the living room.......chapter 82.

I think I have figured out my problem {one of them at least}....

I love design, like really love it, love it all, love it too much.

It's hard to design a room in your own home when you like everything - 

vintage, modern, bohemian, eclectic, traditional, transitional, 

mid-century, color, neutrals, patterns, solids, brass, chrome, 

chippy painted, warm wood tones........you get me?

As you recall, I am NOT a stripper......thus the painted

desk pictured above.  I am very happy with how it turned out.

One of the main goals I have had for the design of our home's

sitting room is that it had to have a purpose beyond looking 

pretty.  So, I declared it to be a sitting room/office for momma.

The layout of the room dictated one wall for the placement of a desk.

I knew when I found this simple, smaller scale desk, that it

would be the perfect fit for the space.

I have actually made loads of progress on this room.....which has been 

'in progress' since moving in a year ago!  I have stressed about how to design

around the crazy damask sofa, how to add color....wanting it to have a eclectic, collected

look rather than a 'designed' look.  I took two Craigslist chairs to have them reupholstered today.

I also took a BIG leap and ordered a crazy bright fabric for my Louis chair -

doesn't Nate Berkus say you need to have one bold/unexpected chair in your room?

Well even if he didn't say any such thing, my living room is going to have

one bold/unexpected chair!

I am finally 'feeling' this room.

To Be Continued.......

I refuse to wait.....{plus a couple lucky girls!}

via Pinterest

The author of this quote, Stacy Risenmay and I could totally
be BFF's!  I could not agree with her more.

Just popping in to announce the winners of the Classic Prep Monograms giveaway.
I am fighting a nasty cold and it is totally slowing my spring cleaning progress - ugh!

The winners of the $50 credit towards their Classic Prep Monograms
purchase are:

Lisa who said:
Jill,
What a great giveaway! Thanks for the info about Classic Prep, cute, cute stuff & so many great gift ideas. My favorite is the three letter monogram for the door also. Just painted mine & this would be the perfect finish.
Lisa

Sarah S. who said:

Happy Birthday! What a cute store. I love the wooden monograms. I also love the 3d premium cell phone case. Anything monogrammed is adorable!

Please email me at jillbeth@aol.com and I will give you a code you can use to make your purchase.

Thank you to everyone for checking out Classic Prep Monograms!

Birthdays, busy, test results and other mumbo jumbo.....plus a awesome giveaway!

I sit down to write this as a newly licensed driver in the state of Oregon.

Can I get an "amen"?

I actually scored a 100%!!!  My Minnesota license expires

tomorrow so I am all legal and everything....Nothing like waiting

till the.last.minute....Obviously the talk in our house this weekend went something

along the lines of "Children, do as I say, not as I do".....

'Cause tomorrow I celebrate the big 4-5, yes indeed.  I don't know

quite how I feel about this particular birthday as it gets me closer to the big, 

you know....that next big birthday that begins with a 5 will get me closer 

to that AARP card.

Life has been unusually busy, thank goodness I quit that silly 'real job' and

am back to livin' the dream of unpaid volunteer hours, stacks of laundry,

carpool driver, sleepover hostess, cook, cleaner, gardener etc......

So in lieu of any successful DIY goings on over here, I thought 

we'd celebrate my birthday with a special giveaway - ok with you?

I have a friend who knew me WAY back before my birthday number started 

with a FOUR......she is a beautiful soul, a fantastic mother and like me,

has moved with her family a fair amount.  She was my first friend

to have babies and a mortgage and important adult stuff like that.

Well now her babies are teens and college students and my friend

has launched a new online business called

Classic Prep Monograms!

The website sells lots of adorable monogrammed products.  I love this wooden

monogram which will be added to the preserved boxwood

wreath on our front door, just as soon as I get it spray painted {see above

comments regarding my busy life and lack of DIY}.

Whenever I wear my monogrammed acrylic necklace I get all sorts of compliments!  I have the tortoise shell version of this one but would love a bright color for spring!  This blue is on trend right now.

The website also has the most adorable, customizable monogrammed
iPhone cases, rain boots, stationary and more!

And guess what?

My friend has graciously offered to giveaway TWO $50 credits
to spend at Classic Prep Monograms to two lucky readers of Forever*Cottage.

To enter the giveaway please do the following:

1.  Visit Classic Prep Monograms and check out the site.  Come back here and leave a comment telling    me what you would use your $50 credit to purchase.

2.  'Like' Classic Prep Monograms on Facebook, then come back here and let me know - for a chance to be entered a second time!

3.  You can also be entered a THIRD time if you blog about the giveaway and then come back here and let me know about it!

Please enter by Wednesday evening at midnight PST.  I will announce the winners on Thursday!

My week of failures.....I am not a stripper.

{*Best blog title EVAH!}

I tried very hard to begin some house projects this week but

for whatever reason, this was just NOT my week to be successful.

My Minnesota driver's license expires on Tuesday, as in this COMING Tuesday.

Procrastination is not something I recommend.  I confidently {did not read the manual}

walked into my DMV,  happy to see no lines and smiling government workers to assist me, 

only to sit down and proceed to FAIL the written driver's test required to

be licensed in Oregon!  A older gentleman offered me his dog-eared corner Oregon 

Driver Manual and I walked out in shame!  I will return on Monday

to give it another go, guess I will be studying my manual this weekend!

This is my latest 'project' - a perfect size/scale desk purchased with a less

than desirable painted finish.  I was enthusiastic about making this

piece of furniture my first furniture stripping success.............and writing

a great blog post with fabulous before and after photos that

would burn up Pinterest with pinning craziness.....

But it is not going to happen cause I am NOT a stripper{of furniture}.....

I lack the patience

and the determination

and the stick-to-it-ness

and the time.....

and the desire

and whatever else you need to be a successful stripper {of furniture, silly!}.

So I am painting - a better color with a better finish

and she will be gorgeous, easy-peasy, just the way I like it.

And because this post originally included blah, ugly photos, I thought

I would leave you with this cute guy....he's a goldendoodle

Pin-worthy, if I may say so myself.

Have an awesome weekend!