Giveaway weekend!

I am pleased as punch to share this weekend’s giveaway with you all! Maybe you’ve heard of little shop called Lisa Leonard Designs? Hmmm?? Just maybe?  :)

Well, Lisa’s been an advertiser of mine for awhile, but even before she joined me at TDC, I drooled over admired her beautiful jewelry. 

Let’s go over some of my favorites, shall we?

Gah. I adore the little hearts on this one…

You can get it customized with two to four hanging hearts and whatever text you want around the edge. The tiny pearl is the perfect finishing touch!

Lisa is killing me with the owl!:

It’s called “Whoo do you love?” Are you dying? Love that hubby’s name is on a little disc with a moon. Adorable.

The family crest necklace is perfect for any mother or grandmother:

What a lovely way to thank any woman who is the “glue” of the family!

These teeny tiny hearts are so simple and perfect:

You could do the kid’s initials or yours and hubs/significant other. It would be a great gift for an anniversary – put the couples initials on and you’re set! At least the wife will be thrilled!  ;)

I can’t get over how original this one is:

Each name is stamped under a different piece of laundry – the little socks about put me over the edge they are so precious. Not one person would have the exact same necklace! (Well…unless there was another family with your exact names and you got the same exact designs…and that would just be weird.)

Look at the initials carved into a tree:

Perfect for a newly engaged friend or newlywed. How sweet!

I saw this one on Twitter a few weeks ago and thought it was such a great idea for a little girl:

Not too much – just sweet and simple and the perfect “real” piece of jewelry to start a young one’s collection.

The pops of aqua are what made this one a fast favorite as well:

And the cutie patoot little bird sure didn’t hurt either!!  ;)

Lisa’s talents don’t stop with necklaces – she has a variety of bracelets available:

As well as earrings:

And gifts for anyone –- including the men in your life!:

Isn’t it all lovely? I know you’re swooning. :)

To make you really swoon Lisa is giving one of you a $75 gift card to use as you wish on her site – whoohoo!

Here’s the deal – leave a comment here for your first entry. For a second entry, check out Lisa Leonard Designs, browse around, and then come back and let me know your favorite piece! It’s as easy as that! (Please remember an email address if you comment anonymously.)

The giveaway will be open through Monday at noon, Eastern time.

Have fun, good luck and enjoy your weekend!

Patience grasshopper (kids room inspiration)

I know. I KNOW. I hate that I have to do it, but I am going to reveal the big boy room later this weekend.

I KNOW! Stop yelling at me! :)

Life has gotten in the way this week just a bit, so I’m going to finish up the little details tomorrow and then take pics this weekend. I will tell you, it is so beautiful. I’m not even kidding…I just adore this room. It is now our favorite in the house!

So bear with me – I have a great giveaway for you Squeezies tomorrow (you don’t want to miss it!) and I’ll post the room Sunday night.

Anyhoooooo…I thought I would share some lovely toddler rooms I’ve seen around the Net lately. They are a little heavy on the boy side, but I did that on purpose – I’ve mentioned before I think boys rooms are hard!

These are some of my favorites from Pottery Barn Kids:

LOVE the big fire truck print on the wall, love the molding, love the white and red together. And the chocolate brown on the walls and how it ties in with the bed is genius. They know what they’re doing, those Pottery Barn peeps!

A naval inspired room is so classic and fun, and with some added pirate-inspired whimsy it is perfect for a little boy:

That bed is the coolest! Here’s another:

Love the sail too. Do you see the rope and knot detail on the wall above the chair rail? And that navy blue…you know I’m swooning!

Of course this little girl’s room is adorable, but my favorite part is the massive memo board behind the bed:

Love how huge it is and love the bright green frame! This gives me an idea for our office…

There are a few lovelies in this one that stuck out to me:

The bedding is just beautiful. The branches with flowers hanging from them – you could SO do that! And the birdcages hanging are a great finishing touch.

Restoration Hardware started a baby/child line a couple years ago, and I’ve always loved how elegant their products are:

Are you swooning?!

I found some fun ideas at Better Homes and Gardens too. Love the firehouse as a headboard!:

And did you see the bed? What little boy wouldn’t adore that?

How cool is this? Fish tanks hung on the wall, with plants inside:

Love the typography on the wall, in different sizes and shapes. Awesome!:

This one stuck out to me and now I know why:

Uh DUH. Same navy blue walls, same grayish blue ceiling, same (but much nicer!) built ins. And it’s all primary colors just like his room!

Someday I am going to have a window seat like that installed in the Bub’s room. Window seats make me all gushy – I’ve never had one but always wanted one. :)

Got a kid’s room you want to share? Link up to it in the comments! I’ve never had more fun doing a room than this one and I can’t wait to show you! Thanks for your patience with me. ;)

Decrapification: The kitchen

Hellooooo there! First things first – the randomly drawn winner of the $50 HomeGoods gift card is Wanda from Bunco Babes! Wanda, email me your address and I’ll get that sent out to you!

I know I’ve been going on and on about the big boy room and I am REALLY hoping to show you this week. (Finishing touches are SO close to done!!) But even when I’m working on a cutie patootie room for my cute patoot, I still can’t help but declutter and organize around the joint.  ;)

It still amazes me to no end that I can go through a space once, and still find more CRAP just a couple months later. I don’t know if I missed it the first time, was just lazy, or as time goes on and more comes into the house, I feel the need decrapify even more stuff.

I just went through the kitchen a couple months ago, but this week I found more crapwehaven’tused for YEARS:

Travel coffee mug for coffee we don’t drink?

Check.

Disney cup that has leaked every. single. time. we’ve used it?

Check.

Kitty treats that are healthy so the cats won’t touch them?

Check.

The other stuff is random things that I haven’t needed for a very long time – odd bowls, containers without lids, a steamer we haven’t used for seven years. (Really.)

I use the same “rules” for items around the house that I use for clothes. What’s the rule – if you haven’t worn it in six months it’s out? Well, the rules are the same for stuff – just longer. I go by a year or two for kitchen stuff. (Or seven. Whatever.)

It depends on how expensive it was to begin with – but seriously, if we NEVER use it, WHY am I keeping it? Ugh!

One of our cabinets in the kitchen hold a weird mix of stuff – medicine, candy and birthday/party stuff:

The yellow baskets hold medicine/vitamins and were dollar store finds. The candy jars have lids I’m painting (for two months now) and were from Goodwill. The little gumball machine with the Halloween candy in it (?!) was a Goodwill find too.

I went through the medicine this week and ALL of this had expired:

Most of them were close to empty, except the teething tablets, that we haven’t used in two years. (Again -- ?!)

There’s a few tricks I use to keep things organized in the kitchen. I keep baking items in one drawer, randoms in another:

I got so tired of trying to find measuring spoon in the sea of utensils, I ended up separating them and it’s SO much easier.

Our cabinets had a couple drawer organizers that came with them, but I find I can fit a TON more in the drawer without the organizer:

It’s not pretty, but it works!

I’d love to buy those fab cabinet/pull out/organizer thingies someday, but until then, I use a dollar store display to keep pans and cutting boards where I want them:

These are used to display their plates, and on a trip in one day, I saw an empty one – I asked the manager if I could buy it and he told me I could take it home. For fareee! It never hurts to ask!

I secured it to the bottom of the cabinet so it won’t move around:

A free solution. You can’t beat that baby!

I use a pot rack for large pots and pan storage. They aren’t for everyone, but I do love ours:

I got this one half off at Hob Lob years ago, and it saves a TON of cabinet space. (Just make sure you hang it high enough so it doesn’t block your view!)

I use the space above the microwave for Bub stuff that makes messes – bubbles, water toys, play dough:

All things we do in the kitchen or outside so it’s a convenient spot for them. And he can’t get the bubbles out himself.  :) (Translation – get bubbles out himself and spill them everywhere.) 

There are items I’ve moved down just so he can reach them though – I’ve put all of his plates/bowls/napkins in the lazy susan so he can get them himself:

He love, love, LOVES to help now, so this is a good way for him to do that.

There are a few things we had installed when we built our house that I now know I could never eva live without. The appliance “garage” is one:

My heart goes pitter pat for this thing. I hide our blender, toaster and can opener inside. Which means we have ZERO appliances on the counter. BLISS!

I had tip out trays installed in the kitchen and the master bathroom:

OH how they ROCK. Now you can buy these in the store and it’s easy peasy to install them. I don’t know the price (share if you’ve bought them!) – but they are my secret storage space for sponges and cleaning supplies and toothbrushes and toothpaste (in the bathroom of course!)

I’ve told you all before that when we picked out our upgrades on this house all those years ago, I was hyperventilating and itching because hubby kept adding things like “surround sound” and “security system” and all I heard was “money” and “more money.”

Now, of course I’m glad he did add those things, and one of my very favorites he insisted on was our trash compactor:

It is the shizzle!! ;) I mean, really, it is. We have one bag of trash a week. Even when we have a party. Cross my heart, pinky swear. SO worth the money!!

And the best part is we don’t have to worry about a spot for a trash can or smell stinky trash. Ewweee!

I love our decrapified, organized kitchen:

It is getting a mini redo this summer though. Maybe not mini. A little more than a mini. I’m going to brighten the place up and I cannot wait!! (Nooo… I am not painting cabinets.) I don’t think.

No. I’m not.

Probably.

Seriously – I think that may put hubby over the edge. It takes a lot and that would do it.  ;)

Any great decluttering tips you follow for your kitchen? Found an organizing gadget that helps? Share with us please!

If you want to see my decluttered pantry:

Click here.

Painting the backs of built ins

Well, I finally did the last of the painting in the Bub’s room today – sheesh, this room has involved a crazy amount of painting. I am not touching a paint brush again for months! OK, weeks! OK, probably tomorrow!

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was struggling with the color for the backs of the built ins. I was thinking the navy may be too much. The accent colors of red or yellow would just be too bright. And I did consider going back to white for a hot second, but it was fleeting.

I just LURVE when the backs of built ins are painted:

I just think it’s a really inexpensive way to accent the architecture and it makes your accessories positively pop!

And if you’ve read this blog long, you know I am a lovah of painting ceilings as well. I have done it for years and the Bub’s room is a great example of how great it can look…and it had me thinkin’.

Why not use the grayish blue from the ceiling on the backs of the shelves? It grew on me and I thought it would look pretty fab. The bonus – I had some leftover from the ceiling!

Well, I ADORE it:

Sorry the pics aren’t great – it was gloomy today and I was losing light!

The blue is a color match to Upward from Sherwin Williams, and it’s a really lovely, soothing grayish blue:

What’s funny is just a few weeks ago I asked my fellow Twits on Twitter about recommendations for a grayish blue -- and DUH, I had it right here. (I was thinking about it for another room.)

Anyhoo, it’s awesome – it looks like it would have been on the same paint chip as the wall color (Admiralty from Lowe’s) as a lighter tone of the navy. I was a teensy bit nervous how the red and yellow accessories would look with it, but I think they’re going to be great:

The red will anyway. :) I still need to put everything back arrange it. (The FUN part!)

There will be a Squishy II coming later this week. It’s been kinda nice not cleaning up after a fish lately, but the cutie gumball tank looks so lonely without a little friend.  ;)

I’m SO close to done with the room! I’m waiting on a couple finishing touches but I really hope I'll be able to show you this week. SQUEAL! I love it!!

I do need your advice on a couple things! One, leave the doors on the built ins as is or paint the insets on them?:

At first I considered the navy…then I thought maybe the Upward color. Now I’m thinking I like the white. It kind of works with the white board and batten around the bottom of the room and continues the white…which I’m digging now. What do you think? Color or no?

Second question for your brilliant minds – the gorg sconces in the window area are a oil rubbed bronze finish, which I normally adore…but with all of the brushed nickel accents in the room, I’m wondering if I should spray paint them to match?:

If my ORB spray paint was jealous with my use of the Heirloom White – it is full out loony on me now, because I am absolutely in LOVE with the brushed nickel in this room – I’m using it all over the place!

I love how the dark arms of the sconces pop off the drapes, but it’s kind of bugged me that they don’t match the metallic accents.

So what say you? Built in doors in color or white? Sconces as is or spray painted? I would love to hear your thoughts! Thanks in advance – you rock!

I’ll announce the winner of the HomeGoods gift card tomorrow! Have a great Monday!

 

Thank you to my advertiser: