Islamabad homes designs Pakistan.

Islamabad homes designs Pakistan.

Little Lola

 I attempted to take some "one year" shots of Lola the other evening and unfortunately did not get the shot I had in my head (or really even close to what I had envisioned - one year olds are not that easy to photograph) but I did get a few that I played around with. This is one of them, I will post the others next week.

Also, I wanted to let you know that we have restocked the square Elizabeth pillows in both a 20 by 20 size and an 18 by 18 size.

 I hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday! I will be back tomorrow with another project I did with a 24 by 24 piece of wood. It quite different from the chevron frames I posted about yesterday and the day before and uses hooks, and no pictures or frames.

Southern Porch + Pinterest Challenge

We’ve been chit chatting with our fab builder friend S about trading in our worn out deck for a Southern summer-friendly screened in porch for a couple of months now.  And work is FINALLY underway!!!

Here’s the before all decked out for Independence Day…

Here’s the look as of last week – one side of overgrown bushes removed…

…and here we are one day into demolition!!

There was nothing really wrong with the deck (I mean, unless you count the sap that would come up through the boards all summer long and stick to my floors…or the railings and stairs that were no where close to meeting code) but a screened porch will be soooo much more fabulous in our sticky mosquito laden Southern summers.

We’ll be using the foundation of the existing deck and extending it out to where those large, unwieldy and overgrown bushes currently reside.   Here are the deets as they currently stand:

• Hip style roof in Owens Corning onyx black shingles to match rest of house
  
• White 32” railings
  
• 10” wrapped columns placed 8’ apart to allow for wide screens and open views
  
• A new deck floor – maybe stained, maybe painted
  
• Painted bead board ceiling
  
• Brick fireplace!!!!  YAY!!!!!!!!!!

We’ll flip flop the current arrangement so that the sitting area and fireplace are off the kitchen and the dining area is off of the den.  There are countless projects on my list to pull the space together and I simply cannot wait to start making progress!  I’ve set up a new Pinterest board to keep track of all of my ideas.  I mean, what did we do before the Pinterest phenomenon?!?!  And here’s a sneak peek of it all laid out together…

Speaking of my new Pinterest board, I’ve entered into the Ballard Designs Pin It to Win It challenge.  The contest is open until Friday so there’s still plenty of time to get in on the fun.  One lucky pinner will walk away with $1,000 to spend at Ballards!

Y'all Cross your fingers that I'll be sharing the final project at the beginning of June!
xoxo

Find me at: Between Naps on the Porch, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Savvy Southern Style, DIY by Design, Shabby Creek Cottage, Show and Share, Get Your Brag On, Tatertots and Jello, A Stroll Through Life, French Country Cottage, No Minimalist Here, Remodelaholic, The36th Avenue, Bacon Time,It's Overflowing, At the Picket Fence, Shine on Fridays, DIY Show Off, Chatty Chics, House of Hepworths, Homemaker on a Dime

Fruit Of Our Labor

I want to show you one simple photo of how I spent my day.

See that bottom shelf.

  The enamel pan holds the last of the apple butter that I made in the fall.

The other jars are filled with delicious strawberry jam that I made today. 

What a fruitful day I had.

Linking up at Savvy Southern Style


Faded Charm's White Wednesday 

Ikat Design

I'm surprised to see how the Ikat design is making a big impact on modern Interiors today as it's not a design I thought would be easy to live with.  Traditional Ikat is dark red in colour but the new trends have turned this traditional design into a modern contemporary look in a range of colours. As you can see from the images below, Ikat can be used to accent the contemporary or classic home. 

  Ikat is a traditional Malay/Indonesian design. I bought a very old piece of woven Ikat when I lived in Borneo to use in a painting of a still life, along with an Iban basket and Mangoes. 

Watercolour - Still Life - In a private collection in Australia

If your not familiar with my paintings, more of my work can be seen "here"...

or on my easel at the moment please click "here"

Images 1-7 via Pinterest

sharing with:

Wow Us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style

Transformation Thursday at Shabby Creek Cottage

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Natasha In Oz

Lee oxo

&

Poppy

Updated Staircase

So, I have pretty much hated our staircase since the day we moved in. I didn't like the mix of orangey wood with the white and I just hung frames we had from our last home going up the stairs. They looked nice in our teeny tiny hallway in our last place but looked so tiny and dull here but I figured I would change them as soon as I could afford the large frames I had in mind for the space. I finally painted the banister and railing last fall and it helped but I still needed to update the frames.

Here it is from a while ago:

And here it is now:

 

I have to admit I don't really love how they turned out. They are too bold for my taste so I am planning on painting over the boards at some point but for now I think they are at least better than what was there before!  And I can't complain because I made all five for less than cost of one of the large frames I had been wanting to purchase.

 

I removed the "Lola's Fence" as Lillie calls it for the pictures but this is what the bottom of our staircase actually looks like! I have to admit, baby gates are one of my least favorite items. Not just because they are so unattractive but because they are such a paint to climb over... (I have to admit I feel like it is quite an athletic accomplishment when I successfully make it over with one girl on each hip - haha!)

Also, we finally have our Jane Austen cutouts for sale!

If you are new to our blog you can find our whole Jane Austen inspired party here:

I hope you all have a wonderful Tuesday!

A Big Apple Birthday

Sorority sister K has three littles and goes ALL OUT for their parties.  (Ahhh, a girl after my own heart.)  At first peek I fell head over heels in L.O.V.E. with this clever New York City themed affair inspired by a summer trip to the big apple. Y’all sit back, relax and enjoy a trip to the city that never sleeps!

 

The party-goers all donned the iconic I <3 NYC tees, made my K’s also talented sister B.  I mean, HOW ADORABLE!  And what a fantastic favor!!

The kids fueled up on classic food truck eats and drinks in Central Park…

 

…before playing baseball in Yankee Stadium and basketball with the Harlem Globe Trotters.
 
Guests were even invited to embark on the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of Liberty.



K thought of everything…even make your own NYC Taxi Cab picture frames!

With NO shortage of activities (just the way I like entertain a gaggle of kids), K’s basement was transformed into Radio City Music Hall where the kids piled in to watch Home Alone 2: Lost in New York while snacking on popcorn, juice, street stand pretzels and an endless array of sweets from Luke’s Candy Bar (a la the famed Dylan’s Candy Bar.)

 

And with all of that, I think it was the dessert table that stole the show.  After a countdown in Times Square, the kids dove into red and yellow twizzlers, NYPD donuts, cupcakes, caramel apple lollipops, yellow/black Oreo cookies, marshmallow pops and "big" apples!!
And finally, the birthday boy and his sweet and always fab mommy K.  Where oh where do the years go?!?!  Seems like yesterday this girl was leading all sorts of secret sorority rituals as our fearless Prezzy.

The happiest of birthdays to you, L.  And hats off to K for pulling off such a thoughtful and eventful celebration!!
xoxo