Fun in the Sun! - Adding Summer Sunshine to the Entryway

The sunshine has inspired me and the uptick of Vitamin D I have recieved in the past couple weeks has engergized me!

It was time to spruce up the ole entry way with some summertime fun.... what things do we love about summer in the Smother's household????

• Sunshine - Yellow
• Water - Blue
• Baseball - just wonderous nostalgia
• Nature - Natural

So I wanted to incorporate each one of those elements in the entryway so as soon as you walked into our home you were greeted by what summer means to our family...

Here was our entryway before from a previous post -

 

 Here is after the change....................................

 

 

 

Individual shots of each element of the display:

 

Clipboard and cork board came from Goodwill in Oskaloosa for $1.99 each

I clipped a starfish on the clipboard for a beachy feel

I lightly spraypainted the cork board with Krylon's Ocean Breeze Blue - I wanted it to have a weathered feel to it...

I had the smaller canvas on hand - I painted it Krylon's Bright Yellow

the lettering "Fun in the Sun" came from a Scrabble game I got at Mahaska Co. Outreach for .50

The ball of shells I made from shells Shawn and I collected on our honeymoon in Acupulco.  I glued them to a stryofoam ball.

 

 

 

To bring in the natural elements I used jute rope to tie around the mason jars, the candles and I used it as well as a display item in the bowl

 

Seashells from Walmart - I glued these to styrofoam balls as well... tied jute rope around the candle, and added some grass for an outdoorsy feel.



 

Sea Glass and beads in Mason canning jars tied with jute rope

 

Baseball!!!! 

 

Glass jar on hand, sand and rocks for a nice beachy natural feeling

 

Sea Grass woven basket and another seashell ball.

 

And here is the overall view again.....

 

How are you incorporating elements of your family into your summer decor?

 

Even after I posted this piece originally, I went and made a few changes... I removed the 3 canning jars from the middle shelf and removed the plant from the top shelf.  I moved the baseball glove and grass to the middle of the shelf.

 

I think these changes cleaned it up a bit.

 

 

Who doesnt love a "Quick Fix"??????

 

We all have corners in our house where we can add POPS! of color to... 

I happen to have one in my kitchen...

 

What to do... what to do... this girl has a spray paint addiction/love.... I have free product for a project....  Well here's the scoop...

 

My mother gave me 3 cookie sheets the other day she had purchased for a school/teacher project - she got them at the Dollar Tree.

 

I went and purchased this delicious color of Rusteolum Spray Paint at Walmart - for around $4.00 for the can...

 

 

 

 Painted - LOVING THIS Citrus-y Lime Green color for spring/summer!

 

Added some magnets from my fridge to hold recipes and a wonderful picture of the most beautiful baby girl I know...

I also had 3 canisters that I made for Finley's birthday that mildly matched... they were containers I purchased at Goodwill, Painted the Candlesticks from the Dollar Tree and glued them together.  These 3 containers hold easy to grab snacks for my daugher.

 

Here's a few views of the set up/arrangement....  enjoy!

 

Easy fixes - Easy splash of color for my kitchen!  I also have a bright orange olive oil container that sits on my countertop by my stove currently.

 

Do you have an area that needs a POP! of color - or an affordable spring refresher?

 

A walk down memory lane.... our digs in Osky

So I missed Throw Back Thursday that is becoming the thing on Facebook yesterday, so I am going to throw it back today, Friday.... I never have been the one to follow the "rules". 

I thought it would be fun to share photos of our first home in Oskaloosa.  This home has alot of great memories in it... ones filled with friends and family.  This is the first home that Shawn and I lived in together, one that has housed my brother and a wonderful friend.  When we moved out, I cried in the driveway...  If I could have moved this house to Pella, I totally would have!

I saw this house online and fell in love with it immediately.  I loved the front porch, the porch swing and the overall bungalow look of the house.  The potential for this house was unbelivable!  I was lucky enough to negotiate a great price on the home.  It did need some repairs, new flooring as the owners previous animals has taken liberties in using the carpets as wonderful pee pads.....   oh and the carpet colors were so wonderous... a beautiful country blue and a dusty rose... with matching colored walls. 

Many friends came over many nights to paint walls, drink some beers and to help me with moving in.  To this day I am so thankful for all their help and support in this new adventure. 

 

Onto the inside!

 

Living Room

 

 

 

Dining Room

 

 

 

 

The Kitchen

 

 

The first floor bathroom

 

Our Bedroom

 

Guest Bedroom

 

 

Our Basement Storage area -

basement also included a laundry area, a non conforming bedroom and a bathroom with a shower.

 

 

Laundry Area

 

 

 

Onto the 2nd floor!

 

The Office

 

And now... my absolute favorite room of the entire house.... my haven...  my retreat... whatever you would like to call it... it was wonderous!!!!

 

My scrapbooking room...

 

 

Outside! 

Shawn misses this garage more than anything,

 it was a great sized garage for all his toys and guy stuff...

 

 

 

Our patio and backyard

 

 

 

Final photo folks... the ole driveway... and final view of the house.

 

Thanks for taking a trip down memory lane with us!