Slip Cover Joy

Last year my friend Yanet from 3 Sunkissed Boys offered up a challenge to me to make a slip cover for my ugly ugly rocker when I posted about how much I didn't like it.

(can't find that post right now, ugh!)

I have to say that that frightened me because I can't sew very well. I can make a pillow and that is about the extent of my abilities.

Through the months I have come across many beautiful slipcovers in blogland that were just toying with me.

A couple months ago we replaced ugly, ugly recliner with just another ugly recliner but better made. (thank mom and dad)

Here is "new" recliner.

(sorry about the photos)

I did my research online and found Miss Mustard Seeds video tutorials the best help for me. So I watched them and then started in using a large drop cloth that I have had for a while that had been washed and bleached several times.

I started piecing, cutting and pinning the sections together,

I used the hems that were already there for the back. I still have to make ties or use velcro to keep the back together.

This made it for easy off an on.

I tucked in some areas as well because I had to have some extra so when we lean back the seams don't rip.

This whole section is one piece.

After that was all done, I worked on the cushion doing the same thing. I cut around the cushion, then made a strip, well actually two because I didn't have enough drop cloth left, for the sides and pinned then and sewed. I made a flap for the back and attached velcro so I can take it off and wash it if need be.

I had to think about the foot rest for a while but I decided that the easiest thing would be to unscrew the pieces, wrap them with the cloth and staple on. I figured drop cloth is inexpensive so if it gets dirty I will just replace it. :)

I am SO not that great at this but it works.

There are holes and unfinished seams and hopefully it doesn't fall apart when I wash it.

BUT

I like it, it does the job and it will just have to do. :)

Wanna know my next big project?

sure, why not! :)

I am revisiting this mess...

I have already done some painting and I lost the battle with the cat pee so up came the carpet.

I will post pictures soon of what I have done and what I am thinking about doing!

Oh and my logs came in!!!!
YYEAHH!!!!!

I love them!

Cozy huh?!

I am still thinking about what to do with the hearth, I have a few ideas in mind.

The glow is really nice, the crackle, eh!

It does not sound that real or at least it would, but there is this large click that goes off that kind of ruins it, but all in all I am really happy with it.

Have a great weekend!!!

A Simple Joy

It has been a busy week so far here at the Cove! We have been running kiddos everywhere and tonight my wonderful hubby graduates his Police class and will be an official Police Reserve for our county!! I am so proud of him and I will post more on that later.

I just wanted to thank all of you for your wonderful comments on Raliegh's artwork, she is so talented and so sweet and genuine. I will be posting more of her work in the future. :)

Also, I want to welcome all of my new followers/friends! Thank you so much for joining me in my crazy little world. :)

I have not done much in the way of decorating, I am still working on the bonus room bit by bit. My biggest issue up there is that one of my cats..........

AHEM....

decided that it would be a great place to potty! Yeah Me!!!

SO I have been carpet cleaning and spraying special product up there for days now!!

GGRRRRR!!!!!!

The weather here has also been icky. Remember when I said that the snow didn't stick? Well, I must have made Mother Nature upset because the next morning IT STUCK!!!

Don't fret though, it is gone and now we just have rain, rain and more rain along with high winds.

Last week Friday I think it was, my hubby and daughter were at her basketball practice, my little one and I hunkered down, lit a fire and cozied up The Cove with some candlelight!

(sorry the pictures are not the greatest, that was my attempt at nighttime photography. I still have much to learn)

It felt so warm and cozy in here and to just be able to hear the winds and the rain next to a roaring fire and snuggle with my little man was so relaxing and felt so good.

A simple joy in life for sure. :)

Mantel Planks

Since we did the fireplace on Sunday and it went rather quickly I thought that while I had a few seconds I would show you how it came out. I want to thank you for all your visits and comments about my family room redo and hopefully I am not boring you with this project and hopefully I will show you the ENTIRE room one day! :)

Anyway, I have always loved the plank walls that I see in old cottages and homes and even faked one in my kitchen that you can see here if you have a minute.

Knowing that hubby was not up to doing another wall again, especially after putting in the floors and everything else that he has been so graciously helping me with, I decided that just a partial plank wall will do, and what better spot for one than over the fireplace.

Before:

After:

It was pretty easy to do, well, it looked pretty easy to do since I observed most of the time.

We, or he, just cut the boards to length, trimmed the top and bottom boards so they looked even and then nailed them up!

I then slapped on some leftover paint and hung up my treasures.

I love how it turned out and it adds another, what I feel, beachy texture to the room and makes the fireplace seem a bit more interesting.

The 'old' fishing net I got at TJ Maxx along with the bigger sand bird.

The starfish and beach grass I shopped from the house.

But see the little sand bird?

Isn't he cute?!

My friend Anita from Going A Little Coastal asked me were I had picked up the larger bird. I told her where and mentioned that it would have been great if they had different sizes.

WELL,

being the sweet gal that she is, when she picked up her sand bird she told me that there were indeed different sizes and brought home this little guy to send to me!!! :)

I love him!

She also sent me this amazing smelling candle that smells like the sea!!

Thank you SO much again Anita, he is perfect with his big brother!!! :)

This week in between taxing the kids around I am tackling this mess!

This would be our bonus room or grave yard of all things not needed at the time.

My goal is to make it a tropical sitting room for the kids.

UGH!!!

I will be back Thursday to join the adorable Sarah from Modern Country Style and her

DEFINE YOUR BLOG linky party!

Click on the bottom above to find out what it is all about!

HUGS!!

Progress??

Hello there my sweet friends!

I hope that you are having a great week! Next week is Spring Break for the kiddos so I will be signing off for a bit to spend time with them and hopefully complete some things around the house that I have started.

I told you the other day that I made some changes in my kitchen. I am still playing around with things. There was just something about the my kitchen that just bothered me.

Do you ever get that, you change and rearrange but things don't seem to look like they do in your head?

I think that I finally figured it out though....I think......

Last Saturday I moved our banquette upstairs and brought back the wicker chairs that I picked up at Ikea many moons ago. I really love that style seating but I was starting to feel a little claustrophobic in that area so out it went. I will save what I am going to do with that for a later date. :) I then moved the hutch, brought in a sofa table and just shopped around the house for things.

This is how it originally started out.

Then I went to this.

And now we are here. :)

(my little scale is getting another makeover, that is why she is not in the pic:) )

I am looking for more prints for this wall so it looks pretty bare. I moved the hutch because I wanted to show off my faux plank wall. We worked really hard on it, why cover it up right!

It just feels much more open to me and easier to get around the dining table. I would love to get a rug to go under the table as well so I will add that to my ever-so-long list.

And since I don't ever know what to do with myself when I don't have a paint brush in my hand I also decided that the color of the bottom of the kitchen cabinets were just not giving me the look I was hoping for, so guess what?

YUP!

I am going to re-re-repaint them hopefully over break.

I really love the color but I am so drawn into the neutrals and the gray that I used on my trim (Smooth Stone from Glidden) will be covering the Tranquil Pond.

Whew!

This is long!

Sorry but a girl has a lot to say when she is going to be gone for a week. :)

I will leave you with some more photos of the family room!

I successfully made two pillows, still need to make one more, and arranged my little cozy corner.

The white pillow is from PB that I scored from Christmas gift cards.

I also hung up some photo ledges that I had from Ikea and put up a shadow box that I had purchased many many moons ago that I never found a spot for it but I knew I had to have it.

I really like its new home. :)

This is looking down our hall from our kitchen. You can see our entry way and the new jute rug I picked up from Kolhs for half off! Woo Hoo!

I will also be doing a picture gallery above the side table. I already found beautiful sailboat and sea shell pictures from Michaels.

Love my floors!!

(I am not quite ready for the whole reveal of the Family Room yet so bare with me, not that you are waiting on pins and needles :) )

I replaced the little table with this one that I had in our bedroom because a certain furry child of mine kept eating the fake grass!!

He really looks like he cares doesn't he!

I also wanted to welcome all my new friends and I appreciate you joining in on all my chaos! :)

Thank you so much to everyone for all your support!

I love you gals!

I hope you all have a wonderful week, it actually may take you that long to read this!

I am sure that I will pop my head in and out to see what you up to, but if not, I hope the sun shines on you and if you are traveling have a wonderful and safe trip!

See you in April! :)

HUGS!!!

Painted Tables

I have been moving at snails pace lately with the family room but I did manage to get some sofa tables painted yesterday.

The weather has been icky here so it is easier to stay inside and get some things done.

Here is my table all painted up with pretty colors that I found (I love test paint samples!!)

Sorry about the picture, it has been very gray and dark around here.

But you can see all the different shades of blues that I love.

I eventually picked the top middle one, Sea Spray by Glidden, which now that I think about it was one of the choices for my room. Huh, I guess I really like that color! :)

Anyway, after I purchased a quart I came home and looked at my two tables in the family room and decided to go with this instead

Yup, white!

I am really liking how clean the white is with the gray and the new floor so I kept it neutral.

I am going to use the Sea Spray in other things, you know me, nothing goes unpainted! :)

I also purchased a new lamp shade! I was so excited because the old one was falling apart and yucky. It was the shade that the lamp came with, sorry no before pics.

I purchased it at Target and I love the "waves" that it has. The texture is fun and the white looks bright and clean! :)

I also went yesterday to pick up some blue ticking fabric to make pillows. I don't know why but I am drawn to the darker blues with this room, They just feel right.

My goal for the rest of the week is to attempt to make some pillows.

We will see how that goes!

Have a great week!!

Is It Monday Already?

Heelllloooooooo!!!!!

Happy Monday to you all, it is officially spring!!

This weekend flew by so fast!!

I want to thank you all from the bottom of my heart for all the beautiful birthday wishes for my daughter! She LOVED reading them and we had a great weekend together shopping, eating, talking and just hanging out.

I just can't believe that she is officially a teenager now!!

Please forgive me for not getting back to you, we were very busy this weekend and still have LOTS to do this week. I love connecting with all of you and try my best to do so.

We picked up our floors on Thursday night and then Friday, Saturday and Sunday my dad and my hubby installed them.

I LOVE THEM!!!!!!!

ALOT!!!!!!!

Here is where we were on Saturday.

My dad and hubby worked up until the time we all went to dinner to celebrates my daughters birthday. Then when we got home hubby and I finished up the remainder that night then hubby started filling in gaps on Sunday.

We still have some more gaps to fill in, quarter round to put in, repainting some areas that got a little scratched up and I still need to paint a couple tables this week.

I am so happy that we went with the darker color, we are really happy with it. Only problem is now I would love to have this through the kitchen as well!! :)

Hubby told me that is so not happening!!! I kind of figured that would be the answer! :)

Here is a little sneak peak of the floors in the hallway.

It has been raining here all day today (so much better than snow) so my pictures are not that great.

Don't you worry, I will be back later to show you more when I have things put back together and the weather cooperates! :)

This is also on my to-do list this week:

This picture reminds me how much I don't like that light.

Have a great week my wonderful friend!!

Hugs!

(thank you mom and dad for you all your help and everything that you do for us, I love you more!)

Need Your Advice Again Please.

Hello my friends! I hope you are all doing well.

This week has been a bit of challenge for me in more ways than one.

First it is the painting, which I am over halfway done and it will get done so that isn't too much of an issue. The second one is however. I told you a while back that my daughter has some sleeping issues but never really went into detail about it. She has been diagnosed with severe separation anxiety that presents itself mainly at night. This has been going on for over 5 years now and I am pretty certain it stemmed from my heart attacks and surgery. It is emotionally and physically draining at times. I know we all have our struggles but I feel like I can share this with you and you will understand.

Anyway, we have been doing everything that we can think of for the last five years and this week has just been bad for us. I know that some of you know about this and I thank you so much for your help and support (Mother Warrior).

Why am I telling you this?

I am telling you this because I have been a bit scattered brained and absent and not able to do what I love to do, which is visit you. So if I am here and there that is why. I know that we will get through this but there are just some weeks that are better than others and this is a bad one. Honestly I think that I paint and re-re-do just to get my mind off of things and I seriously think I have creative ADHD and can't sit still. :)

I didn't tell you this for any pity or anything like that, I just wanted to let my friends know where I am coming from. I know that you all know that there is a life behind our blogs and we live and deal with everyday things whether good or bad.

Thank you for letting me get that off my chest, I truly love you all!

Now, why do I need your help?

This is why...

When I finish painting we are putting in a new floor and here are some samples that I picked up.

I tried to get them in the light and the above picture is pretty close to what they actually look like.

I really like the darker one, not only for the color but I love the grain and rustic appeal it has to it.

However, this is what they look like up against the floor that is in our kitchen.

My question to you is do you think that I need to match the floor in the kitchen (they don't make what we have anymore) or do you think that a bit of a difference is ok?

The rooms flow into each other but they are definitely separated by a wall, I don't have an open concept home.

Anyway, thoughts, concerns, questions about having different colored flooring throughout the house would be wonderful!

Thank you again for everything!

On a side note I want to thank my friend Marie from Sally Lee by the Sea for featuring my beach bedroom on Monday. Her and her family share so many wonderful beach, ocean, and coastal inspirations and will take you on a vacation without having to go anywhere! If you have not met them, please do! :)

Also, my friend Anne from Bird/Like is have a mood board party Monday. Click here for the details as well as a wonderful website that you can make your own mood boards! I checked it out for a minute last night and I can see that this is going to be fun to play around with!!

AND, you won't want to miss Sarah at Modern Country Styles Inspiration Journey party this Friday! Click here for those details!

Thank you again for sticking around listening to me and for all your wonderful advice and friendship!

I will leave you with an image of my little Baja, she looks like I feel this week! :)

Finally got all the paint out of her too!! :)

Hugs!