Check It Out: Pure Style Home

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Do you guys read Pure Style Home? I usually try not to be a bossy pants and tell y'all, my wonderful readers, what to do since I am no expert.  I'll make an exception this time and tell you that you have to should be reading Pure Style Home by Lisa Liess (who is an expert).

She's an amazing designer (that's her in her living room above) in the DC area that creates spaces that are beautiful enough to be featured in Better Homes & Gardens.   She just did two posts this week about family friendly spaces and what works and what doesn't that were really helpful.  Her blog is like free design school.

The best part about Lisa's home is that she works on a real budget.  Instead of buying brand new appliances for her kitchen reno she painted her fridge with chalkboard paint. Genius....and it looks fabulous.

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So basically she's my design crush and I aspire to have a home that's a little more like hers: traditional with an eclectic twist. 

Beautiful, family friendly, and budget conscious design.  Love.  Get reading.

Mirror, Mirror...

Can you guess what I'm working on?  It only took me 2 years to get around to it.  (That's probably why I look so goofy...I'm so happy to finally get this mirror finished!)  When I'm done I will have spent $45 on a 70" x 40" mirror.  Thank goodness for Craigslist, $15 worth of molding, and an uncle with a miter saw (thanks Uncle Jimmy!).

To help me appreciate my cheap-o mirror even more, here are some giant, beautiful mirrors that are waaaaay out of my price rage.

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I'll take two, please...oh wait...that would cost $1000.

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I have a thing for paned mirrors.  Mine won't have them right away, but I may make the frame chunkier and add panes later on down the road. 

This last one is not exactly paned, but it is super cool.

It would probably cost way less than $698 to recreate this look.

Have y'all done any mirror DIY?  I'd love to hear about it!

Have a great Wednesday.

Currently Thinking About....

...a burlap table runner...

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or placemats...

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...basically I have a yard of burlap that I didn't use on my lampshades and I've needed to make a runner or placemats for my square table for a long, long time. 

Dining Room Chandy Update

This not-as-thrifty-as-I-thought-it-would-be chandelier re-vamp is finally done!  This project was supposed to cost about 10 bucks, BUT I had a few unexpected expenses.  While the money I spent is still a lot less than what I would have spent on a new fixture that's similar, I'm borderline ashamed of how my $10 project turned into and $46 project.

Originally I was going to remove the ball and hoop thingy at the bottom of the chandelier (a picture of the non re-vamped chandy is below), spend $6 on a can of black spray paint, about $4 on some neutral fabric to re-cover some mini lamp shades that I already owned, and be done.  Well, that didn't work out.  Turns out, I got rid of the lampshades at some point and that ended up throwing my whole plan out of whack. 

Here's the break down of what I ended up spending.
- can of black spray paint: $6
- extension chain and hardware (because I lost the original hardware): $10
- 6 new mini lamp shades :  $30 (ouch!)
By the way, I completely stuck to my Zero Dollar Decorating rules and only spent money that I earned by selling stuff on Craigslist.

Now that that's out of the way, here's a brief history of how my chandy update came to be.  Here's what the original chandelier looked like before we even moved into the house (that picture is three years old).  It's your standard builder-grade, brushed nickel chandelier.  It was also hanging no where near the center of our dining area.

I think my face says exactly how I feel about that light fixture.

I found some cheap shades and covered them with fabric to try and spruce it up.....once again, that's an oooold picture.

That fabric was just not working...neither were those shelves.... and the fixture was still not centered so my husband and I replaced it with a directional fixture that was on sale at Lowe's.  I didn't get a picture of it while it was still hanging, but here's the picture I used when I posted the fixture for sale on Craigslist (It was originally $30 and I got $15 for it!).

As you can see in this recent picture of our dining area, it looks like there isn't even a light fixture there.

Now our little dining area is more defined.  I used some extra chain and the chandelier is now centered. 

Hopefully I'll post a picture of our completed dining area this week.   I have a few more things to do in there, but I've got some momentum now that the light fixture looks the way I want it to.

Y'all have a happy Monday!

I'll be linking up to:

I'm So Excited!

I will post my completed chandelier on Monday.  It's the first project I've posted in a loooooong time and hopefully it won't be a total let down.  Warning:  it may be a total let down, but I'm just so happy to be finished with something that I could scream.

I also listed my first non-birth stats print in my Etsy Shop last night.  Everybody loves owls right now, right?

Remember, Thrifty Abode readers get 20% off and free shipping with the codes THRIFTY and FREESHIP.

Happy Friday!

Gettin' It Together (Changes)

*****  I made some changes.  The picture above is the new printable.  *****

Still not pretty, but more functional.

It's not pretty because I didn't have any extra space for cutesy stuff.

I'm hoping that it'll help me get on track.  Click here if you would like to partake.

Currently Having Some Time Management Issues

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Have you ever sat down to work on a project that you thought would take about an hour and the next time you check the clock three hours of gone by?

I know I'm getting repetitive and those of you that are super organized and on the ball probably think I'm crazy, but I still haven't figured out my new not-leaving-the-house-to-work schedule.  I'll get the hang of it, hopefully sooner rather than later.  Any tips are welcome!

Cheap Eats: Oven Fried Eggplant Parmesan

I haven't posted a recipe in a loooong time.  I got in the bad habit of not cooking real dinners because my husband worked in the evenings (4pm-12am) and I usually just threw a meal together for Little Man and myself.  We ate a lot of stir fry vegetables with rice, veggie burgers, and pasta with various sauces and more vegetables.

Well, yesterday was the fist day of a big change that's happening at our house.  My husband started a new job with normal hours!  (Yesterday was also the day I would have been back in a classroom teaching.)  I cooked a real meal to celebrate our family being able to eat dinner together on a Monday.

This recipe is really easy, really delicious, and has the potential to be really low calorie depending on how you prepare it.

Here's what you'll need:
1 Large Eggplant
1 Cup of Panko Bread Crumbs
1/2 Cup of Parmesan Cheese (exclude for low cal version)
2 Eggs (use egg whites only for low cal version)
1 Jar of Tomato Sauce
1 Cup of Shredded Mozzarella (use less for low cal version)
3 Cups of Pasta (nix the pasta for low cal version)

1.  Slice the eggplant and lay it out on a cookie sheet lined with tin foil.  Cover the slices in salt and let it sit for half an hour.  This pulls out a lot moisture and gets rid of any bitterness.

2.  While you're waiting, pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees and get the crumb mixture and eggs ready.  Mix the panko crumbs and Parmesan cheese together and put them in a shallow dish like a pie pan.  Lightly beat the two eggs together and put them in another shallow dish.

3.  Pat the eggplant slices with a paper towel to remove the water.  Stack the slices somewhere else and place a cooling rack on the foil lined cookie sheet.  Spray the cooling rack with canola oil so the breaded eggplant won't stick.

4.  Dip each slice into the egg then cover with the crumbs. Place it onto the cooling rack and spray the eggplant with canola oil.

5.  Bake the eggplant for 30 minutes.  Flip it once at the 15 minute mark and spray the eggplant with canola oil again.  When it's done, both sides should be browned.

6.  Layer the sauce, eggplant, and cheese in a dish. (I used an 11x7).  Start by covering the bottom of the dish with sauce.  Put a layer of cheese between the layers of eggplant.  Cover the top layer of eggplant with sauce and cheese.

7.  Bake until the cheese is brown and bubbling.  Cook the pasta while the eggplant is baking.

Put the eggplant parm and pasta together and enjoy!

Home Again, Home Again

We made it home!  We had a great week with family, but we were sooooo happy to be back after our 15 hour drive turned into an 18 hour drive due to a wreck on I-85.  Thank goodness we had a portable DVD player and many, many episodes of Nick Jr. shows.  The Wonder Pets theme song is currently playing on a loop in my head.  Count yourself lucky if you don't know what I'm talking about.

The pictures above are from some of the highlights of our trip.  Little Man had a great time playing with his sweet cousin and posing for pictures with his grandparents and aunt outside of the old Louisiana state capital building.  He also had fun at a Little Gym class and visiting LSU's campus.

I'm going to be settling back in and hopefully getting that stinkin' chandelier in our dining area done today (no promises though). 

Before I get workin' I want to thank those of y'all who voted for my nursery over at Project Nursery.  You helped meet my goal of not finishing last!  Woo Hoo!  Fourth out of six 'aint bad.

Vote!

Hey everyone!  I'm taking a quick break from my vacation to let you know that my son's nursery is one of this month's finalists over at Project Nursery.  Voting has been going on since the 18th and I didn't realize that I was in the running until the 22nd and this is the first time I've been able to sit down and ask y'all to vote.  I have a pretty unambitious goal and that's to not finish last.  Right now that's where I am.  While I don't think I should win (there are way cuter nurseries), I definitely don't think I deserve to be dead last.  Help me out.  I only need a few more votes and I have until the 31st.  Thanks and click HERE!