Have a Seat

I made up my mind to find some chairs. I wanted to find two matching chairs to put in my living room underneath my new picture collage. I did some research online and found out even the cheapest chairs from Wal-Mart and Target that are upholstered run around $100 a piece minimum...ouch ) : So I started up the Craig's list search. Here is how the rundown went...

I first came across these. They were labeled 1941 French Chairs for $75. I liked the button back look, but I wanted to find chairs for less than $30/chair. I offered $60. It's two weeks later and I still have not heard back. Don't you hate that?
So, I found these two Thomas of Martinville chairs for $80. Again, I offered $60. I thought with a big squishy pillow on the back they might be pretty comfortable. This time I wrote in my email, "Thanks for letting me know either way." I heard back...they were firm at their $80 asking price. I appreciated their honesty and moved on.

I contemplated these chairs for a minute. They were Eames Knoll steelcase chairs for $85. I looked at them several time, then realized they were a little too contemporary for my taste. There was also a set of Queen Anne style captain chairs for $30 that I offered on. They weren't exactly what I was picturing, but I figured for the price why not?! I was too late; someone else had snatched them up...

That's when I came across these. They looked like the 1941 French Chairs above, just with a little more wear on the seats. These two matching caned chairs came with the high asking price of....$25...for both! That's right. I didn't hesitate offering the full asking price on these beauties. We picked them up this morning. Turns out the lady was moving states and was selling a whole house full of solid wood furniture. If I had more money I may have offered to unload her of some more pieces.

So, I am thinking of painting them white. And reupholstering them with a fun fabric like this one.

It may take me a while. Maybe Christmas break? I will be sure to share when they are finished : )

Picture Collage Without Pictures

Here is a quick run down on my my latest, almost-completed project...a picture collage.

It all began when I saw Joi's picture collage on her blog.
I had a blank wall in my living room, and it looked fun.
Then I realized I like things more matchy, so I searched for another picture for inspiration.
I found this one from Lettered Cottage.
I don't know, somehow all the frames being black made it suit my taste a bit closer (does this make me boring...probably)
So I went to the store and bought the thinnest frames I could find. I will spend a lot of time looking at these from the side angle in the dining room, so I didn't want them to stick out too far.
Then I cut out a bunch of wrapping paper in picture frame size sheets to try and figure out how many pictures frames I would need to make a collage I liked.
It took me 3 tries, but I finally decided on this one with Lynn's input:
Then I has to do to 3 Wal-Marts to buy enough frames of each size.
It sounds worse than it was. I have 3 close Wal-Marts to me anyways, so I just went to a different one each time I needed to make a Wal-Mart trip.
Then I had to make a 4th trip to buy the nails to hang them...oops!

I also may have bought my friend Chinese for lunch just so she would help me hang them...gotta love friends! Trust me- it was way easier too with someone there to help hold things up and take measurements!
So a million measurements later, we only had to move 5 of the frames after initially hanging them...ha!
It turned out like this:


Now I am just waiting for my sister, the photographer, to get me pictures to put in them.
I would also like to get a couple chairs and little table to make a cute little sitting area along this wall, but for now, empty picture frames will do ; )

I Love Lamp

Here is a quick before and after picture of one of the projects I was able to complete this week.
It really isn't that dramatic, but it sure makes me happy.

This is a simple black lamp Brandon got for free from Uncle Doug back in college. We have been using it in our living room because the light in here is really dim. However, we really don't have anything black in our living room, so it kind of looked out of place.

So, I bought some spray paint from Wal-Mart and changed the color.
I believe the new color is called Satin Nickel by Krylon.

My friend Mary walked me through the basic of spray painting (yes, I have never spray painted before).
She told me to put light coats and let it dry in between.
I learned why...it runs when you put on to many coats to quickly...oops!

I would have taken the after picture in the light, but Brandon only lets me quit working outside when it is dark....j/k. But seriously, we have been working hard. Really hard.

Our gutter project has been turning into more projects. Lets just say while working on the gutter we discovered a whole section of roof that was leaking on our porch that required patching and board replacing. We also found a whole wall of our garage was infested with ants. Brandon had to rip a whole wall of our garage off (the rest of the garage is cedar...I am not sure why this wall isn't). Then he had to kill approximately a trillion ants with this crazy spray stuff that made my father in law hurl. We have yet to replace the missing wall as it got dark on us tonight.

So tomorrow we will be back outside replacing a wall, hanging one more section of guttering, and painting.

Did I tell you were are changing our house color.

All the paint is on sale at Home Depot for Labor Day weekend.

We bought over $300 worth of paint- yikes!

It may take a few weeks to get our whole house painted due to the unexpected leaks and ants, but I will be sure to post before and after pictures.

Paint and Gutters

It's my week off and my hands are covered in paint, caulk, and glue. Brandon took some time off work during my week off to make some much needed repairs/updates on the house. Take for instance the picture below. This section had no guttering at all. That meant that when it rained the water poured right onto our wood porch in front of the gate. Last winter this porch was a sheet of ice, and my butt was a little sore more than once from it! Luckily, my handy dandy husband was willing to purchase some guttering and install it himself. And why just stop here, he decided to replace all of our worn out guttering this week while he was at it.
The bad part about making small repairs/updates is that you start noticing bigger repairs/updates that need to be made. Say like a few dozen rotted out boards. This means that I have been priming and painting board after board to replace the ones Brandon has been ripping out. If you noticed the dark spot missing a board in front of Brandon and the board kind of hanging down next to it, they are both already primed and painted ready for hanging in the morning.

All this hard work makes me want a nap...

It seems to wear poor Cove out too ; )

In between painting I have managed to fit in a few of my own projects, so I will try and share them soon!

It's Been a Long Time Coming

I can't wait.
Next week I have a whole week free from rotations, work, drugs.
It will be my first full week off since last year August.
Sad- I know.
Awe... sweet life!
I have a million things floating around in my head that I want to accomplish, including writing a few more blogs.

I feel as though my cup of tea keeps overflowing without time to clean it up.
My week off is a time to catch up, accomplish, and reflect.
If only I had more than one week.

So, please stay tuned...plans are in the making.

Speaking of reflecting, this is my last full week in St. Louis. Ever. No more 4 hour drives home. No more 4 hours drives back. No more beautiful arch peaking through the skyline. No more hour walks with Lynn in the evening. No more calling Emily at 6pm when she gets of work while I am on the road to pass the time. No more nights at the girls house with Liz and Andrea trying to control what is on the tube. No more trying new places that Ashton loves to eat at. No more rides with Kelsey reflecting over career choices and men. I will miss my friends. I will not miss the drive.

In case you read this and realized that my blog has become boring, uneventful, and all out drab, I highly recommend you head here. Be warned...Rebecca June's blog is addicting!

Soothing Isn't It?

Eye Candy

I love flats. They are comfortable and cute.
I feel too tall in heals (I am only 5'7" but I still feel tall).
I have fallen in love with these flats. I always love buckles. Is it weird to have buckles on shoes? I hope not, I like them.
They come in other colors, but I think I like the gray ones. I don't own any gray shoes. The color gray makes me think of freckles chick. If you don't read her blog, you should. She is hilarious and also loves gray.

Do you spell gray gray or grey? I think I have seen it both ways. I am a terrible speller though, so please don't spell things the way I spell them. Crap, I just looked back at the website and they spell it grey. I would be wrong....oops!

What do you think? I have never spent $80 on a pair of shoes before.
(okay, I have running shoes that are worth more, but my dad bought me those, so they don't count in my book)
Maybe the hubs will get me them for me for our anniversary. Then I could wear them when he takes me out on a hot date. I highly doubt the probability behind this. I have to force him to even buy new shoes for himself when his are falling apart...
I can always dream right?!