It's been awhile....

It's been awhile since my last post. Since I last sat down to blog I've taken on a few DIY projects. In this post I'll only write about one. My favorite one..... The vanity. So, our second bathroom, the one my 3 kids use and the guests who are not so fortunate to use needed some upgrades. The floor seemed mushy in spots, the tub/shower was beyond cleaning (I think it used to be white), the vanity top was mauve (90's eeeww) and the commode.....never mind, that's just gross.
Anyway, we decided to call our personal handyman, Joe. He's a jack of all trades, will do about every crazy thing I come up with and he's affordable. As we talked about what this bathroom was going to look like we decided to take out the tub/shower and replacing it with a tiled shower. I like neutral colors on stuff that's going to be there awhile so tans and browns it was. We chose a wood "look" vinyl flooring (it's cheap and does the trick). The new commode is well, just a commode.
Here comes my favorite part.....the vanity. When Joe ripped out the old vanity we quickly realized we could not reuse it. It SERIOUSLY had a front and one side. The original installer apparently thought the bathroom walls would suffice as a complete vanity. Oh well.....
Because we have a Lowes credit card we started there in our search for a vanity. I wanted something a little different, I wanted drawers not doors, one for each kid. The first thing I noticed was everything is sold separately. The vanity, the vanity top, the sink, the faucet....DANG! That adds up. So, I took to pinterest. I knew I could find something that would inspire me. I did....
I started at our local Habitat store. I saw a lot of things I could repurpose and settled on something completely unconventional. I didn't choose the suggested dressers, buffet tables, desks....nope, not me. I ended up with a sewing machine table. Yes, I said sewing machine table. It's perfect. It has 3 drawers, one for each kid, there is already a space cut out (for the sewing machine) which is where the farmhouse sink fits perfectly. In my head I could envision the end product and $17.50 later I came home with what would be our new bathroom vanity.

I kept the top as is. I like the character of the scratches from whoever used the table to make their creations. I used a pretty blue chalk paint on the rest of the table, distressed it and sealed it all with a waterproof/resistant finish.
This bathroom is truly bougie redneck. Just like I like it.

Catching Fish

I have a small fish pond in my backyard. I got myself one of those kits for Mother's Day. It was no easy task digging what felt like a shallow grave. The hubs finally helped me finish it. Bless his heart. It took several weekends and more money than I anticipated to landscape it. Large rocks, small rocks, plants and gold fish (koi were way to pricey).

I posted several pictures to Facebook and found out I have a friend who also has a backyard pond. She told me she had a lot of fish and they were big! She offered me a few to add to my pond. Of course, I was thrilled and said yes. All I had to do was drive to her house to get them. Easy enough, huh?? Wrong!! 

I got to her house and went into her backyard. Her pond was pretty impressive and the fish were plenty and big just like she said. Well, she got a pool net for herself and she gave me one, too. Then the "fishing" began. Let's just say we were scooping, chasing and practically diving in to get them. Every time we would get close they would dart away. They were smarter than we were for sure! 

I think they felt sorry for us or just got tired because finally I got one of those orange finned fellows.....soon I had four. That was enough. I was tired.

I put them in a bucket, drove home and put them in their new home. They seem fine. They've all made friends and come to the surface for a visit when they hear the food shake open. 

Most things I like are a little bougie but always executed in classic redneck style. I mean fishing with a pool net?? Yep, there it is, just like this Bougieredneck likes it.

It's not real but I am....For Real.

When I decided to start this blog I really just wanted share my style and make others feel better about theirs. I'm a pretty real person even if the stuff that surrounds me isn't....... The following are just a few examples. 

We don't have real grass but I have multiple kinds of grasses that needs to be mowed. We don't have real pruned shrubs but we have some uneven box wood bushes that I would never dream of manicuring. We don't have a real white picket fence adorned with potted plants but we have a chained link fence with random metal signs hanging on it. We don't have a real dog but we have one of the "I felt sorry for him on the back of a truck in the Walmart parking lot" variety. We don't have real hardwood floors but we have some awesome vinyl flooring that looks like wood. We don't have real paintings or real handmade pottery decorating our home but Fred's has some amazing prints and ceramic knick knacks that do just fine. We don't have real fine furniture from Ethan Allen but we may have someone else's fine furniture from Ethan Allen. Habitat ROCKS!

I think being real, being transparent, being vulnerable is the most valuable gift you can give to yourself and those you encounter. No matter if the things that surround you are real or not, do yourself a favor and be real. You can be real bougie or real redneck or be BOTH, like me.

So what is a BougieRedneck??

Well.....first, let's start off with who I am. Basically, I'm probably just like most of you. I'm a wife, a mom, I work outside of my home (and inside of it a lot, too). I am a person of faith. Yes, I love Jesus. I love to cook and I especially love to watch other people cook on those glorious food channels. I love to watch HGTV. Something about seeing all those properties at their very best makes me want to do stuff to my own house. That sorta brings me to my self-proclaimed, self-titled, unashamed style.....yep, you guessed it. BougieRedneck. It really is a way of life. Well, my life anyway.
Anytime I'm watching a chef, a renovation specialist, looking on pinterest or just plain swirling stuff around in my busy head, I think I can create those very things with stuff I have laying around or with just a quick trip to Walmart, the DG or second hand shops. Usually I can make stuff look or taste good BUT it rarely turns out quite like it looks on the screen or in my head. I'm ok with it though. I'm sure I drive my husband crazy with my random decorating ideas and canned-gourmet meals and I KNOW I drive my bonafied, for real, BOUGIE mom crazy. I can always tell when she's less than impressed. I hear, "That's cute." That's ok, too. I'm not offended. Just amused. I like my creations. They're a little bit fancyish, a little bit mismatched, a little bit bougie and a little bit redneck. Stay tuned for some of BougieRedneck foody/crafty adventures. It's always interesting and sometimes "cute".