From Junk to Treasure

This project is a combination of a couple of repurposed items. The black decorative element over the chalkboard frame is the top of an old mirror that came off of a dresser and the frame used to hang for years on a wall at my hubby's grandma's house. It was dark walnut brown with picture of a fruit basket. The project below is a great example of reusing and recycling to end up with a great wall vignette.

It started with the frame you see below. When we were clearing out Jack's grandmas house, I quickly grabbed up this find. It was not much to speak of (wish I had pictures) but once I pulled out the print  and gave it a paint treatment it was great in my dining room. Originally there were 2 similar types of frames/print although not a match. I gave them the same paint treatment (the dining room wall color as a base coat with a white crackle finish over the top) and hung both together as empty frames. G R E A T conversation piece. Nobody could understand why I would just hang a couple of empty frames but everybody liked it!

That's been several years ago and they have gone through many transitions since then. One is no longer as the frame broke and was unrepairable. Alas, the lone frame is now a victim of one final update as seen below.

This is the frame. It has been painted and spray painted and crackled to end up like this.




This is a scrap piece of plywood that has been used for a school project by my youngest son, cut and now reused as the background board for the frame.



Added some lovely chalkboard paint. Did have to go out and buy another can. Had a can for a few years just waiting for a project and couldn't find it...argh!

   

Mounted the board in the frame. This is what the back looks like, you can see the original dark brown finish of the frame.



All in all, this project only cost me $10 for the chalkboard paint.

Linking this project up to:
Funky Junk Interiors SNS #99
A Potpourri of Life at 2805
Tatertpts and Jello
Redoux

Pin It

I'm Almost There...

Well, that really isn't true because if I've learned anything about myself over the years is that I like to change things up. It makes life interesting, keeps me smiling, and drives my husband crazy! But he loves me and he helps me out all the time with my little projects. God bless him.

Well, the kitchen project was a biggie. Small renovation in the big picture but a huge transformation. There are still many things I would like to change. In a dream world, if money were no object, I would replace my cupboards, remove the counter bar area and put in an island. I would add quartz countertops, rewire above the sink for more lighting, replace my refrigerator. Dare I go on?

But alas, this is not to be. So, I was able to change up my kitchen a whole lot and brighten it. You can see some of the before shots in this post, and the renovation shots here. Folks, we had oak. Now I like oak. really. Okay, not so much. Let me rephrase, I used to like oak a  w h o l e  bunch but I guess this is one of the things that has changed over the years.

I know many of you would 'decorate' much more than I have. With knick knacks and pretty dishes. I would love to but the reality of my life is that it very rarely even looks this clean. I mean come on, I have three high school boys that never stop eating! But I know that someday. in the not to distant future, I will miss the mess.

So, I am learning to be grateful. Grateful that there are so many wonderful decorating blogs out there where I can steal ideas and get inspiration. Grateful for paint. Paint is an amazing creation, it can change your world for a small price! Grateful that my oak cabinets could be painted, knobs added, and it looks like a whole new kitchen. And somewhere down the road, I will have a perfectly decorated kitchen with everything in it's place and clean all the time. But then, my boys would be gone, wouldn't they? So for now, I am enjoying the journey. I hope you enjoy!

Cabinets/counter top before.

Another before shot.

Linking up this week to:

Show and Tell Friday at My Romantic Home

Today's Thrifty Treasures at Southern Hospitality

Power of Paint Party at Domestically Speaking

Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage
Strut your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple

For the birds...

Inspired by Thrifty Decor Chick's "making something from nothing" July extravaganza, I started searching through the house and the shed and all over to see what kind of goodies I had laying around. I found a beauty in my pool house and something I had TOTALLY forgotten about buying. Bursting with excitement, I pulled it off the top shelf only to find the whole inside was plugged full of some kind of soft white, fluffy stuff. Finally dawned on me that was what happened to the stuffing from one of my lawn chair cushions that I found chewed up this past winter! Some critter was busy...and smart!

Anywhoooo, I had my husband pull it all out. Yes, I am a bit of a chicken when it comes to mice. I have had my share of rodents this Spring and Summer. I had already found a dead, dehydrated mouse when cleaning out the motor of my garage freezer. Oh, and let's not forget the bunny nest I uncovered when demulching my landscaping beds. Could hear me screaming for blocks!

Well, back to the makeover. I bought this birdhouse about 3 years ago for a couple of bucks and never knew what I wanted to do with it. I could feel the wheels start to churning as I kept looking around our property. Found a couple of old fence posts back in the shed and knew what I was going to do.

So I found some old beige paint and watered it down, after spraying a couple of coats of white from some old spray paint I had. Then I did a wash with the watered down beige paint. Found a piece of board, to mount the house to the pole. But first, I dug the hole, mixed quikcrete to mount the post down in the hole and let it stand overnight. The end result was a nice, aged birdhouse that looks like it's been there for years. Exactly what I wanted!

Hooking up this week with:

Between Naps on the Porch Metamorphosis MondayTrash to Treasure Tuesday at ReinventedNifty Thrifty Tuesdays at Coastal CharmGarden Linky Party at Centsational Girl  

A Pop of Orange!

I have a very strange front entry. Now I am not an architect and maybe I couldn't have done it better but really. For one thing it's big. Now you might not think big is bad but in this case big is wasted. Because other than a walk-thru (walking through on the way to the 2nd story or on the way in from the front door) that is it's only use. It has a closet that juts out and transitions into the living room with these stupid half walls. I might add, that these walls have had these ugly spindle posts that make it look like a jail cell!


Anyway, I'm digressing. I have been on a walk-thru journey with this entry trying to get it the way I want and I am finally 85% there! Yeah! On this journey I have had the walls many colors which has been challenging because all the walls connect to other walls in other rooms and on and on. Well, I did it. I finally found a color that I L.O.V.E.. Orange. Yes, orange.

Here is the front door/closet area.
Dark and ugly.

This is my front door now after lots of painting.

Did I mention how much I love color? Oh, did I also mention how much I LOVE dark, bold, bright colors. Although I must say that I have been pretty inspired by the trend towards white/cream/beige neutrals I have found myself leaning a little towards doing an all neutral room using different shades of beige/browns with lots of different textures and surfaces. WOW, that scares me! I'm not sure what is happening to me. Pretty crazy!



I started this last Fall by painting all that dark trim! Yikes, what a job. Then, I yanked off the closet doors because I absolutely H A T E them! Okay, maybe hate is not a strong enough word. So, off they went but now, what to do? We lived closet door-less for almost a year folks! Let me tell you, if you know the condition of my closets...'nuff said. I just didn't know what to do and so we lived with it. It took me long enough to figure out a color. This color had to look good with my living room green and my stairway capuccino and my kitchen and my dining room and...


Well anyway, you get the idea. So after lots of painting, installing new closet doors, adding a curtain treatment to the side panel windows, painting the door and even changing the lock on the door to get rid of the brass...yuch!

This is the front part of the entry.
 There is virtually no natural light in this space.

You can get an idea how big the area is.

This was my roadside mirror find. Brassy gold color frame.
Spray painted a white and glazed it with white pickling glaze.
Love the frame!

Hooking up to Funky Junk Interiors SNS Party.

Picture within a picture

After many months, many pictures, hunting in the stores for interesting but cheap frames, I have finally finished my picture within a picture. As I sit at this computer where I blog I stare at a rather large unattractive wall. Out of desparation I put up a rather uninspiring arrangment of which I never liked but it was better than blank nothingness. As I gathered ideas from all you wonderful bloggers out there, I realized what I wanted to do and came up with a plan.

Well, fer sure the plan was easier than the project. Oh, the project itself wasn't that hard. You see I simply bought some white painted trim pieces and mitered them into a large frame. Mixed some paint until I came up with a color that I liked to paint the inside. I was aiming for a large picture to hang framed pictures of my kiddos. So I cut the trim, and nailed it in place. Painted the wall and PRESTO! In a matter of 45 minutes or so I had created my frame. I was pretty proud of myself at how quickly I put that frame together. So I was thinkin' that this project was a wrap. Hah! Seriously? The pictures took F O R E V E R! Yes, much of the reason is due to my very limited skills as a photographer and the fact that I have 3 teenage boys who do not really take too kindly to having their pictures taken. I am really. How hard could this be you ask? Just try getting 3 goofy boys to pose and smile nicely...NOT!

It was during round #2 that I realized the mistake I was making. Having them pose was not the brighest idea I had ever had. Once I figured that out I just started letting them have fun and I started snapping pictures. Oh that is the beeeeauty of digital photography. My best friend is the delete button. Between that and the photo editor, I actually turned out some nice pictures. But it seriously took half of my life, or so it felt. Finally, after several loooong months I've finished my photo collage. I hope you like it.

Hooking up today with:

The Painted Cupboards

Almost Before.


 What is a five letter word that is a low cost way to transform any room, involves very little labor, and can create change as easy as T.H.A.T.! Why paint of course. The power of paint. We've all heard it before and it is amazingly true. I can paint a 10x12 room in a few hours. It is cheap and the change it invokes is absolutely astounding.


But painting cupboards....whooo boy...that is a whole different storybook my friends. I have pondered painting my kitchen cupboards for about two years now and, as much as I hated my oak cupboards, I really did not want to start that kind of paint project. There is no turning back once you paint your cupboards. The only thing I hated worse was the beige laminate countertop. The dirty, stained, beige laminate countertop. So my friends, here we go on a paint transformation journey. A journey of cleaning, sanding, cleaning again, priming/painting, glazing, and reinstalling. It doesn't sound that hard when you type it into a sentence but let me tell you it is a P.R.O.C.E.S.S.!

 Now that I have almost completed all the top cupboards and added new hardware and my new countertop is installed. I am soooo i n l o v e and I am only 50% done.

So yes I am now one of the many 'before' and 'after' kitchen cabinet makeovers. If you are reading about these makeovers in the diy blogland and pondering the same change to your cabinets. J U M P ON IN, the water is fine!

And yes, I have a ways to go. And yes, it will probably take me until next year. But I don't regret it one bit. And hopefully, in the not too distant future, you will see the final reveal. Until then, I am linking up to:

Thrifty Decor Chick Before and After Party

Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Night Special

 

On my way to a dream kitchen

We have been 6 years in this house and my kitchen has gone through about 4 transitions on the journey in search of my dream kitchen. When we moved in it had beige walls and a blue check wallpaper with an apple border. Can I say W.O.W.? Country...country...country. Nothing wrong with it if you like it...me? NOT.

So, transition #1was yellow ragged walls with a stenciled grapevine and purple accent wall. Huge improvement I must say, at least as far as 2005 was concerned. I will say I did a cool textured diamond as a backsplash with a cluster of grapes in the middle. All done with paint.

Transition #2 I changed the purple accent wall to a burgundy and updated the wall art. Added the 'fake' tin backsplash which was a BIG improvement and got an over the stove micro.

Transition #3 I painted the yellow walls a cinnamon red with a cappucino colored accent that tied in my office connected to the back. Got rid of the grapes. I liked the colors real well but still had these country oak cabinets that I was so tired of with a very beige laminate countertop.


Cinnamon red color in Trans #4



Oak cabinets with awful trim.












I was real determined to get rid of the countertop. I HATED it! seriously. My dilemma? I didn't really want to spend $4grand on a granite countertop (which is my ultimate dream kitchen) to install over cupboards I hated. Seriously. I have been reading and reading all you bloggers who have diligently painted your cabinets and E V E R Y one has turned out beautiful but I was skeeeeeered. Did I say I was scared? Not only of the work but of the upkeep. Because no matter how much you sand and prime and TSP, painted cupboards still require frequent touchups.



Cabinets being painted with grey primer.

 So, transition #4 begins. I put on my work clothes and dove in. Tore off the nasty old trim and bought new trim. Dug through the wastebasket and pulled out nasty old trim and reinstalled the pieces that mounted on the sides. WHY you ask? Because I wanted to run some crown moulding type trim around the top but, if you look at the picture, the edge on the side stuck out further than the side panel. So, it wasn't EVEN! argh. Reinstalled the trim to the sides to make it an even surface then bought the new trim and brought it home, uber excited to start cutting. Only to discover it didn't fit. You know, that is really what I get. My dear hubby is always telling me to measure first but really it takes so m u c h time. I like to rely on the good ole 'eye ball' technique. You ever heard of that? It is easy but, alas a bit unreliable. So, back to Menards I go to buy another trim that will fit this time. After much blood, sweat, and tears to cut and install the trim (have you ever tried to twist into a pretzel and install trim sideways? It is not easy I tell you) and a humble plea for help to my husband, it is installed.



Step #2, installed wainscotting wallpaper to the side of the cupboards which was an oak veneer.







Stay tuned for part two on my way to a dream kitchen.














Linking up to:

Funky Junk Interiors Saturday Night Special