WALKING THE LINE.

Oh my. It's been awhile since my last post....however it doesn't feel that long since I have been very busy working on multiple projects!

For those of you who have never been to our house, EVERY room is painted (with the exception of our hallway...which will probably be painted at some point in the near future). I really believe a paint color can transform any room.

Our kitchen was in need of some color so I went to Lowe's and bought four small samples of paint (side note: whoever came up with the sample paint idea is genious). Once I got all four samples on the wall, I couldn't decide between two of the colors and therefore decided to paint stripes...this way I didn't have to choose :0)

Since there is not much wall space in our kitchen I figured painting stripes would be a fairly challenging, but simple undertaking. However, I was mistaken. This painting project took FOREVER! I would like to say that you should not attempt to paint stripes if you do not have the following: 1. patience, 2. a realllly long level and 3. a helper (preferrably one with math skills). My sweet husband was #3 and I could not have gotten the stripes drawn/level on the kitchen wall without him.

Mi Cocina before.

please note: the vertical blinds need to go

Stripes complete!



 

Mi Cocina complete.

with new mirror & Bayley with her new bunny

Even though it took hours and hours to complete this painting project, I am pleased!

CELEBRATING THE BIG ONE. 

Ahh, decorating and design...these are a few of my favorite things.

My first couple of posts have been all about decorating and DIY projects so I thought I would switch things up a bit and post my latest pink door design. This birthday invitation was designed with love for my sweet cousin in Midland, Texas. Lauren, thank you for allowing me to design your little man's FIRST birthday invitation!

{front}

{back}

The cute phrase on the back of the invitation is compliments of Lisa (my mom). She is incredibly creative!! Growing up, my mom handmade ALL of our birthday invitations (and for those of you who don't know me very well, I have three younger siblings - that's ALOT of birthday invitations). I must say, we had the greatest birthdays parties...all thanks to my mom's creativity (and my dad's willingness to partake in her imaginative ideas)!

All that said: birthday parties, my mom & designing invitations put a big smile on my face! If you are in need of invitations or announcements, please let me know as I would love to design something just for you!

WHAT DO YOU FORESHADOW? IT'S GOING TO BE A BALL!

Well, hello again. Did you foreshadow it would take me longer to make my next post? I'd imagine so since it took me such a long time to make my second entry!

But have no fear, the third post is here! I won't let this freezing weather overshadow my ability to write another blog entry. Speaking of foreshadowing & overshadowing...let's talk about the next Breath of Fresh Erin reveal:

A shadowbox. This is not just any shadowbox. It was not found at a salvage yard or an estate sale....although I do love to find items at these places. This shadowbox is special because it was built by my great grandfather in the late 70's. He had a little woodshop in good ole' Abilene, Texas and built this shadowbox for my grandmother who then passed it down to my mom and now it is in my house!

The shadowbox has been painted several different colors in the past thirty years so some serious scraping needed to take place in order to get the wood back to its original state. Unfortunately, scraping off the old layers of paint  proved to be a very difficult job. Lots of elbow grease required and since my muscles are a bit lacking, my dad assisted with this part of the project. I feel very lucky that Tom is always there to tackle my tough design dilemmas!

Here's a look at the beforeshadow:

& the aftershadow:

Without a shadow of a doubt, I think the scraping paid off! The only problem now is my small obsession with decorative balls...and the only problem with the previous statement is that small obsession is a huge understatement! Although, I don't feel too bad about my obsession because Bayley has an obsession as well...but her obsession is with tennis balls. To each their own.

A STUDY IN THE ART OF WOOD.

I LOVE before & after pictures! How can you truly appreciate the after if you haven't seen the before? 

I must say I am extremely pleased with how the wall turned out. Each individual board has so much character and I think the textured surface adds some (much needed) pizzazz to the study. Sooo without any further ado, the before and after pictures of the study transformation!

the BEFORE.

& AFTER!

I give this transformation a thumbs up! Across the boards! :0)

Our dog Bayley loves the new study....especially the new rug! She can't pass up a fluffy rug and I can't pass up an amazing deal! Would you believe me if I told you the rug was $25? It was originally $50, but marked 50% OFF on red line clearance! A 5' x 7' rug for ONLY $25...what an unbelievable deal! Better hurry to Garden Ridge before they are all gone.

  

And last, but certainly not least I would like to say this project would not have been possible without my parents : my mom (Lisa) and my dad (Tom)! A special thank you to them for spending their entire Saturday with me to build this wonderful wall! You really nailed it!