artsy Amy

Hey Now, a door makeover

Did you know Lowe's dates their paint labels?  Proof I've procrastinated this project since July 10th.  I'm ashamed to show the "before" photo.  At one time it was white and had those builder brassish fittings.  Poor door.

Yesterday, I scrubbed the door down and used one of those magic erasers for the scuffs.  It worked well, magic.  Finally a household product that lives up to the hype.  Go Mr. Clean!  Had I not been sick {sick I tell you} of the generic color and those pitiful excuses for hardware, a heavy duty cleaning might have done it.  Two coats of "Grandma's Linen" and some spray paint to disguise substandard hardware...a door makeover on the cheap.  Pretty door. ;0)

Cottage Retreat

Birch bed, originally uploaded by house dreams.

DISCLAIMER: This is NOT my bedroom. I wish it was. Since the cat is somewhat out of the bag {weird southern sayin'}, we are thinking about having a small cottage built. I'm a little house nut and the boys in my life have finally caved. Yay.

The builder only has a certain number of pathetic colors for the HardiePlank exterior. I hate all of them. Dear Hubby found two or three shades of horrid he could live with. Color is non-negotiable so I began googling to see other small cottages and found this photo. Cute barn looking red; perfect for Alabama. Dear Hubby emails the nice lady and asks for the color...Mill Creek Red. Sounds lovely. There is no such color. He then asks for the paint formula. {We've done this house thing enough to know the lingo.} The nice lady emails quickly the details & formula. Really nice lady. Dear Hubby borrows paint fan deck, which I so want in Valspar.

Mill Creek Red aka Scenic Rose is actually red with a bunch of Alabama orange-brown clay mixed in. Icky. It has turned me off totally to red. Sorry dear.

I'm currently loving this Nocturnal color, which is practically named after me!

Anyhoo, this bedroom is exactly the look I want. Vintage. Cottage. Grandma's attic. Not too Shabby. Plus, I love the birch branches. Ask my dear Mom, I used tree limbs for a curtain rod in our bedroom when dear Son was a toddler. It was fabulous until dear Hubby found a fake crow at Micheal's and wired it on one of the branches. Creepy.

Hey, if you look closely at my photos above, you can see the quilt dear Maw Maw & Paw Paw gave dear Hubby and I for our first Christmas as a married couple. Aw-ww, I nearly shed a tear again.

If you are loving this photo as much as I, click on over to Southern Adirondack Lake House Rentals. Staying in several of those gems is definitely on my bucket list.

Little Flower Big Vine

08 Morning Glory, originally uploaded by Artsy Amy.

On Friday, our Dear Son performed during the half-time show at his High School.  We were so proud of him!  They did a wonderful job!  Since then, I've felt pretty much like the title of this post. 

I've been trying to re-decorate our den.  What was initially good intention has quickly become a source of frustration.  It seems everything I touch leads to something else, that leads to something else, and at the end of each exhausting day I see little to no progress.  I'm a visual person.  If I don't see progress, I tend to slip into my pouting mode.  Pouting mode normally lasts a few days.  It's when I can't eat the proverbial elephant one bite at a time.

A couple of years back, Dear Mother-in-Law's church did a class on how women were like spaghetti and men were like waffles.  Kind of a Mars Venus type lesson.  I should have taken that class.  We women are exceptional at intertwining everything.  Men are simple.  Task one, done.  Task two, done.  Next, next, next.  Not us.  We have to do this thing so we can do this other thing next, but if we don't get this other thing done, then it all goes to heck.  Spaghetti, vines, same difference.

I did take a mental break late yesterday and finished another bib.  I want to send it to my youngest Dear Niece, but she may be to grown.  Maybe she or her sister could put it on a doll.  I'm sitting here rationalizing a bib.  It's time for a Coke (Coca Cola, a staple for a southern girl) and something sweet.  It won't help anything, but it sure makes me feel better when I get like this.  Maybe a nap later with our cat, Dear Daisy, and by Tuesday I should be back to some type of normal.

The Man Cabinet

The Man Cabinet, originally uploaded by Artsy Amy.

We have recently been redecorating our den.  On Wednesday, Dear Hubby was able to re-hang his beloved Man Cabinet.  We jokingly call it that because is houses several of his favorite things.  He tolerates my craft and sewing supplies all over the house, so he deserves as least this small shrine to the manly indulgences of tequila and cigars!   He was so happy with the cabinet, he even wrote about it on his blog.

The cabinet was unearthed from Dear Maw Maw's attic years ago.  The broken glass was replaced with chicken wire (one of my favorites) sometime around or before 1997.  We just can't remember.  Most of the bottles are from our travels in the Caribbeans.  The cigar boxes are all works of art.  Every now and again he will bring home one that he likes better from The Humidor Room, so I beg to have the ones he doesn't want for crafting.  I've made two of them into jewelry boxes.  Unfortunately, I can't share any photos yet, as I don't want to spoil the surprise for the recipients!

Den Makeover

Den Makeover 3, originally uploaded by Artsy Amy.

School started back, so things are more busy.  You'd think this is an appropriate time to slow down, to balance out the additional commitments.  A normal person would do this.  But no!  I decided it was a good time to re-decorate our den!  I had the perfect excuse...my Dear Son is working on a merit badge for Boy Scouts.  He had to paint a wall.

Before, our den was yellow.  I'm not a yellow person.  Above, you can see the yellow, peeking out from the primer on the left.  The new color is the warm brown with gray undertones on the right; Garden Urn (SR213) from the Seaside Retreat Signature Colors collection at Lowe's. 

Since this project is more involved than my normal crafts, posting may be a little erratic this month.  I'll share photos as progress is made!

Kitchen Nook

Kitchen Nook, originally uploaded by Artsy Amy.

This little nook above the stove has been long neglected and was overdue for a makeover.  I just recently decided on a garden rabbit theme for the kitchen.  After searching for old looking rabbit prints, I nearly had angina.  Since I was not budgeting around $100.00 for a 4x6 print, I had to get creative.  The PrintShop software I had contained photography, so I searched for rabbits and then printed the scene onto 5x7 photo paper.  The result was framed and looks just as vintage, but on a farm girl budget.  The upper shelf contains a small vase & chicken by Tracy Porter.  The lower shelf has my Dear Son's favorite pepper mill and a bird tea light holder found at Target.  Fear not, I don't light it anymore since it has been reassigned to the kitchen nook.

Neat Nook

Kitchen Counter, Right, originally uploaded by Artsy Amy.

Places of peace have been hard to come by around here and definitely warrant a photo op!   I have yet to figure out why maintaining order is so difficult.   Perhaps it is the pace of life these days.   That and the bad decision to have white (or rather, whitish) counter tops.  Anyhow, I wanted to share this little nook with you.  Hopefully, the places of peace will infect the other areas with order and our home might be magazine worthy some day.   Wishful thinking!

Summer Flowers

79 Summer Flowers, originally uploaded by Artsy Amy.

What we thought was a weed turned out to be a flower from Martha Stewart's line of seeds at KMart that we planted last summer!

Patience is a virtue.

Daisy

81 Daisy hiding, originally uploaded by Artsy Amy.

Our dear Daisy was sitting on the rock in the front flower bed.  Well, soon to be flower bed.  It was only just planted this week.  I am many things, but a gardener I am not.