Spring Pinterest Challenge!

Who's participating in the Spring Pinterest Challenge?! Katie and Sherry issued this season's challenge yesterday and I am pumped to have an excuse to stop pinning and start doing!!

Last challenge I was inspired by some herb planter boxes I saw on Pinterest and decided to build my own!
This challenge, I have plans on a project for the living room!
I have been obsessively looking for a coffee table, specifically something with a mid mod vibe to it, and I haven't had any luck in my price range. Seriously, I've been stalking Craigslist (don't take that the wrong way HA!) for the perfect piece but just haven't found anything yet... sooooo I'm going to build one! Wooo!! Time for a little power tool action! Here's my inspiration!

 Source

 Source

Source Obviously the third table is my favorite but I'm not sure if I'd be able to DIY that fab brass hardware connecting each table leg (any ideas?!). I think the first table may be more the look that I can accomplish. I absolutely love the tapered legs, and I like that the table is long and narrow (perfect for our 93" sofa!). Think I can crank this bad boy out by next Wednesday?! I sure hope so! If you're participating in the challenge, be sure to let me know what you plan on making! :) xx, Shannon

Haven Conference

Is anyone else going to Haven this year? I am beyond excited for such a great opportunity to meet other bloggers, learn from the best, and to hopefully network with as many people as I possibly can!

Not to mention some of my favorite bloggers will be speaking this year! John & Sherry, Katie, and Carmel! Can I get a what what?! I'm totally counting down the days.
I would love to know if any of you are attending Haven, that way we can be sure to meet eachother! Also, if you've attended a blogging conference in the past, I'd love to hear any tips or tricks you have!
xx, Shannon

Dream Design

If you haven't already noticed, I've got a thing for mid century modern gorgeousness. Like, it's obsessive. If you follow me on Pinterest, you've seen this first hand. :)

Maybe I was born in the wrong decade? I probably should have lived in the 70s when poofy, crazy hair was cool. Then my afro hair would be acceptable and I wouldn't have to blowdry it everyday... not that I do that now. Waaaayyy too lazy.

I digress. Where were we?

Oh, right. I am mid century modern obsessed. Emily Henderson is one of my favorite designers, I absolutely LOVE her design style, which makes sense since she uses a lot of vintage, mid century modern elements in her designs. Plus she's a thrift shop/flea market junkie, and I like that in a designer. 

When I was perusing her blog the other day, I saw a recent living/dining room that she made over, and seriously?!!! I am pretty sure absolutely positive I was drooling. I showed it to Aaron about 83 times and told him that when we buy/build our dream home one day, it has to look like this. I think he was watching baseball or something, so he merrily obliged. This is written evidence that my house will look like this one day. You all are witnesses.

MUAHAHAHA.

Alright enough chit chat, let's get serious.

Feast your eyes on my dream design

All photos from Emily Henderson's Blog

That couch, chair, coffee table, chandelier, dining set, bar cart, everything. I love it so much! This design style seriously speaks to me. I can hear it calling my name. Totally normal, promise.

Do you feel like theres a certain design style you just can't get enough of? Do you love mid century modern as much as I do? Or are you more of a traditional/contemporary/whatever is trendy at the moment fan? Maybe you like a mix of different design styles? Share! :)

xx, Shannon

P.s. we went to Ikea to look at butcher block this weekend.. and we may or may not have looked at some other kitchen things too!! More details to come!

Free Printable Fridays

Thank you all so much for your input on my question to you yesterday, whether we should go with Quartz or Butcher Block in the kitchen. We now have a lot of great advice to base our decision off of!

I wanted to start a new weekly series of offering a free printable that I've made each Friday! I thought this would be a nice way to end each week. :)

This week's printable was created because I am literally obsessed with all things watercolor right now! I just can't get enough of it!

Feel free to download a copy of this 8x10 printable to display in your home! :)

I printed on an 11 x 17 sheet of paper to fit and Ikea Ribba frame. :)

To download, click the below button! :)

Be sure to let me know if you have any suggestions or ideas you may have for future prints! :)

Enjoy your weekend!

xx, Shannon

Quartz or Butcher Block?

In the next month or so, we plan to do a few updates in the kitchen. Nothing major, but we really would like to get new countertops, an undermount sink, and a new faucet.

For reference, here'e the history of our kitchen, starting with what it looks like today

 When we moved in we installed the cabinet knobs and pulls, the subway tile backsplash, new light fixtures, and the stainless steel appliances.

Our current laminate countertops.

Our progress somewhere in the middle

The kitchen when we bought the house

Looks totally different right?!
Okay, now that you've seen my kitchen in all of it's stages, let me continue.

The problem is that I keep going back and forth between quartz and butcher block. I absolutely love the look of both, which obviously doesn't help me any. The big difference between the two is the price. Butcher block would run us under $500, and we can do it ourselves. Quartz is going to easily be $3000, and we would have to hire out. I don't mind investing in my home because I know we are only increasing it's value, but at this point anything would be better than the laminate we have now. The reason I'm uneasy about dropping 3 grand on the quartz is because this is not our forever home. This is our home for the next few years, and then will become a rental space. Our townhome is only so big, so we're definitely going to outgrow it sooner or later. 

So do I do the butcher block now, and save the quartz for our forever home? This is the way I'm leaning.

I would love your opinions! Especially if you have quartz or butcher block in your homes!

If we decide to go quartz, I absolutely LOVE the Cambria Torquay

Source: 7th House on the Left

If we decided to go the butcher block route, we would probably look at Ikea's options

Source: This and That

What are your thoughts? Should we go big or go home and pick the quartz? Or should we save the quartz for our dream home, and thriftily upgrade with the butcher block?

xx, Shannon

P.s. Have you heard the news that Google Reader is going away July 1? Another great option to stay up to date with your favorite blogs is Bloglovin! Feel free to follow me there. :)

How to Paint Laminate -- My $10 Mid Century Modern Desk Makeover

A couple of months ago I participated in Young House Love's Macklemore Thrift Shop Challenge.

  I found an awesome Mid Century Modern desk for only 10 bucks at a yard sale! I actually started transforming this desk a week or so after I got it, but have been unable to share the completed project until now because I just yesterday received the new hardware that I ordered for it over a month ago! (I ordered them from MyKnobs.com and they look great and were cheap, but their communication/customer service is a little lacking --overall I love them so it was worth the wait!).

For those of you who are new, or are like me and can't remember what you ate for lunch yesterday, heres what the desk looked like when I found it!

I absolutely loved the shape of the desk, especilaly the legs, but the laminate finish was all scratched and really had seen better days.

So, I decided that I would try and freshen the desk up a bit with some paint! :) If the desk had been solid wood, I definitely would have tried to refinish it, but since this wasn't the case, I figured painting was the best way to go.

So, here's how I prepped and painted my mid century find. :)

Here's a few more picture of the desk in the living room. I decided to use it as an end table for our new couch. :)

How awesome does it look with the fun new paint color! I wanted something bright since most of the furniture in the living room is very neutral. And what about those new knobs? I think they were just what the desk needed to really make it shine! Roar!!

My living room transformation is almost complete!

Read from the beginning of my living room progress here:

Painting the House
The Plans
New Couch
New Rug
A Second Couch
DIY Fauxdenza

Have any of you attempted to paint laminate? Have you painted any furniture lately? Did you participate in the Macklemore Thirft Shop Challenge? -- If so, post your link in a comment so I can checkout your finds!

xx, Shannon

P.s. The teal paint color is Behr's Shoreline Green. The gold is Martha Stewart's Yellow Gold. The knobs can be found here and here.

My Light & Bright Minty Green Bedroom

The saying the third time's the charm definitely applied to me painting our bedroom three times last weekend. By the time I got to that third color, repainting the room was totally worth it!

I wanted light, bright, and airy and that immediately equated to me as white/off-white/light gray. After I struck-out on the first two, I realized that light and airy doesn't have to be achieved by white, or neutral only paint -- I just needed to choose a color I liked and tone it down (choose one of the lighter hues on the swatch).

I brought home a sample size of a pretty blue and a mint green, hoping one would work as is. But of course, the colors were definitely not working for me... that would be too easy. It's crazy how you can envision a color so beautifully at the paint store, and then as soon as you get it in your home, in your lighting, with your things; you hate it.

I was happy with the blue/green family that I was working with so I decided to try mixing my paints to come up with a shade I really loved (that also worked with and not against our cherry furniture and floors). I wanted to be able to see the color right there in the room; rather than try to choose in the paint store again.

I started mixing the blue, green, and some white. I painted all of my concoctions on the wall and decided on a winner!

I painted my winner on a paintstick, brought that into the paint store, and had it custom color matched! Success!! :)

I also made that headboard this weekend! I'm really happy with how it turned out and plan on sharing more details later this week. :)

This room still needs a lot of work, but I think its definitely on it's way. :) One thing's for sure, I need a mirror over that bed. The ceilings are so tall in this room, but nothing is drawing the eye up towards them.

A quickie photoshop of a mirror and a bench at the end of the bed. I'll take it! :) I think we may need taller lamps too. And maybe a stenciled accent wall? Hmmm. :) Don't tell Aaron. 0:)

So, do you like the color? Does it feel light, bright, and airy to you, too?! :) Do you tend to prefer lighter or darker colors in the bedroom? Have you ever mixed your own color?

xx, Shannon

P.s. Anyone interested in the color formula, here it is!

P.s.s. If you love creative DIYs, you should check out Hello Lidy. Seriously, she is so creative! Lidy is sharing my fauxdenza post today. :)