Home Inspiration |

Spring Lucketts Recap

Posted on May 21, 2013 by Amy

This post was written yesterday before news of Oklahoma came in, our thoughts, hearts and prayers go out to all who were impacted by the storms yesterday.

I know it’s not really that much fun to read about a place you probably won’t ever visit, so for those of you who live far from the Virginia, I going to try to keep this post from being too much of a tourist t-shirt regarding Terry’s and my adventures at Lucketts this weekend. However, its such an experience to go, I’d be remiss not to share the highlights of the day.

Terry and I (and her 7 week old son!} donned our rain gear and headed out early Sunday morning to what has become the very well-known Lucketts Spring Sale. Due to obligations we couldn’t attend on Saturday, but figured even if it was picked over on the second day it would still be fun to see what was there. We got there just as the gates opened, well worth it as it got much more crowded toward noon.

There were a few things that struck me about the day. I didn’t buy very much. The sale is simply overwhelming–and of course that is meant in the very best way. Terry and I also decided later it was because we are conditioned to look for things as “befores” and since we enjoy the whole making over process, we aren’t likely to buy a piece once it has become an “after”. That isn’t too say there wasn’t so much temptation, the sale was filled with amazing, beautiful “afters” and enough inspiration to keep us busy with blog projects for a very long time!

My major takeaway from our outing is that it was amazing to see what we try to capture here on our blog come to fruition. We don’t believe you have to spend a lot of money, or buy something that is already perfect. If you love it, or see how you can make it so you will love it, it can be a perfect part of your home. There were so many unique, beautiful and inspirational objects for sale at Lucketts–objects that were reclaimed, remade, discovered and so “not” perfect but still so perfectly beautiful.

As DIY/Home bloggers and for those of you who read these types of blogs regularly things like chalk paint, chevron, patina, wire baskets, burlap, grain sacks, boxwood, iron chandeliers, galvanized metal, mason jars, milk crates, chippy paint, chalkboards {etc!} are part of our decor world. Lucketts is like all those wonderful things mixed together…jammed in tents and stacked up, beautiful items all jumbled together, one pretty and interesting thing after another. It struck me that the sale is representative of a significant shift in the thinking of how we love our homes, by filling them with things we can repurpose, personalize, make meaningful, and enjoy.

It was just a fantastic day. We were thrilled to have a few minutes to chat {we discussed those observations above} with Marian, AKA, Miss Mustard Seed and she is everything you have heard about, read about or envision. She is just as down to earth, friendly and sweet as you can imagine. Yes, her popular booth was pretty picked over by Sunday but it was still a treat to meet her in person.

So all in all, it was a fantastic day at Lucketts. I do hope many of you have the opportunity to go and I loved seeing the success that so many of the vendors are experiencing as this “vintage” industry grows and thrives.

And, in case you were wondering, these weren’t for sale but they do help you carry your heavy items to your car…and isn’t that just fabulous? They thought of everything.

XO,

Amy

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Posted in Home Inspiration, Shopping, Spring | Tagged antiques, Furniture, lucketts, repurpose, sale, vintage | Leave a comment

Announcements and Entertainment Center Remake

Posted on May 14, 2013 by Amy

Hello! First of all, what a week last week. Christy completely surprised me with her sweet post on my birthday. I was at Terry’s enjoying the champagne breakfast she hosted for me when I saw a facebook comment about it on my phone. My husband and I read it together a bit later, I was definitely crying and he was, well, happy to be included in the love fest! What a birthday it was, I am the luckiest girl to have these friends :) and your sweet comments made my day!

Well today I am going to get back to what we try to do best, talking about furniture and home stuff. Before I do that though I have a few quick things to mention. First, upon hearing that Google Reader was ending, I started using BlogLovin’ and I LOVE it. I just wanted to throw it out there, and I know that there are many ways to keep in touch with your favorite blogs but if you haven’t tried it, click HERE. You can search by blog name and add it to your feed, then when you visit the site you have a nice list of all recent posts. They also send you a nice neat email everyday with everything. It just makes my life easier (and more inspired!) so I wanted to share it with you all. Thoughts?

Second, we are CRAZY excited to be a part of BlogHer’s review team for Mary Kay Andrews new book–she just writes such fun ‘chick lit’–and this book is written about a DIY/Home Blogger! { you can pre-order it HERE if you are interested} Without giving anything away just yet, the book is called “Ladies Night” and so, of course, Terry and I decided we needed to host another Ladies Night in the book’s honor. Our fabulous friend Janet offered to have it at her lovely store The Empty Nest so we hope anyone in the area will come out and share in the fun. We’ll have lots of drinks, yummy eats and a super creative craft project, all essentials for a Ladies Night, right? Its scheduled soon at The Empty Nest in Warrenton. Stay tuned for more details via our facebook page or email us at 11magnolialane@gmail.com and we’ll put you on the VIP invitation list {just kidding, no list, all welcome!}.

OK, NOW back to our regularly scheduled programming! I am slowing making some changes around my new house, because we are still “renters” here I am taking my time about making many changes to the house. So, in order to make my home feel more like me, I figured it was a good time to work on some of our current furniture.

The “Before”…

Even though the colors in our family room here are very different then our last very white, house, my furniture seems to still work OK with the darker walls in this house. Since this is a two-story room, so we won’t be painting it anytime soon even if we buy it. I had planned to refinish our TV entertainment center to a Restoration-like gray in our last home, but never did and once we got here the obvious color choice was cream. So, I picked up some Annie Sloan Old White from Janet last week and got to painting.

The internet doesn’t need another “I painted with chalk paint” so I will skip right to the “Afters”…I still haven’t waxed it, but it brightens up the whole room. Its amazing what a bit of paint and a few hours of time does, isn’t it?

Here is the real reason the room works better now, not to give you vertigo, but this is the shot from our open hallway above. The room is now balanced with the cream colored couch and directly across the cream colored console. I feel much better and as with most projects, I wonder why I didn’t do it sooner?

Have you painted anything recently?

Thanks for stopping by~

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Posted in DIY, Furniture, Home Inspiration, Projects & Printables | Tagged chalk paint makeover, console makeover, cream, diy, entertainment center, furniture makeover, paint, white | 1 Comment

April’s Flea Market Finds

Posted on May 2, 2013 by Christy

There’s a great flea market in Nashville, held once a month at the fairgrounds. People come from all over to attend, and I highly recommend it if you live close enough for a day trip. This month’s promised to be a good one, with most of the vendors back after the slower winter months. However, it was absolutely pouring last weekend, and so many of the booths are outside and in open-sided barns, that I almost didn’t go. But, my daughter and her friend were dying to check it out, so we put on our rain boots and coats and gathered our umbrellas to brave the elements.

The little girls scored some amazing (to them) things: 3 packs of gum for $1, new styluses (is stylae the Latin plural?) for their iPod Touches, homemade lipgloss, and more. The entire time they were checking out these treasures, though, I was itching to get outside to Antique Alley. When they finally let me go outside, here’s what I found:

~a white enamelware tray for $5

~an old wooden sugar mold for $15

~a huge, gorgeous wooden dough bowl (score! I’ve been looking for one for ages, and the price was right on this big girl! I paid $115, but have seen others this large–over 48″ long–for $300 and up)

~fresh basil for my neighbor, and fresh thyme for me (2 for $5)

~an old wooden pear crate ($8)

In hindsight, I’m so glad we went in the rain. All the vendors were there, and the crowds were pretty thin. That also made the deals much better!

I worked the sugar mold into my decor first. The kids and I learned about these as part of our homeschool studies…they used to pour hot, liquid sugar into these wooden molds to make cones of sugar. Then, it was chipped off as needed. Sugar was an absolute luxury item back then, and the cones were often guarded by the lady of the house (or the housekeeper in more well-off homes), and kept in locked pantries.

This one is nice and old…lots of worm holes in the wood. My husband died laughing when I told him that worm holes are a desirable touch in antique wood pieces.

I wanted to put votive candles in the mold holes, but I didn’t want dripping wax to damage it. I’ve seen places online that sell metal inserts for the holes, but those are the same stores that sell reproduction sugar molds for a couple of hundred dollars, so I figured I could do it less expensively. Enter the tea light candle holders I bought at Ikea last year:

Easy! Then I tried my new candle holder in a few places to see where I liked it best:

On the piano…

On the dining room table…

On the open shelving in the dining room (I really liked them here but didn’t want to get carbon on the top shelf)…

Finally, I put it on the hall table, and there it will stay (for now)…

I put the enamelware tray in my pantry so I can use it when I need a cute serving tray. Most of the time trays get worked into my decor and wind up with books stacked on them, or something similar, and then I don’t have an empty one when I need to serve drinks or snacks. So this one will be put to use in the “normal” way!

The wooden pear crate is holding books next to my son’s bed. He usually has a pile on the floor that he’s in the middle of reading. This is my attempt to corral that mess!

I planted the thyme plants in these cute, narrow flower pots I grabbed at Goodwill one day. Thyme is such a pretty plant, and obviously it’s nice to have fresh for cooking. These are sitting on my screened porch right now, but I think they’ll move to my kitchen windowsill soon.

And my gorgeous dough bowl is currently on top of the armoire in my bedroom, but I have other plans for her eventually. I think she’ll wind up on top of the dining room table, or the buffet, full of dried hydrangeas.

Only one more flea market for me in Nashville, and then I get to see what Savannah has to offer. I’m guessing they’ll have some amazing things, too!

Thanks for stopping by!

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Posted in Home Inspiration, Real Spaces, Shopping | Tagged antiques, flea market, Nashville | 4 Comments

Antlers as Home Decor

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Christy

I’ve been a little bit obsessed with deer antlers lately. I think Terry started it when she found that amazing wooden stag/deer head for her baby’s nursery {here}.

That little baby is pretty, sweet, too!

I looked on Craigslist and mostly found stuffed deer heads. I’m not quite sure I’m ready to take that plunge yet, although I come from a family of hunters. Mostly I remember being scared. to. death of the stuffed deer head at my grandmother’s house when I was little.

I did find one box of antlers, but they wanted $50 for them! Then I remembered that, as mentioned above, I come from a family of hunters. I’m smart like that. I called my uncle, who lives in Michigan, and who just happened to be coming for a visit. He brought me four antlers, or “sheds” as they call them (because the deer shed them and they find them in the woods). I think one set–the four-pointers–were from one of my cousin’s deer, but they separated them for me.

Here’s what I did with two of them:

It isn’t rocket science; I just incorporated them into the decor on our shelves.

They’re mostly white, but the bases are knobby and rough. I just used them as-is.

I had to move them higher on the shelves because the dogs went crazy over them and I’m sure would have chewed them to bits by now if I had let them. I guess that makes sense.

I’ve seen the antler chandeliers, but I’m not a huge fan of those. I think I like this look better…it adds a little interest but doesn’t overwhelm the style of the room. By the way, remember that white duck that started out bright blue? I like him much better this way!

What are you favorite natural decor pieces? Turtle shells? Coral? Or are you an antler fan, too?

Thanks for stopping by.

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Posted in Home Inspiration | Tagged antlers, art, Decor, deer, horns | 1 Comment

A new baby and a new house!

Posted on April 12, 2013 by Amy

**Our newest giveaway is up and running over on our Current Giveaways page. We’re giving away two copies of 31 Days to a Heart of Hospitality, an ebook by our friend Edie over at Life{in}Grace.**

Here is a bit of what’s been going on with the other two of us while Christy’s been covering 11 Magnolia Lane over the last two weeks! She did a great job of course She is now in the midst of preparing to move, and winding up the school year, so I told her I would jump back in and give everyone all the news.

First of all, we are SO proud to share our newest resident at Magnolia Lane. Last week Terry and her family welcomed this sweet bundle of joy to their family. I have been lucky enough to spend time with him and can attest he will just melt your heart!

Gorgeous photo by Courtney Anderson Photography. He is in his beautiful nursery, see the whole room HERE.

And we’ve completed our move! Well, at least as far as we are able to reside in our home, but we still have boxes everywhere. We really jumped back in our new area with kids’ activities, school events, sporting events and of course, that new baby pictured above to visit :) so unpacking has taken a backseat.

Our new home is very different from our former lakefront home near the beach. We traded the water view for space, space and more space. Just having a basement for ~~storage~~ the kids to play in is so nice, not to mention all this closet space I will be sure to show off more of the house once I get it more presentable but for now here is a bit of a sneak peak via my phone.

{the dining room}

While we waited for our belongings to arrive, I had a few days in the empty house to make some adaptions so it would match our current cooler, light color scheme. Much of this home is decorated in warmer tones like yellow, mustard, moss green and burgundy.

{the family room}

We discovered the other day that the stripes on the fireplace wall are not what they seem–wallpaper–but actually painted on the wall. I need to find out the scoop on that from the owner, it’s just amazing to me someone could paint perfect stripes on a two-story wall.

{the front hall}

{the screened porch–I have BIG plans for this space!}

I did have a few projects right at the top of my list. First off, my oldest son is moving into the room that was a former office. I tackled removing the flowered wallpaper border, as it is not really my son’s taste. I’ll do a post on that shortly, I learned a lot of what to do and not do removing wallpaper. Here is the room previously, it was an easy fix and after the border came down, the beige walls work perfectly for a preteen boy.

I also painted the master bedroom. It was formerly dark minty green, and our bedding and accessories didn’t really match. I have been obsessed with the Sherwin Williams color ‘Blue Diamond’ since I saw it in my brother in law’s beach condo last winter. Its the perfect palest blue, with just hints of gray, and couldn’t wait to use it in my bedroom. Had I not just painted my old master bedroom, I would have redone it immediately to that color after our visit.

Unfortunately things didn’t go as planned with the color, it came out WAY more blue then I expected. Here is the repainted room, and while I like it, its obviously not the ‘palest’ blue out there. I am not sure if its the dark green behind {but I used paint with primer?} or perhaps I incorrectly remembered the color and got something else similar instead, or maybe the color was off from being mixed at Home Depot? {Thoughts?} Anyway, lesson learned but I will just live with it–or repaint the room again down the road!

I am off to go unpack, but thanks for stopping by!

XO,

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Posted in Before and After, General & About Us, Home Inspiration, Home Tours, Real Spaces | Tagged baby, bedroom, before, Dining Room, master bedroom, moving, new house, Porch | 4 Comments

My Dining Room Table & Chairs–Painted White

Posted on April 3, 2013 by Christy

You all are stuck with me {Christy} for a few days, since Terry just had her baby boy on Saturday {CONGRATULATIONS!}, and Amy moved this weekend and is removing wallpaper borders, painting and unpacking {maybe we should all say a quick prayer for her?!}. I just sent my beloved aunt and uncle on their way, after a very fun visit, and wanted to show you my dining room table and chairs in a little more detail than what I posted on Facebook.

After my dining room updates {here} and {here}, things were almost done, but I have been seriously tempted to paint my table and chairs for about a year now. My double pedestal table is crooked, thanks to the last movers we had (I think they were crushed on the truck), and there are deep gouges and scratches on the table surface. Since it was a lovely piece, I didn’t want to get rid of it and start again, but I know that paint and distressing is much more forgiving of our transient lifestyle.

Here’s the “before” of the table:

I Scotchguarded the chairs way back when, but years of children and pets took their toll. Here’s a closeup of one of the chair cushions so you can see just how bad they were:

At first I was going to sew slipcovers for them, but after sewing a slipcover for our dog’s crate (I will write a post on that soon), I realized that my sewing skills are pretty bad and the resulting slipcovers would likely look crappy. So I decide to figure out how to reupholster them–the seats would be easy, but I’d never done anything like the backs before. At an impasse, I decided to start with the table, so I could enjoy quick results.

I used two coats of Annie Sloan chalk paint in Pure White, and even though the directions say you don’t have to sand, I did lightly sand the tabletop only, because it was so glossy. Here was the table with two coats of paint (no wax, yet):

The Pure White looked so bright and clean that I nearly stopped here.

But then I remembered that the movers will distress my table and chairs this summer no matter what, and I figured I should continue with the dark wax and sanding.

I’ve never waxed furniture before, so this took some figuring out. I used Annie Sloan’s clear wax, then a little tiny bit of dark wax, then sanded, then put clear wax on again. The reason you put the clear wax on first is that it lets you play with the dark wax a bit; instead of soaking right into the paint, you can add some, lighten it up, and get it the way you like it. After it dried, I sanded a bit, and even added a little more white paint in a few areas that I thought were too dark. And yes, I painted the two leaves at the same time. Here’s how the table looked when I was done:

I love the shape of my chairs, and was excited to see how they turned out. One hint when recovering chairs is to keep the cushions with the correct chairs; they are not interchangeable because the nails on the bottom will want to match up with their original cushions. The back panels on my chairs were held in place by four screws, just like the seat cushions, although they were covered on the back with wooden caps (you can see those in the top picture). I had to pop them out with a flathead screwdriver to get to the screws.

Once all the cushions were removed, I gave the chairs the same paint and wax treatment that the table had received.

The medallions on the side looked great with the dark wax bringing out the details.

I then washed, dried and ironed a 4′ x 15′ canvas painter’s dropcloth (from Home Depot) to use as my upholstery fabric. My staple gun got a HUGE workout–my hand is still sore–as I covered the stained cushions with the canvas. The seat cushions are simple, and I’ve recovered cushions like that dozens of times in the past, but the back cushions were trickier. The fabric had to be cut exactly right, with no extra to hang over and show. Instead of sewing cording and using that, I bought gimp trim at Hobby Lobby (it took exactly two rolls for all six chairs) and glue gunned it into place. Here’s a close up of the gimp:

I used a neutral color, but if I had used a different fabric it would be fun to use a bright, contrasting color. Maybe I’ll do that the next time I recover them. And yes, I have Scotchguarded them thoroughly, because I’d like to avoid recovering them again for another few years!

Here’s the front of the chairs, finished:

I had a little gray chevron fabric left after covering the piano bench, and sewed a tiny lumbar pillow for one of the two armchairs. The insert is just a down one I found at Goodwill for $2.

If you follow on Facebook, then you saw pictures of this process along the way. One of the reasons I used the neutral canvas fabric was because I had a plan for these chairs–they were going to get a monogram using Citrasolv to transfer the ink to the fabric! Read how that works {here}. I printed out a couple of “B’s” on my computer, using the Monogram font, and taped them on the front and back. Dozens of you voted, and while it was pretty much even in the end, I decided to put it on the back.

Here was the front:

And the back:

I love how it turned out when I transferred the ink (and put the nail hole caps in place):

The room seems like it’s done now:

I found a huge, barnwood tray at C’est Moi (that’s our local store that sells AS chalk paint), and love how it looks on the table:

And while I’m tempted to paint the buffet as well, it’s not damaged, and I’m just not sure. What do you guys think?

As always, thanks for stopping by!

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Posted in Before and After, Home Inspiration | Tagged chairs, dining, paint, room, table, white | 12 Comments

How to build a {DIY} Giant \ Huge \ Wall Chalkboard

Posted on March 25, 2013 by Amy

This is hands down my most favorite project in my house.

Maybe ever.

It wasn’t hard, nor expensive and it provides not only organization for me but fun for my kids. And it’s most certainly a “conversation” piece.

Last summer I built this giant chalkboard for my wall between my dining room and kitchen, across from my butler’s pantry. I had to hold off showing it on this blog thanks to the interest of a lovely magazine scout, but since our house will likely sell before we could fit in a photoshoot {sniff sniff}, today I am revealing it in all its glory!

I think the hardest thing about this project is finding a large empty wall to use.

This space wasn’t large enough for any shelving so putting up a giant chalkboard was the next logical choice, right?

{Maybe not if you had asked my husband!?}

Obviously there are easier ways to do this project then the route I went. If you are lucky enough to have flat walls, you could tape, prime and paint chalkboard paint on the walls and then just trim the space out. I had to go the extra step and prime, paint and tack up a smooth chalkboard-painted piece of wood thanks to my ultra-textured walls which there is no way you could write on. It’s also good in that I can pull it down in case the next owners of my house don’t want a giant, huge chalkboard. I don’t really know why they wouldn’t though?

So, I used a very thin, lightweight plywood board {cut to size at Home Depot}, primed with spray primer then covered it using a foam roller with multiple coats of chalkboard paint.

There was one obvious issue with the space I had in mind. The lovely thermostat right in the middle of the wall.

I used a jigsaw to cut the hole in the board, I measured several times to make sure everything would line up correctly. School was out, so I had a great helper.

I then primed and cut to size some lightweight molding to trim around it. If you are intimidated by a power saw I can tell you that I used a miter box to cut the trim. Its a bit of an arm workout, but anyone can do this, no power tools (or gym trips that day) necessary.

My plan was to cut trim to build a frame around the thermostat, but in an effort to save myself anymore sawing, I decided to search my attic for a frame that might fit instead. Luckily, I had one that worked perfectly–it fit like a glove, it’s not even glued on–and it probably looks more polished than one I would have built.

We make great use of this space: for coloring, for lists of things to do, or inspirational quotes. I am refining my “chalk art” skills and while, of course, I aspire to have lovely works of pinterest-inspired chalk art on it, in actuality, it’s a great space for the kids to color and receive gentle reminders for them from me.

Thanks for stopping by!

Sharing this post at~

Tutorials & Tips at Home Stories A to Z, Tuesday’s Treasures at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Wow Us Wednesdays at Saavy Southern Style.

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Posted in Children's Activities, DIY, Home Inspiration, Organization, Projects & Printables, Real Spaces | Tagged chalk paint, chalkboard for textured walls, diy, diy chalkboard, frame a thermostat, giant chalkboard, hallway decor | 12 Comments

Baby Nursery Reveal!

Posted on March 20, 2013 by Terry

Baby boy K will be here in the next couple of weeks. My family and I are trying to be patient but now that his nursery is complete and I am simply ready to meet our baby boy. I find his room incredibly peaceful and I am drawn to it’s simplicity.

The white crib, drapes and bedding are angelic and pure. They are the Vivian Drape from Ikea. Two 56 X94 drapes come in each $10.00 pack. I used them on the windows but I also used them to create the crib skirt since it was cheaper than buying fabric and sewing my own crib skirt. I simply tucked them under the mattress so I can re-purpose the drapes once he is grown.

The turquoise and grey flags were designed by Amy. She had the guests at my baby shower write well wishes on the back of each flag. I think they add a pop of much-needed color and provide a sentimental touch to his room. The star mirror came from a second hand store and I love that it has both gold and silver. The light is from Home Depot and was under $75.00.

Don’t just love those vintage map letters? That was a gift from my in-laws and really make the room extra special. I added a ruffled table cloth to an existing round table. The lamp was spray painted blue for an added pop of color. The rocking chair has been with me since the beginning! I have rocked, fed, and read to my wonderful boys in that comfy chair so changing the fabric was just difficult for me to fathom. I have loved that chair 8 years ago and continue to love it today. I think the blues and greens in the map letters forgive the added shades of sage and cream.

This dresser came from a local antique store. I wasn’t sure if I was going to keep it original but I have to say that I love the wood and the brass handles. I simply works for this room and adds that vintage feel. The photo display was challenging for me. I like how it turned out but I really stressed out over the layout. Check out the gazelle head– it is my favorite piece on this wall.

***Don’t forget to enter our Shabby Apple giveaway, win a $50 giftcard to use towards some new spring clothes!***

XO,

sharing at~ Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage, Grace at Home at Imparting Grace, Common Ground Be Inspired, Jennifer Rizzo, Weekend Bloggy Reading at Serenity Now, Tuesdays Treasure s at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia. Tutorials & Tips at Home Stories A to Z.

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Posted in Home Inspiration, Home Tours, Kids Rooms, Real Spaces | Tagged baby, blue, boy, boys room, Grey, Neutral Nursery, nursery, white | 9 Comments

My Kitchen~~In A Magazine?! Why, Yes, Thank You, It Is!

Posted on March 18, 2013 by Christy

So, yesterday after church, I dragged the kids to Barnes & Noble to see if the Spring 2013 issues of Better Homes & Gardens Kitchen + Bath Makeovers was on the shelves (not that I’ve been checking every day or anything strange like that). Well, yesterday, it was there!! That’s MY kitchen on pages 48-53, the one that took me almost five weeks to paint and redo! And, oh my goodness, it looks WAY better than my kitchen looks in real life. How do they do that?

As I mentioned on our 11 Magnolia Lane Facebook page, at this point I proceeded to embarrass my kids. They’re 12 and 9, and thus at a very embarrassable age (I know that’s not a word, but you know what I mean). Apparently, when your mom makes the cashier admire the magazine with her, that’s embarrassing. Kids, just wait until I whip out the black knee socks with my flip flops in a few short weeks! Just for you!

I wrote a post about the whole photo shoot process last May, but I’m going to rerun it below for fun. The biggest thing that’s changed in the months since the shoot is that the Better Homes & Gardens “Special Interest Publication” that I was featured in changed names, from Real-Life Kitchens & Baths to Kitchen + Bath Makeovers. Here’s the cover of the issue I’m in:

And without further ado, here’s the post that talks about the whole process:

Woohoo! It’s done–except for waiting for the issue to come out. The team from Better Homes & Gardens Real-Life Kitchens & Baths Magazine (say that five times, fast!) descended on Nashville last week and, after shooting some fabulous, high-end spaces, they came to my humble abode. So what did I do? Headed to Disney World, of course, with my family!

Real-Life Kitchens & Baths features kitchen redos done on a budget

Seriously. I wasn’t here for what will probably be the one-and-only photo shoot of my entire lifetime. Because as luck would have it, they decided to come to town during the ONLY week in the first half of 2012 when we had plans…plans we’d made last November, and paid for last December. The hubby will be gone for work all summer, and next summer we’ll be moving again, which always means no vacation, so we didn’t have many options but just to go to Florida!

I called in reinforcements–two of my bestest friends, Carolyn and Andrea–and asked them if they could “be me” for the day. Here they are:

Carolyn, Andrea, and me, at one of our military formals

We’re not normally dressed like aging prom queens…here’s a real-life snap:

Carolyn, me, and Andrea

Yes, we’re in a ladies’ rest room in the above picture. Where else do you hang out with your girlfriends?!

So, these two dear friends drove to my house early in the morning to meet Bonnie Broten, the editor who “discovered” my shoestring-redo of a kitchen here at 11 Magnolia Lane (read the redo posts HERE and HERE, or check out our truly magazine-worthy old kitchen HERE). She was accompanied by the photographer and the photographer’s assistant. I had left them a sparkling clean kitchen and cleared the counters of everything that made it look like people actually USED the kitchen!

Prior to the shoot, I sent Bonnie lots of pictures of “props,” also known as “stuff I have collecting dust in my cupboards.”

She and the editors had decided on pink as the accent color to make my beige and white kitchen “pop.”

I left all the props on the dining room table, and left the crew and my girls some snacks and a fridge stocked full of water and soda. Then I snuck out of town!

While the pantry wasn’t included in the shoot, I still feel like a new woman after tackling that dreadful space and making it awesome!

I can’t show any of their photos, of course, because that would spoil the surprise, but the girls did shoot a few behind the scenes snaps for me.

Carolyn and Andrea report that much of the work of a photo shoot involves lighting the shot, checking it again and again on the computer and having it approved via internet before snapping the final pic. They texted me to get the password for our wireless network, but other than that, I didn’t hear a peep.

I love how the area that’s being photographed is *perfect* and there’s a perfect mess everywhere else! That’s exactly what I do when I’m taking pictures!

Those gorgeous peonies were on their last legs when we made it home from Florida, but they sure were pretty in the shoot!

The pink cushions were just for the shoot…this is what I usually have on my chairs:

There were a few minor hitches, of course. The valance over the kitchen sink took about an hour to get draped and folded just the way they wanted, and the seagrass pendant shade over my kitchen table was hanging just a little crooked. Andrea weighed one side with a metal clamp from my husband’s workbench and all was well…

Not everybody was happy with the fact that our kitchen was going to be in Better Homes & Gardens. The cat was most definitely pissed (there’s really no other word for it). He wanted to sleep under my bed and access was DENIED all day long!

Angry Kitty!

In the end, the girls and I decided that it was probably God’s plan that I be out of town for the shoot because they’re not sure I would have handled it well (as if!). I promised them that when their kitchens are photographed for BH&G, I will help out while they go to Florida to relax!

They’re not sure exactly which issue we’ll be in, but chances are that it will be Spring of 2013. That timeline is typical–you always hear about magazines shooting Christmas spreads in May and June–but of course it’s hard to wait.

I can’t thank Bonnie and her team enough (and of course Carolyn and Andrea, too!) for all their efforts.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Posted in Home Inspiration, Kitchens | Tagged Better Homes & Gardens, kitchen, magazine | 15 Comments

Getting Ready for Baby- Nursery Sneak Peek

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Terry

As most of you know, Baby Boy K is going to be here very soon. Over the past few months I decided to take a bit of a blogging break to prepare for his arrival. The time off has been bittersweet, but it was really good for my soul and my growing baby boy. I have just over a month before this little guy arrives, and I have been working on a bunch of sewing projects as well as planning out his nursery. Christy and Amy have been providing a ton of inspiration and lots of support over the past few months, and I am feeling very blessed and grateful for their friendship.

Here is a sneak peek of some of the items that I have been collecting over the past few months that will be displayed our baby boy’s nursery. I cannot wait to share the final nursery reveal and hear what you all think.

Vintage Map Suitcase filled with a beautiful plaid blanket (thank you Amy) , toy money (Thank You Grammy) and his sonogram photo.

As you can see I have a vintage map theme in mind for the nursery. I found this amazing wooden soda crate from an antique store here in Warrenton. I fell in love and just had to have it. It was reasonably priced and the perfect storage solution for toys and books. Speaking of books, that Better Homes and Gardens book is a special gift from Christy. It has vintage stories and offers an awesome pop of color for this neutral nursery.
The maps are just USGS topographical maps that you can purchase at any outdoor hiking store or even online. I am lucky enough to be married to a cartographer (aka a “map maker”) so I didn’t have to go very far to get these. I love the shades of green and blue that these maps bring into the nursery. The darker “vintage” styled map is actually wrapping paper from Paper Source. They have an amazing collection of wrapping paper which costs $3.95 per sheet. I particular love this piece because of the vintage tea-stained finish. I also found the ABC sheet of wrapping paper and thought it was really cute. It is reminiscent of vintage school art and I plan to have that framed as well. Check out all the cool and inexpensive wrapping paper products that the Paper Source has to offer.

This is my favorite find for the baby’s room. It was not as cheap as I would have hoped but I know I will cherish this piece for years to come. It is solid wood and the antlers (you have to wait) are amazing.

Baby Boy K’s Sonogram

I hope to have a photo wall mixing white, silver and gold frames. I have not purchased all the frames yet but I did find this frame at a sweet baby store. I love the “coming soon” window. Sonograms are just so special. Hard to imagine that back when my mom had me they didn’t do them. It is such a treasure have to this photo.

I had to include his closet that is filled with baby clothes generously donated by my dear friends. This baby is so lucky to have a closet filled with gently used clothes.

I do hope to spruce up the baby’s closet, but I had to share this photo of sweet newborn sized clothing. I am so thankful for all my friends and family that have passed down clothes and supplies. This baby is so very lucky, as am I!