When Doves Cry ...

Yes, after overdosing on chalk paint around my home, my other fave (BM White Dove) was longing to be used again.  So, I finally did something that I've wanted to do for a LONG, long time! 

Our kitchen sits in the middle of our home, not getting direct sunlight.  And, while I love our maple cabinets, it just seemed a bit dull in there.  Weeel, not anymore!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I lightly sanded (220 grit), primed with Zinsser BIN and applied two coats of White Dove (Satin Impervo).

I'm leaving the base cabs in their original state, so that we still have the warmth of the maple.

And, because you all know by now that I love odd numbers, I'm pleased that I now have three different cabinet colors going on in the kitchen ... the white uppers, maple lowers and Annie Sloan chateaux grey island!

If you've ever thought about painting your cabs (whether they're in great condition or in need of a facelift), go for it!  I know it can be considered a daunting project, but you'll love the results!

One more time ... BEFORE:

Annnnd, AFTER:

And, admittedly, while I love how the white cabinets now tie in with the molding, I am *thinking* about lightly distressing (just along the lines of the panels) and possibly glazing them just a smidge ... giving them more of a custom look.

We'll see ...

Come play at these fun linky parties:

Dittle Dattle/Amaze Me Monday

BNOTP/Metamorphosis Monday
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia/Tuesday's Treasures
Savvy Southern Style/WUW
No Minimalist Here/Open House Thursday
French Country Cottage/Feathered Nest Friday
At the Picket Fence/Inspiration Friday
Miss Mustard Seed/Furniture Feature Friday

 

Thanks for visiting!

Becca

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*Moooo*cho Bene!

What a great weekend(!) ... my son and I joined my husband for a business trip back to our old stomping grounds in Northern Virginia, where we once lived before my husband retired from the Marine Corps ... beautiful area, except for the traffic!  We miss our friends dearly who still live there and were happy to see a few who we haven't seen in years ... what a blast we all had!  The screams and laughter from our kiddos playing was a riot ... Jax loves his new buds!

While there, I also got to go to IKEA ... yippee!  I.love.that.store!  I'd go there quite a bit when we lived in NoVA.  Their prices are more than reasonable, and they have such fun and unique goodies.  A few things managed to come home with me (imagine that) ... the best being a cowhide rug!  You may remember that I've been looking for one for awhile now to add to our dining room. 

Well, the wait is *ova* ... meet "Elsie" (as affectionately named by my husband).  Elsie needs a larger sisal rug underneath of her, but that's not a priority right now:

Love her shades of caramel and cream:

And, how she ties in with the tops of the table and buffet.  Annnnd, yes (*hangs head low*) ... I changed out my pillows:
 

Hope she enjoys it here!

Still looking for the perfect *bling bling* chandelier!

******

As an aside ... what fun it was to go back to DC as a tourist.  I worked there for six years and, while I did NOT enjoy the commute, it was pretty neat working at our nation's capital.  One of the law firms where I worked was right across the street from the White House ... talk about an incredible view!  Here's another amazing view ... amazingly *scary,* that is!  Jax and I are about to become a dino snack!  LOL

Hmmm ... think Santa might leave one of these baubles for me under the Christmas tree this year?  Um, yeah, I highly doubt it, too!

Looking forward to a tour of the White House next time we travel that way!

I'll share my other little IKEA goodies next time ... thanks for stopping by!

Becca 

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Blessed...

I feel extremely blessed when 'art' in any form comes home. Whether it is a a small woven basket picked up from a craft fair or a huge Tanjore painting brought home from one of our various travels.

This week began with me experiencing that feeling not once but twice!

All of you must be familiar with the super-talented blogger of the famous Artnlight ~ Vineeta Nair. I have been a longtime follower of her blog, from the time of it's inception to the time it started showcasing Vineeta's new venture of decoupaged line of products, each piece so unique in it's design.

I had been eyeing this box for a while and finally placed an order for it and here it is!

The attention to detail is amazing...

A piece of art from Artnlight that I am going to treasure for a long time to come. Thanks Vineeta.

Remember this post on Aarohi Singh's exhibition? That was way back in November last year. I had bought a gorgeous 'Goddess Saraswati ' Thali from her and decided to pick it up from her after the exhibition.

Days led to weeks, weeks into months. The busy individuals after planning and re-planning finally met in the middle of the day over hot khullads of chai for some stimulating creative conversation:-)

I welcomed the Goddess to our home...

...offered her some frangipanis from our garden.

Thanks Aarohi.

You ladies completely made my day!

(images by Arch)

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Thank You, BHG.com !!

Just sharing a little fun news ... I was truly thrilled and flattered when the folks at BHG.com contacted me to see if they could include my Fall mantel from last year as part of their 2011 Fall Mantel Inspiration Ideas slideshow!  Of course, I said "YES!"  I loved seeing our little ol' mantel included:

The excerpt from BHG.com read:

"A combination of real and faux foliage looks beautiful on a fall mantel. Becca Bertotti (adventuresindecorating1.blogspot.com) created her flower arrangements by tucking real and fake branches into a vase adding pheasant feathers and burlap in the base. To create the garland, Becca strung various size and color wood craft beads onto wire and hung the string at various heights. A few tucked-in lights add glow."

The entire slideshow may be found here.  I loved seeing a few of my blogging buddies' mantels included, as well ... I know you will, too!

Can you believe we'll all be decking out our mantels for the holidays before we know it?  Yippee!  (Ummm, is that wrong that I'm already looking forward to it?)

Have a fabulous weekend ... stay cool!

Becca

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Nice Outdoors

My obsession for terrace gardening is going wild. Day in and day out I just think of lovely outdoors.
I found some very beautiful terrace garden pictures and here they are



Image Source: Click here



Image Source: Click here

Image Source: Click here

Image Source: Click here

I hope someday my outdoors will look somewhat like these images :-)))

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OCD + Chalk Paint =

ME ... LOL !! 

Before long, I'm afraid that everything in our home will be covered in this fabulous paint !!  I've now stepped it up a notch by painting a more "permanent" piece in our home ... the built-in dry bar we added in our breakfast area a couple of years ago!  My goal was to make this look like a seperate piece of furniture ... different from the neighboring kitchen cabinets.

BEFORE: 

AFTER:  Yippeeeeee.  Lovin' its new *character* 

One coat of Old White was followed by almost two coats of Chateaux Grey.  Of course, a bit of distressing was in order:

Naturally, I had to switch up the counter a bit, too:



To create my little *faux* menu, I bought an inexpensive piece of black poster board and cut it to fit inside a frame I wasn't using.   I then used my handy dandy chalk ink markers to create a menu:

Soup, anyone?

You may have noticed that I took the glass doors off of the center bump out cabinets.  I love having this as my display area now (I'm on the lookout for fabric or wallpaper to add to the back):

BEFORE:

AFTER:  *Buh-bye* doors!

It's fun being able to pull out a few of my white pieces that have been hidden away behind cabinet doors:

I moved this "lazy Susan" to the top of the cabs:

And, I also added new, inexpensive knobs (from Lowe's):

One last little peek.  I'm still debating what I'll do with the backsplash ... decisions, decisions ....

Thanks for coming on ova!  Have a fabulous day!

And, I'm giving a big blogger "thank you" to Amber and Brad of Shades of Amber for featuring my buffet, which I painted with Old White chalk paint.  What fun that they're hosting a chalk paint party every week now!  Uh oh ... this could be trouble.  Be sure and pay them a visit!  They're also hosting a fabulous chalk paint giveaway!

Don't forget to swing on by these fun linky parties for lots of inspiration:

Dittle Dattle/Amaze Me Monday

BNOTP/Metamorphosis Monday
Shades of Amber/Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Party
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia/Tuesday's Treasures
Savvy Southern Style/WUW
At the Picket Fence/Inspiration Friday
French Country Cottage/Feathered Nest Friday

Becca

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Thanks, Kristin !!

I want to send a huge thank you to the lovely and talented, Kristin, at My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia. Somehow, I won a giveaway that she graciously hosted, and I received her package today!  Inside was a beautiful handcrafted pillow cover, along with sweet smelling lavender sachets ... all created by Kristin (and available at her fabulous Etsy shop, Uncommon Linens)!  Needless to say, I immediately found a spot for my "new" pillow, and her sachets are now making my drawers (pun intended) smell oh-so-good!

Thanks, Kristin !!  xoxo

Hope you all are enjoying a wonderful weekend !!

Becca

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