that maybe I could make a come back in Monday night's games but alas it was not to be. Oh well, try again this weekend! And do you know what day it is?

That commercial cracks me up!

Anyway- let's get to the subject at hand here. Today I wanted to share with you a chair makeover that I had finished up last week. Remember these two sad guys? 

I bought them for super cheap because one had a broken leg. (See how I fixed it here)

After that was taken care of it was time for painting. I've been wanting to try chalk paint for a while now and thought this was a good opportunity to see what the fuss is all about. Using a recipe I found online I went the plaster paris route. Which included mixing plaster of paris with water:

Then adding my paint (I used Pantone Chamomeille) 

I love how thick and creamy it is!

Overall my first chalk paint experience was a good one. I can see why everyone loves this type of paint! A little bit of paint goes a long way, it goes on smooth, and not a lot of prep work is required.

Ta-Daaaa!!!

I used some leftover Dwell fabric from my slipcovered chair, I thought the modern grey print worked well to contrast with the traditional shape of the chairs and the soft yellow paint. And the chalk paint was great at getting just the right amount of chippy-ness when I sanded the details.

To seal the paint I didn't go the traditional soft wax method as is used in most chalk paint applications. Instead I went with a non-gloss sealant. The chairs are for sale and I wanted to be sure they are super durable.

I like how they turned out, a far cry from where they started! And I'm a new chalk paint enthusiast. 

Tile Tray Makeover

Good Monday Morning Everyone! How was everyone's weekend? Our was pretty eventful. Saturday we jetted out of town and hit some of the wineries that Oklahoma has to offer. The main event we were headed for was a Grape Stomp at Chapel Creek Winery in El Reno Oklahoma. 

Con and Saw

Not only is Chapel Creek a winery it's a farm as well. So the boys got to run around and chase goats and play while we sipped wine.

Me stomping grapes

I must say I am glad I got to stomp some grapes but it was kind of gross feeling- not sure it's I'd like to do often. 

I also was able to finish up another project this weekend. Again one of my thrift store finds. Remember these guys?

This tray in particular-

Now I'm all about vintage find but this is one butt ugly tray. There is good vintage and bad and this is bad. Those tiles had to go for one. Luckily they popped out pretty easily. Almost as if they never wanted to be there in the first place. 

The tray has nice carving so I painted it a soft grey and sanded the edges to add some detail. (I swear I took more pictures of this but must have accidentally deleted). Using some tile samples leftover from a past design project I laid them out and glued them into place using Gorilla Glue.

Then since my new tiles were smaller than the original ones I used tile caulk to fill the edges. Messy but effective. Side note- I thought it would be easy to scrape off any excess caulk but it wasn't. I finally found some Goo Gone and got it off that way. Just in case you wanted to try this yourself!

Let is all dry and Voila you're done! Not to bad for a $2 tray. Everything else I had on hand. :)

My original plan was to sell this and some of my other recent finds in a shop here in town like I have done in the past, but someone expressed special interest in this piece so it's going to be a gift instead. Sorry Altusians! 

All in The Family

This summer we made the trek down to Louisiana for my mom's side of the family's annual Family Reunion. Now my my grandmothers (my mom's mom) hails from a family of 10 brothers and sisters. And my mom herself has 5 brothers and sisters. So you can imagine that this Family Reunion is serious business. They do it every year and we take up a whole hotel for the weekend. This is the first time I have made it back in 3 years.

We have a family talent show, 

Connor (in the whale shirt) singing with his Cousins

games and art for kids, 

golf and nightly card tournaments for the adults and an all around good time. 

Hubs playing Bourre` with the fam

The one thing that always impresses me is the artistic talent that runs in the family. I've already mentioned before that my mom is one who inspired me and encouraged my creative side. On top of that....

One of my second cousins; Hanna Lane, is a soon to be famous artist (if she isn't already!). I'm currently saving my Birthday. Christmas, Anniversary gift to purchase one of her paintings.

My cousin Brandy is incredibly craft with tiles and paint.

My Uncle does amazing ink drawings.

Some of his French Quarter Drawings

And come to find out that one of my second Uncles is also a furniture designer. He says he just "dabbles" in wood work but looking at this awesome Cherry side table (that I was fortunate enough to win at our Family Raffle) I beg to differ. 

Sadly my lovely table is residing at my parents house at the moment. I wasn't planning on winning a table so we didn't have room for it on the ride home. Hopefully we can pick it up in the next month or so before my mom claims it as her own.

What talents does your family have?

A Little Bit of Audrey in My Life

A while back, well more than a while it's been several months; I won a contest for a hand sketched portrait of Audrey Hepburn from Fall Into London's Etsy Shop

I wasn't sure where to hang it until inspiration struck the other day. Audrey Hepburn isn't only known for her famous movie roles but also for her inspirational saying and quotes. I thought it would be nice to create a little inspiration vignette on my wall in the bath room. I searched online for some of my favorite Audrey quotes and framed them with the sketch.

The Quotes read- "Walk with the knowledge that you are never alone."

"As you get older you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, and one for helping others."

"The beauty of a woman is not in a facial mode, but true beauty in a woman is reflected in her soul."

I like waking up in the mornings and looking and reflecting on these ideas. I also added some pictures of the kiddos and a sketch that my Uncle did of a cafe in New Orleans- I'm surrounding myself with all my favorite things!

And did you notice that Sa-Weet detail on the Audrey frame?

It was one of my thrift store finds from last week! It looked like this remember?

I painted it glossy black and sealed it with laquer. I like the moody vibe it has now- no more brown town!

Have a Happy and Inspirational Monday Everyone!