wall hanging for the dining room...

I've always loved botanical prints. I know they've become a bit trendy lately, but I still think they'll stand the test of time. And, all of you know I love green leafs! So, when flipping through the April issue of Coastal Living, I spotted this great kitchen in Charleston. Hanging in the background is this fantastic botanical. I even love the way it's framed---with the glass extending a bit further so that you can see the wall color. I'd spotted a great big scroll canvas botanical at Sophie's a few weeks ago. It had been $125, on sale for $25. Yep, another DEAL! :) I didn't buy it immediately because I honestly thought it was too casual for the dining room. I didn't just want to hang the scroll on the wall. So, as soon as I saw this pic in Coastal Living, I knew I had to go back to Sophie's, buy the wall hanging, take the bars off and have it framed. So, that's what I'm going to do. Let me know if you find any 1/2 framing coupons anywhere!

The inspiration from Coastal Living.

And, here's the wall hanging. Not a great photo, but the berries on the left and at the top (and in the bird's mouth) are all in that pale blue color that matches the kitchen and the lamps in the dining room. Perfect! This is also much larger than it appears in this photo. It's about the same size of the one in the Coastal Living photo.

Tile: DONE!

This has been done for several weeks now, but I guess I've just been lazy and not kept up the blog! Brooke finished the tile in the mudroom/laundry room. I think it looks really great. Next we'll be putting in french doors between the two spaces, a new door at the top of the stairs going into the kitchen, and a new door going outside. All with window panes. Let the light in!

Tile done---looking into the kitchen.

And, looking from the laundry room out. Yes, we still need to get our shelving up around the fridge for storage, and we'll put in a countertop under the window (the one to the left of the door in this photo). And, I'll be looking for an outdoor rug for the center of this space.

Out of order, but here's the tiling in process.

And, the first 4 tiles are in place!

photos and plates

This post isn't exactly exciting, but I'm FINALLY getting around to hanging some plates and photos that I've had for many years. It's sort of pitiful that it's taken me this long to get these things up. Can you tell I hate hanging?

Some of my blue and white plates above the bed in the guestroom. I think I might have a bit of an obsession with plate groupings. They're just so easy to do and fill up a space so well. Hanging them "randomly" is much more difficult than it should be!

Here are some black and white photos from our wedding. I hung these in the hallway between the living room and office. Easy to spot right when you walk in our front door.

A wide angled view.

Sometimes I forget...

I often look around our house and think about all of the things we haven't done and spend little time realizing what we have done and appreciating that. So, I decided to flip back through some old photos of when our BIG project first began. I think one of the best examples is the kitchen, so here are a few before and after shots.

The kitchen in its current state.

Another shot.

Ripped out...

And, here's the kitchen just as we bought the house. Yeah, this does look different now!

Bird tile

I wanted to break up all of the white tiles behind the stovetop and I was in Sophie's (surprise, surprise!) a couple of weeks ago and found this adorable bird tile. I thought it might match the McCarty perfectly, and it did! There were 2 other birds in the same colors that I didn't buy, and of course now they're calling my name. I might have to go back and bring home 2 birdy friends to keep this one company!

Bird tile!

And, see how it matches the greeny-blue color!

Fun with leveling compound!

I know all of you are THRILLED just seeing another boring post about the mudroom. But, it has taken up a lot of our time lately. The floor in the mudroom is very uneven and before laying tile, it must be even. So, we bought 4 bags of leveling compound to pour. The compound is a very thin cement that runs to the lowest point, hopefully leveling out the floor.

First, you must prep the floor by priming it with Kilz.

Almost done being primed.

And, then you get to layer on the cake batter like substance.

And, but of course, a road block. We were all ready to begin tiling on Saturday morning (our fun Valentine's Day treat!) when Brooke noticed some of the compound starting to crack. He started peeling away and noticed that all of the compound in the middle of the mudroom was coming up. We realized that because this used to be a garage (in the 40's), cars sat right down the middle spilling oil. So, we bought de-greaser, scrubbed the floor, bought more leveling compound and are now filling in the gaps. Hopefully, we'll be able to lay tile this afternoon after the new compound dries and I can report in on that fun project!

to Reno to see Georgia...

I was excited to be able to get out to Reno to see my dear friend Ali, her husband Ryan, and their sweet new baby Georgia. It was a wonderfully relaxing long weekend and a treat for me to be able to spend time catching up with Ali and meeting Georgia!

Ali and I with Georgia!

Getting out of PJs and ready for some shopping with her Mom and Cat!

Reno is very close to beautiful Lake Tahoe. We were able to take a trip to the lake one day and eat on the water. Gorgeous!

Sqauw Valley ski resort in Lake Tahoe (no we didn't take to the slopes, but sipped our Starbucks and watched the action!

Ali and I after lunch on the lake.