Mudroom Makeover: What Stage Is This? Oh Yeah. Five

Once upon a time, I was making over my mudroom. Then my decorating ADD kicked in, and I moved on to other projects in different rooms. A recent purchase has jump-started the mudroom makeover, and I thought I'd share it with you today.

If you want to see what changes have already taken place, you can read all about it here. This is how things are looking today.

Pretty much the way I left it back in July. I did hang the basket I bought from Donna at Horton's Flea Market.  I thought it would serve as a good spot for single socks to reunite with a partner.

I also added a little alabaster lamp. I bought it on my Springfield Antiques road trip in June for ten bucks. It came with a hideous shade (circa 1984) that I purposefully left behind. Finding a new shade to fit was a much more difficult task than I expected. I was relieved to finally find a shade that fits and looks pretty cute, too.

 While the sock depot and cute lamp are nice, what I really needed was a fabric skirt to go around the counter and hide the giant bin o' dog food underneath it.

Well, I finally made up my mind the other day and purchased some fabric. I went with Waverly's Ballad Bouquet in robin's egg.

I was tempted by a more trendy, geometric fabric, but in the end, decided that the shabby chic, vintage look complements the room better. I think it fits in nicely with the basket and the lamp...

and the chippy chalkboard on the opposite wall...

Now I just need to find someone to sew the skirt for me. Be on the lookout for the big reveal  in, oh, I don't know.... about 6 months?

So, what's your decorating motto? Hurry up and get 'er done OR Slow and steady someday it will be ready?


Partying at...


Wow Us Wednesdays
Open House Thursdays
2805: Potpourri Party
Show and Tell Friday

My Fall Mantel, Our Haunted House and A Winner

I am really not one for changing my fireplace mantel with the change of seasons. I usually only deck it out at Christmas. However, my son put his pumpkin up there, and it looked rather lonely and pathetic. So, I painted a few faux pumpkins and added some other natural elements to keep the lone pumpkin company.

It took no time at all, and now my mantel is ready for Fall...

Here is one side with two of the faux pumpkins. I painted one with sage craft paint and one with old white chalk paint. I cut a branch from a tree in our yard and put it in the urn.

Here's the other side with the real deal pumpkin and another faux white one. I put a branch and some ornamental grass in this urn.

There it is all together. Nothing fancy, but it works for me!

Warning:  If you scare easily, you may want to turn back now, because our house is officially haunted....

BOO!

I'm not sure which is scarier... this trio of ghosts or the dead yew in the background.

This is really freaky, because we don't even have a cat!

Perhaps he showed up to catch the spider!

This isn't scary. I just wanted to show you my baby cabbage. (I also wanted you to see that the boxwoods I planted in the spring are still going strong! Yay!)

Glad we got our spook on before Halloween arrived. Just need to make 4 jack-o-lanterns and we'll be ready to trick or treat.

Have I mentioned that my neighbor's house is already decorated for Christmas? Every year as I struggle to stake the ghosts into the ground, a team of decorators is decking the halls across the street. It's quite the production! We tried to outdo them by leaving lights in our trees since last Christmas. Yeah. We're those people.

The winner of the $30 gift card to whimsy studios is Tidden Tales!! Congratulations! Hope you enjoy your fresh picked whimsy!!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great week :)


Linking up to:


Tuesday's Treasures
Open House Thursdays
Wow Us Wednesdays
2805: Potpourri Party
Common Ground's Fabulous Fall Fun

The Versatile Blogger

Kelly at the wonderful blog, The Essence of Home, recently honored me with an award.

Thank you, Kelly, for bestowing upon me such a prestigious and coveted award :)

The rules for accepting this award are as follows:

* Thank the person who gave you the award.

* Include a link to their blog.

* Select and link to 15 blogs that you've recently discovered or follow regularly for the award to go to next.

* Share 7 things about yourself.

So, here are 7 things you probably never wanted to know about me:

1. I have a serious addiction to Twizzlers. In fact, I am eating them as I type this.


2. I play tennis a few times a week. (So I can eat Twizzlers.)


3. I love to sing. If I were younger and didn't have 4 kids I'd audition for American Idol. Hopefully, I wouldn't end up in the early audition TV footage of the crazy people who think they can sing but are really horrendous.

4. In my life before children, I worked in PR and event planning. I had my own event marketing business until my second son was born.

5. Someday I will write a book about disastrous family vacations and a screenplay about my high school in the 80s.

6. I have one sister and one brother. They are two of the funniest people on the planet, and two of my favorite people. (Thirty years ago, I never would have thought I'd be saying that.)

7. I recently saw my prom date's mug shot on the national news. 

I'd like to nominate the following blogs for this award. 

(I realize some of you may be award-free, but I'm nominating you anyway. I'm kind of a rebel)

lisa roy

A Toile Tale

Blondie's Journal

Classic Casual Home

Classic Chic Home

Design Indulgence

Emerald Cove

Fresh Picked Whimsy

Modern Country Style

My Old Country House

Roses and Rust

Susie Harris

The Paper Mulberry

The Polohouse

The Vintage Farmhouse

Don't forget to enter my giveaway! It ends at midnight tonight!!

Have a great weekend :)

A Pillow Story

I just had to share a fun little blogging story with you!  A couple of weeks ago I did a guest post as part of  Classic Casual Home's Pillow Addict Series.

My post included a picture of a needlepoint pillow I had purchased on Ebay for our guest room.  I mentioned that I was still on the hunt for another one.

Well, I was contacted by the sweetest lady, Sandy from Connecticut, who happened to read the post and also happened to have two needlepoint pillows for sale. (Very reasonably, I might add!). She sent me some pictures of them, and they were perfect!!

Long story short... Sandy's pillows are now residing comfortably in my house.

Aren't they pretty?

This blogging thing is an interesting beast! You can make new friends all over the world, and you never know who might be reading. So, I'd really like to meet Jason Bateman. Just sayin'. In case any of you happen to be close personal friends with him...

Don't forget to enter my giveaway before Friday!!

Sharing at Open House Thursdays

Giveaway Time!!!

Happy Monday!! Hope you had a wonderful weekend. I thought we'd get this week started off right... with a fun giveaway courtesy of my pal, artist and illustrator Lori McDonough. Up for grabs is a $30 gift certificate to Lori's etsy shop, whimsy studios.

Here is a taste of Lori's unique, whimsical art. I know this one is perfect for the treasure hunters and crafty girls out there...

Legos are a big deal in our house, and my boys would love this one...

What an adorable keepsake for new parents...

For the ocean lover...

She's got some fun holiday decor too...

To enter: 

1. Be a follower of Sweet Chaos.

2. Check out whimsy studios, and leave me a comment telling me which art print is your fave!

Facebook, tweet or blog about the giveaway for additional chances to win, and let me know you've done so in separate comments. That's it!! Easy peasy. Enter by midnight EST this Friday, October 21st.

Good luck :)  Have a great week!

I've "Fallen" and I Can't Get Up

Okay... I know that in blogland I'm a day late and a pumpkin short for getting my house decked out for Fall. But, give me a break. It's been 80+ degrees here... not exactly feeling Fall-like! While my front porch is still devoid of Fall fare, I did manage to pluck the half-dead flowers from my side entry planters and add some things more October-appropriate.

Would you like a closer look? Well, you're getting one anyway. I was playing with my camera and new tripod, so please indulge me. (FYI...Miss Mustard Seed said I should get a tripod. Do you think my photos look as good as hers now? Yeah. I didn't think so.)

I filled the window box with cabbage and kale. I used gourds for color. Most people would plant mums for that purpose, but gourds don't need to be watered :)

Oversized kale went in my hayrack planters.

My attempt at being artsy fartsy with my tripod.

Aren't these pretty? I may never go back to orange.

And, last but not least...

... a little door decor!

That's as far as I've gotten with Fall. I'm thinking I should put my 5 year old in charge of the rest of the decorating. He came home from a friend's house with this creation...

Check back soon for the tutorial :)

Before you leave, I wanted to share one of my favorite Halloween decorations with you. My sweet and talented friend, Joy, made this for me.

She made this wicked cool witch with cut paper. I love it!

I'll be featuring more of Joy's art soon. You won't believe what she does with old windows!

Well, that's Fall all, folks!


Linking to...


Feathered Nest Friday

Contemplating Change

Last week I showed you my newly painted kitchen walls...

I'm loving the color (SW Comfort Gray), but I'm thinking I would like it even better against white trim. It looks so crisp next to the white of the stair molding.

I was a little concerned about painting the molding white, because of the dark cabinetry. But, so much wood can make the kitchen feel dark, and I definitely prefer light and bright. I went looking for some inspiration photos to see if my idea would work. Below are some designs that have successfully incorporated contrasting cabinetry and molding.

Heather Garrett Design

Chipper Hatter Architectural Photographer

Designer Claudia E. Kazachinsky

Chicago Kitchen and Bath 

Stonewood, LLC

Rebekah Zaveloff

Burlington Kitchen and Bath/ Kenzer Furniture

Steve Bailey - Amish Custom Kitchens

The Kitchen Studio of Glen Ellyn


These photos have convinced me that it's okay to mix wood cabinets with white crown molding and vice versa. What do you think? Have you mixed wood trim with painted cabinets or painted trim with wood cabs? I'd love to know!

Pretty House Photos

Yesterday I stumbled upon some photographs I took about 5 years ago of a beautiful model home in a local neighborhood. Since the pictures are just sitting in a file on my computer, and I may not uncover them for another 5 years, I thought I'd share them here with you.  Of course, blogging wasn't even on my radar at the time, so I didn't take a lot of pictures, and some are a little fuzzy. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy looking at them ...

If memory serves me, someone bought the house, fully furnished, for $1.3 million. Obviously, there was much more to it than what I've shown, but what do you think of it?  I remember being blown away by the beautiful trim work in the foyer and the upstairs hallway.

Thanks for visiting! Have a great day :)