The Money Pit: Water is not a Homeowner's Best Friend

A few months ago we started smelling a musty aroma coming from the fireplace area.  Thinking it was just the old chimney that needed a good scrubbing of course we ignored it.  One day I went to clean off the mantle and noticed that one of my Hammerpress prints had some waves in it, you know the kind that paper gets when it gets wet and dries.  I went to pull the print down from the mantle and a 6 inch long piece of paint from the wall came along with it.  Much to our dismay there was water coming in from somewhere, the source of which we still haven't exactly uncovered.  So my lovely mantle that I worked so hard on went from looking like this...

to this...

I had tried to decide to repaint the 6 inch rip, as we were having a lot of friends over last weekend for a party.  However instead I ended up ripping a gigantic portion of peeling paint off.  Don't ask me what happened, I think I blacked out.  So what to do?  I came up with a temporary solution..

I stapled up some vintage fabric.  This way until we discover where the damage is coming from we can hide the peeling paint, and also the fabric is washable and of course easily removable.  Wah lah!

love, em

The Money Pit: Living room sneak peek, before and after

Happy Monday lovelies.  I finally finished up painting the living room.  Thanks to everyone for all their recommendations on colors and decor ideas.  I took little bits of everyone's advice and incorporated them to help complete the project.  It's been so gloomy out this weekend that I wasn't able to get the best snaps, but I thought I'd at least give you a sneak peek of the finished product!

Finished and re-decorated mantle, including Loteria Prints from Hammerpress. Bought them awhile ago and wasn't sure where I was going to use them, but I loved them.  They are a perfect fit wouldn't you agree?

My vintage apothecary and candy dish collection.

Hammerpress print, phrenology head, vintage children's encyclopedias, and my great aunt's binoculars.

Hazel approves of the changes.

The rest of the room is a warm off white color.  It really brings a lot of light into the space, even on a gloomy day like this.

Sitting area.  Sorry for the horrible lighting.

And here's a few of the before pictures just to give you an idea of what it used to look like:

The previous color was a grayish green.  It wasn't horrible, but with the dark woodwork it absorbed almost all the light that comes in through the windows.  We also had to keep the fireplace covered with plastic sheeting for fear of bats getting in (it happened a lot).  Fortunately when we did the improvements to the exterior we also had a cap put on the chimney to keep them out.

That's it for now.  Next up is the dining room, I only have a week and four days to get it all done before the bachelorette party I'm hosting.  This includes: painting the dining room, touching up the kitchen, painting the stairwell, the landing, and the upstairs hallway, possibly starting on the bathroom.  Wish me luck I'm going to need it.  And a complete top to bottom home tour post coming later this spring!

 

To Grandmother's House We Go

Happy Monday lovelies, I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and if you're reading this I'm happy that you've found me in my new location.  I've already had such positive feedback, so keep it coming!

My grandparents recently moved to a retirement home, and had to get rid of a lot of things.  As someone sentimental, and also with a love of antiques and vintage I took much more than was probably necessary, and have now started populating my home with these items.

Books with titles like "I Dare You" and "Robert's Rules of Order", plus some quirky cast iron German Shepherd book ends.

An owl statue (my grandmother collects them) and a pair of antique binoculars.

 Antique silver spoons, forks, and slices, some dating back before the 1900's.  I sat down with my grandmother and she told me the story behind each one.  The one with the stars cut out is my favorite.

Set of Illustrated Medical Encyclopedias, and an old print.  I used to live this picture when it was hanging in my grandparent's house.  

What's the coolest antique that you've ever gotten from a relative?