Northern Natural Beauty

Good Morning : )

I know that it's still August but I can feel fall in the air.  It's just a little bit crisper outside and the weather is enticing me to go and enjoy it.

Several weeks ago I promised that I would share some pics from my husband's trip to Newfoundland, Canada (which is where he is from).  I think you will be taken by the raw beauty of this place.

(that's my husband, Corey, with his nephews)

Corey catching a North Atlantic Cod

Corey's dad caught a pretty large one!

I think they had a great time don't you.  Take some time today to get outside and enjoy the fresh air..it will do you good.  Have a great week all.

Can It Be? : Dining Room

Hello everyone!  I hope your week has been a good one.  We have been busy here chopping up the tree in the backyard that fell and stacking it for this winter.  Two of my kids were sick so I had my other daughter help me stack wood and did we get a workout.  : )

I wanted to continue on our "Can It Be" series.  Just in case you are new here this series is all about what seemed to be rooms with no potential and if they can be beautiful again.  My husband and I bought a 1950's home that was a fixer upper and we are putting some love back into it.  Is it a tedious process?  Yes!  But anything that's worth something means you have to put your time into it to see it blossom.

Do you remember how we put hickory flooring in our family room?

There's my awesome husband!  He did it all himself..what a man : )

We ended up doing the same thing for our dining room.  It just made the spaces between the rooms flow instead of it being choppy.

We used Behr paint and a venetian plaster for the chocolate walls.  We wanted a cozy feel to the room.  I love the fact that you can separate the dining room off from the family room space for sound control but still keep an eye on the kids through the french doors.  

When we bought this home we only had enough furniture for our family room and 2 bedrooms.  So we had a lot of filling up to do.

Here is the table we bought that was custom made and dining chairs we bought from Slumberland.

I was trying out the dining room this way to see if I liked the use of space.  Hmm...not so sure.  Will keep you posted ; )

Have a great weekend all.

Some Link Love DIY And A Giveaway

It's the first day of a new week and my dog..

who is 3yrs old, decides to leave me presents in my house as soon as I get up.  I hope this is not a sign for the week to come.. LOL.

Recently I came across Shannon, from Anythingology, who made a lovely housewarming gift that I wanted to share with all of you.

(image source Anythingology)

How cute is this?  Shannon gives you a complete tutorial on how to make this.  I know I am planning on recreating it. I lack in the green thumb department so this project is right up my alley.  Thank you Shannon for sharing.

All of us love giveaways and Midwest Living Magazine is having another one.  “My Best Midwest Getaway Contest,” which invites people to share stories of their favorite vacations anywhere in the Midwest, or one their dreaming of, for a chance to win $2,000 in prizes. If this is something you’re interested in you can enter one of two ways: http://www.bestmidwestgetaway.com or on our Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/MTITravelIdeas.  Hope you all enter.

Have a great week!

What A Mess!

It's been a wonderful week here with the visit of my brother and niece.  My kids haven't seen her in years and the surprise on their face when they came in was priceless.

Not too long ago I wrote about our tree falling in my post Random Friday.  Here is what it looked like before the storm.

That's the tree.  I didn't capture how tall it was in this picture..it was 40ft tall.  

Here is what it looked like after the storm.

It broke at the base and was caught up in the surrounding trees.  I waited for my husband, Corey, to get back home from his trip to Canada to deal with this situation.  If not taken down right it could destroy our shed.

He started taking the tree down by sawing off the outside limb.  I was scared because he was up in the tree w/out a harness.  To be honest this kind of excitement is not my cup of tea.  Side Note:  Please take all precaution when cutting down trees or leave them to a professional.

The after..

Corey got the tree down without damage to the shed but part of the tree did fall into our neighbors yard with damage to the fence and having taken down a small tree of theirs.  I guess we have a ton of clean up to do.  I am happy to say that no one got hurt as I wipe the sweat off my brow..WHEW!

I hope your weekend is a little less eventful.. LOL.

Pop, Pop, Pop

Good Morning!  It's nice to enjoy the quiet before everyone else rolls out of bed.  They are precious moments that help to keep me sane for the rest of the day ; )  Do you do the same thing?

I wanted to share with you a designer trend that is creeping up everywhere and I can't tell you how much my husband loves this.  Red.  The color red, candy apple red, is popping up in home decor.  My husband who has had a red motorcycle, a red car, red shirts, etc..  

 

He just couldn't be more design accurate, LOL.  I think red makes him happy.

To use it in your space you don't need to paint the walls red just add some accessories.  Here are some images to inspire you..

(Elle Decor)

In this pic all they did was add the pop of red to the lighting and it gave the room the wow factor.

(House Beautiful)

Absolutely love this kitchen.  The chairs added the right element of color and make me think about food.  

(image source)

Warm tones of red compliment the cool blue color.  

I have something up my sleeve where I will be incorporating red in my house this fall and will show all of you.

SIDE NOTE:

I wanted to share with all of you that our Community Undertaking/Rockford Sharefest was put on the Angelo Home Blog.  We were so honored.  While your there check out his furniture line Angelo Home.  It is truly beautiful.  

                                Have a great week!

Could You Live Like This? and a side note..

Yea!  I am so glad it's Friday not for the obvious reasons that it's the beginning of the weekend but my husband comes back today after being in Newfoundland, Canada for the past 10 days.  Why was he there?  Good question..that's where he is from.  I will have to share with you some of his pictures and you will be taken away by the beauty of this place.

Speaking of places, my sister sent me this video of a guy who is living in the smallest square footage I have seen.  It's in New York, which I am very familiar with but have never witnessed personally a place this small.

Here is the video link - NY small apartment.  

The guy has such a positive attitude.

One more thing I would like to share.  Since I have been blogging I have come across some really great people, one of them is Jules from Rumbles & Roars.  She has such a great sense of humor and life seems to be such an adventure.  Her writing style is so relatable.  I encourage you to go check her out : )  Also check out the shout out she gave Modern Earth Design here.

Well, I truly hope your day turns out to be as great as mine will be here shortly.  

Have a wonderful weekend!

Got Some Exciting News

It's Monday, did you all get your morning coffee?  

I have some really exciting news that has been in the works for months and is just the beginning of many amazing things.  No I'm not pregnant..lol.

There is a new tv station based out of Columbus, Ohio that is called Jane tv, take a look at their promo..

(please press the pause button to your right to shut off music)

The beautiful lady, Jacqueline Dorman, who explains what Jane tv is all about in the video is the CEO/President of this station.  I am honored to be asked by her to be a regular contributor to their website.  We will discuss design and life because I believe the two go hand in hand. 

 Jane.tv will have entertaining and relevant shows and I can't wait for it to hit full throttle.  

The website is being upgraded now.  They will go live later this week but the official launch is September 9, 2011.

Check out their fan page here.  

I hope you all have a wonderful week.