Last weekend we braved the Raleigh Kids Exchange-  a HUGE consignment expo that visits the Fairgrounds twice a year.  We thought we were prepared, having read some info on the website about bringing your own bags (or wagon, depending on what items you were in the market for) and anticipating lines at checkout.  Reading the FAQ's on the website did NOTHING to prepare us for what we experienced-

Everything baby, and I mean EVERYTHING, was inside this gigantic warehouse.  Crazed mom's and on-edge dad's armed with previously mentioned wagon's were clearly on a mission.  Dan and I walked around dumbfounded, pretending like we knew what we were doing.  Eventually we found a rhythm and even got brave enough to pick up some items claiming them as our own.  After over an hour of hunting and gathering, we decided we'd by no means seen it all but had seen enough.  There we were ready to figure out where the check out was, Dan carrying our board books, Baby Einstein DVD's, toy links, and clothes hangers all inside a baby bathtub, when we saw the line.  An estimated hour long line for an estimated 12 dollars worth of goods.  It just didn't add up.  Sadly, we abandoned our bathtub and its contents.  Even though we left empty handed, we are glad to have witnessed the chaos of the Kids Exchange and may even brave it again one day when we have our sights on bigger ticket items.

In other baby news, I found this great website where I have been eyeing some fabric for the crib and nursery.  When I discovered they send FREE swatches, I went a little overboard.  Look what arrived in the mail!

I think I've narrowed it down to liking this one the best-

But, before we make any decisions, we plan to head to JoAnn Fabrics this weekend (coupons in hand) to see what we can find to compare.

And, in other Raleigh news-  today was my third snow day!  Check out the scenery we've had...

Abb LOVED it!

Hard to believe tomorrow's already Friday.  Temps will be back into the 50's-  Happy Weekend!

   

Never a dull moment in this Towler household.  If you've not heard the latest yet, here's a belated Christmas gift for you...

That's right!  Dan and I are expecting a little one this summer and couldn't be more thrilled to finally share the news.  You won't be surprised to hear that nursery plans are already underway including my Handy Dan constructing a window seat for our precious addition.  Details to come as we get things going.

The news of the baby has hardly slowed us down from continuing to tackle projects around the house.  Gotta get these things done so we can 100% focus on the nursery- right?!  

We will call today's post Design on a Dime (an old HGTV show I used to love).  You will be amazed at our latest creations and how little was spent out of pocket:)  I apologize in advance for the lack of before, during, and after pictures here.  Let's blame it on pregnancy brain.

Up first- Wreath.  Once I took down the Christmas wreath, the door looked so bare and lonely.  I decided to throw together a quick little burlap wreath that would keep the door company in these winter months until we can dust off the Easter wreath this spring.  I used a wire hanger we had at the back of the closet, strips of burlap I had on hand (from the fab shop at Dan's office), pine cones salvaged from the Christmas wreath, and ribbon from my stash.  Ta-da!  Cute + free.  Nothing better!

Up Second- Paint.  I've been wanting to paint our study for a while.  I even knew what color I wanted it to be without any hesitation; Elephant Skin by Behr.  Then it happened.  The luckiest trip to Home Depot.  Ever.  There Dan was (while I was getting my hair done), grabbing the few items we needed for our weekend projects, when I got a text...the paint sample of the color I wanted next to a gallon of what they call "Oops paint" that is significantly discounted because it didn't turn out how the customer wanted it to.  

Unbelievable!  It was almost a perfect match.  And for $7 instead of $40, I was sold.  He brought it home and after I contributed my pregnant portion of the painting job, the taping, sweet Dan trapped himself in the study (with the windows open) and painted the room all by himself.  Here are a few before pictures of the bland walls we were working with...

And the sweetest husband hard at work...

Up next- Table.  Dan has had these old Coke crates for years and I've never quite known what to do with them.  Then it hit me last week.  A table!  We needed a table for our study, to help tie some of the furniture pieces together.  So we got to brainstorming how to utilize the Coke crates as a table.  Luckily Dan salvaged a piece of particle board from our old laminate countertops during the kitchen demo.  He was able to cut it down to size, paint it black, and screw the crates right onto it to give them a stable base.  For legs we used 4 wrought iron corbels (if they look familiar that's because we used the same ones under the bar in the dining room).  All we had to buy for this project was a can of black spray paint.  Looks pretty neat, huh?  It definitely adds function and purpose to our space as you will see in pictures later, and for a single-digit price tag!

(Now I'm on the lookout for a collection of some sort to fill in a few of the spaces inside the crates)

Last Up- Light.  I posted over two years ago on my previous blog about a trash to treasure item I had been given by Kaelan's mom.  Remember these wheels?

Soon after they'd been given to me, I painted them white and knew they could be transformed into something.  At the time, I just didn't know what.  Luckily, I managed to keep them through two moves, determined that they truly were a treasure (not trash).  They have since been transformed into an industrial + modern light installation in our ever-evolving study.  All we needed to complete the project was a swag light kit purchased for under 20 bucks.

Loving the shadows the wheels make on the ceiling!  

Now, check out the entire room with all of the updates-

Putting that jug and glass bottle collection to good use!  

Keeping our eyes peeled for interesting art prints for the big bare walls.

And there you have it-  Another exciting weekend here in Raleigh!

  

  

It's finally safe to stay that our kitchen is back to being clean, fully functioning, and absolutely fabulous with the completion of the backsplash.  We can't get enough of the fresh space-  cooking dinner and even doing dishes in our extra large sink is more fun than ever!

We certainly lucked out by having a clean slate to work with.  Not having to deal with an existing backsplash that needed demo work convinced us that we could install the backsplash we wanted all by ourselves.  A few YouTube tutorials later and we were ready to tile and grout.  Dan sanded and prepped the space, being sure to carefully read the instructions on the plaster.  Then it was time to start laying the tile.

Let's just say thank goodness for tile sheets!  It made this a quick and painless project.  Dan played out a bit of real life Tetris on the wall getting the sheets to fit together almost perfectly.  The few areas that remained around outlets were filled easily with the help of this super cool tile cutter-

Once all the tiles were laid and it sat for 24 hours, we grouted, cleaned, caulked, and cleaned some more.

The finished product is just what we hoped for!

Here you can compare a little before + after...

And because our work is never quite done, I'm eyeing some new cabinet hardware to help tie our new look all together:)

The Holidays this year have never seemed so busy.  Between Thanksgiving and Christmas we were in  South Carolina, Kentucky, and Georgia (not to mention all of the states we drove through in between).  And while it was a great holiday season, I'm reminded of a picture that hung in my house as a child reading, "Be it ever so humble, there's no place like home."  Boy is that ever true.  We loved celebrating with family and friends but it sure feels good to be home again.

I didn't do much good documentation of our quick travels but I did manage to get someone to snap a picture of Dan and I at the Kentucky wedding...

And I couldn't resist capturing the snow we drove through in West Virginia on our way home...

  

The real news to share (and pictures to reveal) is the completion of our kitchen countertops!!  They were successfully installed on January 2nd and we can't get enough of the new look.  As much as it changes the space, it's as if they were here all along.  Everything just looks so right:)

Quickly refresh your memory of what we have been living with for the last few months-

Getting the sink in was definitely progress but wobbly countertops + dangling faucets then no countertops got old pretty fast.  

Then came January 2nd and it was all worth it!  Dan was home for the installation and because I had to work + I lucked out with the best husband ever, he captured some pictures of the process for me to share with you.

What an exciting day it was to come home from work and see the finished product!  Check it out-  

We also purchased these unique wrought iron corbels as opposed to traditional wood ones- function + style!  A perfect compliment to the other industrial pieces in this space.  

And I'm sure you noticed the wall opposite the bar and sink that is patiently waiting for it's finishing touch-  the backsplash.  We in fact picked it out today and plan to put Dan's skills to the test once more with a DIY backsplash project next weekend.  If you think everything looks fabulous now, wait until you see what we have in store...

This white subway tile will add the much anticipated finishing touch to our dream kitchen makeover!