Two years ago, I got a phone call from my mom, asking me if I would attend a "chalk paint" class with her. I had no idea what chalk paint was; in my head, I was picturing the chalkboard paint that has gained popularity over the last few years but my mom assured me this was something different It really wasn't my thing but I could tell my mom really wanted to go and she wouldn't go alone. So....reluctantly I said yes, I'd go. Our first attempt at going to the class was a failed attempt, as a snowstorm came through Western PA and the class was cancelled. But I wasn't off the hook. The class was rescheduled for a couple of weeks later, in February. Who even knew if the class would happen, with how unpredictable the winters can be in PA. The day of the class finally rolls around and instead of being the expected freezing temperatures we are used to in February, it was one of those rare near 70 degree winter days. I drove the 45 minutes to my parents to pick up my mom and then another 20 minutes to get to the class. It's in the upstairs of this small shop that sells multiple vendor items (crafts, antiques, etc). As the class started, I will fully admit, I was skeptical...but it was a nice night out with my mom so I figured I'd make the most of it. The woman teaching the class gave us all a block of wood to try the different techniques and I quickly learned this was NOT chalkboard paint...so far from it. By the end of the class, we felt like experts. We both came home with our own chalk painted picture frame (that I still have today) and memories of a nice night out! My mom started chalk painting as a hobby after that class. Me? Not so much. I put a picture in my frame but the block of wood and instructions they gave us got tucked away in to a drawer, to be forgotten about. I was super impressed with what my mom was doing though! She picked up a used bedroom set at a thrift store and used chalk paint to redo the whole thing. Their bedroom looks amazing! She continued doing small pieces and this past summer, she re-did an old coffee table for my niece and I'd like to say I was instrumental in her getting the piece done but I think I did a better job "supervising" while my mom and sister did most of the work. Fast forward to now. As we are getting settled in to our new house, there are things that I have been wanting to redo or purchase but just hadn't gotten around to it. So I decided I would try my hand at chalk paint and put to use the skills that I learned two years ago. This afternoon, I stopped in to a local antique shop that I knew sold the paint I wanted. My ONLY intention was to buy the paint and wax that I needed to re-do an old console table that I almost got rid of before we moved (my mom talked me in to keeping it)....the table is 15 years old and it started to feel outdated to me so I thought that it was the perfect thing to make my first real chalk paint project. I found the color of paint that I wanted and the wax...;.and then I saw a nightstand that, for all intents and purposes, had already been redone...and it was a steal at $26. I added it to my paint items.. I got home and wasted no time getting to work on the console table and for the first attempt at chalk paint on my own, this is what I ended up with: As I was waiting for the paint to dry between coats, I got to really looking at the nightstand I had purchased and realized that the colors weren't exactly what I wanted. The more I looked at it, the more the blue wasn't agreeing with me and the distress look was a little "too" perfectly distressed. As I looked at the small can of paint (and I do mean small), I couldn't help but wonder if I had enough to also re-do my new purchase. Before I could think about it, I was removing the drawers and the hardware and just started painting away. Six hours later, both pieces were painted, waxed and buffed and I couldn't be happier with the finished product! So there really is a first for everything. I never thought I would be able to do something like this and yet today was the first of (hopefully) many pieces of furniture I will redo...and all because of a class I took with my mom two years ago! What I thought would be just a nice night out with my mom turned in to so much more. One day, I aspire to be as talented as my mom and do an entire bedroom set...but for now, a nightstand and console table will do.
Moral of the story: you never know until you try!
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When we moved in to our new house, we knew that we were going to need to buy new bar stools for our kitchen island but they were one of those household items that we couldn't agree on something that we both liked. So instead, we continued to use our two old stools that came with us from Pennsylvania. Truth be told, they weren't ever even MEANT to be bar stools. They were originally part of my old counter height kitchen table that we sold and kept two of the extra chairs to use as "fill in" bar stools until we found something we liked. For over two years (both in our old place in PA and now in our new house in GA), those two pseudo bar stools did their job, even with one of them missing a bottom rod (note to self: remind your friends to not try to stand on the rods on your bar stools!). Here we are, almost five months living in our new home and each time I walked in to the kitchen, I'd do a quick mental reminder to make finding bar stools my new mission. I knew the hardest part was going to be finding something that we'd agree on. While my husband and I can often compromise on our tastes, there are times we are way off. We'd both go through website after website, showing each other what we would find, only to hear the other say "Eh, I don't know about those"....until two weeks ago! I was randomly going through the Wayfair website, in my never ending search for barstools and stumbled on a set that caught my eye but I wasn't a fan of the dark brown color of the fabric. I clicked on it anyway, to get a better look and found out the same stools were available in a white faux leather fabric too! The stools were not something that would typically catch my eye but the gray metal juxtaposed with the white faux fabric stood out to me. Hesitantly, I turned the computer towards Paul, to see what he thought, fully expecting him to tell me "NO!". Was I in for a surprise! We both liked them!! Before we could change our mind, we quickly ordered them and three days later, they arrived! As I put each one together, I kept thinking "Are you sure about this, Angie? These are very much outside of your comfort zone"...but as I placed that first finished stool under the island, I knew we made the right choice. Somehow, even after increasing from two to three stools, these new stools made our kitchen look fresher, brighter, larger, and more open. I LOVE THEM!! Sometimes, going outside of the box and taking a risk is worth it! And remember, worst case, companies have return policies for a reason! Next risk to take....adding a touch of yellow to my otherwise neutral living room slate of gray (granted, the yellow may only be in pillows but it's a start!)....stay tuned! Before After
What do you think of when you think of "home"?
For me, I think of the warmth I feel when I enter my childhood home. The smells, the sounds of the floor creaking when we walk on them, the aromas of the food my mom would be making from the kitchen. No matter how long I've been away from my childhood home, it always feels the same when I come back to visit. It feels like a place I belong, always warm and inviting with love waiting around every corner. Nothing will ever quite come as close to feeling like home as the place you grow up but as we become adults and start to make our own home, I think that most of us bring a little bit of our childhood homes with us. I know I did as I started to put together the makings of our new home when we moved in September. When we moved, it was right in the heart of fall (my FAVORITE season!). It was the end of September, well past the date that I usually decorate for fall (yup, I sure do decorate on September 1st). I was 700 miles away from the place I called home, in a brand new house, with 80 degree heat...and I was supposed to be excited to decorate for fall? That was a hard one for me. My husband thought I was crazy but I spent the first week immediately unpacking (the kitchen was my number one priority, of course). Once I had the kitchen set up, I started to unpack the decorations. Being a little homesick already, I felt that unpacking and decorating would help me feel like our new house was a "home". Less than 24 hours after I had opened my first "fall decorations" box, I had the main living area set and the house that started out so cold and empty suddenly DID feel like home. But it wasn't until my parents came to visit a month later that I realized it wasn't about the place but a feeling of home. While my folks were in town, my mom wanted to help hang some pictures (the one thing I hadn't gotten around to doing with all of our unpacking). In the box of pictures, one stood out. It was the picture my husband had gotten me for Christmas two years prior. A simple canvas with black on white words that read: Home is wherever I'm with you. WOW! I was home all along, even if the pictures weren't all hung yet. Home. It is more than a place - it's knowing you are where your heart desires. I love being home! Decorating our home to feel warm and cozy may seem silly to some but to me, it's part of being proud of being home. It's a little glimpse in to our life and the love we have not just for each other but our family and friends. When you walk in to our house and you are wrapped in warmth and the soft glow of the light coming in through the windows, know that our home is always open. Here are a few pics of those first few fall decorations when we moved in to our house in September. :) Enjoy! |
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