Before and After

Hi, faithful readers!  I really appreciate those of you who take the time to stop by my Home On the Web.  It's so gratifying (and a bit surreal, and very humbling) to know that people actually read my words.

I'm hesitant to post these pictures because they might come across as a bit "braggy."  However, several people have asked for updates on our new house.  Personally, I love seeing before and after pictures of real houses, but if you don't, then feel free to stop reading now.  I'll never know.  :)

Our house is still very much a work in progress, but we have mostly completed the living area (it's all one big open space for the kitchen/dining/living, as you'll see) and the office/homeschool room.  Some of the pictures aren't the greatest.  I'm still trying to master taking good pics on my phone.

Kitchen before:

Kitchen after: 

(I'm still wanting to replace that rather hideous fluorescent light.)

Dining area before:
(The turquoise was along half of that wall, to the right of the fireplace.  I actually liked the color, but it didn't coordinate with anything else that we have.)

Dining area after:

Living area before (complete with TV on the floor):

Living area after:

(Remind me to do a post sometime about the cabinet under the TV.  David is particularly proud of that DIY project, and I'm very pleased with how it turned out.)

The verse above the window means a lot to me because of all our moving around.  It's very hard to see in this picture, but the pictures along the window are maps of the cities/areas where we have lived, roughly in chronological order.  (Sometimes we backtracked - for example, we lived in Knoxville, TN two separate times with two other places in between.)

Now on to the office/schoolroom.  Some of you may recall this picture that I posted on Facebook when I was choosing the paint color:

While the majority voted for either the third from the left or the large square, I confess that I stuck with my original opinion and went with the fourth one.  I love it!  I was afraid it might be too dark, but the color makes me happy, happy, happy!  (And since I spend A LOT of time in this room, that's a good thing.  :) )

Before:

After:

The cabinet to the left of the piano came from our last house and will likely be hung (horizontally) above the piano.

Pictures via Pinterest and Etsy.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

So there you have it!  The bedrooms and bathrooms are all still "builder beige," and the backyard jungle seems to grow visibly each day, but I am enjoying the process.  I'm certainly no Martha Stewart or Erica Bartels (Hi, Erica!), but I really do enjoy decorating (once I stop constantly second-guessing myself!).

So what projects are you working on?  Got any before and after pics to share?

Fun with Ribbon!

I have been having more cheap and cheerful decorating fun involving both my glue gun and upholstery tacks! :) There's nothing quite like an impending visit from the inlaws to motivate a person.


I have lots and lots of pictures of the kiddos, and I had this big, blank space above the piano. As usual, my original plan was much bigger and just proved to be way too much. Turns out, hanging lots of pictures very high and in very straight lines is nearly impossible when surrounded by two children under 4. So I came up with a more reasonable plan and decided to stagger them (which makes the unevenness on purpose!).

Dear Birthday Fairy, I could really use a new camera. This one is only 0.2 megapixels better than the one in my cell phone!

I thought it would be fun to have the baby pictures matched up by ages (3, 6, 9, 12 months). (I just have two kids, not seven!) The spot under Nathan's 1 year picture is awaiting Megan's 1-year picture in another month. Plus, they can be easily changed out with different pictures.



I might someday paint the frames black, but for now, I think it looks just fine.


Meanwhile, our bedroom still needed a little something. We did have red floral bedding that coordinated wonderfully with the lamps, but the master bedroom in our rental has pinkish walls. David said that he'd rather get new bedding that have to paint, and since I had wanted new bedding for a while anyway, I didn't wait for him to change his mind.

I found this bedding on clearance at JC Penney for ... wait for it ... $35.80!! It was originally $390! The sheets were on half-price for $39.99, so all of it was less than $100. Score!

I chose this bedding to go with this picture that my mother-in-law painted a few years back. It's a little small for this spot, so yesterday I added the L and D. The letters and ribbon came from Michael's, and I painted them black to match the frame, sign, and a computer armoire we also have in the room. I think it adds a nice personal touch. (And the sign always makes me giggle inside ... even after 11 years of marriage and 2 children!)

My First Foray into the World of Window Mistreatments

Two of my favorite blogs are Nesting Place and A Soft Place to Land. Every Thursday, Kimba at ASPTL hosts a DIY Party where readers post links to projects they've been working on. Check it out here! Today she's giving away some Gail Pittman pottery from Southern Living at Home, so you know I'm all over that! Here's a link to where I drooled over some of what I already have.

The Nester emphasizes that "it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful," and one of her favorite techniques for decorating on a budget are "window mistreatments." She gives various examples of this, but most involve various lengths and types of fabric, upholstery tacks, and possibly a glue gun. (Actual hardware is optional!)

So a few weeks ago, I excitedly began to "mistreat" some existing valances I already had.

Turns out, mistreating is not as effortless as it appears on the blog.


This first result doesn't look too bad in the picture, but it just didn't look at all right in person.

So in the end, the curtains ended up back in their "standard" position on curtain rods that were left behind. Not bad, but not the exciting creation that I had envisioned.

Not to be deterred, I eventually got up the courage (and found the time) to tackle my laundry room window. I found this fabric called LuLu's Lounge back before we left Alabama.

Well, a few folds, some clips I already had, and some upholstery tacks later, and this is what I had:

Not too bad, I suppose. Again, I had visions of something infinitely more wonderful, but nevertheless, I have a cute window for very little money!

I think it looks even better with this plate I bought for a couple of dollars at Tuesday Morning! I would love to paint the walls a nice, bright color, but that's pretty low on the priority list....

I had better luck (and spent much more time) on the curtains in Megan's room. Let me start by saying that I realize the pink on the wall and the pink in the curtains is a little "off." The curtains were based on her bedding, and the wall color will be changing in the near future to either the right shade of pink or a sage green.

Everything was bought at Hobby Lobby. (LOVE that store!) The topper is just a remnant I found in the clearance bin!

No sewing machine was disturbed at any time. The curtain panel was hemmed and attached to the liner with stitch witchery - an iron-on adhesive. And the trim was attached with my handy-dandy glue gun.

I also found this crystal doorknob at Hobby Lobby and thought it would be great here. (I just hammered a tiny screwdriver end into the wall, and twisted and pushed it in!) You can't see the trim very well, but it's the same as the tieback.

I'm not sure I want to leave the valance like this. Right now, it's just been mistreated with some upholstery tacks, but I do think it has a bit of a princess-y feel to it.

So there you have it, folks. Cheap and cheerful - two of my favorite qualities in home decor!

Decorating Dilemma

If you're visiting for the first time from Serenity Now, welcome! I hope you'll take the time to look around, and I'd love for you to become a follower if my blog interests you at all.

Whether you are new or not, I would love your advice on a decorating dilemma at our new house.

In the master bathroom, there is a spa tub (yay!), but it also doubles as the shower. Right now, there's no shower curtain hanging because a standard rod (or even one of the curved ones) doesn't fit. (You would think that having to watch myself take a shower in the mirror directly across would motivate me to stop baking brownies, but so far, no luck!) I am aware that rods can be ordered for this type of shower, and we're planning to do that in the near future. My dilemma is how to keep such a large area from looking like a "stage" once a curtain (or probably two curtains) is hung up. Any suggestions for making it a little less "dramatic?" We're renting, so tearing it out or other major changes are out of the question.

Thank you so much for your help!

Check Serenity Now for other dilemmas in her blog party!

It's Getting Closer!

Moving Day is fast approaching. If everything goes according to plan (when does that ever happen?), we will be pulling out of the parking lot at Sunlake Apartments one last time (hurrah!) this coming Tuesday. The next day, we'll be moving into this house:


Words cannot express how happy I am to be moving out of this cramped apartment and into an actual house again. Our neighbors here have actually been quite wonderful, but there's just something about being able to hear your neighbor use the bathroom that just doesn't sit well with me. *shudder*

And I know a couple of kids that are going to love having a back yard to roam in.

Nathan got especially excited when he saw the motorized toy Jeep in the backyard. I have tried to explain that it doesn't come with the house, but I bet he'll still be looking for it when he gets there.

I'll save the inside pictures to use as "befores." The owner is letting us paint and such inside, and I am beside myself with excitement over getting to decorate my own place again! A couple of days ago at WalMart, I bought this fabric:

I bought it simply because it makes me smile. :) The best part? The striped one is called Lulu's Lounge. I love it! I'm planning to use it to make curtains in my new laundry room. Note the upholstery tacks. I have become a HUGE fan of The Nester and her window mistreatments. If you haven't discovered her for yourself, go there NOW!!! I love her motto: it doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful.

Gotta go! There's lots left to be done!