Angie's blue doors!

Nicholas House is finished and I will have pictures next week.  I know you guys are probably saying...Nicholas House what again???????  I know...I know....you need some design stuff!

Remember Angie and her blue doors??? 

Here is the color of the house when she bought it.  Bad pink.....

But she had these turquoise doors and I loved them so.  Well after all it is my favorite color.

 I told her she HAD to keep the color of the doors.  And...I put it out there in blogland and everyone was happy to give her an opinion.  Most people opted for them to stay.  I was smug when I gave her that info.  My opinion was to paint the house a dark gray with white trim and the blue doors.

Here is the outcome of a little house painting!

 It is now gray with white trim and....

I am happy to show you the doors!

I love!  I want to paint my front door the same color.

I hope everyone has a great weekend....I know I can put one project to bed.....it was all worth it.  But I will tell you this...I did some serious sweating this week.  Throw away your shirt sweating.

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Organic Garden and Nicholas House update

I wanted to share a few pictures of our organic garden that we just built in our neighborhood.  We had a man who had resided in Peachtree Park for 50 years or so, and  when he passed away a few years ago, he left money in his will for a neighborhood project.  I thought a small renovation for everyone would be nice.  Apparently people had other ideas.  Oh well...I tried :)

My friend Jan spearheaded the whole thing......You could buy a plot for $300.00.  Farmer D who is one of the premier organic gardeners in the southeast built all the beds and provided the organic dirt for us.  You should really check out his story here.

Here are a few pictures of how it turned out.

This is Farmer D.  He will come to your house and build you a plot.  If you live in Atlanta.

The entrance.

21 plots...all sold out.

We also have bees....

Here is a closeup...learning about bee's was fascinating to me...it's pretty complicated.

Ok...since this is a design blog...here are a few pictures of what I found in someones trash the other day....

Yep...can you believe it???  And two more

Trash...free....all mine!

Nicholas House is in full swing.  Today was the third day and even though I know I have made progress...I still feel like I am  trying to climb a pole that has been greased.  I know it will get done.  We still have Thursday and Friday but we can only work from 9-2 everyday.  Dang it goes so fast, like a second.

Here are a few updates.

You guys remember my room?  Well it was empty but someone moved in before we could start.  I thought I was being so clever to pick an empty room.  Guess everyone is laughing at me now.  Plus it is the second largest room.  I'm not complaining...just saying.  Lots of beds and bedding!

OK...this is how I rearranged it.  Today I went through every bag and folded and hung up.  Yep.  Even though you think it's a lot...it is ALL they have.

Here is a little progress....Stay tuned......

Honestly everyday I have felt like Mel Gibson in Braveheart...

Coming in with a lot of energy and ready to go.  Thinking I can whip this out in one day.  I have been humbled with the amount work it is taking...and it is so hot my sweat was sweating....just threw my  shirt away after the first day.

More later...off to Target for the 100th time this week.

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House of Fifty...

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter with friends and family.  Just a reminder about a new e magazine that is launching on Monday. 

 

Janell Beals from Isabella and Max is the founding editor.  I am sure you have all been to her blog and seen the wonderful ideas she shares on a daily basis.  Janell is also the queen of tutorials!

Expect to see not only great design, but topics such as what books to read....food, entertaining and fashion.  Inspiration for the everyday!  I promise you will not be disappointed.

On another note I did go back to the flea market and get these items...

It is going in one of my guest rooms...

And this....which is going in my den.

But....remember the picture I showed you of my floors?  The leak from the DW.  Well listen to this.....they can not be matched.  When we added on to this house we poured a slab so they had to use engineered floors because the boards are shorter and they won't warp.  The old floors in the rest of the house are 3/4 inch hardwoods.  After they were all finished together you could not tell at all. 

SO.....We have to MOVE out...[they are moving us out] EVERYTHING in the whole house.  Yes you read that right.  They are replacing all the engineered  floors [the den and kitchen area] and then are going to refinish ALL the floors in the whole house.  AYFKM?????

They also have to take up the granite, kitchen cabinets....holy crap.  I am freaking out but of course my head is spinning.  White floors like my master............everywhere?  WHOA NELLIE......

There's more....so much more....but I won't go into that right now.  This Monday starts the Nicholas House installation.  All week.  And the movers are coming May 2.  I am feeling wound up a little tight right now....

Just talking about it is frightening.....10 days in a hotel with my dogs.

On another note, I wish I could figure out how to get the BH&G magazine shots on my blog without them turning into ? [question marks].  Geez.

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Winner

It's Thursday and you know what that means.....tomorrow is Friday...ha ha.  No seriously I have picked a winner for the spring giveaway and it is Sally from J'Adore Decor.  Sally is a Brit and a Navy wife.  They live in Virginia Beach with a "beautiful" toddler :)  She says she is an ordinary gal obsessed with interior design.  I say there is nothing ordinary about that....welcome to the "masses"....!

Thank you all so much for the wonderful comments about my article in BH&G.  Truly I am just a regular person living in America who got lucky.  I am not schooled in design.....but I am passionate about it, maybe to the point of nausea for some of my friends.  Sometimes when I am with them, I wait for all the boring conversation to be over and then I pounce on an opening to talk about design.  It can be something as simple as "I walked into my house.....and I am interrupting with "Oh house...let me tell you about something I did in mine :)"  Blaa...Blaa...Blaa.....on I go.  They tolerate me because sometimes they need me to help them WITH their house....so they are stuck.

Anyway...what I am trying to say is their are SO many talented people out there.  Really.  Stay true to your self...your style and work on any avenue that can lead you to your goal.  Whether it is to be published or make a lot of money.....I am still waiting for that part :)

Since I can not do a post without pictures...here are a few from a flea market I was at yesterday.  Some things I am going back for today...I am obsessing....whoa there's a news flash for ya....

Stackable...and painted....what's not to love?

In a bathroom to hang towels on.

Can NOT go wrong with a sign.

Kitchen...bath....yes.

Come on...you know you can do a whole room around this!

I thought this was going to be my new DR chandelier but I want glass and it was acrylic.

Cute...not old but cheap...that works for me.

Vintage artwork...what's not to love here...

This I might be getting......

More vintage art....

This I am getting and if you get there before me and buy it...I will come after you.

Along with this....serious love.

I loved this one also......

I sincerely hope everyone has a blessed Easter and is able to spend it with family or good friends.....

** Oh yea...the flea market is Kudzu Antiques in Decatur..whoops I conveniently forgot to include that small bit of info :)  You need to go cause there is some good stuff there....like we need more stuff :)

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It's out!

About a week ago I received 5 Better Homes and Gardens magazines in the mail.  I was so excited to turn to page 66 to see my home featured.  How humbled am I that the team of Lisa Mowry [talented field editor].,Annette Joseph [stylist extraordinar], and Sara Dorio [fabulous photographer] all worked their magic to make this happen.

Here are a few pictures of the photo shoot from last June!

That's Sara.....working her magic :)

The wonderful Annette.  She makes sure everything is just right!

Here is one of the pictures they chose to use

It is amazing how good they make everything look!  I am so glad my picture is really small.....

Also on the very last page is a picture of Vanessa Kleypas's dining room table.  She has a blog called This and That.  Just another reason....to read the post that Lisa wrote for me on how to get published.  Because she did and look what happened.....

I will post more pictures on the next post.  Don't forget to check out the great giveaway....you might want it:)

Hope your Monday is going great.  Oh yeah...I am getting one more of those "deep tissue" massages tomorrow afternoon.  I must be crazy.  I will do anything to keep from going to a doctor :)

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A spring giveaway...

A huge thanks to everyone for your comments about my back problem.  It is about 40% better.  I did have that "deep tissue" massage.  Whoa.  I have never had one quite THAT deep........there were times when I thought I was going to wrestle her to the floor.  I was squirming like a soapy baby in the bath tub. You know how when you stump your toe really hard and your first reaction is to hit something right back.....kind of like that only I wanted to bend her fingers back really hard so she would ease the crap up.

She. Hurt. Me.  I have bruises where she dug into my muscles so hard I was sweating.  It definitely took my mind off the pain while I was in there :)

Is it OK to just say a blanket THANKS for comments on the last few post?  I am trying to reply but my computer time is seriously limited due to pain when sitting.  That is why I need an IPAD don't cha think?  I can at least lie down to answer emails:)

Oh...and one more thing....if my husband gives me one more suggestion on how I need to get up this way or stretch that way you are going to hear about me on the nightly news.  AND it won't be for anything design related either if you get my drift.  Yes...I am rather crabby lately.  pain will do that to you.

On to the giveaway.....here are the pretties.

3 yards of this beautiful linen fabric.

close up view.

An awesome book to go with....

A couple of great prints for the wall....

A pretty pink calligraphy brush!

A vintage real brass container....cute huh?

I love the shape of it.

And a sparkly little pillow.

One more shot of the prints and brush...

And there you have it!

But wait...there is more!  I sound like Oprah.......

A $50.00 gift certificate at Art.com!

I know you have been there before.  They pretty much have everything, including, taking your photo's to art, black and white photography, and vintage botanicals similar to the ones above.

It is a wonderful place to go for already framed art at an affordable price.

This is making me happy so my pain...your gain :)

Just become a follower......and do one random act of kindness.  That's it...your in!  I would like to say I will pick a winner next week on Thursday....let's hope I can make that deadline as I am not very reliable with regular post.  This will give me a goal.

TGIF!  Go to happy hour somewhere and have some fun!

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