Spotlight The Real Life Behind The Blogger

Susan from Must Love Junk, and myself (Kris) Junk Chic Cottage wanted to do a regular feature on our blogs, something unique that hasn't been done before.   So we came up with an idea to 'spotlight the real life behind the blogger' in a more personal way.

There is so much talent and inspiration in blogland, and we thought it would be fun to bring you a closer look at the person behind the blog.

Every week on Saturday we will spotlight a blogger and have them tell us a little bit about themselves and their blogs.  You will be able to see and read about each of the bloggers on both Susan's and my blog. 

Saturday October 26

Marty: A Stroll Thru Life

I am so excited to introduce you to Marty from A Stroll Thru Life.  Marty did not think she was interesting enough for us to learn about her!!!! REALLY!!!!  Marty is one of the most interesting and talented bloggers out here in Blogland.  She is a DIY Queen, her styling is amazing and she hosts a beautiful linky party each week on her blog that I have to admit I am slightly addicted too!!!!
So sit back and enjoy learning more about Marty and her special family and life.

Hi everyone, my name is Marty from A Stroll Thru Life.  When Kris asked me to be part of her Behind The Blogger series, I wasn't sure I had anything interesting to tell you about me.  I mean, really, I love to talk and I hardly ever am quiet, but public speaking and talking about myself is not something I am very comfortable doing.  I started my blog after meeting and joining a wonderful group of ladies that were sharing some of their home decor ideas.  It was so fun to see their pictures and hear how they were changing and decorating their homes.  I finally decided to push that scary "publish" button and join the fun, and I am having a ball.

My blog shares my love of diy projects, crafts, sewing and thrift shopping. I love changing my vignettes and am constantly making new pillows and creating a new color scheme.  My husband (Jim) says the only way he's sure he's in the right house is that his key opened the door. lol  He's such a fun and supportive person, and truly the love of my life.  We were married on June 9th, l984.

I had been a single mom for many years and he had been a single dad, both of us had raised our children and really hadn't thought about remarrying.  Isn't it funny how God has other plans.  I lived in Bend, Oregon for 18 years and that is where I raised my children, he lived in Los Angeles his entire life, so the chance of us meeting was slim.  After my children were out of college, moved away and on their on, I needed to reinvent myself, seems like no one needed a mom on a day to day basis.  So I sold everything, put all my stuff in storage and headed south, I wound up in Los Angeles and went to work for a major Home Improvement chain. I didn't know anyone so this was really an adventure.

Most people find it interesting that I was a buyer for Lumber and Building Materials.  This was a fun and interesting job.  I was able to travel and tour many major companies seeing how they milled their lumber, manufactured their products and meet so many intersting people.  All of these companies were hoping I would buy their products to put in our company's stores.  It was fun to be wined and dined and treated to the best as they were trying to impress me with their products.  It wasn't all play, there were many, many hours of constantly comparing products, their specs, guarantees, brand acceptance and price.  This is where I met Jim, he had the office next to mine and as they say the rest is history.  Three years later we were married.  He was 42 and I was 44 and a brand new grandmother.

This is part of our clan.  I have a daughter and two sons and he has two sons and between us we have 12 grandchildren and 1 great-grandson and another expected in November.  We have been truly blessed.

We love to travel and enjoy seeing the world.  We sold our motorhome a few years ago, however we really enjoyed our many trips all over the US and had a ball taking some of the grandchildren with us.  Fun times and memories.

Last year for our 28th Anniversary, we went to Hawaii.  We stayed at a fabulous resort and had a wonderful view of the ocean.

Of course I headed for the beach before we even unpacked.

We loved exploring every nook and cranny of Maui and enjoyed the old plantations and gardens.

The luau was especially fun too.

  After 29 years we still have tons to talk and laugh about and love spending time together and with our children.  He keeps busy as a Master Gardener giving talks and classes all over the area.  He also had a local TV program for a few years.  I do some volunteer work for a few seniors in our area.  I shop, clean or cook as needed to help them with their daily routines.  They have become good friends and I look forward to our visits.

As you well know if you follow my blog, most of my spare time I am busy changing or creating something new for our home.  One day a room might look like  this - - -

and the next day this.  Making new pillows and swapping out accessories is my favorite pass time, or ----

I might be totally redoing a room from top to bottom like my latest project, the guest bathroom.  You can see that entire post here.

I love to visit all of you on your blogs and get inspiration from all of the links on my weekly party Inspire Me Tuesday.  I hope you will follow along with me and join all the fun.  Thanks for letting me share a little about myself.  I would love for you to follow me on A Stroll Thru Life.  Hugs, Marty.

Thank you Marty for sharing your beautiful life, beautiful family pictures and your gorgeous home with us.  I loved learning more about you.

Now you can jump over to Susan's blog and read about Sherry from No Minimalist Here.
Have a Wonderful Saturday
Kris :)

A Chair with My Name on It!

Happy Thursday.  I wanted to share with you the chair I scored yesterday while out junkin with a friend.  We went to this cute little shop and I found a cute chair that had my name on it!!!!!!

This was the white slipcovered chair I found at Ikea.  She was sweet but while my friend and I were shopping at this cute shop I saw this beauty below.

Look at her lovely light grey fabric and her beautiful curves.  I am a nurse so the cross on this chair spoke to me too.

Look at her beautiful curved back and those wonderful vintage rivets.

Love her cute chippy legs.  They had so much character.

Well there she is.  I was not planning on finding a chair for the room but so happy she and I met yesterday at the cute little shop.  It was love at first sight.  The Ikea chair that I had in here is going back.  I just love this one so much better.
Kris
:)

Second Time Is The Charm

Happy Wednesday.  I am finally getting up a post on my changes to the Master Bedroom and En Suite Bath.

I just could not get the romantic and spa feel I wanted in there the first time around so I decided to start over from scratch.  That means repainting the walls and furniture!!!!

Here is the supervisor on the job.  Our Basset Hound Libby. She looks just thrilled that we are tearing the room apart and starting over in this room!!!!  You can just tell by her look that she is thinking "Jez can you just leave well enough alone"!

The new color on the walls is called Snowfall in Paris.  It was an old paint chip I had from Glidden.  They no longer make this color so the great paint guy at HomeDepot was able to color match it to the Behr paint I love with primer.  It is a very light grey.  I love how all my chippy white pops with this new color on the walls.

Here are the chandeliers on as night was approaching.  It really brings a romantic vibe to the room.  Love having these chandeliers on dimmers.

I really feel I got the soft romantic spa like retreat now.  My bedroom is my favorite room.  It really is a sanctuary for me and the hubby at the end of the day.  I love the newer softer colors in this bedroom.

The old vintage hanger with old knobs was painted in the Behr antique white paint and then I distressed it.

Here is a view of the armoire painted in light grey. Looks white in the picture but it is a silver light grey called Gallery White by Behr.  Very pretty with my vintage glass knobs.  I painted my grandmother's old darning basket with AS paris grey paint and the roof on my little Hampton's cottage was also painted with the Paris Grey.

I was able to use my white wreath I had hanging in the bedroom before.  Just added the grey and white painted Hope sign and the angel wings. 

This is the new bedskirts.  I used two, one is a light grey and white check straight skirt from Target and then I layered my white ruffle skirt and ruched it up to give a softer look to the skirts.

I brought in my white Ikea chair and added this pottery barn grey euro sham pillow for a back cushion.  I found this soft and cozy grey throw at HomeGoods.  The drapes are a sheer with a soft pattern embroidered throughout.  I love that I can close these on a sunny day and it filters the light into the room so nicely.  I wish it was a sunny day today to have taken these pictures.  It really is so pretty on a sun filled day to have the light streaming through this room.

The hubby painted all the chandeliers white.

My Grandmothers cedar chest got a new top cover. It is a white and grey pattern.  I kept the wood in the chippy white that it was.

The night stands are painted in the mixture of Annie Sloan Pure White and Paris Grey.  I love the color I got with mixing the two.  Dark enough for contrast but soft enough to keep it romantic.

Love these pretty lights at night.  So romantic.  It is like having candle light.

I was able to move my beautiful love birds that my hubby got for me for our anniversary years ago.  They are a sweet and romantic addition to my night stand.  One of my most treasured gifts that he has given me for our anniversary.

There you have it the supervisor is good with the room now!!!! She got a new bed out of it .  She likes to sleep on our bed so with white bedding she needed to have a place to curl up in.   I usually do not show how we really live in these pictures for posts but with a doggie and a lot of white through out my house,  I have dog beds and throws on the white furniture !!!!  I know it is a shocker that my house does not stay pristine white with a dog!!!! I guess my secret to keeping things white is out now!!!!

Here are a few pictures of the en suite master bathroom.  It was hard to get good pictures in this room.  We painted the walls in the same color as the bedroom.

The chippy white vintage pieces I have in the bathroom now pop on the new grey walls.

I have a double shower in this master bath so it takes two shower curtain to cover the glass doors.  I used these two white ruffle ones from Target.  I painted my make up table white and the chair was painted with Annie Sloan pure white paint and then I waxed the fabric.  So far so good with painting fabric furniture.


Well there you have it a peak at the new master bedroom and en suite master bath.  I think I got my spa/romantic feel to these rooms.
Stepping out of my cream and white world and doing the pure white with grey was a stretch for me but I really am liking the results.

Have a great rest of the week.  Make sure you tune in on Saturday for another couple of great bloggers to get to know better.  I will be featuring Marty from A Stroll Thru Life and Susan will be featuring Sherry from No Minimalist Here.  Two talented bloggers that you will love getting to know on a more personal level.
Kris
:)

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Entertainment Cabinet and Entry Way

Happy beginning of the week.

I made some changes to the living room above my entertainment cabinet and also the entry way.

Remember my big birdcage I got at the flea market.  While I love this piece it was really massive to be on top of my entertaiment cabinet.  Even with my husband cutting it to make it fit I still could not embrace how big it was.  Plus it was hard to see the pretty things inside.  So down it came.
I am going to use it at Christmas time I think out on my porch.

I had this old stair rail so I hung that and then used my love of garden things to decorate with the nest theme.

I am liking that this space is now filled with all the things I love about gardening.

I love my "bless this Sweet Nest" sign with the old chippy frame.  My chippy box filled with greens and white roses and my little chippy birds.

Now on to the entry way.  A few change ups here.

I moved the old cottage door down the wall and then put the old chippy shutter and birdhouse next to it on the wall.

I hung this old chippy gate and moved out my little chippy benches to put with it.  Then I added some fall decor to the benches.

There you have it some changes to the entry way coming into my home and also the entertainment cabinet got a make over.

Have a great week.  Hope to have the master bedroom reveal up soon.
Kris
:)

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Sneak Peak At the New Master Bedroom

Good Sunday to all of you and a sneak peak!

Quick little post on what I did with the ruffled burlap valances.  I had them hanging in our bedroom and it was too much ruffle even for me.  I had bought them to repurpose this bench I had for the guest room so down they came.

Too Much Ruffle for this Window!!!! It made the room too girly and not spa/romantic.

Valance is much better repurposed onto the bench.

Yep, much better on the bench in the guest room.

Here is the sneak peak to some of the Master Bedroom.  Everything came down and out of the room.  Now you all get to see my crazy!!!!! I just was not getting the romantic/spa feel to the room so the hubby and I spent the week end re doing the Master Bedroom and En Suite Bathroom.

While my husband started to paint the walls,  I took the Annie Sloan Pure White and Paris Grey and married them to make a light grey to redo the night stands.

I love the light grey color I got.

Here is a little sneak peak at the new master bedroom and  En suite.  The cream walls are gone and we painted the walls in a light white/grey called snowfall in Paris.  All three chandelier are now painted white no more cream in this room.


The whole master bedroom and bathroom were painted this week end and I am getting the room back together today.  I am hoping to show the reveal in the next few days.

So how did you spend your Sweetest Day?! The hubby and I spent ours painting and singing to music in the bedroom!!!

I did make him a candle light dinner of his fav prime rib. So we dined to soft candle light and admired the paint on each other's face!!!!

Stay tuned to see the new master bedroom and bathroom reveal.

Have a great Sunday and start to this week.
Kris
:)