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Summer Home Tour: The Details Make The Space

June 11, 2015 By Jenna 34 Comments

It doesn’t matter how many times I paint a piece of furniture or upholster a chair – if the accessories around it don’t look good, the furniture or chair won’t shine and the space will fall short.

The details make the space.

It took me a really long time to realize that.

And a lot of backaches and wasted paint.

I get it now though – and even if we are just talking about decorating – the pain was worth the reward.

As dramatic as that sounds.

So this summer home tour is about the details.

The quirky little objects that I love.

That some may find ugly.

Or even tacky.

But for me, they make my space a reflection of my family.

And that’s all that matters.

So if you love it or hate it, either way, I don’t care.

Because we love it.

And its how we fly our freak flag.

Welcome to our freak show.

Collected Modern Living Room

June 9, 2015 By Jenna 35 Comments

After four years of living in the beloved foreclosure, the living room is finally done.

For now anyways.

It may have taken four years, but I can finally say that I know my style and I love my living room.

Of course, its all subject to change on a whim.

For now, I’m calling it the Collected Modern Living Room.

I’m sure that isn’t the correct design technical term for this living room, but I don’t care.

Its a mix of vintage and thrifted pieces that have received a facelift with some modern elements.

How to Remove Rust from Chrome and Other Metals

June 8, 2015 By Jenna 91 Comments

Do you have rust creeping up on metal surfaces, a chrome finish item or even metal furniture? Before you toss it or give up, read this method for how to remove rust from chrome and get rust off metal surfaces. It might just be easier than you think!

DIY Flamingo Wreath in under an hour

June 2, 2015 By Jenna 26 Comments

Want to dress up your front door for summer? What better way than with a DIY flamingo wreath! The best part? It’ll take just an hour to make!

12 Outdoor Furniture Makeovers That Are Easier Than You Think

June 1, 2015 By Jenna 166 Comments

Its that time of the year, friends.

Time for sipping drinks, preferably ones with little umbrellas, on porches, decks and patios.

Furthermore, we should all be enjoying those beverages in pretty outdoor chairs, chaises and other comfortable perches. No?

If you are like me though, as you were dusting the three inches or so of pollen off your outdoor furniture, you may have discovered the furniture needed a little facelift of its own.

These outdoor furniture makeovers have my head brewing with ideas. The best part – they were all done with a HomeRight Paint Sprayer. That means they were easy as pie to re-hab.

Now, if only a real facelift were that easy…and that inexpensive. 😉

When it doubt, use all the colors.

May 20, 2015 By Jenna 32 Comments

About a month ago, I drug the kid and Bill out of bed early one Saturday morning to go yard saleing.

They hate love it when I do that. 😉

I decided to be nice for once and give Grunt Labor the Saturday morning off.

He usually gives me Saturday mornings off, so it was long overdue.

Before leaving the neighborhood, we had lucked up on a bamboo patio table for a whopping $2 and a 5×7 leopard print rug for only $5.

Luck was on my side that day.

It quickly ended when there was a meltdown with the kid when I refused to buy a creepy $7 FurrRealz Cat.

$7 for a toy cat at a yard sale? And it looked possessed? Move along child, move along.

At the next stop though, we lucked upon a play phone, a beanie baby skunk and a Care Bears nightgown that the kid just had to have.

I’ve never been so happy to see a Ty Beanie Baby in my life.

The meltdown ceased.

As we were about to leave, I spotted something that had potential out of the corner of my eye…

A vintage paper sorter.

I looked at Bill.

His eyes lit up and he said, “We can do something really cool with that.”

He’s starting to think like me.

I asked the man how much for it.

$12.

Oh honey. You must be crazy. I don’t pay $12 for anything at a yard sale unless its furniture. Let me show you the rug I just snagged for $5.

Yep, I’m that girl, y’all.

Sorry not sorry.

We started negotiating.

Semi-DIY Party Decorations

May 18, 2015 By Jenna 15 Comments

Did you ever watch that television show, Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee?

I’m not even sure that its still on anymore, and I only watched it a few times but what I loved most about it was that she always made a great cocktail during the show, oh and that some of the actual food was already made.

But mostly that she always had a cocktail.

I worked on discovering my inner Sandra Lee with these semi-DIY party decorations for the circus’ upcoming third birthday party.

The circus even helped me with them.

Which explains why cocktails were needed when we were finished.

9+ Must Read Cleaning Tips

May 14, 2015 By Jenna 256 Comments

If we’re being honest, and since I’m always honest with you, my house is not clean right now.

Its not clean at all.

May is a whirlwind of events for us and cleaning is not one of those events that tends to take place during the month.

Until there is a mad dash next Friday to clean right before the kid’s birthday party so that our guests don’t turn and run screaming out the door…

I can hear the circus talking to her therapist in ten years, “Everyone showed up for my birthday party that year, but then made a beeline for the door when they saw dust an inch thick and dried crusty milk on the floor. They took all their presents with them. I’ve never been the same since.”

Therapy is going to cost me a fortune.

So next week, to hopefully cut down on therapy costs, these are my best cleaning tips that I will actually do…well at least everywhere that guests will be… 😉

3 Easy Ways to Update Your Furniture Hardware

May 12, 2015 By Jenna 6 Comments

I’m the farthest thing from a tree hugger you’ll ever meet.

You already knew that didn’t you?

But I do like to re-use and recycle things.

I’m just cheap, really.

My favorite thing to re-use is furniture hardware.

This is for two reasons.

1. I don’t want to spend money on new, expensive hardware.

See, cheap?

2. I don’t want to have to potentially drill holes for new hardware.

Ok, I’m lazy too.

These are my three favorite ways to update furniture hardware while doing as little as possible and spending as little as possible.

‘Cause that’s how we roll.

DIY Flamingo Sprinkler

May 11, 2015 By Jenna

I have a thing.

For pink plastic flamingos.

Some consider them tacky.

I consider them fun.

And the perfect symbol of summer.

Since I have a deep love for this plastic being, Grunt Labor decided we should make a pink flamingo sprinkler.

We did.

But the really cool thing about it is that its not only a sprinkler, but also feeds your plants at the same time.

World rocked.

The Perfect Navy Paint

May 7, 2015 By Jenna 20 Comments

The part-time child, Bill, and I have formed a sort of business partnership.

I find furniture for him to paint. He paints it. I write about it. We sell it. I get my initial investment back and he keeps the profit for his labor.

When I first presented this idea to him, he was ecstatic and couldn’t wait to jump on the two end tables that I had already picked up.

I even let him pick out the color, which in my opinion is the perfect navy paint…

How to Clean Concrete Blocks

May 5, 2015 By Jenna

Typically, I leave the outdoor arena to Grunt Labor.

He is amazing at growing flowers.

He loves to keep the grass looking good.

He puts his heart and soul into our garden.

He’s currently working on building a new patio.

However, cleaning outdoors isn’t necessarily his thing.

That’s usually left to me – and that’s ok – especially when its as easy as it was to clean these concrete blocks.

Decorate My Space: Hope’s Kitchen

April 28, 2015 By Jenna 18 Comments

A couple weeks back I asked for y’all’s help on decorating my stairwell.

You were amazing with your responses.

My stairwell isn’t decorated yet, but I’m still mulling over all your ideas.

I thought it might be fun to ask for reader submissions and let everyone help out on decorating another space!

The first one up is Hope’s Kitchen.

Let’s start with her color scheme ideas and inspiration.

Black & White Gallery Wall

April 27, 2015 By Jenna 39 Comments

I have visions.

Not like psychic visions – but that would be really cool.

Room visions, project visions, idea visions.

And in my head – they are fan-freakin-tastic.

In real life, they don’t always turn out so fan-freakin-tastic though.

In my head, this black and white gallery wall was fan-freakin-tastic.

In real life, its better than fan-freakin-tastic.

In fact, I can’t even come up with a word for how awesome it is and how much I love it.

This wall totally took my living room to a whole new level.

Mid-Century Modern Lamp Makeover (A.K.A. I Dream of Jeannie Lamp)

April 23, 2015 By Jenna 22 Comments

I watched reruns of I Dream of Jeannie when I was a kid. It wasn’t one of my favorites, but I thought Barbara Eden was so pretty. And while Larry Hagman will always always always be J.R. Ewing in my mind, he was still pretty great in I Dream of Jeannie.

Well over a year ago, I found a lamp that screamed “I Dream of Jeannie” at a yard sale.

It was $2.

It came home with me.

And as most things do around here, it sat for a while until I had a great idea for it.

And finally I did.

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen this image where I asked YOU to tell me what to do with the lamp…

DIY Countertops: 10 Countertop Makeover Ideas on a Budget

April 16, 2015 By Jenna 21 Comments

Looking to update your countertops without breaking the bank? Give one of these DIY countertops a whirl then! These totally doable and cheap countertop makeover ideas will give your kitchen a whole new look in a weekend!

How To Strip Furniture and Restain Wood

April 13, 2015 By Jenna 110 Comments

I knew there would come a day when I would want to strip the paint off a piece I had so meticulously painted.

I didn’t know that day would come so soon.

Don’t get me wrong.

I still love my boldly colored painted pieces. But…

After the black and white gallery wall in the living room was completed, I knew the finishing touch would be to make the red buffet stained once more…

Power Tools 101: How to Use a Sander

April 6, 2015 By Jenna 17 Comments

After a month hiatus, Gina from The Shabby Creek Cottage and I are back with another round of Power Tools 101.

This month is an easy one – How to Use a Sander.

There are lots of different types of power sanders, but my go-to pick is a sheet sander. Its very versatile and unless you have a huge job, it can take care of just about anything.

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