When we moved into our (then) new house five years ago we were pretty pleased with ourselves. We thought - hey new house, move in ready, no work! Well as it turned out, we were so very wrong. I could go on and on about the minor and not so minor 'fixes' we have needed to address over the last few years (and believe me, I have) ranging from uneven cabinet doors, a warped faux mantle (literally a ping pong ball rolled right off) plumbing issues (yes you have to actually connect the pipe to the sewer), inferior drywall, poor paint...

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. To imitate someone is to pay the person a genuine compliment. Although the original quote attributed to Oscar Wilde actually states “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery that mediocrity can pay to greatness” I'm guessing he was unaware of my budget and my love for all things Restoration Hardware. The truth is when it comes to decor - I do love me some high-end stores, I just can't marry that love with their prices.  For instance... I had been long lusting after this gorgeous Vintage Inspired Paris map from Restoration Hardware. It's a reproduction...

My sister and I tend to trade furniture pieces back and forth. For some odd reason, we possess the same kind of penchant for wanting to change things up with a somewhat advanced degree of frequency. Naturally, it's less expensive - well free in fact -  to shop your sister's house than to buy new. Our husbands don't quite understand this, but do they need to?  Free is free. Right? I have owned a really solid oak kitchen table for nearly 15 years. Originally the table had a kind of an 80's orange stain, but over the years I have...

A week or so ago I ended up at the Urgent Care in town because, as it turned out, I had several tiny chips of wood in my right eye. I felt kind of ridiculous. "Hello doctor, it would seem there is something in my eye." "Sorry lady, but we've got actual sick people here to attend to!" After applying a numbing agent to my eye (that was really weird) he was able to retrieve the little buggers - mostly. I left there with eye drops and an admonition to wear safety goggles when cutting wood and sanding. A few...

Whenever I head into Michael's, I'm sorely tempted by those wooden crates that are stacked neatly at the door - usually on sale. They're even on the shelf at Home Depot now. I love them because they remind me of old fruit crates, minus the labels, that were a charmingly retro piece when I was younger. The trouble is, they look way too pristine as is with their spotless blond wood to have much character. They're just kind of boring, you know? Since Pinterest always has great ideas for how to make new look old and beautiful I did some perusing...