Lamps with Pom Poms

I added some pom poms to the lamps in my daughter's room.  I was feeling crafty.

I think that the pom poms look so cute! And it just took a few minutes to hot glue them around the bottom of the lamp.

Although this is my daughter's room - she no longer lives with us! But she comes home for holidays and for dinner sometimes - especially when she needs to do laundry!

I think she will love the pom poms!

I bought the pom poms on sale at Hobby Lobby.

Candy Corn Balls

These little candy corn balls are simple to make and really cute to make for classroom or team treats.

When buying the Christmas ornaments to put the candy corn in - buy the plastic ornaments instead of the glass. The little silver top can be taken off and filled with candy corn.

I used this mini candy corn to fill the plastic balls and I bought it at Target.

These candy corn balls can be used to decorate a chandelier or staircase. 

I don't like Halloween decorations that are bloody and scary. I prefer pretty and playful decorations.

The entry way hutch - this year I am all about the orange! Last year I only bought white pumpkins!

I am loving the orange coordinating with the blue this year! Happy Halloween!

Living Room - Before and After

Here is the before picture of my living room. I just bought some new lamps, new rug and rearranged some accessories. The before looks so blah! 

I love my new striped lamps! I had the previous lamps from Ballard Designs for at least seven years.

I changed out the rug to a darker color and I think it looks much better.  If you look through the arches my son is in the family room watching TV.

And I rearranged some accessories - it was just a quick little fix. I bought the beautiful white hydrangea at Trader Joe's.   

I always keep the wooden Chinese checkers set on the coffee table. I am always on the lookout for a really nice checkers and backgammon set. And by the way no one ever beats me at checkers.

Hope you like my quick little makeover! 

I Refinished my Outdoor Teak Furniture

My outdoor teak furniture was looking blah and tired. I was going to get some new chair pads but what I really needed to do was refinish all of my teak outdoor furniture. I called a few teak refinishing companies and I felt that the prices were way to high, So I decided to do it myself. But I am such a wimp - that I did this project in small batches.

The first batch was 2 chairs, a coffee table and a tray table. The second batch was 4 chairs.
The third and final batch was the table, 2 chairs and a bench.

Each batch was a long tedious process. First each piece of teak must be throughly cleaned with TSP and a scrub brush. Then wait for the teak to dry and sand every inch of the furniture. Hose off the teak to remove the sand shavings. Then wait for the teak to dry and finally each piece gets two coats of teak oil.

I am sharing some before and after pictures.

The transformation is really fantastic and just took a couple hundred dollars and a ton of elbow grease.

I still haven't bought new chair pads or an umbrella. I have been looking around and I will post the final pictures with chair pads in a few weeks.

FYI - when you are using the TSP - don't hose off the TSP residue near your grassy areas - I accidentally  killed quite a bit of grass. I talked to my gardener and he somehow fixed the problem and the grass has started turning from brown to green again.

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These are the chairs we sit it when we supervise the kids while they make s'mores.

Another FYI is that teak oil can stain your patio cement /stone. Use a drop cloth!!!

I also refinished the bench from the from yard - but I couldn't find  a before picture of the bench. But you guessed it - it was gray and tired.

Now I want to buy new flowers for the terra cotta pots. So as I said earlier I will post the final pictures in a few weeks. I just don't have the energy to re-plant the pots this week!

Living Room Redo

I decided to fix up the Living Room! I tend to fix up one room at a time and that is because I cannot stand a big mess. So one room at time that is messy is about all I can handle. The biggest change that I made was to have the carpet removed and a wood tile installed.

Here are some before and after  pictures:

I love the wood tile. Friends come over and think that it is real wood and it blends with the stone.

I love the new look - and I am not sure I am loving the throw rug. But I was trying to cozy up the room.  Let me know what you think.

The room behind the arches is our family room - the one we spend the most time in because that is where we watch television.

This is the room you see when you first enter our home - so I wanted it to look fresh and uncluttered.

The carpet was 10 years old and I just wanted a little change.

I used the same furniture - just changed out a few pillows, vases and plants. The next room that I will work on will be the family room. 

Today is National Book Lovers Day!

I am a book lover! I ordered four books a few days ago from Amazon - they are scheduled to deliver tomorrow and I can not wait. I ordered two cookbooks and two novels!

One of my favorite quotes of all time "A house without books is like a room without windows" - Horace Mann

I have books in small stacks all over my house. Because I don't have a library the neat little stacks of books all over my house became part of the decor.

Books inside of a cupboard.

More books inside of a cupboard!

My Martha Stewart collection of books - inside of an end table.

More end table books! Lots of decorating and cookbooks!

Books in a small entry way table.

The top shelf of the entry way table.

An end table collection of Kennedy family history books. I also have a ton more Kennedy history books inside of the drawers of my coffee table. These are the prettier Kennedy books!

The books on top of one of my linen cabinets.

The Pottery Barn collection of books on top of another linen cabinet.

I often combine my book stacks with frames and candles.

Books on top of an armoire for some reason - I have a lot of the fiction books are upstairs.

So now you know - I am a book lover and I didn't even show half of my book stacks! Happy National Book Lovers Day!

Christian's Bedroom Redo! Which was Long Overdue!

I finally got around to redecorating Christian's room. I still need David to come over and add some crown moulding. But his arm is injured and he is unable to work right now. So I will show you the room redo without the crown moulding.

I had the room painted the same color that the playroom is painted. We bought a new bed, mattress and bedding. And I edited the accessories. Christian loves auto racing, basketball and baseball. So I reorganized his favorite basketball, baseball and auto racing accessories. 

Todd started taking down the bunk beds before I could take a proper "before" picture.

Another "before" picture. Do you like the stickers on the top bunk bed rail?

We gave the baseball pinball game to one of Christian's friends little brother. When the little brother has been to our house he always played the baseball pinball game. I sold the baseball bedding at the neighborhood garage sale.

I am so bummed out that my husband started taking everything apart before I could get some good before pictures. But I think you get the idea - the room was painted baby blue with bunk beds and baseball themed quilts, pillows and accessories.

So here are the "new" pictures. I kept  the dresser, bookcase and nightstand.

Over the bed we hung a big basketball net!

On top of the bookcase - a collection of Angel bobble heads.

The basketball hoop on the door to Christian's room.

A fun new chair to sit in and study? I think he likes his new room. Who knows?