Neutral Fall Tablescape

Whew, a busy weekend... tailgating in Athens and taking in the UGA game (Go Dawgs!).  If you follow me on Instagram (heidiopia), you were treated to all kinds of pics from the fun!  Thank goodness for a gorgeous late summer day... and tickets in the club level seating. :-) Sunday I finally got motivated to bring a little fall into my home and I created a neutral fall tablescape in the dining room. A girl's gotta start somewhere, … [Read more...]

DIY Stencil Drapes {Royal Design Studio Stencil Review}

Though it's hard to pick a favorite project in my Ugly Duckling dining room, I think the project that made the biggest difference in my space is my drapes... After living with simple blinds for soooo long, I was completely unprepared with how finished these drapes make my space feel! And this project had a ton of bang for the buck!  Here's how it came about... It all started when I went to Haven.   I was so thrilled to receive a … [Read more...]

DIY Pendant Light Fixture {Dining Room Details}

Achieving the overhead lighting I wanted for my Ugly Duckling Dining Room was by far the most challenging part of this room makeover.  This room used to a be "formal" living room and when I confiscated the beautiful bay windowed well-lit dining room to use for my Mom Cave, the dark "formal" space became our little-used dining room.  Alas, there is no wiring in the ceiling of this room for an overhead fixture. I had to get creative in order to … [Read more...]

August’s Favorite Things

Yowza, it's so hard to believe we are rocking into SEPTEMBER!  A whole new crop of Little Ones to acclimate, new routines for my high schoolers, new football season, new goals for a successful school year.  But with all of that comes a whole lotta time constraints.  So if my visiting and commenting on blogs drops off a bit and I may have to post a little less, just know that I'm still here... still writing, DIY'ing as best I can, and reading as … [Read more...]

Chalk Paint Secretary {Dining Room Details}

Oh, how I agonized.  What color to paint, and HOW to paint this beauty... an antique secretary that belonged to my aunt back in her girlhood.  I've had the piece for over 20 years and it was time for some TLC and a makeover so she could really shine!  Annie Sloan Chalk Paint to the rescue! I finally had to bite the bullet and start painting. :)  And ended up with this...   A custom paint color of Annie Sloan Paris Gray … [Read more...]

Ugly Duckling Dining Room No More! {Blogging Without Borders}

I am sooo excited to share my Ugly Duckling Dining Room makeover with you!!  This has been a project of stops and starts, but I am thrilled with the end result.   I had to think outside the box AND try things  I'd never done before...  a challenge in every way!  But I think you'll agree that the payoff is huge... and now I will have a fresh and FINISHED dining room for the holidays! Before I get to the big reveal, let me remind you where we … [Read more...]

Painted Lady {Inspiration for the Secretary}

Monday already?  We had a busy weekend around here and I continued to press on with my Ugly Duckling dining room projects... slowly.  Lots of interruptions and a few stops and starts, but slow and steady wins the race!  I'll be so excited to share the reveal here next Monday! The light fixture is hung.  The mirror is in place.  But the biggest project I tackled was painting my aunt's secretary. Here she is before... it's been the home … [Read more...]

Just for Fun Friday

T.G.I.F!  We made it through the first week of school... though both high schoolers slept though blaring alarms this morning and had to be rousted manually (i.e. by Mom) so they could get to school on time.  Boo to early mornings. Yesterday I made some "Yippee!" kind of headway on the Ugly Duckling dining room, so I thought it would fun to share some little victories in what's turned out to be QUITE to undertaking. Remember my sad lamp on … [Read more...]

DIY Baby Spoon Display {Ugly Duckling Dining Room}

I am totally in love with my baby spoon display in my dining room, so I thought I'd share the "how to!"   It all started with these small racks I found thrifting with Charity a few weeks ago... They were $2 each and I got them for 20% off -- $6 for the four of them. :-) I've also gotten in the habit of trolling the hobby stores framing department for frames on clearance... especially open frames.  Many were custom orders … [Read more...]

Ugly Duckling Dining Room: Wall Art {Blogging Without Borders}

Time for another update on my Ugly Duckling Dining Room as part of our Blogging Without Borders challenge! And this dining room is indeed having its Season of Change!  I'm in mid-stream on two major projects for the space, with a third about to ramp up this weekend -- yikes!   But I'm so excited by how it's coming together... slowly but surely. :)  Today you get to check out the wall art I've come up with for the room. Previously I had … [Read more...]