Let FREEDOM ring!!

Happy Thursday Ya'll!!

 

I can't believe tomorrow is July 1st!  How did that happen? 

Have you decorated your home for the 4th of July yet?  The only thing I've done is decorated our porch!  It is on my to-do-list to get the inside "Americana-ed" out!  I know it's not a word!!  You know what I mean...

 

I was looking for some inspiration on the net and thought I'd share it with you.

 

I'm wanting a subtle not so in-your-face kind of 4th of July look for my home.

 

Here's what I found, enjoy!

 

I love everything about this outdoor setting from Pottery Barn. 

 

I NEED this flag!

Love. Love. Love!

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I love the simplicity of this.  Anyone can create this sweet look! Stone Gable did a great job at creating a classy 4th of July environment in their home.

 

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How pretty is this?  It's exactly the look I'm going for in my home.  Calm and serene yet still patriotic. 

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Great table settings. Love the idea of using bandanas as a table runner.

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My son's birthday is July 3rd, so I love this fun birthday party cake table. 

 

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I love the framed flag and the pillows.

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Fun mantle!

 

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Love these paper wheels.  Great way to decorate a space on a budget.

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Love that you can add a holiday theme to a space just by changing out the pillows.

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This look is almost exactly what I'm after in my home.  Subtle punches of red.  It's still patriotic without being too overwhelming.

 

 

Thanks for stopping by today.  Tomorrow I'll share my favorite Red, White and Blue spaces and things!

Have a wonderful day.

 

xoxo

 Delilah

Motivational Monday ~ 3 Summers Left

Summer is my absolutely FAVORITE time of year.

 

I love the change that all the seasons bring but there's something so fun/exciting/adventurous about Summer!  Every single Summer there is a bit of guilt and sadness that sneaks its way in. 

 

I'm a working mom and so even though the kids get to sleep in and decide what adventure awaits them that day...
I get to get up at the crack of dawn and go to work.  Queue in the violins...

 

I could sit here and throw myself a pity party but the truth is I'm very grateful for my job.  It affords us the ability to get to do a lot of things we otherwise wouldn't be able to do.

 

Remember we talked about living like no one else so one day we can live like no one else?  If you don't remember, you can read all about that Money talk we had here!

 

The other day it dawned on my that I only have 3 Summers left with my baby girl before she goes off to college! (insert ugly cry!!)

 

How is that even possible?  My heart can't take it.

Again, I'm not going to throw myself a pity party, instead we are going to redeem the time!  That's Christianese for those that don't know.  :)

 

It just means that I'm going to make the most of those 3 Summers I have left with my baby girl.

 

OK, this is what I did.

I gave both kids some homework.  I asked them to fill out a Summer Bucket List sheet I left for them.  I asked that it be filled out by the end of my work day.
 


 I added this fun Summer list of ideas to help them out.

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I loved reading through their lists.

 

Some of the stuff I had to tweak when I created our "Master Summer Bucket List" because even though I'd love to go to Australia for the Summer, that ain't happening!

 

A few days ago we were able to cross one of the things off of our Summer to do list. 
Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk!




I love living in California and one of our favorite things to do is go to the beach.  Santa Cruz is wonderful because you get the beach and the boardwalk!  On Wednesday's they have what's called "Pepsi nights."  With a can of Pepsi you will get a discount on tickets after 5:00pm.  For $12.99 you get unlimited access to all the rides.






We had two SUV's full of teens and preteens.
They had a blast!


(Life is more fun as a mermaid)

We enjoyed the beach during the day and the rides at night. 



Truly a perfect day.

They even play movies on Wednesday nights on the beach.  This picture below shows the blow up screen ready to go.



What about you?  Do you have a Summer bucket list?  Have you counted how many Summers you have left before your kids head off to college?

Are you making the most out of each and every day?
 

 

I hope you are inspired to try and live your life to the fullest!
 

 

 

 

 xoxo
Delilah

Mix and Match in Miss Mustard Seed's Bergere

 

I'm so excited about this new piece in my dining room.  (Sorry for the low quality pictures by I'm still having camera issues!)  :/

 

 

I've had this beautiful desk/armoire in my dining room for a while but it just wasn't fitting the space well.  It was too big.  I tried to convince myself that I could make it work because I loved the piece so much but finally came to the realization that it had to go.

 

I sold it to a good friend and that made parting with it so much easier.  I love when my pieces end up in my friends homes.  Then I know I can visit them anytime!  :)

 

 

Once the piece was gone I tried to fill the space in my dining room with other pieces of furniture that I had but nothing fit quite well.

 

I guess that meant shopping was in order!  I know... twist my arm! 

 

I thought about buying something new but I was more interested in buying something I could add my touch to so I started my Craigslist search.

 

I knew that I wanted it to be tall and not too deep.

 

The first thing I found was this little green cabinet.  I fell in love with the vintage window and for $40, I just couldn't pass it up!  I had a heck of a time loading that thing into my SUV all by myself though!  Whew!

 

Ok, so now I had the top of my buffet/hutch.  Now I needed to find a bottom.

 

I found the perfect little piece on Craigslist.  It was in fair condition and it was the perfect size.  I loved the simple lines and for $20 it was a done deal.

 

I got it home and placed the cabinet on top of it to see if it would work and viola!  Perfection!  Well, almost...

 

The green and brown wasn't going to work so out came the paint. I (my husband) also needed to cut off the legs to the cabinet so that it would sit flush on the buffet.

 

Miss mustard seed milk paint in bergere was what I envisioned for the pieces.  

Bergere by Miss Mustard Seed

It's a bluish/grey color.  I know what you're thinking another blue piece of furniture in your home??  I felt like the space could handle it with all the white and brown I had going on in there.

 

 

I took the door/window off and painted the inside of the cabinet white.

 

I LOVE how it turned out.

 

 

 The bottom piece had this ugly and dated contact paper lining the drawers.  I peeled it off and wiped the drawers clean for a fresher & cleaner look.

The first coat of milk paint is always scary.  It looks like this...



stick to it, don't get nervous.  After the second coat it looks so much better.


 

Below is the before and after with the original hardware.

 When I took these pictures I noticed the drawers looked slightly darker than the rest of the piece.  I didn't like that, so I added one more coat of paint to the drawers.  Much better!

These pictures were taken at different times of day and you can see how the color changes.  It sometimes looks grey and sometimes blue.  Love that about it.

 

The last thing I did was add new coordinating hardware.  I usually try to keep the original hardware on a piece but the change makes these two pieces come together nicely.







Here are a few close ups of all the details...



Smooth as butter...





Loving that original window!




My dining room is almost complete!  I've ordered an area rug and then I think the room will be done!

 

For now at least!  :)



xoxo
 

Delilah

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Design Dining and Diapers