MY NEW ROOM DIVIDER

For over 2 1/2 years I've had to deal with kids hanging, climbing, and jumping over the back of the living room couch off the kitchen dining area. I can't really blame them, it's just too much of a temptation. I've been looking for some type of a decor to divide the room and prevent this.Finally, I found it! Look at these really cute, french countryish garden gate doors I bought from Hobby Lobby for $85 ea.

Now $85 is steep, but not too bad. I've had my eye on them for over a year and they were regularly $200. I've even been to antique stores and malls, garage sales, etc to find something like this, so I figure it was meant to be that I just happened to be at that Hobby Lobby that day, and what I was looking for was discounted, AND they were the last two!

I picked up the bureau for $75 off ksl forever ago and have been using it in the boys bedroom until I had the money to redecorate their bedroom with a pirate theme (pics of this remodel coming soon). Just remember this kitchen divider is a work in progress. Nothing matches yet, but envision the antique bureau painted a gray-green with a distressed look to match my old kitchen hutch! I also plan on painting the large pine farm house cabinet in my kitchen a distressed cream/yellow. I can't wait until spring and good painting weather.
My antique wooden crate, old books (.25 ea from BYU library from my senior trip to the library ages ago...one of them was printed 1690), and ceramic birdie plant holder (from Great Grandma Hazel) look right at home on top of the bureau.

GREAT, GREAT, GREAT KITCHEN HUTCH!

This gorgeous piece of pioneer heritage has been in my family a long time. It was built by my great, great, great, grandpa. He made it in New England after he arrived from Holland over a hundred and fifty years ago. It took a ride on a covered wagon across the county and ended up on a little farm in Liberty, ID. The blue paint is original, but over the years it's lost the molding beneath the top, a few screws have been added for security, and mom touched up with a little white paint "here or there". Plenty of nicks and scratches, which just add character in my book, and even a signature....my little brother Mike penned his name in permanent blue marker on the white trim on the upper right section of the right door. I'm really not sure how my mom ended up with it, but she's had it for as far back as I can remember. I'm so thankful she hung onto over the years, and the many, many moves. It's taken me a couple years to warm my husband up to the idea of bringing it upstairs from the basement to display it in the kitchen. I believe something this beautiful, made of pure American history deserves to be admired. I LOVE it, and I smile every time I walk into the kitchen.

MY NEW TREE!

Patience IS a virtue. I've been looking for over 2 years for a tall tree to fill the second-story stairwell in my house. Not an easy feat on a $100 budget. Trees of this size, are very, very expensive....start out around $750. Yikes! Most of the time they sell around $300 on ksl, and they sell quickly. Well, the heavens finally opened for me.

Isn't she a beauty! Barely fit up the stairs. Everyone thinks it's a real tree. Got it from ksl classifieds, guess how much? $50! I still can't believe it. The business owner said he paid $1000 at Tai Pan for it a couple years ago. He started the listing out at $500 a couple months ago, and sold it to me for 10% of the original listing, which is actually 5% of what he paid in the first place. Dang near free in my book! What a deal.

MY RUG IS NOT SNUG!

Anyone who knows me really well knows how much I LOVE rugs in my home decor. I have 13 rugs in my house. No that's not a typo, I really meant 13. I enjoy the color and separation it brings into a room. It's artwork on the floor. A new rug can give an area a complete makeover under $100. I often find my rugs in the classifieds. In my experience I have found that when wealthy people move they sell their expensive rugs dirt cheap so they don't have to deal with them....like cents on the dollar cheap. I'm very particular though, and only buy high quality rugs from pet free, smoke free homes. Once home, I clean them with my upright Bissell carpet cleaner and they're good as new. One of my favorite rugs was $2000 new and I paid $90. Not too bad. So back to my problem. I have carpet in my house (am saving and dreaming for hardwood floors one day). Rugs move on carpet as you walk on them, so carpet +rug= low back pain (from constantly bending over to straighten, un-wrinkle and un-bunch the scrunched up rug). Did you know that rugs can be hazardous to your health? They can! Furniture stores should have a disclaimer about rugs when you buy them. I can't tell you how many times I've tripped and stumbled over scrunched up sections of rugs on my carpet. I broke a toe tripping over a the rug in my bedroom. Silas has been laid out flat on his stomach several times from tripping over various rugs around the house. Logan lost a plate of food tripping over the rug in the formal dining room, and Jason stumbled to his knees tripping over the rug in the living room. I've tried everything to stop this from happening: heavy duty upholstery pins, many different brands and styles of non-slip rug pads, and even long nails (What can I say, I was at my wits end. I nailed that baby right through the rug and carpet into the plywood subfloor, but it didn't hold longer than 2 days). I was so fed up with this problem, I was on the verge of 96ing all my rugs. Then I was having a conversation with a neighbors husband who happens to be a contractor, and he casually said to me, "Why you just try laying down plywood under the rug, that should work right? It's the same concept as having a hardwood floor." Brilliant! He changed my world. A couple days later Jason and I took a trip to Home Depot to see what we could find, and we came up with something even better than ply-wood. Drum roll please...... hardi backer subflooring. It's half the thickness of plywood at only 1/4", it's more resilient than plywood because it's a cement board, and it's water proof as well. So if the kids spill anything on the floor, it won't swell like wood does. It also has a rough non-slip type surface on both sides which grip really well to the carpet and the back pad of the rug. It's $3 more per sheet than ply-wood, but well worth it in my opinion.

Here is the hardi backer. It comes in a 4'x8' sheet. You can cut it to size easily without a saw. Just score it with a razor blade as you would dry-wall. You will need to score it fairly deep several times one each side, then bend it until it snaps where you've scored it.
Here is the hardi backer under the rug.
Here is my formal dining room rug two weeks after we installed the hardi backer. Not one wrinkle, crinkle or fold. Hallelujah! Now I've put hardi backer under all my rugs in main living areas. My back sent me a letter to thank me. It's officially on vacation!

MY NEW OFFICE SET

I apologize to everyone about my procrastination. Friends and family have been asking me to post pics of my new office furniture since last SEPTEMBER. So without further ado, here it is: an oval desk, a 2 drawer lateral file and a quad bookcase.

It suits me don't you think? I'm a little quirky and eclectic and in so being, I like quirky, eclectic and unique furniture. It's definitely different. I love the oval desk. (excuse the dusty shelf....ewww)
The bookshelves are my second fav. I love the space. Still haven't organized everything quite yet, but I swear decor is always a work in progress.