Upcycled Crates Oh My!

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Happy Friday everyone!


Today I am looking at some cool upcycled crate projects over at Hometalk and curating a new Board for them. So exciting!

Repurposed crate

My recent crate project makeover is included, of course as well as some other awesome ideas!

Stop on by Hometalk and check out my new board Upcycled Crates

Linking up today to:
Feature Nest Friday at French Country Cottage
Treasure Hunt Thursday at From My Front Porch to Yours
Your Turn to Shine at Meet the B's

Have a super weekend and thanks for stopping!

Wood you like a wood wall?

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I. am. in. love. 

After a fair amount of time looking at wood plank walls on Pinterest, I finally ventured into this world and created my own version. 

Evertrue pine planking from Lowe's as it looks when purchased.

It was a bit time consuming but super easy. I started by purchasing the packs of Evertrue pine planking which are very reasonably priced. Yes what I really wanted was old barn wood but just couldn't find it. I purchased 7 packs so just around $75.00 for this wall and a bonus wall in my upstairs hallway...well almost!


Most of the articles I read had people staining these boards but because it is winter and Michigan, I couldn't stain due to the odor and didn't want to wait for Spring to be able to work outdoors or open windows. So I decided to use paint. I had lots of leftover greys and browns and just started mixing them together to get different tones. I then added 
water to dilute the paint and brushed it on the planks. As soon as I brushed it on, I grabbed a rag and wiped it back. 

It really acted just like a stain without the odor and without any cost. Plus I was using up leftovers!

First two rows, ready to rock it!

With my nifty new pneumatic (try saying that 3 times fast!) nailer I got to work starting from the floor up. Personally saw advantages starting from ceiling down that would allow a full row but I did not want to have to use baseboard at the floor level if I was left with a weird gap. 

Look closely at the very top, you will see my lovely gap.

So my weird gap was at the top. But we grabbed some trim, cut and added it along the top and it finished it off just perfectly!

Look closely at the top and you can see how we trimmed
 it out with a piece of chair rail! (Ignore the half finished mirror, I am refinishing it with a new treatment that works better.)

Added a coat of black ochre tinted chalk paint wax that really helped to blend the pieces together and age it.

Added bonus, I (almost) had enough to do the same treatment in the upstairs hallway. We have a long, narrow hallway that is very dark. Although I am short a couple pieces that will have to finish later, it really makes that wall pop out as a focal point!

I simply used up extra pieces and patched it together. Really adds a lot of feature to this hallway and helps to get rid of yet more of the 70s textured walls!

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you like my latest project at The Decorating Chica.

Linking up this week to:
What We Accomplished Wednesday at Green Willow Pond
Amaze Me Monday at The Heart of Your Home
Upcycled Link Party at Funky Junk Interiors
Weekend Wind Down at Snippets of Inspiration

Taking a Look Back at 2014

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Everybody's doing it. Okay, so yeah I'm a little behind. That is just the way things roll in my life these days. Chalk it up to a new full time job and add the rest of the 'normal' stuff and my time is pretty well filled up.

But I did want to take a quick look back at some of the projects I've completed for this year. Cause, even though I haven't been near as productive as I would like, it helps to review and learn from the past and plan for the future.

Here we go:

You say junk, I say treasure was a great dresser find and redo.

You say junk, I say treasure is my redo of a garbage find.

Then there was the DIY bathroom mirror. I had a very unique space that required unusual dimensions a mirror so I made my own.

DIY bathroom mirror

Revisited my diy stepping stones to see how they held up over a very. hard. winter. Quick and Easy Stepping Stones One Year Later.

Quick and Easy Guide to Stepping Stones One Year Later.

While there were several other projects along the way this year, I'll end with this project that was a result of several inches of snow and many days of cold, cold weather!

A large office desk made from repurposed wood.

Hope you enjoyed this look back. Can't wait to show you what I've already tackled in January!

Linking up to:

Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings
Saturday Sparks Link Party at Pieced Pastimes
Making Monday at Grace Langdon Art
Amaze Me Monday at Dwellings


Thanks for stopping by.