*Moooo*cho Bene!

What a great weekend(!) ... my son and I joined my husband for a business trip back to our old stomping grounds in Northern Virginia, where we once lived before my husband retired from the Marine Corps ... beautiful area, except for the traffic!  We miss our friends dearly who still live there and were happy to see a few who we haven't seen in years ... what a blast we all had!  The screams and laughter from our kiddos playing was a riot ... Jax loves his new buds!

While there, I also got to go to IKEA ... yippee!  I.love.that.store!  I'd go there quite a bit when we lived in NoVA.  Their prices are more than reasonable, and they have such fun and unique goodies.  A few things managed to come home with me (imagine that) ... the best being a cowhide rug!  You may remember that I've been looking for one for awhile now to add to our dining room. 

Well, the wait is *ova* ... meet "Elsie" (as affectionately named by my husband).  Elsie needs a larger sisal rug underneath of her, but that's not a priority right now:

Love her shades of caramel and cream:

And, how she ties in with the tops of the table and buffet.  Annnnd, yes (*hangs head low*) ... I changed out my pillows:
 

Hope she enjoys it here!

Still looking for the perfect *bling bling* chandelier!

******

As an aside ... what fun it was to go back to DC as a tourist.  I worked there for six years and, while I did NOT enjoy the commute, it was pretty neat working at our nation's capital.  One of the law firms where I worked was right across the street from the White House ... talk about an incredible view!  Here's another amazing view ... amazingly *scary,* that is!  Jax and I are about to become a dino snack!  LOL

Hmmm ... think Santa might leave one of these baubles for me under the Christmas tree this year?  Um, yeah, I highly doubt it, too!

Looking forward to a tour of the White House next time we travel that way!

I'll share my other little IKEA goodies next time ... thanks for stopping by!

Becca 

Thank You, BHG.com !!

Just sharing a little fun news ... I was truly thrilled and flattered when the folks at BHG.com contacted me to see if they could include my Fall mantel from last year as part of their 2011 Fall Mantel Inspiration Ideas slideshow!  Of course, I said "YES!"  I loved seeing our little ol' mantel included:

The excerpt from BHG.com read:

"A combination of real and faux foliage looks beautiful on a fall mantel. Becca Bertotti (adventuresindecorating1.blogspot.com) created her flower arrangements by tucking real and fake branches into a vase adding pheasant feathers and burlap in the base. To create the garland, Becca strung various size and color wood craft beads onto wire and hung the string at various heights. A few tucked-in lights add glow."

The entire slideshow may be found here.  I loved seeing a few of my blogging buddies' mantels included, as well ... I know you will, too!

Can you believe we'll all be decking out our mantels for the holidays before we know it?  Yippee!  (Ummm, is that wrong that I'm already looking forward to it?)

Have a fabulous weekend ... stay cool!

Becca

OCD + Chalk Paint =

ME ... LOL !! 

Before long, I'm afraid that everything in our home will be covered in this fabulous paint !!  I've now stepped it up a notch by painting a more "permanent" piece in our home ... the built-in dry bar we added in our breakfast area a couple of years ago!  My goal was to make this look like a seperate piece of furniture ... different from the neighboring kitchen cabinets.

BEFORE: 

AFTER:  Yippeeeeee.  Lovin' its new *character* 

One coat of Old White was followed by almost two coats of Chateaux Grey.  Of course, a bit of distressing was in order:

Naturally, I had to switch up the counter a bit, too:



To create my little *faux* menu, I bought an inexpensive piece of black poster board and cut it to fit inside a frame I wasn't using.   I then used my handy dandy chalk ink markers to create a menu:

Soup, anyone?

You may have noticed that I took the glass doors off of the center bump out cabinets.  I love having this as my display area now (I'm on the lookout for fabric or wallpaper to add to the back):

BEFORE:

AFTER:  *Buh-bye* doors!

It's fun being able to pull out a few of my white pieces that have been hidden away behind cabinet doors:

I moved this "lazy Susan" to the top of the cabs:

And, I also added new, inexpensive knobs (from Lowe's):

One last little peek.  I'm still debating what I'll do with the backsplash ... decisions, decisions ....

Thanks for coming on ova!  Have a fabulous day!

And, I'm giving a big blogger "thank you" to Amber and Brad of Shades of Amber for featuring my buffet, which I painted with Old White chalk paint.  What fun that they're hosting a chalk paint party every week now!  Uh oh ... this could be trouble.  Be sure and pay them a visit!  They're also hosting a fabulous chalk paint giveaway!

Don't forget to swing on by these fun linky parties for lots of inspiration:

Dittle Dattle/Amaze Me Monday

BNOTP/Metamorphosis Monday
Shades of Amber/Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Party
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia/Tuesday's Treasures
Savvy Southern Style/WUW
At the Picket Fence/Inspiration Friday
French Country Cottage/Feathered Nest Friday

Becca

Thanks, Kristin !!

I want to send a huge thank you to the lovely and talented, Kristin, at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia. Somehow, I won a giveaway that she graciously hosted, and I received her package today!  Inside was a beautiful handcrafted pillow cover, along with sweet smelling lavender sachets ... all created by Kristin (and available at her fabulous Etsy shop, Uncommon Linens)!  Needless to say, I immediately found a spot for my "new" pillow, and her sachets are now making my drawers (pun intended) smell oh-so-good!

Thanks, Kristin !!  xoxo

Hope you all are enjoying a wonderful weekend !!

Becca

Spreading the Love ...

That's right, folks ... for those of us who have become addicted to AS's chalk paint, we know that a little goes a long way.  And, after I painted my accent chest Old White/Chateaux Grey (seen here), I certainly couldn't let the rest of the paint go to waste, now could I?!  Sooooo ... I closed my eyes and let my paint brush lead me to my next project. 

It was then that I found myself in our kitchen ... staring at the island, which I've loved being Antique White ... hadn't even thought about changing the color, but we all know how that goes.  Before I knew it, the first stroke of Chateaux Grey (which really should be called Chateaux *Green*) had applied itself.  Then came the clear wax, followed by some distressing:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Love the white peeking through:

I'm on the hunt for new, fun knobs, as well.

Mr. Roo (from Dollar General) got a splash of Old White on his frame to bounce better off of the Chateaux Grey:

While my husband loves it, he mentioned that it did darken the kitchen up a bit ... to which I responded (in my best Wicked Witch of the West voice), "never fear, my dear, lest you forget that Mama's got *big* plans for some of the kitchen cabinets ?! Mwah ha ha ...."

(dipity.com)

And, by now, you guys know that I like odd numbers ... this makes two pieces that I've painted Chateaux Grey.  You know what that means, right?  Please come back soon so that I may show you the third piece! 

As always, thanks for stopping by ... I'm off to play at these wonderful linky parties:

Dittle Dattle/Amaze Me Monday
Shades of Amber/AS Chalk Paint Party
Savvy Southern Style/WUW
At the Picket Fence/Inspiration Friday

Becca

Le Chateaux ...

Hope you all had a wonderful 4th of July!  We had a fun-filled weekend, for sure!  Let's see, we hosted a small gathering to celebrate my sweet and handsome hubby's birthday:

  

ate WAY too much:

and played on the beach with awesome friends (Jax loved "flying" into the water) ... oh to be young and "simple" again:

I'm sure you'll agree that it went by much too quickly!

Well, I must give a *HA-UGE* thank you to all of you who commiserated with me by admitting that, you too, also suffer from "DJS" in my recent post !!  I'm just glad that we can all suffer together ... aren't you?  I look forward to sharing many other decorating ailments in the future (as well as my made up Chinese proverbs)!  LOL

I'm keeping it simple today by sharing another chalk paint redo.  Some of you will gasp when you see that I painted over such a pretty piece (in fact, I was almost afraid to share the before pic); however, as much as I loved it, the parrots needed to fly back into the woods. 

After adding a coat of AS Old White, I then added two coats of Chateaux Grey.  

Even though it's called "grey," it really is more green, which is why I chose it ... I wanted to compliment the green in my accent chairs; which, I'm not sure why I did that because I have a tiny feeling that these chairs will be moved, covered or magically disappear before my very eyes in the near future:

Of course, I pulled out my sandpaper and distressed it a bit here and there to expose the Old White (is chalk paint the easiest to distress or what?!):

I then painted the hardware Old White and then added a bit of Gold Leaf Rub 'n Buff:

I love how it changes colors, depending on the light.  I'm hoping that you can see how it looks more green here:

versus how it looks more grey from this angle: 

I'm enjoying the new look ... again, sorry parrots ... enjoy your freedom!  And, while my paintbrush is still wet, I'm going to take a peek around and see what else needs a facelift.  Hmmmmmm ???

Have a great day!

I'm off to party at these fabulous blogs:

Dittle Dattle/Amaze Me Monday

BNOTP/Metamorphosis Monday
Savvy Southern Style/WUW
Miss Mustard Seed/Furniture Feature Friday
Thrifty Decor Chick/Before and After Party
Shades of Amber/AS Chalk Paint Party
Perfectly Imperfect/All Things Furniture