Have I seen you before?

With pinterest, and blogs, and the internet I feel like I see a lot of the same stuff all over. And by that I mean I’ll see a light fixture I like then in the next few weeks I start noticing it everywhere online. And then it starts losing its coolness to me, maybe because I want unique things in my home that feel one-of-a-kind, even if they aren’t. So last night while perusing pinterest I saw a light fixture that I had never seen before. It is from a better homes and gardens kitchen makeover. To check out the full makeover go here. I love this for 3 reasons.

1.) I have never seen anything like it before

2.) It’s cheap

3.) It could involve spray paint which is always a good thing

They used a $40 IKEA chandelier and took those wood craft balls in three different sizes and made swags by inserting eye hooks into each one. How awesome is this? Since this chandelier only comes in black, I’m thinking a coat of glossy navy spray paint is just what this would need and spraying all those wood craft balls a fun green and white…….

I’m thinking I just found my new kitchen chandelier to go above our dining table!

Wish Me Luck...

So, I have spent a few months trying to find the perfect side/end tables for our back room. I have wanted something more rustic looking to balance out some other stuff we have going on in that room.  After months of looking online and checking out a few stores I couldn’t find anything I liked. Well I take that back, I found plenty I liked but I didn’t quite think Cody would think it would be a good idea to spend almost $800 on 2 end tables. But I also didn’t want to buy something that I didn’t really like and something that I would get sick of. So I decided I would make them myself. These are the two end tables that I liked the best, but were wayyyy out of my price range.

The first one is from Crate and Barrel and it is $399 per end table! WHAAAATT? I’ll be honest, for that price they should throw in a coffee table and lamp!

The second one is from a really great shopping site called One King’s Lane. I really liked the stain on this one and that it had sides.

So I am hoping I can come up with something in between these in style and color. That’s my big plan for this weekend. You may be wondering what other pieces of furniture I have made? None. But there’s a first for everything. My goal is for someone not to say “Wow, I’m guessing you made those.” But “Wow, where did you get those?” We’ll see. I have already gone to Lowes and priced out the wood I would need. If I never blog about them again, you will know it was an epic fail. Wish me Luck…

A tree, a movie, and a gun

I am pretty big on traditions, especially around the holidays. When I was little on Christmas Eve we would drive through the festival of lights every year as a family. Its a pretty cheesy adventure but a tradition so it doesn't matter. Another tradition is watching the movie White Christmas while putting up the Christmas tree.

So last weekend I popped in the movie and began the decorating. Our Christmas tree is obviously tall and skinny, kind of like what I wished my body type was!! our first place was super small so we needed a tree that was skinny. It actually looked big in our old place. I am hoping to find some good sales this year on trees once Christmas is over! I wanted a different color scheme this year so I ended up making quite a few ornaments. But let me back up. I had seen a picture on pinterest of a ruffle tree skirt. So I wanted to make that first.

Be warned...it will take you hours...like 5 or 6. And you will burn your little fingers off with the glue gun and your hand will cramp from holding the gun for that long. But you have no choice because ruffles are a must and they are fabulous. It is a super cheap project too. I bought a $4.00 drop cloth at Walmart to use as the skirt part then I got 3 yards of a white cotton fabric. I think it all cost me less then $10.

And because I wasn't sick of using the glue gun yet I decided to use it again but this time on ornaments! I had seen this picture on pinterest and loved the idea.

I just punched out a bunch of circles and glued them on clear ornaments. I started at the bottom and worked my way up to the top. I bought a few sheets of scrapbook paper in a navy glitter and a gingham. I think they are my favorite ornaments on the tree.

For the other ornaments I made all I did was buy some craft paint and clear ornaments. I squeezed in the paint and added a little bit of water and swished it around on the inside until it covered everything then let them dry overnight. I picked up a creamy Orange, a coral and navy craft paint. I wanted some unexpected and fun colors!

The rest of the ornaments and garland I either had or picked up this year. I really liked how it turned out.

 



Opinions Please!

So as you can tell by my picture, I obviously did not major in graphic designJ  But, as crazy as this looks it actually helps me visualize what our dresser could look like!

So, here are the options…

1, 2, and 8 are all stencils

3, 4, and 7 are actually fabric samples that I just like the pattern of. So, I would have to replicate these on my own without the help of a stencil.

5 & 6 are what we were initially thinking…just adding some small detail to each drawer by painting an outline of a box or with box filled in.

9 is a little out there but my thought on that was that I am loving the ombre effect lately, with the gradation in color. I could do this to each drawer separately or all the drawers as one (if that makes sense).

Ignore the color on them all too, I was thinking something navy but maybe bringing another color in would be good, or perhaps I should just leave them all white… I defiantly don’t want to make any rash decisions, so even after I decide what I should do I will probably wait to pull the trigger till I finish some other things in the room.

Ok so I now I need your opinion! Which number is your fav??

Mrs. Hubbards Cupboards

Was that a children's story or nursery rhyme? I cant remember...maybe it was neither. I think it is about time to show you the progress we have been  making on our sun room. We started with the room looking like this...

all we did for a while was put up the drywall once we got rid of the paneling and that awkward window. Then we took a long extended break because I couldn't pick out a paint color. Well I finally did. It is Moonshine by Benjamin Moore, and I love it. Once the room was painted we put in the baseboard. We had to buy baseboard and shoe moulding for this room. If we would have just left the baseboard as is you would be able to see a gap between the wood floor and drywall.



So with the baseboard in, we focused our attention to creating a built in look with cabinets. When we looked at this house I saw this room and thought that a window bench/nook with a table would be perfect in the corner. Here were some of my inspirations images all found via pinterest.

I wanted that built in look of cabinets to look like it fit the space and was meant to be there but with room to add a small round table and plenty of pillows for a comfy vibe. I had been searching for something to work in that space for awhile. I tried Ikea, Lowes, and Menards and even thought about building something ourselves. Nothing I found seemed to be exactly right. We were either going to have to take apart something we bought to fit the space or spend a few hundred dollars on cabinets from Lowes. I didn't love either option. So one Saturday morning after a 2 hour long trip to Bass Pro, Cody and I stopped by Builders Warehouse. For those that don't live in the area it is located downtown Peoria in an old warehouse. It has five floors of home remodeling things at super discounted prices. Well, the fourth floor was the gold mine. It was full of unfinished oak cabinets in a variety of sizes. Score! We tried a few layouts with the different sizes of cabinets in the store and found 3 that would work perfectly. Our total came to $116  for all three cabinets.

This is what they looked like unfinished. I forgot to take a picture of all three of them before because I was too excited to get started on painting them. I did a coat of primer then two coats of white paint, the same paint we used on the baseboards.

We ended up take one of the doors off and covering the small opening with a piece of wood for a seamless look. This was before we added any of the molding.

You can see how we brought the baseboard around on the sides and the shoe molding around the whole front of the cabinets. I think that's what makes it look like a custom built in piece.

Lastly all we did was cut a piece of plywood for the top. That will get painted white and we still have a few more pieces of trim to add to cover up the front of the plywood and the corners. That fabric sample is what I am using to make the cushions out of! Here's a better picture of it.

Oh la la! I know this fabric is not every ones cup of tea but I love it! I love all the colors that it has. For curtains I am doing a navy and white strip with a two inch coral band around the edge.

And, I finally refinished a dresser I bought for $15 from the Habitat for Humanity Store. Here is what it looks like now. We are trying to decide what to do with the drawers. We don't know if we should stencil them with a fun pattern or add some lines like I made with the painters tape.



 Here is what it looked like before...



The drawers I painted white and everything else is navy. This is probably what the color really looks like...



So that's where were at. Any suggestions on what we should do with those drawers? Boxes, a pattern, stripes, or paint them navy too?? To many options and I have such commitment issues making paint decisions...

My Home Depot Debacle

So My quest to find the materials and make a cheapo but stylish mirror started on Tuesday. I headed over to home depot with a print out of the materials I needed. I found this original idea on Home Depots OWN WEBSITE mind you. The materials that were listed were in stock pine scrollwork, clear silicone, and a mirror.

So into Home Depot I went back to the wood trim and molding section . After not seeing any scrollwork there I went to the Door and Window counter to ask about where to find it. After the employee walked up and down the same isles I did he looked at me and said “Hmm we must not have any.” This is how the following conversation went:

Me: Well, I found this tutorial on your website. (Showed him the picture) It says that it is in-stock pine scrollwork.

HD guy: What’s a tutorial?

Me: Um, it’s like directions on how to make something.

HD: Oh, like a project?

Me: Yes

HD: So you said you found this on our website huh?

Me: Yes

HD: Where at on our website?

Me: Under the DIY section

HD: What’s DIY??

Me: Do it yourself

HD: Ohhh ok.

Me: Do you know if you carry these online and maybe I could purchase them online?

HD: Maybe, you could probably get online and check when you got home.

Me: Ok, so you don’t have a computer here where you could do that for me since I don’t really know what I’m looking for?

HD: Yea, I guess I could

*This is where I should have just turned around and walked out of the store and threw my dreams away of a cheap DIY mirror!

HD: (After looking several minutes on their website) I don’t see anything like that on our website. What type of wood did you say it was made out of?

Me: Pine

HD: You or your husband doesn’t happen to be a whittler?

Me: You mean someone who carves wood?

HD: Yes. Because if you were this project would be very easy. I can show you where our jigsaws are and you could use that to make these.

Me: Since my husband and I are not whittlers what would you suggest I do to make this project?

HD: Find someone who is.

And at that I turned around and walked away. Sad and upset that I did not have the whittling skills I needed to create this project. I have also vowed to never return to Home Depot again, I am now scorned. I’ve always been a Lowe’s girl anyway, I feel more at home there. They also know who I am…no joke. These guys in the lumber and paint section know my name because Cody and I basically go there every weekend for something.  I feel like there is a silent debate on this. Home Depot or Lowes. Choose your poison…which is it?