Saturday, September 26, 2009

Front porch fairhope style

This is my front porch. We live in a cottage close to downtown Fairhope. We totally lucked out finding this gem 2 blocks from downtown. We walk all over the place and love it here….

 100_9130I think I heard the hallelujah chorus cued when our weatherman announced that the heavy humidity is FINALLY leaving us Sunday. It was like manna from Heaven. I haven’t been able to sit out in my comfy rocker for months. Summers are killer in southern Alabama….In the next few months this is where I’ll be in my free time with a big ol’ glass of tea and a good book. This place is now a sanctuary for me, but before it was just a drab white blank canvas with a gray concrete floor.  It didn’t beckon to you, “Come join me…come sit a spell.” The use of color and different textures brought this space to life. This is now a happy spot and one of my favorite “rooms'” in this house.100_9133

 This front porch was such a fun project to do, and it cost around $200 total. I got the outdoor rugs and adorable green folding chairs at World Market for around $150….4 chairs and 3 rugs for $150. SCORE. The other things are items that I had laying around….in storage….in the attic…pieces I had stuck away and almost forgotten about. That red table used to be a dreary off white almost gray color. The little rocker was a $30 find at a flea market and was stained a dark green color. Someone told me it was called a nursing chair from a child’s nursery long long ago. I spray painted that rocker, half moon table, and one of those cheap accent $5 tables from the dollar store. It’s amazing how a can of spray paint can change the look of a piece immediately.

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A cheap little table can be transformed into a fabulous pop of color as seen above. I used to be one of those people who was afraid to take on projects like this. What if I painted it, and it looked really cruddy???What if I ruined it?? Now, I realize that if I screw something up I can just repaint it. We don’t have to be afraid of furniture…Paint is not a scary monster. Look at some of the things around your house, stuck in corners, in your garage, or up in your attic. Look at your old things in a new light. Think about what they COULD be…What would a coat of paint do??? What about a different fabric on the seat?? What could this piece BE? Open up your eyes and really look at your things. You probably have a gem sitting right under your eyes…. a boring mirror, an empty antique frame, a lumpy frumpy chair,  a bench, a stool…start with anything…look at your end tables with a new light…that old chest in your guest room…that ugly brass lamp your Aunt Agnes gave you when you got married…All these things can be transformed into something new and wonderful. I know that all of us are feeling the financial crisis that is plaguing our country. We don’t have the money to go buy new furniture or expensive pieces of art, BUT we can afford a $3 can of spray paint, a roll of raffia ribbon for $2, or a little bit of sandpaper and elbow grease. We can use what we have and the simple things around us to transform our homes into the perfect place for us. Go look around your house and choose one thing you would like to change… I’m going to be doing several furniture projects over the next couple of months. I’ll show you the things I’ve learned and figured out… Together we can transform our spaces and make our old things new.

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Friday, September 25, 2009

Is it wrong to love a button??

Lookie what I got in the mail today from Zelda's Buttons on Etsy. I love me a vintage button... The colors are so rich and the textures are fabulous. You just can't find buttons like this anymore.... I could look at buttons for hours.... I know... I'm a creepy button lover, but I admit I have a problem. That's a start right? Those red ones are DIVINE.... I have the perfect fabric that I want to use these with. My favorites though are the clear ones with tortoise edges. Aren't they precious?

This picture really doesn't do the button justice.... It was hard to get a shot of the little buggers... What I can see are all the scratches on my coffee table.... Guess that'll be a rehab post soon...

Speaking of rehabs, I went on a tear through all of the antique stores I could fit in the 3 hours my girlies were being entertained at pre-school. The desired target was a desk for one of my boys. I didn't find a desk, but I did SCORE on an amazing hutch in excellent condition. I am going to totally redo it with about 3 different shades of paint. I can't wait to show it to you guys. Right now said hutch is on lay away. Yes. Layaway. In the state of Alabama it's a law that you must be able to place desired antiques on layaway. Big lovey should be in her new home in the next month or so. I also scored on a farmhouse table in great shape for $100 dollars. That table will become my new sewing table, and my sewing table (desk) will be redone for son #2's bedroom. See, things always work out in the end. Didn't go looking for a table, but a table was the solution to my problem. It will also be getting a dandy paint job.

Jumping to children's fashion, I had a set that I owed my friend
Ragan. We did a trade. She redid my clothing blog in exchange for this outfit for her daughter. THIS is what I started with this morning: ONE HOT MESS.


This is what I ended up with this afternoon. Look at little Rosie all grown up. My little model is only a size 3, and this is a size 7. It swallows her, but I still wanted to imagine what it would look like on Miss Precious. I still need to trim some threads and finish up the waistband, but I'm really happy with how it turned out. I didn't have a pattern for this size top, so I just made one myself.


I have missed blogging. I have to have somewhere to share my creative side. I have SO many projects and furniture redos that I have planned over the next several months that I want to share with you. I am also going to offer some tutorials to get some of you mamas sewing. My friend Steph and I were discussing last night how sewing is becoming a lost art. I'll bet more than half of my readers had clothes made by their mothers or grandmothers. I am going to show you all that you don't have to be scared of your sewing machines. I'm going to send you to the best pattern and fabric sources while I give you tips and tutorials along the way. You also don't have to be scared to tackle some decorating projects. I hope you will see as you watch me transform pieces that YOU CAN DO IT TOO!!! That's my goal for this blog: a place for us to come together and share ideas and inspirations. I'm no expert in any of these areas, but I am willing to share what I know with you. First project?? A bookcase/cabinet that I inherited from my grandmother. That will be tackled beginning this weekend, and I'll share pictures with you along the way. I know I've been a HORRIBLE blogger, but stay tuned. The best of Loulou is yet to come!

lovey, lovey

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