Throughout the years I have become quite a little note writer.  I have found it to be a good opportunity to show someone how much they mean to you--and believe me, it means a lot to them.  There is just something about a handwritten note that time cannot erase.  For things as simple as a call, or as big as a Kitchen Aid mixer, thank you notes can have a special way of exhibiting gratitude and love.  With my wedding only a few weeks away, you can imagine how busy I have been writing!  Thank you notes can have a way of becoming overwhelming, burdensome--and let’s just be honest; a real chore.  

**Notice what I have said, “CAN have a special way of exhibiting gratitude and love” and “CAN have a way of becoming overwhelming, burdensome, etc.” ​

Well guys, when you saw the title of this blog you may have been thinking to yourself "is she still working on that house?" The answer to this question is yes, yes we are.  This little house has been quite a labor of love for me.  If you are new to The Southern Merc, and you have missed the story on our Alder Street Renovation, you can catch up by clicking any of the links below! 

Alder Street Social Club
Alder Street Renovation
The Floors
The Porches
The Living & Dining Area
The Kitchen

It has taken me a little while to get the bedrooms and the bathroom "photo ready."  I have moved the furniture several times, rearranged the pictures several times, and have finally decided this is as good as it gets for now!

We'll start with the guest room.  Unfortunately, I did a terrible job documenting our progress in this room.  What you need to know about the room before we started working is that it had a dark, orangey-brown wood floor, walls and ceiling.  Here is what it looked like when we started working on the house.  We closed up a window on the side wall and made the window on the back wall larger. 

Here is the same wall today.  The picture over the bed is hanging where the window was that we closed up.  I chose a pretty light gray by Sherwin Williams for this room called "Aloof Gray".  The trim and ceiling are "Ceiling White" by Olympic.

You guys know I love a well-made bed - in fact, I wrote a blog on that topic!  These vintage embroidered pillow cases that say "Good Morning" and "Good Night" were just what I needed to cozy up this guest bed.  

I try not to clutter my house up with too many collections, but I just can't help myself sometimes! In this room I used vintage jars to house my collections of old dominoes and vintage thread spools.  

The closet in this room was a nice size but only had one small door, making the space hard to use, so I had the opening widened.  Luckily, there was a door from the bathroom that we did not need that matched the original closet door to make a pair.  The antique glass door knobs are not original but I thought they made a nice touch!  Little details like that make nice upgrades to any home, large or small.

This little bookcase is full of family pictures.  I love displaying old pictures, it is so comforting to me to walk in and be surrounded by loved ones that went before me.  

Y'all, what can I say?  I like pictures too much!  Haha!  You can also see in the picture below on the left that there is a mirror and hooks for the convenience of our guests.

This is the little hallway area that connects both bedrooms and the bathroom. When you walk into the hall from the living/dining area, the guest room is to the left, the bathroom is straight ahead and the master is to the right. 

Now, on to the bathroom!  Just in case you forgot, it was disgusting.  You can see the panel box was in the bathroom, so we moved that out to the hallway when the wiring was replaced.  We moved the window to the right so it would not be partly in the shower.  The flooring had to be completely ripped out and replaced. Hopefully, it goes without saying that we replaced all the fixtures!  Ha! 

This is our very small bathroom now!  When you embrace living in 980 square feet, you have to make use of every inch!  When we bought the house the washer /dryer hook up was in the kitchen.  Rather than give up much needed closet space in the bedrooms, I decided to go with a stackable unit and put it in the bathroom.  It is certainly not luxurious, but it works for us!  As long as we keep up with the laundry and keep everything in its place, it doesn't feel too cramped. 

Even the smallest of spaces deserve some special details.  I couln't really find a ready-made shower curtain that I loved so I splurged on some fantastic fabrics. Dad helped me make this no-sew cornice board, and Aunt Janet was quick to lend a hand in sewing my shower curtain. 

Keeping essentials like q-tips, bobby pins, and cotton pads in pretty containers on a pretty tray helps keep your counters looking good while still having everything you need conveniently located.  

Next on our virtual tour is the master bedroom.  I call this the master because this is the room that Matt and I chose to be ours but it really is exactly the same size as the guest room, just with two closets.  This room had been used as a nursery about 30 years before we bought the house!  My dad actually put up this wallpaper for our neighbors at the time when they were preparing for their first baby!  Funny how things come full circle.  Dad did an excellent job hanging that wallpaper because it was a pain in the you-know-what to get off of those walls!

This is my beautiful, peaceful bedroom now!

The walls are painted "Misty Lake" by Valspar.  The trim is the same as the rest of the house, "Ceiling White," and the ceiling is the same as the living area, "Spare White" by Sherwin Williams.  

The chandelier is vintage and is my most favorite light fixture in the house! We have low cielings so I didn't have many opportunities in the house to use a hanging light fixture.  Since this one hangs over the foot of the bed, it keeps us from bumping our heads!

I hope you have enjoyed keeping up with my home renovation!  It has taken a little while to get things settled, but I love a work in progress!  I have been working on the yards this year so that will be the next thing on the list to share!  

If you like what you see in the house, check out the store!  It is full of beautifully currated items that speak to my southern style!

If you have been keeping up with what's happening at The Southern Mercantile, I would love to hear from you. Let me know what you think of the house and if you have a project of your own you are working on! 
​
Check out more Alder Street Renovation stories here!

Every year my husband makes one request for his birthday - Fresh Peach Cake! His birthday is June 28, which is usually the beginning of peach season. This sweet, delicious, light cake is what he has always requested for his birthday cake, beginning years ago with his mother. Several years ago, she passed the tradition on to me. ​

I was truly blessed growing up to be a part of a family that traveled.  Since my parents were both school teachers, we had plenty of time in the summer to pack up and hit the road!  Keep in mind, my parents were school teachers, so these were not glamourous vactations full of ski trips, water parks, restaraunts and hotels.  Our road trips consisted of tent camping (thank you K.O.A.), dinners from the cooler (a.k.a. cooler crud) and finding all the cool stops along the way that were free or cheap!  ​While our trips may have been a strain on the family budget, they were full of fun and happy memories (somehow you forget the stressful times when it is over).  My brother and I were really lucky to have gotten to see so much of the United States of America!

From Mt. Rushmore, Devil's Tower, and The Grand Canyon, to a tour up the west coast of California, Oregon, and Washington.  We visited the world's deepest hand-dug well in Greensburg, Kansas, Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, an Indian Pueblo in Taos, New Mexico, and the cliff dwellings in Mesa Verde, Colorado. 

​Every once in a while, usually in the fall, we got to go to places like Disney World and Sea World!

Of course, as a teenager these trips got a little embarrassing.  We were getting the car serviced in California on one of our trips, and I realized that my dad was wearing a tie-dyed tank top, shorts, fanny pack, and Mickey Mouse socks with sandals.  We were quite a sight!

​Y'all, this blog would be too long if I named all of the fun places my family traveled over the years!  We usually landed in Colorado for a week or so somewhere along the way to visit with my grandparents and play in the mountains we all still love so much!

Being able to travel and see so much of our beautiful country did so much to help shape who I am today.  I am a southern girl at heart, but I am sure you can tell by touring my home and reading my other posts that my style and personality has been heavily influenced by sights and experiences I was exposed to on our journeys!  What a priceless treasure, to have been able to soak up different cultures, styles, people, and landscapes.  Thanks to my adventurous parents for being willing to load us up and be away from home for weeks at a time.  Your kids are better people for it!

In honor of all of these nostalgic feelings this summer, Tara, Jorj and I thought it would be fun to spread the southern love across the whole country!  During the month of July we want to get a new Facebook "like" from at least one person in every state!  So, if you are reading this, and you don't already follow us on Facebook, head on over and like our page!  If you are a Facebook fan already, we hope you'll tag a friend from a far away place and help us reach our goal!  

​If you are heading out on a road trip of your own this summer, we hope you have safe and happy travels!  Share a picture with us along the way!
​-Roxie