Pattern Play...Blogger Challenge

When Chelsea from Pinterior Designer contacted me about taking part in a "pattern" blogger challenge for the month of February, I couldn't have said yes fast enough!

I love using pattern in design, especially in the form of fabric.  It helps to add interest to a space without committing major time or dollars, and it often acts as the "thing" that ties a space together.

This year {actually, this happens every year}, after we removed all of our holiday decor, I was craving a clean and de-cluttered space.  I wanted to keep accessories to a minimum and have our great room feel clean and calming.  Aside from the gray, blues and gold that are always present in the room, I wanted to add pops of black and white throughout the space.

To get the B&W pop on our console table, I knew I could add a great fabric instead of relying on accessories with more visual weight.  I already had great striped pillow covers from H&M on our couch, so I went for a small spotted fabric that would tie in nicely.

I started by pinning the long sides {probably should have ironed the fabric first, but I was l-a-z-y}...

Then I sewed, removing the pins as I went along...

Then I pinned the short sides...

Sewed one last time, and done-zo {well after I finally ironed it}!

I love the way the small spots make a quiet statement and play nicely with the bold patterned tray I added on top.

Using fabric on the tables in our home has become the norm for me, and I like that it allows me to add another layer of color or pattern without a lot of effort.  Plus, it helps protect my painted furniture too!  Who doesn't love a piece that pulls double-duty?!

Now head on over to the other fabulous ladies who accepted the Pattern Play Challenge this month, and let me know what your favorite project is! :)

Grace Lee Cottage, Cute Kid, Ugly House, La Vita DiBella, Retro Ranch Renovation, Country Mouse Tales, Pinterior Designer, Sweet Paper Treats , Lemon Drop Life

The Real Star of the Blog...

Those of you who follow me on Instagram {@retroranchreno} know who the real star of this blog is.  Yup, I'm talking about this guy...

PERNY!!

If you want to know more about him, and see more of that furry face, head over to Julia's blog, Cuckoo 4 Design.  She started an amazing series a few weeks ago, and I'm so honored to be guest posting for it!

Happy Friday, everyone! :)

My Version of Valentine's Crafting...

The people closest to me know that I love to switch up our home decor quite often.  I use different seasons and holidays as my excuse to swap patterns, colors and textures in and out of our space all year long.  But shockingly, that doesn't mean I go all out for every holiday on the calendar.  One of the holidays I've never decorated for is Valentine's Day.  And while I'm still not going all out...thanks to a super sweet invite to a blog hop full of talented ladies, I've decided to try my hand at a little Valentine's Day crafting! :)

For my project, I wanted to make some art to add a little "love" to our mantel.  I went shopping in my crap craft room {one of the few times I've been thankful for my hoarded stash taking up an entire room} and gathered my supplies: empty frames, cardstock, a heart-shaped lever punch, glue, ruler and x-acto knife.

I know my color scheme doesn't scream Valentine's Day, but it fits perfectly in our home and I wanted to prove to myself I could make something Valentine's-ish without using pink and red.

I started by cutting out my backgrounds.  I used the filler paper that came with the frames as templates, and cut clean lines with my ruler and x-acto knife. {Please ignore my much-in-need-of-a-manicure-nails.}

Then I started punching holes...errrr, hearts.

I lined things up as I punched along so I could get an idea of how many I'd need.

When I had enough hearts cut out, I laid everything into place.  Then I got out the trusty Elmer's to glue each heart down, one by one.  

The key is to not put a ton of glue on the back...just a dab.  And since you have the grid already laid out, you can slide the hearts around until the placement looks right.  I didn't measure anything for this project.  In fact, that was my requirement.  I didn't want to measure anything! ;)

After the first grid was done, I decided to use my next frame to write out an X and O.  Again, I just eyeballed the placement, and glued after I laid everything in place.

Once the glue dried, it was time to pop them into their frames, and voilà!  Instant Valentine's Day art for our mantel! :)

Now, before you go, please make sure you enter to win a $140 Target gift card and check out the 13 other amazing Valentine's Day projects!!  You won't want to miss any of them! :)

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Puttin' It Out There.

Happy New Year everyone!!  I hope you guys had a few wonderful weeks celebrating the holidays...I know I did.  It was filled with friends and family, and we certainly made some wonderful memories.

For most people, the new year is a time to hit the reset button and start over.  As cliché as it sounds, I’m joining everyone and doing just that.  I’m starting my second round of Whole30.  I had such wonderful results after the first time, that I knew I’d be dying to take on the challenge again...especially after a ton of indulging over the holidays.

Everyone’s Whole30 journey is different.  Most people ask me if I do it for the weight-loss aspect, and I’ll be 100% honest...that’s just not why I did it the first time around.  {But boy was it a fantastic perk...}

I took on the challenge of changing my eating habits purely for health purposes.  I’ve been struggling for quite a long time with health stuff, but of course, you never see that here on the blog.  Sure, I have no problem keepin’ it real with you guys and letting you know that our home is nowhere near perfect or styled like a magazine.  It’s a home.  We live in it.  Yes, we tackle things every day to make it the prettiest and most functional it can be, but come on.  Most of the time it’s a mess because of the 45 projects I've started, but not yet finished.  Our guest room is so crammed full of to-be-projects and other junk that you can’t even walk into the room.  {One of my goals for this year is to get our house purged, organized, and finish projects before I take on something new...which, I admit, is tough for this girl who is constantly dreaming up new things.}

But, I digress…back to the health stuff.  It’s hard to get so personal for all the world to read, but I’m hoping I can help at least one other person who may be struggling.  If I can touch one person, then my job is done…so here goes nothing!!

In short, I hated to talk about it.  In fact, it took me a super long time to talk about things with my hubby, who is my bestest friend ever.  Before I opened up to him, I pretty much just confided in my parents because, well, they made me, so they can’t think less of me!!  I used to think people would judge.  Don’t get me wrong...some do, but not everyone.  And one day, I heard someone else open up about their struggle.  It moved me so much that I literally burst into tears.  Her words were my words.  I felt like she was speaking for me.  She was going through the exact same thing as me, and from then on, I didn't feel so alone anymore. I became more confident in my own struggle because she vocalized hers.  She has no idea how much she helped me by courageously telling her own story, so this is my own version of trying to pay it forward.

Here is the {not-so} condensed version of what went wrong….

Growing up was great…I was healthy and social and all was right with the world (or as right as a girl’s world can be while going through middle and high school...am.i.right?).  But then I got into college and things started to change.  I battled a nasty parasite for well over a year and had some suuuuper stressful relationships {putting it lightly}.  Then when I graduated, my parents moved 12 hours away.  For some, that may not have been a big deal, but my parents are my best friends.  It was a huge adjustment for me, and simultaneously, I bought my first place and started a stressful "big girl" job that involved more commuting than any person should have to deal with.

Notice a theme there?  STRESS.  After years and years of chronic stress…I broke.  I remember the month things really changed, and it was of course, smack in the middle of my busy season.  I started getting awful dizzy spells, which really scare the heck out of someone who drives 3+ hours a day.  I began getting sick after every meal I ate.  My heart started having funny rhythms.  Basically everything was just off, and I broke down.  I started having major anxiety from all of these things happening and I began to see every type of doctor under the sun.  I’m pretty sure most looked at me like I was crazy.  They just wanted to write me an Rx for Xanax and send me on my way.  But something physically wasn't right.  I knew me, and I knew it wasn't just in my head {no matter how many people and doctors wanted to tell me differently}.

Fast-forward a few years, and my symptoms hadn't changed much.  Anxiety had become the norm for me, and it completely warped my social life because, ummm, hello…I was terrified I’d go out and get sick in unfamiliar territory.  I just wanted to hang home in my safe zone, with people who I was comfortable with.  I can’t even explain how sick and tired I was of feeling sick and tired.  I. Was. Not. Myself.  Something had to be wrong, even if no one else was seeing it. 

Finally, my life started to change when my mom looked into alternative doctors who deal with thyroid, adrenal, etc. conditions.  She herself was having some issues, and was going to see a doctor recommended by the Broda O. Barnes Research Foundation, and told me I should get their doctor list and find one near me.

I did just that, and have been thanking God for it every day.  My new doctor (Dr. Michael Doyle) is the first doctor who has looked at me as a whole, and ran extensive tests to get to the bottom of things.  He looks at numbers differently than most doctors and examined things others wouldn't even think to look at.  He found that I am hypothyroid and have adrenal insufficiency {hello major stress and anxiety}…I also had such low iron and magnesium.  With his guidance and NATURAL treatments, I have started to feel like myself again.  I truly believe he has given me my life back, and in the quest to continue my journey of health, I started looking into food for healthy thyroid function and stumbled onto the book “It Starts With Food”.  The book was so interesting and informative, and confirmed my suspicions that the Whole30 challenge was right for me.

After my first Whole30 experience, the system-wide inflammation marker that came up in my first few blood tests with Dr. Doyle, was completely normal.  The constant bloat, problematic skin, low energy, ravenous-sugar-cravings, elevated anxiety, trouble sleeping...all improved or disappeared.  Through proper treatment and nutrition, I've regained so much!!

2013 was a wonderful year where I began my journey to become healthy again, and I’m continuing that into 2014!!  So basically {if you are even still reading} this is why I’m taking on the Whole30 challenge again.  I want to feel as good as possible, and that starts with the food that I put into my body.  So today is Day 1…here’s to the next 29!!

And since I’m getting all personal on the blog today, I just want to thank all of you for letting me share my story!  And a major thank you to my hubby, parents and friends for all the support you give me every single day.  You guys make life pretty darn amazing!! Xo! :)

Lucite Curtain Rods..& A Question.

Raise your hand if you noticed my curtains were ready for a flood when I showed off our Christmas home tour.  Come on...admit it.  I know plenty of you were asking yourself what the heck I must have been doing when I hemmed my curtains.  But for the few of you who are kindly pretending like you didn't see them floating a good 8 inches off the floor in some photos, here's a lovely reminder.

And to answer the question in your head...no, I didn't do this intentionally.  In fact, if you remember when I showed off my DIY striped curtains last year, they were the perfect length that just slightly pooled onto our dark hardwoods.

Did I shrink them?  Nope.  I finally found the perfect curtain rods for our home, so our curtains can be hung where they should have been from day one...high and wide!!

When we first moved in, I wasn't sure what kind of curtain rod I wanted to get for our living/dining room area since the window width to cover was so long. To keep the price, work and wall damage minimal, I found inexpensive rods from Amazon and used these Kwik Hang rod supports as a placeholder. They went up quickly, and added a much needed softness to the space.

Two things bothered me about the set up.  The curtains were hung low {a major decorating no-no} and the rod and middle support were not pleasing to my eye...especially since we never use curtain to cover the windows.  I lived with things as they were for almost two years while I brainstormed what I wanted.  One day, it finally hit me and I was no longer afraid to drill something permanently into our delicate plaster walls...eeeeek!

It was lucite rods for the win!!  I thought they'd be beautiful in our home.  And I was hoping I'd be able to save a bit of money since I didn't need a rod that would span the entire width of windows...two smaller rods hung wide at the ends of the windows would work just fine, and get rid of some of the visual clutter.

I hopped onto the Internet and searched my little heart out.

As I predicted, lucite {or acrylic} rods can be quite expensive...especially when they are sold as curtain rods.  So instead of looking for home decor suppliers, I turned my efforts to finding plastic manufacturers who could make rods that I could cut-to-size myself.  The prices for the rods themselves were reasonable, but the shipping costs were out of control.  Thankfully, I came across a manufacturer who is semi-local {about a 30 minute drive}, who would make the rods, cut them to size, and allow me to pick them up.  I couldn't get my exact measurements and place my order fast enough!

Once that was completed, I was on the hunt to find the perfect curtain drapery rings and mounting hardware to go with the rods.  It didn't take long for me to come across just what I wanted on Ebay.  Sold!!!

After hubby picked up our rods and the hardware arrived, it was time to turn my vision into a reality.  Admittedly, I put this off for many weeks.  Drilling into plaster, making sure the rods are level, blah, blah...it's just not my jam.  I'd rather do many things besides installing curtain rods, but hubby and I got our bedroom done in one night and our great room done another.  I'm SO happy we bit the bullet and got them up!

So basically, {if you are still reading this...gold star for you!}, this was my very long-winded way to tell you about my awesome lucite curtain rods and now-too-short-curtains. :)

Do you like?!  I loooooove.  I could definitely use more lucite in my life in 2014.

Speaking of which....can you believe the new year is almost here?!  I can't!!  December passed in the blink of an eye, and now I'm scrambling to get the blog prepped for the new year.  Is there anything you guys would like to see/hear more of?  Or less of?  Let me know!  I'd love to get some input from you guys. :)

Happy Last Monday of the Year!!!

Have Yourself...

...a merry little Christmas!  I hope you all have a wonderful holiday filled with loving family and friends!  I just wanted to take a minute and tell you guys how thankful I am for each and every one of you!  The fact that you take time out of your day to pop into my little corner of the blog-o-sphere means the world to me!!

So from our house to yours, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!  I'll see you in 2014! :)

Oh, and I surely couldn't let the holiday pass without sharing hubby's fab lighting skills!  He made our house perfectly festive. :)

Isn't he the best?!?! ;)

Search is Restored!!!

Hi friends!  I just wanted to pop in and let you know that the search feature in my sidebar is FINALLY working again!  The one I had there has been giving me trouble for entirely too long, so I figured out a replacement and so far so good!  Please let me know if this one goes crazy and stops working too!

Happy Christmas Eve Eve!! ;)

DIY Christmas Wreath.

I have been a crafting machine this Christmas season!  The Blogger Stylin' Home Tour totally lit a fire under me and had me churning out projects left and right!  Okay, that might be a slight exaggeration, but it definitely upped my productivity this month.

One of my favorite things I made was my Christmas wreath.  I used my holiday inspiration pretty literally in this project.

I started with a blank wreath form and some wide B&W striped ribbon.

I hot glued my black and white striped ribbon into place, and then tightly wrapped the ribbon around the form until I was back at my starting point.  I cut the ribbon and used another bead of hot glue to secure the end into place.

Then I used two different sized sparkly beads I had in my craft stash to create a cluster on the wrapped form.  These beads were pretty heavy, so I held each in place until the hot glue was 100% dry.

Once the cluster was big enough for my liking, I added some greenery using two small pieces from an artificial pine tree stem.  Then I just cut a sliver of leftover plaid fabric and pulled the loose strings off to give it a little worn, rustic vibe.  I tucked the ends of the plaid fabric behind the mirror on our mantel, using the weight of the mirror to hold the wreath in place.

I really love the combo of black and white stripes and plaid in this wreath.  Plus, it's got a bit of shine to it, and if you've been here for a while, you know I looooove me some shiny stuff!!  This is the third wreath I've made for our mantel {here was the first and second} and I love them more and more each time!

Happy Friday! :):)