4.27.2012

Guest Posting Today!

Yesterday was a full afternoon at The Beach House
taking measurements of basically everything.
It's exciting to finally get in there and start
envisioning how the space could look.

I'm loving it already!






On another note, I'm excited to be Guest Posting today
over at Embracing Change with Stacey!
Yay!!! :-)

I hope you'll take a moment to check it out.
I'm giving everyone a little
before, a "fix", and a "progress"
of our son's bedroom.
And ohhhhhhh did it need some fixing
after my first design decision flopped. :-/
Live and learn right?


Here's a sneak peek!





fyi...we're loving it now.






Have a fantastic weekend!


~Anneke :-)

4.19.2012

The Beach House - BEFORE PICTURES!!!

It's official - we have a beach house!!!
We signed the papers this morning.
It stills seems a bit surreal...how did a 5-10 year
dream/goal happen "randomly" within 2 months time???

I'm calling it a blessing.

How often does THIS happen??? Are you ready? We put in an
offer to the bank...someone (not sure who) doesn't
get the papers in on time to the right place...whatever.
SO, they come back to us with a house price that's LESS
than our offer!!!

Wait now.........not just a little less.

Like $60k less.


WHAT???!!!!!
Yup...I'm calling it a HUGE blessing,
because stuff like this deosn't just happen.

This is an example of just one of many things I've
wanted to share with you, but had to be patient and
wait for everything to go through.


Now it's GO time!!! YAY!!!
This is going to be fixed up to be a vacation rental, so
get your beach gear ready and come out for a visit! ;-)
I'm SO excited I finally get to show some pictures I snapped
on my phone the first day we went out there to
"take a look". :-)



WELCOME!!! Lol :-D









Looking from entry into the living room and kitchen.







Pretty good kitchen to work with here!

















Main Bath




Looking out from the dining nook.
Wouldn't you LOVE to grab a book or magazine
with your coffee, tea, or whatever, sitting
on a built in bench and enjoy the view???
I know I would!!!






That's my hubby coming out from the kitchen onto the patio.





Looking at the lower patio from the upper deck.




The upper deck and garage to boat launch.
A personal boat launch (that sold my hubby!)








This upper deck is HUGE!!!










A crazy panoramic pict. from my phone! Wow!!!




If you're looking for a place to stay this summer, well
here you go! We're going to whip it into gorgeousness!!!


If you are interested in supplying your products in The Beach House
anything from art, bedding, pillows, kitchen supplies, rugs, well...
ANYthing that belongs in a beautiful beach home
please feel free to e-mail me with questions! I will be putting together a
Design Resource Book that will be in the Beach House for rental
parties to look through as well as on the final webpage.



Be thinking of some great names for the place too!
I may run a contest or something and
the winning name gets a prize. Sound like fun???


I can't WAIT to get started and share this transformation
with all of you!



Here's to SUMMER!

~Anneke



























Weekend Bloggy Reading

4.13.2012

1 Year Blogiversary!!!

When I began blogging a year ago today, I had
nooooooo idea
what I was getting myself into,
what I'd learn,
what I'd discover about myself as a person,
and seriously...that I was entering another world! Lol :-)


Are you ready??? This is a little long today.


~~~~~


Yesterday I had gotten so impatient motivated, I finally
got out my brushes and went to work on my son's
bedroom. He'll be 3 in a few weeks, and I'd
love to have his room done by then! ;-)

My husband came into the room after awhile,
and what he said has kind of been stuck in my mind...

"Wow...that's really going to change
the feel of this room. It looks great babe."


And that's exactly part of why I love doing what I do.
...the power to change.



A YEAR AGO TODAY


Here was my thinking....

                 1. I'm refinishing and building some furniture.
                 2. I don't like just listing my pieces on Craigslist.
                 3. Hmmm....I've heard of blogs. (I couldn't tell you a single one)...
                        But I'll make a blog page and have a specific page I can
                        show what I've done.
                                              


Some people begin blogs after having followed, commented on,
been inspired by, and so on by other bloggers.

It's safe to say I was greener than green in newness...
Everything was new.

Because of that, the learning curve was tremendous,
and thankfully my husband's patience outlasted
the earlier days of late, late, late nights of designing,
whatever networking I could do, gleaning from other pages on
all the "how-to's" of blogging....everything from commenting,
linking, how to take pictures, etc. Anyone who blogs
knows how MUCH there is to learn!



Here's what I've realized about myself and blogging this past year:

1. I LOVE Blogging.

2. I'm a terrible blogger, because...

3. I just don't have the time to blog consistently.
Hello????


Remember these munchkins???





They spell T.I.M.E.! Lol :-)



4. Refinishing furniture makes up about 10%
of what I'd really like to write about.

5. I've thought about changing my blog name a million times.

6. RustiChic is and will continue on as a Furniture and Design Blog.

7. I am seriously considering starting a new (more personal) blog dedicated to
a variety of other topics that I love, including
Family, Health and Fitness, Beauty and Fashion,
DIY Crafts and Projects, Traveling, and Music.

8. That varied of a blog may or may not go over well. ???

9. I've always loved writing, but I definitely want to
write content that is relevant to readers.

10. Blogging to me is not about numbers, followers, stats,
pins, tweets, etc. and at this point I like being able
to take a couple weeks "off" and not be stressed about content.
My hubby worked so many years to gain a job
that allows us major freedom and flexibility in our schedule,
and I seriously treasure that. 


11. Facebook has been the
best platform for me and my time this past year.
As the kids get older and my time frees up, I SO look
forward to blogging more! :-)

12. I'm thankful for EVERY person who takes the time
to read whatever I post on RustiChic.


~~~~~~~~~~


When I started refinishing furniture, we had two mortgages
and we were in a transition where I needed to fill a creative
outlet that was now void in my interest of music.

RustiChic was slowly born and filled a
financial and creative need for me.

Now a year later...those needs have changed.
So I keep asking myself,
"Does that mean that RustiChic needs to change?"
"Do I still need RustiChic???"

They have been good questions...hard questions.


I've always loved design and even went to school for awhile to
get a degree in interior design. Also, I think once you DIY
you always DIY! Lol :-)
C'mon...am I right, or am I right?


I'm still working out the answers to all these questions,
but even as I originally wrote in my profile,
I'm on a journey, and I'm thankful that you are
here joining along beside me in this thing called life,
no matter what changes come our way.




SO...the next big journey is


THE BEACH HOUSE


We're scheduled to close on the 20th of April, and
then it's full blast to get it ready as a vacation rental for this summer.

Are you with me???

Because this. is going. to be FUN.


To another year of adventures and discovery!


~Anneke~








4.03.2012

Spring Break and a BREAK

Monday was the official beginning of Spring Break for our family. It doesn't seem like that big of a deal since my oldest is just in half-day kindergarten and the other two are home. ;-) But it really does feel like a break!



 

Working on our entryway



It's been awhile since I last posted, but for good reason...I've needed a break! I feel like we're in the calm before the storm, officially forecasted to begin next week and projected to last about, ohhh, 2.5 months. Yup...all those life things will be converging into craziness. Swim lessons, gym, ballet, vacations, getting in shape for vacations (because getting in shape for WA summers is a bit of a dichotomy), conventions, training, dr. appts., meetings, volunteering, family events, registrations, recitals, etc. Not to mention date nights, girl's nights, dinners with friends, bridal showers, baby showers (yeah, we're a tad social) ;-). Oh darn, and yes...laundry, vacuuming, grocery shopping, laundry, and laundry.




Never a dull day!




Some of you ask me how I do it. To that, I say, I'm backing off so I don't.go.insane. Amidst ALL of this and then some, I'm trying to put a significant effort into getting things done around our home in terms of design and organization and focus more on learning about nutrition in relation to my kidney and thyroid problems. Seriously people, I've only had two coffees within the past 6 weeks - a drastic change from a daily (sometimes twice daily - yes, you can cringe) Venti Quad Shot (the super sugary yummy kind). The weird part about that...it's been easy. Don't hate me please!



I have a couple custom orders lined up, some tables and an armoire to get refinished and sold, but other than that, I'm not shopping much at the moment for selling items. I am, however, getting ready to work on a couple pieces for our home, build new beds for the girls (maximizing space), and gathering pieces for the Beach House.


OHHHHHH, the Beach House....yes.

Well - we're in the middle of an approval waiting on financing. Once that goes through, you will see a lot more blogging on the process of getting it ready as a vacation rental. Furniture pieces, diy, shopping, etc. I seriously value your input! There may be a vote or two in there on your opinion. It's going to be insanely crazy busy as this will be happening with all.of.the.above. :-)Yes...I'm currently taking a break before the storm.


I'll be around...if it's quiet here, don't worry. I'm certainly not off relaxing in Hawaii (six more weeks!)


~Anneke~