Some more demo

Yep it wouldn't be home around here without a little demo. Over the Christmas break we spent a day taking out part of a wall. It was a milestone for us...it was on the main level...the last level to finish. I did not think we would ever get to this point. So it has started and I am so very excited to show our little demo project...the start of my vision for the main living space.

I really hated how the walls closed in the stairs, and that I couldn't see the stairs from the front door. We decided to fix that by tearing out a section of the wall on both sides to open up the space to make it feel more open. It totally did the trick.  We are going to build columns on both sides and add some banisters to match what we have upstairs.  I am so excited to see how it comes together. Pin It

Flash back Friday

As I was finishing up my room project I started thinking of all the other rooms I have created in the past which led me to look up some old pictures of my other master bedroom and bathroom.

It is so funny how styles change and you change along with them. I use to love dark jewel tone colors, and black painted furniture. It was pretty, but I love the light colors I am using now. They are so much more calming to my personality.  That is why I love decorating. It is a constant evolution of change and creativity. Nothing has to stay the same forever, and you can express the way you feel in the rooms you create. It was fun looking back remembering all the work we did and the things we created  in that room, and how much we enjoyed that space. Pin It

Another painting project

I did a lot of painting in my bedroom. One of my favorite pieces that I painted was actually my bed side table or cabinet.

I can't believe I didn't take a before picture. I was in such a hurry to get my room done, I just grabbed a paint brush and went to work. This piece use to be black everywhere. It even had black wooden knobs.  I painted it the same white as the fireplace and trim with my satin trim paint. I took an electric sander and distressed the heck out of it.  I found these great knobs in Shelley and was actually going to use them on my book shelf. When I held them up to it, I knew that they were perfect. We weren't sure if we were going to use this old piece or find something new, but after I painted it and put on the knobs I knew it was just right for this space. This dresser actually took me only a couple of hours, but it gave great impact to this room and I love it! Pin It

Giving things new life

I love finding items and giving them new life. Creating something with them to use them a different way than was intended. It is a fun creative outlet.  This project was actually my hubby's idea. We had bought this lantern at Hobby Lobby to use as an accessory on a shelf in our room. We were looking for a lamp for our night stand and decided this would work great as a lamp.  With a little drilling and electrical it became a lamp just like that. 

Another fun idea is to re purpose old windows or doors as picture frames. I found a window that fit 8x10 mats to display some pictures in our room.  I used wrapping paper I got from Tai Pan for the other panes. Easy, easy, easy way to display pictures in a room or hallway.

Re purposing things adds fun and creativity to any space. It is also a fun and economical way to use and recycle old items. 

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Master bedroom reveal

I am so excited to show my finished master bedroom. This was a fun transformation for us. Things came together easily, and I love the change the room gave to my home.
Here are the before pictures.

This room was a blank canvas. It had cream walls, an awful ceiling fan, and no personality. So we transformed the space.

We painted the room the same color as the bathroom, painted the molding of the ceiling a paint color two shades lighter and painted the trim the ultra bright white we used through the whole house. We took down the crown molding and created some lower molding, installing LED lights behind it to light the ceiling at night. I got rid of the ceiling fan and found this great orb light that matches the style of chandelier used in our bathroom. I re purposed and painted a lot of items in the room. I love using things that have meaning, especially in personal spaces like bedrooms.  Re using what you have and re purposing things just to fit a particular space helps add personality and character to the room. We love how this room turned out. The color is so calming, and it is a perfect space to relax in at night. Pin It

My Ikea hack

So here I am again posting another fun thing from our bedroom. This is my first Ikea hack, and I am excited to share it. When we were first designing our room, we wanted some book shelves to go on either side of our fireplace.

I found these at Ikea. They were just standard bookshelves stained a cream color. I knew I needed to paint them since the white clashed so bad with the white in my room.  So we went to work painting them....the first time. A beautiful shade of deep gray.

Notice, the gray is only on the insides.  We did not use any primer or liquid sand the first time, and after we painted the paint just peeled off the surface.  So we had to scrape everything off and start over. Not fun at all! For the second time around we decided to use zinsser primer...which I knew about....which I have used before...which I was stupid not to use the first time. Do not forget this step! It worked great.


When we took the bookcases into the room and put them next to the fireplace we decided that they didn't work there. We decided to screw them together like a hutch and place a piece of molding down the middle.  I took off the original backs and installed some V board to give the inside a more custom look.  I decided that since they were together and would be such a large piece in the room I wanted to paint them white and leave the inside gray.

The zinsser worked, the paint stuck the second time just fine, and I loved the way they looked in the room.

My husband added some lights the top inside, some glass shelves so the lights would shine through, and some crown molding on the top.  We also found some fun knobs to go on the drawers.  I am not going to lie, this was a lot of work, but way worth it.  I love how it makes the room feel comfortable. I love to read, and having my books in my room makes me smile every time I look at it. Pin It

Mixing some old with some new

December is over and January is a new month and a new year. December was a whirlwind for me this year, and although I got a lot done in my house, I didn't get a lot done on my blog.  We have been working on our master bedroom the past couple of months. My older post showed my room painted, and the ceiling painted as well. I painted the room Silver sage from Restoration hardware. I love the color, so calming and relaxing. One of the fun new additions I put in the room was a new fireplace. It is a real flame fireplace. It burns a real fire using cans of gel. It is clean, odorless, and you don't have to vent it. We love it.  Although it was beautiful and new, we wanted to add some character to the room. We had inherited a beautiful hand made piece of furniture from my husbands great grandfather. I knew that if we painted that and placed it on top of the fireplace it would be just the thing.

I went to work, It came already half painted, so I didn't feel bad about painting it white at all. I took a lot of time, and a lot of coats of paint, but it turned out beautiful.

Although the fireplace came white, it was a different shade of white so I painted that too.  I used my favorite liquid sand product, then just painted it with my white trim paint so all the white matches the room. I love how the top makes the fireplace feel like it has been in the room forever. We got it put together, and I went to work decorating it.

We decided that instead of a mirror in the middle of it we would put this fun Paris subway art since Paris is one of our favorite places to visit. I think it gave it a fun and unexpected look.

I love the character and history of old houses, and I love that re purposing a piece of furniture added so much meaning and character in my "new" house. Pin It