Keeping it real

I'm about to show you insanity.  It's cray cray around here.

I like to challenge myself every once in awhile, and the best way to do that is to invite 5 college girlfriends for the weekend in the middle of a reno.  Ah...nothing like a little pressure to get shit moving.

We started painting the exterior of the house last week.  I'm super happy with how the color turned out, seeing as Will and I went completely custom.  3/4 of the house is painted, but we have one side with rotted wood that needs to be replaced.  And you would think that a carpenter would be easy to come by.  Nope.  At least not one that wants to do any work!  We finally found someone to start today but they don't speak any English.  ZERO.  But did they show up?  NO!  And the only way I can communicate with the guy is through my painter.  Speaking of, he didn't show up today either.

I'm still picking out a front door color.  And we have the top to a lovely armoire hanging out on the front porch.  Why?  Because we can't get it upstairs.  So, Will is getting a scissor lift delivered from his office today to raise it up and take it through the upstairs porch.  Never a dull moment.

While we are outside, see that lovely trash trailer?  It's been sitting in my driveway since April 14th.  We have filled it 4 times and probably have one more round before we are done.  And then I never want to see that thing ever again.  A few weeks ago, I think something crawled into it and decided to die.  So not only is it an eye sore, it smells like shit.

We are definitely enjoying our new kitchen (which doubles as a catchall/work bench/project room).  Except for the little fact that the oven doesn't work.  We have a working oven upstairs, although "working" isn't really the correct term for it.  Let's just say that it gets hot. So, how fun is it that we have to go upstairs to cook anything in the oven!?!  Exercise and cook at the same time!

I have until noon on Thursday to get this place in order.  Which means that people better start showing up to work and my to-do list gets shorter.

It's about time

I'm finally getting to do a bit of decorating around here.  How is it that something can be so wonderful and so stressful at the same time?  I'm all about giving advice to friends, but me?  It takes me years to figure things out.  2 full years to pick out a bed in my last house.  5 full years to decide on window treatments.

We started getting G's room together last weekend.  His headboards went up and they are amazeballs!  When I first saw the antique iron gates 12 years ago, I knew exactly what I wanted to do with them.

Will's dad got the iron gates about 35 years ago in Mississippi while on a construction site.  They weigh about 300 lbs each and would kill someone if they fell over.  You can see our support brackets screwed into the wall, so G's life isn't in danger every night he goes to sleep.  Eventually I'll paint them to blend in.  Or not.

I also decorated my kitchen shelves last week.  A harder task than one might think.  I like how they turned out.  Will isn't as pleased - They need more color.  Which means they will stay just as they are for awhile.

The room I am having trouble wrapping my brain around is the master bedroom.  Here's the bed.  No mattress, no bedding.  I have no clue what to do in here.  So for now, it looks like this.  I bought white sheets and a white comforter, with the idea that I'll lay there at night and a brilliant design scheme will pop in my head.  I'm even thinking about using the bucket of adhesive as a side table.  Pretty cute, huh?

#scenesaroundthehouse

Sometimes I just like to hashtag things.

Clearly we are not finished with this little project.  And clearly I need to document it on a better camera.  But, here's a bit of eye candy for your Friday.   Although this is more like a half-ass eaten piece of melted candy because of the poor photo quality.

Downstairs Hall Bath

Dining room/kitchen (my before pic is the wrong angle but you get the point)

Another dining/kitchen combo

Living room fireplace

New master bath (was an office before)

Master bedroom

Teaser time

Well, Pinterest and Instagram have been consuming my world wide web time, and this little blog keeps taking a backseat.  Are blogs becoming extinct?  If not, I'll keep on truckin'. 

Things have been happening so fast around here that I can't keep up.  Not that I'm complaining or anything.  I'll think of a million things to blog about and then something else gets done and I forget about the other stuff.  Vicious cycle.  And then I get overwhelmed and have to sit down and have a drink.

We went on vacation last week to Kiawah Island in South Carolina.  PGA Championship, the beach, and cake for breakfast.  My kind of vacation.  While we were gone, we had the floors refinished downstairs.  Coming home on Saturday night was almost as exciting as Christmas morning.  We left the house in disarray and when we came home, it was crazy how different everything looked! 

Before and after pictures are at the top of my list of my favorite things.  LOVE THEM.  So, I'll give you a little sneak peak with a before and sorta-after shot.  We still have a lot of small touch ups and little stuff to take care of, but you can't really see any of that in the pic. 

BEFORE: 

SORTA AFTER:  

Damn, that looks good!

Up in here.

I did something ballsy yesterday and bought an orange velvet bed.  SAY WHAT??  I blame Brittany.

On the way home from San Antonio this past weekend, Brittany stopped at the outlet mall in San Marcos and texted me a picture of an orange velvet wingback bed from Williams-Sonoma.  It wasn't assembled and it was scrunched up with other beds, but I fell in love.  Lust.  We were meant to be together.

I know what you are thinking.  But Mimi, you already have an orange velvet wingback chair.  Yes, yes I do. But you can never have too much of a fabulous thing.  And I want to roll around in all of the wonderful goodness of an orange bed.  I can't do that with a chair.

So Monday night comes along and I dream about the bed.  Tuesday, dream.  Then yesterday morning, Will says that if a bed makes me that happy, then by damn we are buying it.  So after work, we picked up G and headed down to San Marcos in a big ass truck that was loud and bumpy for all 1.5 hours.  And we stopped 4 times for G to pee.  But it was worth it!  Feast your eyes on this baby (but in orange velvet).  Persimmon to be exact.

I can't find this fabric option on the WS site, so I'm guessing it's either a custom piece that was returned, or it's an old option that is no longer available.  Anywho, I got a fantastic deal on the bed and am one happy girl. 

And check out my other amazeballs deal of the night.  I found this zigzag floor pouf, without the insert, for $24.99!!  Who cares about the insert, right?  That's easy to get.  Or make.  

We are nearing the end of our renovation.  Sort of.  There's a light at the end of the tunnel, which means decorating is on my mind.  It's about to get dangerous.  Really really dangerous.  Fo-real.

Craigslist score!

Last night I went on my first Craigslist adventure.  Yes, I was a craigslist virgin.  I've sold a washer and dryer on there, but never purchased anything.  I've been looking for 6 dining chairs that have a wood frame but upholstered seats and backs.  Not parsons chairs.  And not necessarily Louis-style chairs.  I wasn't really going to be super picky because then it would take me 10 years to find what I wanted.

All I knew was that I wanted to paint and reupholster them.  I think I've been reading too much Little Green Notebook.  She makes DIY seem so easy and...fun.  And I am not a DIY girl.  

So when I found 6 chairs this week for $45 each, I jumped on it.  Melanie and I loaded up the kids in their truck and trekked into Austin to pick up these beauties (with a McDonald's stop for ice cream as our bribe to the kids).

Aren't they just fantastic in all of their 1980's beach house glory??  I was shocked to find out that the lady, a retired decorator, had spent $400 a piece on these in 2000.  Seriously?  You bought these in the year 2000?    DUMB.

I have big plans for them though.  Here are a few of my inspiration pics, all from Pinterest.

I have an obsession with chairs.  Adding these to my collection makes 10 total chairs that I need to reupholster.  Does that qualify as an addiction?

Oy! Obrigada! Bom Dia!

I went to Brazil last week for work and that's all of the Portuguese I know. I didn't even learn to say the word for their cheese bread, which I stuffed my face with for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I went to Brazil and all I came home with was a double whammy of Strep throat and a sinus infection. I would feel so much better if someone just chopped my head off.

Oh, I also brought home nail polish. Random, right? But apparently Brazilian nail polish is the bomb, so I bought 18 bottles of it.

Will was out of town last week too (and came home sick), so the house work took a little hiatus. We are back in full force this week and making progress. We had the downstairs hall bath demoed, Will tiled the master bath, kitchen cabinets were installed, bookshelves installed, and the bathroom vanities were installed. All while I laid in bed and watched Season 1 of Downton Abbey.

I wouldn't say that beadboard cabinetry is my ideal choice for a kitchen, but it's what I had to work with.  And matching it versus replacing it all was a helluva lot cheaper.  I think my cabinet guy did a great job!  Next up:  counter tops.  Probably the biggest decision that's making me sick to my stomach.