Monthly Archives: February 2010

Feb26

I Spy…

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O n my way home from work yesterday, I happened to pass by the dumpster of a nearby apartment complex.  I always make a point of creeping by this particular dumpster since it often provides lots of neat stuff.  Take for example my most recent find; a little side table with lots of potential.  It went from this:

To this:

It just so happens that I have been on the hunt for a bookcase to put in Little  Man’s room.  He has a ton of books, toys, and art supplies that are currently spread around his room haphazardly.  I would much rather be able to store all of this stuff in one area, placed in individual baskets/bins to keep it semi-organized.  And what did I spy but a bookcase at my favorite dumpster!  I managed to lug the piece to my car (in heels mind you), but knew I needed reinforcement.  I called over the first person I saw.  He was very kind to help a stranger, although he did think I wanted to put it in the dumpster not take it out.  I guess some people just fail to see potential. 

Anyhoo, once it was loaded in the back I had to break the news to Hubs that I was bringing home yet another piece of roadside treasure. He was skeptical, but supportive.  And here it is:

It has a rather weird texture, like someone spraypainted on that stone spray paint. Nevertheless, it was free!  A portion of it is broken on the bottom, so Hubs will have to plain it off. 

I am picking up some feet for it today at Lowe’s so it will make it look less bulky and give it some interest and lift.  I have the hopes of getting it primed tonight, and fully painted during the weekend.  I am thinking maybe a two-tone color scheme with the back of the shelves painted a turquoise or pale green?  You’ll have to wait until next week to see the end results!

Feb25

The Garden of Erin

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S pring is coming and bringing with it beautiful and longer days.  My clues?  The daffodils springing up and the occasional warm day we’ve had recently.  And what does Spring mean?  Garden time!  Partially in an effort to distract myself from the currently cold weather and partially to give myself something to do, I went to Home Depot Monday and picked up all kinds of seeds for our future garden.

My choices included beans, gourds (for decorative purposes later), parseley, basil, corn, and tomatoes.  I’m getting excited just thinking about all the homegrown veggies!

It’s a little too early to begin planting most of these since they require sewing directly into the soil after the last frost.  Nevertheless, I was able to begin the tomatoes: Beef Stocks and Big Boys to be exact.  I finally used some of the many yogurt cups I’ve been saving for just this purpose.  They are the perfect size for seed starting and not flimsy like the cardboard-like starting kits.  As an added bonus, I can write directly on them rather than making individual tags/markers for each.  (Please ignore my terrible handwriting!  I promise it says “Beef Stock” not “Beef Stook”)

I made five of each type with the future hope of having enough tomatoes to both share my bounty with family, friends, and neighbors and for canning.  Until then, I will likely be watching my yogurt cups like a hawk waiting for my first sprout.  I’m waiting for a warm day to till up a plot in the backyard, adding my compost, vermicilite, and lime to make it garden ready.  I’ll post pictures of the progress as it happens!

Feb24

Cutting a Rug

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T oday’s weather predictions include a Winter storm warning with up to 2 inches of snow accumulation.  I find that bizarre, particularly given that it is 39 degrees outside.  Stranger things have happened!  With all this cold weather, it is a wonderful privelege to be cozy and warm inside.  And what better way to stay warm than to rearrange one’s furniture?

As I’ve detailed in other posts, Hubs and I have been diligently working on our kitchen doing minor updates to modernize its appearance.  It was a little crowded with furniture since we had placed my thrift store sofa in front of the fireplace to take advantage of its heat.

In order to give the kitchen a better flow and open feel, it was necessary to move this sofa.  Determining where it would go (to a place other than storage), proved a more difficult decision.  We finally decided we would make a sitting area in the master bedroom by rearranging everything in there.  The previous arrangement:

And after:

To tie in the green of the sofa, I hung a new painting above our bed.  It is a piece my mother had given me, done by a Russian folk artist that was  a friend of her mother’s.  I remember gazing at this painting as a child, and getting lost in my daydreams of fields and country life.  Hence, I love the sentimentality of it along with the colors and naivete of the piece.

Once the bedroom was done, I started to re-examine other rooms in the house.  I honed in on several of the area rugs and decided that swapping them out between the Living Room and Office would have a big impact.  Here are the rooms before:

Living Room:

And the wool dhurrie rug in the Office that I picked up for only $60 at HomeGoods.  I love that place!

Now, for the afters.  You’ll notice in this photo our favorite piece we own: an old horse trough that we use as our coffee table.  (Thanks again Randy & Vicki!)

I really like how the dhurrie compliments the fabric on the couch, mimicing the acanthus leaves in the pattern. 

Putting the red rug in the Office made it look much more masculine and elegant.  I feel it compliments the wall and drape colors better than the dhurrie had.

The moral of this story is that you don’t have to buy all new things to reinvent your space.  A simple rearranging of what you already have goes a long way in sprucing things up!

Feb23

Continental Shelf

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As with much of our furniture and accessories, my parents gave me a wood shelf that they no longer needed.  It has a good shape and some nice details so I figured I could do something with it.  To make a long story short, it has sat in my storage room for almost two months collecting dust.  It wasn’t until this weekend that I finally felt inspiration to do something with it.

I had repurposed one of our bedrooms into a craft room solely for my use and enjoyment.  That is until my husband began working from home and it was converted into a home office.  Hence, I had to find a new space for my sewing machine, fabrics, novelties, etc.  I decided to carve out an area in the basement for this purpose.  I chose the basement because it also houses the t.v. and Little Man’s play area, meaning that I can work on sewing/craft projects while still enjoying family time.  I knew my shelf would help to keep all my sewing clutter organized.

I could have kept the shelf in its original condition, but its rare when I don’t want to paint something.  So I gave into temptation and painted the bad boy with a glossy blue/gray to match the fireplace.  I used frog tape to tape off stripes to retain some of the original wood and give it added visual interest.  Once it was all dry, I put anchors in the wall and hung my pretty new shelf. 

My new sewing area looks so sweet and has the added bonus of being functional!

Feb22

Going Wild

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My husband knows I am a big fan of area rugs and that I am always on the lookout for a good deal on one.  Too often, the ones I really want are out of my price range.  Take for instance an animal hide rug.  They really aren’t that expensive, comparatively speaking.  Ikea has a nice one for $249.

KOLDBY Cowhide

Not too terribly expensive.  The only problem with buying it is the 1 1/2 hour trek required to get to our nearest Ikea (Charlotte).  So what are the other options?  Make one!  Let me break the suspense by saying no animals were harmed in its making! 

I have had a small drop cloth, about 5′ by 5′, on hand for a while now.  It is a little small for the majority of my paint projects, hence it doesn’t have a drop of paint on it.  After reading tutorials on how to make floor clothes, I figured this material was perfect for my new animal skin rug.

I cut the square to mimic an animal hide and then used brown gesso to paint my “stripes”.  Seeing as how I do not have a lot of experience with zebra, I referenced a photo via Google.  It made the painting so much easier and the end result much more realistic.  After I finished painting, I trimmed the fabric again so the paint came right to the edges.  Unexpectedly, the edges curled up, giving the appearance of a real skin.   With how I did it aside, hear is the final product.  I love how it turned out!

See what I mean about the edges?  It almost looks real.

I still have to polyeurthane it to seal it from stains, but I just could not justify one more trip to Lowe’s during the weekend.  It’ll have to wait!  Until then, I will be dreaming up other designs for more floor clothes. 

(Here is one more photo to give perspective of its size)

Feb19

Underground Lair

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M y husband loves reading design mags almost as much as I do and he is blessed with a good eye for style and design.  He was perusing Metropolitan Home, Decemeber 2009 issue, and came across Kelly Hoppen’s London abode.  Her sytle is simple yet sleek, organic yet modern and everything in her home manages to look so pulled together without being matchy-matchy.  My husband loved it, particulary her bathroom.

luxury-home-design-MH1209-hoppen-008.jpg

When comparing this with our own home, he thought we could replicate some of the elements during our own basement bathrooom redo.  I love his thinking!  As a reminder, this is what we started with this:

To say there are not a whole lot of similarities to Kelly’s bathroom would be an understatement.  We did replace the carpet with pop & lock wood floors from Costco and tear out the bulky vanity.  These actions have done wonders for opening up the space, but there remains a lot to be done to pull it all together.

Husband and I got a great deal at Lowe’s, getting three sheets of primed beadboard for $10 a sheet.  They were in the damaged pile, but they looked in great shape to us.   We decided to cut the 8 foot panels in half, giving us four foot tall sections.  We have leftover molding from the Dining Room, that we are going to use to trim the top of the baseboard.  We still have to get our 6″ baseboards from the local architectural salvage, but maybe we’ll get to that this weekend.  This is what the bathroom looks like currently:

So how are we going to insert elements of Kelly’s bathroom?  We are going to start by picking up wood blinds or plantation shutters in black (depending on what is carred in stock at Lowe’s or Home Depot).

The next steps will include getting a sleek sofa table that we can use as a vanity and ordering a white porcelain table top sink to go with.  As for paint, I will paint all the beadboard a nice shiny white, and three of the walls above the beadboard a pale/almost white gray.  The fourth wall with the vanity against it and across from the window, I will paint an almost black charcoal.  The final touches will include a tall glass vase filled with rocks and a fake agave plant to mimic the one in Kelly’s bathroom. 

Yucca Plant Bush 60cm Artificial Shrub Home

Stay tuned to see it all complete!

Feb18

Chalk it up

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I posted a picture on Monday of the awesome picture frame I unearthed in my parent’s house.  I loved this frame the minute I saw it because of its obvious age and rusticness.  The patterned veneer is chipping away and it is coming apart at the seams, but I knew it would be perfect for my idea. 

I’m a list maker largely because I need to see my to-do’s in order to keep them in my present memory.   Hubs is pretty much the same way in that seeing what needs to be done gives him that extra reminder in the midst of work, family life, and general daily chaos.    Using the frame to make a chalkboard was hence a no-brainer.  My dad cut out a piece of wood to inset and all I had to do was paint and secure it to the frame.  Easy!

Both Lowe’s and Home Depot offer chalkboard that can be self mixed to any color.  This is an awesome feature, but I wanted something a little less thought intensive and went with one of the pre-selected avaiable colors.  “Moonstone” was the ultimate choice because it matches the slate backsplash. 

Chalkboard paint dries incredibly fast although it does need several days to cure.  I simply have to fight my urge to write on it for at least 48 hours.  It’s more difficult than you would think!  I used some simple clothes line rope I had on hand and hung it up.  This project took all of 20 minutes and hopefully will prove to be very useful for keeping us on track. 

Feb17

All a-glow

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J ust as promised, I bought two lampshades and the paint needed to revamp my thrift store lamps into modern beauties.  It took me all of two seconds to pick my paint color yesterday.  I actually think I perturbed the three people waiting at the paint counter with my nonchalance because they definitely shot me some looks.  I chalk it up to experience.  After selecting paint colors at least 100 times in the past, I typically now know exactly what paint color I want for a project/room/etc.   

I used my trusty Frog tape to protect portions of the lamp from my paint.  As Hubs and my hairstylist are well aware, I am not the neatest painter and hence painter’s tape is a necessity.  Even though the end result is 99.9% of the time awesome, I usually look like I fell in the paint can. For these small projects, I pick up the tester/sample size paint cans.  They provide more than enough to do small projects; approximately 20 sq. ft. according to the Home Depot paint lady. 

 Here is what they looked like before:

A close-up of the original wood color:

 

Once the transformation is complete, these lamps are going to be our new bedside lights.  They complement they current color scheme and decor and really deliver an extra dose of drama.  And what Master Bedroom is complete without drama, right?  Here are the two lamps we have currently.

And here are our new beauties, showing off their new shades.

The new paint color up close:

One of my favorite things about the lamps is that they have three light settings: 1) both the globe and top bulb light up, 2) just the globe, and 3) just the top bulb.  Quirky and convenient!

I love how it turned out!  With the cost of the shades ($12 each), the paint ($3), and the lamps ($22), my total cost came to $49.  That is about what I would pay for even one lamp new.  Three cheers for thrift stores!

You may be wondering where the old bedside lamps went (or not).  I moved them to the office where they actually go quite nicely.  The lighting they provide is much easier on the eyes than using the overhead light.  Another positive outcome from my purchase!

Feb16

Career Builder- Color Test

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P art of my morning ritual is reading Young House Love (aka YHL) and this morning they featured a link to a fun quiz (provided to them by a reader) that assesses your recommended job field based on your color preferences.  Click on over here to take the test.  It’s fun and quick and doesn’t require you to give lots of personal contact info.  They provide you advice as to your recommended job, work environment, etc.  In a nutshell, I am the following:

You’re a CREATOR

CREATOR OCCUPATIONS
Suggested careers are Advertising Executive, Architect, Web Designer, Creative Director, Public Relations, Fine or Commercial Artist, Interior Decorator, Lawyer, Librarian, Musician, Reporter, Art Teacher, Broadcaster, Technical Writer, English Teacher, Architect, Photographer, Medical Illustrator, Corporate Trainer, Author, Editor, Landscape Architect, Exhibit Builder, and Package Designer.

Click on over, give it a whirl, and feel free to share your results! 

Feb16

Life's a Beach

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V isiting family this weekend was a blast and oh so relaxing.  Hubs and I both managed to stay project free for almost three whole days.  That might actually be a record for us!  Of course we managed to visit during the first snow storm Myrtle Beach has had in ten years.  We woke up Saturday morning to a Winter wonderland with branches laden with snow and absolutely beautiful.  Everything was melted by noon that day, but at least we managed to get some pictures while it was still around.  Click on the Photography tab at the top and select Myrtle Beach- Winter Wonderland or click here to see the photos! 

No visit to my parent’s is complete without a few thrift store visits.  We went to a total of seven during the weekend and had a blast searching for treasure.  I found a couple of beauties and was able to barter down their price by a few dollars each. 

I have been looking for a cast iron skillet for a while now, but wasn’t finding any that were in good enough condition that I felt safe cooking with them.  That is until our visit to Habitat for Humanity.  They had a small one for only $5 that was in very good shape.  I will have to Google how to clean it since I’ve heard they can’t be cleaned with soap and water.  If any readers know the secret, please share!  I am looking forward to making some skillet cornbread in the very near future.  I also picked up a tea diffuser for 75 cents.  Now I have an excuse to go to the local health food store and pick up all kinds of loose teas.  A good cup of tea makes every day better!

My favorite find of this weekend were a pair of lamps.  I am always on the lookout for neat lamps and, even though I didn’t really need them, I couldn’t pass them up.  They were originally marked $15 a piece, but after a bit of negotiation the lady sold them both for $22.  Yay!  I am planning on painting the wood part a charcoal gray tonight and picking up a pair of black drum shades this afternoon.  I have a feeling they are going to look amazing!  One of the things I love best is that the bottom globe lights up as well, providing subtle lighting for a console or sofa table. 

My last treasure find for the weekend was hidden away in of one my parent’s spare closets.  The frame has a great patina and I adore how aged it looks.  My dad cut out a piece of wood to inset in the back that I will paint with green chalkboard paint.  It seems a lot of people are sick of the chalkboard paint trend, but I must admit I still love it!

I find the detail beautiful.

Even though we did not undertake any projects, Hubs, Little Man, and I had an awesome time seeing everyone.  It was an overall great weekend!