A Case Of The Blues - Part 2

Ice Anne is back.  With my brand new invention... 

And by new invention I really mean REinvention of Holden’s room.  Same thing, no??  (Sidebar: I may or may not have made a home video in my younger years of me rapping to Ice Ice Baby.  PLEASE let that tape be destroyed somewhere!)

When we last left off, Phase 1 wrapped up with the removal of the cornice boards, the 6” oak shelving, nail/screw hole patching, and priming.  Things were looking up, but we still had a way to go.  

A Case Of The Blues - Part 1

One of the pitfalls of three of the four bedrooms in our house is the lack of overhead ceiling lighting.  For whatever reason the builders just never included it in their plans and they were never added after the fact.  (I’m guessing because they aren’t cheap to add through a pro – we’re talking about $300 per room!)  This results in both boys’ rooms and the guest room always having a bit of unintentional mood lighting going on because they’re currently only lit by one small 60 watt table top lamp. 

Why you ask?

Put On Your Face, Girlfriend

Back in May I decided with this new house I finally needed a proper makeup vanity to get primped at.  Until this point, I always sat in front of a floor length mirror and did my thang.  I’m pretty minimalist with my makeup (we’re talking less than 10 minutes) and my curled hair is done in fewer than 20.  Given the relatively short time, it wasn’t a big deal to pop a squat and git ‘er done.  But now with our more spacious master bedroom, a makeup vanity sounded like a nice upgrade from not only a comfort perspective, but also from an aesthetics perspective because we needed more furniture in the room to balance things out.

I Was Framed!

It’s amazing how artwork (regardless of style, price, etc.) can transform a space from stark and cold to warm and homey.  Even if you do absolutely nothing else than hang a few pieces of art, you somehow achieve that warm-and-fuzzy-let’s-curl-up-next-to-the-fireplace feeling.

Looking into foyer from kitchen

For the longest time, our foyer was very vanilla…right down to the cream colored walls.  Well, we finally have a bit of warmth, thanks to the addition of a mini gallery wall.

Mama Had A Baby In A Baby Carriage

First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes a baby in a baby carriage.
Sucking her thumb, peeing her pants, and tryin’ to do the hula dance!

Ah yes, good ol' playground songs.  The carriage I’m referring to today won’t be occupied by any babies any time soon…well, unless you’re Cinderella perhaps.  But I do want to share some new carriage art I made that’s pretty fun and whimsical. Actually, I just jazzed up a sweet find I scored at Restore the other day for $2.50.  Yes, $2.50.  Can you GO wrong?!

I actually picked up three different finds while on my Restore run.  Two framed pictures and a mini glass vase all for $4.50.  You’ll notice the price tags indicate twice as much, but much to my luck, it was 50% off décor that day. I seriously love that place.

Let's Hear It For the Boys’ {Bath Vanity}

Don’t get me wrong…I absolutely love our new house, but when it comes to bathroom vanities, I feel like the builders of our home definitely scored some bulk pricing.  Three of the four bathrooms have the exact same style vanity.  The fourth bath is different because it was added later down the line when the basement was finished.  And based on what we know about the house, it was done by different owners. 



With so many vanities the same (even down to the hardware and hinges), it was feeling a bit Groundhog’s Day sometimes.  I paint one…awesome…cheers for breathing new life into it.  And then I turn the corner and BAM!  There’s another one giving me the stink eye.  So hop aboard the vanity facelift train…we’re taking off again!

Bricking Bad

Yup, we’re big Breaking Bad fans over here.  Can you believe it’s ending soon?!  I love me some Walter White and Jesse Pinkman.  Anyway, while we're certainly not playing host to a meth cook lab, we are the proud owners of a lovely brick gas fireplace.



But the brick...it was bad.  Well, let me clarify - it actually wasn't bad at all, but that didn't go along with this post's title, so just roll with it.  It was just a very traditional red infused brick.  And just stuck out too much with our decor so it made the hit list.

Old MacDonald's Farm

In honor of the lovely Labor Day holiday, I thought I'd lay off the usual house talk for a brief moment because for us, long holiday weekends are all about relaxing and spending time with friends and family.  Translation: no laboring for us.      

That said, last weekend we put down the tools and paint brushes and squeaked in a really fun family outing.  We hit up Green Meadows Petting Farm which I highly recommend for anyone with little ones.  Here’s a little ditty about how and why we made the 40 minute trip to explore the farm.