It's that Cozy time of year...

Breakfast Nook Gets a ReFresh

Wow. So, obviously, it's been one doozy of a summer. In June, we packed up the old parsonage, said goodbye to dear friends and family,  and moved from Alabama to south Louisiana. I'm just now starting to catch my breath again. This chick is getting way too old for moving! ;) 

We absolutely love our new home and place of ministry, and have been very busy getting settled in and putting our own touches on the parsonage here. It's always fun to start with a fresh blank canvas, right?! 

 Over the next several posts, I'll share some before and afters and show you guys our progress so far. Because who doesn't love before and after photos? 

This is the breakfast area before:

Simply painting the beadboard a nice fresh white brought the whole space back up to date from the 80's. Paint is just the bombdiggety. We used Sherwin Williams Olympus White on the walls and Bright White on the trim and beadboard. 

And here is the after....

Table - Target.com

Mint Chairs - Walmart.com

Sheer Panels - Ikea

Wall Art - Hobby Lobby

My vintage cabinet is also in this room, and it's a perfect match to the chairs. 

I needed something big to hang on this wall, so I came up with this idea. I had this large Sugar tea towel, so I mounted it on two stained wood pieces, stapled a piece of rope to the back of it, and just like that I had myself a wall hanging. Since I already had the towel, the whole project cost me a whopping $2 for the sticks. (I used yard sign stakes from Walmart at $1 each, and cut off the pointed end.) I love me a cheap project! 

Chippy is my love language.

Happy Saturday, friends! 

I saw this perfectly chippy and gorgeous old door out by the road in our neighborhood, so naturally, I begged my hubby to run over there and grab it for me. 

Isn't she a beauty???

But wait.  It gets better. 

Oh yes, it does.

When he went over to get it, the old man came out and said he had 11 old doors if he wanted them, too. Yes, ELEVEN. Say what?! Um, yeah, we want them! There's even a lovely chippy aqua blue one in the pile. That made my heart sing for reals. 

I'm already excited about decorating this corner up for Christmas! 

I'll leave you with a piccy of my sweet Ollie boy, because he's just so stinkin' cute. Even if he stole my favorite chair and claims it as his own...

It's Fall Y'all!

I'm seeing Christmas stuff popping up in all the stores, and I'm just like, wait, what did I miss here, has fall even got here yet??? We're still having 90 degree weather here in the beautiful south. And this girl ain't complaining. Nosiree. I'm loving it. Those cold dreary days when the kiddos get crazy wild with cabin fever will come soon. enough. 

My fall decor is pretty simple, nothing fancy here. I love my neutrals and lately I've had the urge to purge. I'm loving simple styles, and I'd love to lose some of my clutter!

Yeah, this piccy has nothing to do with fall, there's nary so much as a pumpkin in it. 

But Ollie was just so cute... 

Humor me.

If things go like they have for the last 15 years, my notorious black thumb of death will have it's way with the mums and they'll be conked out in no time. But still I try...

I needed a new table out here on the porch so I asked hubby to bring a spool home from work. (And he did, cuz he's sweet like that.) I just love it! I probably love it even more because it was free. Haha! Aren't free things just the best??

So I'll just be sittin' out here enjoying these last warm summer days, sippin' on my sweet tea, and whenever fall decides to actually show up, I'm ready for it. 

Fireplace, Flooring, & Fall

We've been working on some projects around here...you know, the "company is coming, so let's see how many we can attempt in a week" kind of projects? Surely we're not the only ones who do this.

 

I shared the kitchen flooring earlier, but we actually put the same flooring down in the piano/dining room, living room, and hallway. I love it!!!

 

 

I, also, wasn't happy with how the fireplace turned out before. It was too bright, but I thought it was going to be a big job to fix. I saw a tutorial on IG on how to paint a faux brick and it got my wheels to spinning. I dabbed a small tiny amount of light gray paint on a paint brush and then sporadically painted the brick. As soon as I painted, I took a wet wash cloth and wiped it off. It looks soooooo much better. It gives it a little more dimension.

 

 

As you can see in the picture, we re-tiled around the fireplace, too. The red tile stuck out like a sore thumb with all the changes. Once I get my new light hung in the living room, I think it's done...for awhile. HAHA!!!

 

While I had a big mess on my hands pulling everything from one room to another, I decided I might as well go ahead and decorate for fall. I'm not totally loving how it turned out, but it is what it is for right now. I see pictures on good o' Pinterest, IG, and blogland and get an idea in my mind of what I want. Then I attempt it and it turns out nothing like I had anticipated. LOL!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And, now, it's time for a nap. Pretty sure I need to learn how to spread things out instead of attempting it all at the same time. Eh...what fun is that?!

 

 

 

Apple Cake - the Taste of Fall!

 Around our place, it just isn't fall until we've had our favorite apple cake. The heavenly smell it creates in the kitchen is almost as good as the cake itself. Almost. 

I found this recipe several years ago in a Southern Living magazine.

You can find the recipe HERE.

Trust me, it's a keeper. The browned butter frosting and the toasted pecans just send this cake over the top. Talk about a party in your mouth! 

It may have a calorie or two, but who's counting. It has apples. And apples are healthy, right?

Happy Fall, Friends!

Table Centerpiece

I have been anxiously trying to figure out some way to use this galvanized circle piece from my junkin' post a few weeks back. My hubby says it's a hog feeder, but galvanized circle piece shall be my label. HA!

I tried using it and filling it up with various items, but I could never get it to look right. So, I flipped it over.

I put my circle placemat on top that I've been using as my centerpiece. Then I added a pitcher that I've had forever, but it's so tall that it's hard to find a spot for it. Along came a fall pick and some pumpkins and I called it done.

 

 

Have a blessed week!

 

Built-In Restyled...Industrial Style

I am really bad about wanting to refresh an area and stealing my décor from other spots in the house. The built-in cabinet is usually where I head and it was starting to look a little bare, so I went shopping upstairs and brought a few things down. Now, I'll have to fix all that later. However, company isn't usually allowed up there because that's where the things I haven't got put away yet MESS goes. HA! Did I just say that?

This room was starting to get an industrial vibe from this area, so I just added some more touches. Not sure why, but I'm totally into that style.

It's kinda had to see through the doors in the picture, so I thought I'd give you a closer look.

See the frame in the background?

It used to look like this:

No offense to JW, but I'm just not into Elvis. I liked the frame from the thrift store, so I just popped off the back and wrapped scrapbook paper around it for a fall touch.

This is a tacky picture, but it shows you that if you watch, with some time and patience you can score some cool things at a yard sale and/or thrift store. All those yellow circles came from just that. And, I might throw in...just because you're at a yard sale does it mean it's going to be cheap. We've been to a few lately where the people were just a little crazy. I ain't paying those kind of prices.

Sign: Down Grace Lane

Now, I'm gonna let you in on a little secret. So many people have commented to me before that my house always looks clean and put together. I assure you, it's not. We LIVE in our home and sometimes life around here gets plum crazy. I'm usually scooting something out of the way for a picture. I turn around and BAM!

Yup, just keepin' it real. And, well, this looks good compared to some areas of the house. HAHA!

 

Have a blessed week! Be happy, be bright, be real, be you!