Archives for July 2013

Flea Market Finds

July 31, 2013 by megan 6 Comments

mom&daughter

As I mentioned in my previous post about gardening and green thumbs, my mom paid me a wonderful visit last week. There are 14 long hours dividing me from my family, and as much as I love our home in Tennessee, that is the one thing I would change. My mom is the ultimate encourager and helper as I start my little journey as wife and homemaker. If you know her, you know she is a light to everyone she touches.
I’m getting mushy.

So, we spent our whole weekend laughing, talking, gardening, and SHOPPING! For home things. Discounted, of course. She is an expert at discount shopping, and I like to think I have inherited part of that gene.

If you live in Nashville (or anywhere close), and you have never been to the Flea Market at the Tennessee State Fair Grounds, remove whatever you have scheduled for the fourth weekend of this month and replace it with a trip to the Flea Market. You will thank me.

My mom and I spent over three hours shopping til we dropped, and I still think we barely saw half of what was there. It was unreal. We could have spent all day there.

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There are inside booths, outside booths, and too many pavilions like this for me to count.
People sell antiques, crafts, art, food, and lots of weird, cheap things like generic shampoo and paper plates and weird plastic squishy things shaped like eyeballs. I just avoided those.

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I spotted some really neat things, and I had to keep a tight grip on my wallet to keep from buying way more than I did.

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But I did walk away with a few really great finds which means projects are on the way.
Window pane: $5
Ikat Bath Mat: $12
Vintage Mid-Century Ottoman: $15
Shabby Chic Side Table: $16
Vintage Ginger Ale Storage Crate:$17
Total: $65

I practiced my bartering a bit and was able to save some money, but I think it will take a few more trips to the flea market to really hone those heckling skills 🙂

bath mat photo IMG_1448_zps555280b8.jpg

The bath mat found a home in the basement guest bath, and I love the way the storage crate combines style and functionality as a home for misfit things in our living room.

The rest of the pieces will be used in the office transformation which is currently underway. Keep an eye out for updates coming soon!

Happy Wednesday!

My Thumbs Are Turning Green

July 30, 2013 by megan Leave a Comment

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This past weekend, my mom came into town, and we had the best time. She is so creative and she always made our home such a beautiful and wonderful place to live when I was growing up, and I know I take after her in my love for homemaking.
Until this weekend, I knew basically NOTHING about gardening. I didn’t know what ground cover was. I didn’t know that there are different kinds of garden clippers. I could barely tell the difference between a weed and a pretty plant (well, I still have trouble with that). We have a half acre of land with TONS of plants everywhere, and I would just look at it and feel overwhelmed, so I needed my mom to come from Texas to save me…and teach me how to have a green thumb.

I learned a few things about gardening:
1. It takes a lot of time. You can’t make plants grow faster, and you can’t make weeds stop growing (without some chemical help, at least). Gardening takes patience.
2. I need to take it a step at a time. I have so many parts of my yard that need love, but I can’t do everything at once. Mom helped me start slow and start with projects that I can manage.
3. There is so much to learn. I learned so much during our weekend crash course about different types of plants, what it takes to care for plants, when to cut back and when to let things grow, etc.
4. God rocks. And not like all the rocks that are scattered across my yard. Although He made those. No, God is amazing; He makes beautiful things. And plants are beautiful…and so unique, and they just grow all on their own. Some of them even have babies, and those babies grow. It’s really cool. And even when I trim bushes I’m not supposed to trim, new flower buds pop up and bloom despite the fact that I don’t know what I’m doing.

There are a lot of metaphors for life in gardening.

So, this weekend, we did a few things:
1. We cleared out the weeds and cleaned up two major beds in the backyard.
2. We moved plants around in a way that makes sense
3. We cleared and cleaned up the vines around the carport
4. We planted a few new things
5. We made plans for what I will work on in the future

The most immediate thing was to tackle the two most visible beds in the backyard, clear the weeds and intruding vines, and plant a few new things! Things are already feeling better. I also discovered that I have rosemary, lavender, and lots of hydrangeas!! You know you’re a grown up when you get excited about plants in your yard.

garden before after

It might not look like much, but to me it means progress!

We spent Saturday morning at the Franklin Farmer’s Market where I picked up my first plant purchase: a Butterfly Bush. Isn’t it pretty?

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Mom also brought some plants from her yard…one of which she has had since she first got married to my dad almost 29 years ago. So, we planted some Kolanche, and Katie Ruella, and two baby Red Bud trees which we planted in pots with the bottoms cut off so that we don’t mow over them while they grow up to be big beautiful blooming red bud trees.

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I don’t want to bore you with too many pictures of plants. So I will leave it there for now. I’ll be back at some point to show you more garden progress.

Seven Steps to Decorating on a Budget

July 25, 2013 by megan Leave a Comment

7 steps to decorating on a budget

Since Jeremy and I have only been out of college for a year, we have a pretty tight budget. Jeremy is really wise with our money, so in order to reach long term savings goals and be able to enjoy little pleasures like a beautiful home, I have had to learn how to be wise in my spending.

1. Stay On The Hunt

Good finds are out there, but you have to be willing to stay on the lookout. You might visit a thrift store 5 times over the course of a month, and 4 out of 5 you walk away empty handed, but that one amazing find on your fifth try makes it all worth it. It can be really hit or miss, but you can’t give up after a few misses.

Same goes for online shopping, sale bins, Home Goods, Craigslist and antique stores. I believe beggars can be choosers, but you have to make it a routine to look for good deals. Scroll through Craigslist every few days to see if there is anything interesting. Stop by your local Goodwill on your way home from work every couple of weeks. Roll past the home decor clearance aisle at Target when you are picking up toothpaste. Hunting doesn’t just happen when you are looking for something specific. Sometimes the best finds are those you weren’t looking for at all.

Unlike box stores or expensive furniture stores where you can expect to find something wonderful at each visit, the places that offer the best deals must be hunted.

In addition, make mental notes for the future. Go into that discount lighting store on your lunch break and take a look around even if you aren’t looking for a ceiling light so that when you are looking for a new light for the guest room in a few months, you have made a mental note, and you know exactly where to go.

2. Look For Potential by Knowing What You Love

Some pieces are diamonds in the rough, but others are just rough. It takes time to learn to distinguish between the two. I believe the key to seeing potential is knowing what you love. If you know you love mid-century modern furniture, and you find a great mid-century end table that is painted an ugly shade of purple, you can see that you love the structure and imagine what it would look like painted another color. If you’ve been looking for a two toned coffee table, buy that basic oak table from IKEA and make it your own.

As I have become a follower of many other bloggers and started to pay close attention to styles I love at places like West Elm, Crate & Barrel and Restoration Hardware, it is easier to see potential in things because I notice similarities between a thrift store find and a piece I love at an expensive retailer, so I can fill in the gaps of what it would take to turn the former into the latter.

7 steps to decorating on a budget

3. Know When To Invest & When To Pinch Pennies

Some things are worth a splurge. If you can afford it, allow yourself to buy pieces that you really love if you know you can’t make it or find it at a cheaper price. The homes I love the most are a combination of old, DIY, and new.

4. Know the Market

It helps to know what a good price is for something so you can budget accordingly. Do your research and know the market so that you don’t budget way less than is feasible or spend way more than you need. For example, you might set aside $50 in your budget for a couch, but for that price, you will most likely end up with a gross, stained, lumpy, ugly piece of work because it really is nearly impossible to find a couch for $50…unless maybe your Aunt Betty decides to bless you with her old couch. In which case, take it and run. But if not, put that money toward a nicer couch that will last you longer and be a wise purchase.

If you are looking for a kitchen table for four, do your research and find out what your dream table retails for and also what some cheaper alternatives might cost. That way, when you are shopping at an antique store and you see the table of your dreams, you can use wise judgement about whether it is a good buy.

7 steps to decorating on a budget

Where you shop often shapes your idea of a “good deal,” so it is important to learn when something is just too expensive. Haven’t you noticed that when you are at Goodwill, a dress for $15 seems like a rip off, but in the mall, a $15 dress would be an unbelievable steal? Same goes for your home. A set of book ends on sale for $75 might seem like an amazing deal at Pottery Barn compared to all the prices you see around it, but you have to remember that you could probably find that same set of book ends for $30 at TJ Maxx. Walk away.
5. Be patient.

You are most likely to splurge when you find yourself in a hurry. Sometimes you are in a hurry. Maybe you have the contractor coming in two days to install that new lighting and you have to pick it out now. In that case, you may have to just go with what you know. But with a lot of smaller purchases, you can take your time and wait for the best deal. This goes along with all the other points, don’t settle for expensive if you think you may be able to find affordable (unless you have the money to do so. In which case, maybe this isn’t the article for you :-)).

I’m preaching to the choir here. Sometimes I get fixated on what I want for a space, and I just buy the first thing I see.

6. Don’t be afraid to buy…if you can return it.

Sometimes when you find something that is crazy amazing, it’s worth forking over the cash if you know you can take it home, try it out, and return it. This doesn’t apply to thrift shopping (although sometimes if something is dirt cheap, it’s worth buying even if you just add a coat of paint and resell at a profit).

I mostly use this method at Home Goods. I probably return almost as much as I buy, but then every time I return something, I buy something else. Oops.

But it does take off some of the financial pressure to know that if you find something you love, you can take it home, try it out, and then return it. Also, I have been known to take home something that is too expensive to see if I like the style, but then I always return it and look for a cheaper alternative…but at least I know that the style is what I want (or don’t want).

In the same breath, always get fabric samples and paint samples before purchasing. You will save yourself a lot of money and stress!

7 steps to decorating on a budget

7. Use Your Resources

You are more creative than you give yourself credit for. Spend time on Pinterest, and you will see what all you can do with a can of paint, a tool kit, and some creativity. Google, Pinterest, and HGTV have the potential to make design stars out of all of us. So, have faith in your ability to shop cheap and make your home beautiful, and take advantage of creative friends, the internet, and your local hardware store to make a masterpiece out of your home!

7 steps to decorating on a budget

I’m No Longer Feeling 22…

July 24, 2013 by megan 2 Comments

Today I turn 23. And as I sit here writing this on the eve of my 23rd birthday, I am enjoying a late night bowl of Envirokidz Panda Puffs and getting choked up at the nostalgia of it all.
Let me give you some context.

I have always been a cereal addict. A connoisseur, if you will. An enthusiast. And all throughout childhood, adolescence, teenage years, and college, my favorite late night snack was a bowl of cereal. The flavor changed through years, and now I have pretty much abandoned the practice altogether in favor of my long term health, but the practice holds memories for me.

My childhood best friend, Lauren, and I used to sneak down late at night during sleepovers and eat cereal and have deep heart-to-hearts about whatever it is you talk about when you’re 8, or 13, or 16.

My cousin, Hannah, and I pulled our first almost all nighter (I think we stayed up til 3…but that’s forever when you’re 11) at my grandparents house and capped it off with a bowl of cereal…that her two-year-old sister spilled all over the floor.

My Dad used to tease me about my habit of making a bee-line for the cereal stash every night after returning from late night rehearsals. I would sit at the counter and talk to my dad or mom or sisters about life and all its teenage complexities to the soundtrack of crunching Honey Bunches of Oats or Frosted Mini Wheats.

In college, I would find reprieve from a night of studying by pulling out the milk from the mini fridge and indulging in my favorite snack.

So, tonight I am eating cereal. Cereal that says “kidz” on the box, even, because it feels like a piece of a memory.

Last week, I visited my childhood home. I have only been back two other times in the whole year since we’ve been married because I live so far away, and so much of it feels like a time capsule. As I reflected on my impending birthday, it hit me that I am no longer the angsty teen that wrote songs and journal entries for hours in the window seat or that had her first long phone conversations with a boy in the corner chair or that cried with her best friend on the bed while listening to “Graduation” by Vitamin C on the last night before leaving for college.

Growing older is so rewarding and so exciting. I love adult things like owning a home, being married to the man of my dreams, having a really cool job, and learning who I am in Christ on my own and in this stage of life (although I could do without the whole paying bills nonsense ;-)). But there is a part of me that is afraid of leaving behind childhood. I already crossed the threshold; it’s not as if 23 is some turning point into anything new, but it is a reminder that time is passing more quickly than ever.

The future holds so many unknowns, and it requires that I lay all those question marks down at Jesus’ feet. The past holds so many tangible memories…reminders of God’s faithfulness and all the ways that I have grown.

So tonight, as I count down the minutes to being 23, I am going to pray for the strength to face whatever lies ahead, and eat some more cereal.

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The Evolution of a Room: The Home Office

July 17, 2013 by megan 4 Comments

I am not one of those bloggers that waits until the finished product to show how things are going. Mostly because if I did that, I would never have anything to write about.
A few weeks ago, I shared with you my plans and dreams for our little home office space. Well, I have made a bit of progress, so I thought I would share how things are coming along.

This still doesn’t feel like an office. It feels like a room where we have put things that would be used for studying or office work. It has a ways to go before it will feel useful or put together or really much of anything, but I am proud of the progress.

I have done a poor job of documenting with pictures, but if you had visited last week, you would have found all the furniture haphazardly shoved to the middle of the room and five paint colors on the walls. Over the weekend, I spent hours painting the room (first ever time to paint a whole room alone), and I have begun to put the parts together.

office mood board

So, here is where we are:

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View from the kitchen into the wall of shelves….
I made an interesting discovery with paint. You will recall from this post that we painted our living room/kitchen Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore, and then I used that same color to stencil the hallway. Well, this office room ties the hallway and the kitchen together, so I wanted it all to flow together well, but I knew I wanted the walls to be lighter than in the living room/kitchen because this room stays pretty dim. So, I tried something new.

office mood board young house love wire lantern

I ordered Revere Pewter at 50% strength (color matched in Olympic One from Lowe’s). That means that it is the same color as the rest of the living space, only half as dark! What a novel concept! Once I realized that was a possibility, the world opened up a bit more!
This lovely chair found a friend in this antique brass lamp that I picked up at a yard sale. I love it! Also, I cannot wait to move the antique mantel upstairs to this room! It has so much character, and I really think it is going to make the room fabulous. It will go right along that big blank wall next to the chair.
I have also ordered this completely amazing light fixture for the space. I can hardly wait for it to be delivered (it’s on back order…boo).
And for some reason, when I saw this little horse bust at Home Goods, I had to have it. Don’t ask me why, but I am obsessed.
I am going for: masculine, comfortable, modern chic in this room.

So here is my to-do list:
– Spackle & paint the room – Paint garage sale desk blue – Find a chair – Find a light
– Find a rug
– Find a side table for next to the chair
– Purchase or build an ottoman for the chair (perhaps tufted…or a fun pouf)
– Repair and move the mantel into the space
– Decorate/accessorize the mantel
– Style the bookshelves
– Install the new light fixture
– Curtains
– Wall art behind the desk

Stay tuned!

Living Room Tour

July 12, 2013 by megan 8 Comments

After teasing at bits and pieces of the living room through various projects for a while, I think it’s finally time to give the big picture of what our living room currently looks like. This is truly the heart of our home and where we spend the majority of our time. It is also the first room that is starting to feel complete.
Welcome to our home. Come in and have a cup of coffee. We can share stories.

psst…check out the house tour section of the blog up on the navigation menu to see more home tour photos of the whole house and a source list for everything found in the rooms. And for details on how we chose our wall color, see here.

living room tour

And because it’s hard to share the living room without giving a peek into the kitchen nook…

living room tour

So here’s the low down on our to-do list; where we are and what I still would like to complete:

living room– Paint the room revere pewter – Build a floating console table – Find a pair of side chairs- Find a side table for the chairs – Find a two-tone TV stand- Gallery wall behind the TV – Art above the console table – Install double layer curtains- sew pillows for the couch- Accessorize
– Get a jute rug
– Install crown molding
– Install full length sheer curtains (they are currently too short)

kitchen nook – Build and paint the banquette – Find a new industrial style kitchen table – Find and recover chairs – Sew pillows – Hang plate wall
– Install faux roman shades over the windows
– Cushion for the banquette