Seeing Potential

Absolutely any house can be beautiful.  You rent?  Live in a plain white box?  Have a fixer-upper that hasn't been fixed?  Potential!!  Don't believe me?  Check out the house  my husband and I bought in Macon, Georgia.  My parents were horrified (which probably added to the charm), particularly considering The Zookeeper (DH) and I never got to set foot in it before we signed on the dotted line (the historical foundation was scared we would fall through the floor).

Awesome--isn't it?  Wouldn't you just jump right on it?  Why go inside?  It MUST be gorgeous.

Below you can see The Zookeeper during one of our "walk-arounds."  Notice the temporary wooden steps.  We couldn't even get inside at that point to do a "walk-through."  

But the key is to see the POTENTIAL.  We knew we wanted an old house.  This one was built in 1885.  It had been broken into apartments in the 1960s, but for the previous seven years, it had been left empty.  It was looted, infested by rats and pigeons, and falling apart.  But the original tin roof was still in place, which meant the heart-of-pine floors were all salvageable.    And it was only $7,000.  For the house and land.  (Yes, the historical foundation took out a construction loan for reconstruction, but it was still one of the least-expensive homes we have ever purchased--heating and cooling bills, not so much.  But that's a different story).  

It would be beautiful.  We just had to have faith.

A year later, it looked like this:

Let's take a tour of the before and afters, shall we?

Mad Hatter Tea Party

I promised you a tea party, and despite the horrific events of yesterday's bombing, I'm going to post it anyway.  My heart goes out to those affected by the tragedy.  But perhaps at times like this, focusing on something light, fun, and happy will help.

So here we go.

My middle daughter had the unfortunate luck to be born on Christmas Eve (it was a full moon--what can I say?).  Which means she has had a Christmas-themed birthday for the last eight years.  This year I promised her something else.  Because we were already doing the Alice in Wonderland christmas trees, we decided to go with a Mad Hatter tea party.  My first stop--Pinterest, of course.  Here's some of what I found:

Image via Pattimedarisculea.

Image via Lillycottage

Easy enough--right?  Taylor Armstrong on Real Housewives of Beverly Hills spent $65,000 on her daughter Kennedy's 4th birthday Mad Hatter party.  I am SURE I can get the same look for less than $50.  Right?

Here is my result (sorry for the crappy phone pictures--didn't know then I would be blogging this):

Ingenuity and Persistance: Alice in Wonderland Christmas

For my first official post, I'm going to start with Christmas.  Makes perfect sense considering it is the middle of April--right?  Bear with me.  There is a reason for this madness.

Normally my Christmas tree looks like this:

In case you are wondering, this is the "Peacock Tree."  We had this as our tree for years.  What was ingenious and clever about this tree?  Nothing.  Well, maybe the tree skirt.  The tree skirt is just a bunch of my girls' dress-up clothes piled around the bottom.  Otherwise, the tree is covered with the usual ornaments purchased at big-box stores.  There are a few odds and ends picked up at my local decorating warehouse (I call it Kirklands on crack), but only a few.  I don't have money for expensive designer trees.

But this year, I was determined to do something different.  Something crazy.  Something totally my family.  The answer--an Alice in Wonderland tree!  Because we are all mad here, of course.  SOOOOO, I turn to google and pinterest to get ideas.  (Isn't that what everyone does?)  Guess what I found.  Absolutely nothing.  Well, that's not true.  I found one tree covered in ornaments made out of paper plates by kids.  Sentimental, but a little sad.  Oh, and I found a crapload of links to buy Disney ornaments (a set of tiny Alice in Wonderland will set you back about $50 on ebay).  Not exactly what I had in mind.

Mission:  to create a tree out of stuff I had and found on a budget.  I wanted the FEEL of Alice without just hanging a bunch of Disney or Hallmark Alices all over it.  Here is the result:

Entering the Blogosphere

Hi. My name is Tori. I am a avid blog reader and lurker, but this is my first foray into actual blogging. What do I have to add to the blogosphere?  Hopefully a unique perspective on how to make your home and life look like Traditional Home on a DIY budget.

My house is my laboratory. I believe that ANY home can be amazing with a little thought and energy. And any person can do DIY projects with a little planning and guts. My patient family doesn't even blink an eye when they come home to find their room a different color, the furniture moved, or a new project in the works.

Warning: I will NEVER present $100-yard fabric ideas, directions to have cabinetry custom-milled, or furniture available only "to-the-trade."  Everything in my house is something collected, inherited, found, or salvaged. Ebay and outlets are my friends. So are Homegoods and Costco.  The key to good design is to figure out what you like and then figure out how to create it.  Join me on my journey.