Powder Room

Our powder room is done! Well, done for this budget anyways. :) We are dealing with the stomach bug/flu/ general nastiness here. Fitting I'd be sharing a bathroom this week?!

Let's just jump right in.

BEFORE:

AFTER:


Hardwood floors, walls painted SW Gray Matters

Ceiling painted SW Mountain Air , Existing light fixture painted black 

Swapped out the oval mirror for this one from Ballard Designs 

artwork by Ann Sweeney and myself, plates from World Market

Towels from World Market, art by me

Basket hung on the wall using nails, it houses our toilet paper and extra towels (also at a height our oldest toddler can reach to dry her hands!)

My favorite part of this room is this art by my oldest daughter. I LOVE IT! She's so creative. I gave her a canvas and got out all of her art supplies: markers, chalk, crayons, watercolor, colored pencils, dry erase, etc etc. She had a ball creating the different layers and patterns. She says it is her and her daddy swimming in Lake Murray. I just love it!!

I helped her add some gold around the edges using rub and buff (and gloves, don't worry!) 

Can you see it? That's Daddy.

That's Evans swimming.

And that's it! Pray our little family gets well soon! Poor Mae Mae is still feeling puny.

Screened Porch: Metal Is Here! And Other Plans

Hubs and I just got back from a fun getaway in Hilton Head. My parents came down to keep the girls, and we were off! It was a nice "break" from being Mommy, but dang I missed my kiddos! 

Ok, onto fun stuff. Our metal arrived yesterday! This is for the roof obviously. For locals, we ordered it from Rowe Supply and it's just as it was pictured. A perfect shade of gray from Millennium Metals in the 5V style. This goes up tomorrow! 

Once the roof is finished, Hardie Plank siding will go up, and then paintable Azek beadboard on the inside walls and ceiling. Plans for painting include a mix of paint and stain colors. I originally thought all white, but now I'm thinking I want it a little more interesting. 

The new plan:

Stain the columns and knee braces/supports and screen surrounds something like Behr's exterior stain in cape cod gray. 

Paint the Hardie Plank on lower wall and gable same as the house- SW Alabaster. 

Paint the ceiling same as house shutters- Behr Elephant Skin. 

Behr Exterior Stain Cape Cod Gray

Some inspiration pictures...

Hopefully I'll have more progress pictures after this weekend! :) Can't wait. 

Embracing What's Old

I shared our guest room/nursery's most recent updates here. I'm back today with another new feature in the room. 

Our house is circa 1953. Also the year my mom was born (sorry for the out, Mom!). So, naturally, she has some old features. The house that is, my Mom still looks good (wink). 

Would you believe our house in Atlanta had walk-in closets in EVERY bedroom? So, moving to this Savannah cottage has forced us to get creative (and donate lots). I've never liked the closet doors. They just feel totally dated (60+ years, to be exact)  and well, cheap.

The best advice I can give if you find yourself in a similar situation with a similar budget, embrace it. I'm a firm believer in mixing the old with the new in every room. By doing so you'll achieve a collected look rather than a catalog sterile feel.  Whether it be mixing antique furniture with new accessories, new furniture with vintage oil paintings, or aged brass lamps with fresh funky patterned wallpaper, the balance of old and new is sure to give your space big personality and a timeless style. 

My plan of attack in embracing these old doors? Make them look even older. Chalk paint to the rescue. In order for the old doors to live in their skin, I wanted the old bumps and wrinkles to come through. Rather than leaving them stark white with a smooth surface, why not allow for them to be cracked and aging? Perfect way to bring in more texture to this space as well. 

I'll probably do more sanding and throw on another paint color in a few days once this dries completely. The colors are Annie Sloan duck egg blue and paris gray. Savannah locals, you can get all of your Annie Sloan products from Lily Bay downtown. They are very helpful and will guide you on your chalk paint journey. 

Another look at the before. 

And one last after. A little paint and sand paper will get you places! 

Working with what you have does not always mean settling for less. 

Have you embraced anything old in your home lately?

Linking to Savvy Southern Style for Kim's Wow Us Wednesdays party! 

Dining Room Chairs- Progress

Well, I finally finished up my dining chairs I started nearly a month ago... oops. Ok, I've only finished 2 of them, and have 2 to go, but who is counting (my husband). I don't recommend starting a big project well into your third trimester, ha. Anyways, I am loving the new dining room look. I decided to pull in black and white to make it tie into the rest of the first floor. The curtains I scored at the Ballard outlet (Concorde Medallion Panels) a few months ago for $30 a panel. That's right.

After several conversations with chalk paint guru Savvy Kim (and I do mean several, I probably bugged her to death!), I decided to try it out for myself. I used Annie Sloan chalk paint in Old White and followed up with the clear wax. The seats are covered in Waverly ticking stripe. 

I changed up the china cabinet, too in an effort to channel more of a library feel. Hubs' response was "are these our very best books on display?" Ha. He thinks he is funny. Maybe one day I'll get around to covering the books in linen fabric, but then again maybe not. 

I love the contrast of the white chairs and the heavy table and china cabinet. Hopefully it makes the room feel bigger and more interesting.

I lightly distressed them. I was going to do heavy distressing, but Hubs wasn't on board with that idea. I do listen to him some of the time :)

I also swapped out the end chair covers with these grainsack covers from Pottery Barn.  

For the record, I thought the Annie Sloan chalk paint was incredibly easy to use. It's amazing to be able to completely skip the sanding and priming steps when painting furniture. The paint is pricey, so look for deals and giveaways in blogland or at your local stores that carry it. But, it is totally worth the investment when considering the time it will save you. The older I get, the more I realize, time is money! 

So that's all the changes for now. Maybe I can get the other 2 chairs done this weekend.... TBD. 

Gauntlet Gray Siding

So... the siding and painting work is finally finished! AHH!!! We love, love, love our new house. As far as recommendations go, I would recommend John Temmel The Siding Guy to any of you locals. In the beginning we got a little off schedule with the rain delays, etc., but in the end they went above and beyond for us and we couldn't be happier. 

Here's a look at the before. It's hard to tell, but the siding was in such horrible shape, and the bay windows were cracked and peeling. But, you can see the black fence my hubby stained a few months ago. He did a good job. :)

This picture probably shows the condition the siding was in a little better. This is from day one when they had just started ripping off the masonite. 

And here she is complete! I love how the gray lets you really see the pops of white trim. 

And the new bay windows are done, too. It's funny how our shutters look a little bit navy in this picture due to the sunlight, but I promise they are black as midnight.

And the other bay window completed...

Here's the back of the house before. I wish I had snapped some of when it was all white, but of course I didn't.

Here it is now in Sherwin Williams Gauntlet Gray.

And the new porch is so clean, minus our dirty ceiling fan. I thought if I posted a picture of the fan Hubs would get around to cleaning it... This is the result of grilling on your porch... a dirty fan. I told him he can't use it as a grilling shed anymore now that it's so clean. Ha.

I think it has potential and I love how new it feels now! 

I'm picturing a sofa, coffee table, two chairs, and a chaise. Now, where's that money tree?

Fresh coat of paint on the ceiling and beams

Even our skylights are clean. Hallelujah!

And the other side....

Do you love all the hay on the ground? Ha. That's thanks to Blakely and her new dog house my dad built. It's lined it with hay for her, and she immediately threw it all over the yard like a chew toy. She's a crazy pup. Hubs plans to paint her house the same gray as ours and put gray shingles on the roof. Blakely is spoiled rotten. 

And that's it! Siding down! We are still waiting on the screens on the porch to be replaced. Praying that in the meantime it doesn't get all gross and buggy.....