A little of this, a little of that

I am zeroing in on finishing the guest room...I can FEEL it.
And as a result, I'm going to get paint samples from Lowe's tomorrow test on the front porch. I can't finish one project before I start another.
Anyway, I ordered this fabric today to make cornices for the windows (my original curtain plan isn't going to work with the new dresser.

Waverly Parterre Lacquer at Fabric.com

Found a coupon code online for 20% off, so the 2.5 yards I bought are about $30 (and I qualified for free shipping!) When that comes, I can make those, hang a couple more pictures, one more little project and I'll be finito! 

A few other new things around the house include: 

New light fixture in the hallway! My fantastic husband put it up before I could take a before picture of the old fixture, but this is what it was: 

This is literally the CHEAPEST flush mount fixture at Lowe's. Now, I'm not usually a critic of getting things on the cheap, but really...it doesn't get anymore blah than this fixture. Oh previous owners...

The next new thing: Shelves in the guest room! 

And lastly, my little project last weekend: Towel hooks in the guest room 

This was such an easy thing to make. A piece of wood (that I found in the basement, yay free!), white paint, a little Modge Podge, some scrapbooking paper from Michaels and 4 hooks from Ikea, done and done and adorable.Total cost - $5, which was just for the hooks and the sheet of scrapbook paper, the rest was all stuff I had around the house.
 

Oh, and we added this to our lives last weekend, too. My new (to me) 2008 Mazda 3 Hatchback...it's a total accident that she matches the guest room...seriously. Oh, and the mustache is just to hide my license plate number, but I would totally drive a car with a handlebar mustache.

Nightstand by me

Something exciting happened today. My fabric samples came from Mood!
Or I thought they did, until I opened the package and there was only one sample. (Sad Trombone)

I called Mood and apparently there was some kind of location change and not all the samples were available. So, I was refunded my 50 cents but I had to REORDER the red Oscar de la Renta twill. On the upside, though, the Tiffany blue canvas is the perfect color for the rocking chair! So I'll be ordering a half yard of that.  Look at how fantastic this match is.

And yes, I painted the rocking chair. This rocking chair:

Doesn't get much more Granny than that chair, eh? Complete with cross stitch seat cushion. Fear not, as soon as I get the seat recovered with the fabric from Mood, you'll see the full reveal.

Today, we're talking about the nightstands. We had two nightstands that came along from Adam's childhood home when he moved into his first apartment after college, and then to the apartment we lived in together, and then to our house. Adam was pretty sick of them, having had them since he was a little tyke, so when we got new nightstands for our bedroom, they went to the guest room.

Pretty 80s, right? Needless to say, they needed a little updating. So, after some sanding, priming and painting, and some new hardware (thanks Restoration Hardware Outlet!)...ta da! 

Much better, right? And it doesn't hurt that they were FREE! The paint is the same as the trim in the room, so that was also free, and the hardware was pretty cheap, at around $15 for all of it. 

And are you noticing the nicely made bed next to them? That's because I got a mattress the other day! I couldn't help but make the bed when I got it. Adam is very happy to have a second bed in the house where he can go when my snoring gets out of control (I was sick this past week. My stuffed sinuses = no sleep for the hubs). I'm not going to be showing off the bed until I get the dust ruffle situation sorted, which will mean disassembling all my nicely made linens. 

The room is quickly coming together. What's left?

- Hang pictures

- Hang and accessorize knick-knack shelves

- Make a coat/towel hook

- Refinish dresser

- Complete rocking chair

- Complete curtains

- Find a small rug

- Alter dust ruffle

My goal is to have it all done by the end of June. The dresser job will be the hardest, everything else is just little stuff. Once it's done I can start on the front porch! I was originally going to tackle the den, but I'd like to get the front porch looking cozy so we can really enjoy it while the weather is warm.

In the Mood

I have to admit something. I am a little bit of a sucker for labels.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm no Carrie Bradshaw. I don't have designer clothes or shoes, and most of the decor in my house were free from family members, or purchased cheap. Adam and I do live within our means. But I do like to be able to say, "oh that? That's just my Johnathan Adler Bird Bowl...just a little something I picked up, you know."

Anyway, I found out today (via Material Girls) that Mood Fabrics (yeah, the one from Project Runway) is now selling their fabrics online. They do carry home decor fabrics, but the selection is much smaller as compared to their clothing fabric options. And after going to every fabric store in town yesterday (even Wal Mart...I dread our Wal Mart, it's enormous constantly busy and I don't go there unless I'm desperate) with no luck finding fabric for my guest room curtains, I was overjoyed to find these two on Mood's website.

Tiffany Blue/White Floral Canvas designed by Mood - $35/yard

Red and White Twill designed by Oscar de la Renta - $14/yard

I'm more in love with the Tiffany Blue Floral, but I want red fabric for the curtains. Plus the red is cheaper and probably a more suitable fabric for the job. So I'm thinking the twill is the way to go.

 I have a couple of curtain panels I got for free from my Mom, that I plan to use in the guest room and I'm going to give them the same treatment as the curtains in the master bedroom. Remember those? Plain white tab top curtains from Target with a stripe of color sewn down the inside edge? Let's review. 

(As a side note...I can't WAIT to get rid of those copper colored metal mini blinds...the ones on Adam's side of the bed are broken anyway, I will use this as an excuse other than I just think they're ugly).   

So, I'm very excited to get Oscar de la Renta fabic via Mood (although I tried on Oscar de la Renta sunglasses at WalMart yesterday, so I don't know why I feel like this is some kind of schmancy label). I'm going to order some swatches today just to be sure of the color and then hopefully I'll be all set for curtains.

As a side note, the guest room is coming along. I'm hoping to be done soon. Here's the list:

Paint walls and trim

Paint bed

Paint nightstands

Paint rocking chair

Get dresser (I have a choice of 2 free ones, one from my Mom, one from my Brother's house, I'm thinking)

Buy Mattress 

Buy pillows

Buy lamps

Hang art

Make curtains

Make decorative pillows

Accessorize

Keep on keeping on

I took a big step in the home buying process today. I have started to stop all email updates from realtor websites. I know, it's scary, right? So, yesterday we actually got some things accomplished! no. 1 We stopped by the yard sale at my aunt's house (she does it every year, its a BIG multi family sale) and got an antique buffet for an unbelievable $20! It will need refinishing and will likely be spending the first several months of it's life with us in the basement while I work on it, but that's okay because it has the potential to be a beautiful piece and if I decide I don't like it, we can always take it back to the yard sale next year...and maybe get $30 for it :) I'll post pictures later, it's sitting in my aunt's carport right now since we have to borrow a truck to pick it up (and of course we'll just be taking it to my parents' house where it will sit until we make the big move) no. 2 We picked out wallpaper for the dining room.

(Click on the picture to go to manufacturer's website).

I like it. I think the colors are a little off in this picture. The light green isn't so limey in real life and the blue background is more gray in real life. I won't lie though, it does remind me of this scene in Garden State. We'll be pulling/coordinating colors from the wallpaper to use for the dining room and living room (since you can see one from the other through the big open arch). Here's the plan:

Living room: Sherwin Williams Filmy Green SW6190

Dining Room above chair rail: Sherwin Williams Techno Gray SW6170. We really think any artwork we hang will look great against this. Trim...Pretty much everwhere in the whole house: Sherwin Williams Roman Column SW 7562 EDIT: THE BLUE BACKGROUND OF THE BLOG IS COMPLETELY THROWING OFF THE APPEARANCE OF THESE COLORS. RIGHT CLICK AND VIEW IMAGE IF YOU WANT TO SEE WHAT THEY SHOULD LOOK LIKE. Maybe I need to change this layout...but I like it so much! no. 3 I ordered fabric for the bedroom. This Robert Allen @ Home fabric was 60% off this weekend, and with my additional 15% off educator discount, I managed to get it for around $12 a yard (regularly $35/yard). I'm going to add some of this to the inside edge (where the curtains meet in the middle) of some plain white cotton 84" panels from Target ($17 for 2 panels) and hang them in the bedroom. I'll be getting my lattice/greek key obsession out, but not so much as to offend my husband's sensibilities. I ended up ordering double what I will actually need for the project because I don't think I will see this fabric at this price again for a long while. I might make a pillow, or maybe I'll add some to some to the edge of some pillow cases. Something will happen with it. Adam and I also did a little hunting for side tables, but he was shopped out so that will wait for another day. Just some side tables and an area rug and I'll be happy on move-in day! As I read over the last 3 posts I know they all seem very disjointed because I'm never talking about just one room. I'm hoping that I can devote posts in the future (after move-in) to one room/project/thing at a time. 1 week to closing, everybody! 3 weeks to empty house, 4 weeks til move-in day!