Dining room gets a facelift

Above is the before picture. Now this is not the TRUE before picture. When we bought the house, last May, all of the walls were painted a yucky taupe and each and every room had a mud-brown "accent" wall. The first thing we did was have painters over erasing it all...

Here is the new dining room. I had much angst over painting this room. I knew I wanted something a little bold but I didn't want it to look like something from Wonderland. I decided to use one of my "life lines" and chose to "ask the expert". My question was answered and with a little guidance and some words of encouragement from Layla, I went pedal to the metal. Thanks Layla!!

The color I finally decided on is called Khaki by Ralph Lauren. I don't think it looks anything like khaki. When I opened the paint can I thought it looked a whole lot like a baby food jar of peas.

I am still in the process of deciding what to do with the windows. They are bare right now and they look ok, but they really need something. I have some ideas rolling around...

It took me an entire day to paint and move all of the furniture around. I took pictures of each section of my china cabinet prior to moving it so I would know where to put everything back once I had moved it. And, if you do not have those plastic moving discs I suggest you run out to get some ASAP! I moved everything in that room - BY MYSELF! Well, Trey put the discs under the furniture while I lifted it up. So, I did have a little assistant. The rest of the time he played outside or in his room and was very good while I tackled my project. Thanks Trey!

Please no nasty comments about the perpetually lopsided table cloth. Trey thinks under that table is his hideout. I don't know that it will ever be even except for the first five minutes it's on... Besides, this is the house of M with many little M's all over the place. Not a museum!

Catching up!

Wow!! Have we been busy in the House of M! I've been painting and decorating, with some words of encouragement from a blogging friend. I've been swapping, entertaining, celebrating, commenting, preparing, being a wife and a Mommy, and I even won a PRIZE! I've missed you all and have so much to tell you about.

I have several posts that I'll be sending your way soon. I'll start todays post with a followup to my last post. A MONTH AGO!!

I received my Easter Egg Garland from the very fun swap hosted by Jennalee at Artrageousafternoon.
This is what I received:






I was very excited to receive my little package in the mail. I love each and every one of them. Thank you to all of you talented individuals who made an egg that now belongs to me. That was great fun and Thanks to Jennalee for being such a super hostess.

Stay tuned for more as, this last month, my mailbox runneth over!

Easter Egg Garland swap on it's way.

Jennifer at Artrageous Afternoon hosted an Easter Egg Garland swap that I participated in. I had such fun creating my little eggs and I think they turned out cute. Thanks Jennifer for hosting such a fun and creative project.

Spring lunch and a recipe

A friend came over for lunch today. On the menu was Tarragon Chicken Salad croissant sandwiches,

Amaretto Mimosas and chocolate frosted brownies.

We used my vintage daisy and button snack plates and my husband's Great-Grandmother's vintage monogrammed linen napkins.

All of the herbs and flowers were from my yard and garden.

The most requested item when I had my catering business was my Tarragon Chicken Salad. It was usually served on croissants. I'll be happy to share my recipe with you today. I hope you enjoy it!

Tarragon Chicken Salad
4 cups cooked and diced chicken breast
3 green onions,tops only, sliced
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup minced celery
1 tsp. tarragon
1 tsp. herbs de provence
3/4 cup Hellmann's mayonaise

Blend the mayonaise with all ingredients but the chicken. Once everything is incorporated then fold in the chicken breast. Chill and serve over a bed of green leaf lettuce or with croissants as a sandwich. This is best made the day prior to serving.

Contents Revealed!

I must say I had a fabulous time being a participant in Heidi's Winter Basics and Baubles swap. My very first swap! Thanks for being such a wonderful hostess!

My swap partner, Shawnee, received her box and this is what she found...

Her kitchen is pink and white in a farmhouse and she loves cherries.
She has a pink no skid kitchen mat, two white terry towels with pink and white polka dot trim, a pink with white lattice tea towel and a white with pink lattice tea towel that I ironed a cherry transfer onto. There are pink and white melamine utility bowls, a cherry red silicon spatula, some cupcake magnets with cherries on top and a hot chocolate whisk, that she asked for. Oh yes, and a cute little cherry necklace. All encased in cherry red tissue paper with a tear in it! Sorry!!

All wrapped up in pink with a satin ribbon and a cherry bow.

I hope Shawnee has fun with her stuff and it all goes with her kitchen. It was a blast!

My 3 year old, Trey, has

SHH it's a secret! Swap box on it's way.

I participated in my very first swap. Heidi at Foxgloves, Fabric and Folly hosted a Winter Basics and Baubles swap and my box is on it's way to Shawnee. Here's a sneak peek at what she will see when she opens her box. you didn't really think I'd show you the contents did you...

This was really a bunch of fun and I look forward to my next. Thanks Heidi.

My favorite Cream Biscuits

Almost easier and much better tasting than a can, these are my absolute FAVORITE biscuits. If you add a tad more sugar to them they make an excellent cake for strawberry shortcake with fresh strawberries and a bit of whipped cream on top. I hope you like them too.

CREAM BISCUITS

2 c. self-rising flour
1 tsp. sugar
1 c. whipping cream

Combine all ingredients; mix well. Dough will be stiff.

Turn dough out on a lightly floured surface, and knead 10 or 12 times. Roll dough to 3/8 inch thickness; cut with a 2-inch biscuit cutter.

Place biscuits on a lightly greased baking sheet;

bake at 450 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes. Serve warm with butter and your favorite honey or preserves. Yield: about 1 dozen.

Boys' Bathroom Makeover

Miles and I officially did our very first do-it-yourself makeover. It wasn't a major overhaul like you would see on TV but it was a start for us and we are pretty pleased with the results.

We bought our house last summer. It's a perfect floorplan for our family, but was in desperate need of a facelift. It was built in 1980 and had one prior owner, a bachelor, and we figure most of the decor was here from day one. There was wall paper throughout and he did have the place painted. However, every room in the house had a mud colored "accent" wall and all of the trim was either stained dark brown or painted beige.

The first month we were here we spent an insane amount of money on a terrible interior paint job. (Enough story there for another post) Miles and I look at it as a super expensive "primer" as we are now taking each room one at a time and totally repainting them ourselves. The painters did remove all of the wallpaper, which was a job I did not want to do, and retexture the walls where the paper was removed and "primed" it for us to work our magic.

Project #1 is the boys' bathroom. As I mentioned in a prior post, there was carpet in the vanity area and two layers of peel and stick flooring in the bath area that had begun to peel up. So, we decided that would be the best place to start.

Miles pulled up all of the flooring and layed tile in both rooms.



He then replaced the toilet with a water efficient one. He put new baseboards down and stripped and repainted the doors and all of the trim. As well as, replaced all of the door hardware with brushed nickel knobs and hinges. He did an outstanding job on all of it.

I painted the walls. We chose Atmosphere Blue by Restoration Hardware. I hung a black window treatment and a long skinny black framed mirror that I found on sale at Target. I also hung 3 robe hooks, instead of towel racks, new tp holder, hand towel holder and all new door pulls on the cabinetry. I'm not a contemporary decorator and this was a stretch for me to use all of this nickel. But I like it!

I also installed a frame around the mirror. Ironically enough while I was doing this, Rhoda at Southern Hospitality was doing the very same thing on her blog. Go see how hers turned out. They look great! Hopefully she will have a Mr. Linky in a few weeks as she inspired several others to do the same and we can all talk about our experiences.


We are going to replace the countertop, sink and faucet and then it will be complete. I think it will grow with 3 little boys in it's current state and now we can focus on our next project.