Tearin' It Down

I'm back with another house update that I completed.  This one was not really one I had planned but now that it is finished everything looks so much better.

First, let me just tell you that when it comes to this house my parents crack me up on what they want to get done.  My dad said "leave this wall alone and it'll be fine" but my mom said "sure go ahead and tear down that wallpaper."  That was enough for me!  Literally the moment I hung up with my mom I went straight over to the wall and grabbed a piece of wallpaper and ripped it off.  There was no going back then. 

When my parents bought this house years ago it had wallpaper everywhere.  My parents eventually took it all down except for this one wall in the entryway.  Don't know why they didn't finish this wall.  Maybe they were just tired of ripping and tearing and painting. 

Here's a look at the before.  Old grandma wallpaper and brass chandelier that works but all the bulbs are burned out on. 

When I said I grabbed a huge piece of wallpaper I meant it.  This is where I started.  I figured I could grab an edge of the wallpaper under the light switch.  So that's what I did.  Within 20 minutes this was the mess I had created. 

I started out using the tried and true method of using fabric softener mixed with water in a spray bottle.  It worked but it was just sooooo slow.  We ended up using a steamer to get the rest of the wallpaper off.

These walls were weird.  Up high over the arch there is texture.  The wall on the left of the window had a little texture and the wall on the right had no texture.  I had to make it all even and look like this was always supposed to look this way.  I bought a can of the knockdown texture and started spraying.

I hadn't ever done texture before so I was a little nervous.  But you can't really mess up texture so it's easy to figure out and get a system down. 

Once all the texture was dry I started painting these walls to match the rest of the living room walls.  While I was in paint mode I went ahead and painted the trim around the door and windows and baseboards.

Oh and I painted the front door too!

This whole thing took about 2 weeks to complete.  It took longer than I had hoped but that happens when you're interrupted by kids 500 times.

A look at the before:

And after:

You can see Matt took down the old dust catcher chandelier and put up a recessed light.  The living room has recessed lights so now it all matches.

Outside before:

Outside after:

We replaced the door knob, knocker, and kick plate.  Doesn't this look so much better?!?  The fun summer doormat is from Hobby Lobby.

The paint color is Chelsea Gray from Benjamin Moore. 

Tip: If don't need a full gallon of paint go to Sherwin Williams and get a sample size of paint.  It's cheap (like $5) and you get a good amount of paint in Satin finish.  I painted the door with one sample can of paint in Chelsea Gray.  You can also use Sherwin Williams coupons for their sample sizes too.  There is usually a 30% off coupon on their website.

I'm almost finished with the boys room update so I'll be back next week with that reveal.

Sassy Brassy

I love accessories!  I love all the fun things you can do with them.  Put them on bookshelves, end tables, night stands.  The possibilities are endless.  When I'm out at thrift stores I really have to control myself because I might just turn into a hoader.  Especially when it comes to brass accessories. 

I don't mean brass like the old outdated light fixtures or doorknobs.  I mean like real brass.  You can always tell real brass if the item is heavy.  The fake stuff will be light and not weigh as much.  So while I was out recently I have found some really great brass accessories. 

While I don't have a place for them yet, someday I will.  And I won't care if brass is not in style anymore because I'll always love it. 

Check out the examples I found on the quick Pinterest search.

Source



Source

 

Source

 

So what did I find?  Take a look.

 

 

 I LOVE this vase.  On the bottom says it was made in India.  The intricate details on this vase are just beautiful.  It was dirty when I bought it from Salvation Army but I polished it to look new again.  I really can't stop looking at it because it's so pretty. 

 This tree was just funky and unique.  The brass is in perfect condition and so I didn't have to do anything to it. 

Back during Christmas I found this cute little reindeer at Salvation Army.  There was a red bow on the reindeer but I took it off.  Sidenote...this reindeer has been sitting on my microwave since Christmas.  Colten has recently discovered it and now carries it around singing "Jingle Bells". 

So what I'll do with these I don't really know yet but I'm just glad I found them.

I hope you find some awesome treasures too.

The Kitchen Is Finished (Almost)

Who's ready for summer??  My goodness I sure am!  It's March and there is snow on the ground here and I just find the whole thing ridiculous.  Bring on the flip flops and warm weather already.

Well, I have finally finished the kitchen updates.  At least I have finished my parts.  I say that because the kitchen still has maroon countertops.  When we move out of this house my parents are going to update the countertops with one of those kits and put in a new sink.  It's best to wait until we are no longer in the house so the countertops do not get messed up and they'll look new for when they sell the house. 

So for now just imagine the countertops white with gray mixed in there.  Let's start with the ugly before pictures.

I had already started painting when I remembered to take a before picture.  These are real wood cabinets.  Not the cheap builder grade cabinets.  After years of use they were just gross and dirty. 

The cabinets above the stove have always been in the way when trying to carry on a conversation with someone sitting at the bar.  You would have to bend down to see them and talk.  It was just annoying and weird. 

After much convincing and begging to my mom she finally let us take down the cabinets above the stove.  Our plan was to take the cabinet on the far left and move it beside the cabinet on the far right. 

This is the view from the other side of the cabinets.  See how they were just blocking everything off.  Piece by piece we tore down the cabinets.

Holy wow!  What a difference it made by taking the cabinets down.  Yes, we lost a little bit of cabinet space but it is worth it for the openness it gives to this small kitchen.

Are you ready for the after pictures?

Now all the light from the bay window shines in and you can speak to someone without bending down to look at them. 

I painted all the upper cabinets just plain ol' regular white.  The bottom cabinets are painted in Light French Gray from Sherwin Williams.  I also painted the window ledge white to match the cabinets.  I will paint the wood in front of the bar stools but that will be done shortly before we move as well.  I don't want the boys kicking and scratching up the paint. 

Did you notice the lighting was different too?  We took the bronze light fixture in the center of the kitchen and moved it to another spot in the house.  The brass light fixture over the sink was turned into a recessed light and we added more recessed lights over the bar and in the kitchen area.  Now there's 7 lights in this area instead of just 2. 

To save money I spray pained all the knobs and handles brushed nickel on the cabinets.  I had planned on painting the hinges as well but they were beyond gross so we replaced them all.

That about does it for this room.  Now on to the next project.  We still need to paint all the doors and trim, paint bathroom cabinets in both bathrooms, paint the walls in the boys room, and paint the mantel around the fireplace. 

I better get busy!

A "New" Way to Store Spices

Well hello friends!  It has been quite some time since I did a post about anything.  I miss doing regular posts but I just don't have time currently with Autumn being so small.  But I did manage to do a very easy and simple update that I thought I would share.

Now, I'm sure we've all looked on Pinterest for spice storage ideas.  There's only about a million ideas out there.  So I'm going to make it a million and one. 

I've tried a few different things over the years when it comes to spice racks and storage.  In our last house I had Ikea spice racks mounted on the inside of our pantry door.  I loved the storage that way.  I used the plastic Gerber baby food containers to put the spices in. 

After doing the storage that way I noticed really quickly the spices would spill out of the bottom of the containers.  I didn't lay the containers flat on the racks but instead propped them up so I could see the label on the lid.  It didn't spill much but it was enough to be annoying but I just lived with it.

Now that Autumn is big enough to get baby food I'm going through jars pretty quickly.  I give her the Beech Nut brand baby food.  I love the jars the food comes in.  They're the perfect size for spices and the same amount of jars fit on the Ikea racks. 

So after I finish a jar I take the label off and wash the jar.  The label sometimes leaves a residue but it's not anything that Goo Be Gone can't fix. 

Then I spray painted the lid just whatever color I had on hand.

Yesterday I bought myself a label maker so what better way to test it out than by making labels for my spice jars.

Isn't that cute?!?  The jars are 4.25 ounces in size.  Beech Nut does have other jars but they're short and squatty.  I like these better because they are taller and just look nicer. 

If you're in the market for spice jars go buy some baby food even if you don't have a baby.  These are about $.80 each at Walmart.  That's a pretty good price for spice jars.  I've seen the same size for much more on other sites.

That's it!  I hope I have revolutionized your spice storage world. 

Tales From the Crib

Happy Thursday!  I hope everyone is having a great week.  Last week school started again so I only have 2 kids at home.  At least for now.  Baby girl will be here very soon! 

I thought since baby girl will be here before we know it I would share the details on the crib makeover that I finally completed. 

We bought this crib almost 7 years ago off Craigslist when I was pregnant with Levi.  Back then I had a love of cherry wood cribs and dressers.  My taste was totally different then.  After seeing this crib white I wish I would have painted this sooner.  Oh well!

Since this is our last baby I didn't want to spend a bunch of money on a new white crib so I figured I could just spray paint this for a lot less.  After 3 boys sleeping in this crib there were a lot of teeth marks, scratches, and scuffs but I didn't care.

 

I wasn't about to sand this whole thing down so I saved myself the trouble and bought 5 cans of the oil based primer.  It worked perfectly.

I sprayed all the pieces down on one side then I let them sit for a few days.  Once the side I had painted was cured I flipped the pieces over and did the same thing.  I did lightly sand down any rough spots from the primer in between coats on each side. 

I made another trip to Lowes and picked up another 5 cans of spray paint by Valspar in just plain white with a Satin finish.  Then I went back to work painting.  When everything was painted all white I sealed it off with Valspar Clear Gloss Sealer in the can.   

 

 

Overall, painting the crib took about a week.  It is not perfect but ask me if I care!  I spent around $50-$60 on all the spray paint which is cheaper than a new crib. 

I'll be back soon with the details on the bedding that I used and how I made the crib skirt.  Yeah, I busted out my sewing machine for that one.

Goodwill Rescue: Old Chair-New Life

Hey hey!  It seems it has been a while since I did any sort of post on the good ol blog.  I haven't really done any projects over the last few months due to moving and the growing monster in my stomach.  But I do have a "to do" list that I would like to get completed before baby arrives in just a few weeks. 

One of the projects that I wanted to complete was finishing up the Goodwill chair I bought last November while we were still in Wyoming.

When I saw this chair I felt like I did the slow motion run across the store to snatch it up before someone else did.  Why would someone give up such an amazing chair?  I do not know!

Back then I got busy as quickly as possible to finish the chair.  But it was already November and it was freezing or way below freezing at times which made it very difficult to complete this makeover. 

I did manage to prime the chair, take off the fabric on the cushion, and take off the fabric on the chair itself.  I went to Jo-Ann Fabrics and picked out a clearance fabric that is soft and I loved.  Then I recovered the cushion and dragged it down to the basement.

This is how it sat in the basement until we moved back to Texas in May.

Once here in Texas I pulled this chair out of our storage unit and realized there were a lot of nicks and scratches where the primer had come off from the move.  I pulled out the putty and filled in nicks and dents to make it look good again. 

I went to Lowes and bought Valspar Primer+Paint in white and got to work finishing this chair off.  After letting the paint sit for a few days then I sealed it with a clear gloss coat of spray paint also by Valspar.

Here is the beauty as of today.

I added the nailhead trim at the bottom to hold the fabric in place. 

Sidenote: doing nailhead trim just about drove me to the crazy house.  I'm too much of a perfectionist and that trim is anything but perfect.  But it works for now.  Notice I said "for now" because I'm not happy with those nails.  I discovered the nailhead trim by the yard and will eventually replace all that crookedness. 

I can officially mark this project off my list!

It's A Jungle In Here!

Only a little over a week left until we leave for Wyoming.  As it gets closer and closer the more nervous, excited and scared I become.  I'm just one big ball of emotions right now. 

With every child I've tried to create an awesome nursery but it's never really worked out.  I tried to make a sports themed room for Levi.  Flop!  Then with Jaxon I did the jungle animal theme.  Semi-flop.  If I could do it all over again I would have done things completely different.

There was a point in my pregnancy with Colten where we were told that he was going to be a she.  So I had plans to paint this room the color that is now in our laundry room.  Once we found out that the she was really a he, all plans of painting this room were scrapped.  Did you follow that?

I found online some really great and inexpensive rub on designs that are made to look like hand painted murals.  So I picked the jungle theme and during my pregnancy with Jaxon we put them up on the wall. 

This room looks better from where it started but it's not necessarily my favorite. 

Let's look at the before shall we?

 

 

These pictures are horrible.  Unless you have a wide angle lens you can't get a full room picture in here. 

When we bought the house the walls were just plain white.  We tried to improve this by painting them a creamy color.  When Levi was an only child we used this room as the guest room also. 

We purchased a new fan and added crown moulding.  You can kinda see the old ugly fan in the above picture.  I'm not even going to try to get a good shot of this room so I'll just show you the one the professional photographer took when we listed our house.

 

This is a cute room but I'm just not 100% satisfied with it.  I can't do anything about it now since this house is no longer ours but if we have another child I'm going to do my best to give them a perfect nursery. 
 
Have a great week!


Sources:
Wall color-Cottage Cream by Sherwin Williams
Wall mural-Tatouage

My Grandmother's Table



Before we leave I wanted to finish one last furniture project.  It was a total last minute project and I knew I had to finish it quickly or Matt would go crazy. 

 

In our room in Wyoming we won't have much space.  Matt will need a place to do his school work so I came up with an idea for a desk.  I believe this will fit in our room but we'll see when we get there in a few weeks.

 

This is my Grandmother's sewing table.  It is very special to me.  I remember when I was younger my cousin and I would play "bank" with this desk.  I would open the door to get the money out and hand it to her.  I love this table and will cherish it forever. 

 

 

The sewing machine that was in here weighed a ton!  A while back I plugged in the machine to see if it still worked.  Surprisingly, it did still work but it started to smoke.  I figured that's not good so we took out all the "guts" and now the table is so much lighter. 

 



I used oil based primer and primed this whole piece.  Sadly, this is not real wood so sanding this wasn't an option.  In the picture I didn't prime the top because I originally thought the top was real wood but later I discovered it wasn't.

 

After priming the whole table I took out that wood piece that was behind the door.  I wanted to add a place to store the computer or to put papers that Matt needs so I added a shelf here instead.

 



All the years I've had this table I've always thought the handle was black.  As I was just about to spray paint the handle black I saw a glimmer of something in the light.  So I started scrubbing this handle.  The more I scrubbed the more brass I saw underneath.  After 1 1/2 hours of scrubbing this handle it almost looks new.

 



So pretty and I love that there still is a little bit of the aged look to the handle.

 

Are you ready for the final product?

 

 

 

See how gorgeous that handle is with the new paint color?  It's perfect! 

 

How about a look at the set up?

 



The piece that the computer is resting on will have support brackets underneath it so that it won't break off when using the computer.  The printer is resting on a platform that I made to cover the hole where the sewing machine folded out.  I painted the platform gold to match the handle.

 

Oh and the inside looks like this.

 

 

I had to cut new support pieces for all four corners and put a new magnet in for the door.  The computer fits perfectly in here.  The basket on the door can hold pens, pencils, or whatever else Matt may need.

 

 

Before

 

 

 

After

 

I think that my Grandmother would be proud of me and ok that I painted her table.  I love the way this turned out. 

 

Do you know the best part of this project?  It was all free!  I think that was Matt's favorite part too.  I used everything we had on hand.

 



Have a great week!  I have another room in our house coming up this week.