DIY kids toy suitcase...

I had to share this cute idea for a vintage suitcase from Sew Can Do. Don't you love this cool toy tote for your kids! You can read the directions on how to make one here.

Here's what mine might be like....

Concrete countertops...hmmm

If you are a budget conscious person considering a kitchen remodel-don't overlook concrete as an option. Well, don't overlook it if you have a handy husband, father, father-in-law, friend that will work for free-etc etc. My cousin has them in her kitchen and they are actually very pretty and sophisticated looking. It's alot of work and a huge mess, but it can save you thousands of dollars. I'm looking at white countertops-I love the Caesarstone Quartz in blizzard white or Silestone White Zeus-but it's getting pretty expensive when I start adding everything up-and I really want nice stainless appliances. One of the largest surface areas in our kitchen will be the bar/counter area. I'm thinking of doing that in concrete. I think it will add a bit of that industrial look I like without going over the top and definitely save some $$$.

here's a couple of links to a crash course in "How to" DIY concrete countertops...

DIY network concrete countertops
Imperfectly Polished blog...

Here are a few pics of "real life" concrete countertops I found on flickr...

several of these countertops came from..decorative accents of virginia..they have a good "real world" gallery of homes they've worked in check it out...

Here's a peek at what I've got going on today...lol..I absolutely love it!

little Roo (aka Big Baby) coloring on the chalkboard in our kitchen-beware parents-- this one draws on all the walls in our house I think he thinks it's all one big chalkboard-something to consider-hahaha

Happy Weekend...

I love this DIY reclaimed wood headboard idea! How easy is this-and so cute! Sometimes the whole reclaimed wood thing can go awry and be too "cafe country"-but this has a cool modern appeal. I like it!

Have a great weekend!

via Decor Pad

TUESDAY INSPIRATION PIECE AND BEACHY DIY CRAFT!

Well I bricked on my little DIY last week so I have one for you today! I was inspired by this weeks beachy nautical theme, to trek down to the beach with the kiddos and play in the sand. They loved it and so did I-but I also had a plan...

DIY SAND LETTERS...

This craft was quite messy but super easy and for me-it was free! I have bins and closets (plural) full of craft stuff. I bought the cardboard pre-cut letters at Hobby Lobby last year for $1.77-used my trusty Mod Podge for the adhesive, scooped up some free sand at the beach, sprinkled a little gold glitter for an extra sparkle to add depth, and kept all the sand in place by spraying with an acrylic clear coat. Here's my sequence of events. I won't go into full tutorial  mode about it because it's pretty self explanatory. Don't be afraid to get your hands dirty! Your kids will love it!

PRETTY PALETTE AND INSPIRATION PIECE....

Many designers agree that finding your "inspiration piece" is central to decorating your space. It can be anything really-artwork, a vase, rug or furniture piece. Today's nautical inspiration piece was painted by Winston Churchill in 1933. I think it has a kind of contemporary feel-great for a updated nauty cottage look. What do you think?

SEE YOU TOMORROW FOR SOME NAUTICAL ETSY FINDS...

TUESDAY ANYTHING GOES..EASTER STUFF

Well as stated yesterday-I won't be posting on Thursday or Friday this week so I'm packing the things I would normally post on those days into my Monday and Tuesday posts! Today I'm posting some cute Easter children's books I found on Amazon.com. I bought a few of these for the kids to have in their Easter baskets.I finally picked up all their candy today and I'm just needing a few more things! 
My boys are 4 and 1-I just love watching my oldest get so excited about the Easter bunny and learning about Jesus and the baby just toddles around after him like "what am I supposed to do brother?"

I'm looking forward to a weekend filled with family, kids, yummy food and lots of playing! 

I'm also posting a pretty DIY wreath with a link to the directions, a pretty spring girl pic and some digital art.

Hope you like... 

all these and more from Amazon.com
PRETTY DIY WREATH....

via Jones Design Company blog

Click here for a complete tutorial on how to make this sweet little wreath....

BLOG I'M SO GLAD I FOUND

 Jones Design Company

This is a great blog full of good ideas, graphic design goods, DIY, interiors and mom stuff-she has four kids, a business and blog! Her story sounds alot like mine-self taught, learning as I go, sometimes bumbling, kids playing in the background, super busy and totally happy with the imperfection of it all~The wreath above was from her site and just look at these cute Easter bucket baskets she made for he kiddos-she even stitched up the bunnies-love it! CHECK IT OUT!

via Jones Design Company blog

pretty spring pic of a pretty stylish girl...

called Watercolors via Atlantic-Pacific blog

AND A COUPLE OF QUICK ARTSY THINGS FROM ME TOO....

BIRDS NEST

FARM FRESH EGGS

SEE YOU TOMORROW FOR ETSY ARTIST FINDS...

FRIDAY HUMBLE ABODE...SPRING AROUND THE HOUSE

HELLO AGAIN!

Ahh it's Friday--this week blew by for me and though it felt like spring here on AF it didn't feel or look like it outside-brrr. I painted the windows up with colorful birds and bunnies and trees-oh my! If you look really close you can see the neighbor snow blowing the driveway across the street! I know-it's just not right! So here's a look at the spring windows...

Another project that got underway this week was the stairway project! yay! I can't believe what a difference it made already! For those of you not aware of the project click here and catch up!

I chickened out on my color choice-no I shouldn't say that! I decided to bring a neutral tan-Lenox Tan from BM, down the stairs and into the lower hall. I already have that going on in the upper hall and since they are connecting spaces I wanted the color to be cohesive with other areas of the house--Am I totally full of it or what? :) I have lots of art planned for pops of color and something fun on the stairs themselves though I'm not exactly sure what yet-don't worry!

Doing this project makes me look around the house and realize how much more work there is to be done!! I look forward to the challenge!

 Here's the progress report...

BEFORE:


before-featuring roo-dog



before-dark and dreary

 NEXT PHASE...

yay-looking better already!

look at all my crazy colors! I'm going to use the most muted blue, grey, green one for an accent color-it's actually very soft and pretty-it's called BM Quiet Moment.
I know it's still looking rough-whew the stairs are in bad shape...wish me luck


STAY TUNED FOR MORE STAIRWAY PROJECT UPDATES...

Bird watching around the house...
Well since it's still impossibly cold outside, I decided to do some spotting of birds around the house. I do love a little bird decor here and there, When I started to look I realized I have quite a few actually-let's go on safari...

my chalkboard wall birds...

golden birds photo-op for Etsy...

S & P shakers from Pier One...

bird duvet from Pottery Barn...

Bird Adirondack chair...I know it's a little country-I painted this chair @ 7 years ago and it sat outside in the garden-I cleaned it up last year and brought it in for a cozy reading nook-what can I say-it's comfortable!

white bird inside the china cabinet-found 2 of these at a Salvation Army thrift shop a while back...

gift shop bird...

bookcase in the bedroom...

a little closer...

Having a few hints of birds around the house helps me think of spring, even when it's 22' outside....

Well I wanted to do a DIY craft this week but I totally ran out of time! I was inspired by some of those wreathes that I found-check them out here-I'll get to it over the weekend and make something fun to post with some more Easter related things in the coming weeks!

SEE YOU NEXT WEEK FOR SOME MONDAY INSPIRATIONS....

ANYTHING GOES TUESDAY!

I try to organize my blog so that I myself can operate with some semblance of order and productivity! So in order to do this I do certain things on certain days of the week. Those who regularly read this blog probably have that figured out. Mondays--Monday Inspirations-this sets the tone for the week, Wednesday-always Etsy shops and an occasional blog, Thursday Art Additions that's when I post my own work and Fridays are kind-of a toss up but I've been doing mostly Humble Abode posts-things from around our house plus enviable designer rooms from around the blogosphere. But Tuesday-oh Tuesday? I have a page of topics that Tuesday can be about but there's no structure on that day-I just throw in some stuff that goes with my weekly theme.

 So-my point-I have one-I'm gonna call it  ANYTHING GOES TUESDAY! On these days you might find a great picture or a DIY project-whatever has inspired me that doesn't fall into the other categories I've got going on throughout the week.

So today I've got an inspiring St. Patty's day poster, 2 random pics I like and a cool DIY project! I know-tomorrow is St Patty's Day-but It' my ETSY day you see...and there's always alot of content on Wednesdays. As a good Irish girl I've got to pay little homage to the best drinking holiday of the year-plus I'm going to busy at my mom's for a little corned beef and cabbage and perhaps a green beer!--mmmmmm....

hope you like...






awesome right! Beer graphic poster from popchartlab



I think this is so cool...




excerpt from Moby Dick-This made an impression on me for obvious reasons-let's keep the Japanese people in our thoughts and prayers! 


I found this cool little DIY project over on another  blog called the Lettered Cottage. Kevin and Layla Palmer blog about all kinds of interior design stuff! This is a massive site with nearly 7000 followers--including me!!! Perhaps you spotted that cute little Ordinal Dresser from Anthropologie for a whopping $998 on my Monday Inspirations? Well they found it and loved it too and decided to do a DIY version. I was going to do my own-Lord knows I've painted a dresser or two in my day!!! But this is so cute and easy I thought I'd post theirs! Just click on the pic and it'll take you to their blog for the full story. While you're there take a look around-they have great stuff!



Anthropolgie dresser




$40 DIY dresser from the Lettered Cottage

 SEE YOU TOMORROW FOR WEDNESDAY ETSY ARTIST FINDS...

FRIDAY FEATURE: The Humble Abode

So this is my first Humble Abode feature. For those who didn't read Tuesday's post-I am featuring real home improvement projects I'm doing around our house. Like I said before-now that we are home I'm feeling really inspired to work on the house again-and it needs alot of work! hahaha....no really it does...

My first project is the uninspired and slightly dilapidated staircase (and the trim).They are wood but not a high grade wood that I would want to refinish. The steps currently have an awful Home Depot off the rack runner that I have left for the anti-slip properties it possesses (kids-ya know). You can see how beat-up the wood is in the pics and the stuff that looks like dust is actually like glue or permadirt or both-lol like it does not clean up--old houses--you gotta grind it or paint over it or both! All the trims and railings in this area and the whole house for that matter, are going to be painted in a fresh gloss white-I'm thinking Atrium white from Benjamin Moore.

I've been thinking alot about wall color here. The staircase connects the upper bedroom hall with the lower hall where the bathroom office and living room converge-but it is separate-you can close off the living room door to that hall. So I'm not worried about seamlessness but maybe complimentary colors to those living spaces. hmmmm

Also the downstairs hall and staircase are lacking in natural light and the staircase goes way up--lots of wall. I love the  thought of a kelly green wall or something but I think it would be a big shamrock nightmare! hmmm

I don't want it to be totally boring either--I mean I love grey but Northern Michigan gives me plenty of that and like I said the light in there is terrible. OK--so I'm posting a pic of the hall and some pretty staircases I just love. I'll keep you updated with the colors I've chosen and my design plan so I can get this thing started!

Have an idea? Let me know at areafarehome@yahoo.com  Love to hear it!

the horrible hall in question


lower hall area + one really handsome boy!




upper hall going down-look how beat up the wood is...nice right



going down-no railing right now til I paint

going up-this is as bright as it gets on the stairs-no overhead light--hmm that sounds like a hub project!

NOW SOME PRETTY LITTLE STAIRCASES THAT I SUPER LOVE AND ARE SO FUN....

PINK STAIRCASE VIA ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL THINGS (BLOG)

damask wallpaper via Stories of A to Z



black and white is a delight! Domino via Grayson



via Apartment Therapy



via Arte Styling




orange mod flowers via Design*Sponge




via Apartment Therapy




via Design*Sponge-Scott Engler home




via Design*Sponge-Karen Barlow home

 SEE YOU NEXT WEEK FOR MONDAY INSPIRATIONS--YAY!