{a most lovely sight} - complete..

The birds continue their visits regularly, and I find myself taking the time to watch for their return...  I managed to have my camera waiting and ready since they are so quick to land and fly away to the next tree or branch.~ It's amazing how just sitting quietly and bird-watching can be so relaxing & therapeutic. It's fun to see their variations in color, they really are beautiful! The thought crossed my mind as I was sitting back quietly and taking in the beauty of nature, all the lovely things taking place {sometimes right outside our windows} that we simply do not see because we are busy inside our homes and running around from dawn 'til dusk... 

Take a moment to sit quietly & observe what's happening around you... more than likely, you'll be pleasantly surprised at the beauty that awaits you...

~sandee.

{a most lovely sight}

Yesterday I woke up to wintery blizzard out, after getting all the kids off to school I had to quickly make two lunches, then get ready to go. I had signed up to be a driver for my daughter's field trip. While bathing in the tub I noticed some movement outside the blinds when I peeked out I saw {a most lovely sight}... the tree just outside the window was literally filled with little baby birds. It took my breath away - I wished so much at that very moment that I could've captured what I was seeing in a photo, but instead I was in a hurry, soaking wet & naked.. Had I been so lucky to take a picture, I surely would've framed it.~ I'm keeping my eye out for the little birdies to come back...  

{this is the tree they visited, only there wasn't as much snow.. just a thin line upon the branches and at least a dozen baby birds scattered through out}.

~sandee.

{update: moving boys to a different room}

Okay.. the orange paint is finally finished!!! It took longer than I'd hoped because we had so many other things going on this week and I needed my man to help me tape off the line for the navy stripe along the top of the wall. I can't wait to post pictures of it, but I want to wait until I finish painting the top of the wall/ceiling navy and get a few things moved into place. I'm sure there will be numerous updates because I won't be able to acquire everything I want for their room all at once. Speaking of everything I want for their room... I found some more rooms of inspiration through one of my favorite catalogs Land of Nod. Notice the orange & blue together throughout, LoVe it! I'm really liking this solar system bedding a lot... I'm thinking it would possibly be a better choice for the boys, it doesn't seem as juvenile as the one I first saw at Company Kids, although it's really cute & would work too.

Aren't these pieces of vintage wall art so nostalgic and gritty to say the least.. I'm pretty sure I might have incorporate these into the decor of the room.-

{musical furniture: in progress}

I found another thrifty - chic piece of furniture at another great place while searching the KSL classifieds. I've actually found quite a few pieces I was looking for here, {pieces for one of my daughter's rooms and the boy's room that I'm working on right now}. This red hutch was such a good deal that I just couldn't pass it up, but I've been playing musical furniture trying to decide what spot to put it in... it's been in three different places already and now it's by the front door, I think I might leave it here, but ya never know at the rate I move furniture around! 

-Obviously it still hasn't taken on full residency or purpose in this spot yet, hence the lack of decor on it, maybe I'll do an update once it all comes together. 

~Sandee.

{I'm in LoVe with my bLaCk DeSk}

I have been stumbling across lots of my favorite things lately... I LoVe thrifty - chic furniture, furniture that was once someone else's and is now a most treasured find for me! Furniture like this is often made very well and has a lot of character and vintage touches which I crave. 

While searching on KSL classifieds {an addiction I have} I found some items that I just loved by this girl who finds great pieces of furniture and refinishes/reupholsters them. She will also refinish something you found or may already have as well. She is so talented and does such a good job. You must visit her blog if you are on the look out for that special piece or even if you're not, a little eye candy doesn't hurt right... 

~sandee.

{for the LoVe of StArs & LiGhtInG}

Aren't these little star night lights just so delightful... LoVe them!!! I am a huge fan of lighting for ambience and coziness and didn't have the built-in under cabinet lighting in my kitchen, so when I first saw this star night light in my sister's house I knew I had found my solution... Now I have 4 of these gritty little things plugged in along the wall under my cabinets in my kitchen. Oh how I love them.~ {you can snatch yourself a few at your local Target}. 

{-a little secret}: on the wall is a faux back splash I painted on using a video case to trace out the brick/tiles, leaving a space between them all for what looks like a grout line. I just used craft paint in 4 colors and sponged them on to create the depth & look of a tile. Very cheap alternative to the real thing and looks pretty good too!

~sandee.

{top of the project priority list}

Moving the boys to a different room: 

• some may remember my post on my personal blog this time last year about my thoughts of switching the boys room and trying to figure out a way to create this fabulous space saving bed set-up without buying it for the astronomical Pottery Barn price. WELL... I think I might have figured something out!!! {mine won't include the great storage underneath, at least for now.. but the basic set-up is better than nothin'}. I'll post pictures as soon as I get it all put together in the room, but first I'm...
• repainting: I was going to do a tan color but then decided to go with more color {does that surprise anybody}, then I was going to do a green with a navy blue stripe on the top continuing onto the ceiling {like space} but then I didn't like the green so I've officially decided on ORANGE and we are all LOVING it so far. It has me wondering why I've never done an orange room in my house as of yet... It will still have the navy blue stripe & ceiling. Inspiration for painting the room this way came from this bedding & this gritty light that I plan on incorporating into the room.
• so fortunate: I was also WAY excited to get two of those OLD SCHOOLHOUSE CHAIRS from the photo below. There is a lovely blog I follow daily and about a month ago she posted that she had bought six of these chairs at a furniture consignment store and found that she only needed four. She said to email her if you were interested in the other two. I ended up being the first to email her and the BEST part of the whole thing is that she gave them to me for FREE!!! Now I was able to mark off finding two unique chairs for the other table I'd found for them to sit at and build legos, do projects, etc... 

~sandee.