Little House on Round Top

New Years Resolution!

2010-01-04T09:46:00.005-05:00

I usually don't make a new year resolution since I tend to not keep them longer than 3 weeks. However, I promised myself and my "followers" that I will try to write a blog post more than twice a week. I plan on adding more tidbits about my kids and family life as well as my design inspirations! Well....once I can figure out why I cannot upload a picture.

As many of you know, I love Ikea....Love Love Love Ikea. I already did a blog post on my trip several months ago and I just found an awesome blog about Ikea as I was scouring the web. Click here to check it out. They take Ikea furniture and turn it into something else. So creative and something a lot of people with little skills can do.
I also came across GripPiks and JCaroline Home.
Happy New Year!

Recycled Light bulb Ornaments and Frames

2009-12-10T13:29:00.000-05:00

For a long time, I have been wanting to start my own business and sell my crafts. I have an Etsy site, but have had no luck with my children's paintings. I figure if I start local then maybe I will get more attention, so here I go.

I plan on starting to make my light bulb ornaments again and custom picture frames.

When we first got married nine years ago, this is how I decorated our tree (pics to come shortly, as my camera decided to die once again)with a plethora of light bulbs that had died and I decorated them with glass paint and craft supplies I had on hand.

I also plan on selling custom frames(pictures will soon follow).

My inner creativeness is dying to reappear. Wish me luck!

IKEA!

2009-05-27T12:10:00.004-04:00

I just love Ikea. I don't know if it is because I am half Swedish or that I love the Swedish chocolate that I get there. Or maybe it is just the wonderful, affordable products they have that keeps me going back for more.

My friend Donna and I have made several treks up to Northern Virginia in hopes of finding the best deals on decorating items for our homes. And we can't forget our favorite pit stop, H&M.

My latest finds at Ikea were a coffee table, bookcase for the disorganized basement, curtains, and a couple of lamp shades. Oh, and I also got a slide for the kids which they just adore. However, my husband hates it since he thinks they will get hurt on it.

The only impulse buys were the Rivta curtains and of course some stuffed animals for the kids that they have already brushed aside. The curtains were on sale for $9.99 for a pack of 2 curtains and they are a very good quality. I still have yet to put them up, but when I do I will take some pictures.

Here are some pics of my finds:

Slide for the kids.

These are some pictures of the bookcase we got. We were able to put some of our books and the kids toys on it. Helps to keep the basement playroom organized.

Here is a lampshade I got. Just love the pattern and wish they had curtains to match : )

Here is the family room table I got. I thought a round table would prevent some accidents. Please ignore the pixie stick dust on the carpet. SS dropped it when I was taking the picture.

Can't wait for our next trip to Ikea.....

Modern Design, Clutter and Kids

2009-05-17T19:39:00.001-04:00

I finally have the bug. No, not the stomach bug, but the "Spring cleaning" bug. I am so inspired right now to just clean out the house and have a huge yard sale. However, finding the time to do this is very hard and since we live in the middle of no where, would anyone come to my yard sale?!? My biggest problem is I like to horde stuff and throw everything in a closet and once I have the urge to Spring clean, I give everything away to Goodwill. But this year I really want to make some money so I can add some new decor to my house.

We have been living here for about three years and most of our furniture is either hand me downs or stuff I purchased in my "Pottery Barn/California style/British Colonial/Traditional" phase. For the past five years, I have been obsessed with Dwell and everything Modern. My new obsession is Mid Century Modern. I just bought a new magazine called Atomic Ranch which I love. The interiors are awesome which can be seen on their website. http://www.atomic-ranch.com/ I just found some great Mid Century Finds on Urban Outfitters website. I thought they just sold clothes, but they have some great Mid Century pieces at affordable prices. Go to http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/

As many of you know, I also obsess over Dwell Magazine. I adore it and dream of living in one of those modern prefab homes. I think it is hysterical how Dwell shows pictures of family homes with young kids and there are no toys or clutter in site. I really wish my home was like all of these, but I know it is not a reality with three children under the age of four. My house is consumed with toys and children's books. Since we just finished our basement, I have relocated all the toys from the family room to the "playroom" in the basement. It has been great, but the kids get easily bored playing with the pots and pans and the occasional TV show. They never want to go downstairs to their "playroom." Oh well. At least the weather is getting warmer so we can play outside for most of the day.

Here are some websites that gave me my inspiration to "Spring Clean." Michelle Kaufmann is one of my favorite architects and here are some of her designs from the Sunset Breezehouse she designed. This is the link http://www.mkd-arc.com/homes/breezehouse/ Down the road, this is what I want my house to look like!!! I can dream right?!? I also love the Sunset Magazine http://www.sunset.com/magazine/ and have subscribed to it for the year even though I don't live in the West. This is another inspiration for me and I would love to have my house his organized and clutter free. Well, I hope this all gave you as much inspiration to declutter and start your "Spring cleaning" as it did me :-)

Our Beautiful Backsplash!!

2009-04-20T07:59:00.001-04:00

Yes, we finally have a kitchen backsplash!! Thanks to the help of my husbands uncle, we have our backsplash installed! And what a great job he did!!

Of course we would love to get a new countertop, but that is not in the budget and our old countertops look great with the new tile!!

We ordered the tile from http://www.modwalls.com/!

Here are some pics.

Decorating Ideas on a Budget

2009-04-09T16:27:00.001-04:00

As a stay at home mom who is obsessed with decorating, I, like I am sure many of you, have limited funds to spend on home decor.

Here are a few of some cheap decorating ideas I used in my own home.

1) My favorite and the one that also has sentimental value are paintings or drawings that my 4 year old daughter creates! I love to frame her drawings and hang them on the wall. Voila! Instant art. Here are some paintings she just created for our family room....

2) The Dollar General is a great place to find cheap frames that actually look good. I found a ton of black frames and silver frames that go with my decor.

3) If you love plants and want an updated piece of art work for spring, go to your local art and crafts store such a Michael's and pick up a few fake plastic palm leaves or banana leaves and frame them! Perfect way to spruce the house up for spring and summer!

4) Another one of my favorites is taking a fancy, inexpensive napkin (my favorite is Caspari) and frame them! Looks like an instant work of art. Here some napkins that I framed and hung in my house.

5) I also love to paint! For my kids rooms, I bought some inexpensive canvas's and painted frogs for their bathroom and a crown for my princess.

6) If I had the time, I would paint the interior of my house more often. I love paint and color. You can change the look of any room in just one day with a cheap can of paint from Lowe's.

Spring Decorating Inspirations!!

2009-04-07T16:36:00.001-04:00

I love interior design and if I had the money, I would change the decor in my house probably every four months.

A lot of my furniture are hand me downs. My parents have passed on several beautiful and priceless antiques to us! Most of my other furniture and accessories have come from IKEA, West Elm or World Market which all carry reasonably priced decor.

My husband is extremely patient with me as he has very traditional taste and I love modern design. Despite our different tastes, I think our house has a great mix of both. If I could, I would make my house looks like the pages of Dwell Magazine. Every month I go to Barnes and Noble and buy the newest issue of Dwell and just drool over the modern homes.

But marriage is all about compromise so in my next post I will show you pictures of our "Modern/Traditional" house!

I have a lot of spring inspirations this season. For one, my "it" colors are red, orange and grey with a pop of green. I instantly fell in love with the Emma Brio Glass Tile from Modwalls.com. I ordered and it is even more gorgeous than I thought it would be. It is sitting in my kitchen in a box waiting to be installed!!http://www.modwalls.com/

Also, palms trees and tropical plants give the home a fresh update for spring.

Falling in Love With My House All Over Again!

2009-04-07T10:20:00.001-04:00

When we first built our house back in 2006, I just loved it sooo much. We have 8.69 acres (to be exact) with beautiful Blue Ridge mountain views. No views of neighboring homes. Just beautiful views of trees, mountains and wildlife....

It took us about 2 years to finally get our house the way we like it. Finished basement, yard with grass, solid front walkway, and deck. We even named our little farm "Little Round Top" with a cute little sign to boot.

We still have a lot on our to do list, but can only afford a little at a time. My glass tile backsplash in next on the list!!

Anyway, when I was pregnant with the twins I began to dislike everything about the farm. I hated that we did not have any neighbors which got worse when I had the twins. I felt trapped and alone and part of it was it took so much effort to get out of the house with all three kids especially newborn twins.Even when I was pregnant I had no energy to do a lot with our 4 year old daughter so we just stayed home a lot.

I also began to hate our low 8 ft ceilings, no curb appeal exterior, and the fact the hunting season around us lasts basically all year with gun shots ringing out in all directions. Kind of scary when you are talking a walk with three children and feel you have to wear orange to avoid getting shot.

I was constantly bugging my husband to sell our house and move into a neighborhood. He would tell me we can do whatever I want so I can be happy. So sweet. I knew he would be heartbroken if we sold this place. His father, who is now deceased, had deeded us the land and he passed away before we started building, so it means a lot to him.

Every week I would still pick up the real estate weekly newspaper and scourer the new houses that hit the market...

Then about two months ago, I fell in love with our house and the land all over again. I don't know why. Maybe the fact that we think the grass is greener on the other side.

I thought long and hard about living in a neighborhood and thought it would be great for the kids, but really how often would we want to see the neighbors. Remember you can't pick your neighbors...

I would not be able to walk outside naked if I wanted to(not that I do), have a big grand party without neighbors complaining and my husband would not be able to hunt ( which would mean we would have to buy hunting land and a new house).

There is something so peaceful and serene to living out here. Beautiful sunrises and sunsets over the mountains! The only thing we can hear are birds chirping and the wind blowing.

We could even live off the land if we wanted to. Since Joe is a hunter we eat venison throughout the year and we are going to start a garden this month with yummy vegetables!

Now that the twins are more mobile and Sammy is involved in a lot of activities, we get out all around town and have play dates at our house.

I think this would be a great place for the kids to grow up. Our 4 year old loves the outdoors and feels great knowing the kids can play in the yard and driveway without having to worrying about cars or strangers.

Most of my posts here will be about my awesome family and Little Round Top farm!!

Hope you enjoy!