New Additions to the Front Porch

In my last post I had made some changes to Spring Up the Front Porch.  I was getting ready for the big party that we hosted for the launch of Mr. Beaux's new company.  I wanted to show you the finished porch all ready to welcome our guests.  

Here are the wreaths I showed you last week.  

Remember my Lanterns from Christmas?  See Here  They have made another appearance but this time I've placed a Terra cotta pot inside that I painted lime green and turquoise and topped it off with a Daisy Ball that I bought at Home Goods.  

Here is the other one flanking the left side of the entry way.  

I wanted to keep it simple

 because of all of the detail on the wreaths.  

I haven't put my welcome mat back on the porch I see... 

I was hosing it down before the party.

  Along with cleaning the windows (ALL of them), 

and power washing the deck and flagstone patio.  

Don't worry though I had a lot of help. 

 Isn't hard work a lot more fun

 when you have good friends to help out?  

I'm really excited about my new bench!!!  

I have wanted one for this spot for a long time.

  A party is a great excuse to get your house all ready 

and add those finishing touches.  

I bought the bench at Nebraska Furniture Mart after visiting our local seasonal patio store. 

 The prices were outrageous!  

This bench is all aluminum and will never rust. 

 The center pillow with the butterfly I bought along with the bench.  The colors were PERFECT for the wreaths that I had already made.  The other pillows I made with fabric bought at JoAnn's.  Did you know that they even make outdoor pillow INSERTS?  I was lucky because the fabric and inserts were half off.  Doesn't it seem like they are always having a half off sale?  

OK, BEFORE picture.

And AFTER!!! 

 What do you think?  

Until Next Time,

Beaux R'eves

XO Cindy

Sharing at:

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Linda at Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Faded Charm for White Wednesday
Kim at Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays
Judy at DIY by Design for the Winter Blues Party

The Brambleberry Cottage
Gina at The Shabby Creek Cottage for Transformation Thursdays
Sherry at No Minimalist Here for the Open House Party on Thursdays

 From My Front Porch To Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday
 Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday
Courtney at French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday
Honey at 2805 for Potpourri Friday
Heather and Vanessa at At the Picket Fence for Inspiration Friday
Diann at The Thrifty Groove for Thrifty Things Friday
Debra at Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday
Sherry at The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday
Five Days...5Ways
Jen at Tatertots and Jello for the Weekend Wrap-up Party
Donna at Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special
The Tablescaper: Seasonal Sunday 
 Evolution of Style 
The Polohouse 
 Embracing Change

Springing up the Front Porch

Look out Folks we're having a Party.  

You know what that means.  

I'm going to have to start from the outside in and make

 sure the house is all Spruced up! 

 I'm hosting a party for the launch 

of Mr. Beaux's new company.  

It'll be about 30-40 of the employees and spouses 

for hors d'oeuvres and desserts.

  I'm excited to meet some of the new employees 

and I'm so proud of all that Mr. Beaux has accomplished 

in such a short time. 

 I think a party is the perfect way 

to Kick Off the new business. 

 Let's start out here on the front porch.  

After all, the first impression is the most important.  

 Here is how it looks now.  

Not bad.  

I have some pansies in the urns and the

 flower boxes on the windowsill. 

 I'm going to leave them for now because our weather is still kind of touchy and besides they are all filled in now. 

 So let's add things that I can bring inside if I need to.

  How about a wreath on the door?  

Let's Do It!

I had the grapevine wreaths that I bought at Michaels when they were on sale.  The greenery was all 50% off so I stocked up on that too.  I wired the pussy willow on first on the top half of the grapevine.

I took the flowers and made a swag

 by wiring them in the middle.  

I wired the swag onto the wreath near the bottom but off to side a little, say at 6:30.

I tied my burlap ribbon from my "Lanterns on the Porch" onto the wreath, added a nest and a little bluebird. 

 I painted these little pots bright green and blue.  You'll see why later on.  

Here's one side,

And the other side.

And both of them together. 

I like the way they turned out.  

Very Springy! 

 More Spring improvements to come!

Until Next Time,

Beaux R'eves

XO Cindy

Sharing at:

Newbie Party at Debbie Doo’s Blogging & Blabbing
Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday
Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday

Roeshel  at DIY Showoff

Kristin at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday's Treasures
Linda at Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Faded Charm for White Wednesday
Kim at Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays
Judy at DIY by Design for the Winter Blues Party

The Brambleberry Cottage
Gina at The Shabby Creek Cottage for Transformation Thursdays
Sherry at No Minimalist Here for the Open House Party on Thursdays

 From My Front Porch To Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday
 Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday
Courtney at French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday
Honey at 2805 for Potpourri Friday
Heather and Vanessa at At the Picket Fence for Inspiration Friday
Diann at The Thrifty Groove for Thrifty Things Friday
Debra at Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday
Sherry at The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday
Five Days...5Ways
Jen at Tatertots and Jello for the Weekend Wrap-up Party
Donna at Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special
The Tablescaper: Seasonal Sunday 
 Evolution of Style

Under the Sea

I mentioned to you a while back that

 I had been asked by ASID to design a table 

for a charity Luncheon for KIPPS.  

The theme was "The Wonderful World of Disney".  

Since it benefits kids and education

 they usually pick a theme that will apply.

  I chose The Little Mermaid thinking that I could possibly incorporate an Ocean Theme

 and use items that I already owned. 

 Everything is at your own expense so that makes it easier.  

Besides, Ariel is Miss Beaux's all time Favorite !!!

I just decided to try and have fun with it.  

I was so lucky to have Alycia from Table Twenty-One 

 lend me the beautiful ocean blue plates

 and the little votive holders. 

I was also lucky to have my good friend Kristy help me set up and give me moral support. 

 I ordered two Little Mermaid Life Sized cutouts and put them back to back draping the fabric in-between so you wouldn't see the cardboard in the back. 

I think it makes her look like she is 

swimming in the Ocean don't you?  

 I placed the Urns from Nell Hills on boxes covered

 with white fabric and draped the "Bubbles" around them.  The Bubbles were from my very first post EVER!!! 

 You can see it here.

The plates sit atop Coral chargers from Michaels.  

The table runners and napkins were purchased at ZGallerie.  I ran into an old friend who is now the Assistant Manager there.  He moved away and is now back in KC.  It's a well kept secret that it's a great place to live. 

 People always come back!!!  

Seashells and sand in Apothecary Jars sit alongside the Urns on top of netting from Pottery Barn.  

I folded the napkins in a fan fold and placed a starfish in front to finish it off.  You can barely see the little votive cups with a battery operated tealight candle in them, but they were really cute and added a little sparkle to the table. 

 There were a few more things that I wanted to do but time and money were an issue.  Overall, I was pleased with the way that it came out. 

 More importantly I was happy that they were able to raise money for such a worthwhile cause! 

 I will post pictures of the other tables this week.

Until Next Time,

Beaux R'eves

XO Cindy

 Sharing at:

Newbie Party at Debbie Doo’s Blogging & Blabbing
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  The Tablescaper: Seasonal Sunday

Getting Back to Blogging and Estate Sale Finds

Well it has been a crazy few weeks for me and my family. 

 I'm afraid I haven't been a very good blogger because of it.  My posting has been sporadic and I haven't been visiting other blogs as I should have, but I know that you all have been there at some point or another and you understand. 

My dear sweet Mother In Law passed away a few weeks ago.  She had suffered for many years with cancer and was one of the strongest and caring women that I have known.

  We were so lucky to have her in our lives 

and share her last few days with her.

 Mr. Beaux and I have traveled back and forth to Florida a few times to be with her and to work on the Estate.

 My hope is that she out there somewhere 

with my Father In Law 

enjoying their time being together again.  

God Bless Them!

 I've also been doing some Home Staging work and consultations.  It's Spring time and many people are putting their homes up for sale.  So that's keeping me busy as well.

I told you about my ASID (American Society of Interior Designers) charity event where I was asked to design a table for the Purse Parade Auction to support KIPPS, an awesome program for inner city kids.  That took place this past weekend.  Whew!  Are you tired yet?

My good friends are staying with us and we are house hunting together.  I am so excited I can barely contain myself!!!  My bestie is moving back after being gone for almost a year (seems like longer).  So, she and her husband are looking at houses and have asked me to tag along.

  It's fun for me but stressful for them.  

But the good news is that I am back and ready to dedicate more time to my Blog.  I missed you all and can't wait to see what you all have been up to!!!

I did steal some time last week to go to the Mother of all Estate Sales!  

The flowers are leftovers that I didn't use on my charity table.  I found six of these glasses for $18.00.  I love the fleur-de-lis design.  The napkins are a Battenburg Lace design.  Most of them were never used.  

It's just hard to find things like this anymore.

  Or am I not looking in the right places?

This is an Envelope style Pillow Sham. 

 I found two for $18.00.  

All crisp and starched right from the cleaners.  

I can't wait to put them on my bed!!!

And the final find... A Battenburg Lace Tablecloth in Pristine condition.  It is the most beautiful tablecloth  I have seen in a long time.  

Four lovely circles run down the middle.

  I can't put in words how exquisite it is. 

 I am anticipating many tablescapes using this precious find.  

I hope you enjoyed my Estate Sale Finds and again, I am so happy to be back with you!

Until Next Time,

Beaux R'eves

XO Cindy

Flipping Houses-A Happy Ending

I'm going to try to finish up my Flipping Houses saga.

 Click here if you missed the Part 1 and Part 2.

Thanks for staying with me thus far...

This is the Office "Before".  

The office was located right off of the great room. 

 There were french doors leading into the room.  

It was kind of an odd placement but a good sized room.  Again, we have dated paint,

 too much furniture and worn carpet.

A fresh coat of paint and new carpet worked well to bring it up to snuff.  I painted the walls a neutral color and added a pop of green on the back wall.  I don't normally do this when staging a home but I thought that in this case it added a more modern flavor to the overall color palette.  I also thought that painting all of the walls green would be too much.

 As you walk upstairs you land in this huge loft area.  The previous owners had it set up as a computer/homework area.  It really was a nice space that overlooks the Great Room below.  

We painted the space SW Latte and added minimal furniture to show how the room might be used.  I placed a rug in the middle of the area because without it it just became a sea of tan.  You have to remember that most folks today look on the Internet before they ever go out looking with Realtor. 

 Boring doesn't sell.  

 I think I was still in the arranging stage when I snapped these photos.  Now that I see these photos after a few years I have to laugh.  I remember now that we were just getting ready to list the house and I ran around taking pictures to see how all of the rooms looked. 

Cameras don't lie!!!  

There were four bedrooms upstairs.  Two "girly" bedrooms with a Jack and Jill bath, a boys bedroom with his own bath and the Master Suite. 

This is one of the girl's rooms.  The wallpaper border looks innocent enough but let me tell you it took THREE of us most of a day to take off that nightmare.  We deemed this room the "Olympic" room because the wallpaper had girls playing sports and gymnastics.  We like to name things in our family.  

We painted the walls SW Ivoire and freshened up the trim with Basic White.  New carpet and neutral bedding.  You can see where my dogs would jump on each bed as I went from room to room taking pictures.  I would shoo them off long enough to snap the photo.  

 The other girl's room we deemed....What else but the Balloon Room.  Shockingly pink and cluttered.  

This is actually not a twin bed but bed frame with two box springs on it.  Sometimes you have to improvise in Staging.  When we had to move out of our house they brought over a "house" kit with enough furniture for all of us to survive.  That is where the end table and funky lamp came from.  I tried not to bring my whole house over knowing that we would eventually be moving back into it.  And a lot of the stuff was either ruined or hard to get to because of the construction.  And again you see the puppy imprint!  

 This is the Jack and Jill bath.  They had taped off rectangles and painted them pink and purple.  OK, just paint over it right?  Heck NO!!! Every one of those lines showed thru because of the paint build up.  We had to sand it down to the drywall almost.  My son and I worked hard in this room.  Actually, EVERY one of my kids worked their tails off!  Every weekend was spent working and no one ever complained.  My middle son would come home from college on the weekends and bring his friends just to help.  People were afraid to come over because as soon as you walked in I handed you a paint brush...

We replaced the faucets, painted and tiled the bathroom floor. And although you can't see it in this picture as we hadn't put them on yet, we replaced the hardware too.

This is the same tile that we put on the fireplace surround.  We got a great deal for $10.00 a box.  

The Boy's room was Dark Blue and Gold.  

Really Gold!  

Three coats of primer before we could paint the walls SW Biscuit.  My sis drove down from Minnesota to help me paint this room one weekend.  I'm not kidding when I say it was a family affair!  I like to use white bedding when I can for Staging.  It seems really calming and you can add accents like I did here.  

 Bathroom Before.

And After

The Master Suite Before.  

There was a nice sitting area with a fireplace and a spot to put your TV.  

And After.

  We painted SW Hopsack and used the same color below and above the molding in the reading nook.  

The tile was nice and with just the one large chair you could imagine the potential.  

It hard to see here but this was the bathtub in this alcove.  They had painted a dark hunter green.  More primer on the horizon.  What you don't see (and neither did we) is a stained glass applique behind the blinds.  It took me three weeks of living there to notice it.  It was horrendous!    I had to use a hairdryer and a razor blade knife to get it off.  

 It was a large bathroom.  Just dated with old brass light fixtures and hardware.  

Much better!  It doesn't take much to bring things into this decade.  

And Last but not least, the backyard deck.  Don't forget you have to stage the outside too!  This deck needed repair but we decided to leave it as is and negotiate on the price if needed.

But the trick is not to invite scrutiny.

  When you look at the deck now you wouldn't suspect that it was neglected.  

So, to sum it up, we took a house that had been neglected and "lived in" and got it ready for sale by 

• Painting EVERY room
• Replacing the carpet throughout the home
• refinishing the hardwood floors and staining them darker
• Retiling the Fireplace
• adding granite countertops
• replacing the faucet and sink in the kitchen
• Tiling the kitchen backsplash
• Staining the kitchen cupboards darker (my painters did me a huge favor here)
• replacing the stove and dishwasher
• Replacing ALL of the lighting fixtures with updated ones
• replacing the faucets in the upstairs kids bathrooms
• New front door hardware

Repairs that HAD to be made:

• Replacing a large window in the Great Room
•  Work on the Furnace/AC (they had never serviced it)
• stretching the basement carpet

 We did all of that work for less than $20,000.  When you think about the Big Ticket items like Granite, carpet and resanding the floors, that's not bad.  

Here is the GOOD news. 

 We Sold the house on the FIRST day 

it was Listed!!!!!!!!

And it sold for more than any house in that area had sold for in the past year!!!!!  We actually MADE money if you can believe it.  It was the best feeling to have all of that lifted off of our shoulders and to look back and see the hard work that we had done.  We sold it just in time to move back into our house.  A very happy ending!  Would I flip a house again?  You betcha!  It's what I love to do!  Although Mr. Beaux is not as enthusiastic as I am on the subject.  Don't worry he'll see it my way soon. *wink*  

Thanks for accompanying me down memory lane...

Until Next Time,

Beaux R'eves

XO Cindy

Sharing at:

Newbie Party at Debbie Doo’s Blogging & Blabbing
Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for Metamorphosis Monday
Marty at A Stroll Thru Life for Tabletop Tuesday

Roeshel  at DIY Showoff

Kristin at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia for Tuesday's Treasures
Linda at Coastal Charm for Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Faded Charm for White Wednesday
Kim at Savvy Southern Style for Wow Us Wednesdays
Judy at DIY by Design for the Winter Blues Party

The Brambleberry Cottage
Gina at The Shabby Creek Cottage for Transformation Thursdays
Sherry at No Minimalist Here for the Open House Party on Thursdays

 From My Front Porch To Yours for Treasure Hunt Thursday
 Cindy at My Romantic Home for Show and Tell Friday
Courtney at French Country Cottage for Feathered Nest Friday
Honey at 2805 for Potpourri Friday
Heather and Vanessa at At the Picket Fence for Inspiration Friday
Diann at The Thrifty Groove for Thrifty Things Friday
Debra at Common Ground for Vintage Inspiration Friday
Sherry at The Charm of Home for Home Sweet Home Friday
Five Days...5Ways
Jen at Tatertots and Jello for the Weekend Wrap-up Party
Donna at Funky Junk Interiors for Saturday Nite Special
The Tablescaper: Seasonal Sunday 
 Evolution of Style