Tiny Details

I finished a few tiny projects that I've been meaning to get done for a while. They're nothing huge but I think they add some fishing touches to the spaces.

Turquoise pillows that were originally going to go on the accent chairs in the front room, but they add a nice pop of color to the entry way bench instead:

Peacock artwork for the front room:

I bought some peacock feathers from Joann's a while back, mounted them on white cardstock and put them in extra frames that I spray painted with oil rubbed bronze.

And an accent pillow for the sofa. I used the extra fabric from the curtains I had made for this room:

Now this room is almost complete. I have a couple other projects to get to then it will be completely finished.

DIY: Starburst Mirror

Are you just as excited about this reveal as I am?! Now for those of you who just want to see the end result, here's a before and after picture of the wall it's on.

For those who want all the deets, keep reading! 

I started with this tutorial and went shopping for my supplies:

• 8 packages of wood shims
• 2 bottles of wood glue/gorilla glue/liquid nails (whatever you decide)
• stain or spray paint of your choosing
• 14" round mirror
• 1/4" plywood, cut into a circle
• D-hooks or picture hooks

These are the wood shims I bought. They come in a pack of 48 for about $4 per pack. They sell shorter ones if you are making a smaller mirror but I wanted ours to be rather large so I went for the 18" ones.

Following the tutorial, I went ahead and glued the shims in groups of 5 and 7 like so

I used the clamps to make sure they were secure and worked on it here and there, between other projects and baking, giving the glue time to cure. I decided I wanted the mirror to have a dark stain so I used the leftover stain from our banister project and stained one side (the other side will be against the wall)

Obviously I didn't even stain the whole group since I knew the mirror would cover it anyway!

Then I arranged the shims how I wanted them

Flipped them over and glued a piece of plywood to the back. Then B used an entire tube of glue plus some and put a bunch of heavy stuff on there (yes, baseballs are so heavy, right?!) overnight.

The next morning we glued the mirror to the front and let it sit for a few hours (no pics, sorry) Then they attached the hooks to the back and hung it up on the wall.

And here she is again in all her sunburst-y glory!

I love how it turned out! It is pretty big and quite heavy but it's perfect on that wall. I kinda wanna make another smaller version for our bedroom...shhh, don't tell B!

Starburst Mirror: Preview

Have you jumped on the starburst mirror bandwagon too?! No? Well check out these beauties:

Aren't they gorgeous?! They served as inspiration for the current project I'm working on. I'll give you a sneak peek:

Oooh, I can't wait until it's finished! I'm really hoping to have it finished tomorrow but we'll see. Stay tuned for the reveal!

Molding Makes It Better

I needed some change around here. I needed something bold, something dramatic.

Uh, no. It needed to be done on the cheap.

I figured paint or molding would be the cheapest way to make some changes so I toyed around with the ideas of repainting a few rooms but that sounded like too much work for one afternoon. Then I thought about doing a stencil on a wall but I couldn't commit to a design. So that left molding...who doesn't love molding?!

I figured the upstairs hallway would be the perfect spot to add these changes since it's so boring! Imagine my surprise when I found out one of my favorite Mandi's in blogland had just done the same project in her house recently (hers is definitely more awesome but whatever). Perfect! I loved the design she used so of course I just copied borrowed it.

A few shots of the boring space in all its glory:

sorry for the shadows from the banister...it's hard to get a shot without them!

We had already done a similar project in the upstairs bathroom so I pretty much had all the supplies. For the bathroom project we used pre-cut pieces of wood since we only needed a handful of boards. This project needed a significantly higher number of boards so buying the pre-cut boards would have cost us a pretty penny. Instead I bought a sheet of plywood (it doesn't need to be sturdy, just pretty) and had planned to bring it home and cut all the pieces myself. Much to my surprise, the very helpful guys at Home Depot offered to cut all the pieces for me!

Seriously?! That's like 20+ cuts! Wait, isn't it like 25 cents per cut?

Nope, we won't charge you.

What?! Free?? Ab-so-lute-ly!

After bringing all my loot supplies home, I got to work priming the boards and wall. From previous experience, let me tell you that priming your boards before putting them up is SO much easier. An extra step, yes, but so much less frustrating in the end...just FYI.

I decided on how I wanted the boards spaced then put them up and painted. It took me more than one afternoon but only because I had to let the primer dry oh and because we have a daughter who is deathly afraid of the compressor, nail gun, and vacuum making it tricky to do such a project without Brian home. Anyway, It was a cheap and easy way to bring some life to our boring hallway and it added some drama along the way.

I love it! Total cost was $11 for the plywood. Now that's my kind of project.

Now I just need to dress it up a bit *sigh* maybe after the holidays!

DIY: Built In Media Center:: Finished

This post is LONG overdue but as I was going through old posts I realized I never showed you this completed project. If you don't remember what I'm talking about, you can catch up with part 1, part 2, and part 3 and read the progress.

Let me remind you what it looked like when we moved in:

This is how it looked when we declared it "done" (I really wanted a shelf though):

My dad came to the rescue (again) and I was able to get my shelf! Thanks dad!

We used the same trim molding from the front as a support of sorts for the shelf to rest on. We secured the trim with LOTS of nails and screws (in as many studs as we could find) so there wouldn't be any chance of the shelf falling. We cut the shelf pretty tight too so it definitely wouldn't budge. There was concern that over time it would bow in the middle because of its weight so we added a piece of trim molding across the front to help stabilize it...and make it look prettier.

We also added hardware to the cabinets which gives it another little personalized touch. 

Here's the final product:

 I'm so happy with the way it turned out. It's just like I imagined it!

Before & After: Laundry Room

So it's not really a huge transformation but it's one of my favorites so far. Not necessarily my favorite to work on but more the end result. Here's a reminder of what it looked like before:

builder white and boring...

addition of DIY laundry boxes and a fun rug... 

It sat that way for a few months a couple years until a few weeks ago. My parents came up and my rock star of a dad finished what we started so long ago. A few pictures of the process:

paint plus the beadboard

then we added the trim

after caulk and more paint

and the finished product

It still needs some artwork and accessories but it will have to do for now! Another thing to cross off the list!

DIY Accessories

So as I am frantically trying to decorate my entire house finish up projects around here, I have had to get creative. You remember I'm not working and we are operating on a *tight* budget these days. Anyway, while finishing up the upstairs bathroom, I needed some artwork and accessories to complete "the look" and it had to be cheap. So I scoured the house for things we already had and found these bathroom accessories.

I knew the brown wouldn't work with what I wanted so what did I do? Uh, spray painted of course! 

I ended up painting them grey and glazed with black so the details would pop. They turned out pretty cool.

After those were done, I needed some artwork. I really loved the colors in the towel that inspired the whole bathroom decor so I decided to make it work. I bought a hand towel and decided to frame it as "art" 

I cut a small piece for each frame and was able to use the parts I like the best. Totally customizable (today that IS a word) and inexpensive! See?!

The last two pieces of artwork that will hang in the shower part of the bathroom are still in the works so I'll post about those soon. I know I keep saying it's almost done, but seriously it is. I promise!

Projects, Projects, Projects

I'm slowing making progress on "the list." Last week I finished framing the rest of the bathroom mirrors, finally washed/dried/put up the towels in the upstairs bathroom, started painting some accessories, and finished baby girl's party invitations. Geez, what a busy week!

For the bathroom frames I did them the same way I did my downstairs bathroom, but this time I glazed the paint. I used this tutorial for the glazing process and kinda made it up as I went along. I think it gives the frames a nice aged/rustic look while highlighting the details of the wood. Ha, it actually sounded like I knew what I was talking about right then, didn't it?! I just thought the glaze would look better than plain white and I didn't want a completely different color in there! A quick recap of some of the accessories I worked on:

These boxes were fun to do. Here's a "before" of the lovely things:

And here's an "after":

I used my trusty primer and paint and just went to town. 

I took off the hardware so I didn't have to tape it off, 

taped it inside the lid so I didn't lose pieces, 

then primed and painted. New boxes, in no time. 

I decided to get "fancy" and add stripes to one so I had an extra step of taping it off once the first coat was dry then painting the top coat a different color. 

I know, such a rebel. I love how they turned out though.

This bathroom is just about complete. I'll post those pics soon! Next up, front room curtains. Stay tuned!