I saw on Pinterest lots of examples of making trees out of wood and Dollar Tree faux tin tiles and thought I would give it a try.
I plan on my trees going on our deck table so they are sturdier than a lot I saw. The need to hold up with wind and rain. The triangles are cut out of leftover pieces of wood from our stash. I made sure they would fit the tile.
After the wood was cut, I traced the shapes off on the tiles and cut them out with scissors. Several sites talked about using hot glue but my things get stored in a super hot space. Hot glue doesn’t hold up so contact cement was the best choice.
Everything got a coat of Kilz Gripper Primer. It is made to stick to slick surfaces.
I used the same paint I used on my mural to paint the trees then dry brushed the high spots with black and white paint. Literally you dip just the tips into the paint then take off most of the paint before lightly dragging it across the surface.
I cut some small blocks for the tree trunks and Mr. Math cut the bases. He then screwed them on. If you are doing something like this for indoor E6000 glue would work fine. We always overdo.
I really like how they turned out.
It is really warm here now and we are spending a lot of time outside so we get to enjoy the trees.
Right now we are working full-out every weekend and I am not doing a great job of taking pictures so I thought I would give you all a quick look at our progress. I did such a bad time last week that I never got the post done. Sorry. This post is a mix of both weeks’ work.
When I left the house a week ago, this was all we had done. The carpet was up and my buddy was sweeping the grit off the floor after the epic carpet removal. Note to self; next time I think it is a good idea to remove one whole room of carpet in a solid piece, rethink that idea. It was work.
This week/ weekend we got the following done:
The walls in the main room and laundry room got painted. Behr Moth Gray. Man oh man I recommend this color. It is the perfect brown toned gray. Everyone who comes in the house comments on the paint color
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I picked the color for the bathrooms and the kitchen. The bathrooms are going to be Behr Pacific Mist. I did several test spots and love it. It is soft, peaceful and almost spa like.
The top of the kitchen cabinets are going to be Behr Bakery Box.
The kitchen walls are going to be a mix of Pacific Mist and a Behr color called Tinsmith. We are stuck with the color of the bottom kitchen cabinets. I will be visiting Lowes today to check out other paint colors.
Here is the color on the big wall:
Please ignore the cabinets and floor. The cabinets are going to look so much better white and the floor will be reclaimed weathered oak vinyl tile.
In our exploring last week we found this stained glass door in a storage building.
A little love and a lot of cleaning turned it into a beautiful piece to hang in our kitchen window.
We also found this cool old gate in our barn.
A scrub down was all this needed to remove the dirt dobber nests and cobwebs.
It now hangs on what I call my “Cracker Barrel” wall. This wall is where our dining table goes. I also got a good start on the faux cow hide bench. it still needs nail head trim and leather end caps but it is going to be fun hanging out behind the table against the wall. I have decided to embrace the ranch theme. We live in a ranch house on land where cattle have been raised with a hay farmer across the street, horses and chickens to the right and geese and hogs to the left of our property. The dining area wall has a chicken painted by a friend, two license plates- both off of farms. was The 1975 plate came from my husband’s family farm while the other plate came off a friend’s land. It is a 1932 Texas plate that was used as a shingle on a barn.
I love the mudroom wall. More on that this week. Mr. Math is my hero.
Mr. Math starts back to work Monday so work will slow a bit. The floor and wall are priorities. I will be calling an electrician in to make the lighting make sense and fix some questionable wiring.
Lumi loves this place!
The shutters are going to be part of the wall soon.
We are tired, sore, and feel incredibly blessed to have this opportunity.
Well hello there! We did it, folks. We f-i-n-a-l-l-y closed on our new weekend home. We are so proud and humbled that we have the opportunity to own this beautiful property and believe we will get the house where we want it one day. We know that the place was worth the wait.
Moving in this weekend was brutal. I am so very grateful to our friends who showed up, stayed until they were about to drop, and never complained. I also am so happy that two of our nephews were willing to come and lift, haul, tote, carry, and sweat. It was 103 Sunday… in the shade. No lie. I have no idea how hot is was Friday and Saturday because we couldn’t find our outdoor thermometer until Sunday.
We are sore and I have a few bruises but we got a lot moved in over the weekend.
We did not get the carpet out as we hoped but we decided that while we had the help we better get the heavy stuff moved in. We can scoot things around to get the carpet up. We also didn’t paint. The skin colored walls will be in all the pictures but remember that they will be changing when you see the pictures and that there is nothing on the walls until after the painting.
We did get one of the tasks done, the front door was liberated. The previous owner had sheet rocked over the front door so that a china cabinet would fit.
There are no pictures from move in. It was all hands on deck, no playing around with a camera during this time but here is what we got accomplished this weekend.
The master is almost done. We are having a curtain dilemma but more on that another day. The walls are not an attractive color and there is no door to the bathroom…ick.
The front guest room is set up except for the shutter headboard. I am waiting for wall paint to get them up. We also need another lamp.
The craft room only has the Expand-O-Matic in place. I am also having curtain issues. 84 inch curtains seem too short but 95 are too long. I think there will be some alterations with both to make them work.
The main room is sort of set up. We now have a table and chairs but need to work on the bench. I decided to go with the ranch thing. there is faux leather, faux cow hide, and even faux ostrich. Bessie, my Hobby Lobby cow graces the mantle and will look great when I really get to decorate.
The den area needs work but I like the funky dresser.
The table looks great. The bench is not finished.
I like the color combinations. I think I will like this spot to hang out one day.
The kitchen window is a home for my white pitchers.
We have a long way to go and a lot of work ahead but I am proud of how much we got done in three days.
i love to visit model homes. Near my sister in law’s house they have 7 model homes open for touring. It was a muddy, stormy Sunday afternoon so she and I headed out to walk through the homes. This builder’s homes are well built and are part of a 55+ neighborhood. Today you get to see the first two.
I have never seen this designer/ builder’s work, and I really enjoyed getting to see their ideas. They had the most creative ceilings I have ever seen. My favorite home happened to be the first home we visited.
The very first room was… Navy and coral with a rustic, modern vibe. I can honestly say it was the only room I could see myself in, but I did take away some ideas.
We didn’t plan on going so excuse the iPhone photos.
House One
I loved this house.
The front bedroom was so cool. I really liked the china cabinet and the matching crib springs. The stripes wet navy, burlap, and a cream color. The art was stenciled canvas.
Loved the coral tailored cloth on the night stands.
Here is the rest of the house:
The master was a little too fussy for me. The side tables were way too full and the picture above the bed was too much. The mosaic tile panels are throughout all the homes.
I had to ask myself if that design in the shower would get old?
I loved the zinc topped hammerd table.
I liked the wood squares on the laundry wall.
I loved the wood flooring!
House Two
This house was totally not my style but still fun to look at and even in this house there were elements I really liked. I called this the mirror house.
Imagine dusting all those mirror frames.
A wall of mirrors in a 55+ guest bedroom?
I really liked this piece.
Loved the formal dining table.
I like the light fixture but two breakfast tables?
The backsplash was fun.
Oh my, the master was sensory overload. Tile and beam ceiling, tile insets on the wall, mirror edged headboard…
A sweet couple that used to live across the street from us moved to Hawkins, Texas- population 1278. When they moved they sold me their farmhouse table. They just did not think that they had room for the long table in their new dining room. I really only bought it for the legs because the top was not solid wood. The table hung out in the Garagemahal for months, and I do mean months. It was heavy and had to be moved any time that I was working on a project so I started to think I just needed to get rid of it. I decided just to paint it all out and sell it. I mentioned on Facebook to my friends that I was going to be selling the table and guess who responded that she wanted it? The original owner! As soon as I started on the table, a friend gave me two chairs and a bench that I knew would be joining the table. They we’re a mess, but wood.
I also had four other chairs hanging out in the Garagemahal that I bought for a song at Canton.
Do you like mixing and matching chairs around a table as much as I do? I love painting mixed chairs the same color. All in my friend ended up with a table that seats 8 for her dining room. The fabric on the chairs is young and fresh, just like my friends.
I love the Behr sea salt bottom and the revival mahogany together on the table but next year when our life is a little slower I would like to change out the top for a stained solid wood top.
My buddy waited a long time to get her table and chairs (like since November) but this past Saturday I got the chance to go and visit their little bit of heaven.
I love the dark mustard walls with the upholstery.
They call their home the Crooked T Ranch, I think it is charming. I am smitten with her sunroom/craft room and her bathroom has an original fireplace and chandelier in it.
It looks like we will moving into what I believe will be our home we will happily (weekend for now) house, so I am making my list of must do or must find items. Feel free to join in if you have suggestions.
We aren’t even going to start on the outside this summer. It has to work inside first.
I don’t have any interior photos of our soon to be home yet. I am going to get some soon. The house is a traditional ranch home built in the 1980’s. The two car garage at the end of the house has been taken in and makes for a long continuous room. The fireplace is on a side wall in what would have been the middle of the original family room space.
We included a lot of our lake house furniture in the sale of the house so I have some work to do.
Master Bedroom: We have the essentials. We have a bed, night stands, dresser and chest. We need a headboard and I wouldn’t cry if I got the dresser and chest refinished before moving in. I plan on staining the tops and drawer fronts darker and paint the body of the pieces creamy white with glaze. We have our sewing machine base side tables but my sweet door headboard is not coming with us. I am not going to make major changes to the master because an addition to the master is on our short list, but it is not an immediate project . Any ideas for the headboard?
Family Room: We have a couch, two recliners (don’t judge me, I have to make the husband happy and a recliner is high on the list along with a ceiling fan), the funky dresser that is going to serve as our media center and a television. That is all we have, really. We need everything else. No tables, no shelving, I am not even sure what we need in this space. We will be re configuring the galley kitchen that runs parallel to the family room as one of our first projects so right now it is hard for me to even imagine what the space is going to look like. We are just going to have to see what we can find or build to make this room comfortable until we get the remodel done.
Dining Space: We sold everything in our current dining room. Hutch and buffet, chairs, table are all gone. I have a table hanging out in the Garagemahal that has these super chunky legs. I was given these amazing chairs and have the parts for a bench so that part is done. I need to figure out a rustic “China” cabinet. Do you have any suggestions? Please send photos!
We have two bedrooms that have absolutely nothing to go in them. I am thinking seriously about a Murphy type bed for one room and turning that room into an office/ study/ reading space. I want a set of French doors in that room for light. We will be taking out a window and adding the doors as we can afford it. If we are going to live there in the winter months I will need a well lit room to escape to. A bed that only comes out for company will be perfect. I have no idea about the third bedroom.
I like the one above minus the bench that seems very complicated. Relax Shack
This one seems easy and there is even a video.
The master, den, and dining will be about all we get done because there is one project I did not mention is that every, and I do mean every single room has cream colored carpet. Bathrooms, kitchen, family room carpet must go even if we move in with concrete floors it will be better than dealing with carpet. We hope to get tile down in the bathrooms before we move in.
Guess who will be busy for the foreseeable future? Feel free to help out on our upcoming projects. We welcome free labor.😄
Thank you for taking the time to read the blog and connecting with me.
Well, we are taking the plunge. Star Hill, our near the lake cabin in Coldspring, Texas is going on the market. We planned to meet with a Realtor Sunday to discuss selling our near the lake house, Star Hill. She actually could not come because she broke her leg, but we will be putting the house on the market very soon. I decided to do all the research I could in her absence to make sure we are ready to sell this place and buy the property we are dreaming about near our lake house.
Having someone you don’t know walk through a place you poured blood, sweat, tears and time into when selling your home is hard. Being judged on your effort is hard. Loving the place and wanting whoever buys the house to love it, too is our hope.
After doing the research on getting a home sold quickly and trusting my gut I have composed a to do list.
Exterior:
Get concrete work completed on porch.
Paint porch rails. ( The dog is not for sale. Every time I get out the camera she manages to jump into the shot. )
Clean out flower bed, trim bushes, get leaves up.
Fix deck boards and popped nails then paint deck with sprayer.
Garagemahal:
Clear porch of items except patio set.
Move cedar from my cedar windfall to boat storage.
Finish outstanding projects. I have three that need to get knocked out on the first dry-warmish day.
Clean, clean, clean.
Interior:
Continue to declutter. It will probably mean moving some furniture to storage. The cedar cabinet provides great storage but it makes the guest room feel small. The Western Dresser can go to storage, one of the night stands in the front bedroom. The shelving unit in the back closet along with the skis can go.
We have a large list but can get it knocked out if motivated-and we are motivated.
We plan to list the home with a realtor the first of March but we honestly hope it sells sooner by owner.
I would love your input on the list and suggestions from those of you who have sold second homes.
As we are getting ready to sell our sweet little near the lake house, I think I am getting sentimental.
I dug out our scrap book from the first few years of our journey and was pleasantly surprised at all we have done on the home. I also thought back to all we did not know or have when we bought Star Hill eight years ago.
If you are anything like us, buying a second home is a stretch financially and a little scary. Buying a second home means there is suddenly a new house payment, electrical bill, home owner association dues, water, taxes, upkeep… the list is long.
First of all, buy only what you can afford comfortably, be aware in advance what to expect like how much to plan for utilities. I was such a nervous nelly that I insisted we make “payments” for two months into our savings account before we actually bought the house. That money we deposited was our contingency fund. Hubby was so desperate to convince me that we could afford it he packed his lunch for work.
What we didn’t have a great plan for was furniture. We bought a three bedroom home with very little furniture that would work in the small spaces.
I set a goal of getting the house move in ready for $1000 and we got it done. Move in ready does not mean perfect. It means we could spend the night, have guests, and have the basics.
There were a few things I learned from the experience that I think applies to any time you set up a new home. We followed the same strategy when setting up both of our kids in their first apartment.
1. Walk through your own home to see what can go to the weekend house . We were able to come up with linens, lamps, utensils, a chair, a cedar cabinet, and our first couch. You can see the ugly couch in the trailer packed for our trip to move into the lake house. It looked much better with a slip cover.
2. Let folks know what you need. Tell people what you are looking for. Cast the net and let people know specifically what you have on your list. We ended up getting to borrow a great table and chairs for several years until we built the set we now have. A friend gave me this ginger jar lamp and mom gave us a bedside table. Don’t turn things down because it is the wrong style, shape or color. Paint covers a lot of ugly, changing out parts makes things like lamps look better. Hardware can make something look totally different.
3. Roadside rescue. Look every day you can on Craig’s list free stuff. Ask friends to call with curb alerts. Every home I have furnished has at least a few curbside rescues. Star Hill is chock full of rescues. The biggest- you really won’t believe me, but it is true, is our master bedroom dresser, chest, and a night stand we use in the guest room. We also have this cast iron typewriter table that was left at our city house when the previous owners moved off.
4. Get up early and hit garage sales. Go with a list of items you need. Wooden chairs, storage items, lawn chairs, beach towels, life jackets, and cooking items, and decorative items were picked up at garage sales for pennies on the dollar. Ask when you go to a garage sale if they have specific items. I asked about sewing cabinet at a garage sale a year ago and the man holding the garage sale took me to the back yard to see two old treadle machines. The wooden parts were dry rotted, but the bases are now my master bedroom side tables. I got this chair and bookcase for $2.00 each. Glue, paint and fabric helped them.
5. Go to resale and thrift stores. Yes, they sometimes smell funny. Get past it and check out their furniture. Look for solid wood. Remember paint cures a lot. This coffee table was a Goodwill find. Blue paint updated the look and covered the scratched top.
6. Shop the clearance sections of target, Lowe’s, Home Depot, Kirkland’s, and Marshall’s. We picked red, white, and blue for our home colors. When looking for dishes, pillows, accessories I mixed and matched. A lot of our red stuff came from after Christmas sales. I have mixed and matched dishes that are all solid colors.
7. Shop Craig’s List. Be safe and never go alone but we find a lot there. My most recent CL find was this wood stove. This twin over double
8. Auctions are another source to furnish your home. One cold, wet January we got this brand new leather sleeper sofa ( our second sofa in the home) for $150.00. No one was bidding so we snagged it. It is great.
9. If you just can’t find what you need, make it yourself. Check out Pinterest, Ana White’s blog, or just Google what you need instructions to make. I am lucky enough to be married to a woodworker so I can just draw it and get what I want. This buffet, these benches, and this table are all examples of his hard work.
Over the years we have added, replaced, and upgraded. That is the fun of having a place. Because we don’t have tons invested in the furnishings I have given myself permission to experiment.
The road that runs adjacent to our neighborhood main road is Harrell Cemetery Road. Guess what is at the end of Harrell Cemetery Road? If you guessed the Harrell Plantation Cemetery you are correct. If you guessed a cluster of new homes, built on Stephens Creek and Lake Livingston, you are also correct.
This year it has been driven home to me that we are not the first or second or third or fourth generation to love this particular part of Texas. A little research into the Harrell Plantation drove home this fact. The land where our lake house is along with the cemetery road and oh 3000 or so acres that are now under Lake Livingston, were once owned by A. W. Harrell. The plantation home built between 1840 and 1850 is gone underwater and that makes me sad. The cemetery was where the black farm hands were buried and it now has a historic marker.
Interesting fact: Sam Houston used to visit a Choctaw village that was located at the mouth of Stephens Creek. He would put up a white flag so the steamboat would stop and take him to Galveston. Right where we live.
In the last two years a cluster of new homes have gone up around the cemetery. it sounds creepy, but it is really a pretty spot with a historic cemetery in the center. All the homes are pretty and I am going to show you two of the others quickly tomorrow but today, I have to show you what I call the Aggie compound. I am sure that is not what the owners call it, but you be the judge.
Welcome to the Aggie compound.
See the gate? Proud TAMU folks built this house.
Here is the home as we walked up the drive.
See the peak of the lake on the right?
As you see, my buddy, The Social Planner, could not resist touching the wreath on the front door. We were like kids in a candy factory at this house. ( Oh, yes it is real evergreen.)
I am going to clump the photos of rooms together because your tour should not take longer than mine. You are going to see the main room and kitchen, the bedrooms, the bunk room, the wine cellar, and the outdoors. Ready to speed walk through this home?
The home is a split level home. This is the entry hall. Up to the main room and kitchen, right to a bedroom, down to the bedrooms.
Oh my word. That main room.
Rustic, industrial, eclectic with lots of character. Those beams. Hand hewn. Vintage industrial furnishings.
The kitchen
Did I mention the farmhouse table that seats 16? Or the two-toned cabinet colors? Or the cool pendant lights?
The Bedrooms. There are Five regular bedrooms. I think. I may have missed one. All of them are pretty and are in soft blues/greens. Most of them look out on the lake. Wow. What a view.
The hallway has built in seating and beautiful cushions.
The master has two barn doors. One at the entry and one at the bathroom. Beautiful.
This light fixture was in the master in front of the windows looking out on the lake.
The Back Porch
The owner came out to point out the name of the massive fan. See the picture on the fan? It is called a Big Ass fan. I wonder how it got that name?
The Wine Cellar
Wine barrel oak ceilings, cool wine rack, live edge bar and stucco walls. I couldn’t stop staring.
I have had this pinned a while. Wouldn’t it be fun in a weekend home?
I got to see it in real life on this tour.
It was so cool. Yes, I climbed the stairs between the bunks to take pictures.
This room also had a mudroom bench right off the porch so that when the kids come in wet and nasty there was a place to drop towels and stuff.
I hope you aren’t exhausted from our whirlwind visit to the Aggie house. It is hard to believe that this house is walking distance to our 950 square foot kit home built in the 1970’s with unlevel floors.
I hope you enjoyed this part of the tour.
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog.
I am at a conference this week so the afternoons are all mine. I am enjoying the quiet time.
