Well, well, well; another project finished! I'm on a bit of a roll, aren't I? Unfortunately, these are just the pieces and the whole room reveals...well, they reveal that I'm not getting much done in the overall completeness department :) Oh well, they're a start to the whole process.


For today's post, everyone loves a good furniture transformation and here's my latest:

It has nice, simple legs

It has a formica top, but I'll forgive that because those handles are so sleek!

Master Bedroom Reveal...wohn, wohn. Seriously, this room will probably be the last thing done so just ignore the pale green, banged-up walls, the old bedding, and lack of any interest anywhere in the room. Focus on the deliciousness of my sleek, modern dresser :)

The sides are real wood and a pretty grain, so they stayed as is. The drawers got a glossy, ultra-white white - love the contrasting look!

This is how it started out; a little banged up, with a formica top, and nice...but a little bland. Nothing really pops out here.

This is my attempt at a little art. Sad. I lived with it for awhile and decided that it just wasn't going to work and am so glad I bit the bullet and painted the drawer fronts!

Hope you're all having a fun Fall!

Dining Room with Character

Ever see a trend and think, 'Self, this would be a good trend to follow.'? And I'm not talking pointy shoulder pads or Flock of Seagulls hairstyles...

I'm talking board and batten. That wonderful half way up wall of wooden stripes that instantly gives a room character. Yep, that trend was one I was comfortable following.

There are a ton of B&B tutorials out there. Please go look at them for instruction...this was a total mess when it came to planning. But this project turned out so nicely in the end - it only underscores how easy it is to do! Seriously though, please check out the other tutorials for the best tips :)

Remember me threatening my dining room that it was next? Well, I actually finished a project that was started, can you believe it?

These are the shutter/doors that shut the kitchen off from the dining room. 

And they're gone. The shutters were HEAVY! Solid wood, which means they'll probably get re-used...somewhere...for something other than as doors. Already have some ideas.

This is the 1960's swag formal valance (I had ripped down the blue curtains already, but kept the sheers for a little privacy/light control.

Can you spot the problem in the photo below? I might've messed up on the length of the boards (battens?)...the up and down strips. They would run right into the light switch. I cut them all down about 5" and now I have 5" wood lattice strips to make something with. Like I don't have enough projects going on...

BAM! Color on the top half of walls! It's a shade I've used in my last house and it was a custom match, but unfortunately I don't remember the original name. I really love it though and was craving something neutral after the aqua in the kitchen, and it goes well with the gray in the living room. Plus, with this color, I can put some color in decorations...when I get around to the actual decorating part.

I used 2 1/2" wood lattice boards that were 1/4" thick and just nailed them onto the walls with finishing nails. I didn't want anything too permanent, in case I messed it up didn't like it. The painters tape holds it up well while getting an idea for spacing. There's about 14-ish inches between battens (boards?) with a little cheating around corners and on the short walls. 

And here is the finished look with the top board and a little spackling and a finish coat of paint.

lighting - arghhh!

 Here are the gray Ikea curtains and simple matchstick blinds. I love the look of the gray in here, pulling it from the adjacent living room.

Without the flash, you can see the detail a little more.

The table is our family's original dining room table for probably 45 years or more. Between my mom, myself, and my son it was refinished from a dark pine finish to a lighter, more natural color. It's been our dining room table for as long as I could remember and has three more leaves...that aren't refinished. The brass chandy is original and will be getting a little makeover. There are curbside chairs that will need their own makeovers before they come into the house. It's all coming eventually, promise :)

PS: I did get around to changing out the outlets and switches too, but not before these pics. I'm lazy, but not that lazy.

Little Update on the Breakfast Room

Since I've kept you waiting for so long, I'm starting to feel a little guilty about not having the BIG reveal yet. The breakfast room remodel is going in a stop-and-go fashion, mostly because I'm being a bit lazy about finishing it.

Doesn't this look like fun?

Switched out all the ugly old outlets, switches, and plates. Only had a few sparks along the way and so far, haven't burned down the house.

*If you're at all nervous about electricity - let a professional do it!*

But that's not what we're here for, is it? I'll show you a bit of what's going on.

First, I teased you with this:

That's the color on the walls, but this post is about the latest in my plethora of decisions necessary in this room makeover: curtains! My nemesis.

They are the hardest to find in that it's almost impossible to find just what I have in my head, they are difficult to put up, they're never the right length, not to mention the expense...it just seems like I can't get my head around the whole idea.

These are the inspiration curtains I found at Pier One:

Just love this fabric...so much so, they are being tried out in the breakfast room.

But first, I needed a super long curtain rod. 9 ft to be exact. That's an expensive rod, so I had the bright idea of finding a better, cheaper way online. Over at House of Hepworths, she had electrical conduit spray painted black - and it was only $2 for 10 ft! Perfect! Well, I spray painted the conduit black (primed first) and installed them on my super big bow window:

Notice anything wrong with this? 10 feet is too short. Wanh, wannhhh. 

Another light bulb moment was that I could extend the rod with additions to the ends, but was having doubts about the permanence of the spray painting and sliding rings and general red-necky-ness of the additions. So yet another light bulb moment was to try plastic rings (from Ikea) to not scrape the paint off.

Well, off to Ikea I go and what do I find there? $9 extendable curtain rods that are already black. Sold! And the plastic rings work perfectly too, so the conduit goes into the garage for another project.

Now we can get to the curtains:

Bad picture, but on one side are the inspiration curtains, and on the other are white ones from Ikea. (The white sheers on the traverse rod will be leaving, as will the light fixture and flooring.) I picked up some glass finials too, but they don't really show up like I had hoped:

And the finials that came with the rod seem too small:

So you see a little of the conundrum I'm having. The white curtains are boring, but I'm leaning toward them...with some embellishments. The inspiration fabric will stay in the living room, even though they look great against the color in the breakfast room. 

What do you think so far?

I'm busy making a humongo project for one corner of this room...this one will take me a minute. I'll try to show you some other updates as it goes along.

The Cupboards are Bare(ish)

Do you mind if I stall a bit? Not quite ready to do a full reveal as there are about a gazillion things left to do before it's finished, but I can show you one thing that's done.

I had just finished putting the second coat of paint on the walls, and had thrown away everything, cleaned up, and put everything away. Then opened my pantry door and BAM! forgot about painting/fixing this:

Yuk, right? I was thrilled to have a real pantry in the new house, but the shelves were too shallow, and covered in contact paper. We wiped everything down before we moved in, but um...

 ...don't judge. We moved from one state, sold that house, and bought and moved into a new one all within 30 days. I guess I overlooked how gross the pantry really was. I don't even want to acknowledge the smeary brown sludge on the bottom there. *shudder*

Buh, bye shelves. You will be fine in the garage...under oil cans...and loaded up with paint cans.

The shelf supports are wide enough and the pantry is deep enough to handle a 14" shelf. Could I find a 14" shelf? Nooooo, but I did find 7 3/8" shelves which did just fine after doubling them up. After a complete scrub with TSP, and a coat of white, here is my 'new' non-gross pantry:

Yes, I've cropped these photos down to avoid showing you any more than necessary :)

It's amazing how much more room there is with a deeper shelf! Better get to the grocery store to fill up the cupboards again. All healthy, organic food of course :)

No More Birch Trees...Inside Anyway

Ok, I was punking you with my last post; I felt like being a little silly and thought I'd give you a progress update while letting on that it was the finished look.

Almost no one fell for it; except maybe one person who shall remain anonymous, but the comments were hilarious :) I don't think I'll be starting any trends or receiving any calls from Cutting Edge anytime soon.

This was the second round of priming, as the first round was with Kilz, but not the uber-smelly stain-fighting kind and it ended up brownish. Since when did Kilz branch out and make a paint that isn't what Kilz stands for - stain/smell blocking?? Shame on me for not reading the label, but dang isn't that what that brand is all about? Moving on...

I did not want that brown bleeding through the final color, so off to the paint store for the industrial strength stuff. My house still smells of it, but with this topcoat, it's definitely better.

Here's a peek at what's to come...can't show you all of it as there is a ton left to do.

At this moment, I've got three outlets that mysteriously quit working. There are curtains, shoe cubbies, and other assorted projects to be done, so I may have to leave you hanging on the reveal for awhile.

Wish me luck; and pray to the electricity gods that I figure out those plugs!

A Whole New Look

Paint! It's a wonderful thing, isn't it? My breakfast room is paneled and I've transformed it with you guessed it - paint!

Ugh. But the good thing is that I like the look of painted paneling, if not the actual process of it. As I was doing the prep work, I stepped back and decided it was actually kind of like a log cabin but vertical. We have a historical log cabin on my trail run, and it really has that look.

The more I looked at it, the more I liked it! It's not everyone's cup of tea, but as bloggers we need to keep coming up with new and different things, right? Well, here is the first look at my 'log-cabin-chic' style:

More photos in the next few days. With this new look, the light which was awful before now makes sense. Plus the black and white floor adds a certain eccentricity.

What do you think? Think I might start a trend??

Sharing at NellieBellie's Stinky Linky party

Finally, Motivation and Inspiration!

Ok, I know my little blog has been neglected lately but it was either neglect my Junky Vagabond life or neglect my new life in my new home.  Well, you know what happened...if you're still checking to see if there have been any updates in the last millenium that is.

So now that things like drivers licenses have been updated, addresses have been changed, utilities are on - I can focus on decorating the house. Right? Turns out that's not exactly the case...

If you've seen my videos showing you what a project this house is, you'll understand how overwhelming this is. At least it is for me - the decisions! So I went to Chicago to help my sister make some home deco decisions instead :)

Working with someone else's home deco (and $) just seems to work for my motivation; we figured out a new couch, new paint for her living/dining room, new carpet, and narrowed down her kitchen cabinet color...in one day!

Coming home, I was motivated to do something and after a morning shopping, here's what I found:

Isn't this curtain panel gorgeous? (Rhetorical) It almost didn't come home with me, but I figured it could always be returned. The inspiration fabric has the aqua and green colors that I was looking for, but also bits of yellow, which I wasn't. It may require me to change the dining room color up a bit...but that's another post for another day... I tacked it up on my wall and fell in love. The fabric lights up the living room, and makes it interesting. I'm so glad I took the chance on it!

I just love the retro fabric and the colors work so well with my green leather chairs:

There's even paint on the walls...even if it's only samples. I think the lighter one is going to be the one, but I need to see it in night light as well as day time. The darker one is a bit too blue and isn't as sophisticated...and if Ah cain't be so-fis-ti-kated in real life, my walls sure can be.

Curtains are always the hardest decision for me and now that these are perfect, I can move forward...unless my husband hates them...oh heck. I'll keep you posted.