Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Vintage Perfume and Chalk Paint

                        
I have two matching wood boxes that I bought 5 years ago to display in my bookcases.  The brown and gold boxes no longer fit in with my cottage-style look, so makeover time!!

I was inspired by my friend, Myric, from Petites Passions who had just made over a galvanized vase with a Graphics Fairy image that I fell in love with.  To see Myric's post, click HERE  So I took the first box and painted it with a chalk paint creamy white and then I distressed it heavily.
BEFORE

I used two of the same label, one mod podged on the front and one on the top, and then I wiped some aqua paint lightly over the top of the whole box.




 I love it!!
Box #2
BEFORE
I painted it with a cream base and then dry-brushed with aqua over the top.  I went through the Graphics Fairy site until I found another rose label.  This one had two parts to it, the label and then a border with the company's initials inscribed in the center.



Gotta love the Graphics Fairy and Mod Podge!!  I quite love both of these boxes now.  So much better than the dark brown and they fit into my new decorating scheme.

Have a fabulous and creative week!

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Saturday, April 21, 2012

The Turquoise Door


Remember this door?  From my "I painted my 1930s wood trim" post??
I was going to remove it and replace it with a cool door that I've been packing around forever, but there's this room on Pinterest that keeps popping up and every time I see it I think "oh yeah baby"!!
                    
I adore this entire room...  but I'll settle for the door (I'm still trying to figure out why a stack of towels is necessary in the living room, but heck, I say go for it if it makes you happy!)

So out comes the paint AGAIN!  I think when I'm finally done this house, I am going to take a good, long break from paint.

I washed the door down with TSP and primed it with Zinsser's Cover Stain primer (oil based).  I was so excited to see the aqua, I'm glad it only took 1 hour for the primer to dry before I could start painting!  Love, love, love this colour!!!!

And in case you haven't been following along, here is the room 2 years ago when I first moved in:

Oh so much better now!!!!


And while I had the primer out, I also finished priming the trim in my hallway.  And because I primed the trim, I went ahead and painted the trim & the walls & the ceiling - the hall looks like it was hosed down with my special blend coffee cream paint!!  Well, ok, so I didn't do the ceiling, but it felt like I did!

Hallway Before

 and this shot to show you how YELLOW the hall was before.  Plus the weird trim detail of the doors.

Yes, there's Eloise again, always trying to get in the photos.
Hallway After:

            BEFORE                                        AFTER


Oh and btw, that thing on the floor of the far doorway is Maggie's tail.  I wanted to get that straight before a certain "dust bunnies are the next pet rock"  friend of mine decided to pounce on it as a major money maker...

Hmmmm looking at that kitchen of mine now...  watch out cabinets!  Here I come!

lol - I think I may need a paint intervention.  Or a holiday away from home.  Yeah, a holiday away from home, somewhere with a beach.  Who's in??  We could have a blogger's 4-day vacation convention with no rules and no presentations and no formalities, just a "let's all hang out in person" convention.  On a beach.  With fruity drinks.  And cabana boys...

Have a fabulous week!

Linking to these fabulous parties:
Point of View Door Link Party
Share Your Space
2805
Days of Chalk & Chocolate
Classy Clutter     Jennifer Rizzo
Adventures in Dinner
At the Picket Fence
the Charm of Home     the Brambleberry Cottage
Rooted in Thyme
Stuff & Nonsense     Common Ground
French Country Cottage
the Vintage Farmhouse
From My Front Porch to Yours
Thrifty Decorating
The Shabby Creek Cottage
Saavy Southern Style     DIY by Design
the Shady Porch
the Stuff of Success     Domestically Speaking
Ivy & Elephants
Clean & Scentsible     Knick of Time
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
homework
Not Just a House Wife
a bowl full of Lemons     Cedar Hill Ranch
Creatively Living
Coastal Charm     the House in the Roses
Mod Vintage Life

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Thursday, April 19, 2012

The Bookcase Odyssey

You ever have one of those projects that just seems to go sideways from the start?  Sigh.  Home made chippy paint experiment #3.  You'd think I would have learned by now... but no, I'm a sucker for punishment.   Next up - my Ikea Markor bookcases.

It wasn't until I took this photo to show off my newly painted trim that it dawned on me - these bookcases look awful in this space!!



They were fabulous in my log home, but in this house that is rapidly becoming a tribute to Shabby Chic, they had to change.  Quick fix, I think to myself.  I'll use chippy paint & have the whole project done in 4 hours!

I emptied the contents of the bookcases and put everything on my dining room table.  I can't believe how much stuff I had in those bookcases!  It looked pretty sparse to me, but holy cow when, everything is loaded onto a single surface and towering halfway to the ceiling I start wondering if I shouldn't do some more purging.

I washed the bookcases down with TSP, swatting Maggie the cat out of the way every few minutes.  Maggie thinks she makes a very good supervisor, but I find her rather annoying at times.   I mixed the Plaster of Paris into some water and into a 2 cup container of  paint.  I made just enough paint, I thought, to do two coats but those bookcases really sucked that paint right in and I wound up having to mix up another batch to start the second coat of paint.   Even after that second coat, the paint seemed really blotchy and I began to lose hope of this being a quick and easy project.  It had taken me Friday evening and all day Saturday so far, more than three times as long as I figured it would and now it looked like I was about to spend all day Sunday working on it as well...

Then I saw Mimi's post on her fabulous French chair makeover - if you haven't seen it yet, click HERE.  I love this chair and the finish and then I got excited about my bookcases!!  I can do this in the same look and save the 3rd coat of paint.  So I began sanding.  I didn't sand nearly as much as Mimi did, but with a coat of Minwax Furniture Paste in the dark wax shade, the bookcases looked fabulous.
Bookcase on the left has a coat of wax, bookcase on the right does not.
Hard to tell from these photos, but you can take my word for it!  Once the wax has set up for half an hour and been buffed, the surface has a nice sheen that protects it from being scratched.  Then the reloading of the shelves begins!

Much better!
BEFORE
                                                                AFTER
Have a happy and creative week!

Linking to all these lovely parties :
Primative and Proper
Saavy Southern Style
Faded Charm     Clean & Scentsible
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Coastal Charm
Homemaker on a Dime
It's so very Cheri
Classy Clutter     Serenity Now
Funky Junk Interiors
Jennifer Rizzo
Common Ground     the Brambleberry Cottage
Nutmeg Place
Finding Fabulous     Days of Chalk and Chocolate
the Grant Life     The Shabby Nest
From My Front Porch to Yours
Miss Mustard Seed     My Romantic Home
Chic on a Shoestring
Sassy Sites
My Repurposed Life
Simple Home Life     French Country Cottage
At the Picket Fence
Rooted in Thyme     Stuff & Nonsense
the Charm of Home     Shabby Creek Cottage     A Little Knick Knack     
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Monday, April 16, 2012

My Teeny Tiny Dining Room

My dining room is still a work in progress, I want to paint my table and maybe the chairs and make the space feel cozier. Here is the work so far, with the room freshened up and all the trim all newly painted:









As you can see, it's a pretty quick tour!  

Have a great week!

Linking to:
Thrifty Decor Chick "Show Us Your Dining Room"

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Thursday, April 12, 2012

I painted my coffee table AGAIN


I am in love with turquoise these days.  I decided to add some turquoise to my living room by giving my dumpster found coffee table a swirly paint treatment.

Before:

After:
That's Eloise hanging out under the table.
As you can see, under the table is a popular hangout for my pets.  

This was a ridiculously simple paint treatment, I poured small amounts of creamy white, light aqua and turquoise paint into a plastic container and didn't mix them together at all.  Then I dipped a 2" brush into the center of the paint and brushed it the whole length of the table, working my way from one side to the other.  After that first coat dried, I added a few more streaks of colour here and there and that's it!

I gave my tray a facelift, too.  It's beginning to look very "cottage'y" around here!!

Have a fabulous and creative week!

Linking to these awesome Parties:
Primative and Proper
a Little Knick Knack
Beyond the Picket Fence     Shabby Creek Cottage
Thrifty Decorating
DIY by Design     Saavy Southern Style
the Shady Porch
Clean & Scentsible     My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Not Just a Housewife     a bowl full of Lemons
Cedar Hill Ranch
Creatively Living     Ivy and Elephants     Sassy Sites
Between Naps on the Porch
Coastal Charm
Homemaker on a Dime     House in the Roses     
Mod Vintage Life
Delectable Home    You are Talking Too Much
Serendipity and Spice
I heart Nap Time     It's Overflowing
DIY Showoff
Funky Junk Interiors
Classy Clutter
Nutmeg Place     Miss Mustard Seed
the Shabby Nest
5 days 5 ways     Chic on a Shoestring
My Romantic Home
My Repurposed Life
French Country Cottage     At the Picket Fence
Rooted in Time
the Charm of Home     Stuff and Nonsense     a Little Knick Knack


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Sunday, April 8, 2012

Bathroom Reno Update


This is the "Gut and Renovate My Bathroom for $3000 Challenge".  There has really been no progress on the demo/reno itself, but I have been shopping and found some great prices that will help stretch my tiny budget.  Like my new American Standard toilet that was 30% off at Home Depot:


My new Moen bathroom faucet (matches my kitchen faucet) was marked down by $50.  I popped it into place in the new sink for effect :)


 I opted for this sink/vanity combo because it was only  $88 marked down from $129 and I can paint the cabinet and doll it up later on.  I've already put different knobs on it because the original knobs were, well, cheap looking!


So far so good.  Next items to pick up are the lights and bathroom fan so I can get the electrician in to wire them.  As soon as the snow disappears, I will be ripping out the tile floor so that I can get the plumber to rough plumb the sink and toilet.  Then it will be the installation of the ceiling, walls, floor and trim.

Budget                $3000
Spent to date:           640  (capping lines and new fixtures)
Balance                $2360

So happy things are beginning to move on this project!!  To see Part 1 - click HERE


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Thursday, April 5, 2012

A Console Table & a Duck

                       
Another weekend, another new paint finish experiment.

After my first chalk paint project, I vowed not to use the Minwax Paste Wax again.  It had given me a major migraine headache and seemed to be disintegrating the rag I was using to apply it!!  But I kept seeing people use wax on their painted furniture and it was very tempting to try to use that $11 can of paste wax that was wasting away in my utility room...

I have this little inexpensive console table that I bought for my front entry when I first moved into this house.

It's made of rubberwood - whatever that is! and it was serviceable until I had a chance to revamp my front entry with a closet organizer and cube storage.  Then I had no place for this table and it went into the spare bedroom.  It is now being used as a side table in my living room:

If you follow my blog, you'll know that I am now painting all the trim in my living and dining room in a coffee cream colour and the furniture is starting to look a little, well, DARK in comparison.  So I painted the base of the console table in the same colour - no chalk involved, just a nice painted finish.  I sanded it lightly, primed it with Zinsser Cover Stain and painted three coats of the coffee cream.


I changed the knob for an antique brass one and I really like the look - I LOVE two-toned furniture.  After a week of admiring my new table, I decided to take the plunge into the waxed paint look and out came that can of paste wax again...

The wax gave the piece a nice sheen and, since I bought a dark wax, a warm amber finish.  I was so inspired by this piece that I decided to paint a small wooden decoy duck that I've had forever.  This duck was from the early days of my decorating style where I would buy everything in miniature.   Thankfully that stage is well behind me - except for my duck!  lol  He got painted the same colour as the table with Plaster of Paris added into the paint.  I sanded him when the paint dried and applied the same dark paste wax.  Buffed up, he looks so cute!!  and now he's all dressed up with a bow tie.  I love raffia!





Perfect match.  Yet another chalk paint success!

Have a happy and creative week!

Linking to all these Lovely Parties:
Beneath my Heart
My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
From My Front Porch to Yours     Common Ground
Vintage Farmhouse
the Brambleberry Cottage     Embracing Change
Beyond the Picket Fence
Thrifty Decorating     the Shabby Creek Cottage
the Shady Porch
Coastal Charm      Creatively Living
Cherished Bliss
the Delectable Home     Between Naps on the Porch
Mod Vintage Life
Homemaker on a Dime
The house in the Roses     Serendipity and Spice
You're Talking Too Much
It's so Very Cheri
I heart Nap Time     DIY Showoff
It's Overflowing
Funky Junk Interiors
Classy Clutter
Five Days Five Ways     Nutmeg Place
My Simple Home Life
My Romantic Home     Rooted in Thyme     Shabby Nest
Sassy Sites
Thrifty Inspirations     the Grant Life
a Little Knick Knack
Days of Chalk & Chocolate     Miss Mustard Seed
Decorating Insanity
the Charm of Home
My Repurposed Life     the Vintage Farmhouse
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