Category Archives: Home Decor

Bathroom Make-over

A couple of years ago, I decided to make the upstairs bathroom a little more fun and kid friendly. We only have two bedrooms upstairs and so that bathroom is primarily used by Eden and Shay. When we moved in, the upstairs bathroom had recently been tiled and modernized, but not at all what we would have chosen. We were not going to invest in a renovation, but thought that we could change the look with paint and a few minor changes. The biggest issue was that everyone was so thrilled with the main floor bathroom renovation, that the upstairs bathroom was rarely getting used and it was driving me crazy. Eden and I went shopping together as I thought that including her in the design would help entice her into using the upstairs bathroom. I did not want to sink much money into this, so it was to be done on a limited budget.  The tiles had to stay, but were a neutral beige colour that we were able to work with.  We started by picking out a new shower curtain and then built the palette from there.

Upstairs Bathroom Before:

Unfortunately, I don’t have any great BEFORE pictures. These were taken with the project already underway, but in all honesty it didn’t look much better than this.  There was a vent/fan in the middle of the wall, a towel bar below and a plain white waffle type fabric shower curtain.  The bathroom is very small and the vanity that was in there was poorly installed, so water ran down behind it and between the tub and sink all the time.  It was pretty yucky!! Here are the only pictures I have. You can see that the bathroom was very dark and certainly not very fun!

This photo demonstrates a more accurate account of the colour prior to the make-over.
BEFORE: Old Vanity without Tile
This shows more of the tile, but the colour is better in the other photo.

Upstairs Bathroom Make-Over:

It truly is quite amazing to see what a coat of paint and little creativity can do!!  My daughter picked out a colourful curtain (that I loved as well) and this became the inspiration for the room.  My husband installed a pedestal sink which worked much better in the space.  The vent/fan is still there, but doesn’t seem so bad against the blue walls.  I had the shelf above the toilet in the basement, so just had to give it some fresh paint.  I found some cute little square-shaped glass jars at the dollar store that fit nicely on the shelf. I bought a cheap canvas at Jysk and made a simple piece of art for the room. I found some great ideas on Pinterest and modified them to suit the space. You can check-out my previous posts for further instructions on how to do the subway art chore sign, toothpaste holders and the faux tiled backsplash. In a nut shell, the backsplash was done by taping off squares, adding a plaster layer, painting the “tiles”, removing the tape and then urethaning them. The tiles turned out great and have been very durable. I also made a little “wash your hands” sign for the window sill.

We kept the original mirror, but the look is totally different with the faux tiles.
AFTER: Faux Tiled Backsplash
DIY Subway Art
I also made a little chalkboard sign for the bathroom.
You can see the subway art chore sign near the window.
DIY acrylic painting. Who can’t make a circle?

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Mason Jar Toothbrush Holder

In December 2011, I re-did the kid’s upstairs bathroom and one of the projects I did was based on an idea I had found on Pinterest. Tim mounted cheap pipe clamps onto the wall that were sized to hold some dollar store glasses that I had purchased. I personalized each cup with my kids’ names using a white paint pen from Michael’s. The glasses can be slid out for cleaning and have held up well. I have had to touch up their names once or twice in the last two years, but otherwise it has worked wonderfully!

AFTER: Faux Tiled Backsplash

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Limited Closet Space

I love heritage homes. The character and custom look of an older home is almost impossible to capture in the newer homes that being built today. The amount of oak and natural woodwork simply can not be afforded by the average home owner. There are so many wonderful aspects of owning an older home, but with the character and beauty come many obstacles as well. Our home was built in 1921 and is approximately 2300 square feet. Our basement is not yet finished and although we still have ample living space, it seems as though adequate storage is a constant battle. Both of the upstairs bedrooms were remodelled at sometime prior to us purchasing our home and they both have the luxury of walk-in closets. However, the rest of the house is limited in closet space and I am always thinking of creative ways to use our space more efficiently. Such was the case with my 2012 closet make over. Tim works shift work and I have always found it more convenient to use the closet in the spare room, so that I can try to avoid going in and out of our bedroom while he is sleeping.

Spare Bedroom Closet:

Below is the spare room closet which I use in addition to one of the small closets in the master bedroom (for dresses).  The closet  is 33″ wide, 9’6″ tall and quite deep at 33″.  The space was being used really poorly, so I decided to embark on my first “build” project without the help of my husband! The original closet had one bar going across the closet at about 70″ or so with one shelf sitting on top.  All the rest was empty, unused space (other than the pile of junk I had piled up on the floor under the hanging clothes.)  Too bad I forgot to take the true “before” picture.  It was like one of those closets from a sitcom or cartoon in which the contents of the closet falls out every time you open the door!  Anyways,  I researched closet make overs and had an idea of what I wanted to do, but had to work up the courage to get started.  I am a project queen, but my husband is always asking how and why “my projects” always become “his projects”. I was so fed up with relying on him to make the cuts and use the wall plugs, etc, that I decided that I would learn to do these things myself.  What better place to start than a closet, where all of my mistakes and  slip-ups can be hidden behind closed doors.  I must admit that there was some frustration along the way and my husband notes that he has never heard of it taking so long to mount a few boards, but I literally had to learn everything.  I had used many tools before, but my husband would always get the drill bit I needed, find the proper screws, use the wall plugs if needed, etc.  I was determined to complete this project without him and at a minimal expense.

First Step:

http://www.cindyroy.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/IMG_6263.jpg

Clean out the closet.

Getting Started:

  • I had to remove the single bar as the height would not work with my new plan.
  • I had to patch, prime and paint the closet. It was in pretty rough shape and had probably not been painting in decades. I kept it white, but the fresh paint made it look a hundred times better!
  • I then installed “cleats” (I actually know what those are now!!) to support the three shelves and the double hanging bars.
  • My husband was going to help set me up to use the table saw for the shelves,  but he was busy and I was on a mission, so I just measured them out and used the electric jigsaw to cut them.  They may not be perfect, but they seem fine to me – and I did the cuts all by myself!!  Besides, at that height, who will ever see them?
  • I also wanted to incorporate vertical storage up the front sides of the closet to make use of the empty space there.  Old closets are often very deep and there ends up being “dead” space at either the front or back that is often rendered useless. I figured out a way to make this space work for me. I purchased pegboard at the Re-store for $5 and cut, primed and painted it white to blend in with the rest of the closet. I had never used pegboard before and fortunately I was smart enough to figure out that it couldn’t sit flush against the wall or you wouldn’t be able to insert the pegs into the board. I used scrap wood to build a simple wooden frame on the back. (I even mitred the corners.) I then screwed the peg board securely to the wall with long screws, through the wood frame. This provided about a 1/2 to 3/4″ gap between the wall and the back of the peg board, so that the pegs would insert properly.
  • I went to the dollar store and purchased several little nylon fabric covered bins (or some kind of fabric similar to nylon). They had cute little handles at the ends and you could tell they were constructed from heavy cardboard (beneath the fabric). I used my We R Memories Hole Punch/Eyelet Setter to punch two holes in the backside of each basket and then set eyelets around the rims to avoid damaging the baskets with the pegs.  The eyelets also gave the basket a nice “finished” look.We R Memories Punch and Eyelet Setter
  • I then “stacked” these vertically along the front of the closet.
The fabric tubs line both sides of the finished closet.
You can see the eyelet I installed in the back of the basket.
  • I also wanted to use the inside of the door to maximize the space.  One of the things I wanted to include was jewellery storage of some kind.  I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to use, but knew I hit the jackpot when I came across an old wooden spoon rack at the thrift store  for $2.50.   I simply painted it and drape my necklaces over the little rungs originally intended for spoons. It ended up being the most exciting part of the make-over!
  • BEFORE: Old Spoon Rack
    An old wooden spoon rack is now a necklace holder.
  • I added some additional pegs for bracelets and an antique cheese grater serves as storage for my earrings.
verticle peg-board storage

I purchased this antique cheese grater for $3 at The Old House Revival Company (one of my favourite stores) and repurposed it for earring storage.

  • I followed Anna White’s tutorial for making a simple book shelf from a pallet. I love pallet projects as you can generally pick these up for free. I made a few of these and use them for vertical shoe storage. They only hold a few pairs, but take up much less floor space. I made the cuts following her simple instructions and just stained the pallet shelf for a nice finished look.
  • The three shelves above the two hanging bars are quite high and very accessible without a stool. I can reach the bottom shelf, but the other two are too high for me. I use these shelves for off-season shoes and purses. (And no this is not an optical illusion, this closet really is this high.)high shelves
  • I just added my final addition to the closet last weekend. I was keeping my scarves in one of my black baskets, but really wanted to hang them instead. I installed an old towel bar that was being stored in the basement and slid on some old curtain rings that have little clips on the bottom. My scarves now hang beautifully and don’t get creased.

IMG_9063

I have to tell you, this closet is jam-packed! The “new” closet offers double the hanging space, triple the shelf storage, the little baskets hold my socks, underwear, workout gear, and tank tops. In addition, I managed to accommodate more efficient shoe storage, jewellery organization and most recently a great place to hang my scarves. I loved this project not only because the result was great, but because it truly was my very own build. If you look closely there are a few “boo-boo’s”, but you really have to seek them out to find them.  Happy organizing!

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Okay, Not So Simple Rag Wreath: Part 2

In all honesty this project is simple, but time consuming. The tearing and tying took quite a long time and it certainly didn’t help that I spent an extra couple hours driving around trying to find more fabric because I ran short. I think when all is said and done, I probably used about 2 meters of my base off white colour and about .6 meters of the printed fabric (.2 of each).  That’s a lot of fabric. Thank goodness I finally broke down and bought a Fabricland membership in September ~ that has paid for itself already! My wreath is large (18″ ring) and very full, but oh so beautiful. I am so happy with the final product and had so much fun designing the finished look.

Burlap Flowers:

I really wanted an elegant meets rustic look.  I purchased regular burlap in its natural colour as well as an off white shade.

IMG_9041I then googled tutorials for how to make burlap flowers and these are the two I ended up using to make mine. The first video is the tutorial I used to make the main flower for my wreath. I used both colours for this and I found the tutorial pretty easy to follow. I was a bit confused with how to fold the flower with the glued edges touching, but was able to figure it out through trial and a bit of error.

Here is my version of this flower.

rustic burlap flower

The second tutorial I used was from Craftaholics Anonymous. Linda gave a great tutorial that was super easy to follow and the little rose buds literally took no more than a few minutes to make.

I made the bow on the top out of a combination of wire ribbon that I purchased at 90% off last January and a long piece of burlap. I love the natural look of the wire ribbon combined with the texture and colour of the burlap. I added a button to dress it up a bit.

I decided to hot glue a piece of extra “rag” fabric to the back of each flower as well as the bow. It was easy to shove the ends through the wreath between the first and second rings and the third and forth rings. This allowed me to pull the ends through and tie the embellishments on.  I didn’t want to use glue as I was afraid I would ruin it. This also allows me to remove them and change-up the embellishments for a different holiday or look.

IMG_9040

Rag Wreath Reveal:

Here is a shot of the completed wreath before adding the embellishments.
Wreaths: A circle has no beginning and no end and thus the wreath represents the eternal nature of God and the never-ending value of love. An evergreen wreath is a true representation of this eternal love and hope, as it contains both the circle and the evergreen branches.

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Simple Rag Wreath

Sorry for the late post, but my day off was Monday this week which meant I had to work 4 days in a row.  I am so used to a mid-week break that those 4 days in row seem really long. I stayed up late (on Fridays that means past 9) and started a project I “pinned” a few years ago.  I have wanted to make one of these wreaths ever since I saw this rag wreath. I absolutely love this!!!

rag wreathI am pretty confident when I say that mine won’t look nearly as beautiful as this one, but I am so going to try!

Rag Wreath Tutorial:

Anyone who knows me knows that I am “head over heals” in love with white.  (Some day I will have a white living room sofa!)  There are many rag wreath images and tutorials on the web, but most use Christmas prints.  I really wanted a more elegant look and the example above was exactly what I was looking for. Unfortunately, some of the tutorials are a bit vague and so you have to do a bit of piece work, taking instructions from several sites to figure out exactly what you need and how to proceed.  Although a bit time-consuming, it is very easy (at least so far).

Materials for Rag Wreath:

  • fabric (still sorting this out as I ran out and am heading out to buy more today – so far I have used 1.6 meters. I am so glad I am a Fabricland member.)
  • wire or plastic wreath ring (I got mine at Michael’s for about $4 with a coupon. They only had one size, so mine is 18″.)
  • scissors
  • embellishments (ribbon, burlap, flowers, beads, etc.)

Rag Wreath Preparation:

I took my fabric and cut little slits every 1 1/2″ along one edge of each piece. You can make the “rag” pieces as narrow/wide as you wish.  Some tutorials suggested 1″, but I felt that I wanted my pieces a bit wider, so I measured and slit at 1 1/2″ all the way along. Using the slit as a starting point, tear the fabric the entire length.  You will end up with long strips, all 1 1/2″ wide.  Again, I saw many suggestions for length ranging from 5 to 12″.  I measured my longest piece of fabric and picked a number that was divisible.  The length does not have to be perfect, so all of my strips are cut between 7″ and 8″.  I want my finished rag wreath to be very “full” looking, so I figure longer and wider is better.

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Rag Wreath Assembly:

Begin to tie the strips of fabric on to the wire wreath. I am not really sure if there is a “best” way to do this or not. One site suggested not going section by section, but rather wire by wire (there are four wire rings).  I did a bit of both.  My base fabric is an off white muslin and most of my wreath will be made with this solid off white. I originally purchased 1 meter of the solid fabric, but ran out with the outside ring and part of the third ring left to complete.  I will buy another meter and probably end up with extra.  I bought .2 of the other two cream printed fabrics and had about .2 of a meter of the beige gingham on hand.  I wanted the prints to be randomly distributed throughout the wreath.

Based on my research, I knew this could be a bit time-consuming, so I set up for the job. I built our first fire of the season, got myself a glass of wine (and set it out of spilling distance), parked on the floor in front of the TV and started tying. I started by tying rags on the inside ring.

tie on strips

It was at this point that my husband asked me…”exactly what is the look you are going for here?”

I was a bit concerned that the printed fabrics would run out if I did not at least count out the sections. I ended up randomly placing all of the strips from two of the printed fabrics first. I then went back and filled in the space with my solid fabric and the third print. I tied my strips very close together so that each section was filled tightly with fabric over the wire.


I am really liking the look so far, but can’t wait to complete the rags, poof it up and begin to embellish. I am not exactly sure how I am going to “pretty” it up once all the rags are on, but I did purchase burlap to make some flowers. I am hoping to finish it up and post part two Sunday or Monday. Stay tuned!

Tip:
Halloweeen Rag Wreath

Halloweeen Rag Wreath

I found tacky tinsel wreaths at the dollar store the other day. Toss the tinsel and you have yourself a great frame for a beautiful rag wreath. I actually bought one for $2 as I thought I might make another one of these wreaths for a gift or another holiday theme. I have seen Valentine’s, Halloween, Christmas and fall rag wreaths that all look great.  You could actually have one for each season! Cheaper way to go if you are interested in making one.

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Rainbow Jars

Here is another quick and easy project that could be used in a children’s bedroom, classroom, office or even for a Rainbow birthday party decoration. Again,  I can’t take credit for this idea. I saw it on pinterest and just had to make a set for my classroom.

Rainbow Jars:

  • Purchase a set of jars at the dollar store.
  • Add water and food colouring to each jar.
  • Seal and shake to mix.
  • Place on a window ledge to catch the light.

You will notice that I don’t have all of the colours of the rainbow and they are not actually set-up in rainbow order.  I played with the order until I like it. Unfortunately, when I was taking the photo for this post, it was overcast. When the sun shines in the classroom windows, it creates a beautiful reflection of light and colour through the jars.  The children love to look at them.

rainbow jarsThe original poster had the jars set up in her kitchen.  I am not sure that would work for me, but it gets me thinking that it might look cool to create a set in different hues of the same colour for home decor.

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Melted Crayon Art

I am sure that most people have seen the very cool melted crayon art on Pinterest.  Last year, I decided to take the idea and create a series of pictures for my classroom.  The cool thing about this project is that you can use any image, word or colour you want to create the perfect look for your home or office. My goal was to create a way to display my “colour” words in my kindergarten classroom in a new and innovative way.  I love the finished look!

Melted Crayon Art


The above video gives a very good description of what to do, but I will share a few specifics about my project.

1. I used seven 12″ frames from the dollar store for this project. I did not prep the canvas as she suggested in the video, but I did end up with a bit of chipping. (Especially when the construction workers were sledge hammering my exterior walls and the art was falling off the walls and onto the floor!)

2. I bought lots of crayons. I don’t remember how many, but I am thinking about 5 to 6 packs of 64 as I wanted blocks of colour for each frame.

3. I wanted to highlight the “colour” word in my finished product, so I carefully measured and centered each colour word on the blank canvas with vinyl stickers. You could purchase stickers if you want to do a word, but I cut mine with my Cricut machine.

4. I used a hot glue gun to adhere the crayons and it worked fine, but they did not with stand the fall to the floor during construction.  Be sure to plan the order of your crayons and think about whether you want the “Crayola” label to be uniform across the piece or not. I did, so I made sure that I glued the labels the same way across the width.

5. I melted my crayons with a heat gun.  Some suggest a hairdryer and it does work as well, but you do not have the same control and get more “splashes” and a less uniform look.

6. Shortly after melting and before the wax was completely set, I peeled off the vinyl lettering (with tip of a craft knife) to leave the word in the negative space where there was not any melted wax.  The final effect is more of an impression of a word than clear concise lettering, but I think it looks great. (Click the images to enlarge.)

The “YELLOW” didn’t stand out very well, so I lightly penciled the outline of the word.

Other Examples of Melted Crayon Art

This image was borrowed from http://mescrap.blogspot.ca/2012/10/tips-melted-crayon.html Visit the site for more great ideas.
This image was borrowed from http://barleyandbirch.com/2012/04/make-something-monday-melted-crayon-art/ Visit the site for more great ideas.
This image was borrowed from www.artfire.com/nosh/melted-crayon-art/ Visit the site for more great ideas.

Overall, this project is very simple and inexpensive to do. Would look great in a kid’s room with their name taking up the negative space or even an oversized initial for their name.

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Feature Wall Reveal

Okay,  I am officially bagged. Great way to start the week, but at least it’s a short one.  I worked my tail off all weekend and got the feature wall done and my Play Kitchen about 80% complete.  Two big projects almost done.  Yay!

So, the “surprise” feature wall passed the hubby test and I am pleased with the outcome as well.  Many hours of work, but looks good.  I’m going to leave it as is for now, but I am tossing around a few ideas for pictures.  I will have to play with it as I don’t want to make it look too “busy” and ruin the effect. Of course, having spent the last two days at the bottom of my stairwell, I can now see that the wall and stairs need fresh paint as well.  Ugh!

Feature Wall Reveal

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Feature Wall Project

We have a very tall narrow wall at the base of our stairs and I have always hated it.  There was one medium-sized picture hanging there, but it needed something more.  I have always planned to do something different and was constantly on the lookout for a large print or something that would be more of a focal point. For about the last two years, I have been contemplating creating some kind of a feature wall.  I have scoured the internet and could never really find anything that I loved enough to commit to.  One idea that kept creeping into my mind was to make a grid with random blocks of colour. I have made several murals/feature walls in the past and I am not going to try to “snow” you, they are lots of work. So, making a decision to do a project like this is a big commitment.  Projects like this can take anywhere from 6 to 30 hours.  My daughters mural took me about 30 hours to complete. I was not 100% sold on my plan, so I decided to refrain from consulting my husband as I knew I would have trouble convincing him when I wasn’t totally sure myself. He generally likes the finished product, but often doesn’t share my “vision” at the beginning of a project.  So, here is a picture of the project before painting.  You can see I had already done a bit of prep on the dings.  My husband was in bed all day, as he was working a night shift.  This is how the wall looked when he went to bed.

Before

Here is a picture of the wall BEFORE painting it.

Grid Feature Wall

    1. Patch any wall dings. Our wall had several as it is a very high traffic area.
    2. Sand and prime patched areas.
    3. Measure your wall and decide on the size of the squares for your grid. The width of my wall was 39″, so I decided to make 13″ squares.
    4. Using a ruler, pencil, level and tape, measure and tape out the grid.  This part takes lots of planning and problem solving.  You want to make sure that you are taping strategically, so that you will be left with some full size 13″ squares.  You must place the tape in such a way that the width of the tape is sitting inside the grid line of every second square.  I know this seems very confusing, but basically you have to account for the width of the tape.  If you look at the photo below, you will see how the top left and right squares are 13″.  As you look down the grid, you will notice that the left and right squares on the first, third, fifth and seventh rows are all 13″.  Those squares on the even rows are only 11″ because the tape is sitting inside those squares.  All of the center squares are also only 11″ wide as the tape is sitting inside those squares as well.  I have pink “post-it notes” on a few of the squares showing that they are smaller.
    5. When painting, you must paint the full size squares first (two coats) and then peel the tape away from the completed squares. Only remove the sections of tape that are impinging on the full 13″ size of a square. The most time consuming part of a project like this is that you are constantly changing colours and washing brushes. I use the tape to complete as many of the squares as possible, but I have a pretty steady hand and am able to “cut” some of the edges without adding tape.  I am always very cautious when applying tape over recently painted areas.  I have experienced the horror of peeling off fresh paint and try to avoid that at all costs.
Measure and tape

Measure the wall and decide on size of squares. Tape.

This is a photo of what the wall looked like when my husband woke up. Luckily he got up late and was rushed to get showered and out the door for work. He said nothing. I am not sure if I will finish it today or not, but I will post as soon as it is finished.

Make a plan.

Paint only the 13″ squares.

Things to Consider:

  • Make a plan. I actually drew my grid on tag board and used my paint colours to decide on colour placement. Don’t do trial and error on the wall. It is way too much work.
  • I used paint that was left over from different areas of our home, so it cost me very little. I only bought two small sample containers that were on clearance at Home Depot for a $1 each.  I often buy the small samples for projects like this because they are often under $5.  When you are using many colours, it can get very expensive, so samples can come in very handy if you only need a small amount of paint.

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Upcycled Decor Screen Part 2

A few weeks ago, I made new fabric panels for the screen in our living room. The new fabric looked good, but I wasn’t completely satisfied with the overall look. The frame of the screen was a reddish-brown and the new fabric really seemed to pull-out the red tones in it and I didn’t care for the look.  I decided to give it a light sanding and spray paint it heirloom white.  Here are the before and after shots of the completed project.  Be sure to click the first photo to enlarge it and view the others as a slideshow.

BERORE: Original Screen
New panels really brought the red out in the frame. This photo doesn’t really demonstrate this very well and the dark colour actually appears to look pretty good – not so much when you are up close.
The completed screen.
The completed screen.

We are cooking our turkey today and my dad will be joining us for Thanksgiving dinner this evening. This week I am featuring some of our favourite turkey left-over recipes.  Be sure to check it out and see what’s cookin’ at the Roys this week.

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