Styling a Bar Cart

Since we purchased our first home 6 months ago, I've been far more interested in styling my house rather than my attire.  (And I'm sure that when we have a baby one day, I'll be styling him/her rather than my house-- notice a pattern here?)  So, I thought that I may as well share some photos of my recently styled bar cart... even though there are a million of them already floating around Pinterest.

I woke up this morning with a major urge re-style this cart immediately.  I know, it's weird.  And since I'm on a major budget right now (teacher's don't get paid when they aren't working!), I took a quick trip to the grocery store to stock up on some items.  Everything else, I already had.

I bought this cart several years ago at a great store called Three Potato Four.  One day, I plan on asking my dad to help me repaint it.  He does auto body, so he can simply spray a new color for me.  In the mean time, I'm kind of a fan of this bold green.

This glass bowl and blue tray are from Ikea, and the vintage bottle that I'm using as a vase was actually found in the ground!  These glasses are from a local antique store.  They were a present for my husband because he's such a big fan of trains (no, I'm not married to a 7 year old).

This vintage shaker and the glass decanter are pieces from Erik's grandparent's house.  The table and chairs are part of a dinette set that came from my grandparents.  My favorite part about decorating our home is having great memories from family heirlooms.  Even the smallest items can carry so many special memories.

  

For now, this area of our kitchen is almost complete.  I'm planning to move this chandelier eventually, to somewhere small, like a hallway or the laundry room, and add a larger light fixture to this space.  I also have to refinish the table and chairs and add a large area rug.  I was planning to refinish the furniture this summer, but I'm trying to decide whether or not to paint the chairs (or table) a bright color.  I really want to add color in this room from the chairs, but I'm afraid that I might regret altering the natural wood.  I've been considering going with a green similar to the bar cart... any suggestions?

Clock, Blue Vase, Flower Pot, Frame, Blue Tray, Glass Bowl, Curtains, Chandelier: Ikea

Salt and Pepper Birds: Chirp Collection from Lenox

Glassware, Table Runner, Silver Tray: Vintage

Vintage Map of NJ: Urban Sherpa via Etsy

Chevron Coasters: Ark Restoration via Etsy

Bar Cart: Three Potato Four

Wood Blinds: Home Depot

Mirror: Home Goods

Master Bedroom Makeover

Hello world!  I'm back?  Maybe?  So I have major blog commitment phobia and I just can't decide what to do about it.  I haven't posted a thing in almost 4 months, and I think about this blog constantly.  Every day I routinely read so many well-written, well-planned blogs, that I feel overwhelmed and annoyed with myself for not being able to produce great content.  One day I'm convinced that I'm finished with this blog and the next, I'm making mental notes about all of the things I want to share.  The ultimate problem is that life just keeps moving forward and I don't always make it a priority to sit down and reflect on those moments.  I don't want to give that up, but I certainly can't keep it up on a daily basis.  So for now, I do think I'm ready to start posting again.  Outfit posts may be far more scarce, admittedly because I have been focusing on my new home rather than my wardrobe.

So enough talk about my lame internal struggles.  Let's get down to business.  I finally finished decorating our master bedroom so I have some great before and after photos to share.  Here is some quick background.  After renting an apartment for several years, my husband and I purchased our first home this past February.  It's a 5 bedroom colonial in the same town in which we've been living (we love it here in Collingswood).  The house was built in 1905, but was fully renovated just before we made the purchase.  And because this house has become my new favorite hobby, I'm planning to share several other projects that I've completed.  But for now, the master bedroom is the first room to be completely finished.

Before:

After:

Choosing to use dressers in place of traditional night stands gave us a lot more storage, which we desperately needed.  The bold lampshades are my favorite part of the room, and add just the perfect amount of color to this very neutral space.  The only aesthetic thing I'd like to change (but won't) is the ceiling fan.  I'd love to have a bold chandelier in this space, but the function of the fan has proven to be more important than its looks.

Furniture: West Elm's Mid Century Bed Set

Lamps and Shades, Accent Pillow: Target

Quilt: Martha Stewart

Curtains: JCP

Building Things

Finally!  We just finished building up a little piece of Ikea tonight.  Not my go-to choice for furniture, but they happened to have the right size cabinet for our shoes that desperately needed a home.

And while I was there, I did a little wedding brainstorming...

But trust me, this isn't the only wedding brainstorming I've been doing.  (If you don't believe me, take a look at my Pinterest boards...)

Outfit:

Sweater & Bag: H&M

Button-Down: Target

Shoes: Nine West

Jeans: Gap

Holiday House 2011

 

Here are a few snapshots of some things I changed up around the house for the holidays.  Our tree is beautiful and fragrant, I've gone poinsettia crazy, and we took the wild plunge into colored lights this year.  (I usually love the white lights, but I thought that the colored bulbs might compliment our abundance of vintage things.)

Our stockings are in the dining room... because, sadly, we have no mantle.  

When our first few Christmas cards arrived, I started hanging them in the kitchen and added some ornaments.

Erik borrowed his parent's beautiful vintage Lionel.  We didn't set it up around the tree because of our crazy kitty, so we just displayed the cars around the house.

And speaking of crazy kitty... this girl loves messing with this vintage doily.

She also happens to think that we decorate a tree every December simply for her own enjoyment...

And after decorating a few weeks ago, we took a walk into town.  I know I always comment on loving the suburbs, but I can't help it.  Our town just really knows how to do Christmas.  Music along main street, snow machines, carolers...  Here are a few photos of the fire department's annual parade.

We're going to take another stroll into town for some dinner and music on this Christmas Eve Eve.  Tomorrow, the celebrating really begins!

Three Potato Four

Last night, I found out about Three Potato Four from a local news website.  Within minutes, I knew that I had to visit this place immediately.  So today, I googled mapped my way to Manayunk, a Philadelphia neighborhood, and already had a purchase in mind thanks to the store's fabulous website.

For several months, I have been searching for the perfect old piece of furniture to serve as a bar cart in our dining room.  I wanted something beat up and unconventional, and something that would be versatile enough for me to use in a variety of ways in the future.  Sure enough, I found this old green industrial cart that had been renewed with some reclaimed wood.  Fortunately for me, the piece was still at the store this morning and I knew it was perfect once I saw it in person!  Yes it's a little..um... industrial... for a dining room, but I'm thinking of repainting it.  I just have no idea what color I want it to be, so it'll probably sit here like this for a while:

I think that it's perfect for a bar cart now, but I can also imagine using it as a storage cart in my kitchen, or a garden cart for the porch!

My other fun finds include this old Kraft American cheese box, a sugar mold (which has now become a perfect addition to my desk), a book of Gospel songs from 1902, and 3 skeleton keys.  Overall, a fun day at Three Potato Four, please give them a visit if you live in the Philly area!

Welcome, Spring!

Ahh, Spring.  Regrowth, warmth, and sunlight!  Today we celebrated with a hike, tons of cleaning, and new plants on our porch.  It was lovely... now maybe we can end the day with a trip for some free Rita's!

Did you do anything fun to celebrate the first day of Spring?

Shopping on the DL

So I recently did some shopping! YAY! No, I didn't break the 30 for 30 rules, I simply bended them.  With winter accessories around the house finally coming down, I knew it was time to finally take a Home Goods trip to get a few things.  For very little cash, I found several things for our place, and I am loving every one of them!  Here are 2 of my favorites...

Home Goods actually has a fun little page designated to customers' finds, and just like fashion blogs, I love fishing through other people's fun design ideas!  Where are your favorite places for home shopping?