Renovations of Sort

We've had a busy weekend - my goal this weekend was to wrap up some of the projects I had almost finished up during the holiday break. While the house isn't what I'd call 'clean,' it is starting to feel a little more complete...which is good.

What keeps us motivated you ask - well it's all about the theme music here.

I'd like to introduce you all to the girls who keep us rockin'. The song of choice is anything by "Wift" as Brynn calls her - yes, that would be Taylor Swift. And the microphones, well those are originals, an invention by their number one fan, PAPPA! A golf ball, pen, and about two feet of tin foil and vwa-laa!!

Ready for their performance, the girls wait for their intro.

Mid song, I'm pretty sure this was "You Belong to Me" - Brynners is really feelin' it with her little hand swaying to the music!

Their musical idol is perfectly wonderful and their songs are getting better and better with each performance - we now must seriously begin to work on their uhh-hem, um, wardrobe selection ;o)


Now onto the decor-envoation at our little cottage.
I've enlisted a new design philosophy - it's called "use what you have."

Brilliant? Yes. It's brilliant!

As I have been pulling things out of the closets, the garage from unmarked boxes, Q's head began to spin weeks ago. It's been like shopping, but not spending. Like saying "look what I found today honey, and it didn't cost me a thing!"

Here's an overview of the paint projects and what I've unearthed ~


No new paint here, just some framed art that was...under Elsie's bed

The wall-mount Potterybarn vase I bought on a super sale, that had never been hung, is now, hung.

Elsie's pink walls - pink lemonade on top, and blush on the bottom - the whole room just glows (literally) and so does she! I'll post some more pics of the completed project soon

Our bathroom went from a vibrant shade of grass green to a new shade of ocean foam, which I happen to love - I call it the spa! And the towel hooks are up, the ones that I bought when we lived here...the first time around!

Our new grey-blue bedroom (formerly pale yellow) and some new, Q-approved, art work.

OK, so I spent some money here...but they were 60% off and I found them at Shopko of all places!!

(please excuse the messy bed...today was laundry day)

The quilts that now match our sea-side, Nantucket retreat, that have been stowed away in their original bags from super Macy's sales...like 4 years ago.

A little decor, all I had to buy was some sand - the rest...yes, you guessed it, was in the closet!

So, now that I have shared all of this I am beginning to think I have a problem. Am I a hoarder? I am laughing, but am kind of serious...maybe not so much anymore, since we are now back at the cottage and our spending and priorities have seriously changed, not to mention, I have done some cleansing out - but in my past life, maybe so.

I vividly remember the days when I would hit the sales and buy things just in case, and because they were a good deal and I liked them, after all I knew I would use them someday. Gosh, times have changed!

It really feels good to use what you have, sort of empowering, like I'm in control and don't have any sort of inventory to keep mental track of. Things are being used. The things I've bought because I like are now being enjoyed.


There are some artsy-farsty projects brewing, as things always seem to evolve. The fun part is that all of this closet cleaning has allowed me to create an art closet! A little slice of Heaven, right here on Earth! I've been asked to finish what I've started before I get more projects going...gosh, who would ever pose such a rule?! Mr. Wilson, Mr. Practical...Mr. Who I Should Listen To More Often (we'll save that for another blog day!)

I have agreed to pace myself, hey, it's the 'new me' talking!!