This cheap shelf was purchased at Zeller’s or Walmart years ago. I think it was $15 or $20. It was one of those white melomine units. I upcycled it for Eden’s nursery when I was pregnant. I had added legs to it and it gave the shelf more of a finished look. The legs were in bad shape, so I picked up a package of really nice “chrome” legs from Ikea clearance area for $5.
This is a shot of the back. It was against the wall and was not painted before.
Eden didn’t really like the legs I bought and insisted the shelf sit directly on the floor. Without the legs, it can either stand-up (as is) or lay down horizontally.
I basically used the old design and taped off the black and white colours that I wanted to keep. I then covered the blue and green with red and grey. (We decided to add grey to the black, white and red colour scheme she’d picked.) I love the new updated look. The coat of grey paint inside really gives it new life!
July has come and gone in a flurry of activity. The kids took two weeks of swimming lessons, Eden and I worked on her bedroom make-over and I spent endless hours planning our 2015 summer road trip. Today, we hit the road at 5:37 a.m.! I have 13 hours in the van with wi-fi (tethering) and I hope to knock of a few posts! One of the goals of this trip is to “unplug”, but I’m beginning the trip by breaking my own rules because I’ve hardly had the time to breathe, let alone blog and really miss it. We will be in Alberta until Monday, so I want to take advantage of my data plan before we leave the country for 3 weeks. Of course the kids weren’t the least bit disappointed when I told them they could tether as well! Let’s face it, the prairies don’t exactly captivate your attention. There will be plently of time to connect in the remaining 90 hours we plan to spend on the road! Once our “official” road trip begins, I will try to do regular posts, but I’m guessing they will be mostly pictorial. We are so excited about this vacation and all that we have planned. Hopefully you’ll enjoy following our journey.
Bedroom Update: Slowly, but Surely
I recently posted some pictures of Eden’s bedroom. The make-over was a huge amount of work because it wasn’t just a matter of changing the paint colours. The large mural wall had to be completely sanded to remove all of the ridges that were formed from the application of so many different colours. Eden and I spent about 10 hours hand sanding the ridges of the mural and the painted border in the little alcove. She wanted her new room to have white walls. Of course, white couldn’t be more different than the previous explosion of colours that basked her walls. I should have known better, but made a judgement error. We used Benjamin Moore “simply white”. The paint says its “paint and primer in one”. I should have went with my gut and primed anyway, but didn’t. The result was 4 coats of “simply white”. You can imagine the frustration. Hours of sanding and 4 coats of paint all of which required extra dry time due to the humidity. Remember, we live in a 2300 square foot 1920’s house with nothing more than a window air conditioner. It was hot and sticky to say the least!
When all was said and done, I must say white seemed a bit blah! White is actually one of my very favourite colours, but it just seemed so plain going from the colourful mural. Of course, Eden was quick to remind me that it “wasn’t my room” and she knew exactly what she wanted. To off set the white, she wanted the wall with the closet door and entry to the alcove painted in black chalkboard paint. Although she hasn’t taken much time to personalize/decorate the wall, it has already been a hit with friend’s signatures and little notes!
The only colour on the walls is found on the back wall and angled ceiling of the alcove. The palette Eden chose is black, white and red. I must say its very contemporary and even some what sophisticated. We still have lots to do, but she is already thrilled with the progress we’ve made.
Here is a picture of the mural mid sanding.
I already knew we were in trouble after the first coat of paint.
Here you can see the black and red walls.
Here is the red wall and ceiling in the alcove.
I loved the black and red with the plain white walls! However, in order to make the black wall “chalk friendly”, we had to prime it by covering the entire surface with chalk.
With the walls done, it was time to tackle the furniture. Eden had been asking for a bedroom make-over for about 2 years, but I think I had been putting it off knowing what a huge job it would be. Her original room had everything colour cooridinated…from shelves to upholstered chairs. Pretty much everything in the room was painted or made to fit the old colour palette. It was nice, but makes the change that much harder. Of course, not everything is getting done right now, but if you want to see some of the projects we’ve completed check out tomorrow’s post!
I was so looking forward to the summer and couldn’t wait to finally have the time and energy to put up some regular posts. Baseball season is over, school has been finished for 3 weeks and yet, this is only the second time I’ve sat down at the computer to post. Why is that you might ask? Well, so far, we have been super busy! We did 2 weeks of swimming lessons at the outdoor pool in our neighborhood which was fabulous, but meant at we were tied up from 8:45 am until about 12:30 everyday. Aside from that, I have been busy planning out our 2015 Road Trip to Southern California. This is a huge undertaking and has consumed every spare moment. Between swimming lessons and vacation planning, Eden and I have been plugging away at re-designing her bedroom. I must say this is exciting and sad all at the same time. I chose the colour scheme for her room when I was pregnant with her (14 years ago). Since then, we have lived in 3 places and although the layout changed and the room evolved, the palette remained the same. Eden turned 13 about 6 months ago and is more than ready for a new look that is more “grown-up”. After lots of planning and discussion, it was time to “turn the page”.
These are the fabric swatches from the original nursery design. So lovely!
This is a terrible picture, but the only one I have of Eden’s nursery. It was a real “labour of love”. Most fo the accessories were white, with aqua and apple green accents. I had found a whole whack of colour coordinated fabrics that I absolutely loved and went to town. You can tell how dated it all is with the homemade bumper pads (that are no longer deemed safe) and a photo so old it’s not in digital format and had to be scanned! This room was a huge project because aside from painting the walls, I had made pretty much everything from the fabric I had found ~ roman blinds, the sheers and canopy, the bumper pads and quilt, as well as a re-upholstered chair and the cushion for the rocking chair. Fortunately, when we moved (when Eden was 4), the blinds, sheers and chair still worked in her new room. We decided to go with the same colour scheme, but update the look by adding a hand painted mural. When we moved again only 2 years later, Eden was not yet ready to give up her mural and thus I did it all over again in our current home. This was Eden’s room just a few weeks ago, but it is now taking on a whole new look. Stay tuned as we begin to reveal the total room make-over. I know this will be a process and it won’t be completely finished for months, but were finally getting close!
Hand Painted Mural
BEFORE: At some point, the left corner got stained and we camouflaged it with a butterfly (not really done by choice, but rather necessity).
I picked up this oversized painting for $25 at the MCC Thrift store last week. (Have I mentioned MCC is one of my favourite stores?) I’m always pumped when my day off lands on a Tuesday because they restock on Mondays! Anyway, I had seen this a few days prior and couldn’t get it out of my mind. I got lots of “looks” as I proudly left with this baby under my arm. Not sure why….it’s a real beaut! Remember, when you’re “thrift shopping” it’s not about what you see, but all about the potential you see and the vision you have for a piece.
We have been making over our staff room at school (for the last 3 years) and our current project is the creation of a staff Coffee Bar. It’s actually almost finished, but not yet set up. We just finished painting a beautiful antique buffet and are now planning how to pull it all together. We thought it would be cool to have a chalkboard sign above the coffee station. The buffet is very large, so when I saw this frame (54″ X 21″), I figured the size was perfect. I loved the detail in the ornate frame and the upcycle was simple. All it took was some TSP to clean off any residue and scuff up the gloss finish a bit, a coat of primer and a coat of paint. I’m not a big fan of gold, so paint was must. I was going to purchase a piece of wood for the chalkboard, but quickly realized that I could probably get away with sanding down the original oil painting. (I know someone out there is cringing at the idea that I ruined this piece of art…so sorry!) I used my mouse sander to smooth out the surface and then primed and painted overtop with spray paint. For this project I used chalkboard spray paint, but often just make my own homemade chalkboard paint.
I’m just in the planning stages for the chalkboard word art that will be applied. It will be something simple, but the intention is for it to be a permanent sign, not a message board. Here’s to hoping the coffee station all comes together nicely and proves to be more functional for our large staff at school.
About 3 years ago, a small group of staff members at my school started up a little committee to work on the asthetics of our school and more specifically our staff room. None of us really know anything about Feng Shui, so as a joke, we call our committee, Feng Shui Our Way. We began chipping away at the new look about 3 years ago, when we purchased paint and spent several hours repainting the entire staff room. Slowly we began replacing furniture and upgrading other elements, but it is definitely a work in progress.
A few months ago, we removed our commercial coffee maker from our staff room and replaced it with a couple of Tassimos and a Keurig. I think everyone is pretty happy with the new system. You bring your own pods and prepare a fresh cup of coffee with the touch of a button, whenever you wish. No more coin operated machines. The downside is that all of the new coffee makers take up much more counter space than the single commercial unit.
The solution …. a coffee station. Our committee decided to create a coffee station that would be set aside from the main counter space and allow staff to access the machines without so much congestion in the main part of the staff kitchen. We spent several weeks searching kijiji for something used and resonably priced that could serve as our new coffee station. Although I was excited about the concept, I was not finding a furniture piece that really “spoke to me”. We actually narrowed it down and decided to go and take a look at what we deemed to be the best option. I contacted the owner, but unfortantely was not getting a response. I tried several times and then decided to check-out the kijiji site for another look. It was then that I found exactly what I had been envisioning.
I found this antique dining buffet and the man was asking $200 for it. It seemed like a reasonable price and I loved the curves and detailed workmanship and was happy that it was taller and thus more of a bar or counter-top height than that of the dresser we were looking at. When I called, he was excited that I was making a serious inquiry and really just wanted it gone. He said that if I’d take it that day, he’d give it to us for $100. It was the perfect piece and I didn’t even need to negotiate. I would have happily paid the $200, but was certainly not going to argue with the $100 offer. I used the “stow and go” feature in our van to make the seats disappear into the floor and a colleage and I went to check it out. For the most part it was in good shape. It needed to be sanded, a broken piece glued back on the foot of one leg and a I had to cut a small piece off one of the drawer to match the broken part on the other side of the drawer. (See the detailed carving on the bottom of the middle front left drawer and how it is missing on the right side ~ too bad.) We also cut a circular hole in the top (that was hard) for the cords. We wanted the finished coffee station to have a nice clean look and that meant trying to hide the cords, if possible. They will feed down the top and out the back and hopefully be virtually out of sight when its all pulled together. All of the preparation and repairs were quite simple and almost a non-issue because we planned to paint the piece out black.
I sanded and repaired the buffet at home and then just before spring break we spent a few lunch hours and evenings priming and painting. Overall it turned out quite beautiful, but I must admit that the top surface did not cover that well. I have painted many pieces of furniture over the years and have never had this problem, but we just couldn’t seem to get a perfectly smooth finish. I’m not sure if there was some kind of permanent damage to the wood or what, but it just kept coming out a bit “pebbly”. After much sanding and re-application, we decided it would just have to do. The plan is to purchase a piece of plexiglass to cover the surface, as there will be lots of wear and tear and spills and we want it to hold up long term. With the plexiglass top as well as the coffee makers sitting on top, I hope it won’t be that noticable.
Although we don’t have it set-up yet and the plexiglass is yet to be ordered, we are getting close. Ideally it takes about 20 days for paint to cure properly. We had used an oil based primer followed by a latex paint. We decided that we would give it the full 20 days to cure. We are really hoping the finished piece will be durable and won’t chip easily. Here is where we are at so far!
A few months back, we removed our table and chairs from the kitchen and replaced the table with an industrial style table that Tim made specifically for our space. Our kitchen is long and narrow and although there is room for a table, it had to be something that was quite narrow. The table we had was worn and the stools were beginning to wobble, so it was time for an upgrade. I had always found that our old table was too small for all four of us to sit comfortably. It was perfect for two and could accommodate 3 without too much discomfort, but four was simply too many with one side being against the wall. In designing the new table, we were able to extend the length to take up most of the wall opposite our cupboards. We weren’t sure what we were going to do about stools, but after lots of looking and nothing seeming to “fit” with the look, Tim decided to pick-up extra pipe and build stools to match.
I was so excited when he decided to use old tongue and groove boards that were previously installed on one of our basement walls. They needed to be sanded, but I loved how we were able to use the old boards for the stool seats. Although Tim finished making these months ago, it was only this week, that I finally applied the stain and urethane to complete them. I must say they are much nicer to sit on with the smooth finished surface and I am so happy with the look.
Now all I need is something for that wall!
The stools were made with old boards from a basement wall. Tim was sad to see them stained as the wood was so beautiful as is.
I previously did a post on how to create clean crisp lines when painting stripes or transitioning from one colour to another. I came across this video tutorial that describes the technique that I use in video form. For anyone attempting to create stripes or lines, this procedure is a must. Here is a video that describes and demonstrates the steps.
Happy painting!
There is a mud room located off the back of our kitchen. I love the concept of a mud room, but hate this space…it’s totally useless! Although the room is probably about 8 X 12, there are two stair cases (one down to the mud room/one down to the basement), the garage door, the back door and a large window. The space is such that despite all the room, there really is no place to store shoes and coats because every wall is broken up. The stairs are built is such a way that more than 4 feet of the 12 is lost and the remaining space is about 8 feet square. I have big plans for this space, but it is currently way down the list. It is one of the few spaces in our home that we’ve never touched. I simply decided that it would stay as is until we could do it right. I can’t wait for the day I can call these photos “BEFORE” shots, but for now, this is what I’m living with. You can see that it would be difficult to add any kind of a closet or wardrobe because currently both doors swing into the room. It simply isn’t functional.
I hate this back landing – it is nothing more than a place for junk to collect.
The stairs go down from the kitchen to the mud room and then cut back down to the basement. The door leads to the garage.
The potential is great – I love the beams on the vaulted ceiling.
The open door leads to the backyard.
You can see the stoop is home to our recycling tub and my hubby’s pop. Ugh!
You can see that the landing and stairs take up a large portion of the room.
Despite our brutal winter, my husband and I realized that we had not closed the back door between the kitchen and mud room even once throughout the winter. We used to close it often as the mud room only has a baseboard heater and it’s often cold, but a few years ago we had an efficiency test done on our house and were told that it would be best to leave the door open at all times for the heat to circulate through. Sure enough, it is better with the door left open. However, this big cumbersome door, when left open, blocks all of the sunlight pouring in the huge kitchen window. I don’t know why, but until recently it never even occurred to us to remove it. This weekend, my husband removed the door from the hinges and carried it down to the basement. I was absolutely blown away by the difference. The room feels so much brighter and more open and the door is no longer in the way.
Sometimes, the simplest of details make the biggest impact. Of course, we now have to remove the hinges and metal stripping, fill holes and paint the frame, but the over all look seems to be dramatically different. Of course, now we have great sight lines to the mud room that I hate, but perhaps the mud room make-over has now moved up a few notches on the “to do list”.
I don’t have great before pictures because I really didn’t expect it to make such a big difference. My husband is great, but somehow I can’t see him bringing the heavy door back up and putting it back on the hinges for a before shot. The first two photos give you a bit of an idea of the issues we had with the door.
BEFORE: You can see the back door at the far end. It always seemed to be in the way.
You can’t see the door because it is closed, but you can see the large window it was blocking when it was open.
AFTER: I’m not sure that the photo captures it, but the room is so much brighter and open feeling.
You can see the work that will still need to be done to make the door frame look better, but already such and improvement.
If something in your space is bothering you, step back and see if a small change might make a big difference. Perhaps it’s as simple as moving a piece of furniture, replacing small picture frames with something oversized, painting or changing the swing of a door. When we did our bathroom make-over a few years ago, one of the things we did was change the swing of the door. It used to swing open to sit in front of the built-in cupboards. It drove me crazy to have to close the door every time I needed something from the cabinet. Although we did a whole renovation, this alone made a huge difference to the look and functionality of the room.
In thinking back, I realized that I first became interested in home decor and design when I was in elementary school. I was a member of the local 4H Club and one year I joined the “Home Design” unit. I am not sure what you know about 4H, but if my memory serves me correctly (which would actually be surprising), members got to pick which group they wanted to join based on their own personal interests. You would study that unit for the entire year. I can’t remember all of the cool things we did and learned through 4H, but it was really fun. The groups were usually small and focused on a specific set of skills, lessons and activities that fit with the theme of the unit. I really don’t remember all of the choices, but it was based on volunteers from the community offering to lead particular units. It was great! You don’t really hear much about 4H in the city, perhaps it’s more of a small town thing?? Anyway, I think this particular unit was called “Home Design” (or something like that). Over the course of the year, your group would meet regularly to complete your unit of study. At the end of the year, you would create a final project that would be displayed at the culminating event called Achievement Day. I chose to create a flower arrangement for my final project (remember, this is back in the 70’s). Of course, this decorating tip is based on a childhood memory and is most likely skewed to some extent, but somewhere during the course of this unit, I learned about the power of odd numbers in design and specifically how to decorate in 3’s. It is just something that stuck with me.
Decorating in 3’s:
So, when preparing for this post, I thought I might just Google “decorating in 3’s” and sure enough, its an actual design principle. Did you ever wonder how to pull a room or space together? Why not consider the Rule of 3’s?
If you want to add a pop of colour to a room, but don’t want it to look out of place, the key is embedding it in 3’s. You might have one more dramatic piece and the others just added subtly to the background through a painting or fabric print. Check-out this post on Mr. Kate to see how colour is used in 3’s. This image is an example taken from the post.
Mr. Kate’s example of how the light green can be seen in the bench, chair and bowl of apples on the table.
The Rule of 3 is often evident in the architectural design of homes and buildings. Here is an example of how this was applied in the design of our 1921 home. Notice the architectural design of the windows in sets of 3 on either side of the front entrance.
The Rule of 3 can be seen in lighting as well. How often have you seen 3 wick candles or 3 tiered candelabra? How about pictures that are mounted in 3’s? I did a quick tour of our house this morning and included a collection of pictures that reflect the Rule of 3.
Furniture Design in 3’s ~ notice the three drawers across the top and 3 levels of drawers from top to bottom.
3 Shelves/3 stacked books
Avery labels can be spray painted with chalkboard paint.
Accessorizing in 3’s
Architectural use of 3’s
3 bulb light fixture
3 Panel Screen
Hang Pictures in 3’s
Hang Pictures in 3’s
When you are thinking about decorating a space regardless of whether its big or small, consider the Rule of 3’s. By applying this rule, you can create a visually appealing look that flows and appears balanced. For more great tips on the Rule of 3, check-out houzz or 21 Rosemary Lane. Happy decorating!
Ever since I made my Christmas rag wreath with the burlap flowers, I have been really anxious to do more burlap and/or jute projects. I love the shabby chic look, especially when there is a hint of white in the project as well. I “pinned” some cool upcycled wine bottles a few months ago, but have never gotten around to making my own. Although the project is far from done, I had a medical appointment yesterday and had a bit of time to myself after, so I took the opportunity to get started. This is a not a complex task, but I have to admit it was a bit more difficult than I anticipated.
Upcycled Wine Bottle Project~ Materials Needed:
jute, twine or string (I bought a 3 pack at the dollar store. Unfortunately, one of the spools is green. I wasn’t sure how much I would need, so I bought one pack. I have only done one bottle so far and used one whole spool plus a bit of the second one. One spool had 12 meters of twine, so I am guessing I used approximately 13 to 15 meters for one bottle.)
empty wine bottles ~ rinsed and dried (Some sites suggest removing the labels, but I didn’t. Duh! The bottle is completely covered with string and you can’t see what is underneath, not worth the extra effort in my eyes. Perhaps I missing something and there is a specific reason for removing the labels, but I haven’t been able to figure that out yet.)
glue gun/glue sticks or white glue
scissors
Upcycled Wine Bottle Project ~ Wrapping the Bottles:
Getting Started: I read several tutorials and some recommended starting at the top of the bottles while others recommended the bottom as a starting point. I started at the bottom by glueing the first row of string all along the bottom edge. I left about 1/2 inch of twine at the end and curved it up towards the top of the bottle. I then untwisted the strands slightly so it wasn’t quite so bulky and then hot glued it flat against the bottle. This allowed the me to place the next few rows over the end and helped to secure it beneath the tightly wound rows of twine.
This system seemed to work well and the twine seems secure and the end is well hidden. The job of wrapping the twine around the bottle is a bit tedious and took me about an hour for one bottle. You must make sure every single row is pressed tightly against the previous row in order to eliminate the possibility of gaps between the rows. I only glued the twine sporadically about every inch or two up the most of the height of the bottle.
Some of the tutorials did indicate that the incline from the main part of the bottle to the neck can be tricky and require more glue. I tried this several times, but even with regular application of glue, the string kept slipping up towards the neck. It was almost as though you were working against gravity. In the end, I decided to stop near the bottom of the neck and begin from the top working down. I started much the same way as I did at the bottom, but this time working my way down. This worked well and although the incline was still a little tricky, it did work. Of course, I was then saddled with the extra task of joining the top and bottom in what appeared to be a seamless join. I basically made the join in much the same way as I handled the ends, when starting at both the top and bottom. Clearly, this is not what I would advise.
Conclusion: For my finished project, I want to have 4 bottles. I will definitely be starting at the TOP of the bottle from now on. I am not sure if there is any advantage to working upwards, but having tried both, working down seems much easier to me and so that is the strategy I will use next time. My bottle looks completely fine and it would be difficult to see the join, but it was obviously more work than was necessary.
I still want to embellish the bottle, but may wait until all 4 are done to see what might look the best before committing to something more permanent. For now, I just added some raffia and a button to dress it up and set it on my mantel!
AFTER: Fireplace Accessory
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About 3 years ago, a small group of staff members at my school started up a little committee to work on the asthetics of our school and more specifically our staff room. None of us really know anything about Feng Shui, so as a joke, we call our committee, Feng Shui Our Way. We began chipping away at the new look about 3 years ago, when we purchased paint and spent several hours repainting the entire staff room. Slowly we began replacing furniture and upgrading other elements, but it is definitely a work in progress.
