It's So "Erica Barry" - Something's Gotta Give Addict!

I know it is always a favorite topic in blog world but I, too, am guilty of being obsessed with this movie.  I admit that I put it in at least once a week to look at a table or a chair or when I have insomnia.  I also highly recommend the soundtrack!  :-)  Very wonderful. 

I actually love the STORY and the HOUSE!  She is an awesome character and I would love her life - Erica Barry!  Now whenever I see something that would be from her house, my catch phrase is, "Oh that's so Erica Barry"!  LOL  Too funny. 

I became obsessed with the transom windows which served as headers over all of her doorways - SWEET!

Photo was found on http://hookedonhouses.net/.  Great blog!

Since my budget won't allow for me to have Mr. Fix It come and make my dreams come true, I have to do it myself.  So, I headed over to my trusty, dusty Builders Surplus store here in Chicago and look what I found! 

Two side lites for a picture window.  BRAINSTORM - I can use those for a header in between my dining room and living room.  YAY!  And they were the perfect width, height, and price.  They were $49.99 down to $45.99 with an extra 35% off.  SCORE!  They are exactly what I was looking for but I think I can make it work - just a little more effort is necessary.  Story of my life!  Just add this to my list of projects but I absolutely cannot wait.  I think I have ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) because I seriously cannot stay focused on one project - terrible habit!  Ok, off to spray paint a light!  :-) 

Mom's Chandelier - MAKEOVER!

A dining room light can be the stuff of nightmares.  Crystal or no?  Chrome?  Oil rubbed bronze?  Linen shades?  Glass shades?  Tuscan?  and it goes on and on.  I always loved the crystal chandelier in the dining room.  It has rows and rows of crystals, little metal flowers and other embellishments.  It is not a heavy crystal chandelier - it feels very light and lacy.   But it is gold and brass and dated.  And dusty! 

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Stripped and ready for a complete overhaul!

I found many chandeliers that I would LOVE to have in my dining room, such as...

But they also have hefty pricetags.  So I am going to attempt a chandelier makeover.  The light has been stripped of everything and I took lots of pictures so I can put it back together like it was.  :-) 



I bought new white socket covers and Krylon silver chrome spray paint and silver paint rub.   This is going to be my project for Sunday.  I will take pictures so in case it turns out to be less than a total disaster, I can share the step by step process.  I know many have painted brass lights but it is usually black or oil rubbed - a darker color.   I have yet to find a chrome/silver spraypaint that shines.  They always end up so dull.  We shall see!  Until tomorrow.....



Yikes - that's a lot of parts!



Wallpaper from Hell!

Don't judge me by the color of the carpeting you are about to see... LMAO! 

When my Mom - my forever friend and style guru - did this in the 1990s, it was gorgeous.  Mauve carpeting, Italian wallpaper and custom draperies - whoo whoo!  The wallpaper had metallic accents and was stunning!  It was on the shared wall in the living room and dining room, the upstairs foyer with the coordinating stripe in the downstairs foyer.  And border all around!  My parents did all their own wallpaper and were AMAZING!  Super straight and perfect seams.  The problem is that this was actual PAPER and is a nightmare to remove.  I spend today removing the last piece of this wallpaper. It took gel remover, a steamer, patience and diligence but alas, it is gone forever!  :-) 

 My Dad was very meticulous - he would paint stripes on the walls to match the wallpaper color in case the seams shrunk they would not be visible.  Pretty smart, eh? 

After the paper was down, I had to wash the walls three times to remove all the glue residue.  The wall was in great shape so very little sanding and repair was needed.  Yay!  Since I am going to paint the walls a deep navy blue - color to be determined - I had Lowes tint my primer gray.  I LOVE Olympic primer - it has no odor, Zero Vocs and is Enviromentally Preferred.  It goes on so well and can you believe it covered the stripes with one coat?  Thank you Olympic!  I actually find myself liking the primer color!  LOL  The room is so calming.  I also painted over a royal blue experiment from last summer on all the rest of the walls.  It is now a blank canvas and I am so excited to get started!  I hope to have the room completed by Easter Sunday!  It is going to be quite the journey since - other than the fact that I have decided on the color blue - I have absolutely no idea what I am going to do with molding, draperies, a table, the hutch, chairs.... OH MY! 

*** Confession Time:  Today was a glad and sad day.  I am so glad to finally have the room ready for take-off, but it was also a little sad.  My Mom has been gone since 2004, and everytime I re-do a room, I almost feel like I am erasing them.  Although, it is solely because of their impeccable taste and many lessons that I am able to re-do these rooms at all.  They taught me to be daring and then they taught me the skills necessary so I can do it all on my own.  Thanks Mom & Dad!   I know you would love the changes I am making to our home - I so wish you were here to say, "Oh Tray - it looks so cute!"   To be continued....

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I love being Irish!  There is just a wonderful feeling being associated with the legend of St. Patrick and the beautiful land across the pond.  I visited Ireland in 2000 and I will forever carry that trip in my heart.  The landscapes are so lush and green and the people of Ireland so warm.  And lest we not forget so many sheep - in the fields and the roads!  Wonderful.

Chicago is the second best place to spend St. Patrick's Day!  I will be watching The Quiet Man and wishing my Dad was sitting next to me quoting the movie lines.  Such a simple pleasure lost forever.  I wish the very best of luck to you - for on this day everyone is Irish! 

I'm a Ralph Lauren Junkie!

It all began when I was 10 years old and took my first tennis lesson.  The pro always had this little polo horse logo on his shirt.  I was intrigued not only because the instructor was gorgeous ( he was at least 15) but he was always impeccably dressed even though the temperature was 95.  This wasn't a big fancy club - it was the park down the street from my house.  Park district instructors are usually high school kids looking for an easy way to make money in the sun.  But he was still gorgeous! 

Fast forward to Christmas and I was strolling through Marshall Field's - a once legendary store in Chicago gobbled up by the evil Macy's monster - with my Mom.  I was suddenly stopped dead in my tracks!  Could it be?  I saw the logo from afar.  I ran to it and was stultified right there in the middle of the aisle!  It was a whole new world... The POLO Ralph Lauren Department.  The colors, the fabrics, the sheer preppiness of it all - I was in Sartorial Heaven.  The wood displays with the brass letters, the tartan carpeting - it all spoke to me.  Then I saw the price tags.  Christmas that year?  I got one shirt.  One Ralph Lauren BOYS polo shirt.  Thank you Santa!  Once on, I popped the collar and my life was forever changed!  It also helped that my favorite color was, and still is, navy blue.  Very eclectic for a 10 year old, doncha think?  And he made women's clothes too?  God help me! 

Throughout my entire life, Ralph has always been there.  Clothes, shoes, bedding, wallpaper, etc.  No matter what trends come and go, I can't part with my Ralph Lauren sweaters.  Pants?  The plaider the better!  Even today if I am in a thrift store and see a distressed polo shirt or perfectly worn out oxford, it is like an addiction.  Are there treatment programs for this?  J Crew?  Lilly Pulitzer?  Brooks Brothers? 

Now it has come time to remodel my dining room and I am instantly drawn back to Ralph.  I was totally going to think "out of the box" and do a light blue or ocean mist,  but I am thinking NAVY BLUE is the order of the day.  After all these years, Ralph, you and your empire so perfectly exemplify my definition of style and grandeur!  I curse you Home Depot for eliminating the Ralph Lauren Home paint line - what's a girl to do?  To be continued....

Ash Wednesday - Don't Wipe It Off!

I don't know what it is about Ash Wednesday but to me it has always been an important day.  Being Catholic, it is strongly encouraged to go to Mass and receive ashes.  I can remember when we were kids, my Mom would check on our "ash status" throughout the day.  We weren't allowed to wipe them off until bedtime.  Some of us would get a little smudge and others would get the Priest who would give you the HUGE cross on your head.  Back in the pew we would all check each other out.  Great memories.  LOL

LENT is important to me - almost like January 1st.  Time to re-evaluate and dedicate myself to 40 days of change, dieting, de-cluttering, etc.  I hope to make great choices from now until Easter Sunday.  I can so do 40 days - much less daunting than 365!  We start Lent here in the Midwest in gloomy, cold weather and by the time Easter arrives, we are well into Spring with tulips, daffodils, and warm temperatures are here!  It is a total makeover for life!  April 24th is not that far away - I am sure the Easter Bunny is getting the eggs ready!

Easy Wall Treatment - $15 bucks!

I have this awkward slanted wall in my kitchen and it needed "something".  Because of the crazy angle, I could not hang a picture or sign there and a "quote" would have been difficult to read.

So as I was in JoAnn Fabrics, I saw this amazing black and white scrapbooking paper.  My wheels started turning as to where in my kitchen I could use it.  I came up with a very simple, yet perfect idea.

By the time I purchased some flat trim molding and the paper, it cost me a whopping $15!  I absolute love it.  I finished it in about 2 hours.  I used the quick and easy and spray painted the molding on a drop cloth on my deck.  I used two way scotch tape to adhere the paper to the wall. 

I cut the scrapbooking paper into 4" sheets so I was able to get 3 linear feet per sheet.  Then I simply drew my lines with magic marker and stuck the sheets to the wall.  After that, I nailed on the trim and mitred the corners. 

This was taken right after I finally finished painting and right before adding the cornice over the patio doors.

This is the BEFORE picture - I have since refinished the counters and switched out the pendants which were once hanging in my bathroom.  Reduce, re-use, recycle whenever possible.

Here you can see that I simply taped the paper to the wall prior to adding the trim.  Since the pattern was so busy, you could not see where the papers met.  Make sure your lines are super straight and it will look perfectly perfect!

It gives the wall dimension and frames out the light perfectly without being overbearing.  I love it!  I am going to try to do this with a very subtle metallic stencil paint on my dining room ceiling when I get to that project later in the Spring!  So much to do!