All in a quart! by DirtyHands-Beautifullife

The Nester asked us about our chalkboards, so here's my bit on it...

We are living in our third home that we've owned...it is the smallest of three. They have gotten progressively smaller even though our family hasn't...hmmm...something appears to be wrong with this picture...

I am grateful for our 1600 sq ft home because God has used it to teach me about what is really important in a home.

One of the ugliest places in the house was this awkward skinny hall about 3' long and 3' wide between the living/dining space and the kitchen. It also has the door to the basement and no light! Very dark...so I decided to lighten it up by painting one wall black - chalkboard black! He thought I was crazy (still does, really)

It made that ugly old hallway one of everyone's favorite features in our home. Not just because they love to write on the chalkboard, but even when it's all black and not in use it looks very clean, trendy- and creates the transition from working space to living space.

In honor of my new found attitude...I also have this favorite quote posted in the middle of the chalkboard. In the beginning it was a reminder of the proper attitude to have. Now it is a reflection of my philosophy.

One night after our bathroom was freshly painted, the vanity was driving me bonkers...it looked similar to this

(this is actually the one from my upstairs bathroom-yikes!)

The chalkboard paint was calling out my name. I had no idea if it would work so I tried it on the inside door first. Not only did it work, but it dried so fast...the whole project was done in 2 hours! That's my kind of D.I.Y.

There's still a bit of paint left in that quart so the next project...

I plan to ditch the curtains and hopefully make roman blinds like these from Delightful Dwelling. I also want to take down the little knick-knack (or knick-not) shelves and trim. Then I will chalkboard paint the side of the cabinets and maybe put a Scripture verse above the sink...

Then I could keep my prayer requests on one side and praises on the other...maybe it would be even easier to forget about the dirty dishes in between!!

All this...in a quart!!

A few VERY RANDOM tips on chalkboard paint...

- It needs boundaries...a frame, a door, or in my case molding...when it's on a wall with a 'free edge' it doesn't give the same affect

- Place it strategically so that you will use it!!

- Cool on flower pots, desk tops, and lots of other dirty-beautiful places!

- I made my nieces travel kits by painting old metal trays with chalkboard paint and including a little bag with alphabet magnets and chalk

- Erasers don't do a lot for it...I use a wet cloth

- About once a year...I roll over mine with a quick coat to freshen the look

- SHARE!!! Let anyone write on it --- it's FUN!!!

Thanks to The Nester for inviting us to tell the world about our chalkboards:)

Who needs dinner when you can decorate?

When I posted Ecc. 3:3 "A time to tear down, and a time to build up" the inspiration for Salvaged Vintage Decor, I didn't know it was going to be so literal in my home!

To your disappointment...I will not show you all of my messes in one post.

I'm all about real-life beautiful ---that means we need dinner AND decor!! When my table looks like this I know it's time to 'get my hands dirty' in the dining room...

(my alibi: rough day-sick little one)


(his alibi: I need another "please-do" list because I'm spending too much time on ebay)





As a quick fix for this mess...I used my find of a 2 sided tablecloth (see my 'finds' on the right column) and some $4 grocery store flowers...
For cut flowers choose heads that are still somewhat closed to make the boquet last longer at home.

Sunflowers have thick stems so use pruners instead of scissors...
Helpful hint...rubberband stems of sunflowers together so you can achieve the angle of display you like!

Many of you would have picked a different vase, but it's my tribute for the week to all the over-time put into the 'big green tractors...'

Now I have one end pretty for my sanity, 2 places for our breakfast in the morning, and a spot to do my reading. At the end of the day tomorrow I will be so delighted to quickly move my tray of reading out of the way and set a place for him (to do list included).

Salvaging me

So I looked up salvage today in the dictionary and basically all of it's old meanings have to do with salvaging from a ship! Even more appropriate for my thoughts because I feel like my ship was shot at over the weekend, and I wasn't sure if it was friendly fire or not:)

I had an opportunity randomly thrown in my lap to teach which is what I expect to do someday, since I am in my last year of finishing my teaching degree. At first, I was so very excited! Then as the list of pros and cons were laid out...things didn't seem so sublime.

I find it difficult to make decisions about the little things like what to have for supper. Decisions about the big things are just plain bothersome to me! I didn't want to miss the opportunity if its what God was putting before me, but it also seemed inconsistent that God's plan would mean forsaking my family plan for now.

In the intro to my blog I mention that I often feel like I'm on a carousel. Teaching seems like a logical way to jump off of a spinning circus ride.

Well, guess what...carousels make me dizzy sometimes, but I love carousels! Look at a kids face riding a carousel, listen to the music...who doesn't want to go for a ride?!

So, I think maybe the salvaging God was doing was on my perspective and my attitude. I think he was stripping me down to make sure that I was real. Do I really love what I'm doing now? It may not feel like it on days that the carousel gets to spinning too fast, but YES. I L-O-ve the ride I'm on!!

Salvaged Vintage Decor

Today I took my two year old to Monkey Joe's for the first time...after a couple of hours of that...this vintage mama needed a little salvaging...a reviving power nap inspired me to tell you about something I L-O-ve...

I L-O-ve architectural salvage! I love it best when I pull it out of the "curb appeal pile"(aka someone's trash pile), but I also enjoy watching for pieces at flea markets, antique shops, and anywhere else it may linger.

I think of the great effort and passion put into each curve and detail of building even when resources were so few, and I can't stand the thought of these 'leftovers' being crush, burned or left to rot...

>>>I am NOT a hoarder...in fact I'm anti-hoarder...so I do what I can one piece at a time:)

My special passion is windows as you probably noticed in my "God Opens a Window" post... There's just something about dreaming about what someone saw out the window 100 years ago that seems more serene to me than what I might see out my own window on any given day...

(although some of the windows in this house are likely 100 years old and to accent that we dress 'em up with that fine little winterizing plastic -- very classy!)

These are the first windows I ever purchased. There are actually three of them...you will see them used in more than one way over time...it's one of my favorite items to move...

And you've probably seen something like this before. This is a round floor vent that would have been used to let heat get through to an upper level...I think it's a great simple piece to give punch to an otherwise narrow boring place by the front door. I like to think that me buying this was the inspiration for every decor store in town to offer lightweight metal replicas...

This is not architectural salvage, but I bought it in a salvage store...can you tell what it is?

It's a drawer front from an old chest of drawers! The handles act as ready made hooks...fantastic by an entryway for bags or as a towel holder in the bathroom...

Now...drumroll...please...

This is a shelf that I designed from a pile that looked similar to this...

The long portion of the shelf is a wide door frame....It rests on corbels (I think thats what they are called??) I never could find a place for my family photos and this is going to work great because it's above a window which would otherwise be wasted space! I can't wait to play with the design of what sits on the shelf over and over again!

I'll keep you "posted" on what I do with my remnants...I've got it a beautiful plan in my head, now I just have to get my hands dirty!

"And a time to build up, and a time to tear down." Ecc. 3:3