YEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSS!

Today I was driving home from Home Depot. I was somewhat stressed out because I had 4 kids under the age of 4 with me and I needed lumber. Which is not easy to move around. The boards were sliding out of the cart, the kids were crazy. It was frustrating.


I took a picture for my husband (did I mention he is away for EIGHT weeks of training) to show him how ridiculous it was. Him being gone was probably another reason I am more agitated than normal. Little did I know my spirits were about to get difibrillated. Ok, so that's not a word, but you get my point. Because when I came home this was waiting for me.


Wondering why I care so much? Not only is Flea Market Style Magazine my FAVORITE, I also happen to be mentioned in it! I'VE BEEN PUBLISHED! BY MY FAVORITE MAGAZINE!


I'm not sure if it's on stands yet because I don't have to go to 3 different drug stores and a couple Barnes and Nobles to find it. I WAS MAILED A COPY!


Thank you Christine and the rest of the team for the magazine. You literally made my dreams come true today.

Pallet bookcase

I've done a couple of new projects using pallets this week. The first, which I'm showing you today, was one I saw on pinterest. I don't know who originally did it but it's been done quite a few times.

I literally made 5 cuts to make this book rack. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story. It took 5 minutes from start to finish.




I cut the boards to plug the bottom so they fit really tight in the hole. Then I finish nailed them into place.




I'll show you the other project after this weekend. I made a headboard for a client I'm doing a redesign for and I don't want to waste the surprise!

Lightin up...

The house. Not a dooby. Just thought I'd be specific.

So I decided what I wanted and there was no talking me out of it. I wanted this beauty from Barn Light Electric.


$138 a piece, not including shipping. Boo. I almost bought two of them about 5 times. But the DIYer in me thought there had to be a cheaper way.

Turns out there is. I found these lights for $30 a piece at Lowes (they have the same ones at Home Depot).


I just spray painted them the red color I wanted. They look exactly like the ones I wanted but $63.00 instead of $276.00 not including shipping. I almost painted them yellow but thought I might get sick of that quickly.


I taped off the inside so I'd have a straight line. It took about 30 minutes to dry and they were ready to hang.


Imagine the possibilities! Buy this light (which is white on the inside by the way) and it can be whatever color you want if you paint it yourself. And cheap too!


As you can see, I decided to put the picket fences above the cabinets and I LOVE it. I just need to find more chippy ones for the front of my house.


And one last close up...

Kitchen island

Well, I finished my kitchen island. Almost. I have to get an over sized outlet cover from Home Depot because I got a little crasy with the saw on one side. But that IS the power of Home Depot right?


I really love the corbels on the island. I think they really make the space. I used 3 different ones because they didn't have any that were the same in our free pile. But I actually ended up liking it more.


I know, the lighting blows, but until I get up some light fixtures over the island, they'll have to do. Speaking of, which do you guys like better? I'm planning on hanging two. This oh so popular in blog land from ikea...


Or this one from Lowes?


The cheapo in me says the one from Ikea, but I already used it in a bathroom. I feel a little unoriginal. I kind of like the idea of having a white pendant light in there to keep the white thing going. What do you think? I would actually love to use one from barn light electric but I definitely don't see myself spending over $200 on two lights. If you've never been to their site, go. I love their lighting.

Laundry room

So... remember my laundry room?


I determined that the amount of time I spend in this room directly correlates to the number of children I have. For example, I used to do a couple loads of laundry a week when I only had one kid. Now that I have 4, I do a brazillion loads a week. And my laundry room was less than inspiring.


It's a lot better now! I wanted a work space for folding clothes so I don't have to drag them through the house and pile them onto the floor in my bedroom just for me to avoid anyways.


I haven't really done any laundry since I built it so we'll see if I actually utilize the space. The nice thing is I just used supplies from my garage. The top is actually plywood but with the really dark stain, I don't think you can tell. I got the wooden leg from a wood working shop in Mesa. One of the bloggers my sister and I follow, Dorie, from Tuesdays with Dorie called us and said someone was giving away a bunch of wooden things like corbels and legs and things. So Tara drove into town and picked them up. I used 3 of the corbels in my island project that I almost finished. I'll post pics soon!


I'm thinking about hanging a bunch of windows from the ceiling with hinges to hit right at the shelf on the top half of the room. I just need to find a bunch of old windows!

*Edited*
I realized after I wrote this post that I had an idea in my head of exactly what I wanted it to look like but I couldn't remember where I'd seen it. I was looking on pinterest and I found it again. But I don't know where it's from because I got it off another blog who had borrowed the image. So if you know where it's from, please tell me so I can give them proper credit.

Did I mention?

Hubs and I installed interior plantation shutters a couple weeks ago. And that's when I decided that I needed to become a shutter installer. It took about 15 minutes to do ALL of them. And I'm in love. I just wish I felt the same about my flooring.


I'm also working on my island this week. I decided to put the picket fence panels above the cabinets and do bead board on the island. Thanks for all the suggestions!

The one that got away

A couple years ago I went to the flea market in Canton Texas. I saw a beautiful rusted iron road sign that I wanted SO bad but had no idea how to get it home. And it was a little pricey at $125. So I passed on it.

It was one of those things I regretted and thought about all the time. I almost bought another one off ebay over Christmas but again passed.

So then I went shopping a couple weeks ago at the most ridiculously expensive antique/ home decorating store in Scottsdale. I like to go places like that occasionally to make myself feel better about having the same look without spending an entire pay check for one pillow.

I had about enough when I walked into this circular part of the store that was outside. They had really cool vintage industrial things there. And that was when I saw it.

It was basically the same sign as "the one that got away". I walked over to it, took a breath, and glanced at the price tag. $65!!!! WAHOOOOOO! This baby was mine!

I may have even put a seat belt on it on the way home. I know, I'm weird. Now it sits atop my t.v. armoire in my great room.


If you're interested, they had two more!