KIDS AND WHITE FURNITURE. IS THAT AN OXYMORON?

I’ve been thinking a lot about furniture for my home.  For instance, in my family room, I want a white slipcovered sofa.  Am I nuts??? I have three BOYS for goodness sake.

Dreamy Whites

My husband would seriously think that I’ve gone off the deep end (and understandably so).  My boys ruin everything.  No matter how much we talk to them.  No matter how many rules we make for the house, they find some sort of way to mess things up.

Apartment Therapy

But wouldn’t my life be a little easier with a white slipcovered sofa?  If it gets dirty, I can remove the cover and wash it.  Or I could simply spot clean it if need be.

Apartment Therapy

And with IKEA’s EKTORP sofa being only $399, that’s not a huge investment, right?  Even if I replaced the slipcover every month it’s only $49.  I eat that a month

Canadian House & Home

Sherry Hart via BHG

I don’t know y’all,  I think I’m sold already.  BUT AM I CA RA ZAY?!?!?!

I’M GONNA DO IT…

I’ve being toying with the idea of painting the chair I purchased last year for $15.

It’s in near perfect condition except for the color of the fabric.

This morning I was doing a little blog hopping and ended up on two blogs that gave me the kick in the rear I needed to get started on this project.

Take this chaise for example found on the blog Me and Jilly

Before  

After

Looks great, huh?!

And what about this little sweetie found here

before

after

I LOVE the pink and gold on that bench!

I can’t mention those lovely makeovers without mentioning who that got the inspiration from…

Kristy Swain of Hyphen Interiors was the first person I saw do this (though I’m sure others have too).  I really loved the way her chair turned out and I can’t wait to start on mine! Hmmm…, I think I’m going to start today! Well wait, I need to decide on a color for my chair.

I’m thinking navy blue

I could do orange

I could even do teal. 

I think navy or the teal may be the colors I go for!

What do you think of painting upholstered furniture? Would you be scared to do it? I mean the char was only 15 bucks.  If it doesn’t work out, I’ll just sit it in my garage until I’m ready to get it professionally done

SO I ORDERED MORE CHALK PAINT!

I swear I’m addicted to chalk paint now! I ordered the color “Provence” for a french dresser I purchased a couple of weeks ago.  Here is the before

And here she is after her makeover

 

Provence is not bright like the picture shown above.  It’s more like this

But I think the first picture looks a whole lot better

Have you used any chalk paint lately?!

GOODWILL FINDS

A few weeks ago I was able to stop by two thrift stores and I wanted to share some great finds with you

This bamboo coffee table with a caned inlayed bottom shelf was structurally sound, but it needed a little TLC. Nothing that a can of spray paint won’t fix!

This was my favorite find of the day. This buffet, when painted, could rival one from Pieces here in Atlanta! And it was in perfect condition for only $50!

I tweeted about these chairs! I wanted them so bad, but I knew that I didn’t have a place to use them. They would look great in an office! paired side by side in front of a desk. And they were only $8.98!

I brought this chair home with me for the desk in TJ’s room. There was two and I should have purchased the other.

I took this bag to New York with me! This is a Michaels Kors bag and yes it’s real! And for only $16.99 I had to have it! You can also see my teal Ball jars under the bag! I was so excited to find them!

I would have loved to have a use for these! Again a great price at $8.98 each!

I started this thing where I wouldn’t buy furniture pieces if I don’t need them, but I’ve received many emails from people here in Atlanta asking if I know of good spots to find deals. My answer is always the same---I WISH! My favorite stores are Goodwill’s, Target, and Homegoods, and IKEA if I’m looking for inexpensive home furnishings.

What about you? Do you have any “Go TO” stores for great deals?

LAURENT ~VS~ CAMERON

Back in October I did a post comparing the Laurent table (no longer on their website) from Crate and Barrel to the Cameron table from JC Penney. I noted that the Laurent table was $1699 and the the Cameron table (without chairs) was $449 (at the time).

Here is the Laurent table from Crate and Barrel

And here is the Cameron Place table from JC Prenney

I decided on this table because I was able to get a similar look of the Laurent table at a fraction of the price!

Laurent Table $1699…

Cameron Place table and four chairs $899!

I only purchased four chairs because I would prefer two different chairs at the end of the table.

Overall I am pleased. The color of the set is more of an espresso. I’ve only had it for about a month and so far so good. Well, except for the fact that my son decided to grab the vase and slide it back and forth on the table…. SCRATCH GALORE!!! It’s not THAT bad, but its there.

So what do you think? Do you like the Cameron table or would you have chosen the Laurent table? I tell you one thing, we’ve been in this house for two years and I have yet to decorate a table for Thanksgiving, Christmas, or any other holiday for that matter, so I plan to have a BALL decorating this one!

CAMPAIGN DESK REVEAL!

First things first, please excuse the orange tinge on the wall. Nothing I did with the lighting worked to fix it. That’s how strong of an orange that Martha Stewart “Saffron” is!

I haven’t found a chair for the desk so here it is all plain and lonely!

Then I brought in one of my chairs from the breakfast table because I figured I needed something better to show you guys. I like how the wood of the chairs plays off the wood in the room. I may just use this one and change out the fabric!

I had this bright idea to take pictures of my son while he was working at the desk!

I swear this is the easiest prop I’ve ever put together! AND…I think its the best one yet!

In an email, someone suggested the little pencil gripper thingy for my son to better his grip with the pencil and guess what? It worked like a charm!

Wanna know what he was writing on the paper?

Can you see it?!

Does that say Antonio?!!!

This is the best view I’ve had in a long time!

Thank You for all of your comments regarding my son. I have taken all of your suggestions and am now coming up with ways to incorporate them in our daily lessons at home! I’ll be sure to post about a few of my favorites that has my son excited!

Have a GREAT Monday!

GUEST BLOGGING AND EXTREMELY BUSY

Good morning everyone! Today I'm guest blogging over at

Isabella and Max Rooms

So please head over and check me out and let me know what you think!

Also, this week has been a busy one for me. From trying to recover from the accident, to finishing a few projects that I've started on recently

This chair that I'm refinishing and upholstering

That mirror over in the corner that you guys spotted!


And this dresser that I can't wait to reveal to you!

Next week, I should have tons of things to show you.

I hope all of you have a great weekend!

IF IT WAS A SNAKE IT WOULD HAVE BIT ME

I'm almost finished with my master bedroom, and I can't help but think about my next project. I think I'm ready to start on the boys room

Before I post about any plans for the room, I've been busy trying to pull together some of the big pieces for the space. One of them being a campaign dresser. They are all the rage right now and one painted a fabulous color like red, yellow, or blue would look great in the space for what I have planned for it.

Nice right?!

Well, I was over to my in laws yesterday celebrating my husbands grandmothers 95th birthday (amazing right?), and I stepped away to change Brendan's diaper. I've been in this room so many times its crazy, but this time, I noticed this

WHAT THE HEEZY?!

Not only do they have a dresser with mirror, but the headboard too (not that I need the headboard or mirror). Oh, and not to mention, I was given the chest of drawer when we moved into our home and my husband tossed it out because he got tired of it sitting in the garage:(

I have to have this piece. Do you think I could work out some type of arrangement where they would just give it to me?! Have this ever happened to you before?

Sharon, if you're reading this, help me out on this one since they are your parents;)