Final Touches on a Wall

So, after a crazy, busy, fun filled house decor shopping weekend, we put everything up on the walls and where they needed to be (mostly thanks to my B-I-L's man power).

It was so much fun to turn the downstairs into a space both of them will enjoy for a while - until we decide to change it up a little... ;-)

There was one last BIG thing we needed to fix. THIS is how they bought the house:

Yes, this hideous artwork was on the wall in the living room, which is also the main wall from the kitchen. Yep, all who walked through were shocked. BUT, this was NOT the shock factor we wanted. So, thankfully, my sis had it painted before I got there.

Here's the slate I had to work with:

WOOO! So much better, and yet so plain. So, my thoughts were:

1. Curtains (but they had to go with the other curtains by the table somewhat, because you can see them both.
2. Artwork/ mirror for the wall?

And after much deliberation with the mirror thing, we found the right one- for a good deal at The Great Indoors. We had also found these great zebra things at Home Goods, but we had purchased those the day before with no idea where they would go. It's amazing how things just work themselves out!

So, here is the after:

The chairs are extra from the dining room table, and are temporary until another couch goes where they are.

As you can see, we chose a sheer curtain to just accent the window. We didn't want more color, and it needed to coordinate with the other room. It was quite the transformation, and we loved it! A little retro chic added into the traditional style.

That was the end of my 3-day makeover with my sister's downstairs. So fun, and can't wait to start the 2nd floor!

Clean and Concise Cubby Hole

Remember this lovely mess from this post?

Here's another flattering angle:

Yes, well, we definitely made it a priority to fix this baby up. This was almost just too much for me to handle, but I just rolled up my sleeves and decided we would find a solution.

We thought about this piece from Pottery Barn:

Gorgeous, right? Also, very expensive. And really, we only needed a temporary fix. My sister wants to eventually build out the space to be a built in cabinet area... so to spend $700 was just crazy! So on to our frugal solution.

Things we had to think about:
1. Measurements. This included making sure all those tv wires, the sub woofer, and all that media stuff could fit in the hole.
2. Color.
3. Price.
4. Something that was temporary, yet still cute and clean.

Insert: IKEA.

We purchased the 4 hole shelf for $40! Our challenge was then finding the right size basket for each hole. YAY Target! But they only had 2 in stock, so we had to wait until more came in or we could go to a different store... so this was the pic I could get before I had to skip town and come back to rainy WA :-).

I don't know 'bout you, but I think this before and after is a pretty good temporary solution.

Cute as a Button

So, after finishing up the table decor, we moved on to the slider windows that were in the same area. At the moment, there were noooo coverings, so that let us have a fresh start to the project.

After much deliberation, we decided to go with curtains, which seems simple enough, but do you KNOW HOW MANY CHOICES ARE OUT THERE???? We just about gave up, we couldn't do pattern because of those awesome seat cushions, and we didn't want too many patterns, and then we couldn't do just plain white or tan, because it didn't match the linen seat cushions we had.

SO. We found our winners at IKEA!!! Whew.

And, the best part. They were the right length :-)

Well, Sister had it in her head that she needed a button to hold back her curtains, oh but not any button. It needed to be MASSIVE in size. Well, searching high and low, we once again failed on that find. But I convinced her to take a look at these other buttons, and when they were in the wall, she was happy as a peach!

They even matched the balls we had found for the bowl in the center of the table. :-)

And we found the awesome curtain rods at TJ Max... And the best part, they were half the price of the ones at Target and TWICE as cuuuuuuute! WHOOOO!

Table Frenzy

So, a table is meant for eating, but can also be a showcase. At the Marble household, their table is one GORGEOUS piece of furniture... straight from Pottery Barn. So, in an effort to not overshadow the beauty of the table, we wanted to keep the centerpiece extremely simple.

So, here we were just wandering the aisles of endless stuff at one of those stores like Ross or Marshalls, and I happened to see this beauty on the top shelf.

It's very rustic and has a lot of charm :-), and it was HUUUUGE. There would be no other place for it except at the center of the HUUUUUGE table! Now, obviously, to keep it from scratching the perfectly manicured wood, we just put some felt dots on the bottom and WA LA, problem solved.

Then we just found from grand balls from Home Goods and the Great Indoors and finished off the bowl with those guys.

Now, the kitchen still needed a pop. I'm not normally a fan of seat cushions, but in this case, I totally was. Here my sister and I were, just meandering about World Market, and I halted and said "Sister, do you need seat cushions?" Of course, she said, "sure." And then I found these:

And remember that red clock? YEP, ties in perfectly. However, we decided that, since the table normally has 8 chairs around it and then expands to 12 chairs, it would be too busy to keep patterned cushions all around. So we paired them with these:

What a lovely linen color, and they complemented that wonderful cement bowl on the table top.

Oh, but the best part? Each cushion was originally $13 each. We needed12. That's a whole lotta dough. But behold, a wonderful coupon for $10 off of $30... and when we got to the cash register, we asked the guy if he had any coupons, and he said he had another one of those.... so we thought, ok, let's do 2 different transactions... but then halted, and said, wait, we can do 4 different transactions and save $40 by doing it that way. The cashier was so gracious and did this for us... we secretly fistbumped behind our backs and ran out with our big bags full of cushions before the deal police could stop us!

So, overall, here's their new kitchen table look.

PS, don't mind the mess in the background, we were busy! :-)

Delicious Apple Crisp

Ok, this is a gooood one!!! So simple, and sooo delish!

Peel and slice about 8 apples (I used Fuji)
Put them in the bottom of an 8x13 pan
Mix 1 cup sugar, 1tbs flour, and 1 tsp cinnamon and pour over apples - pour 1/2 cup of water over the whole thing
Mix 1/2 cup melted butter, 1 cup quick cooking oats, 1 cup flour, and 1 cup brown sugar and crumble over the apple mixture

Cook for 45 mins @ 350 in the oven... should come out bubbling and smelling like perfection :-)

Chicken Chow Mein

So last night, I got a little hungry (as we all do), and I decided I would make some chicken chow mein for dinner. So, I asked the hubs if that sounded ok to him, and he said "sure." Terrible Answer, but he was busy doing his chores, so I can't really blame him for not sounding enthusiastic about it...:-) So I got to work.

He came in about 20 mins later, and said, "oh wow, I thought you were making it out of a bag... you're like going all fresh on me." As if I would do it any other way ;-).

So, while it was an experiment, it turned out really really good! So here I am to share:

Started out by cooking 2 chicken breasts, I ended up only using one...
So, while it was cooking, I did the rest:

First, saute half an onion chopped and about 2 big cloves of minced garlic in about a tbs of canola oil
Add fresh brocolli, half an orange bell pepper, a pinch of black pepper
Add a little soy sauce... let simmer for a while and stir it a few times

Cook some chow mein noodles (takes like 2 mins)... make sure you rinse them after cooking.

Add to the veggies, and add more soy sauce, oil, and I added some sweet and sour sauce.

Keep it cooking until the chicken is done. Cut up the chicken and add to the chow mein and let simmer for about ten minutes.

ENJOY!!!

Baby Boy Bliss

So, my lovely friend Kristal held a baby shower for one of her good friends who is having a precious bundle of joy (a boy!). Not only is she a gifted photographer (check her out at: kristaljoyphotography.blogspot.com) but she has a crafty gene in her too!

The minute she posted these photos, I just KNEW I needed to share... so for those of you looking to host a baby shower any time soon, take a look at her idea, and get inspired!

While simple, it is really fun, boyish, cute, and elegant :-). You did awesome Kristal!