SIDE TABLES || before + after

So, you may find this surprising.   I have a million little different projects going at once.  Surprising, right??  Before having little people in my home, I could finish projects in no time.  Now, I am accustomed to a little project stretching out for days.  I love this season of life, so I don't mind.  It's teaching me patience and flexibility!

Since we sold most of our furniture to our home buyers, I am on the look out for little tables.  I picked up these two cuties and thought they could make great night stands.

For the pine piece, I lighting sanded the bottom, cleaned it really well with vinegar + water, and then applied a coat of hemp oil.

For the top, I applied 2 coats of MMS Milk Paint {color::  TROPHY}.  I lightly sanded the edges, applied clear wax, then a coat of dark wax.

I am almost positive I will change it {probably sooner than later}, but for now it fits in our master bedroom perfectly.

The other little table got 2 coats of Milk Paint {TROPHY} as well.

I distressed it then added one coat of hemp oil.

These cute little guys work for now and things off of the ground!

Next week, I should have BEFORE + AFTER pictures of my new design studio!  Until then, have a great day and go paint!!

MATT'S HOME OFFICE || the next project

Hello!  I hope you had a fun and restful weekend!

As you may have noticed, I have been tackling the small rooms in our new home.  I feel very overwhelmed at decorating  and furnishing a 4200 s.f. home, especially when we sold 90% of our furniture to our home buyers!

I love, love, love creating and decorating.  But, with little ones, the time I can spend on my own home is so limited…..so, the little rooms are providing me instant gratification ;-)

The next 'little room' on the list is Matt's office.

It's a darling little room right off of the living room.

It's got it's own entrance, a closet and a fireplace.  It's lacking good lighting, but that's a project for down the road.  Until then, I will add lighting with table lamps and a floor lamp.

This is one of my inspiration photos.  I want this room to feel masculine, but still flow with the rest of our home.

Beautiful tufted leather furniture is not in the budget for the office.  But paint and accessories are!  Matt's really pushing for the bear skin…..

We are going to paint the wood shelves white.  See those two little patches of drywall under the windows?  We are going to paint those white too, then the entire wall will look built in.  The walls will be a dark, rich blue, I will post the name of the color when I show 'AFTER' photos.

We are replacing the interior doors with a 3 panel door that will be painted black.  Very masculine….right?!?  Matt is going to build a desk.  We can't seem to agree on what desk will fit, so, he decided to build his own….

I think I am going to get this floor lamp.  Remember when I said I felt overwhelmed at needing to furnish and decorate our new home?  Well, on the flip side, it's really fun to get to buy new items and find used treasures to re-purpose.  If we hadn't sold our furniture, I would be working with what we had.  So I guess it's a blessing {in disguise}.

The new hall lights arrived Friday, I can't wait to show you what we are doing in the hallway!

Until then, I am off to go paint night stands I bought for our bedroom.  I have about 30 minutes left in Savanna's nap time, so I bet get moving ;-)

A QUICK BED TRANSFORMATION || and my baby turns 3

Good morning friends!!

I thought I would show you a quick furniture 'BEFORE + AFTER'.  And a testament to how easy Chalk Paint® is to work with!!

A friend was re-decorating her guest bedroom and asked if we wanted the Queen bed.  Of course I said yes!

I loved the lines of it.  We wanted a Queen bed for the guest bedroom….it was just made to be :-)

I painted it GRAPHITE.  I didn't sand or prime.  Just wiped it down with a clean cloth and started to paint.  It took two coats to get a really nice finish. I applied 1 coat of CLEAR WAX and it was ready to be set up in the guest bedroom the same day I painted.  Talk about instant gratification!

The guest room isn't finished/decorated, but I wanted to show you how the bed turned out.

I am addicted to this paint.  It makes painting so enjoyable and rewarding!

Now I need to find a table and lamp.  I am thinking a red table could look really darling in this room…..don't you think?!?

And, I thought I had some great pictures of my birthday girl.  Turns out, just a lot of videos and phone pictures.  This is a photo of when she crawled out of bed….her room was full of balloons when she woke up.  I got that idea from a friend {fill the bedroom with balloons while they sleep} and she was so excited when she woke up!

We spoiled her with lots of sugar, a new bike, and a trip to see her first movie at the theater.  Did anybody else cry like a baby at the FROZEN movie?  Oh I was a mess!  I think I can thank motherhood for that!

OK, off to {hopefully} finish up my chores at the vacation rental for the week!!

THE NURSERY || savanna's room

Hello and happy Monday!

I finished decorating my sweet baby's room last week.  She just turned 10 months, so before long, we will be re-decorating for a big girl room.

Where does time go? Seriously!  We celebrated Addilyn's {and mine, well, not my 3rd, just my birthday ;-} 3rd birthday yesterday!  3 years old!  I will post pictures later this week.  Until then, here are some photos of Savanna's room….

Her room when we moved in….

and her room now.  One of the many great things about our new home, is the abundance of natural light!  There is really no need for lights during the day, even our dark-gray-Pacific NW days.

I painted the crib 'VERSAILLES' {Chalk Paint®}.  It took two coats.  I lightly sanded the edges and waxed it with a clear wax.

As you already know from here, I painted a chalk board wall in her room.  I love chalk board paint! I love the way that it looks, and it serves a practical purpose.

All of the bedrooms in our new home were already painted this wonderful soft gray.  It's light but softens the room.  It's the perfect backdrop for bright colors!

Matt made this shelf years ago when we were first married.  I painted it 'CHATEAU GREY', lightly sanded the edges and waxed with a clear wax.  I added a few treasures I had lying around the house.

Matt's mom gave me this dresser a few years ago. I sanded it down and painted it with milk paint.  Last week I added some fun and colorful knobs {from our shop} and it adds a touch of whimsy.

And finally, a little wall with hanging plates.  I love adding plates and dishes to walls!  It can be an inexpensive way to decorate walls, and it's a lot of fun.

Well, there you have her little room.

I will check in later this week with pictures of the birthday girl!

Now I am off to take a birthday girl to the doctor for her annual check up, and then meet up with some old friends.  We will be planning the food and decorating for a dear friend's funeral this week.  She passed away unexpectedly, last Thursday.  We know she is in heaven, but if you think of it, please say a prayer for her grieving family….

PAINTING WITH CHALKBOARD PAINT || an addiction

Hello!  I hope you had a wonderful and restful weekend!!

I get a lot of emails and questions about painting with ChalkBoard Paint.  {Not to be confused with Chalk Paint}.  ChalkBoard Paint is the paint that turns almost anything into a chalk board.  It can be purchased at almost any hardware or big box store.  I always have a quart {or two or three} hanging around!  Chalk boards are so fun! I love that they can turn anything ordinary, into something fun and unique.

You have probably noticed I have a lot of chalk boards around my house….I guess it's my 'old house' now. ;-)

And chalk board walls {my old office}….

I love the look, and they are really fun for kids!

I have quite a few tucked in here and there at the shop too!

Here are a few tips and tricks I have learned from painting with ChalkBoard Paint…..

~ Cut in along walls and base, just like any other latex paint.  The consistency is a bit thicker than most latex, but treat it just like you are painting a wall or piece of furniture with a latex paint.

~ Always apply 2 coats, and be sure to wait 24 hours between coats, and then another 24 hours before priming the surface with chalk.

~ Most importantly, always 'prime' the painted surface.  By priming, I mean run chalk vertically and horizontally across the entire surface.  Then wipe it clean with a damp cloth.  If you don't prime your newly painted wall or furniture piece, your chalk writing will be etched into your new chalk board.  After it's been primed, you can write and draw to your heart's desire, then easily erase.  Make sure to prime, I learned this the hard way!!

I know chalk boards may just be a trend, but I have loved them for years and imagine I will love them for years to come!

A WINNER || & progress in the baby's room

Hello friends,

We are still trying to get healthy, but we are feeling much better around the Haney household!  I am going to have to cancel my big VALENTINE'S DAY BAKE SALE.  Booooo.  But, I am still sick, and nobody wants to buy sweet treats made by a sick girl.  I am really bummed, but I already roped a very talented friend into helping me next year!!

Next order of business….the winner of the February drawing!

KIM PRICE!

 Yay Kim!  I can drop your goodies by this afternoon!

{Discloser:: I would have posted a picture of my cute kid pulling the number from the basket.  But, she has a gross nose and nobody wants to see that!}

And, to happenings around the house….

I have moved on to decorating Savanna's room.  This is what we are starting out with….

A black crib that we were given, before Addilyn was born - thank you Stef!

A dresser Matt's mom gave me 3-4 years ago.  I refinished it then, and painted it will milk paint.

It's been hard to feel inspired to decorate my sweet pea's room.  I was stealing everything 'cute' for Addilyn's room!!

Here is what I am working on now...

I am painting the wall behind the crib with Chalk Board paint.  I love having places all over the house where the girls and create.  Plus, I needed something for that big, blank wall.

Since the black crib would blend in with the black wall, I am painting the crib 'VERSAILLES', it's a Chalk Paint® of course!

I am going to add cute knobs to the dresser, something similar to this...

I decided to go with a DASH AND ALBERT rug.  I have them through out the house.  I love them to pieces, and love that they are so easy to launder!

Hopefully I will have more pictures for you by next week.

Have a wonderful weekend!!

PROGRESS ON ADDILYN'S ROOM || and moving on to the baby's room

Hello and happy Monday!  I have a really sick babe this morning, so our Monday will involve cuddling and watching a lot of Olympics.  But, I thought I would pop in and show some progress photos of Addilyn's bedroom.

Her room is slowly coming together!  I love this rug {Dash + Albert}.  I can toss it in the washing machine, let it hang dry and it's back and ready for action in just a few hours.

Matt built her a headboard when she starting sleeping in her 'big girl bed'.  Eventually he will build her a bed, but for now this works great.  The headboard was originally painted with green milk paint.  When we moved, I painted in 'Scandinavian Pink', distressed it and waxed it.  I love it because you see the green underneath!

I painted her dresser and the shelf 'Scandinavian Pink' as well.  That's the beauty of Chalk Paint, you can paint virtually any surface and really create fun pieces of furniture!

I would like to add a few more canvases to her room.  The colors match perfectly and she really loves looking at family pictures.

Well, that's all I have time for this morning.  Off to tend to my sick one.

Have a great Monday and I will be back tomorrow with a fun sweet treat recipe!

xoxo~Darci

A LITTLE UPDATE || our organized chaos

We survived our move!  It almost got the best of me!!  Packing, cleaning, moving two businesses…. and all with two little helpers was rough.  Matt says our next move will be to a nursing home ;-)

Matt is busily working on making my new studio space 'pretty'!  I am so excited to have the shop/studio so close to home.  I will be able to devote more time and energy into helping customers and painting projects.

This is what the space looked like last week.  It's a really neat space, I can't wait to show you the finished project!

Matt is painting the walls today.  The walls and ceiling will be a really soft gray…..

I got these cuties for the wall mount lights, there are 2 of them going up the stairs.

Matt ripped out the existing carpet and is installing this laminate floor.  We wanted to go with a vinyl or laminate.  Both options are easy to clean and can handle water and paint spills….perfect for a paint studio!!

I have a painting workshop this Saturday, so our goal is to have the space ready by then!

Meanwhile, the rest of the house has 'organized' piles of chaos,

or, it has nothing.

We sold most of our furniture to our home buyers.  I wanted to buy new furniture for this home so it was a win-win for both of us!

Once my shop/studio space is set up, and our Main Street property is set up and functioning as a vacation rental {again} we will start to decorate!  Addilyn's room is first on the decorating calendar!  This is what we have so far….pretty bare bones!

Thanks again for all of your patience.

My design clients have been so patient and gracious, my paint customers have been so understanding, my rock-star of a husband has been busily up-packing and helping around the house.  Addilyn spent all day yesterday with her Grandma and I was able to get so much un-packed. Such a blessing-all of you!

I can't wait to share all of the changes with you guys!  And, I will be offering a new line of paint {in addition to the Chalk Paint®}.  So much great stuff in the works!!!  But, for now I need to get painting!!

MOVING THE STUDIO :: and the vacation rental

I feel like we are always moving/building/creating/changing.  I love it, wouldn't have it any other way.  But, with sweet little kiddos in the mix now, we don't have the bug to always move/build/change.   You know?!?  We still love all of that, just don't want it to take up all of our time.

The new house we are moving into has a great detached garage + upstairs office/studio.

I love working at/creating at the studio.  It's my own little creative space and I love the opportunity to meet new people!  But, it's really hard with two little ones.  So moving the studio to our property is going to be awesome!!  I will have more details about the new studio space once escrow closes {next week}.

With all of the moving changes, we have decided to turn our Main Street property back into a vacation rental.    We have had vacation rentals in Carlton for 6 years now!  Crazy how time flies! This past week, we have been slowly making the changes to turn it back into a vacation rental.

The living room is slowly coming together.

I sold all of furniture last year when we turned this house into a studio {of course}!  So I am buying new furniture and moving things over from our house.

This is what the dining room currently looks like.  Lots of work ahead of us!

I have the kitchen stocked, cleaned and ready for renters!

The kitchen takes me the longest to clean after we have had renters….at least 1 hour!  But nobody wants to vacation at a home with a dirty kitchen!!

Matt still has to build a bed for the upstairs office, and convert the work room back into a bedroom, I have to make changes to the website, yada yada yada.  Seriously, we are crazy!

But, I know in the long run it will be much easier, and I can be more productive, to have the studio where we live.

Life is good, I am so very blessed.  Hard work just keeps me sleeping good at night and not having to work out!

BLACK DOORS :: and a little bling

 Matt and I have been married 11 years.  It really does seem like we were just married…..time sure flies!  When we were newlyweds, our heated discussions were usually about family, work or money.  Geesh, I was a selfish young bride!  Thank goodness those heated discussions are pretty few and far in between.  Do you know what most of our heated discussions are about now?

Homes and spaces.  

It sounds really shallow.  Like maybe that's the only thing we are passionate about.  But, I assure you that's not the case!  I could really get into boring details here, but I will spare you.

A few days ago, we had heated discussion….it went a little like this.

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Me : What do you think about me painting the interior doors {at the new house} black?  And maybe adding some pretty glass door knobs?

Matt : I don't think you should paint them.  If I have time, I would like to make new doors. INSERT me rolling my eyes.

Me :  When are you going to find time to just widdle up 8-10 interior doors.  I think painting them would look great.

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Matt :  It could look great, or REALLY BAD.  If you don't want me to make them, then I think we should buy new doors.

Me : I think that's a little over kill, do we really need to buy all new doors?  I just wanted to paint them and add pretty hardware.

Matt : What do you mean 'add pretty hardware?'  You started out with wanting to paint the doors.

Me : Yes, but you can't paint them and not add new hardware.

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Matt : OK, well that is going to get expensive.  So, if you don't want to do ANY OTHER improvements, we can buy new doors and hardware.

Me : Are you talking about buying doors made of solid gold? What do you mean we can't do ANY OTHER improvements?

Matt : If we are going to do it, I want to do it right.

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Me : Well, what if we buy 1 door and handle set at a time?  We can change it out as I finish {decorating} each room.

Matt : No, if I am going to have to paint or finish doors, I want to do them all at once.  Plus, I want to change out all of the hardware at once.

Me : How about you don't worry about it and you just let me do my thing.

Matt : Under his breath 'it's going to look like cra*'.

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Me : I don't need your help.  I was just being polite by asking your opinion.  I will do it ALL myself.

Matt : You know how to change out door knobs?

Me : Yes, plus I have my own tools, I can figure it out.

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Matt : You know what?  You are right, we can just do 1 at a time.  You can try painting them, and if you don't like how they turn out, we can just replace them one at a time.

He is a good man.

Pictures to follow, after we move in ;-)

Have you painted your interior doors a color other than white?

JANUARY :: a busy month

Hello and thank you for bearing with me as I only posted once last week!  I probably won't post much for the next 3-4 weeks, I will be a little busy ;-)

My to-do list includes….

Packing, purging and cleaning our house….and a garage sale this weekend!

Turning our Main Street property back into a vacation rental.  {More on that soon ;-}

Packing up my design studio, I am moving the studio in 3 weeks!  

Updating the website with all of the changes.

Still working on design projects for clients, keeping my children alive and still trying to keep our home somewhat livable.

I love the challenge and I am super excited for this next phase.  I can't wait to fill you in on all the details!

Until then, don't hesitate to call if you want Chalk Paint, I am still happy to meet you if Fridays don't work.  I have the best customers….thank you and I can't wait to share all of the new changes with you!!

I will be back soon!

xoxo

A LITTLE OF THIS AND THAT

I have been pretty busy with various design jobs, but not really any jobs that make for good 'before and after' photos.  Offices, bathrooms, material selections, etc., spaces or things that just don't photograph well.  Matt has been busy with drawing plans and various jobs that just don't photograph well either! But, in the next few months I will have some great photos to share with you!!

So today, I just have a little of this and that…..

My goal for the next month is to paint all of the random pieces that I have been collecting, but haven't taken the time to paint.

I must be craving some blue in my life! This morning I realized that the pieces I have been painting over the last few days are all blue.

I have also been working on painting cabinet doors with Chalk Paint®.  It really helps to have a big chunk of color when deciding on what color to use for a project!

My little helper!

I made Pioneer Woman's pretzel turtles this morning.  They are REALLY good!  Mine don't look as pretty as her's, but they sure taste good!

They are perfect little treats for delivering with Christmas cards.

I need to give them away because I am afraid I will eat them all!

We carry DASH & ALBERT rugs at the Studio….I love them!

I am going to use this rug in Addilyn's new bedroom.  I am also going to move the dresser from the master bedroom into her bedroom.  Don't you love the green dresser next to the rug?!? So fun!

I am going to paint Addilyn's bed and night stand 'SCANDINAVIAN PINK'.  I think it will be a fun pop of color!  Pictures coming soon!

Until then, have a great week!!

ADDILYN'S NEW ROOM :: a toddler's room

Hi friends!

Remember this post I wrote last week?  Well, you won't believe what has transpired in the last 7 days.  I will go into more detail in the next few weeks, but for now, just know it has been pure craziness {in a good way} at the Haney household.  My shift has focused from re-decorating our master bedroom, to cleaning/packing/organizing because we are going to be moving soon!

One of the many things I am excited about, is that the girls will each have their own room.  Now, since my head has been whirling with decorating ideas, I figured it might help calm my crazy mind if I start getting ideas on paper. I thought you might enjoy seeing the ideas too!?!

Here is a snap shot of the look I am going for in Addilyn's room.

Bright, fun, bold and a bit eclectic, just like my girl!

When we moved back into our house {almost 2 years ago} I didn't take the time to decorate Addilyn's room.  I just used what we had, and knew in a few years we would start working on built-ins and really take the time to decorate.

I love the bright colors in her room now, but I am going to go even brighter!  I think it will fit her bright and bold personality perfectly!

And, just for kicks, a picture of her darling little Christmas tree.  Please don't mind the tree stand….we found an old pot, filled it with sand and water and it works perfectly ;-)

Next post, ideas for sweet Savanna's room…...

MASTER BEDROOM :: time to give it some style

We bought our little 'fixer' almost 8 years ago.  Wow, time really does fly, it feels like just yesterday!!  After remodeling and living in it for about 3 years, we moved out and turned it into a vacation rental while me moved into another 'fixer' and remodeled it.  We moved back into our house almost 2 years ago.  Anyways, the point being, when we moved back in, I was going to take the time to fix up each room exactly how I wanted it.

Then, I got pregnant with my little sweet pea and was dog sick the entire pregnancy.  Well, now that we are all sleeping a little better in the Haney household, I have a bit more energy to try to tackle decorating some of the rooms in our home.  Also, I have been really busy with work.  I find I need {and crave} my home to be organized and enjoyable, seems to make me a much happier girl!

The first room on my list is going to be our master bedroom, which I am sure will lead into re-decorating our master bathroom. ;-)

The bedroom pictured above is my inspiration photo.

I love so many different styles!  Do you have that problem too?  However, I feel the style of the bedroom pictured goes perfectly with the look/feel/style of the rest of our home.  I am going to have Navy blue as the accent color {instead of green}.  I love the green pictured, but I already have a great blue rug and blue runs through the rest of our home.

This is the view from our bathroom.  Our bedroom is pretty small, our King size bed takes up a lot of space.  Did you know our master bedroom use to be the kitchen?  And our bathroom use to be the laundry room?  Crazy!!

The walls are currently a light blue.  I am going to paint the walls white, to match the trim and really lighten the room up.

I am going to add bamboo blinds {and take away the curtains} and find a different dresser.

I am going to get new bedding.....I am thinking all white with a couple of bold, blue pillows.

I am going to re-paint the bathroom white too.

As you can see, it's a small {and cozy} space.  I am excited to re-do this area!!

Hopefully I can have it finished before Christmas, I will keep you posted!!

OH CHRISTMAS TREE

Matt is working on a remodel for a sweet couple outside of Dayton.  After his first meeting with them at their property {they just bought the home}, Matt started to convince me that we needed acreage. {wink}  Their setting is really neat....private and surrounded by farms.  The front of their property is full of Christmas trees.....

And they were gracious enough to allow us to cut our tree {s} from their property.  Friday {after Thanksgiving} we headed over to pick out our Christmas tree, Addilyn even got her own darling little tree for her bedroom.

Aren't those trees beautiful?

Now, having grown up on a Christmas tree farm, it was never a big deal for our family to get a tree.  My mom would usually just grab one, while my dad was gone at work.

No big deal.

But, since our little family of 4 doesn't live on a Christmas tree farm, it's fun to make a big deal of it!  You know....loud Christmas music, hot chocolate and cookies......

Can you believe it has taken us over 4 days to decorate our tree?  And we still are not done!  See that rogue baby under the tree?  She is one of the reasons it takes so long to decorate ;-)

And there she is again, under the tree skirt.....

Addilyn and I made a paper chain for the tree.  A 10' tree requires a lot of paper chain!!

Our beautiful tree provided extra fresh greens for a little decorating around the house.

I actually snagged the cedar from our of our Cedar trees.  I love fresh cedar!!

A wood crate filled with greens {and a few magnolia sprigs}, flameless candles and a white bird.

A basket filled with greens, books and birds for our outside dining table.

Window boxes filled with greens and ornaments {on Matt's wood shop}.

And a few greens for the front porch!

I have a feeling it may take me all month to decorate for Christmas.....but that is part of the fun!!

BEFORE + AFTER :: exterior

Hello friends!

I am knee-deep in projects, but that just seems to be how I roll these days ;-)  Since I don't have any 'finished' project photos to share this week, I thought I would share a few BEFORE + AFTER photos of one of the homes we remodeled in Carlton.

When we purchased this home {8 years ago!} we bought it with the intention of living in it for a few years and then buying acreage and eventually building a new home.  We have been here for 8 years {on and off} and love it here!

The home sits on a double lot, just on the outskirts of town.  And, it has a work shop.  The shop is where Matt works his construction magic!

This is how she looked when we bought her.  Over grown, moldy and falling apart.  A little 900 s.f. four square with a funky addition out the side and the back.  She needed a lot of work!  Matt saw the potential, and we were both willing to work hard!!

We had to do quite a bit of de-construction and demo.

Matt did a lot of the work himself. It took us just 1 year to get most of the work done.  My hubby is one hard working worker bee!!!  We spent a lot of late nights working on this little place.

We still have a lot of projects that we would like to do!  But doesn't everyone?!?

To the left of this little pop-out is where the original front door was located.

Matt had planned on building this cupola with windows.  It serves as ventilation.   But,it was going to take a.long.time for him to custom build windows that would work for this space.  We opted for the louvers and I love them!

The work shop really is the reason we purchased the property!  We skinned the front of the work shop with cedar siding and built a large sliding door.

The sides and back of the work shop are metal siding.  It's all painted one color and it really is hard to tell that the entire shop isn't sided with cedar siding.

This home has served us well over the past 8 years!

Since living here, we have fixed up 2 other homes in Carlton, but that is for another post ;-)

xoxo~Darci

FALL DECOR & COOKIES :: a fall cookie recipe

This weekend was stormy and cool, the perfect weekend to bake in the kitchen and begin adding a few Fall touches around the house.

The girls and I worked in the kitchen and had several dance parties as we decorated.  It was so good for my heart!!

It's hard work running a business.

Especially when you are a driven personality, a bit of a perfectionist, very little time to actually work, and a little family who you adore and want to spend your time with.

So, we celebrate the little moments.....

Like being home all weekend with the rain blowing outside.

Extra time with out-of-town family.

A chance to do a bit of Fall decorating.

Some time to gather goodies from the garden before the rain beats everything down.

Extra snuggles with my littles.

Some time to work on projects.

And just sit and enjoy the quiet moments.

I am really working on enjoying the little moments and living with the fact that I can't get everything done on my to-do list.

I want my day to be about building relationships, and not always accomplishing tasks.  I know I am not the only one who battles with this struggle!!  And so, I am thankful for the un-expected 'slow' weekends/days/moments, the chance to take a deep breath, and just be thankful.

***

And so, I leave you with a yummy GINGER COOKIE recipe.

I love baking cookies!!  They make the house smell delicious, and they warm the hearts and tummies of family and friends.  I love packaging up half the batch of the cookies and giving them away.  It's a simple gesture....and a great excuse to get to bake another batch ;-)

Ginger Cookies

Ingredients 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking soda 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 1 cup dark brown sugar, lightly packed 1/4 cup vegetable oil 1/3 cup unsulfured molasses 1 extra-large egg, at room temperature 1 1/4 cups chopped crystallized ginger (6 ounces) Granulated sugar, for rolling the cookies

Directions Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 sheet pans with parchment paper.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and salt and then combine the mixture with your hands. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the brown sugar, oil, and molasses on medium speed for 5 minutes. Turn the mixer to low speed, add the egg, and beat for 1 minute. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula and beat for 1 more minute. With the mixer still on low, slowly add the dry ingredients to the bowl and mix on medium speed for 2 minutes. Add the crystallized ginger and mix until combined.

Scoop the dough with 2 spoons or a small ice cream scoop. With your hands, roll each cookie into a 1 3/4-inch ball and then flatten them lightly with your fingers. Press both sides of each cookie in granulated sugar and place them on the sheet pans. Bake for exactly 13 minutes. The cookies will be crackled on the top and soft inside. Let the cookies cool on the sheets for 1 to 2 minutes, then transfer to wire racks to cool completely.

OUR HOME :: the girl's bathroom

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I am slowly trying to get more pictures of our home on the blog.  I am always changing things, so I am sure as soon as I get pictures of the different rooms, they will be outdated ;-)

The weather has been so nice, we have been soaking up the last days of summer!  Which means I haven't had much time to work on finishing up my dining room wall.  So, I thought I would post a few photos of the girl's bathroom instead!

This bathroom is located in the original part of our 1908 home.  The original home was around 900 s.f., and we added about 1200 s.f. {plus a garage}.

My favorite thing about this bathroom, are the original wood floors.  They aren't perfect {at all} but I love all of the history and character!!

It's a simple little bathroom.  It's not flashy, but it serves it's purpose well.

It's really hard to photograph because it's surrounded by hallway with no natural light!

Matt installed  wainscoting around the bottom half of the walls.  All of our trim work in the house is painted off white.  I love that it's clean and bright, but not a crisp white.  Our house is an oldie, with a lot of different materials and textures.   Pure, bright white  just didn't seem appropriate for our trim work.

I love this ruffle shower curtain.  It adds just a bit of a femininity.  And since it's the girl's bathroom, I figured that was appropriate ;-)

A little stool so my little Miss can go potty and wash her hands.  And a little basket full of washcloths...

I found this mirror on clearance years ago at Marshalls.  It's metal; it was dented and painted a hideous color. I just painted a fresh coat of paint on it and distressed the edges....perfect!

The hand towels are from Cost Plus, they launder really well!!

This little cabinet houses rubber bands, bandaids, cotton balls, toilet paper and more in those itty-bitty little drawers.

Any girl loves fresh flowers in her bathroom!

These cute little candle holders where a gift when we sold one of our vacation rentals to the sweet couple from Texas.

Marketing works I tell ya! Addilyn had to have the Seasame Street toothbrush and toothpaste!

I made these little paper flowers to fill up a little space.....simple and cute...

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When we moved back into our home last year, I didn't want to spend a lot of money on this bathroom because I know in a couple of years when we re-do the girl's bedroom, we will re-do the girl's bathroom!

Thanks for taking a peek at our simple little guest bathroom!  I hope to snap more photos soon!!

xoxo~Darci

OUR HOME :: my home office

Good morning!

Well, as I mentioned last week, I am trying to be better about snapping photos of our home and projects I am working on.  Today I thought I would show you a few photos of my little home office.  It's a hard working little room with a lot of bright light.... and a squeaky old wood floor....and I love it!

Our home office is just at the front of the house, only a few steps from the front door.

When we remodeled our home, we thought having the home office near the front door would be great in case we ever met clients there.  We never meet clients here, but I still love where it's located ;-)

This is usually where I spend  at least 2 hours every afternoon while the girlies are napping.

We get fabulous lighting in this room.  A major bonus when you are attempting to get work done!  I found some great organizing pieces at Staples, Martha Stewart has a fun line of office products.  I just noticed Staples has 40% off of Miss Martha's line of products, but this week only!  I might have to make a late night run because I can never be too organized!!

Speaking of organization, I am old school and still like to write things in my calendar.  I am sure some day I will know how to enter dates into my phone....

One wall of the office is painted in Chalkboard paint.  It provides a lot of entertainment for little hands!

I also have a cozy reading chair.  It was never intended for the office, but when we moved back into this home, we didn't have any other place for it!

Matt built me some fun shelves that flank two of the four walls.  They provide a lot of extra storage without making the tiny room feel even smaller.

I have random cubbies and trays for all types of little trinkets!

And a basket filled with little 'tools'.

I threw this little 'wrapping station' together one morning when I was wrapping birthday gifts for Matt.  It's a bit rinky-dink, but it keeps my wrapping paper from getting wrinkled!

I usually have piles of flooring/wall covering/fabric samples all over.  I typically just have 1-2 design jobs going at a time, but I sure seem to clutter up my limited counter space in no time!

Speaking of clutter, I better get to work!  Thanks for taking a look-sie at my little home office.

xoxo~Darci

OUR HOME :: living room + kitchen

Hello and happy Tuesday!

I hope you had a great weekend!  Last week Matt and I had a fun interview.  The interviewer asked if I had photos of our home on the blog.....oops.....I realized I don't have many photos of our home!  Soooo, I thought I would post a few over the next couple of weeks.  It's a great incentive for me to tidy up and finish a few projects!

We renovated our home almost 9 years ago. but I will share those photos and details on another post.

Today, I thought I would share our living room and kitchen.

We have a long hallway/entryway.  When you 'round the corner', the space opens up to our living room and kitchen.

My oh-so-talented hubby built the cabinets.  They have held up really well to all of the abuse I give them.  But, we do plan on repainting them this winter...

When we remodeled this home, we were young newlyweds with a small budget.

I would have done things a little differently if our budget had allowed.  Our one splurge in the kitchen, was the 36" dual-fuel WOLF oven.  I use that baby everyday and I am so glad we scraped our pennies for her!

I LOVE my island!  Matt milled down quarter-sawn white oak to make a countertop that can comfortably seat six.

This is a hard working island!

If I am not using it for cooking, we are eating at it, doing crafts on it, or some other ridiculously, crazy project.

You can see the microwave is tucked into the island.  I love that it is out of eye sight, but still easy to use.

When we repaint the cabinetry this winter, I am thinking of painting the island a lighter color.  What do you think?  Stay dark, or lighten it up a bit?

The kitchen opens right up to the living room.  This space truly is the heart of our home!

I am always changing out the pillows.  I have a ridiculous stash!

I usually sew my own pillow covers.  It's less expensive than always buying new, and I can pick the perfect fabric for the look I want.  I found these pillows at Pier 1 and I had to snag them!  Sometimes a girl just wants to buy a pillow and not have to sew:-)

Love fresh flowers in the house, especially sunflowers!

I am always changing out the decorations on the mantel.  As soon as Autumn arrives, I will change everything up again!

This window seat is Addilyn's favorite area.

We keep toys and books in the open cubbies.  Kids can easily get to the toys, and I can easily throw them back in the baskets at the end of the day.

It's a great little 'kids' corner that is tucked to the side of the living room.  It can get messy, but it's out of the main walking path, so it's not a big deal to have books and toys scattered about.

The living room leads to our new covered deck.  I love that the covered deck almost doubled our living space!

And, just in case you thought I was neglecting my sweet-peas during my little photo session, they were right there in the middle of it ;-)

We love us some Sesame Street at our house.  Addilyn gets to watch TV for an hour, and I get some work done...it's a win-win for both of us!

Thanks for taking a peek into our little home.  Come back next week for more photos!  Until then, have a lovely day!

~Darci