When we purchased this 1970's home, we knew we would paint or stain the wood on the exterior. Fast forward to this past week, picking the the color was simple, we wanted black. But WHAT black was another question. We ended up trying several different stains on the house to determine our favorite. I knew I wanted Tricorn Black on the windows, it is my go-to for a good basic black with no gray, or blue coming through. On the house color we wanted to see a slight contrast so the windows would pop. Of course I spent a lot of time searching online for homes with black exterior, and decided to share ... Read More
Mothers Day Gift Guide
Never too soon to think of gift ideas for Mothers Day! I thought I would link up some of my favorite things if you are looking for some fun ideas! I also had many of you weigh in on your favorite gifts you have gotten for Mothers Day or something you want to get (I narrowed it down and picked repeated things). Mothers Day Ideas from you Plant (so many of you said plants!!!)Pedicure, Facial or Spa Day Letter Initial Necklace or Personalized JewelryTree, plants, mulch for yardHandwritten cards from kidsDay to yourself or hotel stay by yourself (lots of you said this!!!)RoombaDiffuser Oil ... Read More
Our Limewashed White Rock Fireplace with Bleached Wood Mantle
To catch you up…we bought a 1970's home we are remodeling to (hopefully) move into in July! Since we are at a standstill waiting for permits, we have been modernizing the rock in our home. The way we have modernized the rock was with basically with A LOT of mortar and Limewash. We already updated the rock wall in our entry. This past week Kevin did our fireplace. The fireplace went a lot faster because we knew exactly what we wanted the end result to look like and from trial and error. It still took about 20 hours to complete. Practice makes you an expert. Fireplace Rock B ... Read More
Why I had my Tooth Pulled instead of a Root Canal and Four Other Stories
I wasn't planning on writing a blog post on my root canal. Until it became such a popular subject in my direct messages, I thought it deserved a post. I learned a lot about dental care from others stories that ultimately helped with my decision to have my tooth pulled instead of a root canal. I do want to preface with this - YOU have to be your own health advocate. This is not bashing a medical profession at all. Many have and will have root canals with success. It is simply stories, letting you know that there are options besides a root canal, also that our teeth our more than something to ... Read More
5 Affordable Ways to Make an Impact in a Teenagers Bedroom
As you know we are in an apartment right now, while we remodel our home. We will live in this rental about 6 months. Even for the short period we are living here, it was important to me to make an impact in my teenagers bedroom. And really all the rooms. You can add personality and an impact in any bedroom, especially a teenagers room with these 5 tips! 1- Big Impact Light Fixture- See that light before?? Just a basic tiny light fixture. Too small for the room. Since this is a rental (and even if it wasn't) I wanted to quickly make a big impact with the light. All I did was hung ... Read More
Easy Coconut Pineapple Cake Recipe
My mom has made this easy coconut pineapple cake for as long as I can remember. It is a family favorite. She taught Ella how to make it, and now she makes it on her own. REALLY awesome when your kids can start taking over things for you, and they enjoy it! My friend invited our family over for dinner Sunday so we offered to bring dessert and Ella offered to make this delicious cake. I shared it on social media and there were a lot of questions, so I decided it deserved a blog post! And of course wanted to include a cute printable you could easily access it. Cute enough to frame. I bet ... Read More
Cross Country RV Road Trip Where we Stopped East Coast to West Coast
After we had decided to sell our home and make the move back to Utah, I knew I wanted to make our return trip memorable. I had always wanted to take a cross country trip with the family and thought that this would be the perfect time! I was actually a bit hesitant on sharing my idea with Kevin, I didn't know if he would think the idea sounded crazy!! 60 hours driving in an RV with our 3 kids and puppy? That could scare anyone. Luckily he doesn't scare easily. He was onboard. I share in this post all the stops we made, how much it cost, if we would do it again and more!!!! Well, little ... Read More
Five Entry Ideas with Painted Rock Wall as Backdrop
I am itching sooooo bad to decorate our entry. It is really hard to fight the urge to lay down a rug, change out the light, bring in a few plants (obviously). Since that would make me look a little crazy…right? Or no? Ok yes, I will just settle for dreaming and creating design boards. If you missed it, yesterday we shared how we made over the Idaho Travertine wall in our entry by adding mortar and painting it white with a Limewash. After we shared it, there were a few comments who said…"you took away the character, I liked it before". I totally get it. It looks like we just covered up some u ... Read More
How we Modernized our 1970’s Rock Wall
In our new Utah Ranch Style Home we have a lot of rock. A LOT. Over 50% of the exterior is this same rock, the actual name is Idaho Travertine. Looks a lot like a lava rock. We did not want to just tear it out (even though we could have). We LIKE the character and texture the rock adds to the home. We decided we wanted to try to modernize it. Fill in the deep grout with mortar and make it more flush. In my head that was all we were going to do. But, 20 hours later and 8 bags of mortar, we ended up with something different and we really like it! First let's look at our current rock wall, ... Read More
Living Room Affordable Refresh and Floor Lamps
You know that saying , "If you give a mouse a cookie". That is exactly how this project got started! My sister was hosting a party at her home and asked for some help refreshing her front room. Having people over is great motivation to do projects that we put off for too long! (about 10 years in this case!) I remember when my friend hosted a bridal shower for a mutual friend and we jokingly called it that $10,000 shower! I was happy to help my sister, after shopping for new accessories I knew that we needed to take it a step further, by 9pm that night, her husband was putting up a board and ... Read More
