Hello Again! A Fall Table Setting

(the give-away is closed as of 10-17-16)

Wow, hello!  I've been on somewhat of a hiatus and it is so good to be back!  I have mostly been enjoying family time and working on a few projects these past few months - can you believe it is already October!?!  Cray-cray!

Speaking of projects, the one place in my house that I like to change up with the seasons is my dining room table, and I usually do change it about 4 - 5 times a year.  It's the first room guests see when they walk through the front door so it is always fun to dress it up.  :)

Here is how it looked last Christmas - I have a small artificial tree that I bought at Walmart for $10. Our big tree is in the family room you can't see it from the street, so this little tree in the dining room in the front of the house looks so cute!  I use vintage ornaments, mostly found at the Country Living Fair, to give it an old-fashion look. It makes a great centerpiece!

Then I switched it up after the first of the year and made it look it little more spring-like.  We also bought the faux cowhide rug that absolutely completes the room~~ :)

Toward the end of summer I felt like I had to "quiet" the room.  I just needed to put the plates and chargers, glasses and silverware away and simplify the table for a bit.  So I opted for a simple centerpiece of tray/plant/driftwood/metal bust. Perfect.

But now it's fall and to feel all warm and cozy I wanted to take it up a notch! The only things I bought were the little pumpkins - everything else were things I already had on hand..

You can find little pumpkins at the grocery store; the goblets were thrift store finds.  My husband found the copper vessel sticking out of a pile of rubbish at a house he was renovating - score!

These adorable little fox salt & pepper shakers were a gift from a friend who "just couldn't resist them!"  Thanks, Micheal! 

I used the large platter that I found at the Country Living Fair last year to hold everything for the centerpiece. The small fox plates are from Walmart last year; the napkins are at least 25 years old (!); the white dinner plates are from Target.

I really love doing this - and even though I live with a bunch of guys, the gesture doesn't go unnoticed..  they actually said "hey, that looks nice!"

I hope you enjoyed my table-through-the-seasons!  Now, would you like two free passes to the Country Living Fair?  Thanks to Stella Show Management, the company that manages the event, I have two Early Bird tickets to give away!  Here are more details on the Fair:

COUNTRY LIVING FAIR RETURNS TO ATLANTA, GA OCTOBER 21-23

Tickets:

• One day admission is $13 in advance and $16 at the door; three-day weekend passes are available for $15 in advance and $20 at the door;
• An Early Bird three-day weekend pass is available for $40 and grants early admission at 8:30 a.m. on Friday and Saturday;
• Free admission for children ages 16 and under.

Hours: Friday, Saturday & Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; gates open for Early Bird ticket holders at 8:30 a.m. Friday & Saturday.

Location: Held rain or shine outdoors, the Fair takes place in the Event Meadow on the grounds of Stone Mountain Park, a scenic recreation area 16 miles east of downtown Atlanta [Exit 8 off of U.S. Highway 78]. Regular parking fees apply daily.

To enter just leave a comment here or email me at ktfox425@gmail.com and let me know one fun thing you do in the fall.  I will announce the winner on Monday, October, 17, 2016.  I hope you can make it - I'm going to be there and I'm going to "shop til I drop!"

**Give-away is closed and the winner has been emailed**

Linking up with Thrifty Decor Chic!

Love,

Wedding Anniversary!

Today is my wedding anniversary!  We made it another year - year 11 to be exact!  Blending a family together has its challenges and it's not always easy, but because my hubby is one of the best people on the planet it does all work out.

Love you, sweetie!  Here's to many, many more years together!

January 22, 2005

Love,

Kitchen Renovation: Reveal!

Linking up with 
A Stroll Thru Life Inspire Me Tuesday!
Thrifty Decor Chic's Before & After Party! 

Hello, hello! and Happy New Year~!  And it's Martin Luther King day!  I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas and is starting out the new year with good vibes and some renewed energy :) 

We had a very busy Nov/Dec, probably like most of you.  It amazes me how fast those two months go by, like you're on a slip-n-slide flying down a hill then you reach the end and you PLOP with a thud right into January.. whomp whomp!  I'm always like, whoa, where am I and why am I getting a little verclempt as I put away all the pretty Christmas decorations?.. anyone else?  anyone?

One thing that made the holidays (and the clean-up after) much easier was the fact that we finished our kitchen!!  The range hood was installed just two days before we hosted Thanksgiving dinner!

When we left off last September (in this post) we had painted the upper cabinets and were in the process of painting the doors.

 

We got a LOT done in those next several weeks leading up to Thanksgiving:
finished painting the upper doors
painted the lower cabinets and doors
installed new hardware on the doors and drawers
built new wood trim around the sink window, caulked/painted it, and hung a new bamboo shade
installed the new vent hood
installed new under-cabinet lights
touched up wall paint around the cabinets and crown mould

We couldn't be happier with the results - I'm just going to stop talking now and bombard you with pictures....

 

We LOVE it! I swoon over it every day - like, seriously, it's a dream come true.  There are still a few things we need to do, like lower the little chandelier over the sink about 5 inches and install a "surround" around the microwave.  And in the big picture we want a new light fixture over the table and two cool hanging fixtures installed over the island, and last but not least we're going to take out the tile and carpet (in the family room) and run hardwood all the way through.

So, you know I must have some "before & after" side-by-sides ~~

So here is the list again - never thought I would see so many strike-throughs!

Remove old cook top, oven/microwave & cabinets
Move gas line/electrical

Install new stove

Reuse cabinets to build new island

Remove laminate back splash

Build upper cabinets/install

Build pull-out garbage can drawer
Add stainless steel back splash behind stove w/small shelf

Paint cabinets - white on top, black on bottom

New stainless vent hood

New hardware

New microwave

Wood trim around window

Install new under cabinet lighting

Touch up paint

New sink & faucet

Install new subway tile backsplash

New granite counter tops

New hardwood floors throughout kitchen/family room

To see the rest of the reno click below:
Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five 

Thank you to everyone for reading and following along - I appreciate it so much!  I will write a post very soon with source information for anything and everything I can think of!   Leave your comments below and let me know what you think!

Love,

Atlanta's Country Living Fair :: And a Give-away!

**UPDATE: Give-away is closed and the winner has been emailed - thanks for entering!**

Hello!  It's that time of year again - time for Country Living Magazine to bring their very own Fair to the Atlanta area - at Stone Mountain Park on Oct. 23, 24 & 25.  My friends and I love going to this even every year.  I wrote about it last year and you can read about that here.

This year I am very excited to be able to offer two free Early Bird Weekend passes again!  Read more about the give-away at the end of the post :)

Kitchen Renovation: Part Five!!

I think I said in Part One.. I hope I'm not here in a year posting Part 20 or something crazy like that..but we are going on five months since we started the renovation... Warning.. this post is "picture-heavy"

When we left off in Part Four we had finished installing all the new crown mold.  Hubby beefed up the chunky-ness factor using the crown that we removed in the beginning and by adding a couple more elements.  The first piece is basic base mold turned upside down.  Next he attached the old crown (also using some chunks of wood behind and out of sight for stability), then he cut a 1" by lengthwise and attached that to the top of the crown - coming out over the edge slightly.  Once this was caulked and primed it looks like one big crown mold!

Then the day came for the granite installation - I was blown away by the beauty...

It's called River White.  I was trying to find something as close to carrara marble as I could find. Hubby talked to his supplier and she knew exactly what to show us..  This is beautiful and has specs of ruby in it as well.  I'm so in love with it!

Then I started priming the upper cabinets.  I took off all the doors and we filled nail holes, caulked and primed.  See how all the crown/trim looks like one piece now?  Love it.

We also found these kick-ass corbels online for a great price. (sorry about blurry pic - I cannot hold my phone in my left hand and take a decent picture)

Kitchen Renovation: Part Four

Hello everyone - hope you are enjoying your weekend as much as I am!  We just had the best day yesterday hanging out with all of our kids - a rare occurrence!

When we left off last time (you can see that here) we had just finished creating the island and securing it to the floor.  Now it was time to build it out with some finish carpentry.

He wrapped it with primed luan and used 1 x's for the trim/edges

Next he ran the electrical and put an outlet for the microwave behind the cabinet next to the stove.

So now we had a working microwave and a fully functioning island with a painted wooden top... just waiting for the granite..  and the next day he took off the ugly, green laminate back splash!!!!

That was the happiest day!! Even knowing it would be a couple of months before we would have the tile up, I didn't care.. the torn drywall looked BETTER to me than that green.!  Hallelujah!

Next up - build two new cabinets to go above the stove.  We had lots of discussions about what to do above the stove.  We wanted to be able to center a cabinet above the stove and use a 36" stainless vent hood, but the cabinet above to the left didn't come over far enough..  Originally we were not going to use the shelf pieces that were there before, but we realized we needed them to fill the gaps.

Hubby reused a 1" strip of oak (once again) on the right side of the cabinet on the left, added the old shelf, added the new cabinet, then the other old shelf, and the larger new cabinet... and bam, nicely centered!  It's coming together :)

Over the next few weeks we painted the island, built a pull-out garbage can drawer, and put a nice crown on top of the cabinets - of course using the crown we took down way back in March.

So much more going on in the kitchen, but this post would take forever to read if I put it all in here - heck, it's kind of too long as it is!  Can I mark anything off the list?  Well, I actually need to ADD to the list so I can mark it off - building upper cabinets, garbage drawer, and crown mold were not there, but really needs to be, right?

Remove old cook top, oven/microwave & cabinets
Move gas line/electrical

Install new stove

Reuse cabinets to build new island

Remove laminate back splash

Build upper cabinets/install

Build pull-out garbage can drawer
Add stainless steel back splash behind stove w/small shelf

Paint cabinets

New hardware

New microwave

New sink & faucet

Install new subway tile backsplash

New counter tops

New hardwood floors throughout kitchen/family room

Thanks again for reading!  Next up will be the new granite counters and we'll start paining!  Yay!

Love,