Progress Report on my Picture Perfect Room ...

Confession, I really hoped to have this done by now.  Boy life gets in the way!  I took a week vacation and got sick so didn't accomplish much that week.  Then I'd  hoped we could tackle the project this weekend but then Frank got sick.  I just could not go back to work tomorrow and have another weekend with nothing done so I'll show you what I did get done.

The project is our entrance porch.  I believe the entrance of a home reflects the energy of it.  Given the current condition of our entrance it's no wonder I feel scattered, confused and unorganized!

There is an open coat rack in the entrance which I have disliked since we moved in.  The goal is to paint the paneling, remove the hanging rack, replace with hooks, create a bench to sit and put shoes on, declutter and accessorize.

Last year we picked up this sturdy coffee table at our local 2nd hand store, it's going to make the perfect entrance bench.

Isn't it pretty - NOT!  but I have a vision.   I cropped this photo so you wouldn't see ALL the mess but I think you get the idea.

Last week Frankie took the doors off for me and filled the holes where the hinges were.  Yesterday I gave her a quick sand to remove some raised areas I'm assuming were caused by slight water damage.
Then the painting and personalization began ...

That's it for the progress report, the bench needs to be distressed, waxed and toned still.  I'm also really hoping we can get the paneling painted this week and put the hooks up.  Have a great week!

JoJo

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Word of the Year ...

Sometimes the moments or things that just "happen" in our life are the ones that have the most impact.

I read Layla's post on her Word for 2012 and I thought ... oh, that's a good idea, but I don't have the time or energy to think of a word for myself.  I let it go after that.

I had been noticing posts from other bloggers with their Words but I really had no intention to come up with a word for myself.

I know I want change in 2012, I know I want to be more creative and accomplished this year but I don't need a Word for that ... Do I?

Monday night our internet kept acting up and I decided I really wanted to do something creative.  So I decided to whip up a little sign, nothing special, more of a quick little project.  I had a piece of wood that already had a base coat of paint on it so I thought I would use it.  I painted a word on the sign, once the paint was dry I distressed it (a little too much if I do say so myself) and then I gave it a coat of clear wax.  Then I put the sign on the kitchen counter where it stayed until tonight.  I looked at the sign from a distance and  felt the white lettering was too bright so I decided to tone it down with some dark wax, then I took a quick pic with my iPhone and I sat back down. Yes, I'm a little slow to "get it" some times.  I glanced back at the sign and realized ... OMG!!! That's my word.  Little ol me has a WORD!  I belong!  I'm not lost.  What is my word ... INSPIRE.  What better way to achieve all that I want.

I was INSPIRED by all of you to actually wake up and participate in this Party!
I hope to INSPIRE others by achieving my creative and physical goals this year.
I am INSPIRED by so many amazing women, and this year I will acknowledge each and every one.

I'm INSPIRED to take better Pictures! (grin)

I'm linking up to

I'm joining in with Donna @ Funky Junk in her commitment of 2012 change

I have been dreaming for a long time about having a business of my own where I can hone my creative side while creating things that people will love.  I have a passion for signs and painted furniture.  There are a lot of very talented furniture upcyclers online, and they have motivated me to stop dreaming of starting something and Just Do It!

We recently completed step one in the process which may seem small to some but it was a big step for us since it was not something we had really planned for at this time but it was necessary.  I mentioned in my last post the purchase of a new vehicle (to us).  Whenever we needed to pick something up I was arranging to borrow a vehicle from a friend but it just isn't convenient to do all the time.  So we purchased a 2007 Volvo XC70 which gives us the space we need and it also turned out to be a dream care of both Frank and I that we had never really confessed to each other until we found "the" car.

That's Step 1 Complete.

Tomorrow I will layout the additional steps and process on them.

It's New Years Eve and time to reflect on the Christmas Season

I'll start with our tree - It took a little tweaking this year but I loved the final result of the tree.  We made the change to a smaller tree last year and since we were changing we went White!  The biggest addition this year was the Galvanized tub that we set the tree in.  I was inspired by Donna @ Funky Junk last year and spent the year looking for one.  I was so happy when one showed up at the local Antique Store right before Christmas.  I didn't get a good picture of the finished tree at night but I have a "work in process shot"

We place the tree on an end table between our sofa's in the living room.  I put Burlap tree wrap on the end table then inside the bin I place white twinkle lights over silver fabric then top them with white gauze to give the illusion of bright white snow at the base of the tree.

The original star was too heavy for the tree and it kept drooping forward.  I tried everything to enforce it, I doubled up the top branch, put a rod up into it but it still kept leaning forward to I replaced it with a large silver bow, and also added some more ornaments, I think the little white and blue bows just finished the tree off.

I didn't do any baking this Christmas Season since I am on a journey to improve my health and sugar is not my friend.  I will admit to breaking down and having a couple of sweets over the holidays and I swear when I eat sugar I am more susceptible to picking up germs or bugs from those around me.  I know, it may sound kooky but it's my story and I'm sticking to it <grin>.

In lieu of baking I made a Christmas Present for my Sister Kim and her husband David.  It's a family sign with their anniversary date on it.  The base colour is Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Aubusson Blue, I love ASCP but I was not happy with the way this darker blue sanded, it left streaks.

The wax finish took away some of the streaky blue but not all, it just adds to the character of the sign ... ya ya that's right.  Notice the little dog paw lower right side, I added that for all Kim and Dave's fur babies, those that are still with us and those that are in doggy heaven.  When I go I hope I go to Doggy Heaven, I think it would be a very nice place.

Speaking of Fur Babies, our holidays were blessed with many.  First there was the frisbee obsessed Aneeka at the Car dealership ... she is stylin quite the wardrobe!

Then in the same day we visited the Pet store ...

Where we saw these cute Westie Pups, you would have to take both of them home!

There were also these Dutch Shepherd Pups that slept the whole time I was there.  Dutch Shepherd is the breed of Clark Griswold Dog from the Ultimate Dog Tease You tube Fame. (I love him)

I look forward to Christmas Day every year when we get to see my nephews Jake and Jed!  This is a great photo with Frankie and my nephews (Jake is the handsome one posing against Frank).  Of course I look forward to seeing family too.

Then on Boxing Day I came to spend two weeks with my fur friends Chance and Ruby, this photo is of Chance before the snow arrived.

Ruby seems to be sleeping in all the photos I have of her so far.

 I can't have doggies in the blog and not add our precious Buddy, in this photo he is looking at Frank with love in his eyes as Frank prepares a special dinner for him (Ground Beef was most likely involved)


But (drum roll) .... the biggest event of the holiday season was the gift we purchased for us and will allow us to do more DIY projects and I'll be able to Blog so much more next year (drum still rolling)  I said Buh Bye to my beloved little Punch Buggy, aka Zippy ...

She's looking a little dirty and frosty here ... I think she was giving me the Cold Shoulder!

We said HELLO to this sexy diva!  She is such a comfortable car to drive and so solid! She's a Volvo XC70 with all wheel drive so we can blast through the snow on our way to all the Kijiji deals out there & with all the space we can pick up a few deals!  I love her.

We have had such a blessed Holiday and look forward to 2012.

I'm linking to  ....

Kitchen almost complete (again)

When we first moved into our house I decided to paint our kitchen cabinets.  I finished them in an aged white but I just didn't love the finish.  Soooo  in October I repainted the cabinets and I am so much happier.

I'll take you back to the beginning ...

This is our Kitchen on the day we moved in.

And this is how it looks now.

I do have a couple of things to finish still, I painted the brass foot rail in oil rubbed bronze and it needs to be put back on along with a piece of base board I picked up for the island too.  There are also a couple of areas I need to touch up, I feel like I need a few days off to finish this project.

We picked up some counter stools on Kijiji last year, and at first I thought they were perfect but they became a catch all for my purse, and coats.  They were attracting clutter and driving me crazy.

These are the stools we initially purchased which are now for sale on Kijiji.

These are the stools I purchased to go in their place.  I had to have them and Overstock does not ship these stools to Canada so I signed up with MyUs.com and paid for a personal shopper to purchase the stools for me then had them shipped to Canada.  This process ended up doubling the price of the stools but it was worth it to me since I had to have them.

I will do one more post on the kitchen once the foot rail and baseboard are in place with the new stools.

I hope everyone had a fabulous holiday!

I'm linking to ...

Merry Christmas

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a blessed 2012. 

Why Muddaritaville?

I started blogging over a year ago to document the makeover of our little home in the country.

I have not been consistent with the blog, and I've changed the name umpteen times!  The name change was due to my effort to "brand" myself and a part-time business/hobby painting furniture and signs.  I also added additional blogs to my account in attempt to cover off each of my interests individually.  Note to self:  If you can't keep up one blog, don't start additional blogs!

I used the name Muddaritaville for the blog over a year ago but I wasn't "feeling" it at the time.  I picked Muddaritaville since it reminded me of a fun time from my past.  I was recently separated and decided to have a girls weekend at a home my Ex and I owned in Huntsville, Ontario.  My married name was Fitchett and we called our country home Club Fitchett.

Here's how Mudd-arita-ville was  born:

• I didn't want to start my new single life still calling the home Club Fitchett 
• I was known to enjoy a Margarita (or 2) on the weekends
• Jimmy Buffet's Margaritaville was my anthem
• my maiden name is Mudd - yep!  my name is Mudd!
• I'd decided to go back to my maiden name 

So I thought "Hey!  I will call the place Muddaritaville!"

My friend Cyndi and I made up our own lyrics to the song Margaritaville for the girls weekend, the lyrics were a little colorful so I won't feature them here.  Any ho, we had so many laughs that weekend and I have fond memories of the name.  This past week I was listening to the audio version of Kody Bateman's Promptings,  Kody speaks of Margaritaville being your happy place.  That's it!  My blog will be about all the things that make me happy and I will call it Muddaritaville!  My happy place.