Summer Fireplace

I am embarrassed to say that it has been a very long time since I have posted on my blog!  I have been doing a few updates here and there around the house and finding some amazing deals.  Hopefully i can get all caught up soon.

I have always been a huge fan of ferns.  This house is amazballs- but does not have anywhere to hang them.  I do not have any large outdoor pots (yet!) but I was thinking that ferns in the fireplace would look awesome- and they do!  I paired them with some lanterns and driftwood garland that I bought on my recent vacation to Pawleys Island (more about that later) and I am so happy with it!

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Summer Fireplace

Ferns, Lanterns, and Driftwood Garland 

Fireplace after painting.  The gong above was purchased by my Nana and Papa when the lived in Tokyo- it is actually a table top!

Fireplace Before... looking at how pretty this is- I'm kind of sad I painted it!

where to hang your faux kill

  When I got the antler chandelier I had visions of hanging it in my dining room or my son's bedroom and have it look uber cool. I did have some second guesses about the dining room- was the chandelier big enough?... would it fit with the decor?.... huh...  then I thought- is this neighborhood ready for an antler chandelier in the dining room.... would I be making apologies for it later???  AHHHH!  then I decided to place in Tucker's bedroom- it would be SO cool- what little boy has a chandelier like that in his room?  No one!  that is- no one but my son ;)

So Eric (the most amazing handyman ever) comes over yesterday to hang it up and guess what?  It is too tall for the room!  I was so disappointed.  So then Eric and I walk around the house looking for a home for said antler chandelier.  Foyer?  nope- too long.  Staircase?  nope- too hard to get to.   Last but not least- the KITCHEN!  I gotta say... i love it! 

Chandelier Before

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Chandelier After

Hanging of the Antlers 

Next thought is to put a dimmer on the switch- this thing is BRIGHT (which I like) but who doesn't love some mood lighting?

    

Curtain Call

So Brian, Tucker and I have been living in a fish bowl- our family room has one huge picture window with NO BLINDS!  AHHH- this has been driving me crazy since we moved in and as of today...our neighbors can no longer see us watching TV or Brian doing his P90X.... sorry ladies!
As a reminder- here is what it looked like before:

love the window- but no privacy!

Eric (who is awesome and fixes everything in our house!)
installing the ceiling mounted track

I ordered some burlap panels from Ballard Designs and a ceiling mount rod from Curtain-Tracks.com.

Burlap Panel

Hanging Curtains- we decided on 5 hooks per panel- 6 panels total

I love how they turned out!  I will warn you- the burlap smells a little like gas... Eric has told me this is normal and it is nothing that some Frebez won't take of- so I'm not worried.

I'm pretty happy about this project!  The only thing I might tweak is adding more hooks per panel... we will see!

Brian enjoying some TV.... or is that smile because of the the curtains???

Tucker's Room

So the next room I would really like to tackle is Tucker's room.  The room looks so boring right now- walls pale yellow, nothing on the walls... just furniture and toys on the floor.  His room at our last house was SO cute.
Here are pictures of his old room- Walls are Benjamin Moore Soot:

Antique 3/4 bed.  Tucker will be the 5th generation of my family to sleep in this  bed.

Vintage Tennis Racquets  from ebay as well as blue print

who doesn't love a sock monkey... this is the first thing I bought for Tucker when I was pregnant- and of course it was at a way cool boutique on Robertson Blvd in LA- i am pretty sure it was the only thing I could afford in the store ;)

Vintage world map that I had cut into 8 parts and framed for Tucker's room- I think the map costs about $6

"T" from old sign- great ebay find!

Pottery Barn Kids rocker from Nana and Papa- LOVE this chair!

Pom Pom Bedding.... i love this bedding- one of my splurges for the room

 Now I am trying to think of new ideas for his room- some thoughts:

Chalkboard wall

White Antler Chandelier- was saving for dining room... but i don't know

I love this striped bedding and would love to do some custom fabrics- but more on that later ;)

Oars from "Thrill of the Hunt" in Greensboro

I love this idea!  Our vintage tennis racquets will be perfect, I'm just in need of some old sporting equipment ;)

Antler Chandelier!

This is a "work in progress" post- I bought this antler chandelier from a good friend for $50! We both thought it would look awesome painted white (remember it is one of my fav things to do!). I have not hung it yet- but it is painted! I did about 4 light coats in spray primer and 5 light coats of spray white satin paint.   I was originally going to hang it in my son's room but now I am leaning towards hanging it in my dining room... I guess we will see!  Here are the pics!
And FYI- no animals were harmed in the lighting fixture- they are faux antlers :)

Before!

After!

Family Room- Room in Progress

This is the other room we had professionally painted.  The walls are painted Benjamin Moore's Soot and I love them- I borrowed this color from Betsey Puckett (has wonderful taste), the built-ins are painted Floral White (another BM color)- this was given to me by Amy Ferrer- who is an amazing Atlanta Designer who happens to be my brother's- mother-in-law.   I still need to add the burlap drapes that I bought from Ballard Designs and add a few more items- but I think the room is coming along pretty good.

Here are the before:

yes....I (Brad) painted all that wood

Wet bar?  come on over for a drink!

While being painted:

 A little hard to see...it was night and no lamp at this point!

 Family Room this week!

Great place to hide toys!

I LOVE decorating with maps- before I hung on the wall- I laid them out on the floor to place

After!