Summer Tour of Homes 2013

So glad you popped over.  Southerners are always popping in on their neighbors and I love that.

Thanks to Gina at Shabby Creek Cottage for inviting the rest of us to join in on the tours.

Without further chatter, Welcome to our home!

This is the first year I decided to decorate the porch beyond the big urns in the front.  It’s about the only place I could tuck a fern in around here.

I just set an unused chair in the corner and plopped the planter on top. It feels much more welcoming.

When you first stepped inside the house this spring, the entry looked like this.

Well, actually, beyond the eggs it still looks like this.  I haven’t figured out my “summer” vignette. 🙂

Next, is the dinning room. This room was probably the first room to go through the transformation process. Transforming your home into your own design is the most fun part about owning your own house.  Then you can make your house your own and by that I mean, hunt down bargains, paint or refinish and make beautiful.  Basically refresh, re-imagine and up-cycle items to redecorate on a tight budget.  That’s the way it goes around here.

And actually these are the first photos I’ve shared of the newly refinished table. It’s really not that new, I did it last fall. But either way, first looks are always good. I’ll be sure to share the how-to’s soon.

You can see all the details on the curtains here and the furniture pieces here.

The living room is an area I’m currently working on.  So when you look around and see colors that don’t look quite right in the room, that’s why.

But I thought it was interesting to see an in-progress transformation.  We all know not every room re-design happens overnight.  Well, at least mine don’t.

The real dilemma for me in this room is the wall color.  While we purchased this house new and were able to pick many of the finishes, the base coat of the paint was already on when we found the house.  I thought it was okay at the time and you can see how much of it there is.  This is not our forever home and actually we never really thought we’d be as long as we have. Most people think of paint as an easy change, but in this case it’s not.  Hiring painters and/or renting scaffolding is not an option for us.

Thankfully, with all the windows in the room, it doesn’t feel dark.I plan to lighten and brighten in my own way,  working with what I’ve got.  I even set up a Pinterest Living Room Refresh board to help me plan it out.

And part of that refreshing includes slipcovering the leather sofa.  See our sweet Tucker perched in “his spot” on the sofa? Yeah, that cushion is starting to show it is indeed his spot.  Plus, I hope it will nearly transform the space in one fell swoop. Don’t you think?

If you peak through the doorway on the left, you can see our master bedroom. It can use some refreshing too. It’s very formal and I’d like to casual it up a bit, do some brightening.  That room could definitely be painted. 😉

This little area between the living room and the kitchen is nice and open and a perfect spot for the teenagers to use the laptop.  If you want to see the makeover this antique hotel chair got you can check it out here.

I feel very blessed to have such an open, functional kitchen.  The flow is great and there’s plenty of counter space. The dark cabinets were not my choice either, but I think they are pretty.

Next up is the little powder room off the kitchen. It’s my tribute to our roots, thanks to the sign my dear friend gave me for my birthday last year.  It reads, “The South”and captures the definition of the South, perfectly.

 

Be sure to check out the reveal post for all the details.  There’s lots of thrifty goodness going on in this room. And I’m in love with this more casual vibe.

Now for a room that has only been sneaked, but even this angle got a little change recently.

It’s my studio. A happy spot just for me. It’s great to have a dedicate space fore creativity, which for me includes scrapbooking, sewing, painting and any other crafty thing I’m into at the moment.

I added the pop of tangerine when search ended for the perfect fabric to cover our favorite rocker.  I took photos during the construction of a few more of the paper medallions and will be posting a tutorial soon.

There’s lots to talk about and share in this room.  But right now don’t open that closet!  That’s where I stashed all the stuff that is usually laying around the room.  You know those scraps of fabric, paper and craft supplies?  There is a system in there, but I’m not good at keeping up with it honestly.  I’m too flighty to actually clean up when I finish a project. And that my friends is the root of all my problems. 😉

The past few days have been so lovely, this is probably where you would find me if you popped over.
I’m just finishing up refreshing our outdoor patio.  What wonderful timing it has been to have a comfy place to sit and relax.

Thank you ever so much for taking a tour of our home. I hope you were inspired to try new things with your home.

Never underestimate the power of paint and a little creativity because little by little, you can make your home something you love.

I’d love for you to join me in my journey to lighten and brighten our home. 🙂  You can follow me on Pinterest,  become a fan on Facebook or Google Plus!