For the love of oak

Just a quick post showing off some of my oak kitchen and how "cool" it can be.  If your out in blog land you know that an oak kitchen or even oak trim is not as common anymore.  However I'm still here with oak everywhere and I'm not ok with it.  No, you can still make a beautiful home with oak, but white does makes everything  look so crisp and clean.  I'll keep dreaming!  

Here are couple snap shots of my kitchen for my dear friend Ange at The Blooming Hydrangea...doing this just for you little lady!!  Please note I didn't edit or crop any of these pictures.

My pantry holds almost everything in the kitchen because it's relatively small.

What I've found with the oak trim(my oak trim has some red in it) that green

goes very well with it.  I used Hillside Green, there's a swatch in the current

Pottery Barn catalog.  I love the color!



Here's a peak inside and take a look at my pantry makeover.

We added some granite counter tops about two years ago, they help the oak pop too...

We are blessed to have cream colored appliances, no stainless steel here and it's ok

This is what's for dinner tonight, see there's a miscellaneous handle in the picture.

Didn't edit at all :)

The quickest post ever done, really...just for Ange@The Blooming Hydrangea

Summer Dreaming

I've had the best time putting together my summer mantel today and maybe because it's finally warming up outside.  We also opened our pool last weekend and I'm ready for some pool time and sun.  This got my wheels turning about what to do with my mantel.  I was searching through all my photos on the computer and came across this one.  It was from last year at the beach in Panama City Beach before all of the oil hit.  My youngest daughter had her goggles on and was diving to the bottom of the ocean to gather any shells she could find.  She had a blast and so I caught a quick picture of her treasures.  Look at her cute toes in the sand all painted so pretty.  Oh how I miss the beach!  

I blew the picture up to 16x20 and it turned out awesome, perfect for a summer mantel.



All I really had to buy was a 16x20 frame for the picture which was $9.99 and some candles and they were 50% off at Hobby Lobby.  Oh, I bought a big bag of sand at Walmart for $3.26, but I am going to use it all summer long.  I had the shells, starfish and drift wood pieces so I brought those out of storage.

I used my Dollar Tree hurricane's I made and added a picture of the girls digging in the sand and
some shells.  Took some twine and wrapped it around the candles to add some texture, easy peasy! 

  

 

I'm partying at the Lettered Cottage and At the Picket Fence today

   

 

Ideas Organized

I sometimes have up to a hundred thoughts going through my mind at any given moment.  I'm serious! 

Take for instance, I can literally have ideas in my head about my daughter's room and how I want to redecorate, then my mind instantly switched gear to my other daughter's room and how much organization she needs done.  It's like one task turns into the next and so on.  It's never ending for me, so many thoughts running through my mind all the time and to top it off sometimes my ideas don't really go any further than my head!  Scary I know, try sleeping with all these thoughts running through your mind. 
It's even worse when I take off to Target to "look around" and I forget what I was originally there to look at because I get so distracted with ideas.

I guess you could call my little problem Decorating Deficit Disorder...often shifting from one uncompleted task to another or the inability to sustain attention on tasks.  This pretty much sums it up, but I'm trying to do better.  

So I had another thought on how to help myself, get organized and have a place to store all million of  my ideas, thoughts, inspiration, and goals...

Check out Melissa's organizational tool/ binder full of ideas and inspirations that she
keeps with her all the time.

Source

 

She even keeps the paint codes for future reference, brilliant I'm telling ya.

via



Lori stores all of her favorite magazine tear out pages in plastic sleeves, she stays
organized and  has a ton of references to look through.  Love it!

Who can live without one or a couple of these babies, you know what I am 

talking about.  Yvonne has several she keeps on hand and when she pulls one

out or brings another fan deck home from the paint store it scares her husband.  

I can just hear my hubby saying to me "what are you doing now" Oh nothing, hehe!

For now I am gathering my stuff and it's scattered throughout the house to create my own personal design book/journal.  I'll share it with when I'm done.  In the meantime, have a great weekend and Memorial Day!

Outdoor View

Spring was here and now it's kinda gone, but it's suppose to be back again later this week.  Yeah, this has been our spring here in the Midwest.  On that note, take a look at this!

Our front porch.....

When I think about a front porch I think about how neighbors use to gather there to talk and visit in the warm months.  Do you remember the countless hours that were spent just swinging on the front porch?  I sure do with my grandparents.  

Before there was central air many used the porch to escape the heat of the house.  The cool breeze from the front porch is a memory I will always carry with me. 

I can honestly say we have tried to carry on those same traditions with our family, friends, and neighbors.  We spend hours out on our porch talking, hanging out, and watching the kiddo's play.  We are so blessed to live in a close nit sub-division which is not as common these days.  Our neighbors really are top notch and have become great friends.     

  

 Some random pics of my container plants just getting started...

I'll be sharing more outdoor projects with you soon.  What projects do you have going on outside?     

Garage Sale

It's that time of the year, oh yes it's garage sale time!  We have a sub-division garage sale twice a year and I love walking around the neighborhood trying to find a bargain.  When my girls were younger, my mission was to find gently used clothing, but now it's harder since they are older.  However, I do try to go to the houses with older teenage girls to see if they have anything worth while.  Sometimes I luck out and other times not so much, but that's half the fun, right?   

Here are a couple goodies I spotted while out and about.  These were all found at my friend Trisha's home, she has had some awesome pieces for sale.  Let's just say my budget was almost gone before I left her house.  Plus she was gracious enough to let me take some pictures of her stuff, not sure if too many people would like someone walking around taking crazy pictures of their junk stuff! 

Beautiful colored Hemingray Insulators

Old, heavy mirror with a date stamp of 1871 on the back

Have you been to any garage sales yet this year?  What have you found? 

We sold a couple items today like our old kitchen table, an old bicycle, and some DS games. 

It's game time

Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the Cubbies,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game."

We made our first trip this year to Wrigley Field today to watch our Cubs.

Seated closely with our dear friends.  The weather started out sunny then the clouds rolled in and it showered a bit.  We were seated under the upper balcony roof so we stayed dry and relatively warm.



Here's one picture of the ball game...

My hubby and Cub owner Tom Ricketts
(Tom was walking around the park saying hello to the fans)

We will never forget Harry Carey

Source

Well our Cubs didn't win today(Cincinnati Reds 5, Cubs 4), and we didn't get to sing "Go Cubs Go", but they played a pretty good game.  If you've ever been to Wrigley then you know what I mean when I say there is just something about Wrigley Field, the history alone tells a story.  It was a blast today and can't wait to go back later in the season.  Let's go Cubs!!

Layla

Good morning all!

I'm linking up today to Debbiedoo's Pet Party to show off "Layla" today.  She is our rescue cat that we adopted back in December 2010 from the local Humane Society.  Her description was listed as a grey tabby, but really a mutt.  With that being said I think she might have some Siamese in her because she's a talker.  Her personality is pretty much like any other cat.  She's lovey when she wants to be and that sums it up. I have to honest though she is my cat.  When I'm gone working out of town she looks up at my husband with her big eyes and without being able to talk he knows what she's thinking.  "Where is she, where did she go?"  I'm not kidding, she is a little lost when I'm not here.  As I writing this post she is up on the desk right in the way.

All in all, she brings love and joy to our home and is treated like a queen.  We love her and couldn't imagine our home without her, well sometimes.
 

Here she is in the way (always) when I am working on my pantry makeover

My "Allycat"!

Have a great weekend-



Launch Pad Reveal

Hello there!  Well, I was suppose to have my Launch Pad reveal done last week, but the week got away from me so here I am.  I'm back and I kicked it into high gear and finished it today. 

Here's what it use to look like?  I still have nightmares about tripping over shoes!

The primary goal for "my" launch pad was to get all of the shoes and coats off the floor and off the stairway railings.  In other words, get organized!

I found the coat rack at Walmart and it was white, but I took care of that and gave it a new coat of Heirloom White spray paint.  Then I knew I wanted to incorporate some pictures of my girls but wasn't sure what else to use.  A couple of weeks ago I found a metal sign at Hobby Lobby and took a picture of it thinking I can create something with these awesome words....."In Our House"  What a perfect place!  How fitting to see these words when you are coming in or going out.

   

Just loved what this said and how it really defines my family.

Just in case the adults kids need another reminder.  

 Blue basket was on clearance at Gordman's for $4.00, not bad

 Simple and organized, exactly what I was hoping for! 

 Blessings to you,

Linking to Roomspiration blog party