DIY Project House - In Shades of White...

Recently I did a post about a friend's DIY garden and patio.  

Now let me show you some scenes from inside her home on our private tour.   

This old church attendance sign is one of the first things you see as you enter.  

She remade it into this loveliness...

For a refresher - she lives in a daylight basement...

 with this lovely porch as her entrance.  

And she's only lived here about a year...

Another wall hanging project...

  
Her faux fireplace is a great addition to her main dining area...

...as is this lovely burlap draped window.... (Have some stencils?)

 

Her little kitchen is just so cozy -

...and check out that chalkboard painted cabinet side...

These old file boxes are stored up high.  What awesome patina...

Her bedroom is dreamy in - what else?  Whites...

And I adored this window ledge in her bathroom...

And as we leave - we pass another neat piece of

 furniture that's been given her special touch...

...and a coffee filter and chair webbing wreath project.

Like what you see?  Go visit her blog at Apartment 12.

Thanks for the inspiration dear Esther!  You're a treasure.

Using Bad Plastic Faux Greens...

I recently bought a great pottery vase filled with a

 less-than-great greens bouquet.  Less-than-great because 

they looked too 'plastic' to me in real life.  

But the vase?  It was only $4 and I liked it!

So with a knife to cut through all the foam filler - 

I removed the greens and now I have a great-looking

 vase in my family room to fill at will...

Bouquet of Sweet Annie & Faux Fall Foliage

 The greens do not look plastic from the road - in fact,

 they look great outside.  But they do not look Fall.

But with a few tucked in faux fall stems - it's good-to-go.    

This idea of adding to greens should work for any season.

Sometimes you need to divide and conquer.

Yay for thrifting!
To see the rest of my Fall porch - go here.
Linking to What's It Wednesday

The Story Of a Family Tree...

This weekend I spent a day with my siblings.  It was our first 

such day together since my parents went to heaven.

  We enjoyed a day of visiting local family spots of interest.

 One of our stops was to a little house my grandmother 

once lived in - before I was old enough to remember.

In the back of the house stands a tree.  Turns out - my father planted 

that tree at his mother's house - with my brother's help. 

  But that's not the whole story...

 My brother with 'his' tree!

Apparently my dad bought that tree with the intention of 

planting it at his own home (my family's before my time).  

But they lived on a rental property and he wasn't allowed to plant it.  

So... he commandeered my brother's (approx. age 11) help - 

and they picked up that tree - burlap ball, 6 ft tall and all - 

and took it to my grandmother's house and planted it.  

Picked it up and hand carried it!!!  Her house?  

It was about 3 miles away. 

Now that's a tree lover!

Me and my siblings after our day excursion...

 We live very scattered (Costa Rica, East Coast US, West Coast US) - 

so this day was a treat. 

But we plan to make this a bi-annual event.  Lord willing of course!

My Fall Porch - Pre Pumpkins...

The weather is cooling - but it still gets plenty warm during the day.  

So... no 'real' pumpkins have made it to the porch.

  Instead, she is decked out with other Rustic Cottage Autumn charm...

 This was my 'bare bones' start... but then added faux fall foliage to the greens 

and darkened the sign with some beeswax oil.

 I made the sign from an old scarred & stained board I found laying around.  

Six letters seemed to be the perfect fit - so 'Thanks' was the result.  

It was done with a black Magnum Sharpie -  coloring inside the lines of stencils.  

The border is one swipe of the marker done freehand.

To put together my porch this year - I just went scouring my garage, etc.  

Anything that looked like it could possibly work - 

I brought it to the porch and then played.  

The rocker had been green and the dog chewed the legs.  

Black spray paint makes it look great.

Loving my $3 thrift throw (say that 3 x's fast...) - 

and I'm thinking it'll work for Christmas too!

How's that for a bargain?

 The little step stool was made by my deceased step father in law. 

It was the wrong color - so a fresh coat of paint makes it porch-worthy.

 Welcome Autumn!

And yay - we love our new porch floor.   

Should have done it years and years ago!

Projects Galore and New Porch...

 I'm in the midst of many projects.  None of them huge - 

but projects none-the-less.  

I'm beginning to decorate my porch for Fall...

 We have a new porch this year - well the columns and porch floor 

are new - so I'm just a wee bit anxious.

 I took about 20 minutes and made that 'Thanks' sign tonight.  

The greens started out life in this vase - picked up yesterday for $4.  

They aren't great.  But outside - with other faux Fall foliage - they'll look fine.

 

I'm spray painting a wicker rocker for the porch...

 I learned about this little trigger gizmo by Rustoleum for about $2 - 

and now I can use a can of spray paint.  

(I have arm issues - so I'm thrilled to have found this!)  

You can pick them up at home improvement box stores.

 I've also just finished a wall shelf...

It started out life in a pretty mundane state...

 

But isn't she a charmer?

 

An 80's Home Interiors sled is also getting a makeover...

But she's not quite ready yet...  Soon!

 

I'm on a mission to Revamp It to Sell It!

It's time to get this stuff outa here and 'sold'.