Two-toned Dresser and Kitchen Scale Dining Table

After losing a good week of productive time due to giving my back a rest and having a wonderful birthday and Mother's Day weekend...it felt good to get back to work in the garage today.  I can't wait to work on some of the pieces of furniture that I have lined up and I've got lots of ideas to make them look "new" again!

32 Random Things About Me...

Since today is my 32nd birthday, I thought I'd share 32 random facts about me...  I've mentioned before that I don't share too many personal things on my blog, so this is certainly a change of pace for me!  I've read many similar posts on other blogs and I've always enjoyed learning new things about others, so here I go...

1.)  I grew up on a second-generation dairy farm in a small community in Northeast Washington State. I'll always be a farm girl at heart.  For my entire adult life, I've been trying to get back to living on a farm...never thought it would be so hard to do.

2.)  I love to read, but wish I had more time to.  I love books about history, biographies, etc.  My favorite books are the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon.

3.)  Because I was around animals constantly growing up, I was determined to become a veterinarian my entire childhood until I had a part-time job at a veterinary clinic in high school and realized that I'm way too sensitive after having to help put animals to sleep.  I still know how to milk cows, care for livestock, ear-tag, de-horn, and even castrate cattle though!  Not sure where these skills will ever come in handy again unless the execs at Manolo Blahnik want to hire me at their dairy farm :)  I'd work there in a second!

My first time showing a calf at the local fair at 5 yrs old

Tips for Shopping Antique Shows and Fairs

The Farm Chicks Show (in the earlier days) - via Country Living

Temperatures are warming up and antique shows/fairs are found almost every weekend around the country right now...it's my favorite time of year!  Spring is normally a crazy, busy time for me and for the first time in 7 years, I'm not working night-and-day on a gazillion projects for back-to-back antique shows that I'm normally a vendor at in April/May/June.  I have to admit that it feels strange not to be stressed out with piles of inventory in the garage and around the house and weirdly enough, I miss it!  I sort of crave the pressure, but with the house being for sale and not knowing what the future held, I didn't sign up for the Luckett's Spring Market this year.  I had been down that road before...back in the summer of 2010...house was for sale, 6 big shows, packing, moving, a baby that never slept...not fun, never again!  I had learned my lesson...

Luckett's 2012 - Part One

So instead of being a vendor, I'm a shopper at the shows this year and long before I started selling my own wares, I was a die-hard shopper at some of the biggest shows like The Farm Chicks Show, etc. for years.  By being both a vendor and a shopper, I've definitely learned a few things along the way, so I thought I'd share a few tips for navigating these shows/fairs that have worked for me over the years...

A Few Furniture Projects and a Little Setback

After having a blast visiting High Point, I had a busy weekend of shopping a large antiques festival, attending an auction, and re-stocking my booth.  With the house being for sale and all the extra time and cleaning required for maintaining a house that's on the market, finding and working on paint projects was taking a backseat. It's not a great combination...a furniture hobby filling the garage while the house is for sale.  At first, I almost completely emptied the garage, but my second-nature took over at last weekend's auction and I scored tons of great stuff.

20 Kids' Spaces on a Budget

I've always had a soft-spot for designing/decorating kids' rooms!  They are, by far, my favorite rooms to decorate because of the opportunity to use colors, patterns, and creative elements that I won't normally use in other areas of the home.  It's just plain fun to help inject some of the unique personality of a child into their space!  I recently asked to curate a clipboard over on Hometalk of 20 Kids' Rooms on a Budget that is full of ideas to help you transform your children's rooms without breaking the bank.

High Point Market Part 2 and My Loot

Gypsy Marketplace

I hope you enjoyed the little tour of some of the High Point showrooms that I shared the other day.  I promised to post my favorite part of High Point as well as some goodies I brought home!  As much as I loved looking at the new furniture lines, there's a part of me that loves digging through warehouses, barns, etc for the old stuff...

High Point Market Highlights...Part One

I had the incredible opportunity to visit High Point, NC for a few days this past week to preview and shop the High Point Market.  High Point is a furniture mecca and is where many furniture and home decor lines have permanent showrooms, but many more descend upon the area during Market Week to set up temporary showrooms for the thousands in the industry that come shop for new looks and products.  

Noir Showroom

Revived Ice Cream Parlor Set

I've always liked those cute antique ice cream parlor table and chair sets that you see here and there, but they are getting harder and harder to find them inexpensively.  I actually snagged this set quite a while back to keep and use for a little breakfast-area table or out on the porch at my own home, but it never did land anywhere in my current house.

House Listing Photos

First of all, I want to thank all of you for the encouraging comments on my last post about having to move again!  I am still a bit down about it, but I feel better after reading your thoughts on moving. I thought I'd quickly share some of the photos from the MLS tour that my realtor gave me permission to use.  There are actually quite a few rooms that I never did put up on the blog because they just weren't finished (for me) and because we've only been here a short time.  I also made a few changes for the sake of staging and many of the chandeliers were swapped out. 

Moving On...Again!

This is one of the more difficult posts that I've had to write and I've gone back in forth on how and when to write this post.  I think I've typed and re-typed it several times... I try to keep my blog strictly about home decor, DIY, furniture projects, etc as I know most readers aren't too interested in my personal life, but the time has come to let everyone know about some personal changes that do affect the blog, etc.

Our house back when we moved in...

As of this weekend, our house will be officially for sale.  Those of you that follow my blog will know that we haven't lived here very long and that our family relocated from the Pacific Northwest to the Raleigh, NC area a little over a year and a half ago.  That wasn't our first move, in fact, we've had to move three times in the last three years due to job changes, so the fact that we have to put our house up for sale and move yet again is not exactly good news for us.

A Little French Room...Updated

Time for a little update!  Do you remember a year ago when I first shared my youngest daughter's "Little French Room"?  Back then, it looked like this...

The big furniture pieces were in place and despite wanting to keep the room simple, it felt like it still needed something.  At the time I posted the room, I had picked out some white ruffle drapes from Target, but just hadn't hung them yet.  Boy, do window treatments always make a difference in a room...

On the Back Porch with Cedar Hill Ranch

Just popping into announce that I'm chatting with Anita over at Cedar Hill Ranch today!  Anita is so talented and I love her style...and have you seen her amazing ranch in Texas?!

Pretty much my dream right there...  If you're curious about other things I dream of and how I got my start in the blogging world, check out my interview HERE, but you should head over anyway just to see Anita's dreamy blog!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Kristen