the Decorating Chica

Whether it's as simple as a room that needs a little freshening or a piece of furniture that needs a facelift, sometimes we just need a little "Refresh" for a breath of new life. That is true with our surroundings but also true in our lives. Getting ready for a fresh, new look Take this table for instance, It started life in the 50s with a mint green paint color. When it came to me, I sanded it and refreshed it with the look above. But, after 10 years it was time. Time for something different and new to spruce it up and give it new life. After a  fresh coat of paint. Sometimes you have to take a closer look and make sure you are at peace with what you see. New paint and a gleaming new surface help this old 50s table to feel bright and fresh. Refreshing our home can involve something as simple as a new paint job or updating an existing piece of furniture or moving the piece to a new room. Much like a life 'refresh', sometimes we just need to...

Can you believe it is only March? Our temps were 20 degrees higher than normal today. Serious. There is a whole lot of sun going on in Michigan and who wouldn't have spring fever anyway? Great time to get out the spring decor for sure and take part in "The Great Springtacular Linky Parade." Thanks to the lovely blog hosts for having such a great par-tay! Let me begin by saying that my mantel is always frustrating. It is wide and not very deep at all. So, most anything that you might put up there will not fit, does not stay up, and then falls onto the floor and breaks! So, I've come up with nifty, tricky ways to make it work over the years short of getting out the glue gun and gluing everything down! Lots of light reflection brings in the sunshine! Lovin' the spring green that pulls in the color of my living room. Little touches of spring greens and whites are what make my spring bright! Even the candles are spring green! Changing out the ...

When I saw this table at Pottery Barn, I fell in. love. Quick photo taken with my phone that was hidden under my shirt!! Well I certainly wasn't expecting to ever have my own Pottery Barn table like this, way out of my budget for sure. But, little did I know that one day...m y hubby would come home with a BIG surprise. He found a cool old desk on the curb as he was dropping our kids off. The funniest part? He drove all the way home to describe it to me and ask if I wanted it. Really? Was that even necessary? Bless his heart, he drove back to get it and it was still there, looking a bit worse for the wear but oh, the character! Look at this beauty! It actually sat in the middle of my kitchen for a couple of weeks and I was seriously tempted to keep it there. Never thought I really had room for a kitchen island but loved the extra counter space. But, it was a bit too short. So, I looked at it, and thought, looked at it, and thought and decided it would make a great coffee ta...

My dining room is like a cat...it has 9 lives. Well, who knows, maybe even more? Currently on it's 4th life, but who's counting the first life, which was really no life at all (a.k.a. the lackluster way I found it when we moved into the house). Wish I could show you all but trust me when I say that A.N.Y.T.H.I.N.G. would have been an improvement. However those were the days pre-blog and I'm pretty sure I have pictures somewhere but if I took the time to find them, I might not come out alive! So, with a desire to rip out  cover the textured walls that were previously coated with a smooth skimcoat border right smack in the middle of the wall, going around the whole stinkin' dining room...whoops, I'm digressing. Anyway, you get the picture but if you really want to see pictures, you can check out a few of the transformation process right here . Now, for the reveal! Trying to get a good shot of the whole room is tough. The room is small and locked in. Rug...

The age old question. Most people usually start addressing this as they are getting ready to graduate high school. Well, I am no different. I asked those questions then and I ask them now. In this picture, I wasn't worried about a thing...ahhh h. Some people though, have the answers early on. They seem to always have set goals and know exactly what they want to be or what they want to do when they grow up. Me? Not so much. Life has been a series of seasons for me and each season has brought new ideas and new goals. But oftentimes, those goals are dictated by the circumstances I am in. So, when I received an email that asked "What does my blog want to be when it grows up? Wow, that was tough. I didn't have many answers so I decided to spend the week thinking about it. Now the week is up and, yup, I'm kind of clueless. This led me to reading a lot of the posts from people just like me who are daring to dream and set goals. Some far reaching and some easy. Prover...