wish list

The exterior of my home is still a bit scary. Faded purple vinyl siding with pink trim and turquoise accents, an over sized deck and zero landscaping isn't what I'd call great curb appeal.
My wish-list for this springs project is as follows:
Dark charcoal siding
thick bright white trim
bye bye deck
stamped concrete patio
pergola
so on and so on..
but this I LOVE..

Would this last in Montana? Would the winds blow it all over? Of course I'd have to take it all down in the winter. Hmmm?

Pier 1 even sells an affordable outdoor sectional.

Photo Wall update

drum roll, please!.. Here is the outcome of the photo wall. What do ya think?

I put a silhouette of my doggies in these frames. Like or dislike combined with the wedding pix?

Antlers

I really want these antlers/resin animal heads right now.. I want to bring "the taxidermy tradition into the twenty-first century" as Z-Gallery puts it! I think they would look great in my office b/c I intend to paint the walls a rich grey color and have other quirky elements mixed in.

Although, I have a feeling Brady will give me hell for wanting these, because there is no way in hell I will let him bring his real dear/elk heads into the house.. Those are going to be hung in his garage(the only space he is allowed, or cares, to decorate), HAH!

I will probably only get one, b/c they are $50 a pop, the larger elk head is actually $199, which is out of the question.. But then I'd have a chance to maybe, JUST MAYBE, mix in some real antlers.. only the small nice ones :)

Here is a pic I found online, that shows just fantastic it will look up against my grey walls. Yay!

thrifty find

I went thrift store shopping the other day and came home with this David Rowland Chair/Desk for $10. Was it a good buy or not? I still can't decide! What in the world will I do with it? I could either sell it on Ebay b/c I know I could double my money and then some. The label on the bottom is actually in mint condition, which is a plus.
But I thought Brady would like it for our family room, because is always on his laptop while watching TV... But, he said he doesn't want to "sit in a school desk at home!" Pthhh whatever! I might try it out in my office.

David Rowland Chairs

A few years back my Grandpa gave my Dad some old chairs that he had found.. My Dad then used them as garage chairs for years.. And a while back I told him to give them to me because they were awesome. Well, I didn't take them before my parents moved into their new home, and the chairs ended up in their shed for over a year, stacked under old tires and lawn mower parts.. ANYWHO, I just took them home last week and today I noticed a piece of paper on the bottom of one of the chairs.. googled the name, and found out that they are designer chairs! Score.. Worth hundreds online.. Of course, mine haven't been taken care of as a designer chair should be and I would never ever sell them, because I love them! I plan to use them in my office. :)




..and to think that before I googled the name, I almost painted them white!

photo wall

These photos are probably too small, but this is what I was thinking along the lines of adding pix around the black frames. I just used spare paper, cut it to photo size and taped em' up to see how it would look.

Christmas Wreaths

I was feeling a bit crafty last night and decided to throw together a few wreaths for my holiday decorating.

1st I found some eucalyptus that I didn't care for.. but it was marked down really low at Pier 1 one year, I couldn't resist buying it.

seperated the stems

used wire cutters and floral wire to wind the stems into a wreath shape

spayed them ligthly with some good old metallic spray paint.. I like how you can see the red poking through a bit.. it makes it more Christmasy

Hung them with the Command Adhesive hooks(awesome) that I found at Home Depot.

Add added a little ribben. Done! They may be a bit "crafty" looking for my living room but I like them anyways.. perhaps I should switch the ribbon.. But I think this color/ribbon combo would be awesome year round a vintage inspired room with a few black and white photos nearby.

I hung this wreath over my mirror with a long wired ribbon that I found in my gift wrapping bag.

This one is my favorite! I taped a bunch of wedding photos straight to the wall and added a ribbon. I think it is playful and tells a story!

I put it in the bedroom on the wall oposite my bouquette!
doesn't the bouquette make a great decoration?

sweet finds

We realllly need a new dining table. Our table is one that Brady bought from a friend when he was thinking of gettings an apartment, about 5 yrs ago.. It is junky, so I painted it black and used it in our office at our old home, until now..

We used to use one that my parents have had for about 15 yrs and passed down to us.. It however doesn't match at all. Plus all the finish has worn off and things like take out bags, papers and pizza boxes stick to the table. lol.

Here is a table I found on Craigslist that I think is pretty awesome. I clicked on it thinking oooo ya, I can re-stain this and it will be unique and a cheap fix... But no, of course it has to be designer and cost $750.. o well.


I love how the chairs have just 3 legs.. They all fit together nicely too, which would be perfect for my tiny little dining room.

I also realllly love clear chairs. I don't think I'll ever buy them, b/c they are a bit trendy and the cheapest I could find them was about $150 a pop.


Also, here is an awesome table from Pier 1 that just happens to match my console table and pillar holder. . But I would probably drop something on it and break it to pieces. $500 on sale is a bit much, also I don't like to be too matchy matchy.


Any ideas? What should I do with my tiny space and small budget?

even more xmas.

and some puppies.

here is a flash back to my x-mas present from 08'...

^ who knew they made such cool nut crackers?

^the leftover hurricanes from our wedding are great for stuff like this

^ I think I am going to add a bunch of frameless wedding photos with the 4 black frames as the focal point. Too much or just right?

^ this summer, Brady bought a four-wheeler and I bought this console. If he gets to buy a toy, I think I should too!

some x-mas cheer

Here is the mini fiber optic tree that is home to my red ornaments..

and Brady's Griz ornament.

Here is our bigger tree.

Last year, Brady's Mom gave us a collection of ornaments... She worked her butt off to to find one from each place Brady and I have visited together. sweet eh?! Here are a few..

^Oregon Coast

^Disney World


I have a bit of a bird theme on my tree..

and candy..

x-mas and moving in, finaLLY!!!!!

Brady and I spent the last week moving. It is so exciting, we have actually spent 5 nights there. Woot! Woot! Since Christmas is just around the corner, I decided to put everything up as we moved in.

First let's take a look at the Before and afters...

^ I didn't have the best pic of the staircase opening, but wanted to show off my sweet mirror that Brady finallllly hung. You can see why he didn't want to hang it.. the wall isn't even fully painted. Oh weLL!
Here's Brady hanging over the ledge to hang the mirror. He is such a monkey. He asked me to walk out on the plank to help him.. Of course I refused b/c it was so high up!

Bay Window

I am so glad we kept this window.. The first time we walked into this house, I said "Let's ditch the bay window!" But, who has time to take out a bay window while remodeling an entire home with snow on the ground.. not us. Brady makes a 1990's joke about it every now and then, but that's ok. Plus, Koko loves it! Which is such an added bonus for us. She used to jump up and down from our leather sofas with her sharp claws digging in each time she wanted to look out the window.