Front Door Makeover

My good friend Tara recently posted pictures of her front door makeover. Check it out, she did a phenominal job. Now this lady is a creative lady with a Can Do attitude, I love her. She attempts the things I talk about. The before and after is drastic! Thanks for asking me about my front door, I'm pretty pleased with our little rancher. No kidding- before we bought it I happened to drive past it and say to myslef " Wow, that's one ugly house"- who knew I'd own it one day??

Here's our home when we moved in:

Nasty lamp post, tired boxwoods, monkey grass (yawn), funky rust colored paint, brassy mailbox, patchy grass. Whew- needs help.

and after some paint and landscaping:

I smile when I pull into the driveway now! The rundown:

1. Door paint- Kingsport Gray by Benjamin Moore
2. Trim- Deserted Island by Benjamin Moore
3. Mail box- silver spray paint
4. Flowers on door from Tallulah Trading Co. (they are so nice and will spend a lot of time with you creating the perfect wreath, etc)
5. Flowerbox- White and pink Vinca's & asparagus ferns
6. Large Bush- Hydrangea from Lowe's
7. Plants in front of Hydrangea- Lamb's Ear (gift from the lady who did my centerpieces from our wedding) It grows anywhere you plant it! Go plant this!
8. Flower Bed- Pink and white impatiens with hostas from the nurseries in Alexandria

The Nursery

Let me just say, I am so delighted with how this room turned out! Abby is 2 months old now and I still enjoy this room while I'm rocking her. To be honest I wondered if we'd ever use it for more than changing diapers at first. And the first couple weeks this was my bedroom, I'd wake up every morning and think "Wow, I decorated a room for my self". About 3 weeks ago we finally started putting Abby in her crib like a big girl and what a treat... she's been sleeping like a champ! She goes down at 10 and wakes at 8 am! What more could we hope for? We feel extremely lucky. Soooo.... here's her room. I've included some of the details but if you have a question just ask.

We were waiting for her rug to arrive when I took this pic, imagine a round, white shag rug. From overstock.com and it is wonderfully soft. The walls are Anew Gray by Sherwin Williams.

Baskets from Target, lamp from TJMaxx last year, picture frame from Ladies in Waiting, changing table I bought from my friend Stephanie. It was her husbands funky college dresser, they had it refinished when they had their first child.
The picture tucked into the corner of the frame is Dan when he was a week old. Little precious boy.
The rocker Dan was rocked in as a baby, the teddy was Abby's first baby gift.
The lovely curtains my Aunt Linda designed and made for us! Polka dot fabric is discontinued, I bought all that was left from Fabulous Fabric in Shreveport. I'm not sure who the maker was. The coverlet is Rachel Ashwell's Shabby Chic for Target and the bed skirt is Ralph Lauren from TJMaxx several years ago.
Crib is Munire from here (they are so sweet, and the shop is fun to browse). And...Ta- dah! Abby's painting, I'm so happy with it- had this idea to sew flowers to a canvas for over a year and now I've actually done it. The dots and trim around the square are metallic silver paint, shimmery when walk around the room and look at it.
Close up of the silver paint and my favorite little flower. These are the same flowers I made for Stephanie's journal from the Martha Stuart tutorial
This was my dresser growing up, back then it was a funky greenish gold color, I'm not sure why I never thought to paint it back then. When Dan and I got married we repainted it with flat black which was so sharp! It looks sweet and happy now tucked into Abby's closet. The mirror is from an antique store, I hung it as a back splash behind our stove and to help our tiny kitchen look a little bigger. When we bought our home their was no place for it so I was super happy I was able to dust it off and hang it again.
Little bitty shoes from a friend, thank you Julie!
A dress to bring little bit home form the hospital
Organized drawers, I was so proud. I enjoy seeing what other people do to get their lives in order, thought you'd like to see too. The hot pink liners have been in there since the 60's, good thing we had a girl!

Homemade bibs and burp clothes from my talented friends!
Love, love, love Belle & Boo- I've mentioned her before. Mandy was kind enough to offer this free download from her website

And here she is! Abby and I home from church, wearing our matching headbands. Abby's is from here, Emily is a lovely lady with an adorable family. I'm always encouraged after her reading her thoughts and creativity, check her out!

Just a smidge for now

My Aunt Linda surprised me yesterday when she called and said she'd be here a week early to deliver Abigail's nursery! Wow, I am blown away by her beautiful work and what a difference curtains can make in a room. I'm not ready for the big reveal yet but thought I'd give you a little taste of this sweet room.

Creative New Endeavour

It's exciting news, and you already know if we're friends... Dan and I are expecting our first child! A little girl. She'll be arriving sometime around August 11th and we are thrilled to meet this girl. The morning we found out it was a girl Dan told me he had been hoping it was a little girl for him to cuddle and spoil the rest of her life. Isn't that sweet? I surely thought he was looking forward to teaching his boy how to drum, kayak and be a dude. I'm elated to have a daughter, to teach her about the beauty God's placed inside of us, how to tame her hair, laugh with her and the clothes and decorating of course.

Right now I'm on the "clothes and decorating" part, and oh man is it fun! Here's a look at some of the inspiration for her room. It's going to be precious I tell you.

The starting point for her room, love that it's a little grown up but still sweet and girly.

The fabric for her room {sans the little green dot fabric}. My Aunt is a wonderful seamstress in Houston and she has graciously offered to sew her bedding and curtains. Can not wait to see them!

The light Dan just hung to replace the funky flourescent light the previous owners installed. {I don't get why someone would hang a nasty flourescent light just because it's their "home office".} From Overstock.com- be warned- their are almost no instructions for installation.

The current state of her room, before paint- haven't gotten a good picture yet.

Kelly-how do you like that comforter from our college dorm days? Pretty sweet huh? If only I still had the cornflower blue accessories to go with it. Don't worry it's not staying!

Will post some updates as we progress. The dresser in the closet was mine growing up back then it was an antique gold with hot pink liners inside. I kept the hot pink liners but painted the dresser and bed cream with the left over trim paint we used on the outside of our home! The crib is from Munire, we found it here in Shreveport at Ladies in Waiting. The dresser along the opposite wall is our changing table, bought it a year ago from a friends nursery. It was originally her husband's dresser from college, they had it repainted and added new pulls. Anyone have ideas for rugs or where to find a great deal?

Yes, we're officially ready for the commencement of Fall at the Anderson's. After Dan and I both had a bummer of a day {I swear a week of rain must be contributing to the glum} We decided to cleeeeann the house and put out the fall decor. Well, I decided the decor was in order, Dan needed the clean to feel whole again. You know how you get that crampy, crabby feeling when things start to pile up around you? So do we! So here is our fabulously clean and freshly bedecked home. The stoic Mr. Hooters {my granny made him back in the 70's} making his annual appearance

The mirror is a recent IKEA purchase, I'm trying phase out my "flea market" stage to more clean lines and modern. It may take a while people.

Now all that's needed is the return of Sea Salt Caramel Hot Cocoa at Starbucks, The Office {starts tonight!} and a slight dip below 80 degrees so I can sport my new scarf.

can you see the little threads of silver woven into the scarf, mmmm....nice

And to get you pumped about the return of my favorite tv couple...

Le Tour de Jardin

A few weeks ago I got to view some of the prettiest gardens in Shreveport with my gardening friends. I looove the garden tour, this was my second one- the creativity and beauty are so inspiring! Here a few of my favorite pics.

If you're looking for gardening ideas Better Homes and Gardens website has easy to follow garden plans for every style, soil and time. Found lots of inspiration for our backyard, we started from scratch after ripping out 33 (!) boxwoods and all kinds of aimless debris.

Here was the front of our home, pictures we took with the realtor the first time we visited. Good thing we didn't mind boxwoods...

the sad little patio- "boxed" in

we thought the boxwoods out in the middle of the yard used to surround an old tool shed, but our neighbors told us the previous owner had two chairs in the middle of them, it's where she enjoyed the backyard. You can't see it too well... but there's an old gas lamppost keeping the hedges company... and that's poison ivy growing up the chain link fence..

Ta Dah!! We've painted the house, pulled up the rickety gas lamp and now our new plants are filling in pretty good this spring. The lamb's ear in front was a small gift a sweet friend gave me right before our wedding, look how much it's grown!

the patio is just starting to flower, I had a nice surprise when zinnia's started popping up everywhere. i dug them up and replanted them together in the bottom right corner of the pic (they'll bloom in a couple weeks)
our lovely backyard... free from poison ivy, shrubs and fire ant mounds!

Inspiration

Looking for inspiration to spruce up your home? I've stumbled across two great sites and can't stop referring back to them They've become a part of my lunchtime online lineup. Both affordable, clever and smart. Have fun here and here good friends! Check out they're sweet wedding, have always wanted to attend a reception this personal and fun. I'm looking to redecorate on a budget, if you know any great links please share!

Yucko to Fabulous

Hey friends! Sorry I've been absent from blogging- Dan and I have been enjoying our summer, hope you have too! I'll post a few of our projects we've been working on + fun adventures we've had. Since graduating from college and joining the office world, sometimes I feel like summer passes me by in the air conditioned busyness of the day. I'm guessing a lot of us feel like that! So this year I tucked some things in the back my mind, a little list of "Things To Do To Really Experience Summer". So far-

picking blueberries
EATING blueberries (I found an super simple recipe we dived into on the fourth)
sonic runs at 10:30pm
reading- I finally finished Harry Potter- it was so good!
swimming
dinner under the pecan tree in our backyard
farmer's market downtown
"camping" in Arkansas
enjoying camp days out at Camp Bethany

What's been the best moments of your summer? It's not over yet (yahoo!) Would love to share the highlights!

Okay, so this was our first project this summer and wow was it worth it! The first time Dan and I toured our house we both agreed- "If we buy it, the bathroom sink is the first to go". So month after month went by and the horrible thing stayed. We kept thinking "oh it's the next thing on the list" until something else came up- you know it works. Ta Dah!! We finally pulled the nasty thing out and replaced it with a fabulously white, clean, space saving, fully functioning, cost efficient, we-now-love-our-bathroom, sink!

Before- love how the Mardi Gras cup gives it the "used" look

stinky drawers that never worked...

After!

Why the heck did we wait so long? Our morning routine is so much easier! I can stand at the sink and Dan can walk behind me now without turning sideways and stepping into the tub. He was so excited the first night that he busted out of the shower, kicking his legs and singing "New York, New York"! Look at all that floor space!

Ta Dah!

I finally have a desk! yahoo! I've been searching since October for the perfect desk at the perfect price and last Saturday the Lord blessed me. Here it is measuring 60" x 34" x 31.25". The doors to our home are exactly 31.50" inches across once you take the doors off. It was a perfect fit! The little desk I was using before was the size of the green mat in this picture- just a little bit more elbow room now.

A little bonus compartment on the left-a spring loaded shelf pulls out and gives you more space! Dan told me it was originally for a typewriter, I'm using it for my sewing machine. It's tucked in there with my batting, patterns and paint box.

The estate sale was selling it for $200 (yikes), I put a bid for $50 in case no one bought it. Went home and started cleaning out my studio to make room and at 3:30 they called! No one else wanted it, thank goodness. The Lord is amazing- I woke up that morning and knew it was the day I'd get my desk! Thanks Drew for helping me bring it home!