Monday, June 29, 2009

Awesome Industrial space

Oh my goodness! I love this space!! This lovely loft is located in downtown San Antonio in the revamped Pearl Brewery.

The Pear Brewery Company is located on the East side of the world famous San Antonio River "Because you need good water to brew good beer"!

...An old photo of the original founders, or at least some of the original brewery workers. I bet they had some fun parties!

In 2002 the site was purchased by an investment company and the redevelopment plans began. Now the Original brewery is home to the Eveda institute, Texas Farm to Table Café, Pearl Stables, Center for Foods of the Americas and of course the residential loft spaces.
There are not many spaces like this in San Antonio. The ones that we do have, are all downtown and too far for me. I wish they were closer because I would rent one as my new studio in a heartbeat!

This is what it looks like today. A 900 sq ft loft apartment is currently available at the new Pearl Brewery development for around $900 a month! Oh how I wish I could move in!!

...A shot of the bedroom. I'm totally diggin' this space! It would be allot more shabby, frenchy and girlie if I lived here, or used it as my studio, but even just the way it is now makes me drool!

Honey...I need some more money! I want to build a loft! :)

If you wanna check it out yourself, head on over to
http://www.pearlbrewery.com/pages/development.html.

Have a fantastic week!!.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009

Bathroom Makeover !!

Simple and lovely!! ...


Not so lovely... Ok here it is...My hideous bathroom! Or at least it was my hideous bathroom until I got sick of looking at it and got my hands dirty repainting!


It was so dark and gloomy! Gross sponge painting on the walls and a dark finish on the dresser that holds the sink. Yuck!

Check out this awful lighting! How can anyone put on make up in this lighting?

So this is how I did it...(Please excuse the wonderful no hair, no make up photos...oh, like you put on make up when you paint! ;)

I'll take it slow for you newbies out there. Notice the blue line just above the white paint. That's called a chalk line. We snapped a line of chalk on the wall to define a place for the white and blue paint to meet.

I rolled the bottom portion of the bathroom...twice! ...to cover up all the evidence of that horrible sponge paint!! Then I brushed in the corners and as close as I could to the chalk line. Be careful not to run your paint brush through the chalk or you can smear it into the white paint.

This is a bubble level. It's what you use to get a straight line on the wall. Don't try to eye ball it...I promise you it will not turn out well. You will need two people to do this correctly unless you're a MOM used to doing a hundred things at once...

... like balancing a baby on your hip, opening the car door, talking on the cellphone, holding your purse, your keys and 18 bags of groceries all while making sure not to hit the car parked way too close to your car door, and yelling at your other 2 children to get in the car, on the other side, and not get run over doing it...YES, WOMEN RULE!!
If you wanna be real cool...like me ;) ...you can use a laser level to get your straight lines. This is especially helpful when the line will be on more than one wall. This level will shoot a laser light out each side of the level, and the laser light even wraps around inside corners!! It is so COOL!! (Can you tell I'm a tool freak!?) You can purchase one of these at Home Depot or Lowe's for around $15.00.

Once you get your level line, you will want to mark it on your wall. The easiest way to mark a straight line is to use a chalk line. This is a photo of a chalk line and the container of chalk that comes with it. Don't forget to buy the chalk if the one you purchase doesn't already have chalk in it. I don't think they come prefilled...just check to be sure.

So this is where you need either a nail or another person. If you have a person to help you, one person holds one end on the line and you stretch the line out to the other end of where you want the line marked on your wall. Once it is where you want it, make sure the line is tight, then pull the string away from the wall and let go quickly. If you did it right, you will have left a chalk line mark on your wall.

My wonderful hubby...Mr. Patina Soul helped me with some...and I do say SOME, of the painting even though he HATES to paint!

He was even nice enough to remove the toilet tank for me so that I could paint behind it without all the normal headaches of painting behind those things...and he didn't even complain! :)
Thanks honey!

After I finished painting all the white on the bottom 3/4 of the wall...

I rolled a beachy blue on the top half of the wall and "cut in" ...meaning used a brush... near the trim and molding. Oh lookie there, my trademark paint on my elbow.

Over the white and blue line we hung a "chair rail"...fancy lingo for a painted board... Hubby installed three old hooks and brought back in the dresser I repainted, and reinstalled the sink for me.

...then we hung the mirror and changed out the lights...

...The chair rail and three hooks...

While we had the dresser out, I asked my super handy dad to cut the drawer fronts off one side of the dresser and turn them into a door. The drawers were not working very well for holding towels. So now I have the look of an old dresser but it works way better for storage! Thanks Dad! Btw, this is pretty easy to do...I could have done it myself, but my dads love language is doing things for others, so I let him do it for me! Work = love to him. :) Works for me!
So don't be afraid to try this on your own. You can do it!!

Here's the other side of the dresser...still all drawers.

One more shot of that ugly bathroom before...

And the AFTER photo! Much better!!! I still need to fancy it up with all my pretty bathroom elements but I'm way pleased with the results already!

Happy decorating and God's blessings!

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Summer is here!!

Summer is finally here!!
Time for fresh cut flowers in the kitchen...


...a baseball game in the backyard...

...Searching for shells on the beach...

...hours of telling my boys to "get off the couch and go play outside"...
"When I was your age, all I had was dirt and a stick to play with."

...time to play with Kodi...

...and buddy...

...impromptu sprinkler fun...

...new discoveries...

...trips to the park...

...summertime naps...

...daily surprises for mom...

...a summer full of Birthdays...

...and even more birthdays...11 in our family to be exact...

...trips to the skate park...

...fun with my boys...

...they grow up so fast...

...time to jet ski...

...and make memories with my hubby...

...and many, many hours cleaning the boat. Oh, a man and his big boy toys. ;)

So if I happen to disappear for days... or even weeks this summer without a word or a new post to my blog, it's not because I stopped loving you... or blog land. It's not because I don't have anything to say...I always have something to say... it's because time fly's when your having fun and I want to have lots of fun this summer with my hubby of 12 years and my three wonderful little boys while I can....Before their all grown up and move away from home.

If you think about it, we only get about 18 summers with them before they leave the nest...I'm making THIS one count... before I know it, I'll wake up and it will be September. Time for them to head back to school, home work, carpools, sports, you name it... The daily grind.

Gotta run...summer is beckoning!! Off to Sea World tomorrow, a day relaxing, grilling and swimming at the lake on Friday,... Saturday, a GIANT home made slip-n-slide on a huge hill at my brothers...add a sprinkler, inner-tubes and some kids = tons of fun!! Sunday relaxing and off to church...that is if were not in the hospital after the Texas size slip-n-slide!! ;)

What do you have planned this summer?
Go have fun with your family!!
Computers can't love you back. (or take care of you when your old) ;)


Thursday, June 4, 2009

Lovely Lakeside wedding!!

I'm getting MARRIED!!

Well actually I'm already married...11 years to the same wonderful man!
( I love you Mr. Patina Soul)

We decided this year on our 12th anniversary to renew our vows and our commitment to each other with a celebration ceremony at our lake house!

The wedding will be very casual yet beautiful and elegant at the same time.
It will reflect our personalities and my love for old things with a PaTiNa Soul!!

I stumbled upon this invitation and fell in love with its informal feeling.
Who doesn't love a sweet chandelier!?! I think I'll make it the theme for the wedding!

I love the idea of using old crystal, tarnished silver trays and platters
with white and pink flowers as the colors for the ceremony.

For the reception, atop a collection of old farm tables spread out on the lawn and facing the lake, we will have simple centerpieces with pink flowers & white china.

Still deciding what type of farm tables to use...guess I have to go shopping and find some!

So cute and casual!






Perfect centerpiece!

hmm?... Now where can I hang this?!

OMG! So Perfect!


These will hang from the trees!

I'll wear something very casual like one of these white sun dresses...



Our three boys and my husband will wear a white linen button up shirt with khaki shorts...

My two nieces...the flower girls...will wear this adorable little dress from Justice! I adore the pink bow and I found them yesterday on sale for $29.00!

We might rent a tent for a lil' shade...Texas sun in August can get pretty warm!
More causal than this one however.
Possibly with flowing white linen! How great would that be!

And this darling little gem hanging from the center!
(Remember the chandelier theme?)

The wedding will be at 11am on a Sunday so we will be serving brunch and of course some sweets like these for the kiddos.

Now, off to find Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue!
Anyone have a chandelier I can borrow? :) LOL!

Have a great day my sweet friends!


Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Beachy blue

Wanna run away to the beach with me?!!!
I think us blog sisters should buy and decorate a beach house together. Wouldn't that be fun! ;)

The color blue evokes such a relaxing feeling!!
Just like in nature, the sky, blue accents or wall color go with just about anything.

Welcome...come on in!

Amazing!

I adore this! I HAVE to recreate this paint finish on something soon.

I'm diggin' these blue accent pieces.

ooooh!!

aaaahhhh!

That reminds me... I still need to show you my bathroom makeover. You're gunna love it!

More beautiful blue accent pieces.

...and even more! LOvE eM!!

Uuum honey, can I repaint the bedroom walls like this. ;)

Lovely!

Have an awesome day!!! Take care and God Bless!!

Photo sources:
1, 2, 6 & 12 unfortunately are unknown sources
3 & 4 House Beautiful
5 Graham & Green
7, 8 & 9 Coastal Living
10, 11 & 13 BHG


Monday, June 1, 2009

Mirror, mirror on the wall...

I'm nuts about mirrors! I noticed the trend as I scrolled through my photo files this weekend.

Pretty sure the photo above is most likely a window peaking into the next room from the entry, but I could totally see it as a beautiful mirror greeting guests as they come in the front door.

A great old door turned mirror. Christina Schmidhofer

Gorgeous!!

Speechless!! Chez Fifi

Love it!!! BHG

Wood or metal? MarieClaireMaison.com

Simple but oh so elegant. BHG



Love it... want it.... need it!!! :) Country Style

Designer Shannon Bowers

Heather Cameron





I think this is my all time favorite mirror above! It's simple and understated but adds so much charm to the room propped against the wall with all its vintage charm.

Not sure where I found some of these photos....Ive had them in my files for awhile.

Have a great week...Be sure to stop and take a look in the next mirror you pass...you'll see the image of a person God loves dearly...just the way you are!