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A Vintage Mailbox Find for My Office

July 17, 2019

I love when I find something I did not know I wanted. Doyou know what I mean? That is what happened when I discovered a vintage mailbox find for my office.

It happened when I stopped by a popular antique store located between Denver and Colorado Springs. I was early for a meeting and there was parking spot right out front. Parking can be the biggest challenge when I shop outside the comforts of the suburbs.

The Barn was packed with vintage finds, candles, clothing and so much more. In between the antiques and farmhouse, chippy trays, I found a brassy, tired vintage mailbox. It was under $20.00 and it had good bones.

Vintage Mailbox

With an ongoing office refresh, the vintage mailbox found a new home in my office, right next to the door. I painted it a sloppy coat of Hale Navy paint to give a pop of color on the Revere Pewter walls. Of course, I did not grab a before photo. Epic blog fail!

This vintage mailbox was a cute addition above the light switch. I loved the serendipty moment when I realized the mailbox ended up next to a door. Maybe not the front door, but the door to my office. Serendipity right?

In today’s email packed inboxes, this little mailbox no longer holds the mail, but I bet it holds a lot of stories.

With the tiny door lift, centered on the front of the mailbox, it was ready to store something fun. Sometimes, practical is overrated!

Although this mailbox no longer holds the local newspaper I want to find a purpose for the scrolled arms.

But, what I love most about this mailbox is it reminds us of the low tech version of mail delivery. The little key entry on the front panel suggests an earlier simpler version of security.

I found this fun read about the history of mailboxes. Did you know in 1923 it was mandatory that every home had a mailbox. You can read the why here.

I love this mailbox find. And, it looks like it was meant to be a part of my home office. Not to be confused with my husband’s corner office in the basement. I would love your suggestions on what to store in the front compartment. I love the metal scroll detail

Living Room Chaise Wins the Popular Vote

June 24, 2019

We knew we made the right furniture choice when the dog claimed the living room chaise mid-day before the family rolled in after work, school and tennis practice. My husband claims it after work- it is his recharging station. In our house, the living room chaise wins the popular vote.

The unwritten rule is whoever lands on the chaise first, gets the chaise!

It reminds me of when my four siblings and I called shotgun as we ran down the stairs to fight for the front passenger seat in Mom’s Suburban.

The fact that there is no television in our living room, speaks to the chaise’s popularity. With wide cushions and just-enough length, it is perfect for an end of day nap as the rains roll in over the mountains.

We found our chaise at Crate & Barrel. You can find the dimensions and details here. We passed right by this chaise when we did an initial loop around the showroom floor.

We wanted a couch or club chairs to fit the awkward, rounded wall and tiny nook in the living room. The living room is complicated.

Never underestimate the power of pillows

The secret to the chaise’s popularity is with the pillows. My husband and I did not see the vision. But, thank goodness the sales associate pointed out the power of bolster pillows. The pillows make the chaise’s role in our living room flexible. It can be shoved against a wall or “free float” in front of our living room window.

And, the best part of this purchase was it took place during Crate & Barrel’s annual Labor Day sale.

The chaise is comfortable, stylish, flexible and the perfect spot to catch a nap or sneak in a chapter in my latest pick from this site.

The chaise was our Aussie’s favorite place to relax. I used to shoo Tanner off, but as his hips failed, I whispered in his ear, “You earned this Tanner.” We have visions of Tanner on security detail on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge.

The chaise was such a classy-casual addition to the living room I had to upgrade the rug. All of a sudden my indoor/outdoor rug felt like it belonged outside. I upgraded to this rug for a comfier feel our feet (or paws).

living room chaise for the win

And, with these views, the chaise is the perfect spot to watch the weather roll in over the mountains.

Copy Cat Pottery Barn Bathroom Vanity Find

June 20, 2019

When our son left for college my husband and I put our blood, sweat and tears into our daughter’s bathroom remodel. We tore out the tile and the tub in a weekend. The remaining tiled shower, new shower glass door install, drywall, flooring took months and that was the just the decisions on tile, flooring and the bathroom vanity. We landed on a copy cat Pottery Barn Vanity Find. And, we saved a thousand dollars!

We finished the bathroom remodel project days before Thanksgiving; just in time for our daughter to arrive home (from Denver-12 miles away) to stay for the Thanksgiving week. The fun part of the bathroom remodel was finding a copy cat Pottery Barn Bathroom Vanity find. It was worth the time to finish an exhaustive search and a few trips to the big box stores.

Like many home-related purchases, my initial searche took me to the Pottery Barn website. Funny how that works!

I had my eye on this Pottery Barn Vanity. It was everything I wanted in color, size and a countertop.

Source: Pottery Barn

But my daughter’s bedroom’s new purpose was to be a future guest bedroom and bath. My husband was not on board with Pottery Barn’s price tag for a bathroom that would be used infrequently.

In a rare moment, I totally agreed with his opinion on this purchase. It was a calculated decision because I knew I would have stronger opinions on price negotiations for our master bathroom remodel.

Copy Cat Pottery Barn Bathroom Vanity Find

I took my online search in a different direction and searched for similar vanities at a different price point. I shared my search results with my husband and we both decided on this bathroom vanity from Lowes. With a price tag of $749.00, it was perfect for our runaway budget after the shower install. So many lessons learned when doing a DIY renovation.

Our vanity was slightly different from the cabinet setup, but the countertop and slatted shelf were the same. This copy cat bathroom vanity was functional, pretty, trendy and economical. The gray lightened up this windowless bathroom and was a nice update from the original oak builder grade vanity.

With a pretty new countertop (included with the vanity) I added these cute little canisters to store a few essentials.

New Dining Room Hutch

June 6, 2019

One of my favorite things to read is the Pottery Barn catalog. It takes me longer to read a Pottery Barn catalog than the latest issue of People magazine. After 30 minutes, page our either torn out or tagged for inspiration. But with tuition, mortgage payments and the costs of my husband’s digital health company, the catalog usually ends up in the recycle bin. But, not last month. Last month I found my new dining room hutch.

Sometimes, non-essential dreams come true.

The dining room hutch was on my wish list for the room.

And, the irony is I didn’t find it in the catalog, I found my new dining room hutch in a hallway next to the bathrooms at Pottery Barn with a hold tag.

So I ripped the hold tag off!

Just kidding! I did not rip the hold tag off!

But, the story doesn’t end there at the store. I went home and checked out the details (price) and dimensions. And that’s when, in the final hours of a Sunday evening, in the top right-hand corner of my screen was a 24-hour flash sale

with a bonus round of **FREE SHIPPING.**

Sometimes non-essential dreams do come true.

I think this is where the term angel investors originated. #wink, #snarky.

Because once the hutch was in my shopping cart I got my sign from the angel investors; the Bowery reclaimed storage hutch was back ordered.

Backordered status translates to no credit card charge until the hutch shipped from Chicago.

I had time to pay it off before it shipped.

I now refer to this as mom’s angel investor club (entirely different meaning in my husband’s vernacular).

So the best part of this new dining room hutch was that it fit perfectly in my little dining room niche AND it was paid in full before it shipped.

The dining room hutch was made from reclaimed wood with rough edges and dark brass hardware. It matched the industrial vibe and the existing dining room table we found on clearance years ago at a furniture store in Denver.

I finally have a place to store the dishes after we tore out the cabinets when we removed the wall.

Here is the dining room ready for spring and maybe new paint!

How to paint cabinet pulls with Toothpicks

April 30, 2019

I purchased and installed 14 cabinet pulls in the wrong finish. I ordered the cheapest pulls in an oil rubbed bronze finish to replace the builder grade nickel hardware in our laundry room.

In this case, the low-cost cabinet hardware came at a steep price; the cabinet pulls were non-returnable

I thought the oil rubbed bronze would look great against the white cabinets, but I did not love the finish. However, I was pretty sure I would love an all-black cabinet pull.

Painting over a dozen cabinet pulls without incident (meaning no coverage issues or drips) had me looking at a long, drawn-out paint fix. And, then I got an idea on how to paint cabinet pulls. An idea that would take seconds and mean little to no downtime in a room that is used every single day.

With an Amazon box, 1/2 can of black spray paint + primer and a handful of toothpicks I set up my impromptu paint station.

The sharp point of the toothpicks made it easy to press into the cardboard box. The cabinet pulls might have wobbled on the toothpick, but they didn’t fall down.

Never under underestimate the power of a toothpick.

I lined the toothpicks up, poking them just a bit, into the box. I placed each cabinet pull on top of the toothpicks. The cabinet pulls were hollow so the toothpicks could handle the weight of each cabinet pull.

A can of black spray paint changed the look of the cabinet pulls in seconds. The toothpicks made it easy to spray around each cabinet pull without coverage gaps. meant I could get around each cabinet pull without coverage gaps.

The painted cabinet pulls gave me the look I wanted for a space that is all about lost socks, stains and loads of laundry. It’s the most popular room in the house.

After hundreds of loads of laundry, the spray painted cabinet pulls have not faded or chipped. They look brand new!

Love it! And, no one in the family ever knew of my initial disappointment in the finish. I started and finished and reinstalled the pulls in a matter of a few hours. In fact, NO ONE in the family noticed I had changed the cabinet pulls from the original pulls!

Pinnable graphic below!

How to Build Farmhouse Kitchen Shelves

April 5, 2019

The farmhouse shelves in our kitchen were one of my favorite projects. The shelves opened up the space and added a bit of a trend to my aging, dated kitchen. The farmhouse kitchen shelves were an inexpensive solution to replace the dated cabinets and not lose valuable storage. If you are looking for an entry-level DIY project these shelves are a perfect starting point.

Well, when we knocked out the wall between the kitchen and dining room we lost a row of upper cabinets. The open shelves was a great way to keep the space open and add storage space for the essentials.

It was a simple project with 2 x 12 select pine from Home Depot. We went with select pine because it has a smoother finish. I cut the pine boards to size using a table saw (with an assist from my assistant (husband) to hold the end of the board).

I used my favorite pre-stain wood conditioner to prep the wood shelves.

This was my go-to stain for most of my DIY projects. I have a few other favs, but this is a reliable stain and gives me a rich, Colorado rustic finish.

I went with a heavy bracket and found Wade’s shop on Etsy. These were super easy to install to the wall and the weight of the brackets matched the weight of the pine shelves.

The hardest part of these farmhouse shelves was capturing a photo at the right time of day (still waiting) and staging the shelves. Seriously, I was so excited to stage the shelves and it has been many late nights with episodes of Friends in the background while trying to find the right accessories.

This was an easy Saturday afternoon project. I loved this project so much I added the same shelves to our aging basement kitchenette/bar. So the farmhouse shelf photos are from both spaces.

I am taking staging suggestions for staging the shelves in the comments.

Garage Entry Door Makeover in an Hour

November 20, 2018

It’s the week of Thanksgiving. I should focus on mashed potatoes, fresh linens and a vacuum to reign in the dog hair. But that’s not what happened yesterday. In between a quick inventory of the Christmas trees and hauling out bags of clothes to drop off at Goodwill, I painted the garage entry door. That’s right in less than an hour I had a garage entry door makeover. Welcome home…

You know when you reach that point where you have to drop everything because something bugs you so much? Like a mosquito bite; that you can’t reach to scratch? Well, my garage entry door was that mosquito; except it was door and days before Thanksgiving.

This was the door a few years ago before it got a quick update with a coat of black paint and new hardware. But over the years the door got banged up with tennis bags and a 93 pound Bernese Mountain dog covered in mud.

She may also be the reason the updated door hardware tilts.

I switched things up with a couple quick coats of Chelsea Gray. The same paint I used to paint our living room hutch. There is an Instagram account just for Benjamin Moore’s Chelsea Gray.

In our house, the entry door from the garage is the most popular door. The only one who visits the front door is the UPS or Fed Ex guy. So it only made sense that my family members have a door with fresh paint.

In less than an hour, I had a garage entry door makeover. And I added a little something to welcome my family home.

It turns out the crazy, packed schedule is the deadline I needed to haul out a paint tarp. The time spent painted rolled by quickly with thoughts of all three of my children home for a few days. #fullhouse

I plan to make these as these breakfast rolls in the days before Thanksgiving.

Hello there!

Sharing:

Across the Boulevard

Rustic & Refined

Never Underestimate the Power of Paint

November 7, 2018

“Do you think we can find paint ideas on Pinterest?” My husband asked this question while driving home with three salvaged doors hanging out the back of my car. The fact that my husband knew how to use Pinterest in a sentence made me so happy. His question told me he listens to some of my crazy house ideas. And, my crazy house ideas and my time are not wasted on Pinterest in the early hours of most Saturday mornings. Never underestimate the power of paint.

As a Realtor, I remind sellers paint has all the power in a room. A paint color has the power to turn off or engage potential buyers when they walk thru the front door.

The same can be said for your friends and family members. Don’t we all have a relative who has too much tchochtke and a crocheted toilet seat cover?

For older homes, buyers plan to paint and carpet.

But, sometimes paint can overpower the “bones” of the home. The paint hides the details.

I speak from personal experience. Heavy, dated walls make rooms feel dark and clutter.

Paint has the power to see the small details.

The details that are conversation starters with friends, family or homebuyers.

Paint has the power to create a mood or invoke a feeling.

Dated paint colors are a distraction. At some point, most of us apologize for one of our rooms:

“Yes we know the color we picked out nine years ago is so 2009. I picked that paint color. I own it.

Thankfully the paint is long gone and so is that wall between the kitchen and dining room.

Never underestimate the power of paint. And, maybe a few other updates.

Dining Room Table is Our Giving Tree

September 5, 2018

Do you know the book, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein? The classic children’s book was described as one of the “most divisive books in children’s literature.” I sided with the tree. And, I bet our dining room table wood too. Did you see what I just did?

Our dining room table is our 2018 version of the giving tree.

We found this table at a furniture store in Denver. We purchased it when we moved from Westerville, Ohio to Colorado. My traditional, cherry stain furniture did not work in our brownstone in the suburbs home.

My husband and I equally loved this dining room table and like proud parents we were happy to show it off to friends and family.

Like most dining rooms, however, the dining room table was located in the least used room for it’s designated purpose, but this table carries the load for our family. Literally.

Over the years, the dining room table turned into the catchall for tennis racquets, shopping bags, sweaty uniforms, and mail.

the giving table.

Dining Room Table

During the holidays, we cleared the table’s clutter and dust and topped it off with a layer of furniture oil. Seasonal tablescapes were created over her rough edges. Friends shared their interest in our table if we decided to sell our possessions and move into

… a tiny house.

But, it turns out there is a twist in The Giving Tree analogy. Maybe, we gave a little bit of love back to the dining room table.

Let me explain.

During our first Thanksgiving, with a dozen relatives squeezed around our table, we discovered that the rough edges and bumps on the surface were a bit of a challenge for the dining experience.

It turns out the glasses wobbled.. like Weebles.

My husband panicked and had plans to order a glass table top. Over my grey roots (see what I did there)? On that Thanksgiving night, I fell more in love with our table; it wasn’t perfect. The design to create a table for a Colorado home, it turned out, could not keep a wine glass level. The glasses wobbled. Kind of like grandma after her second glass of Chardonnay. Grandma blamed the table.

Maybe it was the table. Our table.

My husband suggested a glass top for the table. I suggested bubble wrap placemats. It turned out, the table’s imperfections became the best conversation starters with a table full of guests (and drinking glasses). And, just like the book, our dining room table gave us a little bit more.

Last Call Before the Boys’ Bathroom Remodel

September 4, 2018

Do we ever stop calling our boys, boys? That was the question swirling in my head as I took a few photos of the boys’ bathroom before the bathroom remodel.

One of the things I loved about our house was the Jack & Jill bathroom between the boys’ bedrooms. I called it a Jack & Jack bathroom. My sister called it SpongeBob and Whiney Pants’ bathroom. My younger son was a little whiney when his auntie babysat! #theyloveher #auntietricia

Some of the funniest childhood memories between these brothers took place in this bathroom. Like when my younger son went through a sleepwalking phase and decided the trashcan was the toilet. His brother witnessed the entire episode when he walked in to see why Evan was making so much noise in the middle of the night.

Or the transition from “tubbies” to showers.

Before the Boys’ Bathroom Remodel

Or the scent of Axe lingering long after the boys left for school. As a practical joke, they sprayed the Axe into the air vent between one of their bedrooms and their sister’s bathroom. She came out screaming that her room smelled like a middle school hallway.

What hasn’t changed over the years are the wet towels on the floor. Or, the empty toilet paper rolls the boys line up next to the toilet because the cardboard rolls were too heavy to toss in the garbage.

My boys have more hair and facial products than my daughter and me combined. Their bathroom counter looks like a Sephora counter after a sale. I may need to plan Thanksgiving facials this fall so I can take a new photo. #countdowntothanksgiving

I tried to blur myself out of the mirror’s reflection and I just noticed the quart of paint on the bathroom counter. When I made the farmhouse frame around the mirror, my older son could not wrap his head around the “Why?” “Mom, why did you add a frame? What was wrong with just the mirror?

This vinyl sign has been with this bathroom since the early years. I may have to repaint over it the vinyl and then peel off the vinyl with the blue paint maintaining the message.

These are the boys’ bathroom before the remodel memories. But let’s be clear; I am ready for new flooring, tile updates and new dual sink vanity with new sinks and faucets.

I love my boys and I am so excited to begin the demo on the boys to men bathroom remodel. It’s not just a transformation of their room it’s a reflection of their own personal transformation thru high school and college.

Revere Pewter Paint in Family Room

August 22, 2018

Do you know that feeling when you see a photo of yourself and your like, “That is not what I look like?” Well, that’s the same reaction I had when I uploaded house photos. “My family room doesn’t look like that? Oh yes, it does, Laura. Oh, yes it does. And, I remembered the power of paint.

Revere Pewter Paint

I spent months on this page to narrow down my decision on the paint color for our home’s interior.

I love the Revere Pewter paint on the family room walls, but these photos show a little more blah than boom. And, it wasn’t until I took those photos that I realized I have some family room goals this fall. I was on the right track when I added these pillows.

The basket with the pillows is one of my favorite things in the room. I love the contrast between the wicker and the blue & white pillows. See that tennis ball in the background? I have a photo collage of random tennis balls.

When you are a tennis family you find tennis balls just about everywhere. Last spring I painted the nook above the fireplace Hale Navy and loved the contrast against the Revere Pewter paint on the walls.

The Revere Pewter paint is carried throughout most of the house. Our home is an open main level so you can catch glimpse of the Revere Pewter on most walls.

Here is a glimpse of our new windows from earlier this summer. The new windows transformed the room. We replaced all the windows with clear glass (no grids).

And, then I captured this blank wall and I was like, “Oh, that’s rough Laura.” Now what?

Our dream, okay my dream, is to knock down that wall and add a dual-sided fireplace (the living room is on the opposite side). But until then I need something on those walls.

And, look I spy another tennis ball (and a wandering power cord).

Vintage Mailbox

Never underestimate the power of pillows

Copy Cat Pottery Barn Bathroom Vanity Find

Sometimes, non-essential dreams come true.

Dining Room Table

Before the Boys’ Bathroom Remodel

Revere Pewter Paint

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