Before & After: The Den Rug

When we moved into our house almost 3 years ago, my Mom generously let us borrow this beautiful Pottery Barn rug for our den.  It was the perfect size and very pretty.

The only problem is that I am not much of a red person when it comes to decor.  

I have always wanted a seagrass rug in our den and have been shopping and waiting for a great deal.

A friend of mine from work bought hers from Natural Area Rugs and highly recommended them.

I shopped and found a fantastic deal!!

I bought this 8 x 10 seagrass rug with taupe binding for only $169!  

It was originally $219.  Then, I found a $50 promotional code as well as free shipping!

I love the new look and feel like it is more me!

I know the room is lacking in a little color and decor, but I honestly really like the neutral pallet.  

As time goes on, I will add in some more decor, pillows, and maybe one day, some curtains!

Dinner Anyone?

I bought a new dining table this weekend and I LOVE it!!  Shown below is the table from Brad's Mom that we have been using since we got married.  We are very thankful that she let us use it for all this time.

Here is the new one!  As you can see, it is a round, pedastal table that seats 6!!  I think the white color really lightens up the room and makes the seagrass dining chairs stand out!  I am also so excited to have the extra seating!

I got this table for just $100 because my friend's parents are moving and wanted to help out the younger generation of home owners have some things at a great deal!!  Thank you for your generosity!

  

I can't wait to have people over and use my new table!  Dinner anyone??

Finished Products

Here are the finished planting and sewing products from my weekend work!

Before Shot: Winter Pot Mix

After Shot: Summer Pot Mix

Yes, they are pink and white in anticipation of our little girl's arrival!  They should still be in bloom when we bring her home from the hospital!  It was my Mom's idea to plant all pink and white flowers and I loved it!

Fresh Basil

And since they yard is in full bloom right now, I took some pictures to record the beautiful flowers! I love this time of year and wish it would stay this way forever!

 Finally, here is the bubble I made for Rollins! I think his Mom really liked it :)

The Has Beens, Flowers, Sewing, & Baby Registry

Saturday, Brad and his best friends from high school, Wes, Blake, and Lance, played in the Rick & Bubba Connect 3-on-3 basketball tournament at the Met.  They named their team the "Has Beens" since they have been playing ball together since middle school!  Here are some fun shots of them in action taken by Lance's girlfriend.  

They did much better than they expected for being "has beens" and lost in the quarter-finals.  I think they were actually relieved to lose because they were all sunburned and sore from playing 6 games!   Also, they wanted to get home and watch the Masters!

I, however, was hoping they would go all the way because there was a $750 prize for the winning team!

While Brad was playing basketball, I worked on a few projects I have been meaning to do.  First, I went to Lowe's and picked out some Summer flowers for my front porch pots.  

Then, I worked on a bubble for one of my favorite almost-1-year-old little boys! His Mom, Kat and I shopped for the fabric back in January.  Better late than never, right? 

Finally, Brad and I finished up a long Saturday at Buy Buy Baby.  Registering has been weighing on me as something I must do in order to get ready for this baby so it felt great to finally make some progress!  We actually had fun doing it too!!
(Not our best shot :) but necessary for documentation)

Project Paint Update

This weekend, we finished painting, scraping, and cleaning all 11 windows!!

Once the windows were finished, it meant we were ready for shutters.  Yesterday, they were installed  and they look beautiful!!  Thank you Tom & Joanne for buying them for us!!

We have also put two coats on the trim in Brad's office which means we are done in that room except for the 2 doors.  Now, onto the other trim...

Project Paint

This past weekend, we began "Project Paint."  It's a big project and we still have a long way to go but at least we are underway. 

The Oser's generously offered to buy shutters for our upstairs bedroom windows.  Thank you!!  There are 11 windows.  I decided that I do not like our creamy / off white / yellow trim with any wall color except the Barcelona Beige that we have on most of the walls downstairs.  With any color, such as blue, green, or pink for the nursery, the creamy trim ends up looking yellow.  So, it was with great hesitation that we  decided to re-paint all of our creamy trim bright white.

We started Saturday by purchasing the paint and other necessary supplies.  With Emily's awesome help, we were able to get the first coat on 8 out of the 11 windows.  Yes, I said first coat.

On Sunday, we continued and put the second coat on the same 8 windows and the first coat on the other 3!  Thank you Emily and family for your help this weekend!  We could not have done it without you!!!

Brad and I finished up the second coat on the remaining 3 windows tonight!  Now, we just need to scrape all the windows before next Tuesday when the shutters arrive!

Then, all we have left is 2 coats on all the baseboards in all 4 rooms plus the bathroom as well as 10 doors.  Oh, and crown molding if we decide to add that in any rooms! 

Think we will ever finish?!?  Wish us luck!

Did you have this much fun in the snow?!?

Layla loves the snow!!  It makes her go "crazy dog" where she sprints around and around the backyard over and over again!  

"On your Mark, Get Set, Go!"

Whew! That was fun!!

Just a few of our house!  This was some of the prettiest snow I have ever seen!

Double Knockout Rose Bushes

Brad just learned that our neighborhood garden club (which we are not in) gives out a "Yard of the Month" award for the best yard! When he found out about this he said, "What, why didn't you tell me?!?! " and then followed up with, "Game on!"

He was only half serious about the award, but in all seriousness, we have been wanting to slowly add some plants to the edge of our house where things look a little bare. So with a little motivation for the yard of the month award and in an effort to make a little progress, we bought 5 Pink Double Knockout Rose bushes. (I know there are only 4 in the picture...we had to buy one more later to fill up the space!) We already have 5 of these that were planted to hide the air conditioner units so we decided to just add on!

Roses in front of the ac unit

New roses and dirt

The Double Knockout Roses are EASY! They do not require a green thumb and its a good thing because neither of us seem to have much of one! According to the tag on the roses, they are hardy, disease resistant, pest resistant, drought resistant, low maintenance, self-cleaning (?!?!), repeat bloomers from spring through the first frost, and beautiful!! This is my kind of plant! They will reach full maturity after a season or two.

After lots and lots of digging in our horrible clay / gravel yard, we were finally able to plant the roses!

Before

After

We will see how they do!