two tone banister

The new house has a BIG, wide, fancy oak banister. I plan to do a two tone effect. I love the contrast and the clean look.

                           My plan is to acheive this look

                                   It looks like this now

Plank Wall

Sausha over at {Sweet Pickens} has been busy with her plank wall project. Check out the details. I think it makes a HUGE impact.

painting the planking

The new house has planked ceilings. My friend Sausha from {Sweet Pickens} has been planking and painting lately. I shall borrow the idea and paint my planks.

                              The look I am shooting for

 

A little bit of news

SOOOO....we are moving. We are under contract on...a BIG project. Thats right. I will be doing another remodel. This time it is NOT a littl one. We wont be living in it until i'ts all done. I will be posting pictures of the house as it is now. Warning the current owners stuff is in it still. So you may enjoy that. The house was built on 1989. So It has all the qualities of a late 80's and the first touches of the 90's. Brass, Oak, lavender carpet, drape curtains. I am so excited for the projects. I cant wait to have a big empty house to transform, while not having to sleep, eat and live in the space while the projects go down.

hide your ugly router

Here is a terrific idea. It gets me thinking of ways to hide all the ugly things we have that we don’t want to look at. I hid the sub-woofer in my living room. I actually designed the entire room around hiding it. I love any ideas that promote the hiding of the unsightly.

tinting bottles

head over to Its's Overflowing for the full post and amazing dirrections as well as more pics!

How to Tint Bottles and Jars with Mod Podge, Water and Food Coloring!

Kates products again

Here are some more products available from Kate Hall. Paper cut and reclaimed wood children’s blocks.

Kates Blog
More products and More info

using what you have

When I updated my style I wanted to get all new things. However I didn’t want to pay for all new things, didn’t want to get rid of what I had and didn’t want store bought things to define my style. SO I gathered everything up and stored them like a thrift store. The idea was to be able to see what I had and “shop” my own stuff. The way my brain processes I thought it would inspire me to use what I have and give me a vision like I would were I shopping old stuff to make new again. I grouped them by type. I removed shades from lamps, glass from frames, you get the idea. I also have a general tip. The new trendy color or the new trendy style is something that I believe should be an inexpensive or free investment. I now recycle the same pieces and prey them or hand paint them to suit my changing moods and the trends. I get bored easily and I won’t waste any money on something that I won’t love forever. SO look forward to seeing my recycled pieces re-painted to suit my constant changing lady mind.

my child scratched my 100 years old buffet....and I let her live

I have mentioned before how I can not bring myself to even paint this lady because I want to preserve her history and value. My teenage middle child decided that this treasure, that I love, would be a great place to work on her science project. When I came in the room to see this I scolded her and picked it up to move it. I discovered she scratched my top! Insert tears and a minor freak out. 

polish your stainless steel with wd40

wd40 when used the right way makes a kitchen gleem.

Chalk painted accents

I updated a ton of stuff with ASCP; chalk paint. It’s easy to layer on and when you sand it a bit it blends so well. I also love to buff it with a dry rag. NO priming and no fumes and the color stay’s true unlike some spray paints. Click here for the stuff I did in arles; yellow chalk paint.

Decorator putty

I have to say I probably would have a hard time living without this stuff. It’s a miracle. It provides stability to fragile little knick-knacks, allows hung pictures to not slip to the side or become crooked. It’s the best. I use this stuff everywhere. Under candles, behind pictures, between frame and print board, under everything on my shelves. I get a little OCD and go crazy if things are skiwampus at all.

make a bed

I like my beds to be made with simple understated clean lines. I prefer quilts to comforters, unless the comforter is a duvet. 

upholstering with pillow fabric

My telephone table and my French stools were upholstered with fabric from pillows or shams. I loved the pattern on both. For the stools I used one clearance sham to upholster both. The texture and pattern really make an impact and I was easy.

PICS OF THE PAINTING-BLACK FURNITURE

You have seen the pretty after shots. Now see the way it came together.

{BEFORE & AFTER] refininishing banister

When we got wood floors I had to refinish the banister. I sanded it down and scrapped off all the old varnish. I left it assembled to do the job. I cleaned and tried it well before I started painting. I free handed the entire job and touched up as I felt it needed. I use short craft brushes so that the paint would be able to be applied with texture.

1914 Vanity

What I thought was a desk was actually a vanity. The center lifts up and inside there is a vanity compartment and a mirror. I had to repair the brackets sp0 it would stay open. It was very fragile. Its old the center is heavy and the legs are thin. It was falling apart. I have had to clamp, glue, and rig this bad boy. I was not going to give up. I got 4 more legs so that each side would be supported. I left the original hardware and painted over it. The orignal piece can be seen here. Its the photo titled desk 1914.

apothacary jar decorating

I love apothecary jars..why? They add scale while not taking up space. Its a glass outline that can be fully or partially filled allowing for neutral or color pops. Great ways to incorporate Holiday decorating into everyday decorating. There are a variety or styles and prices for these glass babies. I WONT pay too much for anything...and with these there is no need. I love Hobby Lobby on glass half off days, and I love vintage ones as well.

French Stools

Telephone Table- chatting bench – complete

I knew the final destination for this table-bench was my bedroom. So I wanted it finished the same as my bedroom furnature. I also wanted it to be special and I wanted it to transition to another room latter should I decide to move it. There was little about this piece that was special or pretty before. I had been looking for one for a while and am SO happy to have found one.

covering glass with paint

 

We have this entertainment system that is in the formal living room. The formal living room is right off the entry. The entertainment in that room is only the kids on the wii or watching movies. The side upper and side lower panels had glass fronts. The glass was shiny and it was really never anything I liked. I tried placing fabric or wrapping paper in the panels. I would like it for a while but grow tired of it. After we did the mini-remodel I wanted a more permanent solution.

before and after kid closet

AFTER

AFTER

My bestie Piper had a problem. Her two year old daughter's closet. Que Jenn Gray the organize a closet queen. I took down measurements, dubbed it Project Harper and

{BEFORE & AFTER] I want it painted black

When we knew we were getting the new floors I knew I needed to do something about our bedroom furniture. We have had the set since 1998. I refused to get new stuff so I decided to refinish the entire set. Good thing I ended up being good at this. For shots of the actual painting click this link.