November 18, 2009

{ A Summer Project }

As you know, I am in the middle of redecorating our master bedroom. Actually, I never really decorated it when we moved into this house. I finally got the ball rolling by convincing my husband to get rid of that window on the left side of our bed. Now, I know you're thinking, "What?" but, just hear me out...{before}
I've mentioned before that I like things to be orderly & symmetrical. Well, as you can tell, there is no window on the other side of our bed. It has bothered me since the day we moved in 8 years ago. But, the bigger reason is that it matched directly up to our neighbor's window. We could talk to each other through the windows & it was like we were in the same room. Too close for comfort for me.

When I mentioned, to my dearest, that we should close off that window he said things like, "It's fine like it is or it will cost too much money or you're crazy." You, know, endearing things like that. :) But, I was a determined woman, so 8 years later, he gave in. This is what we did {the short version}.
{before}
1} Carefully, took off the baseboard. I say "carefully" because we put it back on. 2} Filled in the window with a piece of cheap plywood. 3} Bought a miter saw. Yes, we decided to buy a miter saw for each other for our anniversary, which was the following week. How romantic! Actually, I was very excited. I have wanted one for quite some time. 4} Put on our protective gear...sexy!This is my hubby {and, yes, I do think he's sexy in his protective eye wear, especially when he's supporting my crazy ideas} :)
Okay, gals, here is a scary picture of me in my eye wear. Not so sexy. I can't believe I'm sharing it with you.
5} Bought a few sheets of 4x8 bead board paneling. We chose the wider beadboard look, pre-primed. Then, nailed it up with a nail gun {that we borrowed...who knows, maybe the next anniversary gift, huh?}. We were lucky that we have an 8 foot ceiling...exactly the right height! 6} Nailed a baseboard along the top for trim. It worked best with the angled ceiling. We replaced the baseboard and then trimmed the sides with a small flat trim to finish it up. 7} Puttied, caulked, painted and........
Here's what the window looks like from the outside. We left the shade inside the window, so the neighbors have no idea what we've done, since this is what they saw most of the time anyway. I soooooo love it! The redecorating has a ways to go. I am working on sewing up some new bedding & need to decide if I'm going to paint those night stands or not...and the lamps. Got to do something with those.and, of course, accessorize! I need to put something on that big, beautiful wall! So, what do you think?

November 14, 2009

{ Saturday Nite Special }

Funky Junk's Saturday Nite Special

I linked my night stand project to Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Nite Special. If you click on the picture above it will take you to her blog where lots of ladies linked their projects. There's some good ones so go check it out! Cuz I know you want to add more items to your project/craft to do list. Do you have one of those, or is it just me?

November 13, 2009

{ first gift }

This morning I read a few blogs {whatever, Clover Lane & Under the Sycamore to name a few} who are supporting a charity called Water 4 Christmas.
I couldn't help it...I had to donate. They are only asking for $10. I can wait to buy that paint for the night stands. I feel good. I feel like I've been able to help make a difference for a child in Africa with my little donation. What a great way to start the day. Go here to donate & learn more.

November 10, 2009

{ New Legs }

As much as I wish the new legs were for me, they weren't. Our nightstands have been a bit too short ever since we bought our bed frame. See...
So, after complaining to my mom that I didn't want to spend the money for new nightstands but, how much it bothered me that they were too short she, being the super creative, frugal woman that she is, came up with the idea to just add new legs onto them. {that was a long sentence...a run on, maybe?...English teacher, Chris?} Anyway, she's a genius.
So, I took off the bun feet... And replaced them with new, long, slender legs. That was after their spray tan, of course {stained to match & satin finish :)}...
Here they are...what do you think?...
See how nicely the night stand relates to the bed now?...
Ahhh, so much better! I'm still considering painting them black to match the bed. I'm not sure if it will be too matchy, matchy. What are you thoughts on that? Oh! and I want to paint the lamps & redo the lamp shades. And I'm working on some new bedding. Can you tell I'm finally getting around to decorating the master bedroom?
Hey, and did you notice the wall back there? That will be a later post. Let's just say, my husband thinks I'm crazy. Stay tuned...

{ Loads of Christmas Ideas }

Just a Girl is having an "I Can Make That" party. Go check out all of the amazing ideas here. I added my Neighbor Gift & Goodies ideas to the list. You can see that post here.

November 7, 2009

{ The Most Amazing New Kitchen, EVER! }

I have lived in this house for 11 years. My cabinets have seen much better days. We updated the counters, back splash and flooring several years ago, but the kitchen cabinets were way overdue for some TLC. They are the stock laminate maple cabinets that came with the house when we built it. Here's some before pictures...

My dad helped me add beadboard and moldings to my island. I wanted it to look more like a substantial piece of furniture. Thanks Dad!!!

And here's the after...
I am a chicken and couldn't bring myself to tackle a job like this on my own so my sister, April, flew all the way from Utah to help me paint them. She has done this several times in her own houses so I was confident everything would be OK. I hoped! Scared me to death because if it didn't I was in big trouble with my honey.

I enlisted my good friend, Mary, to provide comic relief and a little grunt work. She is a good sport. We started by taking all the cabinet doors off and labeling them with blue tape and a number. Then we took the cabinet doors outside onto the grass, sanded them, sprayed the front twice and the back once with the chosen paint. {That's April, below, the best sister in the world for helping me out.} Then, after taping off the cabinets, we hand painted all the base cabinets. We added a second coat before the glazing began.
April painted the island a darker shade than the rest of the cabinets. The color looked like hot chocolate, yummy.To finish off the island April glazed like crazy (mocha color) and we used a toothbrush to fleck said glaze onto the surface. We finished this with an oil based, quick dry polyurethane to hold up to all the people living in this house.

We found some really neat iron hardware to complete the "furniture" look.
The part that took the longest was glazing the rest of the kitchen. I didn't want an all over gaze, so April painstakingly hand painted the glaze into the crevices of the doors and around the cabinet bases with an artist paintbrush. It took about three movies to finish the glazing! {Do you figure your project lengths by the number of movies it take to complete them?}
After two coats of polyurethane on the base cabinets we were ready to put it all back together.
Believe it or not, the entire project only took two days to complete, and the results are amazing. Of course after finishing the cabinets we needed to freshen up the tops of the cabinets for the season. Isn't accessorizing always the most fun?
The only thing left to do is find the perfect hardware for the white cabinets, and the kitchen redo will be complete. {And, I have to still talk my hubby into a new refrigerator and microwave}.

November 1, 2009

{ Firepit Fun }

Here is the firepit that my son slaved over digging. He actually really enjoyed it. Last Sunday we had two other families over and roasted marshmallows and talked. Soooo Fun! I used a pencil and a piece of string to mark a circle which just happened to be the perfect size for these stacked stones from Lowe's. I filled the bottom with bags of stones and placed a grate on top of bricks. I bought the grate at Lowe's from the bbq parts section.I found this idea in a magazine. Cute for when you don't have a real fire going.

photo: Better Homes and Gardens