Suggestions of a Yard Sale Newbie

Last Saturday we had our first ever yard sale, which was obviously pretty exciting. It went pretty well, but I guess I must have been a bit optimistic about the amount of stuff one can sell and the number of people who want to buy stuff. Turns out, no one who comes really buys anything, and you sell almost nothing, especially if most of your stuff is over five dollars. Darn! However, I probably would have still done it even if I'd known. I always enjoy yard sales and I strangely had fun doing my own, despite my deluded expectations ;)

Here was our valiant attempt:

My friend Melanie is moving to Wisconsin next month, so she came too and sold a loooot of her own things. It helped having her there. Without her stuff our sale would have looked pretty sad. Kinda like it does in the photo above. (That's just our side of the sale.)

This is hers:

Note that she actually has people looking at her stuff.
They were very dedicated salespeople!

Anyway, if I ever have a yard sale again (it will happen, I mildly hoard) I will definitely be doing some things differently and I think these things would help me have more success.

More Signs. We (okay, I) made some awesome signs. I'm not even joking. You want to hire me to make your yard sale signs. They were that good. But we only put them on the corner right next to our house and on one other spot on the opposite side of the road from the drivers who would be facing it. Does that make sense? It was on the left side of the road, if you were a driver. So that was silly. I would definitely be a little more ambitious and put signs on major intersections even if they were several blocks away from our house. Dedicated yard-salers will see these and come no matter the distance.

Make Things Look Crowded. This sounds strange and kind of devious, but nonetheless I'm pretty sure I would smoosh all my stuff together in a way that looks really clustery. Toward the end of our sale, when things had seriously slowed down and it was only noon, Melanie's husband Kevin went out on the street to look at our display, and when he came running back he said this: "No wonder no one's coming, it looks like we have nothing left." The truth was we had almost everything left, we just set it up badly. I'd use more tables, put things in rows, line things up so they can be seen easily from the street, anything to show the "drive-by glancer" type that there is in fact a lot of stuff and they should probably come buy it immediately.

Price Things Crazy Low. People expect to be shocked and amazed at what they can get for pennies at a yard sale. I failed at this because, truthfully, I didn't care if my stuff sold or not. I am abnormally attached to my stuff, and secretly hoped that no one would want the things so I would have a reason to keep them for myself. So in reality, I wouldn't price things lower unless I really wanted/needed to get rid of stuff. Melanie, for example, is moving, so she really wanted to get rid of as many of her things as possible. And she did. She was selling stuff for way lower than necessary, and she and Kevin ended up making more money than we did. So my point is, if you want stuff to sell, make it ridiculously cheap. And if you REALLY want to get rid of stuff, pile it in a box that says "Free." It'll disappear, like magic.

Start Early and Settle In. We are lazy people who like to sleep in. So we started at 9. Even with that "late" start time we still got up at 7 and were working non-stop to set things up right until the last minute. Still, even with all the work and knowing I'd have a sleepless morning, I would start closer to 7. Our busiest time was for sure 8:30-9:30. Yes, half of our busiest time was before our sale had even officially begun. See what I mean? It's like people want to just buy cheap stuff and then get on with their day. Unthinkable.
That being said, I would also set a start time, and no end time. Well, maybe an end time like 6 pm. That's right. I would just set up and sit there as long as it takes, like it's my day job. If I really wanted to sell things, I would wait until there were literally no more people coming. That way, you might end at 2 (like we did), but you might have a random stream of people who thought 4 pm would be the perfect time to find that creepy ceramic bunny they never knew they wanted.

I might also sell lemonade for a couple quarters or something, cause we went to look at some yard sales recently and I will tell you I never wanted to buy something so much at a yard sale as that .25 lemonade.

There were some things that I think we did well, though:

For one, Joe put up a KSL ad, which I think probably brought in quite a few people. He made sure ours stuck out and was funny and welcoming, because there were SO MANY ads that even within 40 minutes ours had disappeared from the front page.

We also priced eeeeverything the night before, when we were still awake and happy. This made things so much easier the next day as we didn't have to decide on the spot how much we were willing to sell things for (although we did do some negotiating, as I think every yard saler should).

And we were selling radios and TVs, so Joe was brilliant and brought out an extension cord so we could blast the radio and play a movie on our TV, and anyone who wanted could test the electronics before they bought them. It was smart--ALL of our electronics sold--and it made our yard sale fun, because there was music and the Last Unicorn.

 Anyway, it was fun and a good experience generally, and we did make a good chunk of extra cash. I still have a few big items left that I'm planning on selling individually on KSL. Like this desk!

Handpainted by my own dear mother, it is a cute little child's desk that 
any young girl would love to have at her disposal!

 And this dresser:

Hand-stenciled by mom, and is a total flashback into my 10-year old room.

Those may or may not be two of the things I slightly overpriced due to my weird extreme attachment to things. But nevertheless I am actually selling them, so I guess if any wandering reader is dying to buy one or both, you definitely may! The dresser is 30 and the little desk is 20. For now :)

I have an adult-sized desk as well, and a jewelry box. Oh, and a ton of books by Mary Higgins Clark, John Grisham, and Agatha Christie. Just in case you really want some of my stuff. Let me know.

Perhaps these nuggets of wisdom will help one of you out in your yard sale adventures! Otherwise, I'm really impressed with you for reading a whole post about someone selling their unwanted junk, haha. Thanks!  

Pretty Rock Garden Markers

Well, craftiness has not been forthcoming for me lately, but today I finally decided to break down my creator's block and just make something. I have a pin on Pinterest of these really pretty rock garden markers. That seems easy enough, I thought to myself. So, I grabbed the bag of filthy rocks that I had collected from my cousin's yard a few weeks ago (which she kindly allowed me to have without even giving me any weird looks) and washed them off in preparation to make some super cute, cheap, easy garden markers. Turns out those little plastic tags that come with the plants don't have much staying power. Our garden has a nice little pile of identifying tags that have blown away in the wind. Sigh.

So with my freshly cleaned rocks waiting anxiously on my crafting table, I snatched up a newly purchased acrylic paint pen and got to work.

I have no pictures of the rocks before hand. You'll just have to use your super powers of imagination and envision a pile of ordinary rocks.

At first I thought I'd just grab my least favorite rock (yep, I had favorites) and just have a go for practice. It's a good thing I did, too, because my unfamiliarity with the paint pen thing led to a huge blob of white across the whole top of the rock...and down onto my desk. Good news, though! They are right about it being easy to clean up when wet. A damp paper towel got it off my desk and almost off the rock too. Once the initial flood of paint came out of the pen it worked quite easily, so I just practiced some swirly things and dots and got this:

Note the splotch of white from my spill. Bird poo chic, no?

Other than the blob smudge across the top it actually worked! For once my "this will be easy" thought turned out to be true. I went outside and made a list of the plants that actually still have markers and are thus identifiable. Since I am garden-ignorant, I couldn't figure out what the other things were so I only made markers for tomatoes and onions. To be honest, the only other thing we planted were peppers anyway. We're diverse here in the Galloway Garden. And here's the finished product. I love them! (Also, if you look at the pin I linked to you'll see I cheated and used some of her ideas. What can I say, they were lovely!)

This was my favorite rock. So flat and so smooth. Yeah baby!

I think this one ended up being my favorite after all was finished. I just like
all the different little decorations. It's fun and funky fresh. 

Another rock. This one was weirdly black on one side.
Rock mysteries--exciting stuff!

I really like how this one turned out. Sadly, my actual real-life
red onions are not doing as well.

The clan of rocks.

 These couldn't have taken me more than half an hour and they'll look so delightful in my garden. I'm planning on corralling Joe tonight so he can tell me what all his peppers are, and I'll make more for those too. Hooray for pretty things. :)

Bleeeeeuurrghhnn! (Bagpipe Noise)

There is one weekend during the summer that I approach with as much anticipation as Christmas. It is filled with the blaring drone of bagpipes and the alarming flapping of kilts in the breeze. There is homemade root beer, there are delicious fish and chips made by the most awesome Scottish couple ever ("And haeow many would ya like, darlin'?") (Scottish accents are hard to type). And, most importantly, there are the Wicked Tinkers.

It is Thanksgiving Point's Scottish Festival. And it is amazing.

Perhaps you do not know that I am a Scotophile. I love Scotland. I want to go there. I want to live there. I love the castles and the moors, the overcast skies and the green, green land. I love the accent and the redheads (and the non-redheads too!). I love the cottages and the COWS, oh the cows! The cutest cows on this planet! Look up highland cows. They'll be your new favorite animal. I love the food! Ok, that's kind of a joke. Haggis tastes like hamburger, if your hamburger has gritty pieces of animal organs in it. It's really not bad. But it's really not good either. And I don't know of other Scottish food, to be honest, (pretty sure the English have a solid claim to fish and chips) so I can't give a fair review. I love bagpipe music and the silly old games (caber tossing, for example) and the myths and history. You get it, I think. I love Scotland.

So you'll understand why I love this festival which by most standards might be considered dull and repetitive, as it's very similar from year to year. It doesn't matter. I love it every. single. time.

If you are unfamiliar with the festival, its main attractions are these:
Strength and agility athletic tests for the menfolk, of course. I almost never get the chance to watch these for some reason :(
Booths for many clans where you can learn about their history and find out if you are a descendant.
Booths and booths of stuff to buy! Jewelry, kilts, knives and swords, and ever so much more.
Bagpipe competitions by groups from around Utah (maybe even further? Have not investigated).
Stage performances of Irish dances, Celtic inspired bands and THE WICKED TINKERS
A pavilion full of foods to eat. Fish and chips, turkey legs, non-cultural food and, naturally, haggis. Yum!
There are also the opening ceremonies, which involve bagpipes and marching clans introducing themselves and their motto. There are also closing ceremonies which I've never witnessed but I bet they're similar.

This year Joe and I took the beasties and had a good time parading about while people commented about how huge Magnus is. We started with the opening ceremonies.

A marching clan

We met up with my cousin Kelsey, her husby Harrison, and their
beasts. Pilot is an Irish Wolfhound, so applicable!

Magnus enjoying a spot of shade

Clan MacGregor! Represent!

 After that was over we spent a while walking around the booths and enjoying the general ambiance.

Magnus was a big hit at the festival. He loved it.
Had to take a picture of the cute little fairy!

And I bought a ring from these guys. Just one of the many awesome booths with stuff for sale crammed on every surface. It's hectic and crowded and I love it. I always wonder how much of their stuff gets pocketed though. Hmm.

We had a delicious lunch of fish and chips, as is tradition. Sadly I did not get to see/talk to the awesome Scottish woman because I had dog duty, but Joe said she was there and that he was called "darlin'," so that'll do for me.

After lunch we had but minutes to get to the Wicked Tinkers show. They say that they play "tribal Scottish music" which is really the best way I can think of to describe it. Bagpipe, drums, and a didgeridoo. It's wonderful.

The blond man on the right is my fayvorit. His hair blows in the breeze. And as
Joe found out last year during a very windy Scottish fest, so does his kilt.

A sampling:

New drummer. They sometimes walk through the crowds
as they play and it's awesome.

The Wicked Tinkers!

And then Joe made my day by taking a picture of me with them! And I'm even standing next to Luxurious Blond-haired Man! (I should really figure out his name.)

It was a successful year of Scottish festivaling. If you are also a lover of all things Scottish, I highly recommend it. It's usually in the first week or two of June. There's also a Payson one that hasn't happened yet. Count me in! Cue music:

"I just can't get enough! I just can't get enough!"

Tara's Favorite Quick & Easy Meal

A recipe? From me? Shocking, it's true. I'm definitely not a cook/chef/baker (although I do make a mean chocolate chip cookie). And to be fair, this isn't even my recipe, it's just one that I found and loved and change from time to time depending on whether I have all the ingredients or not. So here's my favorite quick and super easy pasta (made quicker and easier!). You may have seen similar things like it on Pinterest; I know I have. And I drooled heartily at them all. This girl likes her pasta.
Since I don't remember what it's called, it shall be named....

Fresh Herb Pasta!

Ingredients needed:
(Keep in mind I made this for just me and measured nothing, so I didn't include any kind of useful amounts. Fortunately most of it is preference-based anyway)
--An amount of spaghetti (for one person I just took a small handful)
--water? (to boil the spaghetti...yeah. Just being thorough, here.)
--oil of choice (canola for moi)
--Parmesan cheese (freshly grated would probably be delicious, but I just use the ol' powdery stuff)
--red pepper flakes
--garlic (again, original recipe calls for a clove or two, but I was out and so used garlic salt. It works)
--herbs of choice! (my preferred combo is oregano, basil, and chives. mmm.)
--salt and pepper, if ya want.
--tomato (optional)

How is it Done?!?
First, bring water to a boil. Then, cook spaghetti!

My handful of spaghetti!

Boil, boil! Mwahah.

Meanwhile, as you patiently wait for your pasta to cook, cut up your fresh, delicious herbs. Or if your herbs are dried, I guess you could spend the time measuring our the amounts that you want, which would be significantly faster. I'm sorry, dried herb users, I don't have much else to occupy your spaghetti-boiling-time. I guess you'll just have to play this video and dance around your kitchen. Do it! I promise your day will be happier.

Actually, you should do that even if you had to chop herbs.

I got my fresh herbs from my recently made herb garden (yay!) which is simply blooming and oh-so-happy! I can't believe I've kept them all alive.

Basil

Chives

Oregano. Did you know that oregano is fuzzy? I didn't until I took this close-up
and now I'm vaguely creeped out. Don't worry, it's still scrumptious.

Now would also be a good time to cut up those fresh tomatoes. These are optional, so if tomatoes aren't really your thing, just leave em out.

I should also point out that if you're going to use actual garlic cloves--the more delicious way to do it, admittedly--then while your spaghetti cooks you would put the cut up clove(s), a bit of oil, and some red pepper flakes (to taste) in a little pan and heat it up until the garlic starts a-sizzlin'. You'll take this off the heat and then dump it over your drained, cooked spaghetti, add the rest of the ingredients and it is sooo good. So good.

Or if you're just using pantry stuff like me, you'll want to drain your spaghetti, douse it with some oil, and then dump in all these things, to taste: garlic salt, parmesan, herbs, red pepper flakes (leave this out if you prefer milder tastes, it gives the pasta a bit of a kick), herbs, salt & pepper if you want, and tomatoes. I like to wait until the last moment to add the tomatoes so they're still cool when I eat the dish. Delish!

The ingredients of choice.

In the end, you have this pretty pasta that you feel good about eating and, bonus, is also extra delectable!

It's seriously my favorite, I eat it for lunch at least twice a week. Yum. Let me know if you try it!

Ten Reasons Why Beauty and the Beast Wins

Well, I was going to write about the Scottish Festival that we went to last weekend {the highlight of every summer! My wedding last year was only marginally more exciting for me than this super-awesome event ;)} But for whatever reason I'm not really feeling it today, so instead I'll just take an unexpected turn and talk about my favorite Disney princess movie ever, Beauty and the Beast. Random, I know. I like to keep you on your toes.

Beauty and the Beast is by far the best and most role-model worthy Princess movie Disney has made. (I feel I should point out that I'm talking the classics, here. I feel like Tiana and even Rapunzel are pretty decent princesses to take after, too.) And by the way, while I will staunchly defend this movie as the best princessy movie ever, I will also totally abandon my position if you can provide me with a reasonable and well-stated argument in favor of another film. But just you try! Just. You. Try.

So here you have it....

10 Reasons Why Belle's Story is the Best

1. Belle reads constantly. Obviously this is awesome. Thanks to her love of reading, she's smart and imaginative and also makes friends with all the townspeople, especially the bookstore man. This is something everyone should definitely do because people are fun friends AND with just a simple batting of your over-large eyes, you too could go home with your favorite book free of charge! There are no negatives here.

2. Belle lives in the French countryside. Does this really need further explanation? I have been in rural France-land and it is seriously like a scene from a story book. A story book like Beauty and the Beast.

3. Belle is an awkward misfit. Now, this seems a little unbelievable since she's gorgeous (her name literally means beauty...a little transparent) and the "hottest" guy in town totally has a thing for her, but nevertheless she still doesn't quite fit in somehow. Everyone in town looks at her with the same indulgent smile that you would give a child after he showed you his masterful mud-pie. I suppose this is because she is a nerd for reading books. And because her father is a bit of a nutter. Either way, having watched this as a little book-loving, super-awkward pre-teen, I feel that this whole misfit characteristic really works well for the young and potentially insecure female audience. Would it work better if Belle also had braces, Snoopy glasses and no sense of fashion? Yeah, probably. But it's a good effort.

4. Belle is an upstanding model of modesty. Suuuure, she shows a little shoulder in that mysteriously available golden ball gown, but for the most part she is in her cute and decently flattering "provincial" garb. No sea shells necessary to win over the man-beast.

5. Belle is a family gal. Nothing comes before her crazy-haired inventor father, Maurice. From the very beginning where she defends him against Gaston (creeper-stalker) and then takes his place as the Beast's prisoner, to the very end where she leaves in the midst of a romance-filled evening to save him from his slog through a blizzard, she is one dedicated daughter. So dedicated, in fact, that she can't even give her semi-boyfriend a heads up that, hey, don't worry, she'll come back in a few hours and he doesn't need to slide into a hopeless depression caused by her apparent abandonment.

6. You get to watch the part of their love story where the Beast is the Beast. It may sound weird, but I would be surprised if anyone said they honestly thought the transformed Prince was more attractive than the Beast version. (Okay, maybe not that surprised.) But really. The Beast was strong and bulky and makes for a pretty intriguing love interest in that he differs from the average strapping Disney prince...and is a Beast. I wonder if Belle minded that her post-curse Prince was suddenly the exact same size as she was and had prettier hair? Regardless, the Prince had blue eyes in both versions of himself so that's a plus either way.

7. Cogsworth's awesome zinger. Ad-libbed by David Ogden Stiers (aka Cogsworth), mind you.
Beast: "I want to do something for her...but what?"
Cogsworth: "Well, there's the usual things: flowers...chocolates...promises you don't intend to keep..."

(7.5).....And then he gives her a library! I mean, come on! Take note, fellas.

8. Belle tolerates no controlling Beast baloney. Beast gets all demanding and rude, so what does Belle do? She leaves. Way to go, Belle. No one should take that kind of hogwash from anyone else, and when the Beast gets after her for it later, she gives it right back to him and he realizes he's been a real dunderhead. I hope you are all appreciating my totally PG-rated language in honor of the Disney topic.

9. Belle meets her Prince and doesn't marry him the next day. This is probably my biggest reason for loving this movie. Granted, he is a freakishly huge buffalo-bear-gorilla-boar-wolf-lion who imprisoned her within ten minutes of their first meeting, but the fact is that they started out with no affection lost between them and then got to know and like each other at a normal pace. The fact that they got to know each other at all automatically gives them a boost above the competition. I'm lookin' at you, Sleeping Beauty. And Snow White. And The Little Mermaid.

10. They both learn lessons together. The Beast's life-changing lesson is kinda central to the story. A scary old lady comes to his door and asks for help, he sees her craggy old face and nay-says that right off the bat. So she transforms him into a crazy-looking animal mutt until he can get someone to love him through his beastliness, just as he should have loved others despite their beastliness. And, magically, Belle pretty much learns the same lesson (along with some others, like the fact that you can find adventure without even leaving your own home town if you have a cursed animal living in a castle nearby). People are not always what they appear to be on the outside, and first impressions are not always accurate. Sometimes they're whoppingly inaccurate. A stupendous lesson for any child, if they pick up on that rather than on the idea that maybe their dishes sing and dance while they sleep.

In case anyone's wondering, the fact that the entire village seems to have forgotten that 10 years prior there was a prince living in a castle within walking distance does not negate the fact that this movie is rockin'. Plot holes do not supersede wonderful life lessons.

Bonus knowledge: A few weeks ago I was informed that the Beast's name is "Adam." Well, I guess technically the Prince-who-is-no-longer-a-beast's name is Adam. The Beast's name is the Beast. But anyway, who knew? I certainly didn't, but I'm glad I'm no longer lacking in this important piece of B&tB trivia.

Bravest of Puppies

In addition to home decor and related things, I am also obsessed with my dogs. Thus, I feel I should warn you that I'm writing today about an outing completely revolving around them and their silliness. If you think dogs are dirty, useless animals or just boring to read about, this would be the time to stop.

Or now.

Now, perhaps.

No? Still with me?

So be it. On to puppies!

This past weekend, Joe and I went to a river with our puppies...and also four other dogs. There were humans too, our friends Doug and Cait and their sister Stacie. All of these dogs, mind you, were under a year old, so obviously it was impossible to take a picture of them all. (Well, I think Caitlyn managed it, but that's because she has superpowers that I lack.) So we'll just do a roll call instead.

Sadie! Golden-doodle. Fluffy white and oh-so sparkly clean...for now.

Red! Full-on poodle. Looks like a stuffed animal. Less old than Sadie.

Tess! Aussie-collie mix of the most beautiful sort. Smart and bursting with energies.

Ace! Collie extraordinaire. Super cute and well-behaved. Least worrisome of the bunch, and also youngest (I think? Maybe Red is. Hm.)

Magnus! Newfoundland-Great Pyrenees mix. Giant beast with no manners. Handsome and aloof.

aaaand Sawyer! Strangely-shaped mutt. Best guess: collie-newfoundland. Funny and needy.

I really wish I'd gotten a before picture of these guys. Especially Sadie, she was looking pret-ty scraggly by the time we left.

We began the escapade by loading all puppies into the back of Doug's truck with the most worrisome ones tightly leashed. It was kind of a circus. So many puppies! We had a bit of a hard time finding a place to go where they wouldn't immediately attack nearby folk, but we eventually found a pretty nice spot of river and let them free. I'm sure we were all envisioning these 6 dogs leaping with joy into the cool river waters, splashing and swimming with abandon. That didn't happen.

Joe trying to guide his beast into the water.

Tess eyeing the water suspiciously. 

All dogs nervously pacing the bank and tentatively pawing
only the most shallow areas.

None of them would go in. Despite throwing them in (just the ones we knew would recover from it, don't worry), pushing them, enticing them with sticks, tennis ball, and giant branches (a Magnus favorite), they all just watched with hopeless longing as these tempting items floated out of reach in the water, which they must have assumed was actually lava.

Finally the pristinely white golden-doodle Sadie decided to forgo all that silliness and jumped in to get a stick. Hooray! One dog that isn't a scaredy-cat. (Don't you think that's probably the worst insult in dog world? I bet they'd all be giving me some major stink-eyes right now.)

Yay Sadie! Bravest of dogs!

 And for a while that was almost enough to get the rest of them in. They were certainly a little more incessant with their pawing and whining as they hovered at the river edge. But nay, none followed. They just started chasing each other around in the weeds, probably trying to hide their shame by pretending they didn't even know there was a river at all.

Some of the company. Dogs pretending they know of no
river. Caitlyn probably recording Sadie doing
what dogs do best  worst. 

I actually don't remember this happening, but there is
a picture so I guess it did. Go Sawyer! I also love Tess's head
poking in there as if to say "Well? Scale of 1 - 10, how
searing is the lava?"

Magnus finally decided he couldn't be outdone by this curly-furred
girl, so he waded in even futher than all the other scared puppies
to take away the stick she earned with her bravery.

 At one point, a super-loved stick was thrown all the way onto the opposite shore. Sadie, undeterred, went over to fetch it and got stuck after climbing up the bank and deciding that it was way too steep to climb back down. She's no fool, guys. So Magnus, hearing her wimperings for help, finally made the plunge. What would we do without damsels in distress!

The second bravest of puppies. And Joe.
Can you spot Sadie? Bonus points if you can!

Of course, once he got to the other side he helpfully started eating cow poop. I don't know what we expected. Joe made the sacrifice of swimming across to rescue Sadie after Magnus proved to not be very good at it. And Magnus just clambered down himself like it weren't no thing.

Some final attempts at puppy coercion.

After waiting an hour or two we came to the conclusion that the rest were just content to not be brave, so after they'd had a goodly amount of fun-time-scampering we loaded em up and headed home. We might have been dirtier than the dogs.

I don't know how I managed to take a half-clear, half-blurry
photo like this, but I love how it makes Tess look extremely creepy.

And Magnus took up half the truck bed himself. Creepy Sawyer.
And look, Red! I got so few pictures of him for some reason.

 Overall, not what we expected. But the dogs were exhausted when we came home and I'm pretty sure they still had an adventurous time. It was fun to watch them be all nervous around the scary water and run around outside. Ah, man, they're so cute and silly. I do love puppy play dates.

The Bedroom That Will Be

You may have noticed that I have recently become a woman (semi)obsessed when it comes to crafts, DIY projects, and home decor. The living room has had most of the focus since moving in because it was plain and is the room most people see. But next on the agenda is most likely our bedroom. OooOOoo. I have a few ideas of what I'd like to do in there, mostly involving some light grey walls, fun detail decor and maybe a change of bedding to go better with the plan. We'll see. But I wanted to make a post of inspiration pictures, and hopefully after all is done I can compare the two and see some mystifying similarities between my new in-home retreat and the rooms that inspired me (....and Joe. He cares too. Sort of).

By the way, if you too are bedazzled by the pictures below and want to add them to your "someday this will be MINE MWAHAHAH" Pinterest board, please pin them from the original source that I link and not from my blog....since I have nothing to do with them. Yes? Yes. I would just remove the nifty little "pin it" link from the photos but...I don't know how. Sigh. Confessions, confessions.

I first realized that light grey walls were my heart's desire after seeing these pics on a couple of my favorite blogs:

Work in progress photo from The Lettered Cottage.
It's so light and airy! I love it.

Gallery wall from Young House Love. Such a
great home "makeover" blog, I love basically
everything they do. Ever. Including this amazing
gallery wall. Seriously, go look at the post on how
they put it together. Uh, brilliant! 

This is another from Young House Love. I'm thinking
a darker grey accent wall behind our bed, maybe
with a stenciled pattern over it, would be quite fun.

A stencil like this, for example. From Cutting Edge Stencils.

And I just found this one on Pinterest, and traced it back to
this tumblr. No idea if that's the original source
(probably not) but I tried. I like the white/grey bedding,
fresh and lurvly. And the walls, of course.

Love the shades of brown in this one, too.
From Blissful Blog.

I also found some cute...what would you call it..."his" and "hers" silhouette graphics at thegraphicsfairy.com (so great for free art to print out for your boring old bare walls...ok my boring walls) and I'd like to get those made rather large and put them over our nightstands or in some other empty space for some added quirkiness.

Anyway I think you get the idea. I'm hoping this will be sort of a summer project for us.... and that we can do it all for pretty much no cost. As no major changes are being made I feel this is quite doable. Here is our room right now, by the way (in case my multiple picture postings have faded from your memory or you have forgotten from lack of interest...you're not getting off that easy!):

Stencil wall? Hmm?

Curtains of some sort shall be crafted!

All black accessories. Hooray for matching anything!

To end, here's a list of things to do:

    -Paint walls light grey

    -possibly stencil one wall that may or may not be a darker grey

    -make curtains or buy them for a ridiculously good price (probably white)

    -art for the walls

    -new bedsheets/pillow cases (?)

    -find lamps for the side tables

    -replace doorknobs on closets and patch holes on weird top cupboard closet (we replaced that hardware            last year)

Fun! Can't wait to get started. :)