The Fogue Abode

Wow, here we are for the final Love Fest Friday.  How has February come and gone?  It makes me a tad bit sad, but then again, I love the blooms and the buds on the trees that mean spring will be here soon.  So, before we say goodbye to February, lets have one more Love Fest Friday!

(And the reference to the "Soieet" in my header, my love of all things Razorback.  Yes, I'm a true Arkansas girl through and through.) 


This week, I want to take a more sentimental approach.  These aren't going to be the usual people, places or things that have inspired me around the web.  These will be people places and things that I truly, deep down, love.

people

I know it's basically a given, I love my family.  My husband and my sweet A mean the world to me.  I really didn't know the definition of love until the first night when A was born and her daddy held her in the rocking chair through the night.  I truly thought my heart would burst out of pure love.   These two have made me happier in life than I ever imagined. They are so supportive and understanding of my quirky and unusual love for DIY.  They are my biggest cheerleaders in life.  I couldn't partake in this fun blog adventure without them.  I love my little family.

places

I find great joy in my home.  It's what inspired this blog.  I love creating beauty out of its shell and I love making it homey. 

Our Homey-Home

I love the inspiration it gives me and the fun I have with it.  Yes, I consider painting fun!  It's my most favorite place.

things

I love this blog, and I love all of my readers.  This has been such a fun creative outlet for me.  It has challenged me and pushed me to really examine what I want out of life.  I have loved every moment of this adventure and hope I enjoy many years. 


 If you want to see what all I was loving during the month of February, check out the past Love Fest posts here, and here.

Well, that's a wrap on the month of Love!  I hope you enjoyed checking out new people, places and things.

There are certain things, I just don't understand.  Like the high price on art work.  I'm not talking nice pieces by famous artist, I'm talking frame prints that are several $100.  Or, the cost of throw pillows.  I had pillows made for A's nursery and they came in right around $10 each.  I just can't comprehend the need to charge $50 for a simple throw pillow.

Being the frugal pillow hoarder that I am, I decided to give some shabby looking pillows I had on my front porch a little make-over instead of going out and purchasing new pillows that will look the same way in a year.  The total cost for this project came in around $5, just for a can of spray paint.



With the beautiful weekend we had, I spent a little time outdoors, starting the clean up from winter.  One thing that really stood out were my really sad looking pillows.  




I grabbed a can of Outdoor Valspar spray paint and gave the pillows two good coats of paint each.  I didn't worry about the back side, as these are simply decorative and we never go out to the front porch anyways.  If you were to paint both sides of each pillow, it probably would have needed 2 cans of paint. 



Also, if I were to do this over again, I probably would have used a spray primer on the pillows first.  They had some set in stains that took a little more paint to cover up. 

Once the yellow dried, I used a left over stencil from the nursery project and some white craft paint to give it a stenciled look. 




On the second pillow I used some painters tape and taped off some lines and used the same white craft paint to fill in the lines and add polka-dots.

Now, they look good as new and my bank account is happy.  At least until next year, when I'll probably have to give in and buy new ones.


These pillows have already sat through 2 days of rain and look perfectly fine.  I was a bit apprehensive about the paint running, but so far so good. 

Before

After

And, while I was waiting for paint to dry.  I gave this old table a good sanding to get it smoother (aka, all the paint chips removed) and then I gave it a white wash.  I love the imperfection the white wash gave it, but also really brightened it up.

Happy Monday All!  I wanted to stop and take a moment to talk to all 14-ish of you about things I have reflected on this weekend.  As a follower of Christ, I have a desire in my heart to really work towards discipleship in our community.  I have been awaken to the need of missions work right here in our own home town.  I am so thankful for the Spirit working in my life and in my Church home to lead us down this avenue. 

After much reflection on my life and my passions, I have come to the realization that blogging has taken up more time and energy than it should be.  I started this to be a creative outlet for me.  And, to express my style with my home and our current bathroom remodel.  It quickly became about growing my blog and being accepted and relevant in the blogging world.  That required more time than I anticipated every single day.  There was project planning, project work, photography (and learning daily about how to take awesome pictures which is a full time job itself,) editing (and learning Photoshop, which too is a full time job,) and then creating the blog post.  It really took over all aspects of my life including my private time with God and devotion time. 



It is my ultimate desire to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and to witness about his love and his devotion to us all.  I want to tell others about the pain he endured and the life he gave up just for my sins.  And, how he conquered death and rose from the grave and is now seated at the right hand of God and pleads for our behalf.  Because of this, it is time that I abide in Christ, by studying his word, walking in him by prayer, and continuing Christ's work. 

Acts 1:8 " But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." (ESV)

Don't worry, I'm not going any where, I am just going to scale back on blogging.  Hopefully you will see 3 blog posts a week and I will continue to blog about our bathroom project which is slowly coming along.  You will see more #Christ-Life posts reflecting my thoughts throughout this journey.  Make sure to check back on Wednesday as I outline a quick and easy revamp to our front porch that you can do too. 

God Bless Each One of You!

Back again for another round of lovin!  If you want to see the past two weeks Love Fest lists, check them out here and here. 

people

Say hello to Kate over at Centsational Girl.  She is a fabulous DIY blogger who I have found tons of inspiration from.  Here style, much like mine, is light, airy and feminine.  Oh and can you believe she had the nerve to paint a piano.  I'm dying to do mine but just can't muster up the nerve.

places

As I've waited for the construction of the bathroom project to be finished, I've been browsing around for some new hardware for our drawers. Something to match the brushed nickel of the faucets.  William + Sonoma has partnered with Rejuvenation to bring beautiful high quality pieces to the parts industry of home décor. 

I am pining over these modern brushed nickel drawer pulls

things

It's been a beautiful couple of days and an even better weekend ahead.  And boy, has spring fever hit hard.  I'm loving all things spring/Easter this week.  Since I've only been a home owner for just a few years, I try to add to my décor collection every season.  Lets see what I'm wishing for this year?

Today, we are going to switch gears and talk a little bit about #mom-life. 

I was reflecting back and reminiscing about being pregnant and the beautiful first year I had with my daughter and I realized something strange...I've stopped counting.  A was a year old in January.  Since May of 2014 I have been counting up until now. 

First I counted my weeks of pregnancy.  That was fun and exciting seeing how my little bean was growing.  It was such a unique experience watching her grow and loving someone I hadn't even met.








And then, I counted her months.  Starting when she was itty-bitty and ending when she celebrated her first birthday.













And I realized today, that for the first time in 2 years, I'm not taking a weekly/monthly picture...I've stopped counting.  And it makes me sad that my baby has grown up.  But I'm loving this whole journey I have spent with her. 

Can we just take a minute to discuss this Open Shelf concept that everyone, and I mean everyone, is partaking in during their kitchen remodels.  This post is about to do a 180 from the direction you think its going it.  I want to discuss all the reasons why you SHOULD NOT put Open Shelves in your kitchen.

First lets admire all the beautiful pictures and the fabulous work my fellow bloggers have done staging these photos.  Yes, these are staged, doesn't that tomato look yummy! 

• Who wants another spot to dust, all. the. time.?  I certainly can't keep up with what I have now.  And this is a spot you do not want to get dirty.  Nothing like grabbing a plate off the shelf and having to clean it before you use it.

• There is no way you are going to keep those dishes neatly stacked and looking beautiful.  I mean, I'm the queen of OCD and having my house put together, and this is what my kitchen cabinets look like.  Not open shelf worthy.  I give those open shelves one week and they will start looking more and more like this.

• Introducing a new catch-all for the Mr and kids.  You can be the cleanest, most tidy person on the planet, but I guarantee you, those kids won't think twice before piling their junk up there.  I mean baby needs art on the shelves too. 

• Remember that time you almost tripped over the baby in the cabinet and spaghetti sauce went flying everywhere. (true story)  Thanks to those cabinet doors, you didn't have to spend hours washing dishes.

I could go on and on, for days.  I'm a fan of the open shelf concept that's hitting the internet like a Kardashian photo storm, but the practicality of it is not there.  I would much rather keep my cabinet doors to hide all my clutter and mess going on behind it.  And we all have that mess. Yes, I'm looking at you! 

So if your wanting some cute shelving in your kitchen/dinning, go with a more decorative approach and leave these dishes in the cabinets.