IKEA Hack

As you may know, I've been slowly working to make my house a home.  Now that I've lived here for 2 years, I'd say there has been some great progress... of course, one project at a time.  

So after finishing the kitchen update - I began the search for affordable bar stools.  I happened across these on a visit to Ikea and without much thought, went for them! [Ingolf, white, $69]

After a few months of having them around, I noticed that the tops of the chairs were getting scratched and little spots of paint would be missing.  [Now, I must take full responsibility for this.  I used the chairs during the cabinet painting process and I believe the hinges dug into the chairs.  My error.]

How to fix this?!  With a lovely seat cushion of course! So the search for cushions began. Unfortunately, after a few mispurchases, I could NOT find the right size anywhere! Then one night, it finally hit me.  DIY. 

I found some great outdoor fabric at Hancock.  Perfect for wiping clean and resisting spills.  I believe I bought 2 yds or so?  $14 worth.  

 I also purchased this sheet of foam.  For cost purposes, I went with the one inch thickness.  Again... about $14 worth of foam.
As you can tell, I removed the chair seats and traced the outline onto the foam & cut.

With my handy dandy staple gun, I covered each seat...nothing fancy.  And...Ta Da!!

I actually covered 4 chairs.  At around $30 worth of supplies and probably 30 minutes worth of assembly time, I love how this project turned out :)

Be inspired.

A little catchup.

Well. I can honestly say I'm relieved to log on to my blog and realize it hasn't quite been a year since my last post.  I had feared the worst.  But to only have to catch you up since September? Oh, now that's not so bad....

Through my time away, Pinterest has seemed to start and take over the way I used to blog and surf the net.  The convenience and ease of sorting through Pinterest has challenged my inspiration to blog on my own.  Regardless, I am going to push through the feeling...

In the months that have passed.. to quote the great Sister Hazel - Life got in the way.  If I had the drive to unload, you'd fully understand and support the hiatus.  But, with recent encouragement from the faithful followers of Love the Blog, here I am. Excited to reignite my creative, design side.

So. Here's what we're going to do.  10 months in review in just a few pics.  [I decided to avoid holiday pics - cause we all know that's a-whole-nother ball game].

The small group got to come together to decorate for Gone Country.  Hours of blood sweat and tears. 

...and of course arts and crafts... 

Daddy and I built a planter.  From scratch. [now if only i could keep plants alive]

Made a sweet pumpkin emoticon with my best friend.  

Directed my first ever kids musical: God of this City.

Totaled my second car of the year :/ [it looks more extreme because they had to take the doors off]

Finally! Finished my cabinets :)

Directed a team to decorate the entire church for Christmas.

Smashed my thermostat.  And had to replace on my own. 

Learned Thriller and danced it in true zombie fashion.

Learned to make sushi.

Was celebrated on Valentines Day for the first time ever.  And though he's not still part of my life, the lessons on love I could rattle off from our short few months together could inspire anyone to pursue true love.  

Helped my parents move. To SC no less. 

Went to the Masters for the first time ever with my bro.  And froze my tail off. 

And this sweet brother....

Well...he graduated.

And this best friend...

is getting married in 11 days to an incredible man.  

These 10 months... they have been full of things I never wanted to experience, emotions I didn't know I had, and friends who care deeper than I imagined.

kitchen details.

Though I tend to be "big picture" focused in most areas...in design, I have a deep appreciation for little details.
One of my fav little detials [in any room] are flowers.  If i could afford fresh flowers all the time - that is certainly a splurge I would do... but for me, now, I'll stick to fake.
That being said... I searched for quite sometime for a centerpiece for my kitchen. None to be found... SO. Took matters into my own hands.  Found these stems on clearance at Pier1... approx $1-3 per...

combined with a $6 clearance pitcher from Target and...ta da!  Approx $20 custom centerpiece...

Add $0.50 place mat from Marshall's and gifted Pier1 S&P shakers and we're in business...

I also decided to try my hand at wreath making..... found an awesome tutorial over at Jones Design Company and gave it a whirl. Whatcha think?

For further details...check out the tutorial.  This was an afternoon project... homemade flowers and all.  Total cost was well under $10.  

Seeing as these kitchen projects are [several] weeks [okay, maybe months] late... I figure I manswell share some other pictures from around that time... one of my favorite wedding weekends.  Congrats Reebs & Huntman [aka Rebekah and Hunter]

me & cousin Abby

my all time fav P.I.C - Rebekeh - on her day

pre-wedding celebrating

collegemaids

Fall To-do list

well hey friends.  'bout time I check in, huh?

Unfortunately, I missed my 1 year blogiversary [Aug 3].... Life just got in the way.  Guess we can still celebrate, huh? The good news is, I'm back in time to celebrate birthmonth.  It's finally here...September :)

Well.  Seems like the school year is in full swing already and I am quickly realizing this may be one of my busiest seasons yet.  Who would have thought?
Consequently, I don't have many home updates at this point.  [Hence the lack of updates].  I'm sure you all experience it at some point in your decorating/ remodeling process... getting comfortable with the state the house/room is in.  At the same time, I'm feeling the itch to do something creative or change things around a bit.  So... here are a few things on my to-do list....

1.  Refinish and style this coffee table.

This table was a beautiful find in the attic-a-la-Baker. My parents are [maybe] moving, and in the process, have removed everything Sarah-highschool and extra clutter from their home- resulting in this old, beat up coffee table [for free] in my house.

Which brings me to my next to-do...
2.  This room.

Furniture count:
3 chairs, 1 end table, 1 coffee table, 1 dresser, 2 drawer sets, 1 bookshelf, 1 sewing machine table...

This is my front bed room.  As Dad moved all my belongings out of their home, the boxes o' crap made their way here- to my front spare bedroom.  I need inspiration to get organized!!  And...a man to move that gigantic tv on the floor [buried amongst the clutter]

3.  Loveseat wall.

above the loveseat.

I've rearranged my furniture yet again.  [of course, due to the addition of free finds from the attic]... so this wall needs a little TLC.  I'm open to suggestions.  My thrifted, spray painted frames with scrap fabrics just aren't cutting it...

4. Entry way area...

I would love a beautiful desk/hutch combo with some vintage flair and charm to it.

5.  This wall is above my new counters and behind my hanging light and next to my sliding glass doors. What to do, what to do...

and no...the computer does not typically reside there...

I feel like this only scratches the surface of things to be done around here.  If nothing else, this blog post is reminding me of the things to be done around here....guess I better get to working....I'll keep you updated.

kitchen reveal.

viewing the house... 

note the "wood" paneling...

Okay... so it's not completely complete.... but I figured it's about time I let you in on what's been cooking here at my house.  I've been focusing on my kitchen for the last few months [as I've mentioned in previous posts].  To be honest, this was one room in the house that somewhat overwhelmed me at the start.  I simply decided I wouldn't touch it because it just gets complicated and difficult.  At some point, probably with a little encouragement from my parents, I decided to bight the bullet and look into countertop options.  Well... as I shopped, I understood that now was the time to add a bar addition if I was ever going to do it... which lead to a cabinet face lift and hardware update.  

So here we are...shopping for counter tops and deciding to update everything else as well... 

Of course, these posts wouldn't be near as fun if we didn't remember from where we've come.... 

scraping the ceilings...

before pulling up the floors

During floor selection... 

and the afters.....
I chose a java countertop....
and taupish gray cabinet....
oil-rubbed bronze hardware....

incomplete....

I've simply loved how it's turned out.  My 3 new drawers are incredible.  and the extra storage I have now is a dream.

next on the list: finish painting.  assemble new bar stools.  pick and install a backsplash :)

oh... and that's Tres.