Summer at our Home: The Front Room

Welcome to our home!

I thought it would be fun to put a little tour together of our summer-styled home. 

 People usually decorate more in the fall (Halloween, pumpkins, etc) and definitely winter (Christmas)...not much in the summer. To me, summer is more of a clutter-free- less- is- more kind of time. It starts out that way anyway...kids, animals, projects get in the way of that sometimes, but a girl can dream right?

So, before this house gets too messy this summer, I took some pictures of what I would like my home to look like most days, and thought I'd share them here (for documentation purposes, ha). I will show one room at a time, and when I'm done, will put them together in one Tour Post.

Today, I am starting with our front room. I recently showed our bookcases that we painted white. You can see that post HERE. Now here is the rest of the room, styled for summer!

Our farm name is not actually painted on our wooden crate coffee table, but now that I digitally put it on there, I kinda like it! 

I added in that bright afghan and it certainly brightens up this room. This little love seat and matching chair with ottoman were given to us by my mama, they are so comfy and we love them. However, they are quite dark for this room, so I like to add something to them for each season that breaks up all the brown. 

This picture was taken before I did a switch-a-roo with the pillows and some art on the gallery wall. But I liked it because it shows our new rag rug. This rug was originally purchased for my daughter's dorm room, but now that she is back home....it became mine! And little Koda-Bear likes it too! It's his rug-of-choice. (side-note: Isn't he the cutest thing EVER??)

After painting the bookcases white, and because we don't do a "traditional style", I have propped in some old yard-sticks in front of each shelf. I like the added color and quirkiness they give. 

A vintage quilt and denim pillow, next to my stump table that Baileyhusband made, is the perfect spot for morning devotions (and blog reading). 

We hung the "Bailey" portion of our homemade banner (from last fall's Barn Sale) above the window instead of window treatments. Living in the country, I want to SEE all the beauty outside, and this banner (recycled from our old jeans) is a great summer addition...that just might be there permanently.

This is also a music room, so our piano is a focal point...we also have a snare drum and bells hidden behind the love-seat. 

The front room will always be the most "cluttered" looking because of it's many purposes. I struggle all the time trying to quiet the room, decoratively not noisily...remember that I have 4 kids, a husband, and a dog living in this home with me!? But this is also the room that I showcase homemade artwork and family photos, all our photo albums and books, musical instruments, our home office, etc. 

But this is US, in this stage of life....so I added in some color this summer to reflect how we live. 

Sure, I am never done decorating, re-arranging, and changing things...and I am seriously thinking of changing the wall color, but that is the fun part, isn't it? LAzy daYs Of SuMmeR? Not around here.....

Linking this to: Inspire Me Please Linky Party. Check out all the fun link-ups!

A Cousin's Weekend

I have three sisters....together, we have 12 children. I thought it would be fun to share a weekend that we had over the Easter holiday this spring. 

I am so proud to say that all 12 cousins are extremely close knit, almost like brothers and sisters. We have made it a point to always stay connected, especially now that they are growing up, going off to college, and for one of the cousins that means JOINING the AIR FORCE. That nephew of mine has spent the last 2 years stationed in Japan. And came home for a month before moving to Italy where he is now stationed.

We all gathered at the airport, awaiting his arrival. And then here is the first glimpse of him....still gets me teary-eyed everytime I see this {blurry} picture. The next several that I took were completely blurry, maybe because I was jumping up and down and laughing yelling crying!?

While he was back for his visit, and because it had been 2 years since we had ALL been together, I planned a COUSIN'S WEEKEND. A very large slumber-party at our house! 

My sisters and I, along with our Mama, planned the weekend out: 
where everyone would sleep, the menu, the photoshoots, the games...

And we had only ONE RULE:

{NO CELL-PHONES or other techy devices}

We were to stay plugged- in to each other....

{My sisters and I}

{My sister and her family reunited!}

Mornings at my house were my favorite, I have a ton of (embarrassing, for our eyes only) photos of coffee time in our jammies, but here is one on Easter morning after all 12 cousins hunted and found their baskets from the Bunny.

{the Girls}

{the Boys}

Airsoft gun wars are a favorite pasttime when these 9 are together, so they all camo-ed up and spent hours around our farm and woods. 

 You are NEVER too old to enjoy slumber parties, 4-wheelin, playing games....
 

 This was truly my favorite. weekend. ever.

Easter morning at church with Grandma, and these 12 can never be serious for long.

 My sister, Kelley, was in charge of games for the weekend. She is brilliant with coming up with "Minute to Win It" type games (with prizes)!

Then it wouldn't be Easter without a good ol fashioned Egg Hunt...well, with a twist ;) Since they are getting too old for the real deal, we made a game of it.
The adults (while the "kids" were inside) spelled out words on the lawn.

We told them they needed to correctly write down what each word said, then when they thought they had it....we told them that they needed to correctly tell us how many eggs were used in each word also. 

We didn't even count ourselves, we just laughed watching them so seriously counting...we told them when they had it wrong and had to go back and recount. Seriously....funniest thing, watching them.....

Then there was the infamous "Golden Egg". Which had a very large amount of money in it. The cousins had to find it somewhere in the front yard. This is where it got REALLY competitive :)

I look back over these pictures all the time...someday these 12 will get married, and bring their own families. (which will also be fun) But this one weekend was like a once in a lifetime event that we will all cherish...just them, one last time, UNPLUGGED! 

Obsessed Much? Mondays

For this second edition of Obsessed Much, I want to share that I am totally and unapologetic-ly obsessed with:  THRIFTING 

Thrift stores...you know these places that were so taboo years ago....Goodwill, Salvation Army, flea markets, garage and tag sales.....

Yep, these places are the new "IT" stores :) It is now cool to shop second-hand. No-thanks to the song "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis . Ya know, the song that says I'm gonna pop some tags? I recently found that I had a few hours to myself, and what is a mama to do? Well, one man's trash is another man's treasure (come-up) fo sho. (that is me trying to talk slang....I'm not cool enough, I know!)

Anyway....here are some treasures that I found recently

{I think it's a soap dish, at least that is what I will be using it for :)}

{Tea cups made in Germany, love these!}

{these will be spray painted and added to a wall soon}

{metal bowl, don't know WHAT I'll do with this, but had to have it}

{This MADE IN INDIA hand painted dhurrie rug, SERIOUSLY PEOPLE!?}

All these things pictured below were thrifted. The barn frame was purchased with a not-so-pretty-picture inside. I bought the seed sack and just popped it in the frame. And that mountain scene?? Love it...bought frameless (for $7.00) and I kind of like it that way for now. 

I also bought some crisp clean white pillow cases, which were turned into these (by my daughter)

And remember this re-do?

It might be hard to see in the picture below (from my cell-phone) but from a church garage sale I found all these things...totaling $20. Those big strands of beads? $1 for all of them!!! The pizza board? 50 cents! The most amazing things are found when not even looking for them!  

{75 cents for  the vase and $1.00 for the dried hydrangea bundle}

I have also purchased several items that I am currently using for little make-over projects and cannot show at this time (teaser), but also bought the following unpictured items:

A couple pillows (did you know that people get rid of perfectly good pillows with ugly covers?) Yep, feel them next time you are thrifting, if they are feather down inserts inside...snag them up. Couldn't beat the $2 a piece price tag! Mine had zippered covers, threw those away and have a great insert for a new homemade pillow!

An unloved lonely dining room chair for $4.99. That was four dollars and ninety nine cents people!! One day, my daughter will be moving out and would like mismatched dining chairs, yep, score!!!

And 4 semi-scratched 8x10 frames. With a coat of fresh paint, they will be masterpieces on any gallery wall!


Here are some other helpful hints I use when thrifting:

1. Don't shop with SPECIFIC things in mind...you generally will not find them and leave disappointed and empty handed. Instead, think of non-specifics: a fun lamp, some accessories for your bookshelf, a piece of furniture that you could re-purpose, maybe something fun to hang on a gallery wall. 

2. If you don't know about something or aren't quite sure if it will work for you. Leave it, walk around the store, think about it. If you STILL think it's worth the money, BUY IT. It is probably only a couple dollars...so not a big deal. But if you don't buy it, someone else will, and it will haunt you forever. (kidding, kinda) If you love it, you WILL find a place for it, I promise!

3. Know your own style. This is hard for some. But don't buy something that you know is not "You" just because it is cheap. And I also keep friends/family in mind when looking around. This most recent shopping trip for me resulted in me re-styling my sister's family room. For a total of $35, she has a new summery look. (I will get back over to her house and show pictures someday soon)

4. If you like the style, but not the color, re-do it with paint, fabric or whatever trips your trigger. 

{A very long table runner that I'm adding my favorite Aztec-y look to, purchased for $1.00}

5. Just have fun! Bring a friend or sister or daughter or your mama...or enjoy the alone time!


When given an afternoon and a little money in my pocket, I will always choose to go thrifting! You never know what kind of treasures you can find!

{Always on the hunt for vintage crates and globes}

Painting our bookcases WHITE

We built our home in 1998-1999, when the "popular" color of stain was this honey oak color. Now....not so popular. Or remotely our taste. Like, I hate it. (sorry if I offend anyone who still has this and likes it)

 ALL our woodwork in this home was that same color of stain. The trim, the kitchen and bathroom cabinets, and these built-ins in our front room.

For the last couple years, we have been working on transforming this home of ours into the style we now call our own. And the woodwork and old stain of yesteryear has been slowly leaving....room by room. 

The new hardwood flooring, the white wainscoting and white trim, and some furniture additions...this room was getting there. But those bookcases. Not my style, but trying to work within a budget, I decided that some paint would work wonders. 

We purchased Bulls Eye 1.2.3. Primer...this stuff is MAGICAL! And then we went with Pittsburgh Ultra Interior semi-gloss White paint. (which happens to also to have primer in it, we didn't want to paint a thousand coats!) 

And now, I am much more happy with the look in this room. 

Here are the shelves while I was trying to style them. You can see that the walls needed some touch-ups.  

Adding white into our home, definitely helps in brightening things up around here. This front room serves a multitude of purposes. This is our LIBRARY, HOME OFFICE, READING ROOM, and MUSIC ROOM. 

Our house is, for the most part, designed with neutral (nature-y) colors. This summer I have had a little fun adding some color to this particular room. I am working on a summer tour of our home for a later post, if the sun ever comes back out so I can take decent pictures! 

So stay tuned for what this whole room looks like for the summer. But for now, here is the side-by-side (before and after) of the shelves...

Love them! Now, if only our kitchen cupboards were just magically painted by some wizard...now THAT will be a much bigger project!! Hopefully some day!