Saturday Spotlight: Life Behind The Blogger

 Saturday Spotlight: Life Behind the Blogger is a feature done each Saturday that introduces you to a blogger you may already know or a new blogger for you to get to know. This feature gives you a peak into the personal life of the blogger.  Getting to know the special person behind the beautiful blog.

There is so much talent and inspiration in blogland so enjoy getting to know these talented bloggers each Saturday.

Marie The Interior Frugalista

January 24th

This week I have a really fun blogger to introduce you too.  Marie from The Interior Frugalista .  You will love meeting this special DIYer and sweet and talented blogger.  Marie is so warm and open that the first time you meet her you will feel like you have known her forever.  Enjoy getting to know Marie.  Have a wonderful week end.

Hello fellow readers of Junk Chic Cottage, my name is Marie Blackburn and I'm the blogger behind The Interior Frugalista.  I was tickled pink when Kris emailed to say I made the popular Saturday Spotlight list.  So many bloggers that I admire and look up to are on this list and so I feel honored to have been added!

Life Behind the Blogger, where shall I begin?  Lets start with a mugshot of me and my side kick Darcy, a.k.a. Mr. Frugalista.

He and I have been a DIY duo since 1987.  Money was tight and even tighter when kids came along but we both liked nice things.  So we had two choices; live without or make it ourselves.  Living without wasn't an option considering we're a couple of introverted home bodies who love to nest in cozy and nicely styled quarters.  More about our humble abode later...

We are the proud parents of two grown children, our son Brandon and our daughter Victoria.  They got those beautiful blue eyes from their Father!

We are anxiously awaiting the bird of our first grand baby in April.  I can't wait to spoil him rotten!

We became empty nesters in 2014.  I had always envisioned that stage in life to be where we'd be footloose and fancy free, eating Hagen Daz ice cream for supper, the house would remain spotless, and our days of worrying about the kids would be over.  Ha!

Well eating ice cream for supper, especially at our age, is just asking for trouble and besides why eat in when you can dine out.  I've gotten lazy with my housekeeping skills because heck who is going to see the mess.  And as all of you with grown children can attest to, you never stop worrying about your kids!

Thankfully we have our feline side kick Rex to keep us company.  If cats could talk this poor fella would probably say, "lady I know you're lonely but can you just leave me the heck alone".

Now that you've met my family let me tell you a bit about myself and my passion for all things DIY. I have been doing crafts and room makeovers since I was a child.  I was the babysitter who sat at the table with the kids and made crafts.  I am the eldest of seven children and growing up there was no such thing as having your own room so I shared it with a sister.  My our room was my sanctuary and I loved spending weekends organizing and decorating (much to the chagrin of my sister).  In high school I hated Home Economics Class (now I'm dating myself) and wanted to take Shop (not an option for girls in those days).  As an adult I embraced my inner Susie Homemaker, put on that apron (of which I made myself), and taught myself how to sew.

Like I said earlier, my thriftiness came out of necessity.  I think being thrifty is in my DNA as I come from a lineage of DIYers. Perhaps that's the reason I can't look at anything without imagining how or what I can transform it into, on a dime.  Like this dresser for example...

4-Drawer Dresser to Faux Secretary

It was part of my parent's first bedroom set and made it's way into our bedrooms growing up and then later passed down to my children.  When our daughter needed a desk for doing homework her room wasn't large enough to accommodate a dresser and desk.  We removed the top drawers and turned it into a pull out desk/faux secretary.  When she no longer needed it I gave it a makeover with chalk paint for our guest room.

A few years ago we wanted to install a fireplace with flanking bookcases in our living room. We quickly realized after pricing them out that this idea was way beyond our budget.  So we did what any DIYer would do, turned our 80's wall unit into this...

80's Wall Unit Repurposed

In our kitchen we were desperate for more storage, counter space and a spot to enjoy our morning coffee. Adding new cabinetry was not an option so we transformed our dining room china cabinet into this...

From China Cabinet to Pantry + Island

...and the bonus, we gained a small wine fridge!  Speaking of the kitchen, it felt like we were preparing meals inside a wooden box.  So with a few cans of paint and some elbow grease we were able to completely transform the room.

Kitchen Cabinet Update Part One 

Kitchen Cabinet Update Part Two

You can see our laundry room for under $500.00 HERE.

How we repurposed louvered bi-fold doors into a back yard privacy screen HERE.

One of my other passions is doing furniture makeovers.  I get goosebumps when I rescue a great piece of furniture online, at a garage sale or thrift store and give it a brand new life.  Here are a few of my pieces...

Old Violet {A 70 Year Old Sideboard Makeover}

Old Violet's Sidekick {A Table Makeover}

Old Violet's Siblings {The Four Surviving Chairs}

Two years ago when I was humming and hawing about starting a blog for the purpose of documenting our DIY projects for friends and family, the name came to me in a dream.  I woke up so excited about the name that I grabbed a coffee, found a blog template and the rest is history!

I knew absolutely nothing about blogging.  I'd never heard of SEO and html.  Photography was pressing the camera button on my iPhone and hoping for the best.  My lack of blogging skills became evident real quick when I started poking around the blogosphere. To say it's been a learning curve and a lot of work would be an understatement.  Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks!

I've never regretted hitting the publish button.  Blogging has rocked my world and brought many blessings, friendships, and opportunities.  One of the highlights was meeting Annie Sloan, my Chalk Paint Idol.  So much fun!

So now that we're no longer strangers, I welcome you to grab a coffee and hop on over to The Interior Frugalista for a visit.  I'd be even more thrilled if you introduced yourself and left me a note.

Thank you so much Kris for introducing me to your readers.  It's been fun going down memory lane!

Thank you Marie.  Loved having you here on Spotlight.  Ok Bloggers after reading and getting to know Marie better you can see how fun and sweet and what a fantastic DIYer she is so hop over and introduce yourself to her.  

Have a great Saturday.

Kris

:)

Taking a blogging break this week.

I am going to take a little blog break.  I am heading down to Florida to help my mom move into a senior apartment.

She was on a waiting list for 6 months and got called that they have an apartment ready for her.

I am going down to help her make this transition from living in her home to living in a one bedroom senior apartment.

My mom has been widowed for about 5 years and these have been tough financial years for her.

Her husband lost his battle with Alzheimers Disease about 5 years ago.  They were snow birds for many years and had a home in Michigan and then a small home for the winters in Florida.

My mom cared for her hubby at home until his Alzheimers got to the point that they had to move him into an Alzheimer's facility.  In order to have good care for him and have him in a good place my mom had to sell their home in Michigan after they went through all of their savings to help pay for his care.

It is so sad when seniors get a horrible disease like Alzheimer's and have to go through their life savings and sell their home to get good care.

After my mom's husband died she moved to the small Florida home with my 98 year old grandmother to live.  After my grandmother passed a few years ago and my mom no longer had my grandmother's social security along with her's to keep up with the expenses of a  house it became increasingly harder for her financially to keep up her home and all the costs that go along with owning a home.

Terry and I have been financially helping her out with expenses over this past year but it has become a burden on us too.  So the decision was made to have her move into more affordable senior living.  Her home is up for sale and we are praying it will sell quickly.

In the meantime Terry and I are heading down to help her move into her new place and hopefully help her make this transition a little easier.

I will decorate and make this place as sweet and homey as I can so she will enjoy and feel comfy in her new apartment.

This has been really hard on her to make this transition but she also knows in her heart this is the best thing all the way around.

So I will be off blog land this week as I help my mom.  At least it will be warmer weather in Florida than here in Chicago.  Just wish I was going to stick my toes in the sand but instead will be painting, shopping for decor and hanging curtains and unpacking boxes.  I am praying I can work some magic on this tiny apartment to make it warm and cozy for her and her sweet dog Buttons.

Hoping for safe travels and a good and easy move for my mom.  Prayers please that my mom will have an easy transition as this part of her journey heads in a new direction.  It is hard at 82 to make these kind of  life transitions.

Talk to you all when I return next weekend.

Please check in on Saturday I have a new Spotlight scheduled to go up with another fabulous blogger for you to get to know on a personal level.

Thank you to all of you that will leave me a comment, prayer for my mom and best wishes.  I normally love to answer all of your comments with an email back from me, but with being off Blogland I will say thank you now.  Your prayers and sweet visits along with sweet and caring comments are so appreciated and I thank you all.

Have a wonderful week.

Kris

:)

Lucky Junk's One Year Anniversary

Happy Sunday

Just wanted to post about going to Lucky Junk's 1st Anniversary Party/Open House on Saturday.

This is the lovely and talented couple Janet and Bill that own Lucky Junk.  Yesterday was their first Anniversary for the shop to be open.
How excited I was for both of them.  This shop makes my my heart beat just a little faster with each visit.
Janet and Bill are the sweetest and most talented lucky junk picken couple ever!! They find the best stuff to sell in their sweet shop.
I am so happy for them to be celebrating their first year since opening their shop.

This is Bill's great Lucky Junkin Truck!  When Bill found this sweet awesome truck down south on a junkin trip it was previously owned by a guy named Bill.  Meant to be he found this treasure to call his own.

When you walked in the Shop's front door Janet had this cute little raffle ticket station set up.  You wrote what makes you feel lucky on the tag and then put your name and number on the back for later drawing.  Such a cute idea to hang them on this old mattress spring.

Janet had some yummy snacks and drinks for the celebration.

I added some fresh flowers to this vintage milk carrier and milk bottles to give as a first Anniversary gift to Janet and Bill.  Loved that I could gift her with a vintage piece  from my own collection of Lucky Junk.

I took a few shots of the shop.  Just got busy talking and mingling so I did not get a whole lot.  Here are a few.

Is this not just the cutest sign?!!

Looooove!  This would make for a great coffee table or at the end of a bed for linen storage.  Awesome!!!

It was fun for Terry and I to spend time at Lucky Junk today to help Janet and Bill celebrate this wonderful accomplishment.
This shop was "Junk Love" for me at first sight.  I am so happy they hit this milestone of 1 year open.
Congrats to both Janet and Bill on the first year anniversary of Lucky Junk.  Wishing them many more.

I did treat myself to this cute angel ivy topiary to put on the window ledge over my kitchen sink.  Sorry when I thought to take the picture for this post it was night time in the kitchen.

So sweet.  Now I just have to keep it alive until summer when I can put it outside!

Ok, you are probably wondering why I am showing you a picture of my dishwasher at the end of this post.  Well..... stay tuned this is going to get a face lift.  Sad :( that my dishwasher is getting a facelift before me!

So stay tuned.... Have a wonderful rest of the week end.
The sun is shining and the temps are mild it is all good!
Kris
:)