P is for Progress

Last night I had a nightmare about painting....painting trim to be specific. The six day Paintingpalooza is still haunting me I guess. We have one room left and I am still trying to decide what this room will be when it grows up. It is currently my dressing room and it would be really nice to keep it that way. Probably not the most practical way to use the space. I am throwing around the idea of an office but let's get real....we both have laptops that we use sitting on the sofa. I know I want a twin bed in there for sure. Office/dressing/small guest room???? One day I will decide, and hopefully that day will be soon.

Until then, big things are happening around here people. Old chairs are becoming new again. White fireplaces are getting a modern touch. Couches are getting sold on Craigslist. Yay for change!

This is what we bought. A giant brick fireplace...look close at the gingerbread trim above. Does this make anyone else cringe?

Oh, and the pink paneling. This is the trim I had a nightmare about. Thank the Lord it is painted! Again, my mother-in-law helped out with this monster. Getting in all of the little cracks was a very tedious job.

I have to show you the before of the chairs too. I bought these chairs at my beloved Buchanans Antique Market two years ago for $100. I got these for Mr. R when he moved into his new apartment. They rock and spin!! But they were covered in this itchy brown 1960's upholstery. I knew one day these chairs would be ours. I bought upholstery fabric on super sale and drove this pair for a long over do face lift. Refurbished springs and new foam to boot!

"Before" chair!

Back to the fireplace. We lived with the solid white brick for about two weeks and it felt too.....too something. Stark? Clean? Country?

Color blocking is everywhere right now....whatever, call me trendy...so I color blocked my fireplace. I used Silvermist from the front room and it compliments the Aloof Grey walls. I think the color could even be darker. I just feel like it gives a modern touch to a very tradtional fireplace. I would love love love to replace the mantle with a chunky railroad tie or something similar. Oh, one day!

Color blocked fireplace.

I have so many little odd and ends around the house I wanted just something simple for this mantle. Old ceiling tile - $10 McKinney, awesome metal R - garage sale, antlers - art room still life closet. Ha! No really they were my fellow art teachers and I asked to buy them from her and she said I could have them. I will probably be hauling these things to class for a still life soon.

Newly upholstered chairs and new paint!

Our couch makes it's appearance on Saturday. Great things happening in our little house people, great things! Cannot wait to show the whole space once it is all done. AND.....that will probably be in three years:)

Painted fireplace + new chairs = very happy girl!

Desperate for Dressers

What our sweet precious little home is lacking is dressers. Isn't that a weird thing to need a lot of? We both moved from two teeny tiny apartments....remember this gorgeous girl...into a bigger but still small place? We had great closets in all three so dressers were not even something we needed and certainly did not want to give up any room for one. And now we live in a house with closets that were built for people who had two pairs of pants. The closets are too crammed......it was time.

I love my mother. She is the best Lady a girl could have. One of the best things about her is that she is my own personal picker. I will say something like "hey, you know what would be cool? Two turquoise vintage metal chairs....with white legs" and guess what I get for Christmas? The exact chairs!

Her latest hunt was for dressers. There were several texts back and forth with pictures of all kinds. Short, tall, wide, narrow. Another awesome thing about Lady is that she carries a measuring tape everywhere she goes. I had the exact dimensions, color, and price sent to my phone with steady persistence. I am a big believer in junking fate. The perfect most unique item will find you and you will just know it's the one. I will never ever buy something that I feel lukewarm about....ever. When I saw this guy via cell phone I knew he was ours.

All he needed was a little love. This guy is sturdy! Sold wood with original hardware which I thought I would have to replace but actually looks really cool with the paint color. Mr. R liked it and now it has a spot in our home. I haven't even given anyone a sneak peak at our bed room but you can see a little paint  in the picture. It's coming together.

Sherwin Williams Thunder Grey

We went back and forth whether to keep the top "wood" but decided to paint it. I went to Sherwin Williams and picked up a $6 sample of Thunder Grey and I have about half of the container left. The only bad thing about samples is that they can only mix the color in satin...oh well, I got over that in about 2 seconds.

And there he is....still moving some things around but he looked cuter dressed. I immediatly moved all of Mr. R's clothes from the plastic bins, straight up college style, to the drawers.

Oh my goodness! I forgot the best part, the dresser was only $65! Plus the $6 paint sample.....hello $71 one of kind dresser. I love a deal so much!

Happy Dressing!

Cozy in Korcula

Why has it taken me so long to finish the Croatia posts? Maybe because we have been painting a house, or driving to Colorado, or going to the home improvement store....5 times in one day. If you didn't see the previous posts about our Slovenia and Croatia trip, I'll quickly sum it up.

Ljubjana to Lake Bled to Rovinj to Plitvitce to Split to........ KORCULA!

We left Split via fast ferry which made me very happy because I didn't have to get on a bus EVER again. 

Trip Tip: If you are traveling by ferry buy your tickets before 9am the day you want to leave. We couldn't get on until late afternoon and missed most of our day in Korcula. 

These ferries are pretty huge and the water was smooth....and there was air conditioning y'all! Thank you baby Jesus! The ride to Korcula was absolutely gorgeous. The coast is peppered with tiny wooded islands surrounded by emerald blue water. We saw some very impressive private yachts and beautiful ships so the trip flew by....I can't even remember now how long it took, maybe two hours ???

Korcula Croatia

Welcome to Korcula

Our accommodations....huge apartment

When we arrived in Korcula I immediately kicked myself for not booking more than one night. This little island was right up our alley. Small, quaint, surrounded by water and mountains and yummy restaurants. There isn't a lot to see here,  one cute church and some old walls, but we had already seen so much we were ready to relax.

We rented an apartment that had two bedrooms and a big kitchen and eating area. Just steps from the church and up a steep stoned walk way. Every street led to the water! This would have been a great space for a week long vacation. 

View from our breakfast table....not to shabby.

I know you don't care what we ate for every meal but this breakfast was magical! Hot oats (oatmeal), fruit chutney, and cream......oh, and that's an olive in my oatmeal. I mixed everything together and it was like a dream in my mouth. Oh, and we were sitting in one of the most beautiful spots in the world. We rarely splurged on breakfast but this was so well worth it. 

View from our front door.

How awesome are these yellow doors!

We bought afternoon ferry ticket to Dubrovnik, checked our bags at a travel office and found a little beach just outside the walls of the city. There was a water polo court to our left at a private swimming club. Small boats lined the wall and the beach was rocky. I was a fish this day, I could not get out of the water, I just wanted to float all day.

At this point in the trip we are traveling pros. We wanted to get the most out of the beach so we bought a snack lunch from a near by grocery store and had a picnic on the beach. Crackers, salami, spreadable cheese, and apple juice!

Trip Tip: We bought straw mats in Split at a grocery store because the beaches are rocky. $5 each and worth every penny. They fold flat so they took up no room in our already tightly packed rolling suitcases. I would have really loved to have some goggles because the water was so clear.

This is where we spent the day swimming!

I didn't want to leave Korcula. We only had about 20 hours there but it was a lovely 20 hours. If you find yourself in in Dalmatian Coast give Korcula at least two days just to unwind. We both found this island to be very romantic, easy to navigate, and quaint.

Ok, one more town to post, hopefully I will get through the Dubrovnik pictures before we head back to work on Monday....groan, sigh, whimper, foot stomp! What a summer though! I keep saying that but it really has been such a great time in our life. Very happy to be with a great man, living in our cute little house, and getting to travel around the world. Lots of love!

Keep it Cozy!

Working Hard

For the past 6 days we have been living in total chaos. Drop cloths, paint cans, our sink full of paint rollers and brushes. But we pushed through and finished the biggest space in the house. Our kitchen and den are one giant space. Basically half our house. When we bought this little gem the floor was covered green and white linoleum and a cheap wood laminate with an awkward curved transition...weird! The trim was a pink gingerbread to match the pink paneling of course. And the ceiling...oh the ceiling...was covered with the worlds thickest and dustiest popcorn. Brown brick fireplace that had seen better days. Oh, and don't forget the three ceiling fans and the AC unit in the middle of the wall. Let's just say it wasn't our taste.

A little walk down memory lane....

Remember the 3 ceiling fans?

Small door

Opened up!

Floor medley....who thought that looked good?

One surface throughout space! Hi guys!

Popcorn and gingerbread.... it's like a snack

Phase 1 was definitely removing the floor....absolute must! We knocked down the wall to open up to the dining room and had the ceiling scraped by very qualified professionals. After phase 1 we really just moved in to make it livable. Couch, TV, breakfast table. No decorations or real effort because Phase 2 was on the horizon. This is how we have been living. Just doing little projects here and there in this space.

AC unit removed...still have those pink walls though.

Crown molding!

Replaced fans with ceiling lights....hard to see here.

Phase 2 begins

My mother-in-law spent the day priming this beauty!

Mr. P in the house. When you spend the night with us you are put to work!

Walls Aloof Grey, ceiling White Duck, Trim Snowbound, all Sherwin Williams

And the painting is finished!

The paint has made the room look so much brighter. Hopefully curtain hardware will arrive today. That will give Mr. R something to do with his afternoon. My sweet husband has really been working as butt off. He does everything without complaint. Not only did he work on this room he has been weeding and mulching flower beds and working on the lawn...oh yeah it's 108 outside. For someone who has had zero experience doing anything "fix-it" he has really stepped up! Great man!

So as I am writing this post I realized the Mr. R is returning our new camera....bummer. So I have no way to show the entire room. When I get the furniture and decor up will be a better after anyways.

One of my favorite little corners in the kitchen.

Being away from our house for so long has really made us appreciate it. It really feels like our home and slowly we are getting it together. Phase 3 of the kitchen/living room will be new furniture. We are going to hit up some Labor Day sales and hopefully get a good deal on a new couch. Phase 4 will be painting the cabinets. This is the house that will never be finished! That's ok, I'm loving every minute of this!

Happy Painting!

Trash to Treasure

Wouldn't it be nice it you got paid for the work you did at home. I would be racking in some serious dough this week! We started our kitchen/back living room and it has totally kicked our butts. Last night I took a break from painting trim and finally got a little grouping together in our front room. I was really waiting for the perfect table to finish this wall. You know where I found it? Amarillo Texas! Who would have thought? Amarillo has yet to let me down with some awesome finds.

This room started out sherbet green!

Sherwin Williams Silvermist for the walls!

 Once the table was in a cozy spot I put up some framed goodies. I got all of the frames  and the mirror at Salvation Army for a whopping $20 for all of them. Everything needed a little spray paint love. The hanger was $1 make you holla that also got a spray paint swipe. I also painted the silver so it would read a bit more brassy.

Yay for stuff!

I collect so many random things! I have boxes and bags full of flash cards. I had to put up the scooter so Mr. R would feel special! I also had some vintage needles that I thought looked cool against old dress patterns. I know, so random!

Print of a ram from our honeymoon in Split Croatia. Super cool!

Obsessed with dice! If you look in the upper right corner you can see one of my favorite little cards!

And there you have it folks! Sorry the angles are so weird I kept catching myself in the mirror and it was scary. Everything in this grouping is from Salvation Army, antique mall, or flea market. Oh, except the lamp shade that was a huge Wal-Mart splurge of $13. There is room for this grouping to grow if needed or if I hate it next week I have spackle and touch-up paint.

Mr. R said this looked like me. I am taking that as a huge compliment because my stuff is awesome!

One day soon I will have something substantial to show. Like an entire finished room. We are slowly getting things together. Phase 1 of kitchen/living room is coming to a close....hopefully! We need big pieces for this room so it wont be 100% finished for awhile. 

My dressing room/office/storage room is the next major project and I am dreading it. I kind of want to nail the door shut and just call it a day. Thanks for visiting this little blog. Sorry it took so long for a house update and sorry for this rambling blog post. I am suffering from paint exhaustion!

Happy Junking!

Oh Estes!

I know I haven't even finished with our Croatia trip. There are just so many pictures y'all.......

After a whirlwind wedding weekend in Denver the whole family drove up to Estes Park for two days. It was a quick trip up to the mountains but we had a few great hikes and some good ol' fashioned family fun time....because there were no TVs.

Traveling with four small children was actually really fun! There was no major melt downs. I can say that because I was in the grown-up car most of the time. Who wants to squeeze those babies? So precious!

We thought we could cram in a few hikes while we were in Estes so we drove into Rocky Mountain National Park. When I think hiking, I think about quiet, walking slow to enjoy my surroundings, listening to nature. This is not the case when you are hiking with my brother. I will compare our hike to a competitive jog....no really! It was a miracle I even had time to snap any photos.

We all saw the sign, took pictures with it, but no one read what to do if we came across a bear.

Me lagging behind was a common theme.

Day 1 hikers! 

Cub Lake

Made it to Cub Lake!

A very aggressive chipmunk....ewww!

D and TK!

The R's at Cub Lake

Cub Lake Rocky Mountain National Park

After our hike we headed back to clean up and take a nap. My cousins drove in from Aurora to meet us for the night. I just wanted everyone to see what it looks like when we roll up to a restaurant. Table for 15 please!

Oh hey Lady!

Crash pointed at this guy and said "Poppie!" Ha!

Alright, day two hiking team started earlier and moved faster. There were several occasions when I was actually running.  I got to lead for the first time and felt like I was being chased by wild dogs. This hike we were on a time crunch but we saw some beautiful scenery.

Quick break

These two are my best friends!

....and this guy!

Ok, almost done.....

Great way to start the day. Beautiful!

Breakfast by the river

Day 2 hikers saying goodbye to Colorado!

Family vacations are everything I remember. Lots of laughs, mild car sickness, staying up late playing games, catching up with cousins, reminiscing about my Bobo, hearing all my Daddy's tall tales, and making memories. Love my family more than words!

When we got home we had a 24 break and then it was wedding time again. My sweet friend Tiffany, I have been posting her showers, got married last Saturday and it was such a gorgeous day! You know who didn't take any pictures.....me! So bummed. Maybe through the magic of Facebook I can put together a post worthy of the wedding. AND Mr. R and I have been busy painting the kitchen and den. Hoping I will have an after photo by this weekend.


Thanks for reading this little blog. I promise some house photos soon!

Hip Hip Hooray for Family Vacations!