Planning Your Garden: A Splash of Color

It may still be winter but there's no better time to start planning your garden! Before you start selecting plants it's important to know your zone and the amount of sun/shade each garden gets throughout the day. The majority of the    
plants I buy are perennials because I love the fact that I don't have to replant them year-after-year, and it's so exciting to see them sprout up in the spring! Annuals that re-seed themselves are great too, but if you're not careful they can take over. If there is one thing annuals are good for it's lots of blooms and COLOR!

Impatiens are great because they have lots of blooms, they come in many colors and they continue to bloom all. summer. long! They also can grow in shady areas and don't need to be deadheaded! Gotta love that!

They're also wonderful to enjoy indoors in one of your favorite little vases...

A garden can really add life, color and quaintness to any home...

This post was shared with My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, All Things Heart and Home, My Romantic Home, The Shabby Chic Cottage, and Funky Junk Interiors...

XO,

   Jaclyn

Finishing Basement: Black Ceiling

Instead of putting up dry-wall or a drop-ceiling, we took an easier approach, and it come with many benefits! It gave us higher ceilings, the appearance of a larger room and a unique industrial look! 

It started out as old (1945) bare wood and asbestos return-air ducts... 

Some of the air-ducts were wrapped in old fiberglass insulation...

They were also covered in 66 years worth of dust and spider webs...

...Now back to the asbestos, since it can be hazardous to your health when airborne we first sprayed it with spray paint to keep it contained, took a sample and sent it to get tested, got a confirmation, called in the professionals and paid a very pretty penny to have it removed. I personally would have grabbed some heavy-duty trash bags, put on a heavy-duty mask and gone to town... but it worried Trav and to me his peace-of-mind was well worth it!

They also detected asbestos around the air-ducts between the floors so we sealed them with spray foam and foil tape...

And ran flexible tubing through them.

After replacing the return air-ducts, removing the old fiberglass insulation, cleaning all the boards, steal beams and air-ducts, reconfiguring the plumbing higher, and installing can-lights we used a paint sprayer and sprayed it all with flat black paint... 

With everything on the ceiling painted black it doesn't draw your eyes upward... Yet when your eyes do glance up I personally think it looks quite intriguing!

Other Finishing Basement Projects:

Enlarging Window

Window Replacement

Framing and Electrical

Almost Done 

{This post was shared on The DIY Showoff.}

XO,

   Jaclyn

Thank you so much for visiting CHC! I love your sweet comments, and read all of them! Please become a Follower and a fan on facebook…

Finishing Basement: Almost Done

This may come as a shock to you because the last time I did a post about our basement we were working on framing and electrical and it looked like this…

Well, now it looks more like this...

It has been quite the project... definitely the biggest we've ever tackled! We did almost all the work ourselves! Since our lives got turned upside down last spring we had some plumbing and trim work done professionally.

Now all that's left is finishing the floor and tile work in the bathroom! What you see in the pictures is the floor primed and us just starting to put down the base coat. Currently, the base coat has been completed and yesterday my mom helped us apply the faux finish! We have a little left to finish up before Thursday when the top coat goes down. We were going to do the top coat yourselves but Travis' family is in the flooring business and they kindly offered to help.


I'll share the deets on how we did the faux finish soon! ...The look of it reminds me of a granite mountain!

Other basement finishing projects:

• Enlarging Window
• Window Replacement
• Framing and Electrical

{This post was shared on The DIY Showoff.}

XO,

Jaclyn

Upcoming Giveaway: Red Letter Words

That’s right! I would like to announce the first CHC reader giveaway! Thanks to Red Letter Words, one lucky reader will win a 12x12 Café Mount Art Print!

Make sure you visit CHC the first week of February for your chance to win! 

Here are just a few of the wonderful prints the winner has to choose from! 

I told you they were wonderful! You can also visit their website to view many more of their products! Even if you don’t win the giveaway it's definitely worth checking out!

...Mark your calendars!

XO,

Jaclyn

Winter Wonderland 2011

This morning I saw a beautiful sight when looked out our bedroom window… everything was blanketed with snow!

This is the railing on our back deck… I think we got about 7 inches! Travis is currently out there shoveling the driveway… what a guy!

I went out the sunroom door and around from the backyard so I could leave the snow undisturbed for the photo. Good thing I had on my favorite boots!  

Sometimes winter days can be gloomy, but when everything is covered with white fluffy snow it all seems to come to life again! Every season has it’s blessings!

Last night the girls spent the night with “Ju-Ju” and “Papa Bob” at Fire Lake Camp… hopefully we’ll making out there this afternoon and get to take Angelia sledding for the first time!

Stay warm!

XO,

Jaclyn

Thrifty Find: Tealight Turtle

Almost every time I leave the house I drive by this Salvation Army Family Store… and after living in our home over 3 ½ years I’ve Never. Gone. Inside… until last week that is… 

…and I found this! It’s a glass turtle tealight holder And. I. Love. It.

This is what he looked like when I bought him, perfect except for some dust and melted wax.

I simply ran him under some warm water and introduced him to a butter knife and some soap... and gave him a scented tealight!

One of the things I love so much about him is the detail in his face. Are you in love too? …Or maybe I just have a weird turtle thing going on?

One thing I know for sure is that he was the best 48 CENTS I’ve ever spent! That’s right, 48 CENTS! …Now you understand my excitement!

What’s your favorite thing you’ve bought for a price that’s even better?

Cool Home Creations