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I’m someone who paints a lot more than the average person. I just finished a room redesign in which the painting alone took sixteen days. What can I say, it was a very detailed paint job! (You can read about that room here.) I’ve now embarked on a mission to paint my entire garage which in the heat of summer is…fun. I feel like I live in paint clothes constantly and over time I’ve gathered so many supplies. I wanted to compile a list in one place of my most used basic paint supplies. Nothing fancy, just the stuff that I pull out of my garage every time I start a new job. So, here are a few things I recommend if you’re wanting to start on a new painting project!

1. Wooster Shortcut paintbrushes – My most favorite item of all time! Comfortable to grip, and is the absolute best for cutting in along edges.
2. Paint Brush Cover – These are awesome for saving a brush overnight if you plan to come back to the project the next day. My only complaint is that they aren’t compatible with the Wooster Shortcut handles.
3. Roller Covers – a classic staple, I always like to have a few fresh ones on hand.
4. Purdy Paint Brush – This is my go to for trim when I need a little height. The Wooster Shortcut is hard (for me) to cut in around ceilings and crown, so this one gives a little extra length
5. Canvas Drop Cloth – Please protect your floors/furniture/grass…honestly these have so many uses I have so many of them and they really do work for everything!
6. Paint Roller Tray – This is foundational to pouring your paint! You can use plastic liners with these, or wrap in tinfoil.
7. Paint Roller Frame – Also pretty foundational to any wall painting job.
8. Foam Roller Kit – This is useful for painting doors, cabinets, stenciling, anything you want a super smooth finish on.
9. Extension Pole – Never ever ever paint without an extension pole. Even if the thing you’re painting is all within your reach, adding an extension pole to your roller frame will make it go so much faster, and will be so much easier on your arms.

Happy Painting! That’s all for today, have a fabulous day!

You guys remember when we bought our house, right? If not, let me refresh your memory. I was six months pregnant, and as I entered my third trimester, we also started a ton of work on this house. We worked every day for two months straight, and then we moved in to a completely unfinished and unfurnished house. Three weeks later, we became parents.

That’s the part of the story you all know. The rest of this is what you don’t know. So. Here goes nothing.

We took a natural pause in the work on the house after our son was born. But then, seven weeks into my maternity leave, Ethan was unexpectedly laid off from the small company he was working for. They just couldn’t keep him on the payroll. It was days before Christmas, I was on maternity leave (not getting paid), and we had a brand new baby. To say we were scared was an understatement.

In January, I went back to work (as a teacher, so for not very much money). Ethan started some freelance work while we tried to figure out what to do. The newfound costs of daycare and caring for a baby combined with inconsistent freelance income made the end of the month terrifying. Needless to say, we weren’t setting aside any money for renovation projects.

Every time we thought we wouldn’t be able to make it through another month, the Lord came through. We kept setting arbitrary deadlines of our eventual financial demise, and every time, the Lord met our need. But it wasn’t easy. We had been working on the house at such a break neck speed, only to be halted with a baby and an unfinished house. It was frustrating to say the least. We were stretched, learning how to lean on God like never before.

And this went on for a long time. It seemed like God wasn’t opening the door we needed opened, and we were confused. We were frustrated, angry, scared, exhausted, you name it, we probably felt it.

That is, until the right door finally opened. Nine months after we were sure our savings would run out. Finally, the turning of a new leaf, the end of a hard season. We feel a fresh hope, a renewed sense of inspiration and motivation to get back to work on the house.

So, if things have seemed kind of quiet on the home improvement front, now you know why. You never know what may be going on behind the facade of a smiling face on Instagram.

I can’t tell you exactly what’s next for the house, we still have some pretty big financial goals to hit, but I have a renewed sense of hope, and fresh ideas for some rooms in the house. And it feels really great to feel secure enough to make plans. So please stick around, because the home improvement is coming back. It took a little detour, but we’re back.

By the way, I think it’s time we build a playroom. That’s all for today, friends. Have a great day!

Hello there! Today I’m sharing some progress in our dining room that has me all kinds of excited. Of course, this room is no where close to being done (we don’t even have chairs yet), but I did some work this week, and I am loving the direction it’s heading in.

So, first, let me tell you about this dresser. I painted it several years ago for a vintage market, it never sold, and it’s been in our storage room ever since. We haven’t been using it other than to store random things, and it definitely wasn’t part of any “design,” it was just kind of there. Here is it in a display at a booth a few years ago.

So, the other night, I was up in our unfinished room, and I suddenly had an idea. I had some extra green paint left over from a bathroom cabinet project, and I needed a project to work on. So, within a few minutes, I started painting this dresser.

I painted it in Behr Sparkling Emerald, the same color I painted our bathroom cabinets. I spray painted the handles with some Krylon metallic gold paint I had in the garage. This was a complete whim of a project, but I am absolutely obsessed with the way it came out.

It’s just the addition to the dining room that I needed. Of course, we still have yet to purchase a rug, light fixture, chairs, art for the mantle wall, etc. But! This is helping me to see the vision I have for this room start to come to life.

In our previous house, I was strictly the ever trendy modern-farmhouse style in my decorating. In this house, I’m embracing somewhat of a traditional/classic/New England-esque style with blues and greens as the colors I’m using throughout the house.

The table was a thrift store find for $80. It’s massive, with two leaves, it can seat up to ten. It’s traditional and such a statement. It fits this house so well.

The plate wall has been coming along slowly. Although it’s not quite finished, it’s a combination of thrift store finds (from different states), neighborhood estate sales, flea markets, and even a couple from Hobby Lobby. I’m looking for a couple specific things to finish it out, but I love the look of a classic blue-and-white plate wall.

So, that’s all the progress for now. Lots and lots more to do in here, but I’m pleased with how it’s beginning to some to come to life.

When it comes to this old house, there’s a lot of things to juggle when it comes to making this place ours. Typically, you come into a new home and bring in furnishings to make the place feel like your own. Here, we have so many large scale projects to focus our time, energy, and money on, that it’s hard to prioritize what to do first. We’re so proud of the work we have done, but we still have so many plans for this place. So, what do you think?A bit different than something I would have done before, that’s for sure. That’s all for today, friends. Have a fabulous day!

It’s back to school for me this week! Of course I’ve been working on my classroom for weeks, and if you follow along on Instagram, you may have seen a story that I posted there of my classroom. This past weekend I got to meet all my new firsties for this upcoming school year and their families. I am so excited for this upcoming year in first grade. Today is my first official day of school, and I can not tell you just how excited I am! Even though I’ve been teaching for a few years now, I still get that jittery excitement waiting for the first day to arrive and now it’s here! I know it’s going to be a great year.

Even as teachers, we like to plan our outfits for the first day (or at least I do). This year, I am sporting my brand new wood wrist watch which I am obsessed with! This summer I have seen on social media many people wearing these super cool watches, and I loved them. So when JORD Wood Watches reached out to me, I was super excited. I’d been a long time admirer of their watches and now I am a proud owner of one! Looking at the pictures online, I was super impressed, but it is even prettier in person.

I chose the Zebrawood and Maple watch from their Fieldcrest series, and I could not be more pleased. It is so unique, and it really is the perfect accessory for back-to-school. I was drawn to the pretty wood tones of this watch. What’s cool about these is that while they’re all very unique watches, this particular watch fits my personal style so well! When it arrived in it’s beautiful packaging, it was already sized to my wrist! How awesome is that?! I have pretty small wrists, and usually have to have some links taken out of whatever watch I’m wearing. With this, I didn’t have to do that, since it was fitted just for me.

Now, here’s where this gets even better. I love this watch so much and I know you will too, so I am hosting a giveaway! If you click here, you can be entered to win a $75 credit to their shop! But it gets better. Just for entering, you will receive a $20 coupon code!!! So there’s no losers here at all! How stinking cool is that? The contest will be open until August 17th at 11:59pm. They have tons of great women’s watches to choose from as well as men’s watches if you’re looking for a unique gift idea. I know y’all are going to want to check that out!

Now, I should be off, since I do have a lot to do, being the first day of school and all. I have a feeling I will be wearing my new watch pretty frequently this school year. Well, that’s all for today friends. Have a fabulous day!

Jord Wood Watches kindly sent me this beautiful watch, but all opinions are my own.

Womens Wooden Watches

I’ve backspaced this sentence probably twenty times, trying to figure out how to word what I’m trying to say. Today I want to get a little personal, and share a big announcement! I’ve been trying lately to embrace more creative lifestyle. That sounds pretty vague and trendy and dumb, I know. Hear me out.

Six months ago when I started this blog I had no idea what I was doing (I still totally don’t), but I knew I wanted to share how I felt and the things I was doing in my home. This blog still hasn’t really gone anywhere in the past few months, but it’s something that’s helped me find my decor style. And if that’s all that comes from it, I’m totally fine with that. It’s also helped me to find contentment in our rental home. This little blog has been a bit of an experiment for me, something that I’ve just kind of let go wherever it will. But, it’s caused me to want to get into other things as well.

I love my job (I really, really do), but there’s a part of me that needs to be making things, to be restoring beauty to things, and to find others who have the same interests and ideas as me. I love waking up early Saturday mornings looking for garage sales, sifting through the junk in the thrift shop, or looking at the neighbor’s trash piles on trash night. I’m a sucker for a good deal, and I love refinishing things to make them beautiful again. I find myself wanting to explore these things more and more in my daily life. Not that I’m quitting my day job or anything (hello, I’m not a lunatic), but I’m wanting to find new ways to embrace my hobbies outside of work.

That being said, I wanted to share something new with you guys that I’m super excited and super nervous about. Next month, I’m going to be a vendor in a handmade/craft/antique/resale event in town. It’s an outdoor event that’s held in downtown Waxahachie, TX. I’ve been working really hard the past few weeks with different projects, and I’m going to be selling a range of things from redesigned furniture to homemade candles. I will have lots of handcrafted home items (and a few vintage items). I’ll have plenty of little things that I’ve painted or redesigned, and a few signs from my etsy shop. It’s going to he a mix of things, but I’m super excited about it. This is going to be my first event of this kind, and I’m looking forward to see what could come out of doing these types of events. I want this to be something that I do regularly, and so this first event is a big step. Honestly, I’m nervous that no one is even going to stop by my booth or care about my stuff, but I’m trying to be optimistic.

If you’re local, I’d love to see you October 10th at the Junk ‘N’ the Trunk Sale in Waxahachie. If not, I’ll be adding more items to my etsy shop after the sale. This is a big new endeavor for me, so I will need a lot of support. I’ll update you all after the sale (with some pictures of my booth/merchandise too). Until then, I’ve got plenty of work to keep me busy in the next couple weeks.

Thanks for reading along (I know this post is more wordy and has less photos than usual), but it’s something I’ve really wanted to share. Here’s to new doors opening and seeing where they lead! That’s all for today friends, have a fabulous day!