Facelift!

As the weather is warming up, we're trying to spruce up the outside of our house a bit. We've just pulled out some unruly bushes that were covering up the front walk, and we're getting ready to ad pavers, tall grasses, etc. - various landscaping stuff. So I decided we might as well change up the colors a bit. This is the house currently...

While I don't hate the green...I don't love it. So I'm changing all of the trim to black, and going red with the front door / gate.  It seemed like a fairly simple project...but now two days in, I'm realizing this is a rather major overhaul. I've just crawled down from the roof, where I was primering the shutters. Scary! More to come soon!

Before & After - Lola and the Foyer

I've never been a fan of mission style pieces. But I had been searching for the perfect piece for our foyer when I came across this piece in one of my favorite local antique shops...it had nice storage space, and was slim enough to fit into our tiny foyer, and it had a lovely mirror attached to the top! Perfect for reflecting the afternoon sun that spills in through our glass front door.

A few coats of paint and sealer later...and Lola matched perfectly in my newly redone foyer...

The entire foyer was a before & after project...it had previously be painted a horrid rusty orange color that was dark and dirty and lifeless. So while my mom was here visiting, I enlisted her help to paint the dramatic white and black stripes. She is a professional painter - and it shows! Her meticulous work really paid off - it's gorgeous! The lines are so perfect, that it looks like wallpaper.

Another issue in the room was lighting...there was none! So I found this dated brass chandelier...

And "re-loved" it a bit...

The vibrant red lends a pop of color to the room and adding a ceiling medallion really completed the dramatic effect. 

Peanut used his ear to help with the painting touch ups!

Thanks to my best friend and photographer, Ryan Eaves, for the beautiful after images!