Little Girl’s Room Makeover – Step One

Why is this redo going so S – L – O – W – L – Y?
With the delivery of our newborn very VERY close, I’ve been trying to get motivated to work on the “Little Girl Room” which sister will have to move into when she vacates the nursery for the new baby.  Unfortunately I do NOT have the “nesting” instinct and would much rather stay in bed most of the time.  So the project has been very slow going.

BUT… to motivate myself, I decided to post my progress as I go.  I’m hoping this will help me to keep on track and keep going.

STEP ONE (anyone else just have a NKOTB flashback?)
The first step is to get rid of those bland, pale walls.  When we built the house, the builder allowed us to choose two paint colors at no extra cost.  So we picked a neutral color for most of the house and a greenish tone for the kitchen/breakfast area.  The thought was, as we decide what other colors we want, we will repaint those rooms ourselves.

It’s Unfortunate…
I had taken LOTS of before pics of the room in question when it was decorated as our guest room, but those pics were on our laptop which was recently stolen.  I’m sorry I can’t share them with you, but here are a couple pics of the wall color before it was painted.  The original color is Sherwin Williams “Crisp Linen”. 



A time for Peace, Serenity, Calm…
Lately I’ve been attracted to the serenity and calm of the bluish lavender colors.  I decided to do a two tone room and divide the colors with a chair rail. 
On the top half of the wall I used Valspar 4001-7B Lavender Mist interior satin.


The bottom half of the wall was painted with Valspar 4002-7C Purple Freedom interior satin.


This is how the walls look with the paint up, but no chair rail yet.

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I hope to post Step Two soon… which will be the addition of the chair rail.


Oh… where is that energy?…  Wish me luck.  More on this room later… but hopefully not TOO much later.

Rebecca

Over the toilet cabinet redo

I did part of this cabinet redo before I got into the blog world, so I didn’t take a “before” pic.  But I just love before and after pics so I went and found a stock photo of how it looked originally.  The cabinet was left in an old house we bought by a previous owner.  So when we tore down that house to build a new one, we salvaged what was worthwhile.  The cabinet is nothing special.  Laminate covered particle board, but I grabbed it, knowing it had potential.


At first I just painted the whole thing white.  I learned the hard way that I should have primed it first.  It doesn’t paint well and took several coats.



We had the cabinet like this for about a year, but then after getting into the blogging community I saw all the wonderful redo’s that use distressing techniques.  I LOVE them!  And I knew that would look wonderful in my “Victorian” themed bathroom.  So today I got out my sanding block and started distressing the edges.


If I hadn’t been so lazy (and if the cabinet had been any bigger), I’d have gone out to the workshop and dug out the electric sander.  But the sanding block was already in the house … thus EASIER!!




I’m liking how this looks, but decided to add some stain or glaze to really bring out the aged look.  I actually wanted to use some antiquing glaze but don’t have any (need to get me sum-a-dat!) so I ended up using some old stain and a paper towel.
 

After rubbing a little on the edges (emphasis on very little) and wiping/sanding anything excessive back off, I’m LOVING the new look of this cabinet.  So glad for all the inspiration I’m getting from reading other blogs!

Here’s another before, then and after.  Can’t help it.  I love to see the drastic changes side-by-side!!!
 

Have a GREAT day!!!
Rebecca

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The Sweetest Man…

For Valentine’s Day, I want to spotlight the most wonderful man I’ve ever met.  And I am so blessed to call him my Husband!  He does some of the sweetest things.  Just the other day he told me how proud he is of me.  ~ Talk about a feel good moment! ~   He said he is so happy that I've started this blog and have a way to express my creative side.  He told me he's proud that I chose an endeavor that can be helpful and inspiring to others as well. What a sweet man!!!
 

Then today, he showed how incredibly supportive he really can be... and not just with words.  He spotted, stopped, and picked-up a piece of furniture someone had put out with their garbage on the side of the road.  He thought maybe I'd want it for one of my projects!  Is he great or what?!?



It looks like the bottom of an old chair.  There is some breakage and patching, but nothing I can't work around.  It's solid and heavy.

I'm thinking plant stand... Or little stool...or ???

What would you do with it?

Happy Valentine’s Day!!!

Rebecca

Transform One Curtain into Three = $$ savings

So surely you’ve seen the curtain sets of  two tiers and one valance that are sold for windows in your kitchen and breakfast nook.  You can usually get them for under $10 at Wally World if you want to go on-the-cheap.  And on-the-cheap is exactly how much I could afford when we first moved into the house we built and money was very tight.  But I wanted to get something up on the windows.  It isn’t really an issue of blocking out the view of others.  We live on 10.5 acres way out in the country and there aren’t any neighbors who can see in the windows.  It was the decorator in me wanting window treatments.

Well $10 for one window sounds pretty good, but not good enough for me.  I figured out a way to use ONE set and cover THREE windows.   It requires very basic sewing skills and the addition of ribbon.

I found some white curtains with yo-yo trim along the bottom.  For the kitchen window, I just hung up the valance.  

   

Then for my other two windows in the adjoining laundry room, I used the tiers to create easy tie up valances.



First I held the tier at the bottom where the trim is and flipped it over a couple inches to create a rod pocket.  With a sewing machine I ran a straight stitch from one side to the other.  Then, using a tension rod, I hung the tier (now upside down) in the window.  At this point, the original rod pocket is hanging down.

~ Close-up of trim now at bottom of rod pocket ~

Last, I used a couple of ribbons to tie up the curtain creating an accordion fold at the bottom to the height I wanted.  VOILA!





A quick, easy and CHEAP decor from one curtain set onto three windows.

Rebecca

Thrifting at a NEW Thrift Store!!

 
I’m so excited!!!  Today I found a NEW thrift store.  Okay, it’s actually not new, but I didn’t know it was there so it’s NEW to ME!!!  This is especially exciting to me because I was having to drive 20+ miles to get to the nearest thrift stores and this one is hidden away in the little town closest to where I live… only about 5 miles from me!!   This is also especially good because being in a small town the selection is better (less shoppers finding the good stuff first) AND the prices are way better!!

In fact, I had given up on shopping at the nearest Goodwill.  I regularly found things there were priced about the same as if the item was brand new.  And with discount coupons to places like Hob Lob or Jo-Ann, the Goodwill store was actually MORE expensive!  HUH?!?!

So when I found this “NEW” thrift store today that supports Disabled American Veterans, I was psyched.  It’s HUGE!  HUGE, I tell you!!!!  And the prices are awesome!  Take for example these two great jars I got.

(Oooohh, check out the spooky shadows on the wall.  I need to work on my camera skills.)

The one with the cork stopper was $0.90.  YEP 90 cents!  The other one was $1.91.  It’s hard to tell in the pic, but they are both about 12 inches tall.

Also got these great frames.  The 11 x 14 I will need for the new baby’s birth announcement.  It matches the ones I have for the older siblings.  This was $0.70.  The bigger frame is 24 x 25 and has a heavy duty hanger on the back.  I plan to use it for a cork board, memo board, chalkboard, or some combination of these.


Also got this great clay pot for under 2 bucks!  It’s a big eight inch one. Woohoo!! 



The possibilities are endless.  I may paint it and put tools in it.  Or add a little chalkboard paint to it and plant herbs in it like these from DIY Network’s site…

 
The last great things I found were these pretty little cups and saucers for a couple dollars.   I love the blue pears with the leaves.



I’ve been looking for some I like so I can make the cute little bird feeders that I’ve seen all over the place.  Like this one from Ehow.


So now I have lots of materials to continue my crafting fun.  If only I could buy time and energy at a thrift store, I’d be set!!

Rebecca

Cutter Quilt Pillows

Well, I’ve been spending a lot of time these last few weeks on bed rest while we wait for our little one to enter the world.  Which means I have NOT been working on all the wonderful projects I’ve been wanting to post.  In fact, the only good thing is that I have LOTS of time to come up with more projects that I can’t wait to tackle in the future.

But I did want to share something and keep this blog alive.  It’s heartbeat was getting pretty sluggish. . . .    :o)

So, since I stare at them most of the day anyway, I decided to show you some cutter quilt pillows I made a while back that sit on the window seat in my bedroom.  You can find cutter quilts in a number of places from garage sales to a relative's attic.  I ended up going to EBAY and finding some for a good price.  A cutter quilt is nothing more than an old tattered quilt that, as a whole, is too battered to put on a bed.  But often there are smaller areas of the quilt that are not damaged and can be used for smaller projects (e.g. teddy bears, pillows, etc).


Using a sewing machine and basics for making a pillow, I sewed up a few different pillow shapes and stuffed them with polyfil.  This particular “feedsack” material reminds me a lot of the quilts my grandmother made.  It gives the room a comfy vintage look that I love.







Rebecca

Little Boy’s Denim Shaker Peg Strip and Basket

 

I’ve been working on turning our guest room into a cute cheery girl room for lil sis, since she will soon need to vacate the nursery  for the new baby.  I’ve been taking my time doing it, but I think spending so much time on it has left big brother feeling a little jealous.  So I wanted to do a quick project for his room that would make him feel special, without taking too much time away from my little girl’s room makeover.
A while back I had seen a Shaker peg strip in a book at the library (sorry I don’t remember which one) and always liked the look.  I remembered it and thought it would be a perfect addition to his room.  After looking around for more inspiration, I found the pic below and decided this denim look was a technique I wanted to try.  Now, I can’t for the life of me find it back to give credit where credit is due.  If you see this anywhere, PLEASE let me know!



So… wanna know how cheap I really am?  Hubby had bought some lumber for a project he’s been wanting to do.  It’s been months now and he still hasn’t found the time to work on it, so I “borrowed” the two 1 x 3 x 8’ boards he had and went to work.  Hey, if he ever gets around to doing his project, he can buy some more wood, right?  He loves me!!

And I picked up some pegs from Joann's... couple bucks.


First I used a miter saw to make 45 degree cuts on the 1x3 pieces where I needed them to fit the length of one wall and a short span on the adjacent wall.  If you need more info about how to do this let me know.
Then I drilled holes part way through the boards every few feet for the pegs.  Put some wood glue in the hole and pushed the pegs in.  I made sure when I drilled the holes that the pegs would have a snug fit and the glue is for extra security.
 


Now the painting can begin!  This is the paint and glaze I used.  I used a lighter blue for the base and a darker blue glaze for the denim fabric effect.




After a quick sanding I put on a base coat of Valspar “Blue Eyes” Interior Satin.  Make sure you use a satin finish!



I wasn’t really concerned about perfect coverage or brush strokes.  Just get some color down on the board and pegs.



After that dries, move on to the glaze.  I had Lowes tint a can of glaze with Valspar “Indigo Streamer”.



For the first coat of glaze, only run the brush in one direction across the width of the board.  Make sure you don’t put it on too thick.  You want to see the base coat through the brush strokes.



After this has dried, do the second coat of glaze in the other direction across the length of the board to create the look of fabric.
 
 

To hang the boards on the wall, I used my handy-dandy DeWalt  brad nailer (I love DeWalt tools!) and enlisted some help from the hubs to hold the boards in  place.  I chose to put the boards above “normal” person height to keep heads from running into the pegs sticking off the wall.
My son can’t reach the pegs yet, but when he’s older he can.  And for now it can hold things I’d like to hang up.  I mean really… he’s three… what would he hang up anyway… his sole purpose in life right now is to leave everything possible laying all over the floor! LOL!





To tie into the new denim theme in the room, I then used the same painting technique to turn this basket



into this…



It’s a great place for him to store books, toys, etc.
Now back to my little girl’s room…  some day I’ll finish and reveal that makeover to you too!

Rebecca

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