(no longer) blinded by the sun

Well, you may remember we were realy stuck on finding appropriate window coverings for our dining room patio doors.

I really wanted to do a panel track system and really fell in love with the following fabric for said system:

Unfortunately, not only was the price tag a LOT higher than I wanted to spend... but we soon realized that we needed something a lot less sheer.
At the peak dinner hours, we couldn't even sit at the dining table, and working in the kitchen was incredibly hard.

(this picture doesn't even do justice at explaining how sunny it was.... it only turned out this dark, because every other picture was so sun-filled, you couldn't make the picture out!)

The only other reasonably priced option, was available via catalogue only, and since the color was "mushroom", I was a little wary of purchasing it, sight unseen. That. and the retailer is on my "never shop here again" list.

My next thought was to go with draperies, at least for the meantime, but I couldn't find anything I loved enough, that was black-out lined. Plus, I wasn't sure if the look would be a little too formal or not.

Anyhow, Cory (our resident cook) finally got so fed up this weekend, he dragged me out to buy something ASAP!!! We hit up a couple stores and came up empty! Pretty much everything we liked, was super expensive, and/or needed to be custom ordered. We needed something immediately!!

After a long temper tantrum and (almost tears), we ended up going home with some coverings on Sunday. Unfortunately, they are exactly what I did NOT want to come home with....

Yes, that's right, we got vertical blinds!!! (GASP....) Oh, and it gets better..... they are PVC!!!

How? WHY? - They were white, they were $47, and they could be brought home and installed in an hour!!! SOLD!!

When I came downstairs, and saw them installed, I have to say, I smiled. It was dark in the dining room. It was also a lot cooler inside. Plus, Cory did an amazing job (lined them up with trim on other windows and everything) and the white looks alright.

I'm still searching high and low for a replacement, but these will definitely do the trick for now. Plus, they were cheap enough that we won't be out a ton when I replace them...and I'll try and sell them online anyhow :)

Please don't judge me!! :)

Little bits of lovely

I do a lot of stuff around the house. Often times I take pictures of it, often times I don't. Evne when I do though, my computer at home hates Blogger so it can be rather painful to download the pics, so it takes a while to get things on here:

Here are things I've done:

Cory's mom brought me a little plant the first time she met me. Thankfully, it didn't die, and is actually thriving. So much so, that it outgrew it's little plastic pot! So off we went to Walmart to get a bigger home for it. It was re-planted in it's new home about a month ago, and is going well. Unfortunately, while I loved the pot when I bought it, this picture shows me that it desperately needs a new paint job, as it currently looks like it was painted by a child lol.

Right before I quit being a Demonstrator for Stampin' Up! , they came out with a line

of Wall Vinyl I loved the idea of this definition for the wall in my craft space and finally put it up.

In an effort to save money, and I guess waste in the environment, I have re-purposed some vintage coffee tables that belonged to my mom. These wicker tables were spray painted a glossy black and the glass was cleaned up to go with our decor. During the summer I used them outside as well.

I have always wanted a metal fork and spoon sculpture for the walls in my dining room. I have yet to find something that fits my description, but you can imagine my excitement when I came across these painted metal pieces in Fabricland of all places. Best of all?? I paid less than $10.00 for the pair!!!

They look super cute on a side wall in our dining room