Welcome to Our Neighborhood: August 2009

Monday, August 24, 2009

Small Home Renov Pics

Our house is beginning to look more polished and more fabulous each day! Here are a few pics of the latest changes: continued Pergo flooring in the living room (we just carried over the same of what was already down in half of the downstairs instead of ripping that up) and no more green cabinets. Now, I loved my John Deere green cabinets, but white just makes it more polished (even though I HATE almost all white in my kitchen--oh well!) :) I have brown curtains to replace the worn striped curtains over the sliding glass doors, and I think I'm going to paint the round table between the two chairs black.

We moved the TV to the center of the back wall and put the entertainment center in the corner to camouflage all the cords. We're also adding frosting film to the glass doors to hide cords inside the entertainment center as well.

I LOVE the beige and dark brown rug I found at Walmart.com for only $99! It's perfect for the space!

It's SO WHITE!

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

In Disguise--Slipcovers

There are many wonderful home renov/updates taking place in the Rogers household. First, we sold Gabby The Galant this past Saturday. She sold after only being listed two days! YAY! We're using the money made from Gabby's sale to put back into the house. Those pictures of those changes will come later.

I'm currently fighting the good battle of sewing slipcovers for our couch and oversized chair. I'm quite excited about this project. Not only will it polish off our worn (but still shape sturdy furniture), but I'm able to do it for a decent price. Prefabricated slip covers aren't cheap and they wouldn't look so great on our giant couch and chair. Plus, we're wanting to polish up our bright colors.

I found a rust colored fabric at Hobby Lobby. Still in the red family, just a tiny bit more subdued. I wanted a print or pattern, but a very muted one that would work well with other prints and patterns. I lucked up with my chosen fabric--I love the faint small diamond pattern mixed with the green and maroon itty-bitty dots. PERFECT for what we already have--tons of green accents throughout the downstairs. On top of that the upholstery fabric was only $10 per yard, quite cheap for such a heavy fabric. AND on top of that, it was 30% OFF! I had to order an entire bolt of fabric for the couch, but was able to bring some fabric home to start working on the chair. I'm quite excited that I spend only $170 to recover two large pieces of furniture--way better than buying new furniture, especially when ours is only 5 years old. The dogs have just reeked havoc on the cushions. I will have to spend a little bit more because I'm creating completely new back cushions due to the smushed and gnawed cushion corners.

I'm sewing these slipcovers as pieces, so that the finished look won't be so slouchy like many slipcovers can be. The first piece I've worked on is the base, with the seat and back cushions to follow. I wanted the hardest part done first! I'm quite surprised with how well it turned out. I just pinned the bottom hem and only have one mishap to fix. It's already passed the daddy-seal-of-approval! :) I can't wait to get this chair completely finished, but looks like it won't be until next week--Knox and I are headed back to AL/TN for the next few days, leaving Daddy to fend for himself for a bit. Don't worry, he'll be busy with those other home renovs I mentioned earlier! YAY!

This is the best color pic of the fabric--isn't it fabulous???

You can tell that I haven't hemmed it yet--the front will hang more flush once it is hemmed. Can you see the boo-boo?

I'm thrilled with how the arms turned out!

This is the boo-boo. I'm completely happy with only one mistake and should be fairly easy to fix. Besides, once the cushions are in place it won't be noticeable anyway! ;)

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

A Belated Weekend Recap

I meant to do this on Monday, but Wild Man was still ill and stayed home from school--resulting in a near mommy melt-down from day-long whining. :)

We were blessed with a visit from Grammy and Grandaddy over the weekend, and had an amazing time as usual. We went to Stone Mountain State Park, and mainly drove around. We ended up at the covered bridge and took a short "hike" through the woods there. Knox was thrilled to see ducks on the water, but our (my) fun was slightly dampened by the dead (?) baby snake Knox and Grammy tried to play with when they thought it was a night crawler. Eeee! I get the eeby-jeebies just thinking about it. We got some great shots of three generations of Rogers men in the end, though!

Our next stop was at the Yellow River Game Ranch just about 5 minutes from Stone Mountain. Knox was in heaven--outside with tons of animals you could just tell he wanted to go squeeze. We were "those" people saying the name of EVERY animal we saw, quickly followed by the appropriate animal noise. Funny, we were never around the same people for an extended period of time. Haha! :) Knox was so worn out by all the excitement, he fell asleep mid-motion in the car on the way home. He has NEVER done that, but he was also diagnosed with this third ear infection of the year on Friday, so he wasn't quite up to par and that could have had something to do with it (on top of the fact that he STILL has a cold).

Anywho, a great weekend was had (Saturday was topped off with a super yummy dinner at the Japanese steakhouse!!!) We love having company, and when company is family, it is just that much sweeter. :) :) :) Thanks for the great weekend, Grammy & Grandaddy!

Desperately wanting to throw rocks.

All I have to say is, "AW!" :)

Aw! Again

And say it with me now, "AW!"

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this picture--Grammy, I will get you the hi-res version. :)

These next set of pics I like to call "Wild Game--Up Close & Personal." I used the GIGANTIC lens Keith loves to use (me, not so much) so it was hard to scoot back far enough, but then again I love those up close and personal pics anyway.