You are here: Home / 0 / Archives for May 2012

The Aftermath of Whimsy Green…

2012
1 Comment

Well, I must admit that I thought the store looked quite fabulous.  And as it was fun to see peoples reactions, I had a lot of friends and family come out to see our house as well.  Our house….well not so fabulous.  Most of my time and energy as of late had been going into Whimsy Green, as well as my furniture:)  I knew I wanted to sell a lot of my chairs, because they were just “working” until we could afford new ones, but I also sold my temporary mantel, our coffee table, and some more chairs.  Oh, and my colorful pillows:)  So this is how the house looks this morning…

Eek!!  Ryan has been working on finishing my mantel…and it’s looking gorgeous!  and I just ordered a fun little settee for the area.  Now to just have it arrive and pull it all together!!

The settee will sit on the middle of this wall.

The living room went bare as well…

and I lost some of my pillows:)

Good thing I still had a few to spare:)

So, tonight I’m off to ikea to fill in some of the space and have a fun girls night.  I can’t wait:)  I’ll show you what I got and how it looks next week:)

Filed Under: Whimsy Green

Opening Day…Whimsy Green!!!

2012
11 Comments

Wow!! What an amazing weekend….and exhausting:)  We had our first ever occasional sale in the big red barn and it was a great success!!  Thank you so much for everyone who came to support us.  It was so fun to see your faces walk through the door.  And the new people that we got to meet, from blog followers to neighbors, to facebook fans:)  We feel truly blessed.  And a huge shout out to all of my college girls that traveled a long way to come and make it super special!!! Thanks ladies!!!!! Love you:) :)

Also a HUGE shout out to my mom who was up every morning as 6 making fresh baked cookies and cleaning my house so people could walk through it and not have it look like a tornado:)  Love you mom!!!

I just want to show you some pictures I snapped quickly Thursday morning before the craziness.  Sarah snapped some that will look a lot better that I’ll show later, but I thought some of you might be curious what Whimsy Green turned out to be…especially my far and away blog fans:)

First I’ll show you the crew that put this together.  Here is myself with 2 of my sisters, Mel and Sonia.  We are hoping to get our other sister in on a sale too:)

I know…hard to tell we are related:)

My mom and my friend Sarah weren’t in the picture…but helped out immensely!!  Mom’s baking cookies/housekeeping/watching kids/getting ready (that’s all) and Sarah’s behind the camera:)

My favorite area of the shop was the gallery wall.  I love gallery walls and I think this one turned out pretty amazing with the wood background!

and one more..

The pictures aren’t the best quality, but it was a gloomy, dreary, rainy day.  We actually got over 4 inches of rain on Thursday.  The Lord took care of us and kept us dry in the barn:)

The bright kids room:)

and then a little shabby chic area..

and the cozy bedroom

and I loved the view from behind the checkout desk…

I feel like a broken record again, but one last big shout out to my hubby…who completely renovated our house, worked on a guest house, and helped me finish off a barn so I could pursue my dream….all within 11 months!  You’re the best!!  Love you lots!!!

Filed Under: Whimsy Green

Before & After… The Office

2012
6 Comments

I know I showed you the office once before when it looked like this….

Yep, that’s my computer on the floor:)

and before that it wasn’t even an office at all…it was actually a den with a gas fireplace.  It looked like this…

and now (although it is not complete) it looks like this…

It’s changing for the better at least:)

This table was actually one that was left here.  I loved the farm house look.  If you want to see how I transformed it from this…

to this…

check back tomorrow:)

So I always try to show you the most glamorous shots first.  But we are not a magazine..we are real life.  So here’s what’s lerking in the back…

The gun shop.

Apparently they were starting to rust in the shed.  A huge no-no in the gun world.  So until we can afford a $3000 some dollar gun safe with built in de-humidifier (seriously?!?)  I guess they get to adorn my office:)

I do love the arch Ry put in the entryway from the kitchen to the office.  And I would love to do a couple rows of shelves on this huge bare wall to create more storage.  Something that we are lacking a bit.  Maybe something like this…

except white with baskets and books instead of dishes:)

until then I have my little pricing station set up with tags and safety pins..

Okay, back to work for Me:)  Happy Monday!!!

 

Filed Under: Makeovers

A Photo Shoot

2012
8 Comments

I told you to come back today to see some more pics, but I didn’t tell you they’d be of me.  HA!  Well, needless to say when we were shooting our barn stuff, Sarah had warned me.  “I’m getting a little sick of looking of the picture of you in the snow on your blog, (that she took a year and a half ago) so if you wanna get ready I’ll shoot a few to update it.  Thanks Sarah!

I have to tell you, I am probably one of the most awkward girls to shoot…or maybe not, it just felt that way.  So I was a little self conscience…

I loved the barn in the background though!!

I was also super self conscience about sucking in…this photographing is HARD work!!

I was just struggling with that belly!!

oh…..

That’s why……

No wonder it was hard to hide:) :)  For all of my blog friends, and anyone else since we really haven’t publicly announced it….little bundle number 3 is coming to join us around October 2nd.  Yep, we are already half way there.  CRAZY!!  But so excited:)   A little more to add to all the fun:)

I’ve never done pregnancy shots before, and my friend informs me that you normally do them when you are a little closer to your due date, but it felt good to stick the belly out:)  And a fun way to reveal it as well:)  We can’t wait to meet little peanut, and it will be a surprise this time!  Wow..that’s a first:)

Kynlee tells me everyday it’s gonna be a girl.  There may be a few tears shed from her if it’s a boy, but she’ll get over it:)

Have a great weekend everybody…I’m off to go work on Whimsy!!!

 

Filed Under: Family

A Sneak Peak…

2012
1 Comment

Alright, we are t-minus 8 days until the opening day of our new occasional shop, Whimsy Green, and we are so excited!!! Today we are going to show you a very tiny little sampling of some of the things that will be in there store.  I say very little…because we have so much stuff that is still in garages, tubs, Wisconsin, everywhere..that we couldn’t shoot.  And because the barn wasn’t quite ready to put everything into yet so we just set up a few shots:)  So, if you are even a bit interested in some of the things you see, please come have a look.  I am so excited to put the whole barn together as soon as the sisters arrive!!

Okay, with that being said here are some pictures, again graciously taken by Sarah .  I think they look amazing:)

She got some really fun shots of the barn so I can update the Whimsy Green Facebook page.  I love this one because it’s our everyday life with little missy walking around:)

Love this…we were darting around raindrops so it was a challenge to get a bit of blue sky:)

and then the clouds rolled in….

I love this look though, kinda the picture we had in mind when Whimsy Green came to be.

And now onto the goods….Now I must say before I even show anything that as bad as we would want to do pre-sales for people, to be fair we just can’t.  It will be first come first serve.   In saying that, we do have a lot of furniture that will not all fit the first day, so new items will be added each day.

Also, please remember we staged this for a few photos, when you come next Thursday it may not look like this cause my amazingly talented sisters Mel and Sonia will be helping set up rooms and vignettes:)  Can’t wait!

and some close ups..

and a little flirty…

and a little fun…

So if any of it interests you, check out our FB page for more details and directions:)  and lots, lots more to come:)

Check back tomorrow for a couple more fun photos!

Filed Under: Whimsy Green

Playing in the Dirt

2012
1 Comment

I love playing in the dirt.  I love making things more beautiful.  For me, the two seem to go hand in hand:)  When we bought this place I was excited to get my hands on the landscaping and start making it my own.  But…there were a few other projects that needed to come first.  So, the house won.

This spring though has been a different story:)  As soon as it started to get warm out I was excited to “play in the dirt.”  And once we decided we were going to have a barn sale, I knew where to start:)  I actually asked for shrubs for my birthday, and my mom and dad came up and helped out.  We only had a couple of hours to work and then the rest of the weekend was raining and cold, but we made the most of the time we had:)

Here’s how the barn looked before…

Pretty and red with no landscaping..

And that’s my ever so hard working mom on the left getting ready to get dirty, and my dad, who graciously swept out the whole ceiling of the barn so we could pressure wash it.  It was quite the job!!

So after digging up sod for 2 hours, we only got half way done, but we did get the edging in and the plants set out to where they should be placed.  Once the sun came back out I finished it up.

The frustrating part about landscaping is that unless you spend an arm and a leg on big shrubs, you gotta wait a few to many years for them to look great.  But my mom brought up a ton of perennials that we planted, we bought a few shrubs, and we are still waiting for the hydrangeas to come to the nursery’s so we can plant one on each end.  I love big white hydrangeas!

 I couldn’t quite stop there, so I kept going:)  This side was a bit tricky because the concrete surrounded the barn about 2 feet out the whole way, leaving me unable to plant anything.  So, I got a little creative and made it appear like there was dirt with a little mulch and a potted boxwood.  I love boxwoods and I found these at walmart for $6 a piece, almost cheaper than what annuals would cost me.  Also, I searched high and low for the rocks, finding them around our chicken coop, in the fields, and pulling them out of the ground:)  Gotta love free stuff!!

unfortunately the dandelions are free as well:(

This soil was so rocky that I think I’m gonna add a few bags of brown mulch to make it look a bit “prettier!”

This area was actually the old cow stalls.  If you look hard enough you can see the little water holder behind the chairs thats still there.  We debated getting rid of it but I just couldn’t.  And in the summer there’s a cool vine that grows all over it.  This picture reminds me I have to pull out the outdoor pillows:)

This was the last area I did.  I wanted to hide the water spicket a bit, and hopefully that decorative grass will take off soon and shoot up a bit:)  *hopefully

p.s.  I’m a little biased but isn’t that view oh so pretty??  I thank God everyday for placing us out here where we are surrounded by his beauty.  I’m loving country life!

 p.p.s.  I can not wait for next week!! My dear sweet friend Sarah from Sarah Pollio Photography came out and took some amazing shots of the barn and the decor that will be selling at Whimsy Green.  Yay!!  Stay tuned for the sneak peaks:):)

Filed Under: Outdoors

Paint Colors…and an Anniversary

2012
Leave a Comment

I have had some interest in the paint colors I used throughout my house and have not gotten to it for quite some time.  So today I’m gonna share with you what we used.

I kinda fell in love with the Martha Stewart colors, especially since I ended up painting my cabinets in Sharkey Gray, which is one of her cabinet colors.  The rest of the colors just seemed to flow well with it.  So, here’s the color of the cabinets…

I love this color because it is a warm gray, and almost seems like a beige at times.  I didn’t want to have a cool gray on my cabinets.

So for the background color in my kitchen I went with the same line, but a little lighter.

This color is called Gull, from Martha Stewart

I love this color because it goes with just about everything.  And it kind of takes on a chameleon effect, changes in different rooms.  I also have this color in our upstairs bathroom that I just revealed.

My last main color on our lower level is –surprise–another Martha:)  I love the complete white cottage look, but I mostly like that when the walls have wood treatments on them.  Otherwise it can look a little cold to me.  So, since we don’t have wood treatments (yet:)  I didn’t want to go with a stark white.  Maybe someday.  Until then I went with a little bit warmer color (but still super light.)

This color runs throughout my living and dining room.  I did a natural break by the kitchen and it is very unnoticeable (which I like) into the Gull. This color is called Glass of  Milk, by Martha Stewart.

If you look at all three colors together they are all very soft and subtle, which is what I was going for.  I did end up putting a little bit darker color in my bathroom to draw in some more warmth, and that was a color from Walmart called Newsworthy Neutral.  It was in the Better Homes and Gardens colors and a Dutch Boy paint.

and here’s the swatch..

So that sums it up  for the lower level.   After I show the rest of the reveals upstairs I’ll do another blog on those paint colors.  If you read my title though, we also have a little celebrating to do!

Today marks the one year anniversary of this blog post!!

Wow, one year ago today we purchased this quaint little hobby farm on an auction ( one of the most nerve wracking things I have ever done) and turned it into our home.  And technically, we didn’t close on it for another 45 days, so we are a month and a half away from living here one year.  I still look back and the demo and makeover blogs and can’t believe what has happened in one year.  Wow!!  If you didnt’ check out that blog post this takes me back at least to memory lane, the day there were 200 + people at our house bidding and buying all sorts of stuff.  Pretty sure we got the best thing:)

and…

I’m so thankful to enjoy this summer this year:):)

 

Filed Under: Decorating

He Is Faithful!

2012
2 Comments

I don’t think that I’ve shared this with many of you but we started attending a new church about 2 years ago.  I had moved out to the small town after living in the big city and attending a charismatic mega-church, to attend my husbands ever so sweet, very traditional hymn singing church.  I’m not going to lie and say it wasn’t a little difficult for me, but that’s where he grew up and his family was.  So that’s where we went.  Well, pretty soon the church got smaller and smaller and our kiddos were about the only small children in the church.  There was no nursery or children’s programs and we decided for our family that it was best to look around for some more “young family” based chruch.  Not to say that I wanted to give up the older generation at all…I love the wisdom and dynamics they bring in as well:)

So we started attending a new church about 2 years ago.  We were instantly drawn to it because of their worship, their pastor and teachings, and the children’s ministry it had going.  But, ATTENDING A NEW CHURCH IS INTIMIDATING.  Anyone with me??  I mean it’s not if you wanna just come and go, and trust me…that’s what we did for about the first year.  But we desired more than that.  So eventually we would hang around after church very somewhat awkwardly and hope that we could meet some new people.  And we did, but it was still awkward.

That’s when I realized..Allie…you gotta jump out of the boat (my comfort bubble I was in) and start getting involved.  Just sign yourself up for a few things and get to know some ladies.  Now if you know anything about my personality, I love people, but I am also very intimidated by them.  Most people probably think I’m rude or full of myself, but in all actuality I’m shy and nervous of what they are going to think.  So starting completely over is very hard for me.

Fast forward another year.  We have now been attending this church for about 2 years and my prayer throughout was Lord, please bring some women into my life that I can learn from, grow with, and be mentored by.  I honestly didn’t think it was going to happen.  But GOD IS FAITHFUL!!  and He does hear our prayers!!

Stick with me here, as I go off on a bit of a tangent…trust me, it makes sense in the end:)  I was recently doing a Beth Moore study, and one of the titles of her video session was  “Between the Rains”   in her new James study.  She said how we go through rainy seasons, when the Lord feels so near, speaks to us, reveals himself to us, and we go through dry seasons, when we just can’t seem to feel God and wonder where he is.  It’s this time that she says our faith is tested.  In the dry season, between the rains.  And our faith has to make it through.  We have an evil force (Satan) in this world that so desires our faith to falter, but if we can just endure through the dry season, keep our faithfulness, another rain will soon come.

Let us acknowledge the Lord;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth. ”

Hosea 6:3

So back to my church story.  Basically for the last 2 years I felt like I was in a dry season.  I was so discouraged all of the time because I just couldn’t seem to get back to that place with the Lord where I once was.  Where I could feel his presence every day!! Some days I just wanted to give up trying…and I did.  But what a shame to let the enemy win.

Until a month ago.  I have to tell you I barely even know how it happened but I do know it involved a dear sweet friend of mine that drew me in from some of the first times we started to attend this church.  Before you know it I got involved with an amazing circle of women from all walks and ages that accepted me and welcomed me into their Bible Study.  I know this may not seem like a big deal to many of you, but I must say, I am just getting to know these women and I have never felt such an overwhelming Jesus love from people before like I have in this short time.  I have already grown to love them and praise the Lord for answering this prayer that I seemed to pray forever.

Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord,

extend to the skies,

and Your faithfulness to the clouds.

Psalm 36: 5

The other night I got to have dinner with this great group of ladies, and I got loved on in a major way.

I woke up at 2:30 in the morning with the heavens pouring down rain.  All I could do was cry.  The dry season is over.  God is so good!

Filed Under: Faith

Before & After…The Bathroom

2012
3 Comments

Today I’m gonna show you possibly my favorite room in the house.  And it’s my bathroom.  Is that weird?!?  It’s not even that I got an amazing claw foot tub or theres a coffee pot and flat screen tv in there.  It’s simply that I just love how it turned out.  Maybe because I can take the most ownership of this room.  I tiled the floor myself, yikes!  (You can read about that here if you want to)  and I found a $5 dresser that I turned into a vanity that I love!  It’s all the little things:)  And it is one of the brightest rooms in the house.  Always a plus.  Okay, so first and foremost we’ll start with a before of the beauty:)

and after…

and before…

Don’t you love the mini shower?? I do have a great memory taking one shower in here with 2 kiddos who were fighting over the hand wand, because seriously…how cool are those when you are 2, and Ryan manning the upper level in his boxers and boots on bat patrol.  Oh, a gun also.  I’m pretty sure he killed 3 bats during that shower.  I don’t know how clean I got that night?!?

and after…

If you said wow, that looks different, it’s because it does:)  We moved the shower to the other wall, cut out the old slanted roof line so we could stand straight, and moved the door over.  Just a few changes:)  Not quite enough though to buy me enough space for my claw foot tub:)

So, for those of you who are new to this journey, I found the dresser that Ryan converted into a vanity at a garage sale for $5.  It looked like this when I bought it.

Notice the matching hardware:)  And it had initals carved in the top as well.  I sanded that puppy down to the wood and painted it up in Sharkey Gray, just like my cabinets.  I added 3 coats of a clear polyurethane to the top so it wouldn’t get water stains and ta-da…a new vanity!!

I do so love her:)

and this is the view I wake up to in the morning from my bed.  Some may wonder why I dont’ keep the door closed, since it’s a walk through bathroom, but there are 2 reasons.  1.)  It lets in a lot more light, and 2.)  this is what hides behind the door…

This area was supposed to get framed in for a closet, but somehow it got overlooked.  So I’d love to find something like this to put there someday..

but until we can afford it that day comes, the door stays open..

Isn’t that handy.  Don’t worry, we do shut it when visitors come over:)

Here are a few more peeks of the room…

I am in LOVE with this rug.  I just got it:)  My friend actually scored it from Home Goods but unfortunately (haha) it didn’t fit:(  Sad days, works great here!!  Love ya Sarah:)

I was also on the lookout for a basket to hold towels in for in here.  But the only ones I could find that were big enough for $30-$50.  Ouch!  So the Lord was gracious to me and shined his light down on this cutie at a garage sale for $2!! Goodness He knows I love a good deal!!  I added a little chalkboard sign from Michaels for another $3 and it’s good to go!

Have you found any good deals lately?? I’d love to hear about them!!  :)

Filed Under: Makeovers