One-Day Reorganization Project–My Hubby’s Closet

"His" closet at 11 Magnolia Lane

A few months ago, when we put the house on the market, I embarked on a weekend mission to tidy every. single. closet in the house.  I had already done mine, well before the move, in pink with a cute chandelier {read about that HERE}, but everyone else’s needed help, too.

Pink and silver closet at 11 Magnolia Lane

My husband and I have his and hers walk in closets in our master bedroom, which is a first for us.  We’ve been blessed to have walk in closets in the past, but we’ve always had to share one.  The two closet doors face each other and I used the Kvill frame from Ikea on each door to label them “Hers” and “His.”

Ikea Kvill Frame to label "His" Closet

My husband’s closet was already a tan color…if we weren’t moving, I probably would have done a brown 9″ vertical stripe in there, but it just seemed more important to get things tidy and organized.  I picked a weekend while he was away for work, although I promise I didn’t give anything away without his approval–he had a stack to go through when he got home!

One of the best ways to make clothes look organized in a closet is to use one kind of hanger.  I bought several big boxes of wood hangers and hung everything up, organized by color and season because that’s the way I roll.  I have the slimline velvet hangers in my closet, but the hubs likes wood ones, so that’s what I used.

"His" closet at 11 Magnolia Lane

 

Would you believe the wicker baskets on the top shelf were originally on my kids’ changing table?  We have about twelve of them because I ordered extra–they’ve organized lots of closets over the years!

I decorated the wall that holds his pants with a metal golf sign that was just collecting dust in the attic…he is QUITE the golfer!

Golf decor in his closet at 11 Magnolia Lane

I tried to use all wooden hangers for his slacks, but it looks like a metal one has crept back in.

I had enough room left over after organizing and re-hanging his clothes to put a shoe organizer on the floor, with our laundry basket in front of it.  Mens’ shoes take up so much space, so it saves room to use a vertical organizer rather than to line them up on the floor.

Shoe storage in his closet at 11 Magnolia Lane

I also had enough space to create an area for his valet box–it’s full of watches, cuff links, bow ties, suspenders, and hundred of tiny little Army uniform thingies.  I try not to get involved in all that!  The empty bourbon bottles are from a couple of single barrel batches that his unit has ordered over the years.  He might uncork them and sniff when he needs strength–who knows?

Men's dressing/valet area at 11 Magnolia Lane

I also hung a few things in here that weren’t being used in his office or elsewhere in the house, to make it feel more like a library than a closet.  His commissioning certificate is over the valet box:

Men's closet at 11 Magnolia Lane


And his master’s degree is on the wall where I hung his Australian hat and his tie rack.  Lest you think I’m dissing his accomplishment, I’ll have you know that mine is covered with spider webs in the attic!

Tie rack in his closet at 11 Magnolia Lane


 The back of the door is an underutilized area in a closet, so I put some hooks on his:

Door hooks at 11 Magnolia Lane

And that’s it!  It only took about a half day, but it made a big difference in how functional his closet was for him.  I wish I’d done it sooner–all those Army uniforms take up a bunch of space, and organization is key to getting everything to fit.

Thanks for stopping by (and thanks, honey, for letting me show your closet to the world!).

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How to {sort of} Disguise a Dog Crate With a Slipcover

 ***Don’t forget to enter our current giveaway {here} for a copy of 31 Days to a Heart of Hospitality, by Edie at Life{in}grace.  I just finished it last night, and it’s really wonderful!  Hurry, because the giveaway ends on Thursday, April 18th!  ***

Dog Crate Slipcover by 11 Magnolia Lane

If you’ve been hanging out with us for any length of time, you know that I live in a zoo, with two kids, two rescued golden retrievers, a senile cat, a hamster, and two tadpoles (soon to be frogs).  Notice that I did not mention my long-suffering husband, because he is a fellow zookeeper rather than an inmate!

Not too long ago, I built a doggie gate out of old window shutters.  I loved how that turned out, and even mentioned at the end of that post how I needed to come up with an idea to hide the super-huge wire crate that Harley likes to sleep in.  Sunny doesn’t have one–some dogs love them and some could care less, and he’s a could-care-less kind of guy, which is great because two dogs crates would take up half of my bedroom!

I didn’t take a before picture of the dog crate.  You know what they look like!

First, I measured and jotted down all the dimensions:

Step 1: Measure

 

I decided that the front panel of the crate (that covers the door) would only be attached at the top, so it could roll up for Harley to look out, or down to hide the crate when he wasn’t in it.  I used my old standby–canvas painter’s dropcloths from Home Depot, both because I already had one draped over the top of his crate, and because that’s an easy way to get big yardage of fabric inexpensively.

I am a terrible seamstress, so please forgive me for not going into great detail here.  I cut rectangles of fabric for each of the four sides and the top of the crate, leaving an inch or two extra for seam allowance.  I also used the already-finished seams on the dropcloths for the fronts of the two sides and the sides of the front roll-up piece.

The cutting took awhile, because some members of the family, who shall remain nameless, thought that I was rolling out a blanket for them to lounge on and derailed the entire process:

Cut the fabric to size

(By the way, if you’ve been following Sunny-the-train-wreck’s surgery and recovery, we are going to the vet this week for follow up X-rays and a weigh-in.  His last weight was 110 lbs, down from 140, and he wants you to know that he has not had a single piece of fried chicken since he came to live with us in December!  He would really like someone to smuggle some in to him, though…)

I pinned all the wrong sides together on the crate (so the slipcover was inside-out) and then sewed the seams.  See the already-finished edges on the front?

Pin wrong sides together

Here’s a close-up:

Close up of dog crate slipcover

I decided to add cording and a little knife pleat to the bottom, because Harley is confident in his masculinity (despite being neutered).  I figure that she who buys the kibble gets to make the decorating decisions!  Miss Mustard Seed does a great video series on sewing slipcovers (for chairs, not dog crates) and the one where she talks about making piping/ cording is here.

I used the already-hemmed edge of the slipcovers again when I made the knife pleat.  I don’t use a ruler or any sort of system when I fold pleats, because I am a slacker.  The last step was to sew ribbons on the front and sides so that when the front door is rolled down, everything looks neat.  Here it is rolled up, complete with dog:

Completed dog crate slipcover
And here it is when we’re trying to disguise it to make it look like an enormous side table. :)

Slipcover for dog crate

 

Here’s a side shot…the front door is bent out a little from an attempted jailbreak, so that’s why there’s a bit of a gap:

Side view of dog crate slipcover

Although this dog crate is the size of a small house, if you actually have a normal-sized dog and crate, this would really work to camouflage it.  The best we can hope for is to make it look less big, black, and wiry!  I’m pleased with how it turned out, and Harley couldn’t care less, as long as there’s something on the sides to keep him hidden from the world while he sleeps.

Has anyone tried anything else to disguise a crate?

Thanks for stopping by!

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A new baby and a new house!

**Our newest giveaway is up and running over on our Current Giveaways page.  We’re giving away two copies of 31 Days to a Heart of Hospitality, an ebook by our friend Edie over at Life{in}Grace.**

Here is a bit of what’s been going on with the other two of us while Christy’s been covering 11 Magnolia Lane over the last two weeks! She did a great job of course :) She is now in the midst of preparing to move, and winding up the school year, so I told her I would jump back in and give everyone all the news.

First of all, we are SO proud to share our newest resident at Magnolia Lane. Last week Terry and her family welcomed this sweet bundle of joy to their family. I have been lucky enough to spend time with him and can attest he will just melt your heart!

atlas2

Gorgeous photo by Courtney Anderson Photography. He is in his beautiful nursery, see the whole room HERE.

And we’ve completed our move! Well, at least as far as we are able to reside in our home, but we still have boxes everywhere. We really jumped back in our new area with kids’ activities, school events, sporting events and of course, that new baby pictured above to visit  :) so unpacking has taken a backseat.

Our new home is very different from our former lakefront home near the beach. We traded the water view for space, space and more space. Just having a basement for storage the kids to play in is so nice, not to mention all this closet space :) I will be sure to show off more of the house once I get it more presentable but for now here is a bit of a sneak peak via my phone.

dining room

{the dining room}

While we waited for our belongings to arrive, I had a few days in the empty house to make some adaptions so it would match our current cooler, light color scheme. Much of this home is decorated in warmer tones like yellow, mustard, moss green and burgundy.

family room

{the family room}

We discovered the other day that the stripes on the fireplace wall are not what they seem–wallpaper–but actually painted on the wall. I need to find out the scoop on that from the owner, it’s just amazing to me someone could paint perfect stripes on a two-story wall.

front hall

{the front hall}

screen porch

{the screened porch–I have BIG plans for this space!}

I did have a few projects right at the top of my list. First off, my oldest son is moving into the room that was a former office. I tackled removing the flowered wallpaper border, as it is not really my son’s taste. I’ll do a post on that shortly, I learned a lot of what to do and not do removing wallpaper. Here is the room previously, it was an easy fix and after the border came down, the beige walls work perfectly for a preteen boy.

declan room

I also painted the master bedroom. It was formerly dark minty green, and our bedding and accessories didn’t really match. I have been obsessed with the Sherwin Williams color ‘Blue Diamond’ since I saw it in my brother in law’s beach condo last winter. Its the perfect palest blue, with just hints of gray, and couldn’t wait to use it in my bedroom. Had I not just painted my old master bedroom, I would have redone it immediately to that color after our visit.

bedroom after

Unfortunately things didn’t go as planned with the color, it came out WAY more blue then I expected. Here is the repainted room, and while I like it, its obviously not the ‘palest’ blue out there. I am not sure if its the dark green behind {but I used paint with primer?} or perhaps I incorrectly remembered the color and got something else similar instead, or maybe the color was off from being mixed at Home Depot? {Thoughts?} Anyway, lesson learned but I will just live with it–or repaint the room again down the road!

I am off to go unpack, but thanks for stopping by!

XO,

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Things I Would Do to My Kitchen (if I could do it all over again)

As most of you know, we’re pulling up stakes and moving in just a few months, and so it’s time to look back at what I’ve accomplished around the house in the almost-tw-years that we’ve been in Nashville.  All in all, I’m pretty proud of what we’ve done with this house.

The kitchen was by far my biggest job, and all of that hard work definitely paid off:

BH&G Kitchen + Bath Makeovers--Christy's kitchen{all credit and thanks for this photo goes to Alise O’Brien, photographer, and Bonnie Broten, field editor and stylist, from Better Homes & Gardens Kitchens + Bath Makeovers magazine}

BUT, if I had a little bit more time, there are some things I’d add to the mix.  And if I could go back again, there are a few things I’d do differently.

Here’s what I’d add:

1) Get rid of the flat ceramic cooktop and put in a gas cooktop.  The wall that the stove is on is an exterior wall, and there’s already a gas line to the house for the hot water heater and the heat, so it shouldn’t be too hard to have that done, right?  Everyone knows that gas, with its quick ability to raise and lower temperature quickly, is what real chefs want. And I, although by no means a “real” chef, have always loved cooking with gas.

photo credit:  Alise O'Brien

photo credit: Alise O’Brien

2) Get rid of that recirculating exhaust hood (what’s the point of that?!) and vent a big old hood to the outside.  Preferable white and custom built, but that’s just me.  I know I could build a gorgeous one!

3)  Add some open shelving and/or glass-paneled cabinet doors to make pretty displays of all of my white dishes.  Like Amy did here:

4) Add under-cabinet lighting.  This makes such a big difference, but it’s hard to appreciate until you’ve had it in one of your kitchens.  Then it’s hard to ever go back.

5) I’d also find a wine fridge that fits into the island, and pop off one of the cabinet doors to make room for it.  Wine deserves its own fridge in our house!

Here’s what I’d do differently:

1) I’d find someone to spray my cabinet doors and drawers, or else I’d probably pay to buy new ones–at least the doors–no need to replace the boxes.  The painting was a pain in the rear and it seemed like it took forever.  I love how much money I saved, but sometimes money spent is well worth it for time saved.

2) I might even change the color of the cabinets from white to–gasp–pale gray or light blue.  Now, that is a change that is best made when one intends to stay in the house for years, because not all buyers want kitchen cabinets that are such a decisive color, but wouldn’t that be fun?  Maybe with nice crystal knobs?

3) I would adore marble countertops, like Amy’s, even though I’m not sure she’d do it all over again {more about that HERE}.  They are so pretty, though!  How about marble on the countertops that go around the wall, and butcher block on the island?  LOVE!

The good news is that I’ll have another house to decorate in a few months.  I’m always drawn to kitchens that have already been remodeled, but doesn’t that take some of the fun out of it?  Maybe I should start looking at horrible oak cabinets, 80′s wallpaper (there is still plenty of that around!), and brass fixtures.  I love a challenge, after all!

If you could wave your magic wand and fix your kitchen up, what would you do first?

Believe it or not, this post is sponsored by BlogHer and Home Depot, but the opinions (and the plan for my kitchen) are entirely my own!

Thanks for stopping by!

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How to Remove Vinyl from Walls and Doors

IMG_2515Remember for awhile there, when everyone was putting big, long sayings on their walls?  Bible verses and cute phrases like “Always Kiss Me Goodnight,” and “Happily Ever After?”  I had one on my kids’ bathroom wall reminding them to Brush, Rinse, Flush, Floss, and a few other things–now THAT was useful!  Anyway, I think there’s still a place for vinyl in the home, and trust me, I use lots of it still (there’s an enormous three-initial monogram on the wall above my bed, for example), but if you’re wanting to take your vinyl down in some areas to keep your decor cutting-edge :) , then you may be wondering if it’s really as removable as we were promised that it is!

I’ve been waiting for warm enough weather to paint our front door.  Our house is on the rental market, as most of you guys know, and an immaculate front entry is key to curb appeal.  First step, though, was to remove my cute vinyl house numbers from the door:

Front door at 11 Magnolia Lane

 

Sadly, vinyl is removable, but not reusable, so don’t think you’re going to be able to move it somewhere else or put it back up later.

Using a hair dryer set to medium heat, warm the edge of the vinyl until a plastic spatula or putty knife can lift up the edge.  If you don’t have a putty knife, maybe a credit card, or even a razor blade?  Be careful that you don’t scratch the wall with the razor blade, though!

Use a hair dryer to warm the vinyl

Working SLOWLY, peel the vinyl away.  If it starts to resist, just shoot it with the hair dryer!  Be patient and remember that it’s better to go slowly than to have to spackle a wall!


IMG_2516

I was favorably impressed with how my door looked when the vinyl was off.  You can barely see the outline of the numbers on the right side of the door, but after I wiped it down, I realized that was dirt and/or pollen, and not adhesive residue.  I had planned to lightly sand any glue away before I painted, but it wasn’t necessary.

Door after vinyl is removed.

I forgot to snap a picture of the door after I painted and before I reapplied the vinyl, but it looked perfect.  I could easily have left the door vinyl-free, and no trace would have remained.  But, since I loved those door numbers, I cut a new set and reapplied them.  Just a side note; the font is different.  I bought the original set before I got my vinyl cutter and while I like the original font better, this one is just fine for now!

IMG_2524

The bottom line is that the vinyl held up perfectly for almost two years, and then was easily removed without leaving a trace behind.   And while removal was slow and steady, it was also easy.  Two thumbs up!

Thanks for stopping by.

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My Dining Room Table & Chairs–Painted White

White painted dining room table and chairs at 11 Magnolia Lane

You all are stuck with me {Christy} for a few days, since Terry just had her baby boy on Saturday {CONGRATULATIONS!}, and Amy moved this weekend and is removing wallpaper borders, painting and unpacking {maybe we should all say a quick prayer for her?!}.  I just sent my beloved aunt and uncle on their way, after a very fun visit, and wanted to show you my dining room table and chairs in a little more detail than what I posted on Facebook.

After my dining room updates {here} and {here}, things were almost done, but I have been seriously tempted to paint my table and chairs for about a year now.  My double pedestal table is crooked, thanks to the last movers we had (I think they were crushed on the truck), and there are deep gouges and scratches on the table surface.  Since it was a lovely piece, I didn’t want to get rid of it and start again, but I know that paint and distressing is much more forgiving of our transient lifestyle.

Here’s the “before” of the table:

Grey and chevron dining room at 11 Magnolia Lane

I Scotchguarded the chairs way back when, but years of children and pets took their toll.  Here’s a closeup of one of the chair cushions so you can see just how bad they were:

Dining room chair cushions "before"

At first I was going to sew slipcovers for them, but after sewing a slipcover for our dog’s crate (I will write a post on that soon), I realized that my sewing skills are pretty bad and the resulting slipcovers would likely look crappy.  So I decide to figure out how to reupholster them–the seats would be easy, but I’d never done anything like the backs before.  At an impasse, I decided to start with the table, so I could enjoy quick results.

I used two coats of Annie Sloan chalk paint in Pure White, and even though the directions say you don’t have to sand, I did lightly sand the tabletop only, because it was so glossy.  Here was the table with two coats of paint (no wax, yet):

Dining room table--two coats of chalk paint and no wax

 

The Pure White looked so bright and clean that I nearly stopped here.

 

Dining room table with white chalk paint

 

But then I remembered that the movers will distress my table and chairs this summer no matter what, and I figured I should continue with the dark wax and sanding.

I’ve never waxed furniture before, so this took some figuring out.  I used Annie Sloan’s clear wax, then a little tiny bit of dark wax, then sanded, then put clear wax on again.  The reason you put the clear wax on first is that it lets you play with the dark wax a bit; instead of soaking right into the paint, you can add some, lighten it up, and get it the way you like it.  After it dried, I sanded a bit, and even added a little more white paint in a few areas that I thought were too dark.  And yes, I painted the two leaves at the same time.  Here’s how the table looked when I was done:

White chalk paint with dark wax and distressing

 

White chalk paint on dining room table with dark wax

I love the shape of my chairs, and was excited to see how they turned out.  One hint when recovering chairs is to keep the cushions with the correct chairs; they are not interchangeable because the nails on the bottom will want to match up with their original cushions.  The back panels on my chairs were held in place by four screws, just like the seat cushions, although they were covered on the back with wooden caps (you can see those in the top picture).  I had to pop them out with a flathead screwdriver to get to the screws.

Once all the cushions were removed, I gave the chairs the same paint and wax treatment that the table had received.

Dining room chairs before and after

 

The medallions on the side looked great with the dark wax bringing out the details.

Side view of painted chairI then washed, dried and ironed a 4′ x 15′ canvas painter’s dropcloth (from Home Depot) to use as my upholstery fabric.  My staple gun got a HUGE workout–my hand is still sore–as I covered the stained cushions with the canvas.  The seat cushions are simple, and I’ve recovered cushions like that dozens of times in the past, but the back cushions were trickier.  The fabric had to be cut exactly right, with no extra to hang over and show.  Instead of sewing cording and using that, I bought gimp trim at Hobby Lobby (it took exactly two rolls for all six chairs) and glue gunned it into place.  Here’s a close up of the gimp:

Trim chair upholstery with gimpI used a neutral color, but if I had used a different fabric it would be fun to use a bright, contrasting color.  Maybe I’ll do that the next time I recover them.  And yes, I have Scotchguarded them thoroughly, because I’d like to avoid recovering them again for another few years!

Here’s the front of the chairs, finished:

Dining room chairs, finished

 

I had a little gray chevron fabric left after covering the piano bench, and sewed a tiny lumbar pillow for one of the two armchairs.  The insert is just a down one I found at Goodwill for $2.

Gray chevron lumbar pillow

 

If you follow on Facebook, then you saw pictures of this process along the way.  One of the reasons I used the neutral canvas fabric was because I had a plan for these chairs–they were going to get a monogram using Citrasolv to transfer the ink to the fabric!  Read how that works {here}.   I printed out a couple of “B’s” on my computer, using the Monogram font, and taped them on the front and back.  Dozens of you voted, and while it was pretty much even in the end, I decided to put it on the back.

Here was the front:

Monogram on front of chair

And the back:

Monogram on back of chairI love how it turned out when I transferred the ink (and put the nail hole caps in place):

Monogram on back of dining room chair

 

The room seems like it’s done now:

Dining room at 11 Magnolia LaneI found a huge, barnwood tray at C’est Moi (that’s our local store that sells AS chalk paint), and love how it looks on the table:

Barnwood tray at 11 Magnolia Lane

And while I’m tempted to paint the buffet as well, it’s not damaged, and I’m just not sure.  What do you guys think?

Dining room at 11 Magnolia Lane

Painted dining room chairs at 11 Magnolia Lane

As always, thanks for stopping by!

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Thrift Store Finds–Just Add Paint

I’m writing this post because of my twelve-year old son.  The other day, as I was walking in the door from a particularly successful thrift store run, he looked at my fabulous finds and said, “Mom, sometimes the things you bring home from Goodwill scare me.”  Hmmm, obviously he lacks my vision, but I wonder how many of us overlook treasures just because they’re disguised as, um, trash?  This was the item that “scared” him:

Thrift store statue at 11 Magnolia Lane

I’ll grant him that she does look a little tacky right now, but once I got her dusted off and spray painted white, here’s how she turned out:

Thrift store statue from 11 Magnolia LaneSeriously elegant, right?  And have you ever priced statuary?  She’s about 2 feet high and made of ceramic, so I figure I got a steal (I spent $12 on her).  My son’s just glad she has clothes on, as one of the last pieces I brought home was a reproduction of the Venus de Milo, and he was pretty scandalized by her semi-nudity (and armlessness).

Here’s a little frame I found that day.  I love to paint these with either a black or white semi-gloss.  Before:

Thrift store frame--before

And after a few coats of white spray paint and a Bible verse I printed on my computer, it’s perfect in my blue and white laundry room:

Psalm 51 Laundry Room Verse at 11 Magnolia Lane

If you want to borrow that idea, it’s Psalm 51:7b, and the font I used is a free one called “Contribute.”  I printed it on some blue chevron scrapbook paper and hung it on the wall above my washer and dryer.

Here are a couple of other finds…it’s pretty easy to see the potential in the oval frame (I LOVE oval frames), but the duck decoy is *hideous.*  The checkout lady was laughing at me for buying it!

Thrift store finds at 11 Magnolia LaneI spray painted the duck in some seriously bad weather just so I could get that white paint on quickly!  Here’s how he (she?) turned out.  Not bad, huh?

Thrift store duck decoy at 11 Magnolia Lane

The sweet oval frame wound up on my powder room door.  I love hanging things on doors because they’re always underutilized–and under decorated–space.

Le Bain sign at 11 Magnolia Lane

Le Bain powder room sign at 11 Magnolia Lane

The glass would also have looked great sprayed with black chalkboard paint and then the lettering done in chalk pen.  Hmmm…may have to change that up one of these days!

I guess my point is that you have to look at thrift store items with an eye towards their potential, rather than their current appearance.  It takes awhile to train yourself to mentally paint, strip, sew, repurpose, or otherwise alter items, but once you’ve figured out how to do it, you really begin to see the treasure behind the trash.

One of our Facebook followers mentioned that the trash-to-treasure metaphor is a perfect picture of how God sees beyond our worn out, dirty, tacky, unwanted, or unloved selves, and instead sees how we can look after He’s cleaned us up and restored us to newness.  I loved that (thank you, Stephanie L), and what a perfect lesson for Easter week.

Thanks for stopping by!

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Painted Tile Backsplash in My Kitchen–A Year Later

First of all, we have a giveaway winner.  Thanks to all who entered the giveaway for the vinyl house numbers, and congratulations to Kathy S., who said,  ”Love following you on Pinterest..such a neat idea!!!!! Would love a set of these house numbers!”  Well, girl, it’s your lucky day.  Check your inbox because I just messaged you.  To everyone else, thanks for playing.  We’ll do another one soon, okay?

*******

Painted tile backsplash in kitchen at 11 Magnolia Lane

If you’re like me, sometimes you wonder how projects hold up over time.  Remember in late 2011, when I decided to paint my ceramic tile kitchen backsplash on a whim?  My reasoning was that it was going to be torn down and replaced anyway, so why not try to paint it first?  I had nothing to lose, after all.  It’s been almost 18 months since then, and I’m happy to report that it still looks great and I still love the look.  The photos above and below were taken today, and the backsplash still looks terrific.

Painted tile backsplash in kitchen at 11 Magnolia Lane

If you haven’t read the saga of my kitchen redo, Part 1 is {here} and Part 2 is {here}.  If you’ve been following for awhile, then you know that the finished product caught the eye of Bonnie Broten, editor at Better Homes & Gardens Kitchen + Bath Makeovers, and the kitchen was photographed for the Spring 2013 issue.  I announced that big news when I showed you my pantry redo {here}.  By the way, the magazine is due out on newsstands literally any day now, so keep an eye open for it!

When I finished part 1 of my kitchen redo, the tile backsplash was its original brown/tan color.  Here’s how it looked:

It was okay, but not great.  Our previous home, in North Carolina {here}, had white subway tile in the kitchen, which I loved.  I planned to take this tile down and put that up, but then I decided to paint it first, just in case I liked it and could save myself some time.  I’m so glad I decided to give it a try!

Here’s the after, part 2!

I talked about the process in Part 2 of my kitchen post, and here’s the section about painting the tile:

“After I painted the walls, I turned to the backsplash.  I read up on painting tile, and decided that I really had nothing to lose, because I was already planning on taking the backsplash down.  Why not try to paint it first and see if I could save time and money?  The brown of the tile really clashed with my countertops–they have some brown in them but they’re really more gray.  The warm and the cool tones right next to each other really bothered me (my husband thought I was nuts about that, although he admits that he likes the result).

First, I scrubbed the tiles really well.  TSP works great, and I also used rubbing alcohol to degrease the tiles.  Next, I had to wait a day or two before priming to let the grout dry (I HATE to wait to start a project!).  I tried to sand the tiles but they were too hard to really get roughed up by the sandpaper, so I was sure to use a primer for glossy surfaces that specifically mentioned ceramic tile (Zinsser Bulls-Eye 123; although sometimes I use their oil based primer in the gold can, too).  I primed with one coat, and then applied two coats of oil-based paint.  I bought a quart of Behr from Home Depot, tinted to match White Dove at half strength.  I used a brush to prime and paint–you really have to work a bit to get the paint into the grout and a roller just wasn’t cutting it.  Plus, I have some decorative tiles that needed extra attention.  While I think I should add a clear coat at some point, I’m really happy with how it’s turned out, and I’ve been able to wipe splatters off without removing any paint.”

Here are a few more “after” shots, taken today.

Painted tile backsplash behind stove at 11 Magnolia Lane

Painted tile backsplash at 11 Magnolia Lane

I have NOT put a clear coat on top of the oil-based paint, and I haven’t needed to.  I chipped a tiny piece of paint away when a silver platter hit it, but I filled that in with some extra paint and it covered it beautifully.  To clean it, I just used a damp sponge, although if I have a lot of splatters I use a spray cleaner (I make my own or use Method ones) and the abrasive side of the sponge.  Splatters and grease wipe away easily and the oil-based paint is incredible durable.

The bottom line is that if you want to paint your tile, then I think it’s an incredibly fast, easy, and inexpensive way to change things up a bit.  Let me know if you have any questions, and thanks for stopping by!

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Posted in Before and After, DIY, Kitchens | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

DIY Moss Letters–Bring a Burst of Spring to your Front Door!

 

 

I don’t know about you, but I have an almost pathological obsession with taking down my holiday decor.  Today is February 15th, and the few red and pink Valentine’s Day items in my house go away TODAY!  Yes, I have a hard time leaving my Christmas decorations up until New Year’s, but I force myself. :)

Since I’m taking down my decoupaged hugs and kisses XO wreath today (read about that HERE for next year), I needed something to replace it on my front door.  And since it’s mid-February, for those of us here in Tennessee, it’s almost Spring.  So, what better color than green for the front door?

Pottery Barn sells their moss letters for $79 a pop.  Of course, theirs are LIVE moss, but even so, that’s a little steep for me.  I completed this project for about $17, and that’s including the cost of a glue gun and hot glue sticks, which I already had on hand.

Here’s what I bought at Hobby Lobby:

 

 

The big wood letters are $12.99 at Hobby Lobby; I bought mine on a 50% off week.  It’s 18″ high.  The sheets of moss are $7.99, and I used my 40% off coupon.  I also bought a roll of burlap ribbon there for $2.50, since I had just cut up the last of my old grain sack from the flea market.

Amy talks about covering a sphere with moss HERE, and I just followed her directions, which are basically cut the moss to fit, glue it to the form, and cut slits to make it lay flat.  I copy all of her ideas eventually, anyway.  Did y’all know we were college roommates?  Sometimes I think we’re twins separated at birth because our taste is pretty much identical, but I digress…back to the moss!  I think the moss is very easy to work with–it’s so forgiving since it doesn’t show the seams when you glue in a small scrap to fill in a spot.  However, mark my words, it makes an absolutely gigantic mess!  Be prepared to vacuum your counter, your floor, and yourself when you’re done!  I only had half a package of moss when I started this project, and I ran out part way through. I hate when that happens!

DIY Moss Sphere and partially completed initial letter

Um,  yes, I covered a sphere with moss and stuck it in an urn.  Amy told me to! :)  And doesn’t it look great?!

After an emergency stop at Hobby Lobby, where the manager knows me by name (it’s like when Norm used to walk into Cheers, if you’re old enough to remember that), I plugged in the glue gun again and finished up the project.  Here’s what I wound up with:

Moss covered initial with burlap ribbon

Here are a couple of tips:

  • Run the moss around the edges of the letter.  Mine covered all the unfinished wood.  I guess to save a little on moss/glue/work, you could also spray paint your edges dark green, but I think this looks better.
  • Save all the tiny pieces you have left over from trimming the moss; you can glue that on your letter in any gaps you see and no one will be able to tell.  Or, use it on the next project.
  • I used the burlap ribbon to dress things up a bit; however, the letter is actually hanging on a metal wreath hanger.  The burlap hides it, though.  I formed a bow through trial and error (there is NO method to my madness when it comes to bow-making) and secured it with florist wire).  As an aside, I really, really like the burlap ribbon I bought at HobLob!

That’s it–easy!  I’m probably going to put this letter on the front door and take the moss sphere and the urn out there, too.  I already have a big wooden “B” on the old window hanging on my porch, and that would be redundant, so that’s going to go on the screened porch for awhile, and I’m going to hang a grapevine wreath in its place.  I’ll let you see a few pictures when I’m done, either in a post or on our Facebook page.

DIY tutorial for moss door letter

What do you guys have on your front porches these days?

Thanks for stopping by!

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Dining Room Update–Painted Curtains

I posted on my dining room back in October {read that post HERE}.  It’s the first room you see when you walk into my house, and it was my least favorite.  I couldn’t allow that to happen!  So, I sold the rug and window treatments on Craigslist, painted, hung open shelving, turned two art prints into chalkboards, recovered my piano bench with gray chevron fabric, painted an old metal stool metallic silver, and stuck shelf paper on the door panels of the serving buffet.  Phew!

The lady who bought my window treatments through Craigslist was super-nice.  She liked the way I had decorated my house, and wound up being my very first decorating client.  Hi, Tina!

As a random aside, the stuff I sold on Craigslist more than covered the cost of the paint and supplies I bought to redo the room.  This is a very important point, and I’m throwing it in here specifically for the benefit of my dear husband (who reads all of my posts) and who probably wonders why I have to redecorate rooms more than once.  See, honey, it didn’t cost a thing! :)

Here was what I started with:

Dining room “before” at 11 Magnolia Lane

And here is how it looked when I was done with it.  Harley is sorry he ripped the antique hooked wool rug.!

Dining Room “after” at 11 Magnolia Lane

The only thing that was left was window treatments, but as Christmas was coming at me like a speeding bullet train, I had to put them on the back burner for awhile.  Here was what we stared at for a couple of months:

Window area in dining room at 11 Magnolia Lane

Part of my goal for this room was to make it look more casual.  Dining rooms are rarely used anymore for very formal dinners–the way we eat and entertain has certainly changed over the last few years, hasn’t it?  I decided that the horizontally striped painted curtains that I’ve seen all over Pinterest would be a great, inexpensive way to add visual interest and tie the room together.

I bought the cheapest white panels at Target that I could find ($15 for two panels).  In hindsight, I should have spent $30 on the fabric that was a smooth cotton duck because it’s easier to maintain a line that doesn’t bleed, but that’s okay.  I was after quick and cheap here, not perfect!

Using painter’s tape and a level, I taped stripes that would be approximately 9″ thick.  I wanted a gray stripe at the top and the bottom, to ground the drapes, so I did the math accordingly.  I also put a big “X” in the middle of the stripes that I needed to paint so I wouldn’t get mixed up (this has been known to happen on rare occasion).   Note that the stripes don’t look even, because the tape goes inside the line on the stripes that stay white and makes those stripes look smaller.  Does that make sense?

Dining room drapes taped for painting

Then my daughter and I painted for awhile (!).  I used Fawn Brindle by Sherwin Williams–remember, I used half-strength Fawn Brindle on the dining room walls, so this was slightly darker.  A contrasting color stripe would have been cute, too, if I was using an accent color in this room.  Yellow, anyone?

Dining room curtains--painted in stripes

It took those suckers awhile to dry, and when they did the dried paint was stiff!  I used the wire drapery hangers (Hobby Lobby, $2) to hang them onto the curtain rings.  You’ll see that I kept my heavy black rods and rings when I sold the original drapes on Craigslist–oftentimes the drapery hardware is more expensive than the window treatments themselves!

Even though the stripes aren’t quite perfect and there’s some bleed-through, I love them.  A $30 fix was exactly what I was after.  Since we’ll be renting this house when we move this summer, I won’t feel bad leaving $30 window treatments behind if the tenants want to keep them.

Here are the after shots.  I actually really like the way the sun shines through the stripes.

Striped painted window treatments at 11 Magnolia Lane

Dining room at 11 Magnolia Lane

Dining room at 11 Magnolia Lane

If we were going to be here longer, I’d buy a new rug–maybe jute or seagrass–and paint the table and chairs, but for now I’ll wait until we’re in our next house.  The movers always mess up my furniture, anyway, and the dining table might not even survive the next move.

That’s it–what do you think?  I’m always amazed and you can really, truly, paint almost anything.

Thanks for stopping by!

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