Little Things

So by now you might have noticed I've taken a bit of a hiatus from the blog. That's mostly b/c I've taken a hiatus from free time, and the little I have needs to be spent on other things.

That being said, I have managed to accomplish some smaller projects over the last couples of months that I've enjoyed being able to do. Since they're super easy and I can direct you to the blogs I used as tutorials, I thought I'd share a few of them in case it sparks anyone else's interest.

I'll start with something I did several months ago now. I had several old odds and ends coffee tables sitting around and was looking for a use for them.

I found this tutorial on how to make your own no-sew bench cushion. The no sew part was important since my sewing stuff is all still packed. I didn't have a bench, but I did have a coffee table and I'd been thinking about something for the end of our bed, particularly so I could have a place to store books.

You basically need:

-A couple of yds of fabric
-a piece of foam long enough for your "bench" (I also threw an old body pillow insert in there)
-a piece of plywood/OSB board or a thin board cut to fit the length of your bench
-staple gun

For the full tutorial, visit: http://honeywerehome.blogspot.com/2010/09/mudroom-in-progress-no-sew-bench-seat.html

Here's how mine turned out:

Notice the baskets beneath-those are the books.

The pillow in the middle goes with our bed set. The other two came from Goodwill. 

 

 

 

 

Another thing I did in our bedroom was to come up with a sort of work space for me. It basically consists of a table and a chair, but it's perfect for setting my laptop up and being able to have a place of my own to study or check my email etc. The table is from my Grandma, who got it from her Mom. I put the shelves above it and added my $1 branches from Gordmans that I got on clearance while we were still at the condo. Here's my little guy enjoying it:

 My poor floor. It's scratching to pieces. I have to go back and fix all the "scuffed" spots and then polyurethane it so it quits coming off every time someone walks on it wrong. If you're thinking about painting a floor, definitely plan on putting a clear topcoat on it!

Another project for the bedroom was a sunburst mirror. I had the wall in the middle that was wallpapered. The fireplace is on the bed side, but the other side is just the dresser and there was too much empty space on the wall. I found a round mirror I had used for an art project once and decided to repurpose it.

All you need for this one is:

-a round mirror (whatever size you want)
-wood skewers (mine were $.98 at Wal-mart in the cooking utensils section)
-spray paint
-glue gun

Tutorial: http://www.honeybeevintage.com/2011/03/diy-sunburst-mirror.html

I actually had to buy a glue gun. I'd actually never used one before, so this was a learning experience for me. The first time I used it I put glue everywhere not realizing that the whole point of heating it up is that it dries instantaneously. Duh. Anyway, here's how mine turned out:

Please ignore the mess, my husband is trying to "fix" something.

If you do this and wonder how to hang it by the way, I decided to just put a few nails around it to hold it in place. No way was I risking it falling off the wall.

The last thing I've got is pretty cool I think. I have glass cabinet doors in the kitchen that I finally got painted and put back up, but they still just were a little too boring. I did some research on etching and was just not totally comfortable with the whole permanent thing. I finally happened across an idea for using contact paper to achieve the etched look. I love the way it turned out-and the best part, I can take it off at any time.

All you need is clear contact paper (mine came from Menards, about $5 a roll) and a pattern. I used this one, tailored to fit my doors:

http://7thhouseontheleft.com/2011/08/window/#.UVXxb1eVZk0

You can see some bubbling and stuff if you look at it at the right angle, but otherwise, I think it looks pretty good considering it's just contact paper on glass:

My next thing will probably be fixing the floor, so no big excitement there. We are in progress on one of the guest bedrooms though, so will hopefully have more to post when that is finished!

Project House: Updates

Since I'm stuck at home today (as opposed to in town desperately trying to finish my Christmas shopping), I figured I'd take some time and update with a few photos.

We finished our living room over the weekend and we're finally able to move our furniture in. So nice not to have it all cramped in our dining room.

It's just the basics, so it looks a little sparse at the moment. But...most importantly, our Christmas tree is up!

Two of the walls are a dark chocolate color, and two are a tannish color. Can't wait to get the rest of the stuff out of storage so it can truly feel like a living room!

I also got the rest of my wallpaper up. Yep, that's faux rock wallpaper on that wall.  It covers the wall on both sides, the electric fireplace that came with the house is on the other side. We still have yet to get it cleaned out and see if it works.

I love how it turned out!

{Please ignore the lack of organization on top of the dresser}

I also finally got these mirrors done for the closet doors. They are some cheap mirrors I picked up at Menards for less than $5 a piece, then stenciled the flowers on with some craft spray paint.

Still not totally finished, but getting closer in the Master Bedroom. That's all I've got for now! 

Kitchen Update: Phase 2

So, I ended up finishing the cabinet doors a week or so before Thanksgiving, but I am still working on little things like getting all the cabinet pulls back on, and touching up the paint where I scratched them all. I ended up painting the old hardware, but will probably end up replacing them eventually. For now it looks better though, so I am okay with spending the $5 on spray paint instead of however much it would cost to replace 15 cabinets worth of hardware.

I also still have the backsplash to do on one side. I did end up getting it primed though so it at least looks a lot better even though it's not fully painted. I kept sitting in the living room/dining room looking at the old stuff next to my newly painted doors and I finally just couldn't take looking at it anymore.

I posted some pictures of the islands earlier, but I will put a few of those here as well. They are simply wallpapered with beadboard like paintable wallpaper. I still have yet to paint those as well.

{Just click on the picture if you want to make it bigger}

Notice the old sink cabinet to the right. Kevin will be removing that eventually, but he has to make sure to close off the lines which involves crawling under the house-so not something he is really looking forward to.

Under the sink doors still missing the knobs. I had to re-drill the holes as they ended up right in the corner of the trim.

Still have to paint and put back up the glass doors on the wall cabinet.

 

**I should add how I did this. These are all the old cabinet doors, repainted them in white (they were a buttercream type color) and "refaced." To reface them, all I did was take some of that same wallpaper stuff I used on the islands, put it on the face of the cabinet, then used painted and cut trim boards to make up the outer trim. It really wasn't that hard, cutting all the boards for the trim only took me a day or so. The hardware was all taken off and spray painted.

A few more things to finish up, but definitely a vast improvement. Once I get all the detailing finished, next thing will be the floor!

Benjamin's Closet

I actually finished this project a week or two ago and am just now getting around to posting it.

Not near as exciting as some of the other things, but since I am never satisfied until things are organized, I was happy to finally get this done so I could hang Benjamin's clothes in his closet instead of a wardrobe box.

Can I also just mention-I hate painting closets? Might have something to do with why I still have yet to get my own done. 

Here is the before:

I thought it was pretty scary personally. They had lots of shelving though so all I really had to do was paint and put some carpet down.

After:

 

Ahhhh, how I love organization. I'm kind of jealous, it's basically a walk in-closet, definitely bigger than mine! 

And I finally found his name to put on his wall:

 

Will hopefully have some pics of the Master Bedroom soon! As well as the living room...and the kitchen...

Kitchen Makeover: Phase 1

I know, I know. It's taking me forever to post house update pictures! It's not b/c I haven't been working on it. Quite to the contrary actually.

Phase 1 of the kitchen makeover is done, and now I'm on to Phase 2. The final phase will be redoing the floor, but that won't be until we are able to accomplish a few other things (like removing the 2nd sink).

I'm actually in the process right now of redoing the cabinet doors. It's going to look so different! But more on that later, hoping to finish that up this weekend.

Phase 1 involved getting the icky ugly wallpaper down, the walls painted, and the backsplash redone.

As always, here is the before:

It wasn't the worst I've ever seen, but it was dirty, and there's nothing like paint to make things clean and fresh.

First, the wallpaper had to come down. That was a fairly awful task.

I didn't know what I was doing so I made a pretty awful mess to start with. After some research I figured out how to do it right and it made it a little easier, but they had painted under the chicken border so that made it much worse.

You can see to the left where I picked at it and really messed it up.

 

Once I figured out how to do it right it came off much easier. You can see the REALLY old wallpaper that was underneath the chickens and paint.

Since I decided there was no way I could get everything off, I primed before I painted. Worked like a charm!

Now the afters. It took a few days for me to warm up to the color, it's not unusual for me to have painter's remorse though :) I love it now!

After walls, backsplash and trim have been painted.

Backsplash done. I painted over the peachy colored tiles and kept the rest of the colors, the rest is painted with high gloss white paint.

The backsplash before. I still have one wall left to do.

I have to include my $20 table and chairs. I didn't think it turned out too bad, but I did discover it's really hard to put a even coat of clear coat on a table top! I finally gave up!

Okay that's all I have for now. Hopefully I can update with the new cabinet faces and hardware soon!

Project House: Benjamin's Room

 Since I was finally able to get most of Benjamin's Room done today, I figured I would update you with some pics. There are still some things missing b/c they are still in storage, but for the most part, most of his decorations and toys are there.

Let's start with the before:

 I think this was used as a playroom previously.

And now, the after:

Here's what we did: 

~Removed an existing door (was behind the bookcases)

~Replaced the window

~Drywalled 2 of the 4 walls

~Painted the ceiling, walls, door and trim. 

(Still in the process of painting the closet, more on that later.)

~Carpet (Attached Pad so we installed ourselves)

We still have the trim on the drywalled walls to take care of and moulding to repaint and install. I have some letters that spell out Benjamin's name to put above his bed as well as some shelves that are still stored somewhere. Still...it's progress!

Next up: the Master Bedroom. Stay Tuned!

Project House: One Month Anniversary

So, after a week of traveling and now a month out since closing, we will finally be moving to our new house next weekend, and it is our official one month anniversary as owners of the Oldest House in Wilton! (at least that's what we're told)

My husband has been putting in 10 hour days out there. I just work a day or two here, an hour there.

Our biggest accomplishment is replacing/closing up windows. The only reason we were able to get that done is because of my in-laws. They were gracious enough to come live in our house for a week and help get them all changed out.

Here's the evidence:

That alone was a HUGE sigh of relief.

On to smaller things, my biggest accomplishment so far has been refinishing the tub. I think it really brightened it up:

The BEFORE pictures:

 Ick. 

The AFTER. Ta Da!:

 

The shadows make it a little difficult to appreciate, but it is bright white! And just in case this looks like a good idea to you, let me warn you, the stuff stinks to high heavens and it's a little difficult to work with. You can do it in a day, but there's a reason it's cheaper than buying a new tub--it's a lot more work!!!

Nonetheless, I think I will feel much better about taking a bath now.

And just a couple pics from the kitchen:

Adding contact paper to the back wall of the cabinets. (You can see the existing painted color in the cabinet to the far right)

My prized painted wall and window. Just painting the window made it so much brighter and cleaner. (Plus my handsome hubby helping a tired little boy consume his supper)

 Okay that's all I've got for now. Hopefully I'll have some more to update you with next week!