High Point Market || Part 1

The weekend before last, I headed to High Point, NC for the High Point Market.  The market was amazing and huge.  It had to be at least fifty blocks.  For those who have never attended or quite understand what the High Point Market is, it's basically like a ginormous indoor mall with small storefronts dedicated to interior design.  This doesn't include all the shops outside of the main buildings that are open for the market.  I saw maybe a 1/16th of all that was offered.

*Permission for these photos was granted to me and my blog, so please do not take these images off my blog.
**Photos were taken with my iphone, and I was a bit too lazy to Instagram or edit over 200 photos.   But you completely understand, right?

Fabric Friday {Lucie Summers}

Sewing enthusiasts should be really excited for the upcoming textile line by Lucie Summers.  Lucie has an adorable Etsy shop as well, so you won't want to miss that.   The collection is called Summersville and comes in four colorways.

All photos belong to Fabricworm, and you can purchase this fabric through them.

A few of my favorites in the collection?

And do you want to see the fabric in action?

Rita, from Red Pepper Quilts (one of my favorite quilters), showed off her bundle here as well as her quilt.  Hmm.  It must be nice to get your hands on fabric before anyone else does.  :)   Maybe one day . . . sigh.


Well, I have been up to my eyeballs in HTML code all week.  This blog is getting a little makeover, which will be happening soon.  There are still some tweaks I need to do, so more of that over the weekend for me.

Have a great weekend! 

 If you haven't linked up at my Quilt Linky party, do! You can link tutorials, old/new quilts or blocks, things in progress, etc.  What's really nice about this party is it is permanently attached to my quilt, so even a year from now when someone wants to look at my quilt, they get to look at your stuff too!  Awesome.

My first QUILT COMPLETED + Quilt Linky Party

 And here it is . . .

My flying geese in flight.   The wind was blowing.  :)

45" x 42"

Fabric Friday {Lulu DK + Lulu DK Child}

I'm gonna have to go out on a limb and say that I generally do not like Elle Decor magazines.  Most of the time, it's a bit too gaudy and impractical for my taste, but every once in awhile I like some of the things on its pages.  This month I was introduced to textile designer Lulu deKwiatikowski.  I had actually pinned an ottoman awhile back that had her fabric on it, and I didn't even know it.

Well, I am off to High Point Market this weekend, and I couldn't be more excited!  Last year was great but nerve racking since it was my first time.   Talk about sensory overload.  It's huge, overwhelming, and can easily take the whole week to browse all the vendors, but I'm cramming it into two days.   Many places won't let you snap photos, but I will try to share with you the ones I do get!  It's like Fashion Week in NYC but for design!


Have a great weekend!
All photos come from Lulu DK and her blog.

Monday's Quilt Link Party

To celebrate the completion of my first quilt, I am hosting my very first link party.  It took me a few months of sewing here and there to make this quilt, and I think that kind of hard work deserves to be showcased.  If you have ever made a quilt, I would love for you to link up!  You'll be able to link up anything related to quilts.  Tutorials, blocks, old quilts, finished quilts, quilts you inherited from your grandma. 

The Quilt Link Party will be open Monday, April 23rd - May 7th.   I'm leaving it open a little longer than typical one week parties since this will be my first party.  Please help spread the word!

cargo stools

first up, i got the island back into the kitchen!  love. love. love.

second up, i finished my quilt and will be hosting a quilt link party on monday, but i will talk more about that tomorrow.

third, i was browsing world market online, and i stumbled upon these cute stools.

 what also caught my attention is they are 50% off right now!  toddler in tow, i hurried to the store to pick some up.  i got two of them for $85, which included tax.  i wasn't planning on buying stools for the island since there is no overhang for you to scoot your legs under.  i'm not really sure what changed my mind, but i did.  owen LOVES it.  he just HAD to sit at the island, and he carried this stool around with him all day.  at dinner time, he even pushed his dining chair out of the way to make room for the stool, so he ate on the stool while sitting at a card table.  hilarious. 

here's two phone pics giving you a sneak peek at the island.

he can also get up and down from the stool easily, but i am sure he is going to fall off of it one of these days.

and if you missed me painting the kitchen a new color, you can see that here.

thanks for stopping in today!  i thought i would leave you a little love and show you how we roll here in the south.

Kitchen Update || Paint!

 Heads up: I finished my quilt!  To celebrate, I will be hosting a Quilt Link party next Monday!  More details to come.

I got around to painting the kitchen, and it has sparked the desire to finish this kitchen soon!  Well, as quickly as the budget will allow.   I really love how this little job made a big transformation.  One little addition to the paint job was a small chalkboard wall.  It was dead space in the kitchen, so I made it somewhat functional.  Owen loves it!!  We use the jumbo Crayola chalk, so pieces do not fall into air vent, if they were ever to break.

So here's the kitchen with new paint!  You may be asking, "Nancy, why did you not remove the sheet before taking this picture?"   Answer:  Because I love my ghetto sheet yo.  And I really loved one reader's comment, "Your kitchen is so clean!"   Well, let me direct you to this post.  It ain't always this clean.  (Actually, I just shoved all the crap behind me, but no yams were included in this roundup ;)

And I am still loving this new light.  I like the pattern on the ceiling too.

I extended this color into my dining area since the wall runs along the right side of the kitchen.  Buh-bye Antique Stone, which was actually a really nice neutral and wouldn't mind having it again.  Painting this wall the same color as the kitchen made it a little more cohesive.

After minus the card table :)  I'm gonna say this looks a little more sophisticated.  Don't ya think?

I added a chalkboard paint to a wall that wasn't getting used.  I used a Royal Design Stencil to incorporate the gray paint onto the chalkboard paint, so there wouldn't be a harsh line.

And then I thought I would suck up.

 

Thank you for taking time out of your day to read my random thoughts.

Kitchen Redo:  ( I totally forgot to add the faucet and sink last week. Also, I will have a "before" photo for you at the final reveal.  And if you are new to reading this blog, I like to DIY, but keeping our old cabinets wasn't an option for us.  Well, I guess we really could live with our cabinets, but we chose to replace them.  Best thing we've done so far in this house.)  Red items are things I still need to do.

• Cabinets, hardware, self-closing doors $2600
• Granite countertop - $1200 (Lowe's was going to charge us around $800 for laminate)
• Subway tile - $150
• Composite bowl sink - $298 (and worthy every penny!!!!!!!!)
• Faucet - $60 on clearance at Lowe's
• Dishwasher (existing one broke) -  $250
• Microwave - $90
• Dresser Island, which you can see here.  I'm still figuring out what to with the backside.  - $125
• Quartz countertop for island, which you can read about here  - $80
• Light fixture -  $12 flea market find, which you can read about here
• Fix ceiling around light fixture
• Recessed lighting
• Window Treatments
• Paint - $11 quart of Glidden
• Moulding near pantry - $0
• Rug
• Cabinet trim at the top, not necessary and may not do

Total so far - $4671

Fabric Friday {Jessica Hogarth}

Jessica, a surface pattern designer and illustrator,  just launched her first line called VeloCity.  Here is the entire collection, which you can purchase through Hawthorne Threads.  I'm thinking travel bags, messenger bags, urban baby boy quilts, laptop sleeves,  and Kindle covers.  What would you make?

The Chicks Get a Pedi

 Oh, I just couldn't resist.  My cute little chicks needed their nails painted.  How many chicks do you meet with painted nails???  Come on!

I used four great O.P.I. shades (apparently I like reds), and a few of the seven chicks got a day at the spa with me.  It's a belated Easter present. ;)

sharing it with : chatty chics,delightful order, somewhat simple,

Bye, Bye Boob + Small Kitchen Reveal

Adios boob light! . . .  in the kitchen.  Don't worry.  Not revealing any ta-tas.  Originally my plan was to show you guys my kitchen after I got it all fixed up purty, but let's be realistic.

1.  I'm going the rate of a slug with this kitchen process.
2.  I think most people like to take the journey with you on remodels.

So you are going to get to see my kitchen as it is right now.  There's plenty left to do, but we are closer to the end than the beginning.

If you are new to reading, let me inform you that we will be moving in 2-3 years, so this controls a lot of the decisions we make for our home.  Also, we bought our home for 130k , so any large amount of money we put into our home we will probably not get back, but redoing our kitchen was something we thought was worth it.   Besides getting new cabinets, countertops, dishwasher, and microwave, we didn't want to put any more large amounts of money into it.  And let me just say, redoing our kitchen has been worth it!!

I was going back and forth about the boob light in the kitchen.  I don't like boob lights because they . . . well, look like boobs.  But it wasn't really necessary for me to change out our kitchen light because it was just fine, and I could live with it for another few years.   Over the weekend, Matt and I went to the flea market and we found this light . . . for $12.  SOLD.  In person it looks a bit more industrial with its metal, scuffed frame. 

I knew it would look great with our kitchen hardware and above the island, which should be ready to make its grand appearance next week.

Here is what the kitchen looks like before we installed this light.  And Sarah, I wasn't joking when I said my "curtains" were more ghetto than yours.  Yep, that's what we call a sheet.

And here it is with its new light.  Now hold up before you are like, "Nancy, that light ain't centered on the ceiling sista."  We will center it at a later date.  And if you are like, "Nancy, that light is all crooked and stuff."  It's really not.  It just depends on where you are standing if the metal bars line up.  I know it's playing tricks on your eyes.  It was playing some on me when I asked Matt to move the light a million times before figuring it out.

Here it is with the light on.  Right now there is a fluorescent light bulb in there, but we will more than likely change it out for something else later down the road.  If I can live with a bed sheet on the wall, I can certainly live with a fluorescent light bulb.

Here's what's left that I would like to do with the kitchen.

1.  Add trim to the top of cabinets???  Totally not necessary, but still an idea.
2. Add recessed lights?  Not necessary either, but still an idea.
3.  Window treatments.  Totally necessary.  Those two doors face west.
4. Paint the walls a creamy, dreamy gray.  Already bought the paint!
5. Fix the ceiling around the light.  The popcorn is brown. :(
6. Add base moulding next to the pantry.  It was taken off during cabinet install.
7. Add some rugs.
8. Add my kitchen island next week!!!


Here's a breakdown of what we have already done.

Cabinets - $2600 with installation, hardware, and self-closing drawers (soooo nice!)
Granite countertop - $1200 (laminate was going to be $800.  whaaaat???)
Subway tile backsplash - $150
Microwave - $90
Dishwasher- $250

Total so far: $4290

And I will say it again.  It has been well worth it!

Here are two more shots of the light.  We'll fix the stain at a later date.

Not bad for $12.