And the Winner is . . . plus Full Disclosure

Drum roll please . . . and the name is "The Cabin Out Back."  I love all of the ideas, but I can totally hear myself saying:
For a party, "The party will be at The Cabin Out Back."
To my kids, "Your getting on my nerves.  Go on Out Back!"
To my friends, "Let's have cocktails at the Cabin."
With my Australian accent, "Let's have a Bloomin' Onion in the Out Back, Mates!"

Thanks for everyone's great ideas and taking the time to read my blog. Although Facebook and the Internet, in general, is a complete time-sucker for me, it amazes me how helpful it can be.

I like checking Facebook because even though everyone is so busy, I can feel connected to y'all.
As I finish up I want to be sure to give you full disclosure.  No, I didn't finish painting the outside of the cabin.  I got the front finished and quit.  Maybe this fall when the weather is nice and there are no bugs I can finish it up.  You can only see the front anyway!

Also, I raided my attic for anything that might work down at the cabin.  I'm embarrassed to show you this, but here is what my attic looks like:

It is a disaster and will be my next project.  In my defense, when we moved in the house everything wasn't finished.  So the movers just put it all up there, and I have been digging out what I need, when I need it.

I did find some of Alex's old artwork, lamps, and knick-knack type things up there. 

This is Scary Clown Painting that my mom gave me.  Scary Clown will keep the kiddos in line.

We also got the lights hung.  I found these at Target for $14.99 a strand.  Simple but full of happy!

Almost finished . . . I think I can, I think I can, I think I can!

Down to the Wire

Alright y'all!  Time is running out.  I go back to school August 8th, and my goal was to be finished by then.  My attention is shifting to back to school ideas and classroom decorating . . . I've got to stay focused!

Yesterday we picked up the sofa.  For Macon folks, I got it at Payne Mill, and Ralph helped us load it. If you don't know Ralph, take the time to get to know him.  Yes, his life experiences sound crazy and unbelievable, but I do believe they are true. He has the best perspective on life.

I was excited to start putting furniture inside . . . and I was even more excited that it fit where I had planned for it.

Yes, I did draw a little diagram.

Next project, the bar.  Here are a few before pics:

Someone asked me what color I was going to paint it, and I about cried.  I am completely over painting, so I just can't do it. Keeping it simple is my moto, so I decided just to cover it with some stickers.  As simple as peel and stick, right!?!

My mom gave me two barstools, and I had two old ones in my laundry room.  I decided to paint them a dark blue similar to the door.

Here is the finished project:

Now that I'm down to the wire I really need to make a list and start checking it off.  Here's what I've got:  finish outside paint, landscape, new stairs and light, hang pictures, wood stove redo, move in more furniture, order and hang string lights.

Also, I've got to give the house a name.  I have been calling it the party house, but I'm afraid that might give the wrong impression especially when the kids are in high school.

I've been given a few suggestions: the cabin, the other room, outback, the hut. What do you think? Any other suggestions?!?  Help me out please - I know somebody has a creative idea.

Well, back to work.  Do you think I'll get it finished?  Keeping my fingers crossed . . . and busy! 

 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. Philippians 3:14

Pinterest - Nailed It

I love those pictures of Pinterest fails.  These are some of my favorites:

I love the Cookie Monster cupcakes.  They really do make me LOL - laughing as I type this!  Here are a few my own "nailed it" projects.

Pinterest fill-able lamp

My fill-able lamp

I found the base at Lowes and the shade in my attic.  The toys were found all around the house. 

Total cost $30 for the lamp base.

Pinterest chair

My chair

The chair was given to be my mom.

I spray painted it and reupholstered the bottom with a piece of scrap fabric that I got from the Ballard Designs Outlet for free.  Total cost $25 (3 cans of spray paint at $4 each and the $13 pillow from Tuesday Morning.)

Pinterest Door

My Door

I love this blue.

I found the star in my attic with my Christmas decorations.  I spray painted it silver but it looked too shiny-new, so I used a little gray stain to give it a weathered look.

Total Cost: $10 for the quart of paint (I already had the star, spray paint, and stain.)

Pinterest pallet table

My pallet table

I am most proud of this project, and I want to brag on Alex for building it for me.  He used two leftover pallets from our sod, and he built the legs out of timbers from an old swingset that we tore down.  I traced a big metal star that we have hanging in our mudroom and painted it with chalkboard paint.  Total cost $9 for the chalkboard paint.

I don't know that I "nailed" any of my Pinterest projects, but they were fun (and done!)

The Case of the Puppy Prints

Back at it after a quiet and restful trip to the beach.  I painted the floors Vintage Gray and just as I predicted the color chip fooled me.  It was too light (it shows every speck of dust) but forget about redoing it.

See the puppy prints?  

Looking guilty?  This is only the beginning for my faithful companion, Jack. 

Now to pick a second color - a purple-brown.  I knew I definitely needed something darker.

I decided to go with Chocolate Raspberry.  After I got it down next to the gray, I felt like I was at the circus.  Not the simple, neutral look I was going for.  Again, NO WAY was I going to redo it!

It was late when I finished so I just left the door open so it could air out.  The house still has a musty, closed up smell.

Guess what I saw when I came back the next morning?

Now Jack was really looking guilty!  All I could do was laugh (after I pitched a massive, internal hissy fit!). What is so ironic is I was just saying how much I enjoyed having Jack keeping me company while I worked.

Unfortunately I didn't have any Vintage Gray left, so I had to go back to Lowes and buy another gallon.  And of course it didn't match exactly so I did have to end up redoing it. Thankfully, Alex felt bad for me and agreed to help me fix it.

Next up?  Finishing the outside - hopefully no worries about puppy prints there . . . as long as Jack doesn't decide to pull a "Spiderdog!"

Burn Out

Feeling a little burned out and have had a few setbacks. I'm glad that I'm blogging about this project or I would have probably quit.  First, remember that tile I ripped out - all 598.  Well, I found a whole box of them under the bar.

Yes, that's right - it is Asbestos tile.  Sure glad I wore that mask.  And yes, I did Google, "How much exposure to Asbestos causes cancer?"  Looks like it is "very unlikely" to give me cancer.  Let me know if you would like that extra box!!!

Second issue is painting the outside.  The boards running up and down are too close together to use a regular rolling brush, so I have been using a small trim roller.  Additionally, the wood it very rough and is soaking up the paint like a sponge.  Six hours of painting and I've only done about 2/3 of the front.  I did buy a better big paintbrush that I will use when I paint again (if I ever paint again!)

Remember those Asbestos tiles?  Well, they did leave a nice grid pattern on the floor.  I decided to use that to help me tape it off into horizontal stripes. I don't want it to be overly bold, so I picked some more muted colors.  Here are all of my samples:

Vintage Gray won.  I'm going to start with one color and then pick the second color based on how Vintage Gray looks on the floor.  Paint chips trick me - the color is always either darker or lighter than I expected.  The other color, Oyster, is what I am painting the outside.  It is the same color as my house.  It took several whites for me to find one I liked.0 I had originally picked a white that I saw on another house that I knew was perfect.  Well, for some reason it looked yellow on my house.  Thankfully, the painters only painted a small portion for me to see and not the whole house (and were patient with my trial and error.)  If you need an excellent painter, I've got a great one!

Like I said, I'm burned out.  So what makes me feel better?  Shopping!  Here are some fun silk pillows that I found at Tuesday Morning for the chairs I bought on Craigslist:

Look at the price tag:

Compare to $78 - really!?!  The lady checking me out did make a funny comment about my "bright" pillows.  I don't think she cared for them too much, and of course that made me question my choices.  Oh well! 


Now, I had to pick out some for the sofa.  So I searched Pintrest for "green velvet sofa."  Here is one of the pictures I found:

And guess what?  I saw some pillows just like those at Tuesday Morning.  So back I went and got these:

Another idea I had was to hang old photographs on the wall.  So I took a few to Walgreens, scanned them, and blew them up to 11x16.

Isn't my mom gorgeous!  I bought frames for these, but I'm going to take them back and just hang them on the wall with these little wooden thumb tacks I have instead.  Saving money is always good!

It has been a fun project, but I've gotten cuts, blisters, bug bites, and a mean spider bite on my back. Thankful to be at the beach for the next few weeks so I can enjoy my family, the beautiful island, and some lazy, peaceful days.

Happy summer, y'all!