My husband's 42 mile ride

Hope everyone had a great weekend!  We were so busy as always…  My husband and some of his friends rode in the 42 mile bike tour through the five boroughs in New York.  He has been riding on this tour for the past 15 years and this year he broke the record by completing the tour in almost 4 1/2 hours!  I am so proud of him, he has really been diligent about working out and keeping in shape, it really shows.  Great job honey!

Sweet smell of roses

I love flowers and love to have them in my house all the time. Besides adding beautiful color to my house, it gives a sweet fragrance throughout the home. I also would love to look oustside my bedroom window and see this beautiful path covered with wisteria.

It would be really nice if this was my bedroom window I was gazing out from!

And to be overwhelmed by the stunning views

or to see the ground covered in these beautiful petals.

Unfortunately, I don't have a garden full of blooming flowers to pick from, so I have to go to the local market to buy my flowers.

And here they are! Okay, I don't have a secret garden in my backyard, maybe if I have enough flowers around my house, maybe…

Warm welcome

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! As always, we are so very busy on the weekends with baseball, birthday parties, visiting friends and just connecting with the family. It is all good! However, I very rarely get to do any projects during the weekend. So I am going to show you this seashell wreath I did a little while ago and had added to my Etsy Shop. I love wreaths and I think a wreath on the front door gives a nice warm welcome into your home.

This is what you will need to make this project

Large grapevine wreath
Wide ribbon for bow
Glue gun
Variety of shells
A few hours
Ice cubes for when you burn your finger countless times!

1. Gather all your project needs

2. This is the back of the grapevine wreath, I forgot to take step-by-step pictures

3. I purchase these shells in craft stores, online and also pick them on our beach.

4. Tie the ribbon on the wreath first and later you can make the bow. I glued the shells right over the ribbon.

5. Glue layers of shells to give it a clustered effect. I glued flatter shells like scallops first to give more even base for the more shapely shell.

I hope you like this project, this is a great wreath to put on a front door, over a mantle, in a bathroom, etc…

My livingroom/diningroom progress-Part 1

Here are some photos of my livingroom and diningroom progress, after two and a half years. Didn't get too far yet! There is still so much to be done. I still need an area rug, an ottoman (which I will attempt to make), accessories, etc… Now, more than ever I am enjoying the process of creating and decorating our home that will be comfortable for my family, also pleasing to the eye.

Livingroom

Diningroom

My house - Part 1

Hi everyone, let me tell you a little bit about my house that I moved to two and a half years ago. It was the house that any normal, level-headed person would take a look inside from the front door and say they'd seen enough and walk away. Then comes my husband and me, we walk in and say, wow what a great house! Some say we could envision what it can be and some say we were down right crazy! I say we're little bit of both. The house had 30 year old carpet (never been vacuumed!), mold on the walls, skylights broken, holes in walls, list can on and on. The truth is, the reason for our eccentric move was location, location, location and affordability! Affordable because of the condition the house was in, it had a reasonable price tag and we also had the best realtor in the neighborhood, as the go to realtor. The house is located steps away from the beach and our street is always filled with children playing. Most importantly, there is great schools for my children to attend. What more can you ask for! My husband and his crew went to work right away taking down walls with mold, ripping up carpets, sanding floors, taking out 70's kitchen and installing beautiful new kitchen. Did I mention that my husband is a contractor, so as soon as the house was in a liveable condition, the work on the house came to a halt. Apparently, because he has to work on other people's house so that we can eat and live! I guess that is a reasonable excuse! Now here we are still in need of two new bathrooms, mouldings around the house, new staircase, backsplash in the kitchen and an endless list of things to do! So what's a girl to do but go into a rut for almost two years. Well, now that I started blogging and see all these wonderful, creative women accomplishing so much, I am inspired to jazz up my home again!

Here are some pictures of the beginning stages of our home renovation. (Warning! View these pictures at your own risk!)

In the process of livingroom and kitchen redo

Livingroom and diningroom floors sanded and stained, I chose a very dark stain for the floors.

Old dingy kitchen out and new kitchen in!

These pictures were taken two and a half years ago, I'll show you updated pictures later, hopefully today. (If I can get to fisnish the long list of things I have to do today)
Then I'll show you the pictures from the rest of my house.

Happy Friday!

TGIF! My daughter and I have been invited to a Mother/daughter facial and makeover party at a Spa tonight by my friend, along with another ten friends and their daughters. It should be great fun, my daughter (9 years old) is so excited, she is going to have a manicure, 15 minute facial and a shirley temple. I opted for a 45 minute facial, I need it, I haven't had a facial in 15 years! Well overdue, it looks it too!

I hope everyone have a wonderful weekend and enjoy what you do!

When I get back, I am going to show you my house and reno that never ends! Please come back and check it out.


All the best!

Planter redo

Hi everyone!
Painting my planter was my project for yesterday, it had been longing for a new look for quite some time! This is the end result!

I have had this planter for about 10 years now with no real place for it. I never got around to doing anything with it, so I finally felt it was time for a redo. It didn't match my decor and it was looking a bit drabby.

So I started to paint it brown for the under color, not sure where I was going with it.

I painted it white, but white just wouldn't work in in my diningroom (where it ended up, for now anyway!) After a few different color combinations, I ended up painting it turquoise with a little black to get greyish tones in some areas. I pounced on the colors so that it can have a mottled look. Now it looks like it has a nice patina that was developed over time. (Even though it only took a few minuites!!)

I love the way the black got into the crevices and accentuated the details.

For now the planter displays my beautiful shells, corals, barnacles and driftwood.

I move it around to find the best place for it. Here in my livingroom, it kind of got lost!

Then I moved it to my diningroom and I think that is where it will stay for now. It shows off better next to my dark cabinet.

A decade of waiting for a new look is over! So, what do you think was it worth the wait, I would love to know!

Gorgeous vintage white bed!

What a beautiful mirror! May be this look can be achieved with an old door! What do you think?

This bed looks soooooo comfy!

Beautifully handpainted armoire from The Painted Hive.

Some new additions to my Etsy Shop

I love creating home decor with seashells! Here are some of seashell letters and wreath I added to the shop.