Shopping at Big Lots

Do you ever shop at Big Lots? I've been going in there for years and sometimes you can find some really cool things in there.

Keeping up with all the things that I see and love on blogs can be quite the juggling act. While browsing Designs by Gollum recently, I saw this really pretty stool with zebra print fabric. And have I been loving me some zebra print lately. I don't have much of it in my house, but I love the punch it gives, like leopard print. So Gollum mentioned she had found this beauty at Big Lots recently for $85 on sale. I vaguely remembered seeing this stool in there several months ago when I was running through that store. They have a new designer line of furniture by Jennifer Ferrell that is quite pretty, but quite pricey really, for Big Lots. I picked up the phone and called one of my local Big Lots to see if I could scope one out. Lo and behold, the first store I called had ONE left, still in the box. Jumped in the car the next a.m. and headed out in the rain to pick up my purchase. He told me the original price was $250 (which I would never have paid)....BUT, all the Jennifer furniture and accessories is now on clearance for 60% off. I quickly did the math and that brought this oh-so-cute little stool to $100. Much better! So now it's sitting at my house waiting on a final resting place.

My original thought was to put it in the aqua guestroom when I redo it and use it with the aqua chair I may get from grandma, but the black/tan on the zebra print won't look good with the black/white of the damask comforter I found. What's a girl to do but possibly recover it? I will probably leave the zebra print on here and look for a black/white zebra fabric to go over this one. I'd only need maybe 1/2 yard or so and can always use the original fabric later. It's a sweet little purchase and this baby can go in a lot of spaces. Right now I think I'll leave it in the foyer where it will not be used, but will look oh, so, chic! This was one of those things that I just couldn't pass up.

You may want to check out Big Lots and take a look at the Jennifer collection. I saw some great looking lamps and accessories marked down 60% and it's going on right now. Hope you all have a wonderful Labor Day. We're not traveling, but will be grilling out in the backyard with some friends.

I only found a few little things at the big yardsale on Saturday, nothing really blog-worthy, but I did meet up with 2 other Birmingham girls that came out for the fun. I think they found more than I did this time.

I also finished a room for another client I've been working with and will show you Before and Afters on that project soon!

HGTV's Top 25 Decorating Mistakes

Today's post will most likely elicit some good discussions. Did you happen to catch this HGTV special recently? Evidently there are 25 Top Decorating Mistakes that we absolutely should not do. Oh, the horror of it all! I was holding my breath, hoping against hope, that I had not ever committed the decorating sins that I was about to behold. Can you hear the sarcasm here? OK, so I did commit a few of them....let's see if YOU are off the hook!

1. Fake flowers and plants (I confess, I have both in my home at the moment, although not nearly as many as I used to.)
   
2. Too many pillows, on the bed or sofa (yes, I'm guilty of this one too)
   
3. Knick-knack overload (have plenty of these, but not as much as a granny would)
   
4. Fear of color (apparently, this is not one of my problems)
   
5. Ignoring windows (not a problem for me either)
   
6. Pushed back furniture (don't do this for the most part, if there's room to float, I do it)
   
7. Tacky couch covers (they were talking clear plastic, can you imagine? does anyone do that anymore? I never see it in the South)
   
8. Frames too high (this is a pet peeve of mine too)
   
9. Improper lighting (I think I have this one covered just fine)
   
10. Floating rugs (nope, not a problem either)
    
11. Too many colors/patterns (love color & patterns, but I think I'm under control)
    
12. Furniture that doesn't fit (I think they mean oversized & too much in one room)
    
13. Following fads (I have been a wee bit guilty of following some fads, but only the good ones)


14. Everything matches (this seemed to be too much of one color in a room, everything the same color).
    
15. Lack of traffic flow (not good for directing foot traffic in a room, I'm OK with this one)


16. Uncomfortable diningroom chairs (mine are upholstered & completely comfortable)


17. Too formal (nope, I'm not that formal in any room)
    
18. Keeping something you hate (nope, I will not have anything out that I hate)


19. Lopsided furnishings (this is balance in a room, not having too much on any one side)


20. Outdated accessories (don't think I have too many of those, but my mother sure does)


21. Themes (I'm not much for themes either)


22. Undressed cables (hidden for the most part, I did just tack down the white satellite cable in our bedroom with white tacks next to the white baseboard..much better).


23. Ignoring the foyer (oh, I love my foyer & would never ignore it)


24. Too many family photos (have a few in the livingroom, but not overload)


25. Toilet rugs (I gave up the contoured toilet rugs long ago, but we do have a rectangular rug in front of the toilet, that tile is entirely too cold in the winter. I do have one of those toilet seat covers, yes on all 3 toilets...call me tacky, but I like them, this is not a hotel...but, I'm thinking I might take them off eventually :). Fess up...who has a toilet rug OR toilet seat cover? I want to hear from all of you! Is it a Southern thing? There are tons of them still in all the bath stores.

OK, true confession time. How many of these have YOU committed? I can tell this is gonna be a good discussion. I recently wrote about this topic over at Blissfully Domestic , the online magazine and got some really fun comments going. I'm a Decorating contributor over there and will be posting about once a week, so go and check it out, join up, and read lots of other fun stuff, not just decorating!

Speaking of HGTV, one of my blog friends here in Alabama, Layla at The Lettered Cottage is auditioning for HGTV's Design Star. Go over and vote for her here and let's help get her on the show! She's an adorable and talented girl and I'd love to see her on the show next season. If you haven't visited her blog, please do so, you will love it. Best of luck, Layla!

You'll notice my banner got a new Fall makeover too! Here's to cooler weather just around the corner.

Birmingham girls: See the note on my left sidebar. I'm going to a big neighborhood yardsale on Saturday a.m. bright and early. Just email me if you'd like to join me!

A Kitchen Renovation

One well known fact is that redoing a kitchen brings one of the the biggest bangs for the buck. I think I would have to totally agree with that. Most kitchen renovations I see on TV are done for $25,000 or more. Well, prepare to be amazed at what you can DIY for less than $3,000. My old kitchen in Georgia was built in 1985 and had all the original appliances, as well as the Euro-style cabinets that I just insisted on having when the house was originally built. The house building was overseen by my preacher dad, who also happened to know a thing or two about building. This was the first house (and only house) I lived in when I was a single girl in my late 20's. It was an exciting time, to get my own house for the very first time and I lived in this house for 20 years, from single to married. But, back to those oh-so-trendy Euro cabinets. Why I fell in love with them, I'll never know...but, I did...and the kitchen looked like this.

Aren't they just the most stylish things you've ever seen? I had to have that wallpaper too, somewhere around 1994 or so. Wallpaper was still a desirable thing back then. I've about changed my mind on all things wallpaper these days, but I still like a pretty paper in a certain spot. So, I was married to someone else during that time and my ex and I decided to update this awful kitchen to something more up to date and exciting in 2002. Those painted and glazed cabinets were just coming into vogue in the showrooms and my first exposure was at the Home Depot Expo in Atlanta, a great place to get inspiration. Since I was keeping the almond appliances, I decided to paint them a close match to that and then do a glaze on top. My ex was also quite handy with the tools and built new doors from scratch, as well as added LOTS of wood moldings and extra bling to the space & this was done with his expertise. You won't recognize it now..... New beadboard doors, hardware, granite tile countertops, tumbled marble backsplash, sink & faucet and WOWIE, what a kitchen now. It was a dream kitchen to me and took a long 6 weeks of hard work to complete, working every day on it. You can see the island that was built for this space, which is now residing in my laundryroom. It was too pretty to leave behind.
Another view BEFORE
And AFTER
That 3 paned window you see was actually cut from the top of an old door and added in for a pretty new detail. Lots of molding and corbels made up this redo. That rectangular piece above the sink was a lightweight resin piece that I painted & glazed to match the cabinets and then just hung up on nails.
Same thing for those 2 pieces above the cubby, they are plaster pieces. The cubby used to have those two small doors on it and those were taken off to make this cute little display space. Those square pieces were free standing pieces mounted with liquid nails for security. You can see from the befores and afters that plywood boxes were added to take the cabinets up to the ceiling in 2 places with crown molding added. This really added some needed architectural interest in this otherwise bland kitchen. He was very handy with the tools and did an outstanding job. I have no doubt that this was one reason the house sold when it did. She fell in love with this kitchen!
Lots of beadboard and extra rope and other molding was added. Made a world of difference.
I used a Ben Moore color called Vellum as the base color, then added Ralph Lauren Teastain glaze to them, wiping most off with a wet rag. Glazing is really not hard, just takes a little time, but is a very forgiving process. Seeded (looks like old) glass was added to the doors.
I loved murals, but didn't want to pay for one, so I took a cue from Donna at The Decorated House blog (she's SO creative and gave us all many tips on faux painting over the years that I've known her online) and printed these fruits that I found online off on paper and decoupaged them directly to the tumbled stone. No one ever knew that they weren't handpainted. This is granite tiles with an edging installed. I won't even go into how hard this was to do, but I've heard there are improvements out there now on granite edgings. Using granite tiles really saves a LOT of money over slab. Of course, I'd love to have slab now, but would consider doing granite tiles again in my current house. This color was called Giallo Espirito and was a great color. Couldn't even see crumbs when it was dirty. I've just heard about a new granite tile product with built-in bullnose edging that is as easy to install as regular tile. Go here to read about Benissimo granite tile systems. One of my online friends, Kat in Washington, just did this in her kitchen if you want to take a look at her DIY project. It really is beautiful.
I loved these fleur de lis knobs that I special ordered from HD Expo, as well as the bin pulls. I added these cute little feet from a bed post project that was laying around the house...they really aren't feet, but I made them work. I might have to add some feet to my current cabinets too, since I've seen them out there lately in other kitchens and still love them.
Closeup of the glazing and knobs. Painting and glazing cabinets is really not a hard project, just takes some time and effort. I primed the base of the cabinets well for the first step, put on 2 coats of the creamy paint, then after all was dry, went back with the glaze and added that. Brush on the glaze with a paintbrush & keep a damp rag handy to wipe most of it off. The glaze helps keep it wet longer so you can work with it.
Sink was a Kohler sink and very nice in an off-white shade. I started a trend with this Price Pfister Marielle faucet at the time and lots of my decorating buddies went out and bought the same one. It now comes in oil-rubbed bronze and when I do a little redo in my current kitchen, I'll probably get the same one in bronze. I loved that faucet!
A few fleur de lis tiles were added along the black/cream border for a lot of detail.

Sigh....I did love that kitchen, but it was time to move on to Birmingham and we are very happy in our current home, me and hubby. My current kitchen is pretty with white cabinets and a tumbled tile countertop and backsplash, but I would love to do a little update in there too. I may end up adding some rope molding along the top of my crown molding & painting to match the cabinets. And, I'd love to do a dark granite countertop one day, along with a Silgranite sink (granite composite) and that beautiful oil-rubbed bronze faucet. I don't want to do a total renovation, just a couple of things.

I know many of us are looking to update kitchens, old and new, so hopefully you got some inspiration from this oldie but goodie of mine. I did love that kitchen!

Bountiful Harvest in North Carolina

My parents house in NC (near Murphy) holds a lot of special memories for my family over the years. They live full-time in Atlanta, but have had this house for over 20 years now and spend most of the summer up there. Our family spent so much time in NC when we were growing up, that my parents decided to build themselves a mountain house all those years ago, a place to get away from the rat-race of Atlanta, traffic, pollution, and too many people. This is the perfect spot for that. I'm so blessed to still have my parents healthy and living life to the fullest. They are gardeners and have been my whole life. I can't remember a time when we didn't have fresh vegetables every summer, the fruit of their labor, not mine. In restrospect, I've done very little in that garden over the years, but I sure have enjoyed it. I appreciate it so much more now that I'm older and realize all the work that goes into it. My parents always share their harvest with me and my sister and anyone else that they come in contact with, when there is extra to share.
It's not a fancy house, but a cozy and warm house filled with love. Our family enjoys gathering here whenever we can, especially this time of year when the garden's bounty is coming in full force. Since I don't live close enough anymore to drop by and pick up vegetables whenever I want, we had a great time filling the car up with fresh veggies from their garden to bring home with us to enjoy.
These were already picked and waiting on the porch when we got there. Me and my hubby, Peter and my sister and her hubby came up for a few days and really had a great time. You might remember from my post last year about this mountain house....we eat a lot! And boy, did we!
My sweet dad's favorite place to sit on the porch is in his swing. That and his full length lounge chair. He has taken many naps on this porch over the years. The temperatures here are usually 10 degrees less than Atlanta during the summer.
This is the scenery surrounding their house, full of mountain laurel and rhododendrun. It's beautiful in the spring too, as well as fall.
Coming around to the porch from the driveway, these steps lead up to the porch. Outside, this little creek runs in their frontyard. They've had such a drought this year that the creek is running the lowest EVER since they've been going up there. Hopefully the rains will increase and this little creek will be gushing again.
My dad is really a farmer and loves to raise his vegetables every year. I think this is what has kept them so active, healthy, and in shape over the years. Not to mention, it's so healthy to raise and eat your own food. They are a testament to that. They have quite a spread and a wonderful garden spot. He had to put up a fence this year to keep out the deer. First time they've had such a problem with them, but he got really tired of them eating all his beans and corn, so up went the fence. I'll show you more of the garden later.
They also have huge blueberry bushes that he planted when the house was built and they produce a ton of blueberries. It's such a treat to go and pick them off the bushes. My hubby really enjoys picking berries.
They were afraid that the berries would be giving out by the time we got up there this year, but you can see that wasn't a problem. They are oh-so-sweet too! These will be great on my raisin bran every morning and freeze well too. We picked this whole pan full to bring home.

More pretty scenery around their house, these native ferns are always so gorgeous and grow on the back hillside behind the house.
Another shot of the creek.
I think I mentioned that my family really, really likes to eat those fresh veggies. This is our meals while we were there. All of this is out of their garden. It just doesn't get any better than this, people!
Man o man, was it delicious! We all ate like pigs. My mama is the BEST Southern cook and could seriously open her own restaurant. Of course, she has taken care of all of us forever and wouldn't have time for that. You can see here from left, the black-eyed peas, pole beans, and zipper peas. Zipper peas are my absolute fave!

I got out one morning to a little area near them that has some antique stores and browsed around.
This little house is right down the road from them and we call it the rock house. Always have loved it.
A mama cat and kittens from next door have taken up with my parents. My mama is a soft touch and will feed them. They have another cat at home who adopted them too. He comes around for a good meal and can count on my mom to feed him.
Saturday's breakfast was a hash brown quiche with blueberry pancakes and bacon.
Oh, and fresh fruit too. Can you say yum?! I know you are jealous about now. I don't blame you, I would be too. Here's my plate...go ahead and hate me now!
After breakfast, me and my sister and BIL took off across the road where they are building new mountain homes right on top of the mountain. Nice walk uphill to see this view.
And these mountain houses.
This one was situated very nicely with a gorgeous view.
My sister's dog, Holly, was along for the walk and had a ball.

More pretty mountain scenes.
Nothing prettier than the mountains of NC.
Another huge house was going in. We got to walk in this one & it had a really nice view too.
This one was $300K. Not too shabby.
While we were walking, mom and dad and Peter picked in the garden.

We brought home one of these home grown watermelons, which were delish. My dad cut one open one day we were there.
If you've never had home grown tomatoes, I just can't tell you what you are missing! Store bought doesn't even taste like a real tomato. These are the absolute BEST tomatoes you will ever put in your mouth. Hello Better Boy!
Holly had a ball running through the rows.
Fresh Okra ready to come home and hop in the frying pan.
Dad picking

Hubby picking peas, he loves all this garden stuff too.
Mom picking zipper peas. My sister and I were talking about how our mama works circles around us and she's 80. We can't hold a candle to that woman!
Back inside their house, this is the greatroom. Dad builds a big fire in that stove in the winter to really heat the place up. And of course, he has to have his large TV up there for entertainment.
Many a family gathering has been had here in this greatroom. It's nothing fancy either, but it's home to us.
My mom doesn't mind recycling at all. I had these lamps in my first apartment in 1978 (can that really be 30 years ago?!). Earth tones were all the rage then. Did I tell you she's not into decorating? They work fine and look good in this mountain house, so she'll probably get another 30 years out of them.

You may remember I helped my mom pick out some new things for one of the bathrooms up there and here is the finished project. New paint, shower curtain, and a mountain scene border. It turned out very nice & looks so much better than the old peach and blue that was in here.

This kitchen has cooked many meals! We went in together one year and got her the dishwasher for the mountain house. She still doesn't use the dishwasher all the time, just can't get the hang of putting the dishes in there, filling it up and then washing them all later. She's afraid she'll need something that's dirty. When we're all up here though, she uses it.
This porch has held many visitors and family over the years and is a cool spot to relax on. Lots of conversations and laughter are heard on this porch. I perched on that lounger.
This is my family heritage....a profound faith in God. We weren't rich, but we sure are rich in blessings with our parents. I couldn't ask for better.
The vegetables are kept on the back porch for easy pickings.
This is the harvest that was picked just that one morning. We brought home some of all of this and I'll be busy cooking up some fresh veggies this week. Hope you all enjoyed going along with us to the mountains of NC. It's a pretty place and a slower pace of life, one that is needed often these days.

I'll get back to answering more of your questions later on. Some of them were more detailed and I may need some pics to illustrate, so stay tuned in the next couple of weeks for more design dilemmas. We can all get in on the action. And I've got a whole post on decorating mantels that will be up soon.

Excuse me while I go have another 'mater sandwich!