The Find: Saturday Edition

With so many renovations going on at our house, I haven't had ANY spare time to visit my favorite little thrift shop down the road. (Horrible, isn't it?)   So this morning, while Michael is braving the cold and rain to load up our new hardwoods (actually they are very OLD hardwoods - coming from a textile mill being torn down in our area.  I cannot WAIT to show you that later), I decided to do some treasure hunting of my own.   

Should have known today would be the morning I'd find a million things since I was husband less.  It all turned out JUST fine though.  The sweetest older gentleman offered to carry everything to my car and load it up!  I tried to refuse, but in true Southern manner, he would hear none of my resisting.  

His mama would be proud of those manners!!

So after the kind stranger and I made a few trips, these are the FINDS.  

Nothing too special, but sure does brighten a rainy Saturday morning for this girl :)

Let's start with my favorite:
A truly old (I mean stuffed with horse-hair old) cane rocking chair.
Price: $15!!!  (What??)
SOLD!

And here she is sans instagram filter in the middle of the thrift shop!

No wonder instagram is so popular, right?  Makes all of us look (even an old rocker) look just a touch prettier!

Follw me here at : http://instagram.com/emilybknotts

A little sanding, some lime wax, a few nail heads, a LOT of upholstery work, and this sweet old chair is ready to rock some babies (ONE day!)

And since we're talking nurseries, I can see this chair in a chic neutral one such as this:

{Via}

Anyways, got distracted....back to the finds:

THEN there was this HUGE Ironstone bowl hiding behind shelves of orange dishes from the 70's.

Price: $10

The sweet ladies at the store asked me if I thought that was too much.  Because if it was, they said, they could do better.  I didn't have the heart to bargain with them.  And ladies, thank you, it's a perfect price!

MORE Ironstone...these plates were marked at $5.  But on clearance for $1 for all 4!! 

I was wrapping them up before they even rang me up!

And an old cast iron skillet, a real bargain at $10.  This one's for Michael. 

And finally, ANOTHER Ironstone piece.  This pitcher is in perfect condition.  It had to come home with me at $5!

It's already found a perfect little place in our china cabinet!

Happy Hunting, Ya'll!

Renovations. . . Round Two

I thought I'd check in today with a glimpse at the progress made downstairs in hopes that it will inspire some of you who have also found yourself elbow deep in the less than glamorous parts of renovations.   Though I love coming home each day to find new surprises that "magically" appear, it's days like today (when I'm home ALL day) that I am reminded of all work, the mess, and the noise that goes into making something pretty.  

I wouldn't it trade it for the world; but I today I found myself wishing Ty Pennington would show up, whisk us away to Disney World and in 30 short T.V. minutes be ready to yell "Move that Bus!" They make it look so easy!

Regardless, I'm so very grateful for the talented men who (including my handsome husband) who have helped to get us this far.  

First, though, let's start with the fun part: treasure hunting!

Shopping days are, in my opinion, the best part of renovations.  In Michael's mind, not so much. Inevitabley these days mean more projects for his to-do list. 

This time was no different. 

My best flea market buddy (my mom) and I spent a very cold afternoon scouting out the last few things needed to bring it all together downstairs.

We hadn't been there five minutes when we spotted these 1920's doors.

A great deal, I thought, at $150!

Installed!

Now for the hardware....any ideas?

The same booth had these great old zinc pieces.  

I don't quite know what they'll be used for, but my first thought was that they'd make a gorgeous top for a few side tables.  

I guess I was on a roll with the zinc, because when we came across this old trough, I knew it was coming home with us!

I have something like this in mind:

{via}

{Atlanta Homes Magazine}

And if those options don't quite work out, well.....there's always Plan B:

{source unknown}

which looks just as lovely to me :)

Now for a glimpse at downstairs after today.  It's come a long way since my Last Post; but lots more messy days to come.  

We traded in small 1960's windows for lots of french doors and double 12 paned windows to let some of that gorgeous lake light in:

We added more beams and a WHOLE lot of sheetrock!

Michael surprised me with a beadboard ceiling on the soon-to-be screened porch.

(In true Southern style, it will, of course, be painted a Haint Blue)

Our closet doors looking very TALL!!

 And one last before and after.  MY what a difference a week makes!!

Though renovations are exciting and the before and afters are priceless, I'm looking forward to the days when we can start enjoying our home again rather than just working on it.  For now, though, I'm off to play with paint colors (for like the 42nd time this week!)

More on that later....

Link up some of your renovations - I'd love to see and get inspired :)

 XOXO,

Demolition Day

For those of you who know us well, you know that sometimes we're known to fly by the seat of our pants and make decisions a little too quickly for some.  Somehow, it just seems to work for us.

We met and were engaged within 6 months.  Wedding?  NO problem - planned in 3 months.  "Let's get a dog!" 2 days later a furry little yellow lab steals our heart.
Let's get a horse (currently working on that one). But you get the idea.

Things just happen full-speed around here!  I guess we figure we have to act fast or we'll get too busy and forget what we had set out to accomplish in the first place. 

Demolition day for our downstairs renovation was no different. 

On a recent five hour flight to California, Michael and I decided downstairs needed to STOP being the catch-all for the mounds of "unwanteds" (furniture from our single days, clothes that MIGHT come back in style, college textbooks for our kids one day? Really what we were thinking?)  It was awful!  When we finally realized that our downstairs was no longer part of our cozy home, but a horrible example of hoarders about to happen, we had to get to work.
The long range plan is a master suite downstairs with a screened porch, a large master and even a downstairs kitchen (just in case we have long term guests if a Baby Knotts were ever to arrive)

So back to the flight....in those ever-so-comfy seats, we got busy designing a floor plan.  My incredibly talented husband gets the credit for this one.  He had a vision and by the time we landed in San-Fran, he had created a 3D image of it on his iPad!  He's impressive to no end.

For those of you with this kind of spatial ability, I applaud you!  I couldn't do it if my life (and shoes) depended on it! 

So with a rough sketch in place, we were ready leave home behind and enjoy a week of being spoiled rotten in Napa Valley and San Fran!

On the flight home, it was time to create the budget and SHOCKINGLY we came in WAY over!
(fingers crossed Michael padded those numbers more than my airplane seat!)

You have no idea how MUCH I wish this post were a complete before and after and I could type:  "Surprise, Y'all....It's DONE!"   Truthfully, it's nowhere NEAR complete - but I did want to show you some before and in the middle pictures.   I just have to warn you - none of it is pretty and I can guarantee you that NONE of these pictures will appear on your Pinterest boards!  

But life's not always pretty and it's GOOD sometimes to see the "real world" behind all of those perfectly staged Pinterest pics.

Here's our real world right now:

Scary hallway before made everything feel closed in and boxy!

Well...those walls, they came crashing down and now we have this lovely look:

If you look REALLY closely you can see my ONLY diamond in the rough at the moment.  

See that big, thick, knotted wooden beam? Michael picked that guy up (literally) at an old warehouse that was being torn down, threw him in the truck, and brought him on home!

Love that man!

This gorgeous picture was our inspiration:

{source unknown}

A little sander, a little lime wax and a 2 hours later brought us from this:

to this:

Many more pictures to come, I'm sure!! 

Cheers to 2013 and all the new adventures it is already bringing,

The Sweetest Little Southern Town

I hope you all had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving weekend!

We were so thankful to be able to spend the weekend with my beautiful sister and her husband at their home in charming Fairhope, Alabama.

From the Live Oaks dripping with Spanish Moss to the grassy parks along the bay, it's all a gorgeous and refreshing step back in time.

I, of course, had to scope out my favorite homes to show you . . .

I could have photographed each and every one we passed, but I showed some restraint and chose just a FEW of my favorites:

Let's start with my dream home (which just HAPPENS to be for sale)....

No pressure, Michael :)

I could sit here with a sweet tea and a Southern Living for a good long while!

Master bedroom balcony!

That DOOR!! 

Nothing says Southern like a sleeping porch!!  

1904, you're looking pretty good!

The Simple Life....

From the overload of pictures, it's probably pretty clear that that was the winner in my book....but there are SO many other homes that I just had to show you:

(I was a tad jealous of that dog on the porch of this one!)

Pure Elegance!

Loved the color on this sweet cottage...

As if the houses weren't perfect enough, then you have THIS for a backyard!!  

A simple reminder of how very MUCH we have to be thankful for. . . 

. . .especially moments like this where time just seems to stop as we all count our blessings!

Thanks, Alabama for a beautiful trip!

 I'm so very glad my sister can call you "Sweet Home!"

And the biggest thanks of all to my gorgeous and talented sister who made this Thanksgiving the best one yet!  Goodness, gracious - I can't believe I didn't take pictures of HER house - it was right under my nose the whole time.  Y'all would ADORE her simple, coastal style!

Next time, I promise!

She's the perfect hostess and the perfect friend....

I love you, Anna!