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!

15 minute mirror makeover!

I found this oldy goldy mirror at the thriftstore a little while ago for $7.50 (apparantly on sale from $15.00). I liked its potential but didn't really like the price even though it was only $7.50. Then I turned it over to see another price tag...one from a nearby thrift competitor for $3.00! Are you kidding me? I showed the sales clerk and it was obvious she was slightly embarrassed resulting in an offer of $5.50. I took it and here's what I did in a matter of minutes with it today...
Oh yeah, the before shot (I know you all secretly wish you had this carpet somewhere in your home):
After a coat of flat white spray paint and some sandpaper to roughen things up a bit.

I love the result and most of all the little time it took to complete! I will be putting this in the guest room as soon as I get the old wallpaper taken down and repainted. Ughhh, not looking forward to that job so much. Anyone want to come help :)? As always I am linking up to some great parties this week: http://domestically-speaking.blogspot.com/, http://decormamma.blogspot.com/, and http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/

Painted dresser for my four year old.

This dresser was my husbands growing up and when our oldest child turned 2 it became his. At that time I painted the old worn wood a dark brown. I bought some wooden knobs from JoAnns to use as drawer pulls but never liked the way they looked so I didn't even finish painting them much less putting them on. Today I was sorting through drawers boxing up the clothes that no longer fit him when I decided enough was enough. I was sick of hiding the ugly thing in the closet. It was time for a facelift. I taped off the top drawer in random sections using different widths and painted some orange and tan stripes (leftover paint I had on hand). After I finished the top drawer I wasn't crazy about stripes all the way down each drawer...I thought it would be too busy so I taped off the inner area of the drawers and painted them tan. Boring, right? Just wait. Here's a shot of the process below.

After the paint had dried I decided to paint a number on each drawer. I have seen this everywhere lately and although I have been known to pride myself in not following trends I really like this one and wanted it for my sons bedroom so I gave in. I free handed each number with a pencil and then using a small paint brush filled in with the orange paint. I know a stencil would have been neater but I actually like the imperfections from free handing it. Now I can proudly say that it is no longer hiding in the closet. I also did some distressing around the edges afterwards. As you can see, I still need to pick up some hardware...I am thinking some round rubbed bronze knobs would look good. Any thoughts or other suggestions?

I'm linking up to the "Power of Paint" party at http://domestically-speaking.blogspot.com/ , "Frugalicious Friday" at http://decormamma.blogspot.com/, "Furniture Feature Friday" at http://missmustardseed.blogspot.com/, http://creationsbykara.blogspot.com/ and "Saturday Nite Special" at http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/

If you need some inspiration I highly suggest checking these sights out!

Until next time :),

Weekend reveal (part 1)

Last weekend was great at my sisters! We literally worked night and day to get the livingroom revamped and I am so happy with the results! I decided to post this in two segments since there are so many little things we did working on a budget of roughly $160.00! Pictured below is one of the "before" shots my sister took for me. Yet another chair makeover. You may remember that I had two left unfinished from my dining set. I painted it white and distressed the edges for a shabby look, then replaced the cushion with some new blue fabric to coincide with the new blue wall paint. I think they look great together.

Here's what we did to dress up the piano area. First I added the newly painted lamps and candle holders, then replaced the old doile with a piece of burlap to sit underneath the glass lantern filled with potpurri. The vase was something my sisters husband made back in high school and I thought it added just the right amount of interest and scale I was looking for. The painting behind was something my sister-in-laws mother had done and the rich and warm brown tones within the painting also suited the space perfectly.

A shot from the side. Have I mentioned that my sister is an amazing pianist? I am hoping this will encourage even more music in her home.

This is a "before" shot of the wall just off the front door entry.

I wanted to keep her family photos here but kick things up a bit, so I taped off this design to use as framework for a collage.

Then we added the dark brown accent color to the wall and filled it with white painted frames...some for photos and others for mirrors. I love how this looks and can't wait to see it complete with photos inside, very chic don't you think? Everything you see came from the thriftstore here.

Like I said before we had a great time and thanks to my sisters being the hardest workers I know we got alot done! Check back here for part 2 of the weekend reveal later this week.

As promised.

Here are some more pictures of accessories I have been working on for my sisters new livingroom makeover about to take place (this weekend)! I am so excited to see her I can hardly wait! Below are a couple of candle pillars I picked up last week for $1.00 each at the thrift store. Now they are a beautiful white. I plan to put dark brown candles in them and beside them are a light blue frame I found (also a $1.00). Are you catching on to the color scheme I have in mind yet?

Oh yes, and these were all finds from the thrift store as well ranging from fifty cents to a dollar each (I have several more not pictured here that I will be using as well). I am creating a wall collage with family photos in some frames mixed in with mirrored frames. I can't wait to see this wall completed :)

Just one of the frames I am using...it needs a bit of cleaning up but you get the idea, right?

Check back here next week for some "before" and "after" shots. Have a great Valentines Day everyone (my hubby and I are celebrating tonight since I will be gone Sunday)!

I'm addicted!

Hi, my name is Ericka and I am addicted to thrift stores. There, I said it, ahh that feels better :).
Okay, so I found this gun cabinet last week at one of my favorite thriftstores for $15.00 and although my husband and I both are gun owners I didn't exactly have that in mind when I made this purchase. So, here's the "before" shot I took when my husband brought it home (shaking his head of course as to what I had brewing up in my crazy mind this time). Because of the cottagy (is that a word?) cornice on top I thought an antique blue/green color would suit it (and my kitchen) nicely...

but first I had to put some work into it. I started by ripping out the shelf inside that was used to help stablize the rifles. Then I beefed up the seat a bit by covering the whole bottom with new boards on top and some trim around the front. It was around that time that I started really thinking about different options for a seat cushion. I really didn't want to spend any more money so I pulled out my old feather pillow from the back of the linen closet and voila, it fit perfectly! Oh yeah, and then of course I sanded and primed (my least favorite part).

Here it is now. I think it needs some kind of hardware up on top to balance things a bit more and I have something in mind just haven't got it yet. This is now a perfect place when we come in the door to put our coats, bags, and shoes. Much better than on the counter and around the room. We have a fairly roomy coat closet but the problem is it is right off the front door entry and we rarely use our front door...basically it gets used when I clean up the mess :) I'm hoping this new piece will help reduce that clean up!

The cushion: I printed out a C in a font I found in Microsoft Word and then freehanded it on cardboard to the size I wanted to use as my stencil. I'm sure there is an easier way to do this but this was my first time attempting it and that's what I came up with. After the paint was all dry I simply sewed two identical sized pieces of burlap together. Oops, still need to paint those legs :)

Love the tiny cubbys for my little ones shoes (or boots)! Total cost for this project was $33.00! This included the cabinet, hardware (hooks), burlap, and paint (everything else I needed I had on hand).

I'm linking this post up to all these great DIY parties this week! Check them out!

http://funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/, http://missmustardseed.blogspot.com/, http://decormamma.blogspot.com/ , http://domestically-speaking.blogspot.com/, http://reinventedkb.com/ http://theshabbychiccottage.net/ and http://bluecricketdesign.net/

More sisters weekend prep!

(Above)

These candle holders were only .75 each at one of the local thrift stores here last weekend. I'm going to spray paint them white with dark brown candlesticks above(assuming I can find some) and possibly play around with a decoupage treatment around parts of the wood so stay tuned for the final result.

And who doesn't love a frosty white mirror on the wall? These are just a few of the elements I am preparing for my sisters "wall collage" on her soon to be accent wall...can't wait to see the end result! Oh and FYI I just recently discovered that using a razor blade to scrape off the unwanted paint afterwards is so much easier than trying to tape and cover the glass before painting and my life just got a little easier :). I picked up all of these framed mirrors for less than $1.00 each!