Copy Cat

I know everybody and their mother has already seen the world's cutest dress from Old Navy. On sale for $20 here.

I even bought two, one for me and one for Cricket, because when you're almost 13 you love nothing more than dressing like your mother. Well, Cricket said "hell no!!" And once I found a size big enough to fit across my shoulders I looked like a pickle in a barrel, so they both went back. 

Why am I telling you this, well just yesterday I got my new J Crew catalog - good stuff- and saw...

This dress at J Crew for $124

Am I seeing double, are you? How pissed would you be if you paid $124 for this and then saw Sally Sue in the SAME dress that her smart aleck mom got at Old Navy for $20!!!! Pretty pissed I'm guessing. Wonder what Jenna thinks about all this?

Thoughts?

The Grand Finale

I know I have shown you pictures of my butler's pantry, but it is my very favorite thing in the whole kitchen, so I am going to show it again....

Bright, happy..clean. All the things that bring me joy.

The pantry is where the refrigerator used to be, leading into the dining room.

It contains all my favorite things...

Vallerysthal goblets, Python Tray, Frog Pitcher, blue cake stand and some Skinny Girl Margarita mix. 

This is were I hide all my food. 

My pantry before was the two cabinets to the right of the frig...that was it!!

Now my food feels like it is living in the Taj Mahal. 

Before the only way to get to the kitchen or den was through this one door...

Now the kitchen is open to the dining room...

And the living room....

AND this wall in the dining room is gone!!!

Is it all just so open and bright and the flow is 1000% times better and really it would just be easier to show you in person, so stop by sometime. Just give me 10 mins warning so I can stuff my mess in the laundry room!!!

Several people asked about my floors. We put down new hardwoods and had them painted black, NOT stained. The paint was watered down and it is perfect!! If you live in Wilmington I have a great floor guy, e-mail me for the info (siskotte@ec.rr.com). I LOVE my black floors but they are not for the faint of heart or those afraid of some dirt. They show everything, but I love them so much I don't care. I don't think a little sweeping ever killed anybody, but I'll let you know 

I think that is all for now, but I may repost my pantry again just for the fun of it!!!

And Another Post About the Kitchen

 Did you think I was finished? Not even close!! But it is exhausting finding and posting all these pictures, especially digging up the befores.

And speaking of before...here we are...

Looking from the kitchen into the dining room. That door was the only way to get from our den and kitchen to the rest of the house. The flow was not great.

This picture was taken from the same spot as the before picture. I know it looks skinny in the picture but that is a double opening into the dining room

Lets look a little closer... 

And closer. 

The butler's pantry separates the kitchen and dining room.

That's all for now...hope you're not getting tired of the renovation, we are almost finished.

Enjoy your weekend!!

Kitchen Part II

This is one of my favorite changes...

Looking at my old sink..sad. So sad

And now...LOVE it. We took down the wall and opened the kitchen up into the living room. I can now see the fire from the breakfast nook and the kitchen finally feels like a part of the house. 

Again, old view

New view.

 Isn't that so much better? It feels like a whole new house.

Looking to the right...

Looking to the left, happiness everywhere.

Old wall in the living room...

(I have got to get some color on my walls!!)

And the new view...

The rest of my house needs to step it up if it wants to keep up with my kitchen!!!

I Can Make a Decision

I know after all this desk mess you probably think I can't make a decision..but I can, sometimes. I made a lot of decisions when I redid my kitchen. And I don't think I ever showed you all the pictures. I was waiting for fabric and curtains and blah blah blah, but what the heck, I'll show you what I've got. 

Let's first remember the kitchen when we bought the house...

This is the first area I am going to show you, looking towards the window. 

See that fancy range, I cooked on that for 7 years!!

Can you believe it??!! Behind the range and bar is a small space that was used by the past owners for a kitchen table, but it wasn't really big enough for us, so we used it to throw everything that we had no place for..it was delightful. 

We did try to spruce up a little by painting the cabinets. We didn't want to do too much since we knew a total makeover was in the future. We just didn't know it was going to be so far in the future.

About a year ago we had to replace the range, what a difference...

Then the fun began, we ripped out everything and totally changed the floor plan...and sold the range on Craigslist.
Notice the bar is gone and the wasted space is opened up.

Mirrored cabinets bring me a lot of joy...

These cabinets were Robin Stanfield's idea and they were the whole starting point for the kitchen. 

                                           And now this view

Looks like this...or at least it did at Christmas. 

It's a start, more pictures tomorrow.

The Next Time I Go to a Ball

I want to wear this dress. Doesn't Michelle Williams look great?

The dress is conservative, but the hair is a little edgy...love it!!

She is definitely the best dressed out of these three. I like Kate Hudson, but the 1980's called and they want their dress back. 

Desk Part ll

So...the desk saga continues. I thought for sure one desk would come out the clear winner; it didn't. Out of over 30 comments and e-mails it was split 50/50. And just when I was about to make the decision all on my own ...this popped up...

Donna from A Perfect Gray got this desk at an auction and it made me realize that I want something old, vintage, with a little history. 

But that takes time and I don't have any more time. Bill REALLY needs a desk at home, so we are moving the desk from our room (that I use, no room for two) into the guest room as a bed side table. That way he will have his own little space and I won't be able to see it unless I really look for it. But now that I have decided to wait for the perfect vintage piece, again, I need a filler..let me present....

Target Parsons Desk

Isn't he cute? And for $39.99 it was a no brainer. BUT it's not sold on the website and the only store that had it in stock was in Charlotte, 4 hours away. No problem, Bill was going on Thursday and was going to pick it up for me. I was really getting excited, until Bill called from the Charlotte store to say they didn't have any in stock. 

I have another sister in Atlanta but no luck..I think this desk might be an urban myth. When did shopping get so hard? 

Remember this desk? 
I fixed her up all pretty and then sold her in my dang booth!! What was I thinking??!! I would do a happy dance if I could get her back. I know who bought her and my desk just happens to live one street over....wonder if she is happy in her new home?