My long boring family room is in a need of an EPIC makeover!

Hey guys, whoa summer is already up and I havent posted a darn thing.... shame on me between the new house, becoming a first time gardener, canning like crazy, and keeping three kiddos busy so they didnt go stir crazy these summer months have flown! And to top it all off baby #4 is going to make a debut at the end of January!

 Now that we are caught up lets get down to business....

 Our new home is a 60's style ranch we have had a lot of fun adding our personality to each room on our budget but we have come up blank and have no good idea/plan for the room we have deemed our family room. In comes Mandi from Vintage Revivals she has an Epic Room Makeover Giveaway and I would be crazy not to enter! That girl has my style down to a T and I know she could make some serious magic out of my very long pretty bland family room. So without further ado lets take a tour of the place shall we?

(no judging the amounts of so's, um's or how much I go on about having too many green things in our house!)

 


So there it is in all its glory, like I have said probably one too many times its a really long room at 22.5 feet long and only 10.5 feet wide. It has little wall space thanks to the very wonderful large picture window (which we love) and the cut out window to the kitchen (which flusters us as to what to exactly do with it!) along with two doorways (one being a double entrance- put doors in or not that is the question)

(this is the only time I actually dressed up the fireplace thanks to my abundance of peony bushes)

 While I know I gushed about my couch ( I really do love it) everything and anything in the room can be relocated, painted, upholstered, or donated everything is flexible and the more change the better for us! The dream for us is to have a room that our kids can grow into and enjoy every season in there!

 So here is my plead, besides the three little ones running around (6, 3, 1) our fourth will be making their debut by the end of January. Without Mandi's help this poor example of a family room will stay a hodge podge at least until next summer when I get out of the newborn haze!

 Mandi please help guide me to make my room dreams come true, I am a hard worker with lots of creative gusto that is fearless when it comes to paint, color, and fabric but lacks the putting of it all together. (I can give you a picture resume of all my projects if that will nudge me to the top *wink*)  With your help I know we can make all my home decor magazine and pinterest board dreams come true!

 Now friends, voting for my entry will be in about a week (sept 7-14th), dont worry I'll let you know I'd love to get your votes! And for getting through this semi-long post here is a quick video keeping it real and how messy the room is when the kids take over the room....

Broken Promises

So this month just didnt work out as getting a list done a day, oh well I gave it a good effort at times! So to wrap it up I am just going to do a Link Love Friday. With all of our lives in boxes I havent painted much and for awhile there wasnt even thinking about painting canvases it was more about painting walls and home decor. I think the thrill of that has passed (we still have about a month before we are moving in to our house) so now that most of my art stuff is in storage I am missing painting so much and am squirreling away information for when I can get all my art stuff out and make some messes! Here are some things that I am inspired by! Enjoy!

Im a HUGE fan of this artist. I love that she shared a glimpse into her changing styles as her art evolved. Really left me inspired and not so alone that sometimes my style is pulling me into a COMPLETELY different direction.

Hello beautiful statment wall! I am thinking of doing this in one space in my "art" area. First though I am going to try it as a background for a painting. Practice makes perfect right?!?!?

Not only does the above designer paint her home in bold amazing ways (take a look at her DIY tab, SO much fun stuff) she also has a pretty genius business that is a DIY dream! Dont know how I didnt find her stuff sooner!

I have been inspired lately by more structured backgrounds/artwork. This post wanted me to brush up on drawing straight lines, and get away from the throw the paint down and see what emerges process I have lately.

And finally I just found this artist late last night in an interview she had done on a PBS show I saw late last night (thanks insomnia I have had lately!) Isnt she amazing?!?! Makes me want to get out my paper and start tearing it up and making something RIGHT NOW.....

Now I have to fight the urge to bust into my art supply boxes! Have a great weekend friends!!!

Favorite days of the year

1) thanksgiving - hands down my favorite holiday

2) my birthday - a day all about me and only me? Yes please!

3) the rest of the families birthdays- its fun to celebrate each person in the family on their own special day

4) mothers day- I normally can guilt hubby into taking me to my favorite antique store

5) Sundays- favorite day of the week (except late Sunday evenings those I always wish go slow but normally fly by into Monday morning)

Pet Peeves

1) My kids not eating what I made for dinner because its "yucky" (even though last week they ate it and LOVED it!)

2) Mean people. Nuff said

3) The "stink eye" face Leila makes when she is grumpy at someone. Drives me batty!

4) the crumbs that magically appear on my carpet RIGHT AFTER I VACUUMED! (all caps folks hate it!)

5) my kids enjoy emptying every tissue box and baby wipe container they can find. I have literally walked into a room where you can no longer see the floor since it is covered in tissues *sigh*

What about you? What drives you batty?

Things I overheard today

Ok so this is a tough one since I don't go out often so it's normally just me and the kiddos so this is more things the kids said, in the words of Tim Gunn: make it work!

1) moo. Quack. Ssssss. Kenson is big on animal sounds still working on full words but we will get there!

2) yea I'm naughty sometimes. It's because I'm a kid - Leila

3) 7 out 10 days have been record highs- weather man on tv Seriously it feels like the middle of summer here in Wisconsin.

4) life gives to the givers and takes from the takers- Marie Forleo mentioned it in her q&a today.

5) full belly laughs as Valen discovers were his belly button as daddy tickles him.

Toys and Tools to try

(this picture has nothing to do with the list, just love how Leila likes to dress herself!)

This list is gonna be fun since we are shortly going to be homeowners (eek... sorry I know I have talked about packing a lot lately!) there are new toys Ken and I are super excited to play with!

1) Circular saw: we are wanting to build our own furniture and thanks to this website, I really think we can!
2) Push Reel Lawn mower: our yard is decent but not too big that using a man powered lawn mower would be too big of a chore.
3) Polaroid camera: I have a few that I have collected and briefly played around with them I am excited to bust them out again since I recently found a stack of film I had stashed while packing!
4) Wax: I have been wanting for a VERY long time to add wax to my paintings and this is the year!
5) Serger: I have had one for two years that I have never touched (I know I know I have this huge fear of sewing my fingers together, dont know why since I have no fear of doing this with my sewing machine) no more fear, plus I have lots of home sewing to do, hello curtains!

I couldnt trim my list so here is one extra

6) Spray paint! Odd I know but since we live on a second floor apartment to lug things down to paint them and make sure I have drop clothes etc to paint furniture it has been a bit of a pain. Plus as a bonus I can use it in my artwork more easily thanks to an outdoor studio in my future!

10 years ago....

(a view from my childhood home)

1) I was in my first year of college
2) dating the man I would marry
3) had no passion for sewing or painting
4) was ready to take on the world
5) used yahoo messenger to chat with friends (havent used it years!!)

What about you?