November 4, 2010

Guest Blogger...Christa from Stories of a House!



It's Thursday and time for a fabulous Guest Blogger...Christa from Stories of a House is here!  If you'll remember Christa's hubby was here a couple of weeks ago and shared a project from their laundry room.  And now she's back to give us a home tour...ahh, I love home tours!  Christa loves DIY projects, and her passion is creating a comfortable and stylish home...on a budget!  So let's get right to it...

Welcome Christa!

Hello, Finding Fabulous readers!

I am so honored that Jane asked me to be a guest blogger here today!

At Stories of a House, I write about decorating and refinishing on a budget without sacrificing style. I love to share all my how-to's, and enjoy hosting your projects every Monday at Project Diaries. I hope you'll join us!

I thought about what might be of interest to Jane's readers, and decided to write about what I really love, which is decorating a home on a budget - with a bit of a house tour.

Here in AZ, Old World charm is definitely the in-thing. And, I have enjoyed that charm in our home for the past 5 years. But since I've changed my style of decor 3 times over the course of 12 years of marriage, and I've learned to buy used, refinish, and do the work myself to save money. No matter what style I am in the mood for, cozy is a must. Right now, I'm incorporating some casual elements into our home on a very strict budget. I sell all my "old" stuff to pay for the "new" stuff. We love to entertain, and want everyone who walks through our front door to know they can kick their shoes off and relax with us.

For the past 5 years we have lived here, we have been working on customizing some builder-basic projects. Here are pictures of some of them, with links to the specific posts (for tutorials or product details), unless they were done in my pre-blogging life.
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I'm now loving these basic laundry room cabinets, which I painted from builder-basic to a clean and simple look.
This room is now relaxed and happy to me, which helps when there is a ton of laundry to do!



I love the vintage reflections in here, as well as the clean stripes.
And, the laundry risers that we built are not only pretty and warm, but functional,
because they slide out as one unit.
My adorable husband wrote up a full tutorial on these.


Later, I added the plaques and centralized our laundry room with a new "bombs away" system which has helped the Little Women keep their clothes organized.
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I really love our front door, which recently went from very basic to pretty with a little black paint.
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In our family room, I refinished this coffee table which I got at an auction, as well as the roll-top desk in the corner, which is a homework center and hides a lot of school papers and craft projects. The couches were also from Craigslist. I sold our sectional and came out $200 ahead! I recently worked on adding some casual texture and warmth on a budget.


One of my most favorite things in our home is this 8 foot dining room table, where we enjoy hosting dinner parties, birthdays, and holidays. I don't have a before shot, because that was before blogging. It was originally a smooth pine table with a lightly stained top, a green painted base, and el-cheapo. We totally stripped and refinished it with tons of distressing to look like a chunky farmhouse table and we embrace every ding and dent we put into it when we gather with our loved ones. We've made a lot of memories in here in the last 5 years.

 

In our guest bath, we replaced the white pedestal sink with this furniture version from Costco, added the wallpaper, a chandy, some crown moulding, and venetian plaster to the ceiling. Since we did the work ourselves, we are happy with what we got for our buck. I really wish I had a before shot! 
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Decorating the girls' bedrooms is my favorite thing to do. We added the mouldings in all three with some inexpensive trim and chair railing, along with crown moulding. All we were on the hook for was the cost of materials, and a little elbow grease. In this bedroom, I repurposed some worn-out white furniture and painted it brown with a black glaze to make it pop against the white.
 I'm continually updated my blog with new projects, tutorials, and product details, and I hope to see you there!  Thanks again, Jane, for inviting me to share something with your wonderful readers. What an honor!


You are welcome Christa...THANK YOU for giving us a tour of your beautiful home! 

Ahhh, your laundry room...every time I see that room I just dream of revamping my own laundry room, yup - I'm totally inspired!  And your chunky, distressed farmhouse table...I can only imagine how fun that project must have been.  Totally great ideas...a chandy in the bathroom, beautiful trim moulding in the kids rooms - why not!

Thanks again Christa, your home is warm, stylish and welcoming.  And the fact that you did it all on a budget..INSPIRING!



 
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8 comments:

  1. thanks for sharing chrsta, jane! i already adore her and follow her, but wanted to just thank you for showing her off. i just love that laundry room!!!

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  2. Thanks for sharing her rooms. I am in love with her powder room.

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  3. Christa, Your house is totally my style! Love everything! I even have a few VERY similar Italian countryside paintings like the one in your living room.

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  4. Christa has such a style for classy elegance and I tell her that all of the time. It was so fun to come over here and read more about her and her beautiful home. Thank you!

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  5. Thanks for sharing Christa! I just adore your style =)

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  6. Thank you again Christa...your thrify design ideas are awesome!

    Jane
    FF

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  7. Thanks again for having me, Jane, and to my sweet friends who left such lovely comments...thank you, friends!

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  8. Christa has done a spectacular job with her home. There is not a single room featured that I don't love. Thanks for featuring such a fabulous guest blogger!

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