keeping it real....

 sometimes chores don't always get completed... homework, piano lessons, ballet, sports and year end school projects get in the way.  this is real life, people!  luckily, the downstairs and our room is clean and that's what counts (at least that's what i tell myself).

this girl loves taking pictures.  thankfully she took the pictures above on mother's day, because I did not pick up my camera.  it's a blessed life and i am thankful.

so (kinda) ugly it's purdy

have you ever fallen in love with something on the third glance?

this was definitely not love at first sight, but after walking by a few times it blossomed into, ummm, something. and i thought it was sort of cute and comfy. sister loved it!

oh, and it reclined.

so it went home with us... in the rental we picked up a few hours ago (due to the accident).

sister pulled out the manual to figure out how to move the seats around.

this day was actually starting to have potential!

paint paint and more paint

this was a plain wooden table that has been in our foyer for years... i got tired of it blending into the floor. glossy black on the top with some fun turquoise legs makes this pop when you walk in the door. although the legs could be a tad darker to match the picture (which reminds me of paint cans ~ fun fact: i own more paint cans than shoes!)

this desk was on a neighbors driveway... she begged me to take it away along with two other dressers (i had to leave those too many projects at one time). i had fun with this one... shameful that it is in a closet! but it was a perfect fit for my sewing closet.

every four years or so i change our colors up... john david jokes that by the time we move the square footage will have to be adjusted to account for the smaller room size. the walls were grasslands (sherwin) the new color on the bookshelf wall is hardware (sherwin). the hubby left to play tennis on tuesday evening and this wall was 75% painted by the time he walked back in. (i have some family pictures to hang in the middle section)

random colors from my "i need to lighten the walls and bring in more accent color" phase. which lasted less than a day ~ some of the lighter colors seemed like a lack of color if that makes sense. these pictures of all white houses are beautiful but just not for me. chatroom (sherwin ~ seriously, who else) will be the wall color for the other walls. and yes, we have had our small group bible study meeting here and each week there are a few more samples on the wall.

so, who's up for some painting?

before & after ~ i didn't like it

so many hours sanding, priming, sanding, priming, sanding, painting, sanding, taping and painting... loved the piece in the garage, moved it into the room and was not wowed. monochromatic does not make me happy. went out of town, hoped to come home and realize it was just what i wanted. did not happen. out came the paint wheel... again. did not even move back to the garage, sanded and repainted right in the landing upstairs.

a little more contrast (drawers have already been tried out in the room) and i think this is it. well, it better be because i am not painting it again.

a dresser in the bathroom?

this is why i need this project finished NOW!

irene is a comin'

yesterday a weather channel guy was reporting six minutes from our house... i was hoping it was jim cantore... we did not stop by because it was not. anyway, how crazy is that?

my search for water failed, so instead of wasting my day looking elsewhere i stopped by sherwin williams, because they always have just what i am looking for. please don't take this wrong ~ irene is big and strong and we should be prepared, but one of my three littles battles an anxious tummy so i am also trying to keep things somewhat normal. this morning we did find water then stopped by blockbuster so the children could each pick out one movie. when we got home i started sanding a dresser that is going in the girl's room... if the electricity goes out i can paint, but not sand. at least not with an electric sander!

this is a desk i found on a neighbor's driveway ~ she begged me to take it away. john david was SO thrilled (can you hear the sarcasm ~ but it was free people, FREE!). i have a quart of glossy black paint just waiting to be brushed on this find. oh, and it fits like a dream in my sewing room (i mean closet off the playroom). so as soon as the weather passes and i can pull my car out of the garage these two projects are on my agenda.

before and after ~ a sneak peek

i found this dresser in my parent's lake house attic; it was previously in my grandfather's lake house. my camera battery died so i did not get a good before picture with the entire dresser painted blue. the drawers are finished except for a poly top coat. the dresser has primer on it and needs to be painted, but i ran out of sandpaper so that will have to wait for now. unfortunately laundry and cleaning is on today's list. oh, and little man's back to school class pool party.

because i have extra time on my hands...

i can organize the children's books according to color. really? my husband says there is professional help available for people like me... oh, and i built these bookshelves myself, months ago and for some reason never posted the process on the blog. that's what summer does to a momma.

broken a/c

when we woke up saturday morning our upstairs was 83 degrees. we turned the air conditioning off, reset the breaker, checked the outside unit and then turned it back on ~ within the hour we had gone up another two degrees and by late afternoon it was 93 upstairs.  the downstairs unit is working so we have been camping out with the children. other than showering upstairs or running up to get a toy or book we have been mainly downstairs, in the family room, together. they are coming tomorrow morning (wednesday) so we are enjoying one last night of camping out. on a positive note the upstairs is fairly neat since we have not been up there... but the laundry is piling up because it is too hot to complete a load.