Nursery Spruce Up

We were hit with some pretty nasty weather a couple of weeks ago. Since we were home bound I took the opportunity to do a little spruce up in the little man's room.

BEFORE

These letters were just the cardboard cheapies that you get from the craft store. When we hung them we used the plastic retail clips because any nails used to attach metal hangers would show through. Well, they started falling off the wall, which is a hazard since they were hanging over the crib. So they have actually had a home in the closet for months now. I don't remember who posted the tutorial on the yarn letters, but please let me know if you know who it was so I can give them credit. Anywho, I had letters, I happened to have yarn, and we were stuck inside!

I still need to print some photos for little man's picture frames. He's starting to think he knows those people ;)!

A place to hang his hats. I'm hoping as he gets more, the wall will just get filled with them!

Mirror mirror on the wall, you're the fairest of them all!

Well, I got the mirror finished, and I am going to go ahead and put it out there that I LOVE IT!

When I started out, I really didn't know where I was going with it {not a good plan}. I did however know what colors I wanted to incorporate. However, after the stool debacle I was a little hesitant to jump off of the neutral train. Forging ahead the mirror first got some more life with the same green paint that was used on my coffee table tray. That's a pop of color for you!

The room has a more rustic look so I watered down the grey used on the stencil walled entry and formed a glaze. This glaze was rubbed all over the mirror.

Some stain is then applied to the detailing in order to give the piece some more depth. And there you have it!

Sometimes it's just a free simple change that makes a room fresh!  I am still thinking that I want to do something more with those plates, but I'm not sure yet.

Musical Wall Art

Ugh, we still haven't figured out the computer thing! Apparently it is pretty common with Dell's around this age, so we have a checklist of things we need to do in order to get it up and operating properly. However, it was the weekend and I took the opportunity to use the hub's computer to upload my pictures for the week:)

Remember way back when I wanted to find some thrift owls to makeover? Well, I didn't find any, but I found some cute plates that I knew I could do something with! Originally I thought they would go in the kitchen, but it was too crowded. So I decided to put them on this wall that I've been struggling with for awhile.

Here is a map of where I wanted to place everything. {I strongly urge you to do this if you don't want tons of holes in your walls}!

This is how it looks with everything hung up. That mirror is contrasting too much, and the room is too brown and black. I think I am going to makeover that mirror to give the room more color. Maybe do something with those plates too!

Eventually I would like to swag the light fixture to be centered on that short wall, and add a buffet. When I figure out how to plant a money tree I'll get all of my wish list completed ;)

Stay tuned for how I transform the mirror, and hopefully it won't be as much of a mess as the stool.

Happy Friday

I was so excited to show you all what I was up to yesterday, but my computer is acting up and shutting down every time I try to upload photos...grrr. Hopefully I'll be able to fix the issue and give you a sneak peak of my dining room remix later today.

I was hoping to leave you with some eye candy at least, but now the computer won't even turn on! Please forgive me if I am MIA while trying to figure this out.

I'm just not that in to you...

 I've had this stool for many years, and as you can tell it has been used as a paint stool quite a few times.  

Inspired by the colors and pattern of this Union Jack Rug the stool began a transformation...

it felt too busy and contrasted the wood more than I liked, but I wanted to give it a weathered look anyway

I don't know, not feelin' this one so much.  I actually preferred the pre-distressed look better.

I tried hiding moving it into the mud room

and...I'm just not that into you!  I am tired of fiddling with it, I'm thinking I might just go with a solid color and call her good.  Input, suggestions advice are all much appreciated at this point!

Good Digs for The Good Wife

What I love about television set designs is how they capture a characters life and personality so well.  The whole scene tells a story about the person living in that space and is so thoughtfully designed.  You may not remember that I featured Modern Family's set awhile back when I first started blogging, however it is one of my most popular posts to date.  I thought I would give you a glimpse into another stunning set that I can't take my eyes off of.  It is the one from Alicia Florrick's Chicago Apartment in The Good Wife.  I really love the whole decor, it is a great mix of modern and traditional styles, which speak to me!

 

Kitchen

The kitchen is my favorite room in the set.  I can't get enough of those cabinets and the shelves over the windows.  The set designer actually had the cabinets built on site by the shows on set contractors.  Look how well this kitchen is staged to make it look lived in.  While there are some quirks, like dishwasher on the opposite wall from the sink and fridge bumped right up next to the counter, when the camera is closed in on the space it seems to flow nicely.  I guess it is the cameras playing tricks on us!

Living Room

 

Can't get enough of these gorgeous built-in bookshelves!  What shocked me the most when I pulled up the set photos was how much square footage was actually in these rooms.  If you watch this show it seems like a pretty small apartment with one room flowing into the next.  You can really tell this from this last photo, doesn't that living room look a ton smaller on film?!

Entry

Grace's Bedroom

 

Alicia's Bedroom {Master}

 

Gotta love this chair!  Do you spy those Anthropology knobs on the vanity that I have been dying to have in my guest bedroom?  

Dining Room

This is my second favorite room.  The eggplant wall color against all of the warm wood furniture makes this dining room very intimate and sophisticated.

The show is a great show, but I think the amazing sets add to my love of The Good Wife.  What do you think?  For me I could move right in, put up some family photos and call it a day.  

 

Weekend Spruce Up: On the Banks of Squaw Creek

Happy Friday everyone!  I am soo ready for the weekend.  We are planning on staying close to home and out of the Super Bowl traffic.  It is fun to live where all of the hoopla is going on, but traffic is NOT my thing.  If you are planning on staying home and looking for a fun weekend spruce up you have to check out this great DIY craft project by On the Banks of Squaw Creek.  Katie is a teacher, farmers wife and mom to a cutie patootie.  Check out this great project she has for us!

Don’t you love my new, fabric, toy storage bins for the living room?

Would you believe that they started out like this?

How about this one?

Which started out like this:

Here are some guidelines for making your own…each box is different, and I’m not sure I’ve figured out the best way to do it, yet, so expect that it will take a little experimentation.


1.  Find a box.  Cut the corners off of two of the flaps.  It makes things a little easier later on.   (I’m not sure which two would be best…I tried the short flaps and the long flaps and either seems to work.) 

I used this handy dandy thingy (a zip and snip) that hubby bought me for Christmas.  It cuts through cardboard like (insert simile here.)  It’s also AWESOME on all that plastic packaging that toys, tools, and other Christmas presents come in.

(I also had to cut part of the flaps off on that box.)


2.  Measure.  Measure all the way around your box and add a couple inches.  Measure from the bottom of your box to the top of your flaps, and again, add at least 3 inches (you will want your fabric to wrap around the top and bottom.) 

3.  Cut your fabric.  For the diaper boxes, I used two fabrics and sewed them together and pressed the seams.  This made the whole project a lot more complicated because I was obsessed with making sure that the seam was level and the same on both boxes.  It’s not.  I may come back later and glue some ribbon at the seam to even it out a bit more.  If you are a perfectionist like me, just use one fabric, or for Pete’s sake, don’t use a plaid fabric because it’s too darn easy to tell if you screwed up by looking at the top of the box.


*Note:  My boxes were almost 60 inches around (all 3 of them.)  So, if you are buying fabric for this project, I would buy 2 yards so that you have enough length, or plan on sewing (or gluing or stitch witchering) two shorter strips together.


4.  Glue.  Apparently I was too busy burning the flesh off my fingertips to take pictures of this part.  I started on one of the sides that was least likely to be seen (the short ends on the diaper boxes, for example) and used hot glue to attach the fabric along the bottom of the box.  Pull it tight as you go. After wrapping it all around, I folded under the edge and glued that down.


5.  Next is the tricky part.  The fabric isn’t attached yet on the flaps.  Fold the flaps down, and try to get your glue gun underneath them.  If you value your fingertips, you may want to use a piece of cardboard or a plastic knife or something to shove the fabric under the flap. Keep working with it, alternately swearing, tucking fabric, and picking glue off your fingers, until you have glued all four flaps down.  I’m sure there’s a better way to do this…I just don’t know what it is.

6.  Enjoy your new boxes!  The one under the end table holds games and puzzles.  Adam loves it.  Last week, I said, “Look, Adam!  I made you a new box!”  Later that night, at my Grandma’s house for her birthday, he was asking me for it there.  Crazy kid, loves organization as much as I do.

 One of these will hold dinosaurs, and the other will hold diapers and wipes.  I’ve had this fabric for almost 3 years, so I consider this to be a FREE, but beautiful project.

Do you have any cheap, pretty storage solutions?  I’d love to hear about them because I’m always trying to hide stuff!

I found this project especially interesting because for one I have LOTS of diaper boxes, and two it is free {mostly}.  If the weather holds out I am going to be working in the yard, but if it turns ugly I'll be inside making myself some of these guys!