What were they thinking??....:)

That's exactly what I said to myself the day we bought this house! It was love at first sight believe it or not. But during the entire restoration process I often thought of what all the people who had added their "personal touch" to the house were thinking! I thought maybe it went something like this: Ooooh Larry! Look at that beauty! I know it's a 1916 bungalow, but I'm thinking with my brains, and your cool set of tools we could hack away and turn this thing into the Victorianesque looking house of my dreams!!

Yeah Carol, we could "enclose" that wrap around porch ( I mean, what a waste of space!) and make it into your laundry room!

After :)

After :)

Oh Carol! Your choice of color is just spot on!! It's like Christmastime....all year long!!

After :)

Hun? I'm thinking we should rip out that old original kitchen and put in that u shaped, highly functional, never been seen before kitchen you designed? Oooh Larry, YES!!

After :)

And hey Larry? Could you build me that wine rack I've been wanting for my Charles Shaw collection? I've got the perfect shade of aubergine in mind...

After :)

Ooooh, and over here? We could bust out the wall (load bearing? who cares!) to that bedroom, remove the original staircase and I could have my dream dining room!! Oh Carol! You're a genius!

After :)

And the master bedroom....Larry? Could you add some massive structure to the front of the house so I could have a balcony where I could relax on our old couch from 20 years ago?

After :)

Carol, you really know your stuff! Honey oak, brass and emerald green and white tile! Oh well thank you Larry! And thank you for reminding me to put CARPET in the entire bathroom!

After :)

Hey Larry? Since you work alone, I'm thinking plastic columns would be so much easier on your back.

After :)

Carol? Since we already relocated the original staircase and have it so elegantly cascading into the dining room, I'm thinking we should relocate the original fireplace too! Oooh Larry! That sounds fantastic! Then I could use that pink tile I've been dying over!!

After :)

I know how much you love yourself some skylight Carol, so I thought I'll just tear into the wall above the bathroom!

After :)

Carol, your color choice for this front bedroom is sooo soothing, sooo inviting! And hey Larry my love? Could you please replace that original diamond shaped glass in the window for some pink plastic instead? Thanks!

After :)

I'm thinking if we "enclose" that back porch Larry, you could build us a massive brick fireplace that would come in handy for, you know, all those chilly Arizona winter nights!!

After :)

Oh Carol!! Come see!! I've totally disguised that chimney to look like your favorite- a Christmas tree! Oh Larry! Think how excited all the neighbors will be when I decorate it with lights this year!!

After :)

I just picked up the disc with all the before pics from our architect last week, and was reminded of the horrendous state my sweet old house was in! I only wish that Willy Wonka really did invent smellovision. It would have really made those kitchen before pics come to life!!!

"There's nothing half so pleasant as coming home again." ~ Margaret Elizabeth Sangster

Linking up to the before and after party at Thrifty Decor Chick!

And Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch !

Spring has sprung... :)

**Just a little update on last weeks post. After a phone call that transferred me 7 times, seriously 7, and an unanswered email, I have yet to find out if anyone at the city knows about the sweet little green house that I want to put in my pocket:( I WILL keep trying!! ********************* So it's officially spring here in the ole AZ. The hubby has turned into Mr. Garden. He's always loved gardens and now has one! These are the first of his sweet little strawberries! Cuuute right? I love the craggly one on the right :) A had to get a pick of this bee, just enjoyin himself some of my geranium :)

And for me? Well spring cleaning has hit me in a big way. On top of my already OCD like cleaning that I normally do, I find myself changing things up a bit :) Case in point- my little library at the top of the stairs.

This poor little room hasn't been touched since my 20 yr. old son so gracefully (not) unloaded my boxes of books onto these shelves on move in day:(

Can you say BORING?? Ugh! The chandelier? Too white. The doors? No life. About every frame I own on the top shelf? Just dumb.

This is where my sweet hubby reads every night. I know! He's so abused. That hideous excuse for a throw? A snuggie. Yes, I said snuggie. It's hideousness just seems to add that little "punch of color" doncha think? That sweet chair I got from my friend Kristin at one of her fabulous sales years ago, it's a little shabby chic but with no budget for reupholstering- I just rolled with it:)

I made my way down to my fav Home Fabrics store and picked up these sweet fabrics for $23. Yeah you read that right. Twenty three dollars!! I found the ribbon at JoAnn and it went perfectly with my antique sconces above the chair:) and oooooh yes, Stitch Witchery!! My new friend until my daughter unearths my sewing machine that is currently in the abyss otherwise known as her kitchen remodel:(

The chandy. I bought this brass beauty at the Salvation Army "boutique" in Cali and I painted it white when we first moved in and yeah, it'll blind ya. But not for long! I took some minwax stain and did a little dry brushing on it.

And here's the little library after all my blood sweat and tears!

A little decluttering and organizing goes a long way:)

And here's the chandy! (with the crooked shade, just keepin it real around here!)

Awww and let's have a moment of silence for snuggie. Yeah right!! New throw is sooo much better! Oh, and I found some more (dead people) old pics of the hubby's family and thought they would want to join the others:)

Absolutely no sew curtains:) I'm sure I'll be doing a post in September titled The Unraveling. All about my curtains after the sweltering AZ summer! But until then? Me loves:)

Some fab old books that I got at the GW for $1 each. And yes, that's my flute from the 7th grade:) a little further down to the right sits my piccolo:)

And why yes of course! Little Bully finds himself verry happy here in the morning sun:)

And did I mention that I did this all on Saturday? And my back still hurts:( So what about you? Any crazy spring cleaning in the works?

I WANT IT NOW !! ..... :)

So this last Sunday the hubby and I took a little drive. I know, we've TOTALLY turned into old people. It's really one of our favorite things. Where do we go? Really nowhere. Usually one of us asks, "do you want to drive around and look at cool houses"?? And that's how it starts:) we love to check out historic districts all around the Phoenix/Tempe/Mesa area. While checking out a new area (nope. I won't say where! and for good reason! keep reading) we came across this beaut:

Awww!!! I was instantly smitten. She's the perfect shade of chippy green. Her windows are old double hung, and she's the loving home to some crazy feral cats that my hubby saw while looking thru the windows :( This sweet old girl is abandoned and according to the neighbor is going to be demolished:( Sooooo, I'm going to get on the horn and call the city (and go all Veruka Salt on them) and find out when,

Cause just think of all the fabulousness you could make with all that gorgeous green wood!!!!!

Some bunny loves me... :)

A big thank you to sweet Ashlyn at Pinecone Place for this award! I'm supposed to tell you 7 things you (well, some of you:)) don't know about me. Here goes nothin!

1. My house really is as clean as it is in my blog pics. Call me crazy, OCD whatev. It's just how I roll:) I actually enjoy cleaning and organizing :) One of my fav shows? Hoarders.

2. I think sometimes I missed my calling as a trauma nurse, surgeon, paramedic or anything blood and guts related. I watched our vet sew up our dogs leg once when he got hit by a car. Awesome. Strong stomach? Yes. Math skills? Not so much:( Another fav show? Medical Incredible.

3. I love the smell of garlic, onion and bleach on my hands (not at the same time of course). Makes me feel like I have a clean house or cooked something amazing:) More fav shows? Clean House and Barefoot Contessa:)

4. I'm a dreamer. My husband says I live in a dollhouse world. I do:) I dream of restoring every house in my neighborhood:) I can be sitting having a conversation with someone and while my mouth is saying uh huh, uh huh, my mind is checking out their fabulous curtains, or the painting on the wall that would look sooo much better over there.....

5. I can't go to sleep at night until I have showered, shaved my legs and put perfume on. I used to wear Chanel #5 till the hubbs informed me that he thought it smelled like an old lady. Waaa waaaa:( It only took 2 years for him to tell me!! Yeah, he's tolerant like that:) Now I wear whatever body sprays I have, as long as they smell yummy:)

6. Speaking of perfume. I've worn the same one for 20 years. Yep, twenty years. Paloma Picasso. Still love it.

7. I have a love/hate relationship with my empty nest. I miss my babies being at home so much sometimes. But then I look at my significantly smaller laundry pile and grocery list- and do a happy dance:) I'm thinkin maybe I could volunteer to rescue and foster frenchie bulldogs? Course that puts me just a step away from being on another one of my fav shows- Animal Hoarders!!

I'm awarding this to all you bloggers out there. You are all stylish and entertaining, and some of you quite frankly are waay out of my little league:) I'm doing this because fact #8? I'm the worst procrastinator and I stink at chain letters :(

Moving on:)

With the weather feeling so springy this weekend, I decided to get out what little I have in the way of "spring" decorations. I found these adorable bunnies that I've had for years. Seriously, I think since the early 90's! Poor babies were still wearing raffia for heaven sakes! :(

After a few short minutes with my friend Fiskars, they said buh bye to their former selves:)

All this project took was a little boredom, some colorful ribbon scraps, a hot glue gun and a bowl of bejeweled buttons, earrings and what nots that your daughter forgot to take home and doesn't know that you're keeping:)

And voila! How cute are they!!!

Oh, and I used some stickles to sparkle up the eyes, nose and ears :)

And here's the messy shot for miss " get real and go make a mess in there" commenter:)

I'm thinkin I'm keeping these sweet little bunnies for another 20 years :)