before and after: orange bookcase

In lieu Five Things Friday I am going to show off my pretty new bookcase that I mentioned last week.

I have been craving two things for our main living space; more storage and color. I had decided to buy the expedit bookcase from IKEA. It was fairly inexpensive and would give us the needed storage space even though it's bland and cheaply made. The day before my IKEA run I swung by the Salvation Army nearest my house and found this:

I knew immediately that she was going home with me and I knew just what I was going to do with her! I had just seen this a couple of days previous and loved it. Michael helped me add the vertical pieces. I chose Benjamin Moore oil paint (this piece is going to see a lot of wear and oil is so much more durable than latex) in Tawny Day Lily. It is the perfect reddish orange color (though it appears more red in the photos than it really is).

The bookcase was tagged at $50. I was able to get 10% off. $45 is still a ton of money for me to spend on thrifted furniture but this bookcase was perfect! So much better than the expedit I was planning on spending $70 on. My thrifted bookcase is solid wood and it's longer and narrower than the expedit. It fits in my family room perfectly! With the cost of paint, I spent about the same as the expedit shelves but I got something that is unique and won't fall apart in a year!

On top of the bookcase I have a little teal lamp from Target, a rose votive (Michael bought it for me at a local boutique), two thrifted books- I loved the pretty printed covers, and a little bird- also from Target, a few years ago.

I am really, really happy with it. So happy that I don't want to put anything in it! But this house is lived in. It's not a museum. There will soon be library books and baskets of toys and diapers filling these shelves. As they should be.

Happy weekend!

the hutch

My friend Meredith recently reminded me that I have never "revealed" my thrifted hutch that I painted months and months ago. This is a common problem I have. I sew something, paint something or bake/cook something and plan to blog about it but I just keep forgetting. It gets worse with every year and every pregnancy. Someday I fully expect to forget I even have a blog!

Anyhow, here is the finished hutch:

Here is a reminder of the hutch before:

I was really unsure of what color to paint it. I considered aqua, green or white. I am really happy with the blue I finally decided on. It's Kerry Blue Terrier by Martha Stewart. It goes really well with the dining room curtains which was just luck considering I found the curtain material after I painted the hutch.

I filled the hutch with all my pretty white things. Most of them are thrifted, one gifted, a few from IKEA (the teardrop vases) and a couple from CB2.


This cute bubble bowl is my most recent thrift store find. I love it! $2.

Thanks for helping me remember Mer!

before and after: stairs and landing

We are approaching the countdown until baby! Only about six (okay, knowing my body more like eight) weeks left. In preparation for that we have been trying to finish up the million unfinished projects around the house. The biggest one is the stairs and the upstairs landing.

When we bought the house there was a really ugly narrow carpet runner that we immediately removed... and then didn't touch the stairs for the next five+ years. We were distracted with other projects (laying reclaimed wood floors, renovating the kitchen and having babies to name a few) and we were completely unsure of what we wanted to do with the stairs.

Carpet was out because I like the look of wood and sweeping is much easier than dragging a vacuum up and down the stairs. Originally I wanted to wallpaper the risers like this but I couldn't ever get my husband on board. Plus it is more bold than what we usually choose. I was afraid after the expense of the paper and the time of cutting and pasting I would get bored with the look.

So we finally decided to go with a classic look. Dark brown treads and bright white risers.



I am so happy with how crisp and clean the stairs look, especially when compared to the dingy before.


Upstairs the (tiny) landing was more of the same- dingy, beige and more dingy. For some reason I will never understand all the doors, windows and trim in the house were painted a yellow-y beige. I like bright white trim. It feels clean and fresh.


Next up is new carpet. Unfortunately that is not something we can DIY so it may be a while before get that done. Hopefully in the next six months. The wall color is the same as our main living space - Gray Palisades by Valspar. I love this color!


That skinny door straight ahead is a linen closet and the bi-fold door to the left is our laundry closet.


Michael painted the stairs since we used oil based paint. He also removed the popcorn and painted the ceiling because I am a wimp. I painted everything else- the walls, the doors, the trim and I replaced the door knobs. A lot of hours went into this but it was worth it. I am so glad we finally have it done!

sprucing up the master bath

I pretty much hate my "master bathroom". I say master bathroom in quotations because while it is technically the master bathroom it is also connected to the rest of the house for use as a powder room.

Other grievances against the bathroom:
-It is incredibly small a fact that is emphasized by the strangely low ceilings.
-There is no bath, only a shower stall. (I haven't had a bath in almost six years!! I do shower regularly though!)
-There is no window and therefore no natural light.

I would love to do a complete renovation on it but that is not in the budget currently and probably never will be! :) So for now I am just trying to make it less ugly.

I didn't take proper before pictures so I dug through my iPhoto and found these pictures from Sutton's first hair cut.


One dark red wall and the rest of the walls primed white. I hated the red from the minute I rolled it on so I never bothered to properly finish the other walls (the plan was to paint them white). It stayed this way for almost five years! I can't believe that we let it be like that for so long but other projects received priority.


It's hard to believe but the red was actually an improvement... when we bought this house the walls were dingy white and had a green and pink rose border like this:


Who am I kidding? The red was hideous! I don't know what I was thinking. Red is a lovely color it just isn't me.

My General Contractor brother-in-law, Jon, came over recently touched up the drywall in bathroom (and lots of other little projects) as a thank you to Michael for building Jon's website. Michael can do drywall but just hadn't gotten around to it. Finally the bathroom was ready to prime and paint!

AFTER:

I used Martha Stewart 'Morning Fog'. I have to say I love Martha Stewarts new line of paint at Home Depot! I have used it on three projects now and I love the colors and the quality of the paint. It has a really nice finish to it and I LOVE that it has low VOC's.

The other side of the bathroom:


The door on the right goes to the hall and the partially visible door on the left goes to the master bedroom. The center door is a closet.


For artwork we have this adorable illustration done by Shai Zagury. My husband bought it for me years ago as a Christmas present. I think he worked with Shai's spouse at the time. I love the simplicity of the illustration.


Michael's grandmother was getting rid of this painting when she was moving from Brooklyn to NC. I love the colors and the texture.


The bathroom is still small and windowless but it feels bigger and lighter. It is amazing what paint can do!

thonet chairs

I haven't painted the hutch yet but I have already bought more items to paint! I found six vintage (1943) Thonet style chairs at the same antique store I mocked in this post. I still feel that antique stores are over priced but you can get lucky every now and then. And boy did I get lucky this time! I got the chairs for $25 each for a total of $150 (marked down from $240 so they wouldn't go any cheaper, I did ask though!). I don't usually spend that kind of money but I fell in love with the chairs and they are all in great condition.

Here are some inspiration photos via google (sorry I don't remember the sources):




I am painting my chairs yellow. I finished one a few minutes ago:

I love it! My sister-in-law and brother-in-law painted their dining room chairs (see them here). They are smart though, instead of using spray paint they used an air compressor paint sprayer. I might beg him to let me borrow it. I could save so much time and money!

Update: I just talked to Michael. He likes the chair but he thinks I have a yellow obsession and wants to have an intervention! :) He suggests we have a rainbow assortment of chairs. I am open to the idea but I am afraid that it would look too crazy. Thoughts??

more throw pillows!

The morning I announced the winners of my giveaway I got a comment from Megan saying I won her giveaway. I was so excited! I never win things. Thanks again Megan!

The giveaway was from AllModern.com and I chose an awesome zig-zag pillow. I love it.


I must be suffering from the winter doldrums because I am craving yellow. Yellow, yellow everywhere!

In an effort to satisfy my craving, I made a little yellow pillow today (it looks more yellow and less beige in person). I used freezer paper stencils I cut out loosely based on this design. Instead of using the usual fabric paint, I took a tip from Vanessa and used spray paint. It was so easy and way fast.


And now my couch has a little bit of sunshine!

Linking to Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple.

green lamp

my lamp collection is growing! this one is my latest. it was purchased at Goodwill for $6 and the shade was purchased at Old Time Pottery for $7. i used "avocado" by krylon.

the color is aptly named- same color as all the appliances in the '60's and '70's. that's why i love it!

i also spray painted that little lidded box!

have you caught the spray painting bug? tell me or leave a link in the comments- i would love to see what you have painted!

Added to Kimba's DIY Day.

how to girl-ify a lamp shade

have you heard of freezer paper stencils? they are great fun. i have freezer paper stenciled t-shirts, onesies and bibs. recently i wanted to embellish my daughters lamp shade but i wasn't sure how. then i got the crazy idea to use freezer paper stencils on it. i painstakingly cut out the very detailed zinnia design. i layered three sheets so i only had to cut out the design once thankfully.


i have to be honest, i would probably not do this again. it was almost impossible to get the freezer paper to stick to my linen lamp shade and the end result was not as clean as you usually get with the freezer paper stencils. i also had to be really careful to not melt the plastic liner when ironing the stencil onto the shade.


see how smudged the flowers are? it drives me nuts!


but sutton ooohed and ahhhed over the lamp and it looks good from a distance so we'll keep it!


part of DIY day at A Soft Place to Land.

a repurposed play kitchen

remember this?



well, it's finished:



Sutton's third birthday was June 9th. This play kitchen was what I made for her. She calls it her "chicken", meaning kitchen.

This is how I turned an entertainment center into a play kitchen-

1. Took the doors and the back off and removed center wall/support.
2. Re-enforced the unit with some 1x2's and 2X2's and plywood for the back.

3. Cut the hole for the sink.
4. Cut the hole for the window in the oven door.

6. Added filler pieces under sink and beside oven.
7. Drilled holes for stove and oven knobs.

8. Replaced decorative piece on bottom because it was ug-ly!
9. Used wood filler in grooves on dishwasher door for same reason as #8.

10. Cut and painted trim for window
11. Primed entire kitchen
12. Painted the blue sections of kitchen

13. Painted stove and oven and doors for oven and dishwasher with "Aluminum" spray paint.
14. Painted counter and back splash area a glossy white.

15. Spray painted yogurt and formula lids for stove burners black.
16. Put it all together- glued on window picture (thanks mom and dad for the print!), installed window trim, installed sink, attached knobs and burners, attached hardware to doors and installed doors (hinges added to the bottom and magnetic closures on top so doors open the same way ovens and dishwashers do), attached pot rack.

17. Sewed and installed curtains.

I still need to caulk and touch-up paint the window.

This was such a fun project for me. It was a big one! It was the first time I have used power tools (like the table saw) on my own. The first day I worked on it (taking it apart and reinforcing the structure) I was lucky enough to have my mom visiting. She has been building/creating all my life. If she wants to make something and doesn't know how, then she teaches herself or makes it up as she goes. She is a great inspiration to me! Surprisingly, this was the first time we have worked on a project together. It was a great experience!

The total cost was approximately $65. The entertainment center was $20- craigslist. The sink and faucet $15, knobs $4 and blue paint $4- all from the Habitat for Humanity ReStore. I tried to use things we already owned- handles, fabric, pot rack, window trim. About another $25 for plywood, magnetic closures, spray paint, nuts, bolts, washers, plexiglass etc.



It's been a huge hit! The girl loves her new kitchen. My six year old boy thinks it's great fun too.