January 6, 2014
Addition Chandelier Installed!
I am so excited to show you the new chandelier in our Addition! (forgive the cell phone pics) After waiting four and a half long...
all about the renovation of our 100-year-old home.
My husband and I, along with our four small children, live in a 1919 foursquare in Fort Worth, Texas. We have been renovating it for six years, and yes, we have lived in it the whole time! Chapter by chapter, while dealing with white dust and blocking off parts of the house in plastic sheeting, our adventures are chronicled here.
December 19, 2013
How To String Cranberries (DIY Cranberry Garland)
Stringing cranberries for Christmas trees is a tradition that probably began back in the 1840's with the earliest Americans who decorated their trees with fruits, nuts, and candies. I prefer a simply decorated tree - some white lights and some sentimental ornaments are all I really want or need. This year, I thought it would be fun to sit down with the kids, listen to Christmas music, and celebrate traditions past by making our own cranberry garland.
Here's how we did it...
December 16, 2013
So you have an ugly ceiling fan…(me too, here’s what I did)
Can anyone identify with the battle of the ugly ceiling fans? I actually have several fans I do not love (Texas summers = ceiling fans, especially upstairs!!), and I have slowly been weeding them out. But let's face it, with all of the other things you need when putting a home together, replacing a ceiling fan can be last on the list. I have used this company several times, and I think they have great products with a price tag around $200 for each fan. But as for me and my library, we have two fans that need to go, so rather than spend $400, we are going to go with what we have for now, with a few, little tweaks to make them look better.
And hey, we have a library! I don't think I have ever mentioned it before, mostly because it has been a storage facility for the last couple of years : ) , and I have been slowly working on it. It sounds maybe more hoity-toity than it is, but here is some back story...Our home was built in 1921 by a family that immigrated here from Germany. The gentleman of the house was an avid reader and collector of books, so he built this library as his special room. You can imagine how important education was to an immigrant in the 1920's, and I'm sure he prided himself in what he accomplished. (moving here, establishing a successful business, etc.) The family who built this house (and lived here for seventy years!) is really interesting, and I hope to share more about them as time goes on.
Anyway, back to the fans...since we weren't going to replace them just yet, I pondered what I could do to make them better. Ceiling fans are so hard because they are practically necessary, but usually not very pretty to look at. Granted, the ones in our library are not terrible, but I prefer fans that are less ornate and do not have lights of any kind. (or shades)
Here's what I did to make our fan a little easier on the eyes...
December 12, 2013
Paint For The Boys Room
chalk art by Kat Phillips, TheGrayAttic.com
I've got some goodness going in the girls room (coming soon), and I felt like I needed to show some love in my boys room, too. Before we moved into this house, I would come over at night and paint with a flashlight and go home when I got too tired. (we didn't have electricity here yet) You can see in this photo the chalkboard map wall I made for them.
This is the larger of the kids rooms, but it only has two windows so there is not a ton of natural light in there. I feel like the current wall color with the black wall in the same room just feels too dark. Therefore, I'm thinking I need to lighten up the other three walls.
When I'm trying to decide on a paint color, here's what I do.