my favorite cabinet

Hey everyone! Hope ya'lls week is going wonderful so far! The weather here has felt like spring the last few days and now that I have had a little taste of it I couldn't be more ready for the warm weather to stay for good...not too much longer:) I thought I would share one of my favorite pieces i have in my house! I love this old cabinet mainly because my grandfather built it. He passed away years ago but was a fabulous furniture maker and I cherish every piece I have that he made. This one sits in my living room by the front door and houses a lot of my favorite goodies that I like to display (and I like that they are behind glass so the kiddies don't get them:))

It fits perfectly under my stain glass window. I've put things such as some of my old glass jars, my willow tree angels, vintage stars, picture of my husband's grandfathers dump truck from way back when, family pictures, vintage glass doorknob, white bowls, wire basket and metal signs.

There was no paint on this when my parents gave it to me. It was just stained a dark walnut color which was pretty but to better go with the rest of my decor I painted it white and distressed it to give more of the vintage feel. I added a wire basket with wooden handles and silver pots with flowers on top because it was too bare without anything.

I love that I can tell my kids that my "Pop" built this many, many years ago. This is a very special piece that will remain in my home forever and ever!

dining room

My last post I put pictures of my new corner cabinet in the dining room so this time I thought I would show my whole dining room. After adding the new cabinet I got inspired to change a few things around. This room is very small and always seemed dark to me so I've tried to add lighter colors to make it feel happy and bigger than what it really is.

The chalkboard that we write the menu for each night on

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My wood cities sign (would like to visit all these places with my family eventually) and my stained glass window that hangs from the opening overlooking the living room.

My cactus that I wrapped in burlap and sat on my breadboard and wooden tray. I've changed the centerpiece for this table numerous times but I like this one so far. The green adds a little color to the room.

I got so excited about changing everything I even reupholstered the dining room chairs in this neutrals striped pattern. I went to the fabric store and was immediately drawn to it. Overall I'm very pleased with the outcome, although I'm sure I'll still continue to rearrange..it's in my blood:)

I hope everyone is having a good week so far. The weekend is in sight!

corner cabinet

I found this adorable little vintage white corner cabinet at my local thrift store for only $30!! I was beyond excited because I had been looking for something for a while to display some of my goodies. The problem I have is my dining room is on the smaller side and the table takes up much of the space. A regular china cabinet would make it feel too cramped for the person sitting at the end. This corner cabinet is perfection because it doesn't interfere with any of the chairs and is tucked far enough away that there's still room to walk by it and not feel claustrophobic. I've displayed some of my ironstone pieces and Pfaltzgraff plates and some of my wooden treasures mixed in. I added the locker basket on top to give it more height and to hold my linen napkins.

I love that now I have a place to put my "pretties" and I can change and rearrange as often as I like. It made such a difference having something against the back wall to look at upon entering the dining room.

repurposed old window

Right when you walk into the living room there is a good sized wall that sits behind our sectional couch and its the first thing you see. I have always tried to find the perfect "something" to put on this wall but have never been happy with what I've came up with. It needed to be something pretty big that gave a presence. The other day I went to the garage/outbuilding we have at the bottom of the driveway (that I never go in because its creepy and full of spiders) to find my husband and when I walked in I saw the piece I had be searching oh so long for. Ironically it had been at my house the whole time. It was one of the original picture windows from my home over 75 years ago. I guess the previous owner had so generously stored it in the garage just for me knowing I would need it one day:)

After I cleaned it up a little (not too much though because I wanted to keep the vintage charm) I screwed it into the wall and added a wreath to give it a little contrast and I love it! I'm still not completely done I want to add a few more things but its a start. I'm so excited I finally found my statement piece.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Monday and I can't wait to show my dining room project I've been working on!

growth chart ruler

Finally hung the growth chart ruler my husband made and surprised me with for Christmas! I had seen a couple of the rulers on pinterest and had hinted to him I would love one of these to see our kids growth each year before they got too old. This is what I was surprised with Christmas Eve ( he couldn't wait til Christmas Day to give it to me) It was his own version and design of it. I was beyond ecstatic! He took a piece of 100 year old wood from a local barn that was torn down. The marks and scrapes on it are beautiful and could never be duplicated. That's its true color he just put a clear coat on top after sanding. He burnt all the lines into the wood and burnt our children's names at the top. Each child gets a side of the ruler so we know who's who. The numbers are house numbers he bought from lowes. This is by far the best gift he has ever given me! It is something I will keep forever and ever and ever and one day even mark my grand kids height on it as well. It was so heavy I needed help to hang it on the wall in our living room. My husband helped me yesterday so now I can sit back and admire it everyday and have a tradition to mark heights every year on their birthdays!

toy storage

I have a 3 year old and a 3 month old and there seems like there is never enough space to store the toys galore at our house. As the 3 month old gets older it will only get worse. Many of the toys stay in the living room because that's where my 3 year old son likes to play. I was getting tired of stepping on toys all the time and didn't want any of the cheap storage alternatives I've seen at the stores. I wanted a timeless piece that would go with the rest of my decor and look nice while giving a home to the toys. I then went to my husband and gave him my thoughts and ideas (he has a wonderful design sense and is fabulous at building anything!). A few trips to lowes and a couple days later I now have this and I love it! The top part is made from stainable wood we stained to match our floors and we beat it with hammers and screwdrivers (my son loved helping with that part:)) to give it a vintage aged look. We made the dimensions so it would fit perfectly behind the couch and serve as a console table too. I picked up the cute chicken wire baskets at Marshall's and loved how they looked with it. I couldn't be happier and now the toys can stay in the living room/play area without looking so messy!