Paint Party - Alli's Room

Well, it's week two of the new year and I'm already behind on one resolution - posting twice a week.  But I did make some pretty good headway on another goal - getting the house decorated!  Builder beige is just not my best color, so it was time to get a little color rolling up in here.  Two weeks ago, Ryan and I started in on our room and bedroom.  I'll post some pics of that later, but my focus here is the most important room in the house.  Once we finished our room, we immediately had to get rolling on Alli's.  With new baby on the way, we needed to get hers wrapped up first.  You can't exactly paint your second child's room before you start on the first one's, can you?

Here's where we started.

Cute little room, but pretty darn blah, huh?  Definitely not reflective of the huge personality who lays down her head there.  So after a week or so of considering paint chips, I decided on Behr's Seafoam Pearl.  It was a subtle blue, high on the color chip.  Enough to change the wall color, but not enough to blind you.  Alli had other ideas though.

She picked Mint Majesty.  I cajoled, but to no avail.  She was adamant.  So I, never one to squelch the wall hue dreams of a color lover (hello, teal living room and hot pink bathroom), did what any good mother would do and caved.  "Two gallons of mint majesty, please."  I mean, I may never have another little girl to paint for.  Who am I to deny teal walls?  When I opened the paint can, I was a little taken aback.  It glowed.  No kidding.  But Alli and I got to work.

Okay, I got to work.  Alli painted our entire family's names on the wall.  I'm pleased to report that Ryan has taken over cutting responsibilities (some new fangled tool he found that he loves), so your girl is back to rolling only.  With a Darth Vader mask, a fan on high, and getting asked four times a minute "Are you okay?  Don't overdo it!"  The joys of pregnancy.  At the end of the night, we ended up with this.

What a difference!  Doesn't it look more like a cheery little girl's room?  I love how a little paint makes the furniture and accessories pop!  We still have a ways to go - curtains, more art, a new dresser...but the walls are ready to rock.

Side note - who are you people who take pictures of your children's rooms where they look pristine without a toy in sight, save maybe an antique wooden rocking horse that's for looking only?  I declare this room as close to pristine as it'll ever be.  I'm just glad I remembered to put up her water glass before I snapped these shots.  Small victories, friends.

Mid-Weekend Recap

I refuse to sell my weekend short and am sure we will embark on new adventures today, but I do want to document the fun we had yesterday, hence the optimistic title.  It's quite possible that all we do today is house chores and horseback riding, but one just never knows.  It is Shark Week, after all.

Yesterday morning, in all my craziness, I scheduled an 8AM photo shoot.  This is the third year for the Tails of Love photo book put together by the Humane Society of the Ozarks - an organization near and dear to my heart (I was even co-Volunteer Coordinator for nearly a year...I don't know where I found the time!).  Our family has been in it both of the previous years, so we couldn't imagine not participating now.  This is our second year to use Chris Blake, a member of the board, as our photographer.  He is a very patient man and we are so grateful to have him to take our pictures.

I scheduled the darn thing at 8AM because we were in the middle of 105 degree heat and I knew Landry would not be long for this world in any kind of heat.  But when we woke up Saturday morning,  it was barely 60 degrees!  The dogs loved it, but Alli was freezing in her cute little dress.  The shoot was, as ever, painful with two rowdy dogs and a kid who won't look at the camera, but Chris felt like he got some good shots, so here's hoping.

Afterwards because it was so incredibly cool, we decided to head up to the Farmers Market with the boys.  They were the hit of the day, and Alli had a great time too.

The world-famous "Hamdry" as my sister calls him

The PedalPops guy gave us a frequent buyer card...

Afterwards, we returned to The Natural Pet (mentioned here) to try Landy out on some new dog food.  Then, on our way home, Ryan pulled a u-turn and slid sideways into a new place on Township called In Retrospect.  I introduced him to thrifting a few weeks ago, and I think he's hooked.  In Retrospect just opened August 1st, and the tagline below the name said "Vintage.Kitsch.Flea-tastic."  Sign me up.

There was so much adorable stuff there, but I flew through it with Alli, Ryan, Cash & Landry waiting in the car, so I didn't get to ponder it like I wanted to.  But we are definitely going back - it had the feel of a place that already shopped the thrift stores and repainted and updated them for you, which is nice in that one, it saves you the time of doing it yourself and two, it gives you good ideas if you want to do it yourself.

We then headed home to all take naps - the long week and early Saturday morning took its toll on everyone.  We got back out around 5PM and did some new furniture shopping.  I think a healthy mix of old and new keeps your house from looking like a thrift store itself.  Plus, they can be pretty proud of their stuff, those antique stores.  Sometimes, it's to your advantage to get new!

Here are some inspiration pieces I snapped while we were out:

• Hall tree - PierOne: Oh how I long to have a mudroom and a launch pad.  This hall tree would definitely help - it has good spot to hang purses, keys and backpacks, a mirror to make sure you don't have mascara clumped in the corner of your eyes, a bench begging for punchy pillows, and concealed storage below.  PierOne knows how bad I want this, because it's around $350, but oh my!  You should note that it also comes in a mahogany, but we both know I prefer the white.  Cute pose, RLowe.

• Lamp - Furniture Row:  We got a bedroom suite and our current kitchen table at Furniture Row some years ago, and we've actually been pretty happy with both pieces.  I didn't see too much in there that grabbed me this time around except this pretty lamp.  I love the big base, and I love that the shade is almost burlap - very textured and very not white.  White fabrics don't last long at this little abode.  Oh, and sure.  I like it because it's white.

• Jewelry Chest - Ashley's:  This gem drew me in from across the room with her slender build and weathered look.  I didn't know until further inspection that she was a jewelry chest - complete with hooks, drawers, and even those special drawers that you can put your rings in.  Top it off with that blue and white paint job and I was hooked.  Price tag scare - they knew I was coming.  This little baby is $700, so I am thinking she will just need to stay inspirational for me.

• Buffet Table - Ashley's:  I was pretty smitten with this leggy buffet table the minute I saw it.  My most favorite piece in our house is my gorgeous buffet table (sort of spied here), so maybe I have a thing for these multi-functional go-anywhere pieces.  Entry tables, serving tables, sofa tables...these babies can do it all.  This lady was on sale for $500, which isn't terrible.  Maybe one day I will have a spot for her.

So there's a little shopping with the Lowes this weekend.  Hope you all had a wonderful Saturday, and here's to Sundays being just as fun!!

New Fleece on Life

I really enjoy repurposing and rehabbing old, unwanted objects and making them new again, usually with something as simple as a can or two of spray paint.  There are multiple well-loved objects at my house that have several coats of paint on them as I've changed rooms, changed moods, and changed my style over and over again.  One of the easiest things to do to freshen up an object or an entire room is to go to Home Depot, pick out a color, and get to spraying.

My latest project actually is a new-to-me object that has been in my parents' house since I was in high school.  This urn used to sit on their fireplace, and was a pretty nice piece when they bought it.  But time was not kind to the ram urn, as time can be to any of us, and he got chipped, tired, and fell out of favor.  So few weekends ago, my mom asked me if I would like to take this urn home and see what I could do with it.  I, never one to decline a good rehab project, obliged, and the old urn got loaded up and left in the back of the car for a few weeks while I pondered his fate.

Then today after church, Ryan suggested we swing by Home Depot and grab a can of paint so that we could paint the ram urn (aka unload it from the car).  Always up for shopping for spray paint, I immediately agreed, and then debated the color for the rest of the trip.  Ryan suggested white because "everything like that in our house is white" which is a fair point.  We can't exactly have the white linens and furniture I dream of, so I tend to compensate with white accessories that can easily be dusted, cleaned, and wiped of dog drool.  I was not completely sold on white for this piece, however.  I felt like something as funky and ornate as this ram urn deserved a statement color.

And nothing says statement like a glossy coat of Key Lime, does it?  Lime green is an accent color I love to use in conjunction with the soft blues, breezy white, and punchy corals in our living room.  So after about four coats of paint and an hour or so to cure, Mr. Ram found a new hue and a new spot in our entryway.

Doesn't it look great?  I'm pretty pleased with the results, and I'm always happy when someone's trash turns into my treasure for the mere cost of a can on paint.  Thanks, Mom!

Gaudy Gold Gone

Last weekend, we did such an easy fix that I'm almost embarrassed.  Like, I should have done this two years ago when Ryan hung the screen door.  But I didn't, and I let the gaudy gold finishes dominate our entry for far too long.

Finally, my friend Sherry (yes, I called her my friend even though she has no idea who I am) over at Young House Love inspired me to make a change in my life with this post.

So I said, "Hey, I can do that!" and I did, for about $10 at Home Depot.  And maybe Sherry should teach me about taking "before" pictures, so the "after" is more dramatic.  But picture a really worn out and extremely dated looking gold before so that this after works for you.

For deets on how, hit up YHL.

Living Room Lowedown

Nope, I didn't float away.  But I bet you were worried.  We've had some serious rainfall here in the past few weeks, and all Mrs. Lowe wants to do when it rains is zzzzz.....  It's pouring right now, lightning flashing, thunder rolling, and I can barely keep my eyes open.  I'll try to get through this thriller of a post, but no promises.  You only get so many good rainy nights to snooze to.

What a great weekend we Lowes had!  Despite the rain, we managed to attend 2 birthday parties for Alli's classmates, have the cute little twins who are exactly Alli's age over for the afternoon, go see Rio, and shop until we dropped!  The last part is probably the most interesting - I got some finishing touches for the living room and I'm ready to reveal the whole room!  Get crunk.

We've repainted the walls a few....thousand times.  Ok, this is just the third paint job, I promise.  And they've all been blue, I've just had to tweak the shade.  I'm so in love with this color, I continued it down the hallway and into the kitchen, as you saw here.  I'm not super great with the angles, but here's a few shots of the progress:

Yes, I have little doggie followers who creep in my pictures.  You can see I've tried to mainly stick to blues, creams, and browns for the big pieces with fun pops of color like the hot pink table and frames or the green storage ottomans.  I'm really loving it!

Sorry for the severe lack of your usual wit, humor, and joy...but I warned you.  It's raining.  G'night.

Oh Dear, My Deer

So remember our Super Bowl party celebrating Mr. Lowe's birthday?  Well, I didn't want to tell you, but tragedy struck.  One of my home decor pride and joys took a tumble and was decimated.  Don't worry, it wasn't Ryno the Rhino.  But it was another bright white ceramic friend.  I was on the cusp of a home decor trend, and I had to sweep it up and dump it in my trashcan.

But, my dear Ryan immediately ordered a replacement (for those of you keeping score, it wasn't he who killed the deer, lucky for him!).  Unfortunately, probably due to my post, the dang thing was backordered until late March.  Being a trendsetter can be such a burden sometimes.

Well, guess what?  It's late March.  And guess what I cam home to this week?

Sweet sweet victory.  It's like he never left.

Tweakin' Weekend

Unfortunately, I spent most of the past week at home suffering through 18" of snow and closed schools.  I usually enjoy every season as it comes, but I've really had about enough snow.  So of course, as soon as I could, I exited Chateau Lowe and went shopping for some fun, hopefully cheap, and minor home tweaks this weekend.   We decided to take a weekend off from major changes like painting and updating our bathrooms (and living room...I hadn't told you about that one yet!), so I was able to spend my time looking for art and accessories to fill voids.

My girlfriend Lindsey and I both spotted these awesome frames at Pier One.  Score!!  I took the glass and back off so that they just come off as artwork rather than frames.  Our living rooms is a little framed-picture-heavy as it is, so these take up some space and add some interest in a slightly different way.  [And note to self, I need to angle these pictures better so that everything doesn't look like I have a ton of wall showing.  These rather nicely fill a gap in the living room, but you can't tell from this picture!]  Please notice the new soft silvery blue walls - Lotus Leaf by my favorite paint brand, Behr Utlra.  Maybe I'm turning into a boring old grown-up after all, but I love this color.  It sets off the gorgeous floors Ryan installed a few years ago and makes the white trim and accents pop.

I also happened to drop by the Habitat For Humanity ReStore where you can get great home appliances, furniture, windows, light fixtures, globes, cabinets...you name it for super cheap.  And 100% of the proceeds go to Habitat for Humanity - what could be better??  Anyway, I snatched about 4 picture frames for a grand total of $1.75 for my new hallway art.  I sprayed all of them a glossy white, threw in some frames I already had, and voila!  I need to go back and grab a few more, but this is a great start (and for $1.75 for frames and $3 for spray paint...so delightfully thrifty!).

I also happened upon this little bowl at Pier One for $2.50.  He needs some books to sit on, but I had to grab him when I saw him!

And here's my most favorite tweak, some new art for the kitchen!  We'd had a rather large shelf with a nice hodge podge of items in the kitchen for some time, but it sort of blocked a doorway.  In this glorious but tiny house, we need all the space we can get!  So knowing that a major kitchen repaint is going to be underway next weekend, I decided to begin the redecorating process and remove the shelf, disperse its contents throughout the house, and consider replacements.  Of course artwork would be our best bet given the space issue.  I can be a Goldilocks when shopping for artwork (too big, too small, too colorful, too plain, too expensive), but when I happened upon this DIY artwork project at my sorority sister Cara's blog Live the Home Life (fast becoming a HUGE favorite and great source of inspiration for me), I thought, "I love those and I can so do that."  I grabbed some 24x24 canvases at Jo Ann's along with some paint and go to work.  Cara's are black, but I decided to throw some grey in for a slightly different twist.  TAAAA DAAAAAA!!!  Love them - so easy and intentionally imperfect, meaning impossible for an art dummy like me to screw up.

Minor tweaking, filling up walls, and bringing it all together on this finally warm weekend.  Hope you had a good one!!

Easy Breezy Master Bedroom Update

I have to confess, I've already redone a room I revealed.  I know you won't find it too surprising, but I wanted you to hear it from me first.  Remember the big master bedroom reveal here?  Well, by the time I got around to revealing that room, I was already malcontent with it.  So I set out to bring a little more Lauren to the room.

I think I fell into a little bit of a decor rut - green, blue, green, blue.  It's funny that neither of those is top on my list of favorite colors (hello, pink, purple, and teal), but somehow I find them so inspiring in home decor.  I always want to consider our master bedroom a haven and a place I love, so I set out for some tweaks.  Primarily in the bedding department.  We opted for a duvet cover and down insert rather than a bedspread, hoping that it would be easier to wash (and replace) given zoo-like conditions thanks to the four animals and one kindergartener that call Casa Lowe home.  So when bedding was 20% off at West Elm, I snagged this feather grey crinkled duvet (and the insert was from Overstock.com when they were having a deal too.  Yay for spam email!!).  I figured it would blend in our bedroom while bringing a slightly different (and more grounded) color into the room.  And of course, as usual, I was right.  Then the pale green accessories seemed out of place, so I did a little artful work with spray paint, grabbed some throw pillows, and voila!

You know I had to squeeze Ryno the Rhino in there somewhere.  Love him.  That pale blue wall paint shows up so bold in the pictures, but I promise it's soft.  Like a whisper.

Hmm, eying that bed picture has me wondering what's missing?  Do I need to dress up that end table a little more?  I promise in real life it doesn't feel like there's room.

So there you have it.  This wasn't the cheapest makeover in the world, thanks to the new bedding, but I feel like the grey is a good base for the next time I get a wild hair and want to update the accessories.  I'm trying to work a can of purple in here somewhere...

Super Bowl Sunday: Guest Bathroom Reveal

What a week!!  Alli went to school one day last week and we were snowed in under less than an inch of ice and eventually 6"+ of snow.  I love a snow day (or two!) like the next girl, but 4 got to me.  Got to me so much I did several projects - and now I'm about to reveal one to you!

But first, obligatory photo of the casa in the snow.  I took this Friday night after our last snowfall for the week (more predicted tonight.  Can't wait.  Sarcasm.).

Pretty, huh?  It's nice to look at, but trust me, I'm sick of it.  On to the project!

Remember the master bath makeover?  (Why wouldn't you, it was my last post.  But if you need a refresher, scroll down.)  We decided to give Alli's bathroom the same treatment.  Previously it was a dark grey with purple undertones called Mountain Ridge by Behr.  Here's a pic I rustled up for you.

 You can see the boring builder-grade cabinets in that picture as well.  Cue makeover photos.

Here's the updated cabinets with the same paint color and hardware as the master bath.  I absolutely love this simple, inexpensive upgrade for both bathrooms.  Yes, that $80 kit lasted us across two bathrooms and there's still plenty left.  And it was stupidly easy to do. If you need a refresher on the process, get it here.

This picture has a good shot of the wall color - it's actually a shade darker than our master bathroom, but definitely in the same family - it's called Cricket in the Behr Ultra collection.  Wowza - how open and airy does this bathroom feel now??  I really loved Mountain Ridge, but this rather narrow bathroom with a lone skinny window above the shower doesn't exactly get a ton of light.  Now it feels twice as big!  The shower curtain is the same one as in our master bath, and I hung it right by the ceiling.  It really makes the room feel more significant and elegant, and though it does block the window, the white curtain is sheer enough to still let it lots of light.  Love.

Here are two more shots of the room.  I actually only had to buy the shower curtain and paint in this room as far as accessories go.  The rest was already in there or got moved from another room.  Alli and I made that artwork right after we moved in - isn't it cute?  It's really simple, maybe a little too simple, but it is her bathroom and I love that we made it together.  And yes, I stood on the toilet to take these pictures (it's a rather long skinny bathroom, so getting good angles is tricky).  And yes, Junior Chief of Security came to inspect.

So, for a weekend of work and about $120 - that's $60 for cabinet paint and hardware, $30 for the shower curtain, and $30 for the gallon of paint - we have a brand new bathroom!  I do need something over the towel rack, but I'm trying not to feel too rushed about it.  I want it to find me!

Happy Super Bowl Sunday to all of you.  Friday was Mr. Lowe Down's birthday, so we are having his party today with a few friends.  The house is clean, the beer is chilled, and the marg machine is ready to rock.  Go Cowboys!!  Or whatever.

Spatastic. Beachy. Fabulous.

What a gorgeous weekend we are having here in NWA.  Alli spent the morning at the Woodland Junior High dance clinic and Ryan and I got to drive around and lust after houses in our favorite area in town, the Washington-Willow historic district.  There are some gorgeous redone houses here and then quite a few that need some TLC and about $150k to get them whipped into shape.  Obviously, we love oogling the former but we're super interested in the latter.  I'm convinced we will have one of these to call Chateau Lowe one day.

Hello, gorgeous - 347 N. Washington

Then we ran by Home Depot, where they asked us where Alli was.  Wow.  We need to diversify our weekend visits, don't we?  No, I liked it.  It was like Cheers, "where everybody knows your name."  Or like I was famous.  Either way, good with it.

But enough small talk.  I bet you can tell from the title of this post that I'm not here to discuss future houses or how famous I am.  It's time to stop teasing.  Master bath reveal time.  

I wish I had done a better job with before pics.  But you should know, this is the fourth color of the master bath.  It's been builder tan, hot pink, and dark green.  Apparently I like to paint.  The newest color is called Sanctuary by Behr in their Ultra collection.  I do not like finishes other than flat, but they have one called Flat Enamel that is very scrubable and that I've used in all of the rooms in the house.  We've been very pleased with it.  Not even enough sheen as Eggshell, and all of the durability.

So in the first shot, you can see those cabinets we redid and added hardware to.  Gor.  Geous.  What a difference.  We've also removed a large vase that blocked half of the mirror and a picture frame and replaced it with these more spa-themed pieces.  I'll give you a close-up on those in a bit.  This pic is a great representation of the paint color.  It's a very soft green.  Have I said lately how much I love the hardware?  Wow.

In this shot you can see my (finally) treated window.  These cafe-length curtains were $14 at Target - remind me why I didn't do this earlier?  Also, you can see my towel solution.  When we moved in, we didn't have a single towel rack in our master bath!  I guess we were supposed to throw them over the shower, which we did for a while, but then I came up with this great solution - a coat rack from Home Depot.

And here's the drama you've been waiting for - the full length shower curtain.  That's 95" of pure spatastic-ness.  Yes, we do have shower doors, but they are so ugly and I hate staring at them.  So I put this extra tall shower curtain over them to hide the eyesore without losing the functionality.  We also updated the shower head in here, going from builder grade to something a bit nicer - nothing special, just prettier and a better stream of water - from Home Depot for $16.  I highly recommend this bathmat from Bed Bath and Beyond.  It's super soft and cushy.  We got the soft blue to bring some of the master bedroom color in and make the two rooms feel more cohesive - a theme you're sure to hear a lot of as we redo the rest of the house.

And here's your close-up of the pieces on the counter.  Rolled white towels in a basket from Target and some green and blue Irish Spring soap in a glass from TJ Maxx.  Coral also from TJ.  Thanks for not letting me down. 

So that's pretty much that. I think the only things left that we'd really like to do are framing in the mirror (that kit should be ordered in the next week or so), getting artwork around the towel rack area,  and grabbing some big soft white towels to replace our aging set.  But I just couldn't make you wait any longer!

And we Lowes are in love.  I often exclaim "Spahhhhh" when I walk in, which I am sure Ryan is sick of.  And I keep expecting to open the window and hear the ocean.  Mr. Lowe is deglossing the cabinets in Alli's bathroom right now, so expect a guest bath reveal in the next few weeks!

Have a wonderful weekend and I hope you all have as beautiful weather as we do today!