Catching up...

I've been quite busy around the house lately!
We bought a washer and dryer from AAFES, and while they aren't fabulous, GOODBYE LAUNDROMAT!
I can't wait to pick up this sweet Closetmaid organizer for the closet where they will live.
I finally got another rod and hung the kitchen door curtain that I got at K-Mart a while ago:
We finally got the slipcovers I wanted, and I moved the curtain rod from the bedroom (and spray painted it bronze) to hang my Martha curtains from K-Mart:
I got some rods for the curtains in the guest bedroom and my bedroom. I've only hung them in the guest bedroom, and I also got some tassel tiebacks for the guest bedroom:
This is the wall directly across from the door in the office:
I set the state trays on brackets my mom gave me. The anchor is from the iron dude from RiverFest. The little tree, flower pot, and grasshopper are my Swarovski collection from my mother-in-law.

That's about it around the house!
Lots more to do, including the idea I've got brewing for my bedroom where those purple curtains used to be over the bed!

My bedroom is almost finished!

A lot of effort has gone into the bedroom lately. I figured, why am I trying to put all of this effort into the other rooms when I feel like I want to kill someone the second I step into my own bedroom? The messiness is no more! I condensed my clothes so that I'm down to one closet and two wardrobes (instead of one closet and three wardrobes), I moved everything that was remaining in the dresser to hangers or the shelf of the wardrobe in the bedroom, and I bought a whole bunch of sweet shit.

PICTURES! Click on them for details - I uploaded them at their original resolution!
This is the new bed set I got at K-Mart. It's Martha Stewart. I was surprised to find when I bought it that it's flocked! We enjoy its fuzziness.//The curtains behind the bed are panels I found at Target for $10 each and the curtain rod is Simply Shabby Chic from Target (on sale for $17).//The wardrobe was from IKEA but bought from a craigslister. I ripped off the shitty white curtain it had hanging from it and replaced it with IKEA curtain clips and a shower curtain I got for mad cheap when I worked at Lowe's in San Angelo.//My mom painted the painting hanging over the $7.50 clearance shelf from Target.

Detail of the pintucked sheets and flocking: Detail of the velvet stripes on the curtains:

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This is the view of the next corner, and my clean laundry holding corner for when I don't feel like putting things back:

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My mom made that little tote bag when I was tiny. It's an ocean/beach scene complete with little critters.//The mini dresser came from Brittany when she and Sky moved to the Candler Park house. It functions as my lingerie cabinet.//The dresser is from forever ago. I'm about to whitewash and distress it and the vanity.//I mounted hooks into the ceiling and attached Old Navy paper lanterns to Xmas beads from IKEA.//Everything but the jewelry box on the dresser came from IKEA.//The pegboard is my favorite. I used purple spraypaint and about ten coats of this awesome glittery finish I found at Hobby Lobby to get the color of the pegboard. It houses most of my jewelry and a $4 mirror from Big Lots!

Closeup of the lanterns from before I did the pegboard:
Closeup of the pegboard:Closeup of the pegboard and my little tree friends (that's the tiara I wore when I got married on the bottom right of the picture):

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The next corner. My mom made/painted the lady bug hanging on the door knob.//The vanity to be whitewashed/distressed.Rich's corner.Rich's corner close up. You can kinda see the Martha Stewart pillar holder I got from K-Mart. They go on the night tables.//The green tub is Rich's clean clothing holding area.//The lamp is from IKEA.//& HELLO CONNOR!

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So that's it. It rules. I only need to finish the dresser and vanity and also find some bubble/tie-up shades for the two windows.
:D

K-Mart! Wait, what?

I've never liked K-Mart. I always thought it was bootleg and lame. I knew they had the Martha Stewart collection there, and I always wondered why the hell her stuff was in a place like K-Mart. For some reason, I stumbled upon her bedding collection while looking for a bed set. I found one that I thought was cute (see it here), and her bedding collection was also on sale this week, so what the hell. Last Tuesday, I went to check it out at the K-Mart by The Big Chicken, and I liked it! It was cuter in person than I had imagined, and the fabric wasn't bad. However, they didn't have it in Queen. Rar.

I was directed to the K-Mart at Roswell Road & Johnson Ferry. I stopped home to let the dog out and called Amy to see if she wanted to get some coffee and take the journey with me. We got some Starbucks and headed over. The people at the first K-Mart neglected to tell me that the second K-Mart was in the middle of liquidation before renovations. So needless to say, no bed set, but man, did we find some goodies! Everything was 50-70% off!

Religious candles - $0.32 each:
These are going on our bedside tables (& my drapes are really purple...the lack of flash made them look red). Martha Stewart pillar holders - Two @ $5.19 each:Martha Stewart buttercream jar candle - $3.19:
Martha Stewart drapes (not sure where these are going yet) - Two @ $5.09:Two tablecloths ($0.40 each) and a kitchen window shade ($1.50):Don't you just love when your animals want to know what you're doing at the most inopportune times? Connor AND Bronson needed to know what was up! A wonderful little family of Martha Stewart vases (I don't know which is which, but the prices were $1.20, $1.60, $2.00, & $2.00):

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I went to the K-Mart in Mabelton the next day because I'm impatient and NEEDED that bed set! I got it!!! Our room looks SO awesome now. All there is left to do is find tie-up shades for the two windows and paint the dresser and vanity! The finished product:
While I was at the Mabelton K-Mart, I found ANOTHER vase for the vase family! This one was $5.00, and it's my favorite!

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I went back to the K-Mart that was liquidating that night and got a few more things. I got more drapes. I think I will hem these and use them in the guest room - Two @ $5.09:& more pillar candle holders - Two @ $3.something each:& that's everything!
Yay!

Pegboard Project

Before Labor Day, I started a big project in the kitchen. I had seen various pegboard projects in home magazines and design blogs that I read a lot, and knew that I needed to do this. My kitchen is huge, but somehow I had filled every cabinet and drawer with crap, so I couldn't get this idea out of my head. Counter space? No way.

These are the pictures that started it all, from Domino's June/July issue:
& from Design*Sponge:

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So I started with this:

• some lumber for mounting (I ended up using a less dense craft wood than what is pictured here, just because it's easier to drill)
• screws (I didn't use the anchors because I drilled right into studs)
• my beautiful new Ryobi drill
• a level
• spray paint (in Painters' Touch Caribbean Blue)
• a tape measure
• some s-hooks (which didn't fit and I took back)...

• some sand paper
• a pencil
• a stud finder...

• two pieces of 2' x 4' pegboard...

• a pegboard accessory multipack similar to this one...

• a pencil and tape measure holder with built in pencil sharpener...
• two baskets...
• & a drill holder.

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A quick description of how it's done:

1. Spray paint the pegboard.
2. Find studs and mount either a frame of your spacing wood or a few pieces of your spacing wood where the corners of the pegboard will go. I used the same pieces for the bottom corners of the top piece and the top corners of the bottom piece, so there were six spacers in all.
3. Mount the pegboard to the spacers (my screws were long enough/spacers were thin enough so that the screws went through the spacers and still drilled into the studs a little).
4. Hang your pegboard accessories however you like, and hang your stuff in/on them!
   

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& I ended up with this:

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I just finished one for the bedroom a la architheque's jewelry wall...stay tuned!

Oh, Martha!

The lady everyone loves to hate has got a new collection at Macy's. I'm sure you've heard of it, considering there's a giant insert for it in every magazine right now.

There are some really good finds, especially since a lot of it appears to be on sale or clearance. My favorite is this bedding set, which includes:

• comforter
• 2 standard shams
• 2 European shams
• 300-thread-count sheet set (flat, fitted, pillowcases)
• bedskirt
• 2 decorative pillows
• 4 drapery panels
• 4 valences
• 4 tiebacks

ALL FOR $300!

Some other cute finds:

Toile Lampshades

I found these great lamp shades on clearance at Lowe's about a week and a half ago:I don't even have enough lamps for how many shades I have, but LOOK AT THAT PRICE:They were originally $22.92!
I think that I'll dye them a dark teal (I hate white) and they'll live in our bedroom whenever I can find lamps for them.

Victoria Hagan @ Target

I'm digging a lot of the Victoria Hagan stuff at Target.

I saw these coasters on Design*Sponge...

...which prompted me to check out the rest of the collection.

It's all so classic, but still fun!