Show Us Where You Live: Foyers

This week’s edition of Show Us Where You Live over at Kelly’s Korner blog features foyers. This is probably the least exciting area of our house, but I’ll share anyway because it did receive quite a facelift when we moved in.

Here’s the foyer when we bought the house:

For such a small space, you wouldn’t think there would be much that needed improving. Wrong. That’s my brother peeling off the lovely wallpaper. It was hid.e.ous. Some kind of scene with ladies in a field or something. It was the first thing to go. Also note the tacky brass lantern light that hung way too low. You can also see that the previous owner installed a new door, but left it unfinished so we could paint it or stain it however we liked.

And here’s the foyer after:

As you can see, we stained the front door a rich cherry color and painted the walls purple (Vintage Grape by Behr). This color is also featured in the bookcase wall in the living room. We also replaced the old brass light fixture with a more modern one flush to the ceiling.

I’ve kept the decorating simple in this area since it is such a small space. It doesn’t get much attention anyway, since we always use the backdoor. I have showcased some of my candle embellishments here though:

The foyer is also where we first noticed termite damage, after we had painted the door frame and trim:

Fun. So we had to replace the door frame and threshold. We’re now under a termite contract to prevent further infestations. Oh, the joys of home ownership!

Since this is the final installment of Show Us Where You Live, I thought I would leave you with the links to all my previous posts. The first week was kitchens, which I missed, but you can see my kitchen cabinet makeover here on the DIY Showoff Blog. Here are the rest of my rooms:

Living Room

Guest Bedroom

Dining Room

Nursery/Children’s Room (of my best friend)

Office

Bathroom

Laundry Room/Playroom/Bonus Room

Master Bedroom

Garage/Garden

Hope you enjoyed the tours! I know I had so much fun peeking into everyone’s homes.

Here’s the schedule for the rest of Kelly’s tours:

Friday, July 17th - Children Birthday Parties
Friday, July 24 - Show us your Wedding Dress
Friday, July 31 - Show us (and tell us about) your Wedding Party and Flowers
Friday, August 7 - Show us your Wedding Reception and Honeymoon
Friday, August 14 - Show us your favorite vacation spot
Friday, August 21- Show us baby shower ideas (ones you have had, hosted or been to)
Friday, August 28- Show us wedding shower ideas (ones you have had, hosted or been to)
Friday, Sept 4 - Show us your favorite Go To dinner recipe (we can all get new ideas!)
Friday, Sept 11 - Show us your favorite Dessert recipe
Friday, Sept 18 - Show us your baby gear - what you recommend and what you wouldn't buy if you had to do it all over again
Friday, Sept 25 - Show us some of your favorite places/sights in your town (great way to see the world from your own home)

I’m not sure how many I’ll participate in from here on out, probably some of the wedding ones and recipe ones.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Antique Ceiling Tile Tins DIY

I finished a new batch of painted antique ceiling tile tin signs last week and wanted to share them for Kimba’s DIY party over at A Soft Place to Land and Transformation Thursday over at The Shabby Chic Cottage. Here’s how they start out:

And after a few coats of spray paint and some embellishing, here’s how they end up:

Each one is adorned with Swarovski crystals:

I think they turned out so cute and would be precious in a nursery or little girl’s room! I’m trying them out at a local boutique as well as in my Etsy store to see if they sell.

Wordless Wednesday

Traveling Today.... more posts later this week

New Friends

I wanted to take the time to share some of the new friends I’ve made out here in Blog-land….little did I know when I started this blog it would open up a whole new world of “friends”! People with similar interests, styles, and motivations, whom I enjoy visiting with now on a regular basis. Imagine my surprise when little ol’ me was recognized on one of my new favorite blogs with the Kreative Blogger Award.

Kate at Centsational Girl awarded me for my DIY kitchen transformation for our kitchen cabinet makeover that was featured on the DIY Showoff Blog. Be sure to check out both these great blogs for some fabulous inspirational DIY projects.

My seashell wall treatment was also recently featured on Completely Coastal. Check out this beachy blog for beautiful decorating ideas and craft projects.

I’d like to pass the Kreative Blogger Award on to some of my new blog friends that are worth a visit if you have the time:

A Penny Saved

The Shabby Chic Cottage

Struggling to Be Stylish

Imperfectly Beautiful

A Soft Place To Land

Domestic Fashionista

These are just a sampling of the wonderfully inspiring blogs that I visit regularly. Be sure and take a peek at my blog roll over on the left sidebar for a complete list of my favorites!

Frame Makeover

I'm linking up with Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for my first Metamorphosis Monday post. Be sure and head over there and check out all the other great transformation posts!

You may remember these two little frames I bought at a yard sale a couple weeks ago:

They went from country to chic with just a simple makeover:

Using a little paint, satin ribbon, and vintage earrings:

Listed and sold on Etsy right away!

Happy 4th of July!!

Show Us Where You Live: Outdoors

This week Kelly is showcasing Garages and Yards in her weekly tour of homes. I’m so excited to participate, because I love to show off my garden, and I love to look at other peoples’ gardens!

We just have a carport, so there’s nothing exciting there, except for my hubby’s ‘65 Mustang:

This photo taken at our old house….where we had a garage…we miss you garage!

Anyway, on to more interesting things than some old car….

We’ll start in the front yard. The previous owner planted all of the daylilies and several of the other plants, we added the Louisiana irises and Butterfly irises (which I don’t have a photo of).

I call this one my Geaux Tigers Lily:

Hmmmm, seems that I don’t have any distance shots of the front flower bed, just close ups. And I’m too lazy to go take new ones. Most of these are from earlier this spring or last year.

Down the side of the house there are these gorgeous canna lilies that the previous owner also planted. I’ve clean up this bed every year and remove plants to give to friends and family, they multiply fast!

Moving on to the backyard……

I usually plant petunias in these baskets on the fence since they can handle the sun.

This is the butterfly bush in the middle of the flower bed:

And the Mexican Petunia:

This little Gardenia was a housewarming present from some of our best friends. I finally planted it in the front bed this year, it had been in a pot on the back porch for 3 years:

Are you tired of seeing flowers yet?? Just hang with me for a couple more pics. I have saved the best for last. My favorites. My babies. I present to you, my hydrangeas (I am so taking credit for these even though the previous owner planted them):

I put some aluminum in the soil of this one in order to get a lavender color:

I just love my hydrangeas! I love that I have enough to cut a few for a vase inside every now and then and I love to watch the colors change throughout the summer.

I have so many more photos of my flowers, I could probably dedicate a whole blog just to them! Even though maintaining flower beds is a lot of work, especially in the Louisiana heat, it it totally worth it because I enjoy them so much. I check almost every day to see if I have any new blooms! Now I’m off to look at everyone else’s outdoor spaces.

Another Custom Creation

I had the opportunity this past weekend to create a custom frame for a friend.  The frame’s recipient is a bee-lover, so this is what I came up with:

You can’t really tell in the photo, but the little bee’s wings are glittery and sparkly.

I used a vintage brooch to accent the middle of the bow.

I love it when a customer gives me an inspiration to work with.  Sometimes my creativity gets stumped when working all alone!  Visit my Etsy shop to create a custom frame of your own!

One Lucky Winner….

….received this frame hand painted by yours truly:

Congratulations to Annie, who won the giveaway over at Project Pretty. Annie said her office was decorated in black and white, with polka dot, damask, and paisley accents. So I came up with this paisley design and then finished it off with a vintage button and some rhinestones.

I loved the design so much that I put it up for sale in my Etsy shop. Stay tuned, another custom design coming tomorrow!