Bringing the Kardashian colors into my home!

I don't know what the technical term is, so that's what I'll call it. :)

This will be fun! I've finally made a decorating decision I've been contemplating now for over a year! This is an idea I have shared with my husband & family for over a year. They've always been on board. Now, I decided to put that idea into action!

I am going to decorate my home using the Kardashian colors! Yip!

I'm particularly fond of Kris Jenner's home. Images (& shots from their reality show) I've seen of it, anyway. I love the way it looks - the clean, crisp, sophisticated look. Her entire home's color palette is black, silver/gray & white = gorgeousness!







But wait! What's this? Brown? They have a brown den? And bathroom. And probably more. I noticed they still have black in those rooms, though.



Obviously, I am completely incorrect assuming Kris' entire house is done in the black/silver/gray/white palette. Personally, I don't like the mixture. The rooms are beautiful, of course, but I think I'm going to stick with her kitchen/bedroom colors. I have a lot of dark brown, because that was my base color. So this will be tricky! But I really don't want to flip flop back & forth.

One reason I love the black & silver palette is because silvers & grays are so versatile. There are so many amazing shades that can be incorporated into design & that fact alone has always intrigued me. Not to mention, I think this palette is so rich & expensive looking (remember my "Desiring: Beautiful" post?) without having to cost tons.

I will be making changes on a budget, of course! And slowly but surely. I'm in the process of planning/decorating my daughters' new room, too, so I'll just do what I can when I can do it.

I love decorating!

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Goodwill lamp makeover!

Remember my 'new' lamp I bought last week? Well now it's really new! I just love the end results!

Here it is after thrifting, nice & boring:



If you follow me on Facebook, I kinda mentioned last night that I'm contemplating decorating my house in Kardashian colors. Yes, I'm totally serious. It has been a thought I've had for over a year & it has been a discussion in our home numerous times. Anyway, I purchased both black & brown spray paint, not knowing which one I was going to use on my new lamp. Due to my 'Kardashian' decision not being final, I decided to use the brown - Rust-oleum's Flat Chestnut.



(Yep, that's my Maxi girl on my couch cushion in the background. She thinks she's entitled. :)

And here's my lamp, finished! It's so pretty! This isn't the shade style I want, but it was too hot to keep searching. :)



I love the brown. Although, I'm pretty certain it'll be painted a pretty shade of metallic black in the near future. :)

I'm not sure this ended up being such a good deal because the price(s) added up:

Lamp - $11.00 (remember, I thought it was $5 but that was the wrong sticker!)
Shade - $15.00
Paint - $7.00

Total: $33!

Could I have bought this lamp cheaper? I don't know. It's a solid, well-made lamp & probably would have cost relatively about the same. But this way, I did get the color I want. Winning! :)



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How to lubricate a wooden cutting board!

I love wooden cutting boards. I've used them for the last 25 years. My brother owns his own cabinet business & made my cutting boards for me for many years. Now I just buy them at store. I do not like butcher block, Bamboo or plastic. Just the simple, wooden boards.

Wooden cutting boards must be lubricated to prevent splitting, cracking, drying & breaking. Kind of like our feet. :)

I use Mineral Oil to treat my board, because it's safe to ingest & doesn't develop an odor over time. I recommend not using vegetable, canola or like oils because they are apt to become rancid & stain. I used to use vegetable oil before switching to mineral. I have used mineral oil for several years now & I love it. I think it keeps the board lubricated longer. I also love how my board sheens after treated! Pretty is so important, you know. :)



Application can vary & really, you can use any technique you want. I use use paper towels. The mineral oil really saturates the paper towels, making application coat really well.

(The above photo was taken right before I lubricated my board. It was on my island, under the light. My board looks really dry in the two photos below because when I moved my board to the sink, I forgot to turn the sink light on. I turned the light on as soon as I noticed. It actually looked like the photo above - I keep my board lubricated at all times.)



The first thing I do is pour a very generous amount of mineral oil onto my board. I like it good & thick for good coverage.



Then, I take my paper towel & just start rubbing & coating the board. (This task can get messy! Wear gloves if you deem necessary. After so long, the paper towel begins to disintegrate but it's ok, application still works & I wash off any paper towel residue when done.)



I make sure all areas are covered & because mineral oil is nice & shiny, I can see any areas that I missed. I even do the edges & sides of the board. When the front is done, I flip to the back & repeat.



After I'm done, I let it sit & absorb, for about 10 minutes or so. Then, I wash it with hot water & soap.



I am a hot water & soap kind of girl & almost everything I have & own gets washed that way, including my cutting board. By doing so, I know it's nice & clean. I do not put it in the dishwasher - I hand wash it. If over time the board begins to wear, I buy a new one. Easy peasy. I always stand my cutting board up to dry. After I wash it, I stand it up & lean it against my faucet in the sink. This board is on the large size, so it's a booger to wash, but I can still stand it up to dry. Forgot to take that photo - oops.

Here's my board, after completing all above steps! I treat my board about every 6 weeks, sooner if need be. My cutting board looks like this all the time! Nice & moisturized & pretty!





Happy lubing! Heehee. :)

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Another thrift!

I love to blog hop! I love to look at other people's stuff. :) Browsing fun posts on other blogs relaxes me. It allows me time to just sit, chill out, get ideas & relax. There's nothing stressful, there's nothing negative, there's nothing hateful or ugly. It's just nice. And that's what I want my weekly blog hops to be about. And I gotta say, people's creativity blows me away. I love seeing what other people do!

We've had a crazy week here at our home due to all sorts of things, so this week, I'm sharing my thrifting finds. I love thrifting! I love thrifting for the very same reasons I love blog hopping - it relaxes me. It's fun. It allows me to unfocus & just be. I browse & see if I can find a good deal. And I love a good deal!



I fell in love with this lamp! Even more, I fell in love with the price tag - $5! Awesomeness! Only to find out once I got home, the $5 sticker was an old garage sale sticker & the actual price, & what I paid, was $10.75. lol Next time I'll pay attention. *Can't wait to paint this puppy! I've already looked at colors at Lowe's, but I think Home Depot has a much better spray paint selection, so I need to go there to purchase.

The white glass vases, I probably shouldn't have bought. But I'm so into clean, white right now, so I grabbed them.

I bought the lamp light for my son & paid $3.15. It's well made, so I thought that was a good price. But I did see a brand new one at Lowe's for a little over $4.

Thrift shops have become quite the obsession lately & I do believe they are capitalizing on that fact! Their prices really do need to be less expensive. I pass on a lot of items due to price.

Here's the breakdown:

lamp - $10.75
glass vase - $5.95
glass vase - $5.95
desk lamp - $3.15

Total w/ tax: $27.93

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Something for me!

This is what I did this week! It makes me happy! I go outside & I love it! I still have so much I want to do yard-wise, but baby steps. I love a pretty yard! Today cost me more money than I preferred. But it's done, & next week I'll definitely keep it less expensive.

First, I bought a Bougainvillea! A few years ago I had one & I had had it for years. It was huge & gorgeous! I had it planted in a metal tub & every winter we would pull it in the garage (& got ripped to shreds by the thorns) when it got really cold. One year we forgot & left it out one night. It didn't survive. Sniff. I'll replant this one in some sort of a planter, too. For now, it hangs & looks pretty! It was $14.



Then, I drug these old planters out. I wasn't about to throw them out when I could put them to good use!



I gave them a good wash & some spray paint. I was going to paint them dark brown, 'cause that seems to be my go-to color right now, but the kids & I thought we'd live on the edge. We chose Tropical Oasis!



Spray paint $4 x 2. Flowers $3 x 2. Potting soil $5 x 2.

Then, I put some pretty flowers in them!



Tada! Love how they match the pool water perfectly. Winning!

My total for the day was $38 + tax. The good news is, I'll be able to enjoy this $38 all summer! Yes, please!

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