Reasons for my lack of posting;

Our house is currently getting a much needed "face lift"

to put it lightly.

If only I could tell my past self everything I have learned the past two years of being a first time home owner.

Buying an older home is WAY more upkeep,

and with mine & my husbands luck

{luck of the irish? haaaaaa! that's a joke}

we've had to replace our entire heating & ac unit system,

{was 15 years old & completely outdated, went out in the first few months of us living here,

Washington girl stuck in a house with no AC at the end of july in the NC summer heat, indoor temperature meter tapped out at 95 degrees + for a week, no thank you}

& then one morning we woke up to this beauty after a huge wind & rain storm;

sorry for the cell phone quality.

god only knows what could have happened had that been a hurricane or something.

& here is it currently as it is getting fixed;

so there you have it,

it's a two story process.

& you want to know the icing on the cake?

it's all because it wasn't flashed.

flashing is like $2 a piece.

this bill? No where near $2.

So far we are about half way into the fix,

we've had to replace our front door & upstairs sliding glass door in this process as well.

Here's to hoping nothing else goes majorly wrong with our house before we move in the next year.

Because our inspection didn't help us at all :'(

First time home owners be warned!

xoxo

- J

Thrift Shop Art

I'm not one for "normal" wall art.

I love mixing new & old, and I'm a huge fan of putting eclectic wall art up.

I don't like just using picture frames everywhere, or big wall art pieces everywhere.

I want it to be different and original.

{just my personal taste}

One of my Hubby's favorite parts in a thrift shop is the book & music section.

So while out thrifting awhile back I stumbled upon this huge box of old records that were .20 cents a piece!

I was more drawn to the more vintage looking records & a more muted color palette.

After getting them home I couldn't decide where would be a perfect place for them, until recently!

Upon the various moving of furniture I partake in in this house, I moved this cute little side table into our upstairs hall way, it was looking a bit bare with just the candles & candle holder so I thought my records would be a perfect mix!

I love the different colors, & not all the records are the same//have anything in common but they all look like they belong together.

This small hall way went from a boring pass through to a cute little nook in the house.

I love the eclectic mix of everything.

 Eventually I want to add more & have a bigger grouping of them but I thought this was a nice start!

Considering it only cost me $1.00 I'd say I hit the jack pot with this one.

& it's quite pretty at nighttime :)

So are you a fan of my thrift store wall art?!

xoxo.

Jordyn Luise

{check out my facebook page as well! here}

Taco Soup Recipe

It's been so rainy & dreary here in NC the last few weeks,
thunderstorm after thunderstorm after thunderstorm.
Which has made me crave this taco soup so bad!
I normally don't post recipes on here, because I am farrr from a chef,

but lately I have been loving this yummy recipe & I figured if my husband can make it,
then any one can ;) {looove you honey!}.

It may not be fall, or winter, but when it is raining & all yucky outside I am a sucker for soups no matter what temperature it is. {steady ninety's here in NC}

One of our favorite meals to eat around here are tacos.

So when I came across this recipe we were in seventh heaven.

It's seriously the easiest recipe ever,
& all you really have to do is brown some meat & mix everything in the crock pot & let it sit.

So simple & perfect if you are going to be working late & don't feel like cooking,
all you have to do is brown some meat the night before & mix everything together in the morning before you leave for work.

Ingredients;

• 
  
• 1.5 pounds of ground beef (cooked)
• 1 Taco Seasoning Mix
• 1 Can of Corn
• 1 Can of Pinto Beans
• 1 Can of Kidney Beans
• 1 Can of Petite Diced Tomatoes

Directions;

(this recipe can easily be doubled for more people! this usually gives us about 4 bowls of soup)

Now it doesn't matter what order you put the stuff in, seriously guys, this is the simplest recipe ever.

It's basically dummy proof ;)

All you do is dump everything in, stir stir stir, & let it cook for at least 4 hours on high, the longer you let it sit the better though, it gives it more flavor.

I usually add in the ground beef first,

Then all the canned goodies,

Then the taco seasoning with water {as much as the directions on the seasoning mix says}

Then Stir Stir Stir! :)

& viola! All done!

This stuff is sooooooooo good!

You can eat it as is or add to it like any taco,

sour cream, some lettuce, crushed tortilla chips & some cheese is our favorite!

Hope you Enjoy!

xoxo
Jordyn Luise

Warm Wood & White Night Stands;

You might remember awhile back when I shared our bedroom on the blog;

{link here}

In that post I showed you all our bedroom night stands,

well I never showed you a before & after!

After living with them for awhile, I  decided to re paint them again {ha, not surprising right?!}

Actually, a lot of things have changed in our bedroom since that blog post which is why I haven't added it to my "home tour" page yet, so stay tuned for an update on that as well!

So back to the lovely night stands,

 I figured it was about time to share this little before & after with all of you!

BEFORE;

the original finish had come off A LOT & was peeling, but look at the wood underneath! beaaaaaaaautiful.

They were in pretty rough shape, but they were solid wood so I was all about it.

They are made by Broyhill so that was a bonus as well!

AFTER;

After Living with the original "after" of my night stands, I thought it was a bit too much grey & I wasn't happy with how they looked, I've really been into the two toned look of wood & a neutral color lately.

I'm in loveee with staining the drawers on furniture & painting the rest, it makes it more unique and less "store bought" looking.

& those crystal knobs? swoon.

Unlike most of my furniture, I decided to go with a Semi-Gloss Finish on the Protective coat,

I'm pretty sure these were meant to be coffee tables, not night stands, but I love having the "bigger" table

I'm totally in love with these but I'm a bit on the fence for if I like this look for my room,

Don't get me wrong they are adorable!

I just think I want to head in a different furniture style direction,

what do you all think?!

I have a bad habit of changing my mind when it comes to the interior of our house haha!

Hope you all are having an amazing week, hooray for it almost being Friday though ;)!!

xoxo

Jordyn Luise

Navy Blue Corner Desk

Recently I scored this awesome Corner Desk off Craigslist.

I've been keeping my eye out for something to fit in this odd corner of our house for a while now,

when I saw this it was basically love at first sight.

I knew right away what I wanted to do to it,

As always I can never keep my house looking the same, I recently decided to start overhauling all my furniture, my personal taste has changed a bit and I'm not into the shabby chic white pieces anymore.

So my first step of bring some color in was this little guy;

BEFORE:

\

as you can see I had already taken the hardware off & filled up the holes with wood filler.

one of the reasons I got such a great deal on this piece was it was preeeeeetty beat up, definitely had some wear and tear but nothing a little sanding couldn't buff out ;)

AFTER:

I'm a huge fan of blues & greys.

Navy blue would hands down be one of my favorite interior design colors.

It's a neutral enough color but still gives a pop of color.

One of my favorite places to pick up cool knobs is World Market,

which is where I got this awesome brass & navy blue one.

I'm currently obsessed with this little desk & corner.

It fits perfectly and was just the look I was going for.

& the best part, no more scratches :)

I'm a sucker for some wood accent, I hate covering up beautiful wood on pieces so I always try to bring some part of it into my projects. 

Isn't it just so cute?!

So there you have it, the first start to my furniture overhaul.

What do you think of my color choice? Are you as much in love with this as I am?

xoxo

Jordyn luise

p.s. check out my Facebook Page, Pinterest & Instagram feed to see what I'm up too when I'm not posting!