Oh Deer!

Rhett and I happened upon an episode of the latest home makeover reality show the other week, and what did we see? A ceramic deer head on the wall. It was pronouced as one of the highlights of the room and, placed against a black wall, it was striking. But why not have the real thing? Down south, we don't mess around with ceramic animals in the home when you can have the animal itself.

Welcome to our dining room. Don't the antlers pair beautifully with my china? What can I say, I'm always a step ahead of the designing curve.

Yes, the above is real, but it's been stuffed and well preserved. Would you like to see another set of horns at Tara? Just step into the garage.

This one Rhett shot and killed himself. And we ate well that winter. :) These little horns aren't quite fit for the true interior of the house...so this one will live in the garage permanently.

Last winter we were not so fortunate, though Rhett's time in the deer stand was shortened substantially by our home renovations. Luckily, I found this for his bathroom:

This eco-chic design proved to be a fun puzzle with our oldest daughter and yes, it's 100% cardboard. Decorating statement? Absolutely.

The Perfect Porch

Well, we did it. We created a SUPER outdoor living room on a budget and the best part is that it's all done! I think I want to move out here. Not only is it wonderful to be outside without the bugs (can I get an amen?) but everything out here makes me happy. And when family and friends come to visit it will be even better!

Rhett finished the electrical (well, most of it) before leaving for CO a few days ago, and when he comes home tonight he will come home to a beautifully decorated back porch. Here's hoping he likes it!

I balanced this heavy wooden table of my mom's (I used to eat supper here when I was the age of our oldest daughter- how cool is that?!) with old farmhouse chairs and a wooden bench that was salvaged from a farm about an hour away from where we live. I adore the mix and match look of these chairs, and they ranged from $22-$40. Special thanks to Jordan McCarter, aunt and cousin who I simply could not do without, for introducing me to the lovely shop from which they all came, Le Vie En Rose in Lenox Village. I bought her a beer for taking me there, but I'm pretty sure I owe her something more than that! What a super place. I pieced the chairs together in the store and I was also able to get them ALL for under the ticket price (tip: always, always befriend the sales person and then haggle!) When I did fundraising, I learned that the worst thing that a person can say is simply no, so what have you got to lose when you ask for a little cash off the price?

Detail of one of the antique chairs- love it! In the background you can see the tile. Our contractor had this tile sitting in his shed from another project and gave it to us for free. Of course, we paid for cutting it and laying it, but free tile is never, ever something you should pass up. Placemats from Target: $3.99 each.

A closer look at the old bench. Anything with history that makes your heart sing? Snatch it up! $75. I think three kids or two adults can sit on this quite comfortably.

Painted concrete steps? Yes, I know that was the first thing you noticed. I painted these last Sunday before church with our oldest daughter. I took a tile to Sherwin Williams, told them what I was going to paint, and 10 minutes later they had a pint of paint ready to match for about $13. Saved money on the labor, and it was easy and fun! This white chair I adore- $22. Small blue and white table (has a retro look when you get up close) was $32 and the antique kitchen scale that sits on top was a find of my oldest daughter. She's been weighing everything! We had the wooden bench and the throw pillows, as well as the lanterns, from our old house.

The kids corner! Both of the chairs are- believe it or not- Sunday school chairs from Donelson Church of Christ! Says so on the bottom of each chair. I assume they were discarded at some point and someone very clever painted them and sold them. LOVE. I got the mismatched pair for under $40. We had the art table and bench, and I couldn't resist moving the cardboard spaceship OUT of our house and onto the porch. :)

Two gigantic outdoor ceiling fans hang from each slope of the roof. Rhett did all the electrical so we saved a bundle- bless that wonderful man! Ceiling fan from Home Depot, and I assume it was inexpensive because otherwise Rhett surely wouldn't have bought it!

Aside from the toys of our youngest (!) nothing is more welcoming than fresh flowers.

Come have a glass of iced tea at Tara! If the weather's nice enough, we can venture outside the porch and sit in one of the fun hot pink kids plastic chairs (Container Store, $9.99) next to the slide in the yard. Looks like sunshine for the next week, so come play!

Life is Beauty Full

As this montrous renovation winds to a close, I wanted to share the mood at Tara.

Yes, there will be another full-scale renovation (this fall, let's knock out another wall!) and I'll keep you aprised of our little adventures here and there. In the meantime, I finally got around to replacing our wall of Christmas cards! And what better to replace it with than something inspiring and optimistic.

Enjoy this from Sugarboo Designs in Georgia.

Chalk it up

I've blogged before about my favorite entryway, but it got even better this past fall. One of my favorite, easy, inexpensive DIY projects of the last few months got a quick mention in this blog, but the single picture I posted (below) doesn't do it justice.

Where there once we three empty squares on the laundry room door, there are now three magnetic chalkboards. Yes, MAGNETIC CHALKBOARDS.

For under $40 at Home Depot, you can get a small pint of magnetic paint and a small pint of chalkboard paint. If you want to simply do one or the other, that's certainly possible, but why not do both to maximize the function? While we chose a basic chalkboard color, you can have the paint tinted any color you'd like (!) making the possibilities simply endless.

Now that basic door is home to notes from school, my daughters' artwork, and even a few creative musings of my own. Love it!

Hometown Homage

Speaking of hanging things on the wall, I can rest assured that wherever we move, my hometown will never be too far away with this sweet reminder hanging on my wall. Thanks, Mom!

Lesson learned? Find a spot in your home for a little something to remind you of where you grew up. Unhappy memories from the hometown or stuck in a family of gypsies as a kid? Pick a fun momento from a happy location, even if it's a ticket stub, and give it a place of prominence.

Summertime and the Living is Easy

Has it really been two weeks since my last entry? Sheesh. Even though I haven't been documenting all of the projects I've been squeezing in this summer, it doesn't mean that Tara is improvement free! It just means that our work ethic has taken on a summertime temperment, a less-rushed, slower feel.

Summertime and the living is easy.

This unscheduled summer has afforded us more opportunities to get pictures of our kiddos, and like any parents Rhett and I are over-eager to display them. Naturally, the blank canvas in the hallway seemed like a fabulous place.

Yikes! But THIS is a BIG space! (Not that we couldn't cover it entirely with pictures of our babies.)

However, how do you put something in a space like this that compliments the size? It's easy to hang something that would be quickly overwhelmed, and it's also easy to attempt to fill the space and end up cluttering it instead.

After seemingly endless searching, I found an answer.

As you might have noticed from prior posts, Rhett and I have a deep love for anything antiqued and weathered (hopefully he'll remember this love for all this antiqued when I am 95!) I found these three amazing frames, made out of reclaimed barn wood, at a little shop 10 minutes south of my house. They bring color, character, and a certain amount of charm to the hallway without crowding!

Horray for the casual, easy feel of these frames. For purchase information, email me at renovatingtara@gmail.com.

Benched.

Moms can multitask.

Anyone who's ever been a mother or seen a mother in action knows this to be true. At some point during the day, I am simultaneously on the phone, carrying/feeding/changing a baby, sending an email, reminding a 6 year-old to grab her jacket, wrangling the dog, taking out the trash, coordinating a reunion/meeting/dinner, and cooking a nutrtious, tasty, and budget friendly dinner...with my little toe. Most days, I wish I had the magical and cute little nose wrinkle of Samantha on Bewitched to solve daily stressors, but alas, that has yet to be the case (although I am a big fan of using prayer as a form of magic to get me through the day.)

So instead, I, like most modern mothers, combat the day the best way I know how, by multitasking and staying on top of the chaos as best as I can. I am exceptionally organized (some might say I am a little TOO type-A) but I thrive in an organized space and operate at optimum speed when there is a place for everything and, as the song goes, everything in it's place.

So what do you do, as a contemporary wonder woman, upon getting out of the car and into the house with groceries, children, a bottle of wine (YES!), craft projects, lunchboxes, carseats, and the mail? Do you open the door, turn off the alarm, and drop everything (including the children, but hold on to the wine) on the floor? No, sweetheart, you create an organized entryway.

A lot of my friends have these clever lockers inside the backdoor, and I think that fad in home design and function is simply genius. Rhett and I are planning, in the next five years or so, to add a second story. If we do that, we'll put lockers under the stairwell by the garage entrance, and I can't wait. Not only is it a good tool for your children to keep up with their belongings, and by children I mean husband, but it's practical and can be stylish. Love it.

In the meantime, Rhett and I have decided to use repurposed items inside the entrance from the garage into the house, and we couldn't be happier.

We found on old pew that perfectly fit the wall. 81" to be exact! What a find. Bonuses- it belonged to my mother, was free to us, and is an antique. Check, check, and check. Next, we found the top of an old doorway (around $10 at an architectural antiques store) and 4 vintage, mismatched doorknobs (around $4 each at the same store). Rhett attached them and- voila!- a coat rack. Lastly, we added a vintage-looking tin sign from my old condo that tells our little troops to "Get Busy. Looking back, we created- for under $30- a perfect place to stash everything we bring home. Backpacks, carseats, laptops, and coats now have a place to rest until they are picked up again the next morning.

The best news about an organized entry? Multitasking Mom is now free to get cracking on the rest of her to-do list.

Letter Perfect

If I could monogram every single thing I own right down to my toothbrush, I probably would. Yes, I am one of those people. In fact, I just bought my daughters matching, monogrammed, seersucker swimsuits, and there are too many things right about that to count.

It’s not about narcissism, I would argue. There’s something special and classic about placing subtle monogramming on an item. Stationary, towels and sheets, signet rings, and the family pet all look a touch more elegant when monogrammed, don’t you agree? (Kidding about the family pet)

My friend Holly, who has an excellent eye, has four monogrammed pillows in her living room with the 3 initial monogram of each of her family members.  The look is uniform because the pillows and colors are the same, but the mismatched initials are a fun touch. Love that!

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), a big “B” on our walls would be considered gauche. There are, however, simple ways to personalize a home’s interior other than placing picture frames on sidetables. In a post last fall called “Pictures, please” I chronicled my do-it-yourself framing project using old windows and burlap. Those windows still look amazing in our living room.

Our den is less formal, and we decided to spruce up a bare wall with a picture cluster. We found gold letters spelling J-O-Y in our boxes of Christmas decorations, and we decided that they should be up year-round to remind us to be joyful. Then, with the addition of a picture of me and my husband, one of our oldest daughter, and two small paintings, we had a perfect (personalized!) answer to our bare wall.

Pottery Barn will tell you that it is easy and inexpensive, and neither is necessarily the case. Placement can be tricky, so trace out where you want your items first onto butcher paper. We had the letters and the framed art, but framing other pictures can be expensive if you let it be. We liked working around the gold letters, but we chose different gold frames for every piece to avoid looking too “matchy” and formal.

This is a great weekend project, so grab that L. L. Bean monogrammed boat-and-tote and get started!

Keeping Christmas.

One of my mother's favorite books of all time is A Christmas Carol, and it's become one of mine as well. I can't even watch the Muppets version without getting teary as Scrooge wakes up on Christmas morning with a new song on his lips proclaiming that he will honor Chirstmas in his heart and keep it all the year. His joyous transformation and newfound boundless energy are contagious.

But as we pack up our ornaments, stockings, wreaths, and bows, how does one keep Christmas all the year? Christmas just isn't on your mind in April. Certainly I believe Dickens would tell us that Christmas is not in the material possessions or decorations, nor is it in the calendar, but it is, as Scrooge said, in one's heart.

I don't know about you, but I need a reminder to keep in my heart all year long.

So, this year, 2011, we are going to keep our Christmas cards up all year long. How much fun is it to look at your family and friends anyway? A collage of holiday greetings certainly warms the soul, and let's face it, I don't really know what I am going to do with my entry anyways. I'll let you guys know how this goes, but I'm pretty excited about seeing my family and friends each day with big smiles on their faces.

God bless us, every one.

Pictures, please.

While rearranging furniture (again) this past weekend, Rhett noted, ever so subtly, that there are rooms in this house really could belong to anyone. In fact, there is nothing uniquely “us” about the front room, the living room. The furniture is subtle and classic. The placement is formal, but not too formal. The colors are beautiful, but not overwhelming. Yep, this room could belong in nearly anyone’s house.

What to do? Grabbing a sharpie and writing “Scarlett and Rhett’s house!” in bold all over the walls would be a quick fix. So would slapping a coat of fire engine red on one wall (Ha! I’ll show you what’s unique!) But…Rhett’s not big on quick change or deviating from the traditional, so those ideas were axed.

Instead, I chose to hang some family photographs this weekend. I’ve got my eye on doing a picture gallery down the main hall, so I needed something different (and large!) for the living room space. Luckily, we brought with us some super cool early 1900s windows from our previous bungalow (we did leave windows for the current owners, I promise) and we both loved the idea of using the heavy windows as architectural art in our new house. But how was I going to get pictures in there? And what pictures should I use?

Confession: Rhett and I don’t have a wedding album. Not that we didn’t love our wedding (we did!) and not that we didn’t have a photographer (he was there- promise!), but we both loathe posed pictures, generally. Rhett’s a little better about them than I am, but unless we’re making a game face with my 85 year-old grandmother, I would choose a candid over a posed shot any day. (Does anyone actually like posing for group photos?) In fact, our Christmas card from last year was intentionally done to look like it was out of a photo booth- see above. We just goofed off and our friend Micah snapped away. So fun!

Anyways, we had a lot of great pictures from the big day, but I just never got inspired to put them in some book that would sit on our coffee table and gather dust. And who needs a fuzzy, angelic shot of me staring into the great unknown? Bleh. Here’s the thing though, the photographer did do a good job, and we have a bunch of great pics- both candid and posed. And we got married in an old milking barn in East Tennessee (I was barefoot!) so what better to display our wedding pictures but in some vintage windows with peeling paint!

I scurried to the fabric store and snagged 3 yards of industrial burlap for 2$ a yard. I am loving burlap right now and have really no idea why. But when you find what you’re loving at 2$ a yard do you ask questions? Heck no! We then ordered the pictures in varying sizes- 8x10, 5x7, and 4x6- and all in black and white and got them from Costco for under 20 bucks. I picked up some thick poster board for 4.59 a sheet at Walgreens and a few hours later our once-generic living room had some personal details. Okay, Rhett hasn’t hung the windows yet, but they are sitting in the living room.

If you’re considering this for your own house (I’m so happy I inspired someone!) we’ve got plenty of extra windows (really- we did leave the current owners of our old house some windows…they’re just plastic. Kidding!)But seriously- we have about 12 more sitting in our attic. Anyway, here’s what you need to know before getting started on this project. Getting the pictures aligned correctly on the burlap was pretty tricky, but with some glue and a few prayers, it worked well. If industrial burlap is too rustic for your taste, ask the fabric store employees for more options (the guys at my store had about 4 variations), but do know that the nicer variations are a bit more expensive. As for the pictures, find a bunch that you like and don’t be afraid to order way more than you need- you’ll want to play around with them so have plenty. Also, you’re going to need a putty knife and some Glazier points (dudes at Home Depot can help you out) to secure the poster board to the windows. As far as order, I’d measure the poster board first, then fit the burlap around it and seal it on (glue gun? Stapler? I used masking tape!) and then finally fix the pictures to the burlap. We could only find thick BLACK poster board, but with the shadow behind the frame, black worked better than white. So if you have a choice, choose black.

Now that it’s all done, I can’t stop walking through the living room. Turns out we needed some (wedding) pictures up on the walls after all, even if some of them are posed.

My Lucille Ball DIY Weekend

Scarlett here isn’t known for being financially shrewd. I do, however, love a good deal (shoes at 25% off? Yes, please!).

Maybe it’s the thrill of the hunt that makes me relish a deal (Girlfriend better not have just picked up that last sequin tee- it’s mine!), or perhaps it’s the fact that I can buffer the sure-thing confrontation with Rhett about some purchases by saying, “Look how much we save on a nanny and a cleaning lady because I do both jobs for free!” Bottom line, I excuse my ridiculous love of shopping by adoring to save a little green wherever I can.

One of the coolest ways to save during the decorating phase of a renovation is to repurpose furniture from your old house (or a fab Flea Market) and re-imagine it in new ways. Sarah and Tommy on HGTV’s Sarah’s House do it all the time. They make it look so easy that I hate them. And by saying I hate them I mean I love them. Oh, can you both come visit me at Tara? I will bake you cookies!

Anyways, Rhett and I decided to do a little repurposing this weekend with an old table and chairs of mine from my life pre-Rhett. Maybe we’ll call it the pre-Civil War era? In any case, it’s an antique white breakfast table with four standard chairs. Not overly impressive, but definitely used and dirty. I had used it as a dining table in my small apartment for many years and then it moonlighted as a craft table in our oldest’s play room. Now it will finally have its time in the sun as a true breakfast table.

All it needed was a little coat of paint.

Turns out that involves a good amount of sanding first. As a runner I use my shoulders only as much as I lift children and shopping bags, so now after sanding all weekend I can barely feel my right shoulder. Ah, battle wounds!

After a tenuous afternoon at Home Depot we finally decided on a paint color called Mississippi Mud in High Gloss. Choosing high gloss paint for furniture, especially furniture you will need to clean often, is paramount. Flat paint simply does not clean easily and it wouldn’t have the smooth finish we were looking for. The saleswoman in the paint department told me she loved the color I picked out- I blushed. Rhett rolled his eyes.

Because Rhett is Rhett, he used a compressor and a spray gun (yes, we own both- you should see our garage) to spray the table and chairs. Scarlett would have used a paintbrush (and it would have taken 8 times as long and look terrible), but Rhett is fancy when it comes to these projects. He laid out plastic sheeting in our driveway, held down the corners with wood, and it was time to get started.

I came bouncing out of the garage in my sorority shorts to help and Rhett gave me the kiddie job of pouring some paint through a funnel filter into the can that attaches to the spray gun. And I screwed it up. The paint came out of the can much faster than I thought, and we at once had paint all over the stone wall behind our driveway. Whoops! Rhett walked quietly into the kitchen to get paper towels while I ran to get the hose, which shot water all over Kingdom come. Sheesh. At this point we hadn’t even gotten to the chairs, but a good portion of the driveway was a lovely shade of brownish-tan.

At least I loved the color.

The table and chairs look great, mainly because Rhett finished the job while I threw tennis balls with the dog. And in the end we have a beautiful breakfast table and chairs all for the price of a can of paint.

Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn.

With the theme of this blog you should have seen that title coming.

When I was eight months pregnant, taking care of a five year-old, and living with my in-laws in heat and humidity that rivaled the temperature of Hell itself, I answered a lot of renovation questions with, “Honey, I don’t care. You have great taste- pick something.” Rhett does have great taste (usually), but I responded to some construction decisions that way not simply because I trust him, but because I wanted the house to just be DONE already. I figured I was more into decorating anyways. Frankly, I didn’t give a damn about the finish of the door handles, whether we opted for a rectangular sink over a square sink, or whether the sink was a drop in or had a lip of 1 inch. A bathroom sink is for washing hands and brushing teeth.

But wait, isn’t part of the decorating process choosing titles and granite, doorknobs and sinks? Ugh, yes. This was when I realized that decorating isn’t only about rugs and curtains and picture frames anymore than painting is solely about the colors you choose. You have to choose the right canvas and the correct brushes before you begin to paint, not just choose colors. Likewise, I had to MAKE the right canvas (as best I could since we weren’t building from scratch) so I could decorate the way I want to.

Here’s the first piece of advice I’m going to give in this blog (okay, second…the first was to make sure you are living with a good cook while the renovation is taking place- remember that!). Don’t be ambivalent about renovation decisions you are going to have to live with. You’ll see them every day, so make sure you like them. Case in point- I told Rhett this morning that I didn’t love the door handles. I’m just not into a nickel finish right now, I explained. Rhett gently reminded me that in my hormone-fueled pregnancy I told him to “just pick something” and that these perfectly fine door handles aren’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Damn.

So, my dear, here’s the morsel to take away. No matter how much you trust your spouse, contractor, rabbi, or Magic 8 ball, YOU are going to be the one living with your renovation decisions, so make sure you like what’s going into the house.

Why? Frankly my dear, you DO give a damn.