Pages

Monday, July 29, 2013

Life View- Summer! It turns me upside down..summer, summer, summer..

Completely lacking in the blogging department?
Yep, that's me.

I don't know how you run your home in the summer, but apparently we fly by the seat of our pants here.
We have absolutely no structure to our summer days around this house!
It throws me for a loop most days, and I say I am going to implement some sort of schedule to the day, but it just never turns out that way.
It is a good thing I have only one child, or we would be running amuck, I tell ya!

I am curious.....Do you keep a structured summer schedule or do you wing it like us as well?

I had nothing planned for the blog this week. Again...flying by the seat of my pants.
However, we went to a fun little fair/festival/"days" type of event yesterday called Pioneer Days at the Little Log Cabin.
Most of the time it is so dang blasted hot, that I don't find it super enjoyable, even though I am fascinated by this village that has been built from old signage, buildings, cars, gardens ect.
It is ADORABLE!
BUT yesterday, it was picture perfect for this thick blooded Minnesotan.
70 degrees in July!
God must have seen my electric bill coming in the mail from last month and decided to grant us some relief.
Talk about a budget buster! I opened that baby up to a cool $270!! SAY WHAT?
How blessed am I to have A/C and stay comfortable? Completely..(trying to stay positive here folks).

Ok so anyway, I will leave you with a few pics of our day yesterday.....


No turquoise-ish toy at the flea market was safe from being photographed and oogled by Miss L and I!
(in case you didn't know, I am having a love affair with all thing turquoise-ish)




Cool vintage car signage.....




Old rail signs, depots, and a caboose....



Little blonde girls sharing root beer floats with their Grandpas.....


And bigger blonde girls sharing her Grandpa's lap...

All in all it was a great day spent with family in a quaint little man made village that gives a cozy feeling of stepping back in time....something we all know moves way to quickly.

Enjoy your View ~
Jenifer




Thursday, July 18, 2013

Life View - She's got...Personality, Ya! Personality!




I ran across this "Type" or "Personality" test today via maskCARA.com
She did not create this test but she blogged about it(at her fun little blog)..... and I found it pretty fascinating.

I have taken personality type quizzes before but this one is pretty close to being right on.
For instance the trait: "being committed and faithful to my family and friends".
You could probably ask anyone who knows me and they would agree with that.
However the: "confronting danger bravely" trait....not me at all!
And again, ask most who know me, and they would enthusiastically agree with it, especially the B'DOG(my hubba hubby).

Me+Danger=PANIC ATTACK

Of course I took the "sample" test because you have to pay $10 for the full version, but you get a really good idea of your personality type with the sample test.

BTW, if you are wondering.... I tied between a (The Observer/The Investigator) & (The Questioner/ The Loyalist).
After reading the descriptions and traits, I am much more a 6 with some 5 tendencies.

Here is a long little blurb about a SIX according to 9types.com
A SIX is titled:  The Loyalist/The Questioner(I have seen it titled as both)

How to get along with me:

Be direct and clear
Don't judge me for my anxiety
Laugh and make jokes with me
Try not to overreact to my overreacting

What I like about being a six:

being commited and faithful to family and friends
being compassionate toward others
being a non conformist

What's hard about being a six:

the constant push and pull of trying to make up my mind
fear of being abandoned or being taken advantage of
exhausting myself of worrying and scanning for danger

Sixes as children often:

are friendly, likable, and dependable and/or sarcastic, bossy, and stubborn
are anxious and hypervigilant: anticipate danger
take on the fearfulness of an overly anxious parent

Sixes as parents:

are often loving, nurturing, and have a strong sense of duty
are sometimes reluctant to give their children independence
worry more than most that their children will get hurt

You can take your TEST HERE.
Then you can check out a description of your type HERE. 
Make sure to click your number at the top of the page, as this link will start with One.

Stop in at my FaceBook page House of Views, and share what personality type you are, according to the test, and let me know if you agree/disagree with the results.

Have fun with it!

I love a good personality quiz, don't you?
And if you want to check out a couple more fun follow-up links to the personality quiz, head over to visit Cara at maskCara.
ENJOY your VIEW~
Jenifer

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

House View -- I'm gonna have to face it, I'm addicted to....dressers?


It has shaped up to be quite the busy summer!
As always, right?
I don't know why I am ever surprised at how fast the summers go, especially here in Minnesota.
Us North-men( & women) like to shove 9 months of outdoor activities into 12 weekends...because, well we kind of have to if we do not want frost bite!
It seems like every weekend is booked through August for our family. A good sign that we are having fun!

In between running Miss L around to all of her "social events"...I have been itching to start a new furniture project redo.
I found the perfect piece and cannot wait to get started on it.
There are so many great options & styles of "redo" out there I can't seem to decided.


Here is what the piece looks like right now minus the baseball piggy bank:


Beautiful, isn't it? 
What you cannot see real great in this picture is the beaded detail around the 2 bottom drawers. 
And what about those feet? UGH, so fabulous!

After drooling over this big wooden sweetness for a day, I set out searching high and low, like I do, on the internet and found some great inspiration!

An antiqued white finish with dark dresser knobs?


Aqua & white two-toned with brass knobs?


Distressed white with black top and black hardware?


Distressed bright aqua with dark stained top and copper-ish hardware?


 Or....classic black with a medium tone stained top and gold hardware?


See what I mean? 
Not an easy decision.at.all.
There are so many great ideas just on this page alone, image how many I found and had to then narrow it down?

This is where you, my lovely readers come in....tell me.....What do you think?
If you were in the market to purchase this dresser, what style would most likely seal the deal for you?

BTW, I am still loving Penelope, my 1st large furniture redo! 
If you missed that blog post, check her out here!

I am looking forward to hearing your opinions.

Until then.....

Enjoy the View
~Jenifer







Monday, July 8, 2013

House View- Gonna Dress(er) you up in my love!

Old School Madonna, anyone?

Ok anyway.... I am done with her!!
The big beaut, that intimidated me so much, that is.
I am now going to lovingly refer to her as Penelope.
Because she looks a bit like a Peacock.
And when I think of a Peacock, I think her name must be Penelope, right?
She's looking all rich and gorgeous now.
You want to see her don't you?
Ok but before I do the "BIG" reveal...let's revisit the TomBoy version of Penelope, shall we?


She has great bones! But just not my style any longer. Hasn't been for a long time. 
Remember, I was too intimidated to do anything about it?
Well I finally mustered up the courage and dipped into the world of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. 
Not to be confused with Chalkboard paint. 

(not my photograhy)

Annie Sloan(AS) was SUPER DUPER easy to use. 
No prep work!! Unless the piece that you are painting needs to be dusted or washed.
No sanding, no priming, only painting!
Word of warning, AS is on the spendy side...about $34 a quart. 
But it was so worth it! 
AND I only used a 1/2 quart on the Beaut!
So plenty of left over for other fun projects down the road.

I did purchase an AS paint brush too, which was around $25.
After researching the project and talking to an Annie Sloan expert, I figured it was the best way to go to ensure the project would go as smoothly as possible.



 After I got it all painted and let the 2 coats dry for 24 hours, I used AS Soft Wax in clear on the entire dresser. I just used an old t-shirt and buffing cloth they gave me at Denim Rose.
The wax seals the paint & makes it more durable.


And that was basically it.
It took me a little longer than I expected it to because we had so many things going on & I kept getting interrupted. 
But now Penelope looks like a star! Take a look-see.....



Yep I went with Aubusson Blue. 
Miss L told me I should jazz it up a bit. So I went blue instead of white.
I like it...a lot. She has a rich quality to her now.



I also went with a basic brushed nickle knob. Surprisingly I had 14 of them laying around the house back from when we built our townhouse in 2004. 
I knew they would come in handy some day.
I really want glass knobs for Penelope, but for now, the silver will have to do, until I can find a good deal on 14 glass knobs! 

One part that still needs some love....the mirror. 
I thought I would get away with NOT removing the mirror from the frame. 
And upon first glance it all looks very nice, but I just could not get close enough....and this is a close up of what I got:


Pine peeking through on the edge closest to the mirror. 
So eventually I will have to unscrew the mirror, take it out and touch up the paint.
But for right now, I am enjoying our bedroom being put back together. 
It was total chaos for a week in there, and it just about drove me to insanity.

Let's do one more side by side before and after on this project I am so proud of:


The lighting isn't real great in our Master Bedroom and these pictures were taken at different times during the day, but I think you get the drift?
Quite the change!

The only problem, now I have a hankering to paint the walls something lighter....

Are you DIYing anything this summer?
If so, please share! 
I love to see other peoples projects and ideas!

Until then....

ENJOY the VIEW~
Jenifer