B&A Friday

Happy Friday everyone!  This week has flown by and I've accomplished many tasks.  The new bamboo floors were installed.  Yay!

The hubs and I finally took down the mirror in the girls bathroom so I can hang a more attractive one.

And I got an awesome antique couch that I began to pull the fabric off of and plan to reupholster.

This weekend will be full of fun, we are headed to a local "mall festibel", as my 3 year old says.  What she actually means is a Fall Festival.  She is excited to give the carousel another go, after being just a little scared last time.

 Anyway, back to the topic at hand,

 B&A Friday!

This amazing dresser re-do comes from Jillian who blogs over at The Virginia House.  She did an absolutely  amazing job turning an old, plain dresser into a kitchen island.

Dresser before

After a lot of hard work and planning, she turned the dresser into shabby chic kitchen island.

 

Stunning.

Jillian shares all the step she took to achieve this masterpiece over on her beautiful blog

The Virginia House

Go on, head on over and take a look.

Hope you all have a wonderful fall weekend, there aren't many left!

The floors are in

There are a few more touch ups to be made, but for the most part the floors have moved in and are beautiful.   I never realized how much a kitchen floor could make me happy until now.

 

I haven't arranged everything the way I want it yet, but it's coming along.  I took a few snap shots to to hold you over.  I hope you all are as excited as I am!

The shoes have already accumulated by the door.  

Here is a before of that same area.

 I will do a proper photo shoot when I finish the decorating process.

So be prepared for one loooong post with lots of pictures, coming soon to a theater near you.

B&A Friday

Time for another installment of B&A Friday! 

Remember, if you have a great before and after project to share send it along for a chance to be featured.

betweenblueandyellow@yahoo.com

On with the show.

This amazing cane chair revamp by Gay from It's a Hodgepodge Life, is one of my favorite chair re-dos I've seen around the blog-o-sphere.

She did s great job explaining her step by step process.

Here is the before

 

And now

 

 Beautiful.

Click on over to It's a Hodgepodge Life to see how she did it.

Have a great weekend my friends!

Saying Goodbye

Dear 80's linoleum,

The time has come for you to go.  The truth is, I just don't think we were meant to be.  We had some good times together. Baby girls learning to walk on you, family gatherings, shattering dishes,but after 5 years I can't live with you any longer. 

 You are ugly and hard to keep clean. I've seen your true colors and they are not pretty.

 I'm sorry, but you must know the truth.  I've been falling for another floor and his name is Dark Bamboo. He will be moving in next week.

 Please don't write or call, it's over.  Goodbye.

~Kathleen 

Parmesan Potato Wedges

If you've been reading this blog for awhile you already know how much I love to share a good recipe.

 Check out my recipe tab for some quick, easy weeknight meals.  They are guaranteed to be delicious or your money back.  Well, not really because they are free.  But you let me know if you try one and don't like it, I will offer my condolences.

Anyway here is a recipe I found around the web from My Blessed Life.  She got it out of an old church recipe book.  It's a delicious side dish to a variety of meals.  I served mine with salmon and broccoli.

• 4 Russet Potatoes
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil or melted butter
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons parsley
• A couple dashes of cayenne pepper

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Be sure to spray the foil with non-stick spray.
Combine Parmesan cheese, garlic powder, paprika, salt, parsley and cayenne pepper in a small bowl.
Cut potatoes in half the long way. Then place each half flat on a cutting board and slice wedges. Place the potato wedges in a large bowl and toss with olive oil or butter to completely coat.  Add the cheese mixture to the potato wedges and toss gently to coat evenly.
Place potatoes on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with leftover cheese mixture.  Bake for 25-35 minutes or until potatoes are easily pierced with a fork. The smaller wedges will be done sooner.  Turn the potatoes with tongs about halfway through the baking time.

 Printer friendly version

New Look for Pillows

When we first bought this house 5 years ago, the furniture we purchased for the living room was not a well thought out plan.  In our living room there is judges paneling throughout.  My husband loves it, I feel lukewarm about it. 

This is the only room in the whole house that my hubs actually voices his opinion on.  So if he feels that strongly about judges paneling I will let him have it.

Long story short,  we had a difficult time trying to find furniture to go with it. 

The couches we decided on are very soft and comfy, but I never did like the color of the pillows.  And now after all these years, I finally got the urge to go ahead and recover them.

Here is the couch before~ a little too dark and bold for my taste. 

Since I'm not allowed to paint in here, I wanted to try and soften/brighten up the room a bit using some different fabric for the pillows.

This makes a huge difference in the room now. 

All I did was sew a simple envelope pattern pillow case and slid the old pillow inside.  I would make a tutorial for you but no one can say it better than The Crafty Gemini, here is her tutorial.

She explains each step and walks you through exactly how to sew it. 

Hope you all have a great day, starting to feel like fall here :)

Link Parties~
Jennifer Rizzo

Computer Nook Upgrade

My library project still has a long way to go, but I did freshen up the nook where the computer sits.  I've had this desk set for several years now.  It was a hand me down from my grandmothers house.  I've since painted it and thought this would be the perfect place to show it off.

So here is a little sneak peak of the nook, there are still a few final touches to be made.  But this is the overall look I'm going for. 

For those of you who didn't read this post, here is what the area looked like before.

  

As soon as I find some chairs for this room, I will be finished and able to show you the final reveal. Please don't loose sleep tonight worrying about it.  I will be finished soon.  

On another note, we are purchasing our new kitchen floors this weekend!

Link Parties

Miss Mustard Seed

Jennifer Rizzo
Primitive and Proper 
Love of family and home

Currently

We had a fun filled weekend celebrating the birth of two very special people, my baby girl turned one and my mother in law turned 29 again :)

A few close family members gathered for a mountain retreat.  We swam in the lake, ate hamburgers and chocolate cake.  The weather was nice too.

Anyhoo,

back to life, back to reality.

Right now I'm in the midst of these few things.

This is what occupied my girls and the middle of the living room for two days straight.  If you have a duvet and a fan you must try.  It truly is amazing that children would rather play with the simplest things than a room full of toys. 

Heading to our first ballet class.

The next time I show you this space it will look totally different.

 
Also working on this

 
So that's what's going on around these parts. I'm almost finished with the desk that will take the spot of the temporary one in the picture above.   It's a corner desk that will be painted that turquoise color above.

Happy humpditty hump day!