Some favorites from the One Room Challenge

So we got to really enjoy having the porch done over the weekend, just in time for our area to experience a whole lotta rain.  But that's ok cause it's giving me plenty of time to look through all the other One Room Challenges.

There are so many good ones!  But several that really caught my eye are:

Lehman Lane's boy's room.  The built-ins in this room really blow me away.  That room packs so much storage into a rather tight space.  Love it.

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Bees n Burlap's kitchen.  I am really jonesing to do some work on our kitchen this year and this one gave me so much great inspiration.  The combination of industrial and farmhouse is spot on.

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The Crowned Goat's office looks like such a serene place to work.  The organization and decor look like they could calm even a mad working frenzy.  So tranquil, I could definitely spend some time there.

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Ann Jackson's dining room.  This is one seriously talented lady!  Her dining room is exactly what I want for my own, and she designed that wallpaper!  And some other beautiful patterns!

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Miss Dixie's nursery.  That little baby is going to feel so loved and protected in that dainty, feminine cocoon.  Lucky girl!

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So MANY great spaces and again a HUGE thanks to Linda for hosting this event!

One Room Challenge - Curb Appeal the Reveal!

First off, I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you to Linda at Calling it Home for hosting this awesome experience otherwise know the One Room Challenge.  This is a platform allowing us all to follow along as 20 design bloggers redesign a space.  She also graciously allows anyone with a blog to link up and share a makeover we are working on.

The first time I participated in the ORC we redid our laundry room.  Working under a deadline like this is great because it forces you to get it done, but can cause incredible stress if you have anything else going on in your life (family, jobs, you know).

This time around we chose to redo our front porch to add some curb appeal to our house.  We redid the front porch at our first house towards the very end of our life there and I kind of regretted waiting so long to do it.  This time around we figured we would get it out of the way a little earlier on, and I am so glad we did because many of the changes we made impacted the interior of our house as well!  The porch before was very cramped with the railings there that served no purpose.  Because of its size we didn't want to hang out on it, and the mostly solid door made our foyer so dark.

Just those two changes, the door and removing the railings brought so much light into the interior of our home!  We keep thinking that the door is open and go to close it.  I had started thinking that our dining room paint color was too dark but removing the railings even lets more light in there and now I am back to really liking the color.

We have had a hand me down glider on the porch since we moved in, in fact we had it on our old front porch and used it all the time there.  On this porch the railing was right at eye level when sitting on it so it didn't get much use.  Since removing the railings the hubs and I have sat out there with drinks several evenings now.  We added some side tables as a resting place for aforementioned drinks and it is a really comfy spot.

We had a rolling cart on our first front porch and the UPS guy always put our packages on it which was nice.  We had a piece of granite that we bought off of Craig's List intending to use in our master bathroom reno at our first house and decided that we would use that to top a table for the front porch.  The hubs built the base and it looks great in my opinion.

I also knew I wanted some more visual weight on that side of the porch and some extra seating would be nice.  Growing up my mom had a hanging rattan chair, similar to the Serena and Lily version, and I was hoping to find a more budget friendly version.  I think Ikea used to have one but they don't seem to carry it anymore so my search led me to Amazon where I found this one.  It's obviously not quite the same, but offers the same easy vibe to me.  It helps that the kids LOVE it!

We switched out our old, faded shutters for some with a more rustic, farmhouse feel to go along with the new/old door and added some planters to flank the door.  We changed out the light fixtures to some that fit the space a little better and aren't the dated, shiny brass finish and we are calling it done!

For the next little bit you can bet you will find me out here relaxing, probably with a cocktail, unless I am checking out what everyone else's space turned out like!

One Room Challenge - Curb Appeal Week 5

Yay!  It's that time again!   Linda, from Calling It Home, is once again hosting the One Room Challenge.  This is a platform allowing us all to follow along as 20 design bloggers redesign a space.  She also graciously allows anyone with a blog to link up and share a makeover we are working on.

This is my second time doing the ORC.  Last fall we did our laundry room and this spring we decided to use the challenge as motivation to enhance our curb appeal.  This is one the projects on my 2016 home goals list and I am ready to get it done.  The first week I shared our plans and inspiration and the second week we had made some progress.  The third week we managed to get the columns framed out and the new shutters made.  Week 4 was a slow week for us and I was hoping to turn that around for week 5 but with a short weekend due to a work trip for my husband we didn't get much done for this week either!  We did get another coat of paint on the columns and the new light fixtures up but other than that we got nothin'.  

Since by this time next week we should be giving a reveal we need to really get it in gear this weekend!  Still on the to do list are one more coat of paint on the shutters and getting them hung, swapping out the front door, hanging our new swinging chair, changing out some more hardware (numbers, doorbell, etc) and getting some side tables.  Then the final fluffing with some accents and more plants.  That's a lot to do!  Here's to frantic finishing!

I'll be back next Thursday, hopefully with a finished porch and landscaping, but until then I'm going to see what everyone else has gotten done!

One Room Challenge - Curb Appeal Week 4

Yay!  It is that time again!  Linda, from Calling It Home is once again hosting the One Room Challenge.  This is a platform allowing us all to follow along as 20 design bloggers redesign a space.  She also graciously allows anyone with a blog to link up and share a makeover we are working on.

This is my second time doing the ORC.  Last fall we did our laundry room and this spring we decided to use the challenge as motivation to enhance our curb appeal!  This is one of the projects on my 2016 home goals list and I am ready to get it done.  The first week I shared our plans and inspiration and the second week we had made some progress.  The third week we managed to get the columns framed out so they didn't look so wimpy and got the board and batten shutters made.  

With only 2 weeks to go the pressure is now on!  I had hoped to accomplish a lot this past weekend but this was somehow our least productive week so far.  We had gotten to the point where choices HAD to be made and items purchased and I just couldn't seem to find the time to do it.  We did get a coat of paint on the shutters and the columns over the weekend, but that coat only emphasized the fact that we hadn't caulked or filled the screws on the columns at all!  So after work on Tuesday the hubs managed to get out and get some wood putty in them.  Now they are all polka dotted waiting on the time for another coat of paint.  

We also got our new lights ordered and our hanging chair.  Thank goodness for Amazon Prime because they came in last night!  We have a short weekend coming up because of some plans but hopefully we can get another coat of paint on the columns and shutters, get the new lights up, and I am keeping my fingers crossed that we can get the new front door up!  I really like how the lights and the door reference each other with the 9 lite grid!

I'll be back next Thursday, checking in with (hopefully) a ton of progress, but until then I'm going to see what everyone else has gotten done!

One Room Challenge - Curb Appeal Week 3

Yay!  It is that time again!  Linda, from Calling It Home is once again hosting the One Room Challenge.  This is a platform allowing us all to follow along as 20 design bloggers redesign a space.  She also graciously allows anyone with a blog to link up and share a makeover we are working on.

This is my second time doing the ORC.  Last fall we did our laundry room and this spring we decided to use the challenge as motivation to enhance our curb appeal!  This is one of the projects on my 2016 home goals list and I am ready to get it done.  The first week I shared our plans and inspiration and the second week we had made some progress.  For this week we managed to get the columns framed out so they didn't look so wimpy and got the board and batten shutters made.  Hopefully we can get some trim added, and things caulked and painted this weekend so we can stay on track.  Only three more weeks to finish up!

I'll be back next Thursday to share what we accomplished but now I am heading over to see what everyone else has gotten done!

One Room Challenge - Curb Appeal Week 2

Yay!  It is that time again!  Linda, from Calling It Home is once again hosting the One Room Challenge.  This is a platform allowing us all to follow along as 20 design bloggers redesign a space.  She also graciously allows anyone with a blog to link up and share a makeover we are working on.

This is my second time doing the ORC.  Last fall we did our laundry room and this spring we decided to use the challenge as motivation to enhance our curb appeal!  This is one of the projects on my 2016 home goals list and I am ready to get it done.  Last week I shared our plans and inspiration and last weekend we got busy.  We manged to tear all of the ridiculous railings off the porch and got a coat of paint on the new front door.  Hopefully this weekend we will manage to get the columns framed out so they are chunkier and more substantial seeming and get some new board and batten style shutters made.  I am hoping to get that new door in too!

I'll be back next Thursday to share what we accomplished but now I am heading over to see what everyone else has gotten done!

One Room Challenge - Curb Appeal Week 1

Yay!  It is that time again!  Linda, from Calling it Home is once again hosting the One Room Challenge.  This is a platform allowing us all to follow along as 20 design bloggers redesign a space.  She also graciously allows anyone with a blog to link up and share a makeover we are working on!

This spring, in the interest of knocking something of off my home goals list, we are going to rework our front porch and do some fresh landscaping.

Our front porch is about 4 feet deep and has a ground clearance of zero inches, so why it has a railing is beyond me.  We are taking that bad boy off and beefing up the columns so they don't look quite so wimpy holding up the roof line.  We still have a new front door waiting to be painted and installed and I want the hubs to make some board and batten style shutters to replace the ones we have.  We are going to get some new sconces to replace the dated and pitted brass ones and some new house numbers that you will hopefully be able to see from the street.  We have a glider to the right side of the front door that is super comfortable, but I want some tables to flank it.  I'm thinking we will go with Ikea's lindved, and probably paint them.  For the left side of the door we have a piece of granite that I am hoping to again have the hubs build a table base for.  I also want to hang a hammock chair in the left corner.  The kids will LOVE that.  We need to do some cleaning up of the flower beds and get some new things planted.  I can't wait to get it done, it should be just in time for some summer porch time!

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I'm off to see what everyone else is up to!