Adventures in Decorating

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Summer Showcase of Homes

Who doesn't love taking a peek into other peoples' homes for a little tour?! Well, starting next week, 26 bloggers (myself included) will be sharing our Summer "casas!"

Here's the action packed lineup:

Monday, July 22

Atta Girl Says

The Happier Homemaker

Tuesday, July 23

Practically Functional

While Wearing Heels

French Country Cottage

Wednesday, July 24

The Lily Pad Cottage

Marty's Musings

Confessions of a Plate Addict

Town and Country Living

Adventures in Decorating

Thursday, July 25

Friday, July 26

Recreate and Decorate

Sophia's

Vignette Design

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I better get busy tweaking!

Hope to see you there!

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Monday, July 8, 2013

Winner of the Kindle Fire and Fun in the Sun Party Highlights!

Thanks to all of you who participated in our Fun in the Sun Party ... you guys are beyond talented ... so much inspiration for all of us to soak up! And, how incredible that there were over 13,000 entries in our Kindle Fire giveaway! We're excited to announce the winner ... LAUREN KIM! Congrats Lauren! To view the original "rafflecopter" verifying her win, feel free to click HERE.

And, since I shared our summer porch during our summer gathering, I thought it only fitting that I feature other summer porches that were shared at our linky party!

Angie from Echoes of Laughter shared her beautiful and colorful front porch. I'm ready to sit on her cute bench, lean up on her fun pillows and enjoy the glass of water she has waiting:

Christine from Little Brags featured her charming front porch. I love that she added flower pots to her lanterns ... just might have to borrow that idea:

Mary Alice from Chateau Chic shared her gorgeous porch full of vintage charm and soothing colors! If her pillows mysteriously disappear, I *hope* she doesn't come to my house looking for them:

Anita from Far Above Rubies shared her fabulous porch, full of vintage/country charm! I love her collection of antique license plates ... such a fun conversation piece:

Faye from The Shabby Cottage shared her inviting front porch that is such a wonderful welcome! Who would've thought to add a chalkboard to an entry ... love that idea:

And, Christy from Our Southern Home shared her incredible porch makeover! There are so many fantastic elements in her expansive space ... you'll just have to see for yourself:

Again, thanks to much to all of you who played with us, celebrating Summer, as well as your creativity! Be sure and visit our "Fun in the Sun" group Pinboard on Pinterest by clicking HERE, where we share even more of our faves!

Thanks for stopping by,

Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Sitting Room Changes ... Again

Greetings, friends!

I hope you are enjoying the holiday week and have fun plans with family and friends to look forward to in a few days!

Here in the Southeast, we are ready to say goodbye to the DAYS of rain that we've had! I'm pretty sure that is what has caused me to mess around in our sitting room and make a few unplanned changes.

BEFORE:

AFTER: Can you spot the differences?

I decided that our bookcase needed a little bit of "oomph," so I washed it with a mixture of CeCe Caldwell's Seattle Mist and Simply White. I then added a fun, French fabric to the back of the bookcase for a bit of interest and contrast:

I love how the accent pieces pop against it:

The fabric even pulls out the gray in the shell, too:

I then added a small starburst mirror (from Ballard) to the front of the bookcase for a bit of interest:

And, when I replaced this coffee table (from Pottery Barn) in our great room (I'll share all the changes in there soon), I decided to try it out in our sitting room, but not before giving it a little facelift.

BEFORE:

AFTER: See what a couple of coats of Annie Sloane's "Pure White" can do?

Of course, you know I couldn't resist distressing it just a tad:

While I still envision 4 chairs in my little "Mom cave," I'll enjoy this look until I find just what I'm looking for (wish me luck)!

As always, thanks so much for stopping by! And, hope you have a safe and happy 4th of July!

Come join the fun at:

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia/Tuesday's Treasures
Savvy Southern Style/WUW

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Fun in the Sun Linky Party and Kindle Fire Giveaway

Greetings, friends!

I hope you've all been enjoying our "Fun in the Sun" party over the last two weeks where 14 bloggers have been sharing fun Summer projects, decor and recipes ...

and found inspiration along the way!

If you didn't have a chance to visit everyone, all you have to do is click on the following links:

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia - How to make pom pom lanterns.

Sand & Sisal - Simple Summer centerpiece

Fox Hollow Cottage - Aloha Summer Wreath

Adventures in Decorating - Summer Porch

Debbiedoo’s - 5 quick Summer craft projects

French Country Cottage - Summer table setting

Cupcakes and Crinoline - Beach inspired desserts

Domestically Speaking - Ultimate All American Sundae

At the Picket Fence - DIY chalkboard top outdoor coffee table

Yellow Bliss Road - Sweet & simple Summer mantel

JoJo and Eloise - Avocado, blueberry & coconut cream popsicles

DIY Show Off - Summer carnival mantel

Now, it's your turn to showoff your amazing Summer projects, recipes or decor! We look forward to pinning and sharing your projects!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Sunday, June 23, 2013

The Bathroom Gets a Little Facelift ...

Greetings friends!

Some of you may be surprised to know that our son's bathroom (which doubles as one of our guest baths) has had the *same* shower curtain for the last 6 years ... the *same* paint color ... AND, the *same* accessories. The only thing that has changed in here over the years has been the rolls of toilet paper (ha)!

That was until recently ... BEFORE:

AFTER! It was time for the monkeys to return to the wild and give this little space more of a "neutrally-boyish" look for our 7 year old ...

The method to my madness involved several things. FIRST ... we had board and batten installed to brighten up this small space, which was then painted Ben Moore's basic white (semi-gloss).

Then, our formerly Laura Ashley Olive 4 green walls became Ben Moore's White Sand. I then chose this striped fabric to frame the shower (which my neighbor sewed into two panels):

When I spotted this fella at Home Goods, I knew he'd be a fun addition to the long wall:

And, in place of a towel bar (that my kiddo could never quite seem to hang a towel on ... the floor was easier!), we added these simple hooks:

Now, towels don't end up on the floor anymore!

A wall that was once filled with a big ol' floral ...

now has handsome nautical prints from Home Goods on it:

Up close and in person, you can spy subtle flecks of blues and reds in the sailors' jackets:

On the "toilette," I placed this simple box topped with shells:

And, rather than buying a new mirror, I simply spray painted our oil rubbed bronze one that was already in here with blue spray paint for a bit of a pop (and to tie in with the shower curtain and towels):

Of course, that wasn't the only thing that was painted ... the light fixture went from oil rubbed bronze to Annie Sloane's "Pure White":

Mr. Monkey has gone back to the jungle ...

And, in his place now sits a textured vase filled with decorative sticks:

I still have one more piece of art to find ... and, I might just might paint the cabinets (imagine that)! But, for now, I'm enjoying seeing this space with a lighter and brighter facelift!

Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Our Summer Porch and Fun in the Sun!

Greetings, friends!

I'm excited to be part of the "Fun in the Sun" Summer kickoff party featuring a fabulous group of talented ladies (clearly, I don't belong in their company) who are going to be sharing summer crafts, decor and *much* more over the next two weeks ... there's even going to be an amazing giveaway on the 27th!

And, since this is a "summer" party, I thought it only fitting to share our screened in porch, dressed for the new season! So, come on in ...

Please join us here while we enjoy summer cocktails and conversation or quietly watch summer storms roll by. And, hope you don't mind if we turn our "Old White" chalk painted fireplace on ... gotta have a bit of ambiance at night!

A few years ago, we added this oversized metal barn star center stage above the fireplace ... eventually, I'd like to replace it with a large mirror, but, for now, I've flanked it with inexpensive topiaries from Tuesday Morning ...

along with this little French clock from HomeGoods (which, apparently, also met my paint brush filled with Old White chalk paint ... oops):

When it comes to our outdoor space, I love adding lots of vibrant colors! As soon as I spotted these cute accent pillows at Bed, Bath and Beyond (30% off), I knew they'd be a fun addition:

And, I'm more than happy to take my decorating books off of this little ottoman from HomeGoods so that you can kick up your feet!

Over on our coffee table, I'm sure you won't be surprised to see that I added a bowl of collected seashells, as those are my favorite to add to almost every room:

Even this pretty terrarium from Tuesday Morning couldn't hide from a *tiny* hint of coastal:

And, please feel free to toss the pillows off of the love seat so that there's actually room for you to sit comfortably! We do it ALLLL the time ...

Or, if you'd rather, come on down here and sit a spell ...

We love being out here so much that we're getting ready to take down our existing screen *wall* and join this space with our "exposed" patio, making it all one big screened in area ... hope you'll come back and visit when it's all done!

Thanks so much for taking the time to visit our summer porch! I hope you got to take a peek at Kristin's (My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia) awesome pom pom lantern,