My Certified Husbo Homeowner

Just letting you all know that I am taking a brief hiatus from blogging. The husbo and I are taking a well deserved vacation which I will share the details of when we are back in the 'burbs.

 

To hold you over until I return...

 

We started on some Spring cleaning last weekend...which I thought was going to consist of weeding, cutting back some dead plants in the garden, and planting some petunias (I needed some color in the 'burbs...remember, we STILL have BROWN zosia grass which won't turn green until about May...I had to help our curb appeal!). But then the husbo decides to "clean the gutters". I have a slight memory block against remembering to call a company to come and clean them out and also have a slight heart attack every time I write a check for this service. Now the husbo can do this himself (with my PINK bucket in hand) and save us some $$$!

 

 

Hard at work....

 He's now a Certified Husbo Homowner in the 'burbs.

Vintage Pedestal Plate Makeover

A little paint and elbow grease go a long way. This vintage pedestal plate (is that what you would call it?)didn't look this great when I bought it...

 
I found it a few weekends ago at a store I like to call el-cheapo storo (aka Goodwill). I went hunting for furniture and picture frames to revamp and walked out with this instead.

I figured I could do something with it. It has a few dark spots (stains?) on the top of the plate part. I thought these could be removed with some polish, unfortunately this wasn't the case. They were permanent. My backup plan was to paint it a glossy white. I figured this vintage find could serve many functions...so I opted to rough up the brass a bit with a sanding block.

Then I got to work spraying it with a few coats of this white gloss
 Rust-Oleum spray paint.

  

3 coats of spray paint later...this vintage find 

had a brand new look!

I grabbed the first thing I could find to fill the plate for these photos - some faux pears. I think it turned out great! 

 

  A simple makeover to such a versatile piece!

The Quest For A Console Table: COMPLETE

I have been on an eternal quest for 

a slim console table for our front hallway. 

You can see more details about that here. 

I recently dragged the husbo to Home Goods on a whim. Good thing I did, because sitting in the middle of the furniture section was exactly what we were searching for...well almost exactly.

I'm not crazy about the black color - so I may paint it...but the jury is still out on that. But the #1 feature that sold me was that it is 11 inches deep. Perfect for our small space.

Here was the "naked" hallway to give you an 

idea on what we had to work with...

And I am almost positive that I want to change out the two drawer handles. They just aren't doing it for me. 

But alteast our hallway went from BLAH...

To...making progress?

Now I need to accessorize the console and start gathering things for our gallery wall...to be continued!

Inventory

Inventory [in-vuhn-tawr-ee] noun:
A complete listing of merchandise or stock on hand that is cluttering up every corner in the 'burbs.

***
Inventory have been piling up in the 'burbs. Since the Fall I have been accumulating things to revamp and paint for Spring. I don't have a work-space in our basement (yet) so I am limited to working outside these days. Which you would think I would be doing a lot of lately with this mild weather we have been having. But I haven't. Let me explain....

I signed up to take an Annie Sloan paint workshop this Spring. For those of you who are not on a first-names basis with Annie, she's the creator of "chalk paint" (not chalkboard paint). Chalkpaint is paint that can be applied to just about any type of surface (metal, wood, laminate, etc) without the use of primer or doing any prep. It's extremely versatile paint and can be used in several different ways to achieve different "looks". I am taking this class to learn more about the different paint techniques...which I plan on using on my inventory. 

Speaking of...here is my inventory. I am slightly mortified at the photos I am about to share with you. 

I don't normally live in such clutter. 

I swear.

 

(1) Shelf - purchased at a garage sale, (2) Windowpane I snagged from my in-laws shed - thanks!, (3) Chair, hiding behind windowpane. This is my diamond in the rough and LONG over-due to be refurbished. 

(1) 2 chairs I pulled from my neighbors curb trash pile...apparently this is legal in the 'burbs provided you ask said neighbor first!, (2) Bright green dresser - purchased at a garage sale for practically nothing.

There are several signs around my neighborhood advertising garage sales in the 'burbs this weekend. I may have to drag the husbo around with me on Saturday morning. 

 
Have a great weekend!

 

 

A Case of "The Mondays"...

Looks like someone's got a case of "The Mondays".

This was how Emmit spent his morning while the husbo and I got ready for work. And this was after getting a SOLID 8-hour sleep in his crate penthouse. He leads a tough life!

What's Burning in the 'Burbs?

What's burning in the 'burbs? 

This new candle I splurged on the other day while I was 

browsing in Anthropolgie.

I don't normally splurge on things like this. Let's be honest, I usually buy candles at Home Goods, Target, TJ Maxx, etc. And I am not a crazy candle freak by any means. But the beautiful glass jar and scent just sucked me in.

The brand is Voluspa and the scent is "french cade lavender". But it doesn't smell like traditional lavender. I would describe it more as fresh linen with a tiny hint of lavender.

NO I was not paid by Voluspa to review this candle and YES I temporarily lost my mind by making this purchase. But it was well worth it. It's a great scent and when the candle is finished, I plan on reusing the beautiful jar (removing the label of course) and putting another (cheaper) candle inside of it. I am a huge advocate for only using candles in jars since a crazy college candle experience back in the day with my friend Katie! Maybe I will share that story with you guys another day.

Stay tuned...I finally finished a project that has been lingering for almost a year!

Blonde Moment #4992

"Honey, I washed the tv remote."

 I accidentally washed the tv remote in the washing machine this weekend. Let me explain...I scooped up the dog blanket we keep on the couch and tossed it in the washing machine, poured in some detergent, hit start, and went on about my day. About 30-minutes later I was searching for the missing remote. Took me a while but I figured it out...a bit too late.

Why aren't tv remotes waterproof? Ugh!

Furniture updates coming soon...stay tuned!