Budget Bedroom Makeover for a Rental Home

While I'm still working away on my dining room makeover, I thought I'd share my oldest daughter's room that has been mostly completed for a while now.  It just need a couple of little things finished up before I could take pictures...

Farmhouse Style Front Porch with Pops of Red

Remember my mom and step-dad's house that I shared a few months back?  They've been slowly adding their personal style to the place through careful shopping and as many DIY projects as they can to save money on furnishings.  They like to curate their home by picking up furniture projects, sewing custom draperies, and finding bargains that they can make over.  While many rooms are partially done, there are still many things that they are on the look-out for and some weekend projects still to go.

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

Snippets of the New House

Last week, I mentioned that my mom and step-dad were closing on their new house in the subdivision next to mine.  They moved out to the Raleigh area from Spokane, WA last summer and lived with us for a few months and then stayed in an apartment while their house was being built.  After much deliberation of house plans and communities in the area, they ultimately chose a beautiful community with the equestrian barn, miles of beautiful jogging trails, and many other amenities. It's a great community with lots of wide open spaces which was important to them after moving from their previous home on three acres.

Kid's Candy Tree & DIY Sprinkles Ornaments

If you've been following my blog a while, you'll notice that my Christmas decorations are generally neutral in color and not something a child would have picked out...

Lily's Little Table

Quite a few months back I shared "An Art Desk for Lily" and that my six-year-old daughter wants to be an artist when she grows up.  Most kids I know change their minds everyday when you ask them what they intend to be when they grow up, but Lily's maintained her choice of occupation for the past couple years now.  She pretty much sticks to drawing and coloring, but I thought with the very "forgivable" chalk paint out there now, I'd introduce her to painting furniture....

Eastern Migration

Well, it's official!  I'm excited to announce something that's been in the works for a few months...  After my husband and I and the three girls moved from the Pacific Northwest to Raleigh, NC last summer for my husband's job, my mom and step-dad decided to migrate east as well.  It's been a stressful time for all of us the last couple of years with two 2600-mile moves (and them having to sell their gorgeous home above), but we are all happy to be together again and of course, the girls love being with their grandparents...

Fourth of July Birthday Bash!

My youngest daughter, Summer, has a birthday right after the 4th of July so the two celebrations tend to get combined!  Although she's a couple weeks away from turning 3, I thought I'd share our family's get-together from her first birthday in case you were looking for some inspiration for your upcoming 4th of July bash... 

Gratitude and Grieving

Thank you, thank you, thank you!  I wanted to let all of my readers know how extremely grateful for all the sweet and wonderful comments that have been pouring in for my recent posts, including my daughter's room.  I feel so fortunate that it was featured at some wonderful blogs this past week.  Even though I've had this blog for the last couple of years, it's only recently that my life has settled down enough to nurture it and I can't tell you how much I've enjoy it!  In many ways, I'm a newbie blogger and I'm still at the point of feeling so much excitement for every comment that is left for me and thinking, "Wow, they really like it?!"  Since moving across the country and leaving behind family, friends, and all the wonderful antique shows that I was able to be a part of, I've feel as though I've lost a little part of me, but blogging has really helped give this stay-at-home mom a bit of purpose and the ability to connect with such kind, talented people.  I really look forward to all the sharing, learning, and inspiration that the wonderful world of blogging opens up for us.

On another note, I apologize for being a bit absent this past week.  My heart has been heavy and my thoughts on family for the last several days.  My beautiful, vibrant cousin has been battling leukemia for the last several years and her prognosis took a turn for the worse late last week.  She is a wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend to many.  In my childhood years, she lived right down the road from me and we share some wonderful memories of times on the family dairy farm. I feel fortunate that I've been able to visit her this week as she relocated to North Carolina several years ago. 

Life's An Adventure, Right?...

Wow, what a whirlwind it's been the last few months!  My family had just moved to Sandpoint, ID for my husband's new job and I had even went back to work full-time when our lives were once again turned upside down when husband received an incredible opportunity to be part of a brand new tax division in Raleigh, NC for the CPA firm that we had both worked for in Spokane.  Before I knew it, I was scurrying like crazy trying to find housing in Raleigh, wrapping up the last projects at work, packing our house, and get all my projects done for my favorite show ever, The Farm Chicks Show.  
As soon as the show was over, everything went into boxes and was loaded into the biggest U-haul truck we could get and an additional trailer and off we went...almost 3,000 miles away from everything we've ever known. 
It's been quite an adventure to say the least...  There are stories of our "travels" that I'm sure our kids will tell their kids like attempting to drive across South Dakota during tornado weather, a 5 year-old with the stomach flu, and me driving a large trailer for the first time and trying to keep it on the road in the wind.  Needless to say, we got stuck in a rundown hotel in the middle of nowhere for two days.  It rained so hard that the walls in the room were leaking!  Slowly, but surely, we finally made it to North Carolina and we all cheered when we finally made it across that stateline.  My undramatic husband even wanted to kiss the ground when we got here and declared that we were never doing that again!   

Now that we're here, I'm so excited to explore the South! There is such history and a unique beauty here!  True to form, I've already buying been buying up some fabulous antiques that I can't wait to share with you. I hope you'll join me on my new "Southern Junkin' Journey"!

 

Things That Make Me Smile

When our yard is still deeply covered in snow and there are giant mountains of dirty, gravel-filled snow all over or when it still snows 2-3 times a week here in Sandpoint, ID and I am now in a gray, lifeless cubicle 40+ hours a week, I need things that can make me smile.  Although we are in a transition stage of renting until we permanently settle (which means no painting walls, drywall anchors, etc), I found that it's important to surround yourself with the little things that brighten your day and make you smile...

 Coffee always cheers me up, but drinking it in a favorite cup is even better.

 This old cabinet filled with my collection of clocks will always remind me how precious time is.

 Birds, birds, birds... I've loved them for as long as I know. 

 Doesn't everyone need more than one set of bird salt and pepper shakers?

 Favorite china is a must...

 mixed with vintage suitcases and...

old trophy cups.

 That favorite piece of furniture in all its distressed glory

 And everyone needs a light-filled window and a big, squishy sofa to soak in some quiet time.

But most of all...it's the important things in life that make you smile!

I hope some of the things that make me smile put a smile on your face too!

Kristen

Taking Some Time

I've been taking some time the last few months...

Spending some serious time with these guys...

Visiting the happiest place on earth....

Curling up with a good book or two...

And, I can tell you what we haven't been doing...no gutting our house, no hauling furniture everywhere, and no going days and weeks without having my husband home for dinner.  The weekend after last fall's Angel's Attic Show, our family moved up to Sandpoint, ID for my husband's new job and some serious downtime for all of us.  We are happy to report that we've enjoyed weekends playing Wii games, reading books, and bumming around the house for the first time EVER!  We also took our first family vacation to Disneyworld in Orlando a couple weeks ago and had the time of our lives!  It's been so good for us to recharge after so many years of constant stress.  We tease now that we all feel almost "normal"!

After the whirlwind of selling our home, being part of several shows, going through a housing emotional roller coaster of trying to find a place to live in Sandpoint, and packing and moving two giant U-haul trucks (one unloaded in the middle of a very rainy night), I didn't want to look at another piece of furniture for a while and to be honest, I wasn't sure when I would... Family before furniture, right?!  In the last few weeks, I've been pulling out my decorating books and magazines, dreaming of projects, and I even think the furniture in the garage has been calling my name :)  Clearly, I've been cured from the "I just want to relax a while" phase. 

I'm very excited to be planning out projects and setting some show dates for this upcoming spring which I'll keep posted here.  I've also been creating some new jewelry that I can't wait to share with you!      

Summer Fun!

I can't believe my baby (Summer) is 1!  It's been a whirlwind year with full of changes, challenges, but filled with plenty of smiles from our miracle baby!  Even though the 4th of July weekend was rainy, we made the best of it with our little family party...

It's Official! Our Home is on the Market...

After it seems like many hard weeks of never-ending projects, we've finally wrapped up all the loose ends and were able to list our house a few days ago. All we need now is someone to love our home and neighborhood as much as we have. Although we've lost some sleep over trying to sell a house in the current market conditions, we know that everything will eventually fall into place...hopefully.

Since the dust has settled and we finally have a completed home, I find myself sad to leave a home that has been with us since the beginning of our family.  Our first home has seen a family grow through happy times as well as painful moments.  Through blood, sweat, and tears, it has seen almost every square inch transformed from its former 70's self to something we are so proud to call home. 

When we purchased our home, a deck didn't exist.  All we had was an unsafe "apartment balcony"  that was hanging on the side of the house by a thread.  My husband built this two-story deck over three summers.  The bottom half is screened and it is relaxing to sit out and watch the kids play in the yard.

(upper story of deck)

You should have seen the kitchen & bath before we got a hold of it!

A part of me hopes that the next family that moves in has three girls too :)

 It isn't a fancy mansion, but it's been the best first home we could have asked for and I hope the next family enjoys it as much as we have.