Treasure Hunting at Not So Shabby

I worked yesterday at Not So Shabby-Holland Store and snapped a few pics of things that caught my eye in various vendors' booths. Head over there sometime to play "where in the world is that item"? :)

(I'll cheat a little on the first three-these you can find in my booth.)

Hint: I loved the way Chris covered part of these letters with twine for an even beachier effect. (below)

 Something intriguing about this vintage photo holder in a pale pink finish. Hint: In the "friendly" first row.

 New booth: I'll give you this as a freebie. (Second row) called "Altered".

 New Booth: Another freebie-"Scribblin' Sisters"-vinyl lettering/wall words.

You can always find some rustic items scattered here and there.

 While you're on your treasure hunt, be sure to check out the new vintage boutique that opened last month.  Connected to NSS as you enter to the left.

More scavenger hunt fun:

 This vintage pink blossom blanket would be so cute in a little girl's room:

 Have fun searching and shopping.  I'm working like crazy making product for the fall Peddler's Market. Hoping to do a sneak peek of some of those items soon.

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Kristin's Kitchen

Short post tonight.  I'm supposed to be sucking all the living life out of these last precious summer days by camping at the beach for one last hoorah, but it's been pouring all day and I have lots of sign orders to tackle, so I thought I'd swing home and check some things off my endless to-do list.

Last week I met with Kristin- a passionate teacher, an incredible artist, mother and young grandmother and someone with so much drive and energy it puts me to shame. 

We had met for the first time last year as she and her husband were about to tackle a main floor remodel. 

They were also in the midst of helping plan their daughter's wedding. We discussed the direction of the project and I helped choose new colors, suggested trim painting, and offered other advice for kitchen updates, walls and furnishings. 

I was called back several months later as they had made a bit of progress with demo, but needed further direction in moving forward.
That second meeting is when I snapped these before/mid-project pics.

 This wall below divides/defines the living and kitchen areas.
Sorry these pictures are sooooo bad! Waiting on my Iphone 5.

 As you can see, original oak doors were taken down to get a fresh new coat of creamy white paint. They had debated at the time whether to paint existing doors and cabinet boxes or have the doors rebuilt and painted. They opted to buy some time and save some money by repurposing the existing cabinets. 
You'll see the paint color options laid out on counter, along with the wood looking tile choice we landed on.

 Dining area adjacent to the kitchen:

Below: Half bath/laundry as you enter from garage into the  back entry before walking into kitchen:

 
 Now for the before and semi-after-(we have wall art, window treatments and new chairs to tackle yet, but you can hopefully appreciate the transformation).

Before kitchen:

All oak trim throughout before Ben Moore's Ivory White made an appearance:

Can you even believe it's the same house?

(Confirmed my decision to FINALLY paint all the dark trim in the front half of my house. Stay tuned for that this fall).

 And some other random angles:

 Last week we also confirmed our decision to add the light taupe colored glass subway tile to add a little bling to the space.

 The Victorian looking settee (on the far end) is only there temporarily. We are looking to replace it with two club chairs with nailhead trim.

 In this pic below, you can see the oak dining table.  We're looking through different options for that as well.  Painting vs. buying new. She may want to get through a few years with the young grandkids before replacing so painting might be the fix for now.

 LOVE this sofa style. 

 Some of Kristin's original artwork below in the pirate themed main floor boy's bath and bedroom.

Such a fun visit to see all the progress they had made.  They're super happy with the updates.  She did mention that she wished that they had just 'bitten the bullet' and paid to have the cabinet doors replaced after seeing how beautiful the kitchen turned out. But I assured her this could still be done in a few years without altering anything she's done so far.  

Are you inspired now to bust out a can of creamy white? I know I am. 

Enjoy the last days of summer, Champs. See ya back here soon.

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Pentwater & Pinterest-y Wedding

Well, another one bites the dust.

 No, I'm not referencing my friend Kelsey's recent marriage which we celebrated last weekend, but I'm actually referring to another year of camping up at Pentwater. I actually am a little embarrassed to admit that I cried halfway home this year when we left.  

My summer's greatest memories are shared with this cousins' crew and I hated to see our time together end. 

One by one, the kids are graduating from high school and won't always be joining us from here on out. 

I treasured the time I could bike up with these guys (nearly 100 miles and 9 hours) to kick off the week of camping.

We had so much fun chatting, reflecting, biking and making memories.

I will cherish that time with them and this one forever: In two years she's gone. Sigh.

We had a great week with great weather and even got to break camp to attend my former neighbor and friend Kelsey's wedding. (Still a friend, just not a neighbor). :)

She planned a beautiful Pinterest inspired rustic barn wedding and it couldn't have been more perfect. Casual elegance doesn't seem like an oxymoron to describe the night. It was wonderfully unpretentious and so much fun to catch up with these hooligans from our Greystone neigbhorhood Cul-de-Sac, which we dubbed "Quality-Sac years ago).

Those of you Chumps following my blog for a while may recall how hard it was for me to leave these fantastic people when we moved across town. I think I cried every day for a year and a half. Special people. Special place. Special time in our lives.

Here are some pics of the venue and Pinterest-y touches that I wanted to share with you. The photos don't do it justice. 

Blue Hydrangea Barn in Rockford, Mi. 

Google it and see for yourself how wonderful it is.

Guest Party Favors: "We Go Together Like Salt & Pepper".

 Even chalkboard signs to designate "Ladies", "Gents" or "Ladies & Gents" on the outhouses.

 Okay, I don't know who this pretty girl is but I asked her if I could take her pic to show my daughters her cute dress. She got it downtown Holland at "Spring Sweet". Love it. I'm shameless aren't I?

Pardon my fat finger from getting in the way of the shot, but Kelsey had shepherd hooks with flower filled mason jars leading the way from the pasture to where the ceremony was held.

 Cake Balls for dessert! Yum!! Carrot Cake, Triple Chocolate and French Toast:

 I heard a rumor that Kelsey and her sister Marcy searched high and low for bridesmaid dresses. They found these at Abercrombie and Fitch but they were cream-and they really wanted light gray-so they dyed them! What?! Amazing! IKR? Kearsten modeling them for me.

 I made this sign for them as part of their gift.  Leading up to the wedding for the past many months, as a way to document their engagement journey, Kelsey would post #teamkeliam (a mash up of kelsey/william) on instagram. My girls corrected me with the hashtag at the bottom, that it should be all one word so I did repaint that, but forgot to snap another pic. You get the idea. :)

Let me know if I can help you out with any wedding signs or custom orders in general. :)

Follow me on instagram for my annoying hashtags!

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