A flashback of color

I was looking through old pictures of my previous home, and I came across this one.

I soon decided that I seriously miss this wall and the dose of color that it gave to this space.  This square wall was one of the funnest painting projects I have ever done.  It was not hard at all, and it gave the wall pattern and dimension without having to hang wallpaper. The trick to it was to use a laser level and draw the squares out with a pencil.  Then instead of taping the squares, I just painted the outline with a painter's brush, and filled in the rest with a larger brush.  There was no touch up from pulling the tape and all my lines were clean.  Really, not that hard, I kind of found it relaxing.  Crazy, I know, but that is what painting does to me. This is a really fun, and easy project if you are looking for a way to add some personality to any room! Pin It

A touch of brick

Life has been crazy around here. It has been a while since my last post. We have been busy adding a little bit of exposed brick to our home. There is a landing in my stairs between my middle level and my basement level that I wanted to dress up for a long time.

There was this shelf that came out from the wall. I wanted to put brick on the top and wainscoting on the bottom.

We started by putting up some backer board, and went to work adding the brick. It is the thin brick perfect for walls.

We were nervous about bricking a wall, but it actually was so easy. A lot easier than tile in fact.

I was excited to get the brick done, and move on to the wainscoting.

We nailed on 1/4 inch plywood and a piece of wood for the shelf and went to work on the detail.

We measured and ripped MDF on the table saw to create the detail of the wainscoting.

Then I went to work painting it white.

And adding some fall decorations to it.

I love the way it turned out. Just enough detail to really add some personality to the stairway. Finally, my whole lower level of my home is finished. Now moving on to another room! Pin It

My basement bathroom make over

I can't believe so many days have passed since I last posted. I haven't found a minute since the start of school to sit down and blog. Last year we decided to renovate and completely gut our basement.  The very first project we did down there was the bathroom.  This room seriously needed a face lift. It started out just your typical basement bathroom. Nothing fancy.

This is the before, right after we moved in.  It functioned fine, and served it's purpose but it just wasn't great to look at.  So we got to work gutting it out.  First we got rid of everything including the tub.

Yea, everything was out and we were ready to put things back together. I wanted to use a black and white checkered floor tile with white subway tile for the shower.  My son chose an apple green color for the walls and we installed V board and painted it white to break up the color.

I purchased a vanity from Lowes that I decided to paint a light gray color.  I got out the Prinzzer primer and painted a few coats, painted the gray color, then put new knobs on it, and it looked like a totally custom vanity.

Here is the finished product. Let me just tell you, small bathrooms are hard to photograph!

It was hard work, but I love how this space turned out! Pin It

The story of my console

Life has been so busy with the end of summer fun, school shopping, and school starting. I am finally happy that I have time to post on my most favorite topic. Re-finishing furniture. Now that my theater room is done, I have decided that the console I painted is one of my most favorite pieces I have done in a long time.  This piece of furniture was such a lucky find.  We knew that we wanted a built in unit for the television but didn't know if we were going to go totally built in or find a cool piece to go in the middle.  We were walking around the DI one Saturday looking for white elephant gifts, and stumbled upon this piece of furniture.

The models were not included. :) This was your typical seventies piece of furniture.  We seriously walked past it twice.  We measured it, took a good look, and decided to bring it home with us.  I love how well furniture of that era was built. This thing is solid! I decided at once that I would paint it white and spray those fun chunky knobs dark gray.
Once the room was primed and the shelves next to it were built, I went to work painting it.  I always start my paint projects with this product.

Best product ever. It cleans and sands your furniture all at once. Just wet a rag with the product, wipe it on the furniture, and start painting. It totally bonds your paint to the furniture.  Just a side note, this works on all woods, but if you are painting something like laminate you need to use zinsser primer first. I just painted with the same paint I paint my trim with and sprayed the knobs with rustoleum spray paint.

I am so glad that we had vision for this piece of furniture. When you paint old furniture you save so much money, and you have a one of a kind piece that no one else has. Pin It

Theater room - the finished product!

I am loving the new paint color of my theater room. I can't believe how much the room has transformed from the dark blue room we moved into, to a more calming gray. I seriously thought there was no hope for this room when we moved into the house.

Here is the before. A dark blue dungeon.

Here it is after. I found a gray couch to match the walls and put two chairs on the upper step. We recently went to London, and I knew I wanted a London themed  room somewhere in my house. I figured this was the perfect room to do it since it was somewhere fun we all liked to hang out in.

I wanted to keep the room classic, clean, but fun at the same time. I found this big stop watch clock at Hobby Lobby and knew the circle shape would be perfect for the room since everything in it is so linear. I hung pictures of our trip in the frames on the walls to remind me of all the fun we had there.

My husband built the shelves, and I love how most of the electronic equipment is hidden. It was a lot of work, and I during the process I thought we'd never finish, but in the end it turned out great and we have a fun new space to spend time as a family in. Pin It

It's a paint party

One of the first things we did for this theater room is to prime and paint everything white. I always use either Kilz, or in this case, I used Zinzer brand primer. It really neutralized that horrible blue color.  The can lights are in and waiting to be painted around, and all the molding is done and painted  in a pure white satin paint.  My hubby built the columns the go along the wall, and even added a little bit of light in them for a fun touch. He found LED lights that you can cut and have adhesive backing so he could stick them in the openings of the columns.  The shelves and console at the end of the room are going to be white, and the walls are going to be painted a smoky gray.

I always paint my ceilings. I think that they are as big of a feature as the walls, and I wanted this room to be no exception.  I chose to paint the ceiling the same butter yellow color that I  painted  in the rest of my basement.
This is a view towards the other side of the room. We kept the room as an actual theater room. It already had the step up for furniture, but the step went all across right to the doorway.  We decided to cut it out and make it curved to make the room feel less choppy.

I am really happy with both the color and the moldings. The columns my hubby did are awesome,  and I love the dark gray against all that white. Pin It

Covering that color!

We bought this house with the intent of remodeling everything. Some rooms in the house are better than others. There are defiantly two that tied for the worst. The girl's bathroom, and our theater room. We decided that the first level we are finishing is the basement, and the theater room is on that level.  Here is the beautiful before...the day we moved in picture of this lovely room.

The picture seriously isn't doing the room justice. The color is so dark, and the only lighting in the whole room are those sconces. It is a long dark dungeon.

We put can lighting in the ceiling, and went to town priming and repairing those walls.

I can't believe how much brighter the room is! We decided to keep the room as a theater room instead of a traditional family room. The room is long and narrow, and we decided to put the TV on the far wall. My hubby built the shelves to store equipment, and we found the console for an amazing price at the DI.  Can't wait to show off my painting project for that fun piece of furniture. So far the room is a lot brighter, and really coming together nicely! Pin It

Pop of color

We moved into this house two years ago with the intention of re-doing just about everything. This is not our first house reno and we are very seasoned DIYers. This house is just taking longer to complete than I hoped it would. There were a lot of not so fun projects that we needed to take care of first.  I was prepared to be patient, live with the house the way it was until we got to each room, but I couldn't do it any longer. I had to make a minor change on my main level to stay sane this winter.  I had to do something with the dark brown accent wall in my family room.  I majorly dislike the color brown, and I could live with it no longer.  I needed COLOR! So for the cost of one gallon of paint, shopping around the house, and some spray paint in the garage, I have a new room!

Here is the room before. Not bad, but the brown just bugged me. I loved the color of the shutter on the mantle, and decided that I would paint the brown wall that color.

Can I just say, so much better. It really lightened up that room and made it feel less like a dungeon. So with that project done, I needed a little more color other places.

I found this ottoman at an antique store, and had to bring it home.

These frames were in the basement, and decided to do a collage above my couch.

I sprayed them to add some color.

The room came together great. Quickly and without spending a lot of money. It no longer feels like a big brown hole, and I actually like spending time in that room. It is funny what a difference a little color can make. Pin It

All wrapped up

I can't believe that the start of school is approaching. It always has a way of sneaking up on me.  I start to panic when I think of the start of school, because that means that the holidays are just around the corner. For the past few (a lot) of years I have had issues with storing my wrapping paper. With the completion of my craft room, I was determined to have a place to both organize and store all my wrapping supplies. I have seen so many wonderful ideas on pinterest and I was debating on whether or not to incorporate the wrapping station right into the room, or have a separate area for it. I decided to go with a separate wrapping station that I could roll around to any room I want it in since my favorite place to wrap is in my family room in front of a good show.  Here is what we came up with.

We found a wooden microwave cart at Fred Meyer. The price was good, it came with wheels, there were drawers for tape and scissors, and it would be cheaper to buy than making it ourselves.  We put it together, then added the fun touches.

I had this container already for my wrapping paper and we just attached it to the side using jute for the top, and screwed it on the wood on the bottom. Oh yea, the wood came from an extension on the top we weren't going to use.

There was a towel bar that came out of the side. We cut the middle out of it, kept some wood for stops, and it became the perfect bag holder.

Storage in the bottom for boxes and bows.

A drawer for labels, scissors, and tape.

We now have a fun and way functional space to both use and store wrapping supplies. I now have a great solution that I can store away in the closet, pull out when I need to, and have all my wrapping supplies organized and in one place ready to go. Pin It

Go Bold

It is pretty and hot here today. Put me right in the mood to show my bright additions to my yard.  If you are scared of color, the yard is a perfect place to start playing and adding color to your home.  I wanted to go bright this year and decided to use reds, apple greens, turquoises, and yellows to make my yard pop.  The yard is such a fun place to add color because it is easy to do, and easy to change. I change colors every year by just using spray paint.

We sprayed the black table red and found these way fun cushions at home goods. The sun that is hanging on the window on my shed I sprayed green, and the pots in the corner, yep, I sprayed them too. It is a happy place to have dinner for sure.

I had these chairs on my porch last year and decided they would look great on my little patio area by my shed. I just sprayed them turquoise for a fun pop of color.

I even brought the bright colors to the front and sprayed the clock turquoise too. It is metal, easy to paint, and if I want it a different color next summer I will just spray it again.

I even brought the color over to the side of my porch as well. It is bright, fun, and really livens up my yard and is a great accent to all my flowers. 

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