I know I said never again... but...

I am kind-of debating doing THIS to my stairs. I know, I know, enough with the painted wood.  But I can't help it, I just love it.  AND I am a glutton for punishment :) Here are some fun ideas I have run across, we will see what I can talk the hubs into :)

 I LOVE this!

 Gray would be cool

 we know how I LOVE this pattern :), although probably a little much on the stairs

 Again, LOVE

So fun and different! 

More ideas HERE

up close and personal

Sooo... we underestimated the amount of floorboards we needed for the red floor by about 6 pieces.  Guess what I did at 10 last night and 6 am this morning?  Sanded, painted, and distressed those babies.  Yep, that makes a grand total of 88 pieces.  Just for the RED floor, let's not count the white floor.  But I am done painting, and I have seen most of the red floor installed (minus the shorted pieces), and it's AWESOME!  I will take pictures today, my phone was dead and my regular point and shoot camera was MIA when I was at the house :)  WHILE I was sanding at 6 am, I thought I would give you a closer look at the floors (full tutorial coming).  I wanted a really distressed look in this room.  You don't have to distress them at all, or you could lightly distress the edges (like I did in the white room). 

(above) not distressed

(above) edges distressed

(above) heavily distressed (I did the whole red floor like this)

And because I get impatient (and my kids have the stomache flu so I am stuck at home and unable to go take a real photo at the house) here is a photo the hubs texted me of the flooring installed.  This is before glazing and sealing (and ignore all of the drywall dust), but it's just fabulous!  And best of all, Little Man LOVES his new bedroom floor :)

red DISTRESSED (as in REALLY distressed) painted wood floors

are ready to be installed!  Here they are, all lined up and ready to be loaded (all. 82. freaking. pieces.).  I am pretty sure I have like 10 lbs of red sawdust in my lungs.  Just sayin.  But enough whining, they are done. 

They look kind-of pinkish mauve here, but they are red in person :)

I am going to distress them with glazing after they are installed (I want the glaze to sink into all of the crevices between the planks, making them very cool and distressed looking).  The top of the this board is glazed, middle is just sealed with poly, bottom is just raw sanded.  It was my test board, I wanted to make sure I liked my finished product before I put it on the floor.  And guess what?  I LOOOOVVVVE it!

pAiNteD wOoD fLoOrS sNeAk PeEk :)

Again, I aplogize for the photo quality, but I get a little impatient and can't wait to post photos, and they are usually on my phone :)  Here is the white painted distressed wood floor in Miss Priss's room.  It looks SOOO cool!  I promise once the  sawdust :) settles, I will post real photos from the real camera, with details, closeups, tutorials, and much more info, just give me some time!  Enjoy your sneak peek anyway... and if you need me, I will be back in the POD painting the red floor for the Little Man's room... there is no rest for the DIY homeowner :)

I'm FLOORED

(pun intended) at how the office flooring turned out! My husband is amazing! He did the flooring for our entire main floor in this gorgeous rustic quartersawn oak (with planks varying in width from 4-6 inches). I LOVE the look of this flooring, it has the look and feel of an old country store.  My favorite part is that it has no shine to the finish (won't show every little speck of dirt and smudge on it), and it naturally has flaws in it, so the dents and scuffs that my kids add to it will just blend it (I took my stained sample home and hacked at it with steak knives, just to see what it will look like after my kids live on it, and it still looked great!).  Anyway, Big Daddy has never done hardwood before, and I am seriously impressed with his skills! When he got to the office, we decided it would be fun to change it up a bit with a fun pattern, and this is how it turned out. I. Am. In. LOVE.

PS - excuse the pathetic phone photo, believe me, the picture doesn't do it justice, in person it's even more amazing!)

Putting up a front

Our crews have been working hard, now the Hardi paneling is almost done! It still needs to be painted (dark gray with bright white trim), but it's coming along. I can't WAIT to see the finished product come together!

Tooth Fairy Door?!? Why didn't I think of that!

Seriously, there are some ridiculously creative people out there. This idea is AWESOME! I am totally doing one in Miss Priss's room... you see the tooth fairy HAS been complaining that it's hard to get under her pillow while she's asleep without waking her for the big magical tooth/money exchange. Her own magical door NOT under a pillow would be a welcome improvement... just sayin'... I'm trying to make HER life easier :) See the link for a detailed how-to, but the basically it's a dollhouse wood door (from your local craft store), painted cute and sprinkled with magic fairy glitter (if you so choose), and attached to the wall with Command strips (removable adhesive, found at WalMart in the picture hanging aisle). Attach a pouch or pocket of some sort to the wall behind the door or to the inside of the door for the tooth, and there ya go. The Tooth Fairy has her own little private space to go about her business. So cute!

SUPER fun creative posts coming soon! Check back in August 2011!

I love all things creative and crafty, and I have decided to share my creations with the world - whether you want them or not :). We are currently building our dream home and getting ready to move, so start checking for crazy fun posts and ideas at the end of August 2011!

If you need me, I'll be here...

Yeah, lovely photo of me, I know.

I will be busy for awhile, painting all of these (this is only half of the white ones, then I have to start all over again and do the red ones). Oh so fun. Painting away in 100 degree heat (because I can only do it while the baby naps at 2 in the afternoon) in an undisclosed location... shhhh... I don't think I'm supposed to paint in here (don't worry, the door is open while I paint), but the garage is full of stuff and I don't have anywhere else to do it, and the POD hasn't been loaded yet :)

My support crew :)

My weapon of choice. After Sandy and I sanded down the fronts and edges of each. and. every. board. Over 100 total. I paint and sand each. and. every. board. with a 2 inch craft brush (supposedly you get the best finish with the craft brush...). After each coat I sand each board, then repeat 3 times. Then distress them after it's all done and dry.

I used this paint in Snow White for the white boards, and I will use Brick Red for the other set. Photos of that to come (when I get to them :). I am doing painted wood floors in Miss Priss and the Little Man's rooms, something like this, but no pattern, just distressed painted boards. After they are installed I will seal them with floor sealant, and it should be awesome. You'll see (I HOPE!). Until then, if you need me, I'll be in the POD.

say hello to my little friend...

Ain't she purdy? Her name is Sandy, and together we have covered some serious ground. It sure beats hand sanding and tons of splinters! PS - don't mind the fact that I have no makeup on, I'm sweating in 100 degree heat, and my 4-year-old is the photographer. Lovely. Welcome to my world! Sneak peak of my current project coming soon!

Design Boards

Mind you, these are rough, but you get the ideas :) Miss Priss's room (above) - and here is a link to a tutorial for DIY vintage silhouettes :)

The Bub's Nursery (above)

The office (above)

The Little Man's room (above)

(I want to corrugated steel wainscotting in Little Man's room too, like the photo above)

kids' bath (above)

I MIGHT be obsessed with white kitchens...

just maybe... but seriously, everywhere I look I fall in love with them all over again. My cabinet guy and designer SIL have tried to talk me out of it, but I am sticking to my guns. White kitchen it is! I love the one on the bottom with the blue tile backsplash, if I decide to be brave :)

 Or I might change it up with a fun colored island - LOVE this one (above)!

The blue morrocan-style tiles above (top sample) would be a super-fun kitchen backsplash as well.  I am still up in the air about that one, I might be boring and go with white subway tile for the backsplash, I change my color preferences too often to commit to colored tile, but we'll see :) 

Farmhouse Kitchen Sink

After waiting 2 weeks for delivery {and coveting them for years}, my fabulous farmhouse sink finally arrived via freight... only to find it shattered... looks like it will be another 2 weeks of waiting for my must-have kitchen sink :)