Trying again...

Welll, it looks like I may be posting a few things here and there again afterall. I certainly don't plan to keep up as much as I used to but I am ready to give it a go again so to speak so here is one of the latest projects I have completed. It was a blow torched stained sofa from a thrift I found for $40 a while back. Sorry I don't have any "before" shots of this one but I ended up sanding the wood frame and painting it white in an exterior paint since it is going to be used outside on our covered patio. The cushions are in a red vinyl, which I kept for cost effectiveness and added some fun pillows to add some spunk. Total cost for this project was $50.00 and it is oh so cozy and comfortable :) Hope you enjoy!

Deleting the blog...

Due to personal reasons I have decided to give up the blog thing for a while...perhaps indefinitely. In the mean time thank you all for your support.
Ericka

The mirror is up!

Some of you may recall the post I did last January of this once paneled closet turned office nook I created in the basement laundry/extra storage room. I have to laugh at myself because it still isn't finished, but I am hopeful that because the other side of the room is finally painted I will find the motivation to get this completed as well. Onto the other side or rest of the room...

ahhh, I just can't seem to wipe the smile off of my face tonight because of this picture below. My dad came over tonight with the completed mirror for my make shift salon room downstairs in what used to be a countertop and built in cabinetry in my oversized laundry room that was collecting junk (and dust)! I am so pleased with the result! Here is another peak at the glorious paneling before... then primed with Kilz oil based primer (that stuff really reeks!)

For this project I ended up using a mirror that was given to me by my grandmother(once attached to an old 1970s dresser). The outside borders are made out of MDF chair rail and baseboard trim from Home Depot for a total cost of $29.00. I then spray painted them in Ace Hardware satin black spray paint. As far as the construction itself is concerned, I'll have to ask my dad since he took it all home and did it all on his own :) Basically he cut grooves into the molding to act as a frame for the mirror. He also used some glue and a board on the back to reinforce it all. Yeah, lucky me! My dad also installed and provided new track lighting above (I got to hold the light while he worked). Thanks to my girlfriends Adele, Megi, Ashley, and Jaimee we got the room painted in a light gray quickly. So much better than the dark paneling from before. Oh, and I painted the hardware from white to a dark oil rubbed bronze color as well.

I have to apologize for the poor quality of these pics...they were taken late at night and that is why they look so dark and blurry. We are headed out of town this weekend and I just couldn't wait to post...I'll try to get some better ones up soon! :)

I still have some little paint touch ups to do before it is perfect but right now I am just loving the fact that I won't have to cut my familys hair in the kitchen again! Have a great weekend everyone! I'm linking to:http://www.decormamma.blogspot.com/, and http://www.funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/ , and http://www.bystephanielynn.com/

House Numbers...

Is your house like mine with no visible numbers on it. Not that big of a deal, unless someone is trying to find your house for the first time and has to rely on your neighbors for help :) I have been wanting to add some for some time but just couldn't seem to find anything that I loved...then last week I began spray painting clay pots (and one plastic one) in varying sizes to put on my front step. I used Krylons Oil Rubbed Bronze color. LOVE it! Then after I began painting my house numbers (free handing with craft paint) I saw this cute post on a linky party from last weekend and had to share it. It's from http://colleenscorner.blogspot.com/. Colleen used these clay blocks and planted flowers inside. I must say her numbers are alot neater than mine...makes me wish I would have tried a little harder :) Anyway, they are sitting on the most adorable cart which this picture doesn't adequately show but go to the link to check it out. I totally love what she did with this. Great job Colleen! Here are my pots after the paint dried on friday...

And now with a little color boost. I have been wanting to paint my front door black or red for some time now...I think black will do just fine with these potted flowers.

I'm joining these linky parties this week:

http://www.skiptomylou.org/

http://www.craftskeepmesane.blogspot.com/

http://www.decormamma.blogspot.com/

http://www.domestically-speaking.blogspot.com/

Garden Accent

An old window screen... and a $5.00 half broken chair...

combined to make a new garden accent :)

I lightly sanded and then painted a very thin coat of Krylon light blue spray paint, then sanded over a few edges to roughen it even more (can't wait till it really shows some weathering). After cutting the screen to fit (with about 6-8 inches of depth)I nailed it into the frame of the seat and filled with soil and planted a few flowers. I saw something similar on a blog a while back and for the life of me can't remember where...if you know PLEASE tell me so I can give proper credit where it is due (I think the chair was yellow). I am planning on planting more as soon as the WIND and RAIN stop...around here, and by the looks of things that might be a while :) Happy Spring planting!

I'm linking this one up to : http://www.decormamma.blogspot.com/, http://www.domestically-speaking.blogspot.com/, http://www.bystephanielynn.com/ and http://www.funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/

The Entry Table.

Once again here is the "before" shot taken just after I got this $10.00 dresser home. After some demo and some putting back together again (click here for those details) I left off with an ivory painted entry table... Then after several of you suggested glazing (and I wanted to try it too) I gave in. First I prepped it a bit by sanding the edges. I didn't have any glaze on hand but heard that if you dilute some paint with water you essentially get the same result...so I did and I love how it turned out.

Finally, the top. I decided that I like my sisters end tables so much that I would try stenciling again. I stopped by the local scrapbook store and for a $1 I had them cut this with their cricut (wish I had one of my own), and the rest is history.

There were so many endless possibilities with this table and I had a really hard time choosing on a budget but for now I am content with the result. I think it represents the livingroom vibe we have going on well and I can't wait to decorate the surface. I'm curious to hear what thoughts the rest of you may have on this one :)

I'm linking this one up to several linky parties this week...check them out, you won't be sorry!

http://www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ (Met Monday), http://www.domestically-speaking.blogspot.com/, http://www.funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/, http://www.reinventedkb.com/, http://www.theshabbychiccottage.net/, http://www.bluecricketdesign.net/, http://www.decormamma.blogspot.com/ , and http://www.thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/

A little update

Wahoo for the brand new $6.00 vinyl shutters (found at a thrift) that now frame the window on the recently painted little barn! Thanks to my dad for lending his handy skills on this one... and here too! The recently purchased chandelier for $25.00 that now hangs above the dining table :) Yeah, Saturday was a good day, minus my little one being terribly sick...poor guy will finally be getting his tonsils out very soon. Click here if you missed the old light fixture.

Hope everyone has a great week and wonderful Easter, not sure if I will make it back to this blog until next week :)

Dining Table Revamp!

This is a picture of my $30.00 dining table I purchased at the local D.I. (thriftstore) about 2 years ago. At the time we needed a table and this was solid, sturdy, had clean lines, and most importantly cheap! After purchasing it I sanded the top surface and painted it in a high gloss black paint from Ace using a roller (suggested by the paint guy at Ace Hardware) and followed two coats up with two or three coats of polyurethane. I left the legs untouched because I was lazy, and our chairs at the time matched better that way. I never loved the bumpy texture the "smooth" roller gave me though...just a personal preference thing I guess. This shot below was taken just after I began sanding the old paint and poly off. Fast forward to a couple months ago when I purchased these chairs from Craigslist ($30 for 6 of them) and painted them adding new fabric to the seat cushions.

This week I finally painted the table to match. I sanded the top down again, then the sides and legs. I primed them and this time used Krylon black spray paint in the satin finish (the same stuff I used on the chairs). I ended up using about 2.5 cans. Then I used the Ace Hardware brand of spray polyurethane. At first all I could see were the imperfections of the spray paint/poly but now that it has dried all the way I think it looks so much better. I still think I'll add more polyurethane in a couple days to the top but otherwise I am calling it good :)

I'm linking this post up to a few of my favorite linky parties this week starting with DIY day, Saturday Nite Special, Frugalicious Friday, and Furniture Feature Friday.

Progress!

This morning I stepped out onto my patio to this view below. This little barn has hardly been used except when I need to spray paint something. The truth is it is a great little workshop complete with working electricity that we have hardly used. Notice the clothesline? That also has hardly been used and that's why I decided some changes needed to be made :)...today! I feel like the luckiest woman alive today because I was able to get this much done with two little boys and without a husband (he was coaching baseball all day). How? My wonderful friend and babysitter Abby simply showed up at my door ready and willing to help out. She had heard that I was planning on painting the "barn" and came to my rescue (or my kids)! Ahhh, I love her (and her family)! Casen (my youngest) ended up taking a 3 hour nap! Also another friend was in need of a clothesline and sent her sons to come take it off my hands which turned out to be no small feat. It had over 4 feet of concrete underneath on each end! Good thing there were three of them! Anyway, I ended up transfering some of the yellow tulips that we had to dig up to take the clothesline out into the window box...hope I didn't kill them all in the process, I guess we'll find out soon enough!

It's far from what I would call complete (aren't all my projects). I am thinking some shutters framing the window could add some additional charm as well as a bench. I really need to find the motivation to clean the inside! Oh, and you might notice something white in the bottom left corner of the barn...they are my little guys' hand prints with their accompanying names and year. If you click on the photo you can see them better :) Hope you like...I sure do!

I'm linking this up to Donna's Saturday Nite Special party, Metamorphosis Monday, and The Power of Paint party at Domestically Speaking, and the DIY day at A Soft Place to Land.

UPDATE: Since I posted this I found a pair of cute black vinyl window shutters (brand new) at a local thrift for $6.00! Can't wait to get 'em up and show you the results in a couple weeks when the yellow tulips are in bloom!

Finish the mural...check!

Some of you may recall my post about the dinosaur mural my 4 year old and I began one afternoon last fall. His "dinosaur obsession", to put it lightly, and my compulsive personality started us on an adventure painting with what leftover paint colors we had in the closet at the time and some of his dinosaur books as inspiration. It was fun and challenging to say the least working with only a few different colors, mixing a little of this and more of that. One thing I failed to mention in the previous post (probably because I was too embarrassed) was that I only had one paint brush at the time...the one you see him holding below. Not exactly ideal for detailed work. So, I had to get creative and ended up using cotton balls and q-tips to add texture and details on the dinosaur. Nice, I know...that's what you get when you decide at 12:00 in the afternoon to do something like this and do it then.

Here it is where we left it that evening. I, of course had every intention of coming back the following days to work on the clouds a bit more and spend some time on the landscape (as you may recall from my post) but like so many other projects a few days became a few months...

until tonight when I finally got after it again lightening the clouds, and adding some much needed shrubbery not to mention some highlights and shadows here and there (with some actual paint brushes this time). I do not consider myself an artist and this is the first wall mural I have ever attempted but I could still spend hours on this trying to make it better. Isn't there always more you can do? In the end the boys will be sharing a different room in less than a year and so it really doesn't make sense to sweat it out but I am just glad that I can finally call it done and walk into his room now not being reminded of one more project left unfinished. Does anyone else have projects "almost" done around thier house but just never seem to get completely finished like me?

Almost forgot...It's saturday so I am linking this post to Donna's Saturday Nite Special @ http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/ and after that @ http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/ for the Metamorphosis Monday Party and lastly @http://domestically-speaking.blogspot.com/ for the Power of Paint party...can't miss that one with a post all about paint :). Have a great week everyone!