Show Us Where You Live- Master Bedrooms

This week we are touring master bedrooms. Our bedroom furniture was the first thing I bought with my first real job paycheck. We had been married a few months. When we got married, to my husband's credit we were determined not to live on our combined incomes. We purposed to live on his income and bank my checks for building a savings. We "splurged" one check on the bedroom furniture--and it's lasted us 29 years! I must say that it is so NOT my style anymore but other furniture replacement has always taken a higher priority than my bedroom. It will be the priority on the next move but in the meantime and due to some inspiration from some other bloggers, I want to paint our furniture black. My good friend Miss B is going to coach me through the process but a project that big needs to have a plan and a schedule. So until then, here's a look at the before.

























I told you how the whole room makeover idea got started here. I still like my wall color and since it's the same as the master bath, changing it all would be a job that I'm really not up for. Here's my inspiration room from Ballard Designs. Come back in a few weeks (or months) to see how it all comes together!


Thanks for stopping by! Go see Kelly for more masterful bedrooms!
Gina

Show Us Where You Live- Bonus Room

I'm really late posting this week's tour. I don't know where my week has gone! This week is my pick for the tour and I'm showing our lower level. I never had a basement until we moved to Iowa--well, that's not exactly true our first house in Georgia was built by a couple from Ohio who thought every house should have a basement. If you know anything about south Georgia red clay soil, you know that we had a basement that stayed wet ALL the time-totally useless!

Iowa basements are quite handy--like now when there are multiple tornado warnings and watches out for our area! The lower level was not finished when we bought the house but negotiated to have it finished. The main living area is a long narrow room that has been a furniture arranging nightmare. That area was supposed to be our tv watching space as well as a place for the kids to bring their friends and hang out. Our furniture is all the cast offs from decorating days gone by. I was saving the furniture for the boys first apartments but so far no one is taking me up on the offer. It's still a nice place to hang out and the frieze carpet hides a multitude of sins, spills, and snacks!




















We also added a "guest room" and a full bath which don't get used as much as I would like.


But my favorite place in the lower level is my storage room. My husband fitted it with Gorilla Shelving for all my Dept. 56 collectibles, seasonal decor, as well as 29 years of things that I just can't part with. On the unfinished wall, I put up nails to hold my many door wreaths and have this little table for crafting or gift wrapping projects.

Thanks again for stopping by. Stop over at Kelly's Korner to see what other people have posted.

Ya'll come back now! (I don't get to say that near enough living in the midwest!)

Gina

Nature Watch

A break in the day long rain gave me an opportunity to catch a few photos of my backyard on this not-yet-quite summer day. I wanted to get a picture of the plants in the backyard before the rabbits made their dinner off of them. Caught one suspect near the scene...















On the other side of the yard, a gathering of birds remind me of the Alfred Hitchcock movie, The Birds.


Gerber Daisies on the patio table


Spider mum arrangement I put together for a going away party for a co-worker:


Gina

A Walk to Remember

Last June our city was inundated with the rising waters from the Cedar River and not only was the downtown area completely submerged but the 100 year flood plain and the 500 year flood plain were under water.

Just a couple of years before, a few churches in our city combined efforts for a citywide move to express our faith towards others in our city through prayer, care and share initiatives. Little did we know how God was going to use that gathering of people to impact our community in the months following the flood.
Last year at this time volunteers were gathering to help evacuate people from their homes and sand bags were being filled in a vain attempt to hold back the rising waters. Last summer there were shelters to man, cleaning kits and fresh water to be handed out, and gaps to be filled as churches and businesses were relocated. In the fall, these churches partnered with 8 Days of Hope to bring in volunteers and skilled workers from all around the country to rebuild homes in the flood affected area. It's been a year long process of redeeming what could be salvaged and clearing off what could not.

This weekend our city is commemorating the floods that decimated our fine city and celebrating the recovery efforts of many people, businesses, and organizations.

One of the events I participated in was the 7 mile walk/run of the flood affected area. I have never done a walk or run before and after encouragement from some gals from church (these are some of the Grand Canyon ladies) and with the company of my husband and daughter, I joined 2000 people for Run the Flood. It was all very official feeling with t-shirts, race numbers, and a timer chip. My only goal was to finish and not to finish last.

It was fitting that the race started in the rain. The path was well marked and attended along the way with well wishers and volunteers to cheer us along. Many of the race volunteers were from area churches and their smiles and cheers were indeed encouraging. Last year's flood levels were also marked with blue tape along the path as well. While we dodged standing rain puddles on this day, it was minor compared to the 12 feet of water that stood in the same area just a year ago. Most encouraging was the business owners who are now back in business who also came out to cheer us, give high 5's and say thank you. About $50,000 was raised through the registration fees that will go to the on-going downtown recovery efforts.

It was a great challenge but great fun as well...and I didn't finish last! Here's my time as I crossed the finish line (not bad for an old gal). I stayed in the middle of the pack and had friends to keep me company.













Dad and daughter walked their own pace and had a couple hours of uninterrupted conversation. Here they are joining me at the finish line:















Thank goodness for whirlpool tubs, Advil and Icy Hot, I lived to tell about it!

Gina

Visit the Loo

Loo, water closet, powder room, little girls room, john, can...

Whatever you call it, I was a little uncertain I wanted to show it on this week's Show Us Where you Live Tour. But I really like my bathrooms and I cleaned them up for company so here you go...

I'll start upstairs and work my way down.

Master Bath. Painted same sage green as Master bedroom. I love that the counter is taller than normal and the big mirror stretches the length of the double vanity--that is until it's time to clean the mirror! Our last house did not have a tub in the Master and I love me a good soak so it was top priority for this house. The shower is across from the potty but not anything spectacular to show off. Hopefully, the next house will have a BIG shower with multiple jets.


The Princess' bathroom. When we moved in 5 years ago, she was 12 and was sharing the bathroom with her 15 year old brother so I had it painted a gender neutral color. Now that she has it all to herself, I didn't repaint but have felt free to girl it up with the pink and green shower
curtain and towels.












The Red room. I love a red room and think every house should have one. For this house, I picked my powder room on the main level to paint SW Red Bay red. I had the builder frame the mirror and love how the white pops against the red. I just added the wire corner shelf so I'm not sure how practical it is to keep in this small space.


Lower level/Guest bath. I really wanted to paint this bathroom brown but I went through 5 sample colors and they all looked like poop (sorry) so my friend came over and helped me find this bluish green color that would look good with the wall colors in the guest bedroom and living area. I've tried to make it very spa like and stock it with hotel size shampoos and soaps. At Christmas/Winter I hang a red berry wreath where the grapevine is and accessorize with other red elements.

For more pretty pottys go here and enjoy the tour--just put the lid down when you are done.

Gina

Some Wild Hairs Should Be Left Alone...

Yesterday I got what my momma would call a wild hair. For those of you not acquainted with southern colloquialisms, a "wild hair" is the spontaneous urge to do something. Some wild hairs should just be left alone.

It went something like this...

One day earlier:

The comforter on my bed needed cleaning so I took it off the bed to send to the cleaners.

I replaced it with a lighter weight down comforter. I liked the look crisp, clean look of the white comforter but thought it probably needed a duvet cover and now none of my pillows look quite right on the white.

The next day:

I went to Bed, Bath & Beyond with my 20% coupon looking for a deal that would transform my bed for a summer look.

I couldn't decide on a color because the sage green on my walls is really hard to match.

I went home without a duvet cover.

Later that evening after some online browsing for bedding inspiration I decided I needed a paint swatch to help me on my next shopping excursion. Having found none, I went down to the basement for a stored can of touch up paint to make my own.

The paint lid had been replaced by some painter with mammoth strength or had adhered itself to the paint can and took many and various screwdrivers and kitchen utensils to pry open.

Made my paint swatch. Washed out my paintbrush.

Went to replace the somewhat bent can lid back on paint can. This would require the assistance of a rubber mallet from the garage tool collection.

Go to the garage. Find the mallet from hubby's wall of tools.

In removing rubber mallet from its assigned location, a rusty rake topper (why did we keep just the top?) fell off the peg board and jammed into my wrist. Wrist begins to bleed. Wash out cut with peroxide. Put away paint can. Go to bed and hope I don't bleed on the white, unprotected down comforter.

Today:

Wake up with throbbing wrist and wondered when I had a tetanus shot.

If you don't hear from me for a few days, you will know that I did in fact get lock jaw and I'm hopelessly dying on my uncovered bed.

PS. Here's my inspiration from Ballard Designs--but more about that later:

Gina

Summmertime, Here I Come

It's not officially the first day of summer but for almost all of my life-- whether I was a student, a teacher, or a stay-at-home mom--the seasons were dictated more by the school calendar than anything else. Today was The Princess' first day out of school and even though I had to go off to work, my mind went into summer planning mode. Gone are the days of swim lessons, ball practices and weekends at the baseball/softball fields. They've been replaced with College Boy's summer classes to stay on the graduation schedule, cheer camp for The Princess, and summer jobs for all. Gone are the days of popsicles in the freezer, slip n slides in the yard, and jars on hand for an evening of catching lightening bugs. I still stock the fridge with easy to make meals and the pantry with snacks. I make sure there's wood for a spontaneous firepit and a box of brownies and plenty of microwave popcorn for sleepover snacks.
I used to make a list of chores and projects for the kids to complete while I worked the morning away from home. The promised reward was usually a trip to the pool in the afternoon if tasks were completed. That was when it wasn't too embarassing to be seen with your mom at the neighborhood pool. That was back when I was good for some new pool toy or .50 to spend at the snack bar.
Now days I still love to sit poolside with a good book or, better yet, conversation with the friends who have children to bring to the pool. And because I'm not ever sure when the weather or my afternoon schedule will accommodate such an outing, I stay prepared. In the back of my car the swim bag sits packed alongside a beach chair & blanket in case the poolchairs are all taken. I may always long for the summertimes of yesterday but I'm not giving up on the hopes of summer yet to come!

Show Us Where You Live- Home Office

This week on Kelly's Show Us Where You Live Home Tour, she is featuring home offices. I posted about my office makeover here but didn't do much to show you the decor of the room. We have had a room to designate as a home office in the last 2 homes we've lived in. When the kids were younger, it was the homework room. That's where we would stash the family computer and so it was also the bill paying, email checking center for my husband and I.

Then came the laptop computers and wireless internet. Truth be told, the office is less frequently used these days when it's way more convenient to sit in the family room with the laptops and do our work. Now days it's mostly where I go to file the bills, store the most recently completed book, and where hubby and The Princess download their music.

We have a mixed theme going on in the office. I have these prints that I've had for ages. At one time my hubby was into old radios and collected them so in another house, I displayed the prints with some of his radios.









I also created this golfing vignette to reflect his lifelong passion for golf. He also has a ball rack filled with collectors balls from various places he has played but it is too heavy to hang on a wall. As I said before, this area goes unappreciated as hubby spends most of his time in the family room with the laptop at his throne.







The pig collection is mine--you will need to understand that I'm an alumni of The University of Arkansas whose mascot is a Razorback. This little piggy started it all. I found her on one of our trips to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin and had to have her (she comes with a nametag and life story).

Her name is Madeline Dubois Pigasus and I think she's precious!The print was found on clearance at Kirklands and the small cast iron pig was an unexpected find at a coffee shop in a quaint little town near where I live.

When our builder's wife was cleaning the house before we moved in she remarked how much she loved the yellow color on the walls and asked if it was going to be a nursery. After I quit choking and laughing simultaneously, I said "no, at 46 years old it was definitely not intended to be a nursery!" But it is a lovely color of yellow from Sherman Williams called Golden Fleece. I liked the color so much, I painted the guest room downstairs the same color.


And lastly, the corner of good intentions. When The Princess started high school, it was my intention to scrapbook each year as it happened. I thought it would be a good bonding experience for us and ease the pressure of having a picture portfolio to display at her graduation party. My mother had given me all of her scrap booking tools when she declared herself "retired" from archiving the family records. Turns out neither The Princess nor I really liked scrap booking with all it's choices of borders, backgrounds, lettering, photo frames, etc. The Princess will be a senior this fall and I need a serious scrap booking intervention. Maybe I can bring my mom out of retirement on this project!

Thanks again for stopping by and taking the tour. Come again real soon now!
Gina