JANUARY WRAP UP - One down....

Is it February already?

January always goes so fast and then when you look back...

you have a hard time remembering what you did?

You know why? No Holidays.

Sure there is  NEW Years day.. but that is still attached to Christmas and the 

residual December holiday season, sort of like an Exclamation mark on a 

sentence full of pretty descriptive words. 

January is like a run-on sentence, with no
punctuation..just on and on and then you get the short month...
February.

Before I draw a blank..and convince myself that I did indeed do nothing
lets review the month...
 First off...you may have noticed the Blog has a new look.
I have been fiddling around with different templates...the current one is a tad "busier" than my dream blog...but It's fun enough.(I love the gray and yellow, we talked about that color combo this/last month) 
The content is what matters right?
Perhaps next week I will do a post exploring what it is exactly that I want my blog to be when it grown up.


As usual, the month had it's share of DIY projects.
 LONG before I blogged or before Anyone blogged for that matter...
I have purposely taken on 
projects with some substance during the month of January to fend off any 
Winter Blahs. And this January was no exception.


I was the LUCKY/PROUD recipient of the Leibster Award 

which is a DIY blogger to blogger award, given to blogs with 200 followers or fewer..I was touched to be recognized and excited that soon, I may not qualify as I have almost topped 200 followers!! I want to have a million by June! Or maybe 300!

In addition to rearranging my/our Living Room
I did a few furniture makeovers...
THE YELLOW PICNIC BENCH

This post was featured on 3 different blogs
and has inspired many to transform
their own cruddy picnic benches!!

THE DINING ROOM HUTCH MAKEOVER

NEW BEDS
After what has felt like years of musical beds...we did some major switch-a-rooing
Phoebe got a NEW - OLD bed and we swapped queens for fulls and with the exception of Cooper's bed being currently balanced on two wooden desk drawers..
we have a pretty good thing going.

I took you on a tour of the colors of my house 

and we even went downtown to my NEW favorite store which I felt compelled to share with you!!!

I got some new plates and a new coat 

anthropologie

j crew 

I rented an incredible camera lens and used it to photograph babies!

Kate and Charlie 

welcome baby Will and big sister Ella

THE ACCIDENT 
I almost forgot! I began the New Year, literally laid out on the sofa
after an unfortunate run in with a wayward snow boarder 
on my last run during our first ever family Ski Trip to Snow Shoe, WV.
It could have been so much worse and I bounced back in record time. I was back, climbing up ladders and on top of the washer to retrieve power tools before you could say...dislocated shoulder!


 I loved sharing my TOP 5 favorite Decorating books with you , 
in "Decorating Books are my Porn" with you

 and we are going to talk about the new ones I just got and am devouring!


LESLI DEVITO PAINTINGS comes home....

"HELEN"

I cleaned up my act and consolidated the multiple "pages" of my blog,
 coming to the conclusion that I am ALL of the pages, they all take place in My Old Country House and that to compartmentalize ME and the blog 
(doesn't that word make me sound smart?)
to break my blog up into different pages, somehow diminished the
the contribution of each individual project. 
I did a number of paintings...
here are some of my favorites...

Colden

Ellie

That Blue Barn

Barn Over Miami

Erin's Kitty

"MO" - he will get his own post this week...I just finished
this commission for a friend of their  "baby"...

I made something, a bit on the fly and with the assistance of my son's entire 5th grade class...for their teacher's birthday..
I will do a post later but here is the adorable finished product...
I am a touch proud of them!!!

Here is to the end of the Winter Doldrums and if the weather holds out...
an early SPRING!!!