pallet accent wall

My sweet husband totally gives me the run of the house decor-wise.

He's so easy going and even encouraging when it comes to things I want to change around the house.

So when he asked to put up a dart board, I didn't really have a lot of ground to stand on to say no.

Even though I wanted to. 

So we put it up and a few months later noticed the hundreds of little holes in the wall around the dart board. We've got some bad shots coming through this house, I guess. And then it didn't get used very much.

So when I suggested putting up cork board behind the dart board, Josh replied that he'd rather put up a pallet wall. Pallet wall - why didn't I think of that?

Here's the wall we started with.

At first we started just arranging the wood and attaching it right the wall but quickly realized that the pieces that weren't nailed into studs would come out pretty easily. 

So before we got to far, we decided to take it down and put up thin plywood

that would be nailed to the studs and then the wood would be attached to the plywood.

Much more secure.

And the plywood part is pretty easy if you're working with a wall without an outlet.

But measuring and jigsawing is required if an outlet is involved.

 But the end result is so worth it.

Darts, anyone?

will work for furniture

I love a good barter.Ya know, trading goods for goods.

Recently I've had a couple small businesses contact me about branding packages and we ended up doing a trade. It was a win-win.

Regeneration does exactly what their tag line says - they reclaim vintage and castoff items as relevant and trendy, they restore furniture with beautiful paint jobs and pretty details, and they repurpose items in new and fun ways (an old window as a menu planner - why not?!).

So when it came time to discuss payment for services, of course I wanted to get one of their beautiful pieces.

I told them of a specific piece of furniture I was looking for - one that I could use to display decorations but would also serve as storage to hide Grady's ever growing toy collection - and they more than delivered.

Painted a dark gray with just the right amount of distressing and the most gorgeous shelf lining job you ever did see.

Original pulls left intact but painted a stark white.

And the perfect pop of color in they toy storage area.

These girls get it.
Be sure to check out and follow Regeneration on facebook.

I also had the pleasure of working on a new branding package for Funky Junk based out of Forest, VA.

Nikki does absolutely fabulous work. I mean, her pieces are so beautiful and perfectly executed.

So when she offered to trade for design work, I more than obliged.

I told her I was looking for a trunk for my house. And sent her this picture that I have had saved on my desktop as my dream trunk to find.

And man, can this girl deliver. This thing is definitely first cousins with my dream trunk.

She painted and lined the inside to make it useable for me for storage and added some rope handles since the originals were missing.

I'm borderline obsessed.

Visit Nikki's blog or follow on Facebook to find out how you can get yourself some Funky Junk.

While I'm at it...

 you should probably know about hpavao interiors.

Everything Haley does is amazing. She has a beautiful style and knows how to turn something that I wouldn't think twice about into something I'd want to snatch up in a second.

Like this headboard turned entryway piece.

She does interior design consultations and can help you revamp your home if you're at a loss.

You can also hire her to paint things for you, which is perfect for someone like me who has no patience when it comes to painting.

Visit her on facebook or check out her booth at Peddler's Antiques in Forest, VA.

Last, but certainly not least, is Amanda Carver Designs.

(I also designed her logo - holler!)

This girl does it all and with great style -  painted furniture, home decor, interior design consults, styling, and staging. She has pieces in several local shops and also runs her own shop full of finds and treasures out of her house, like this beauty:

You can connect with her through her blog.

And as always, when you're looking for some great vintage flair to add to your decor, or to style some new furniture you get from one of the above,

be sure to check out my very own shop. Free local pick up, of course.

 I've also done several shop to shop trades on etsy - so feel free to ask!

If you're interested in design work - see more of my work here & email me for inquiries.

Grady's First Snow!

Everything feels new again when you have a child. I was so anxious for Grady to wake up today so that I could show him the snow! I love watching him take in the world around him and experience new things. He meets his world with joy and excitement and it's contagious.

Although, I didn't share them here, one of my new year's resolutions was to use my actual camera more. Because I always have my trusty iPhone on me - 90% of the pictures I take of Grady are low quality camera phone photos. I want to make sure I have some great photos of Grady's first year.

So I got out my camera and snapped some pics of my sweet boy seeing snow for the first time!

   

And now the snow may go away. :)

My Home, My Garden

I'm a terrible gardener. 

I'm exhausted when I just think about pulling weeds and keeping up with watering. 

Low maintenance houseplants are about all I can handle.

But when it comes to my house, I'm a great gardener.

I feel energized when I walk around pruning and editing things out and rearranging things to make them more beautiful.

I change things often to make them feel fresh and new.

After Christmas is the perfect time for this. I put all my Christmas decorations away and then I'm like, 'now what?' A fresh canvas. And then I go about rearranging bookshelves, taking picture frames from here and adding them there, bringing in something new I've found and taking away something old that just doesn't quite fit anymore, organizing items by color, forming collections - whatever I feel like.

It's my favorite hobby.