Medicine Cabinet Redo!

I am SOOO excited to show you what I found tonight!!!! Well, I was craigs-listing my little heart out the other day (you like my new words? craigs-listing, wal-marting, etc ;^) and trying to solve my office storage problem... And I came across this little beauty!

What? You don't see the potential? Aww, give him a chance. I was so excited that I drove 45 minutes to pick it up!!! And $15.00 later it was alll mine! But I am not completely done yet!

Sooo, you just get a sneak peak!
You can't tell much from the picture, but it is fab!!! I should have it completely done by tomorrow!!!
And lastly a glance at the problem area

AHHHHHHH scream I know, what a MESS!!!! But won't be for long!!! See you all tomorrow to show you the finishing touches <3

Making "storage" Furniture Functional!

So one of the main components in this office/playroom extravaganza obviously had to be toy storage! I mean the point of this was to get away from staring at plastic eye sores (AKA toys) right? Well the popular thing in storage now are those modular furniture/storage units. So I started craigs-listing and wal-marting with no luck, (hey my fifteen dollar budget for this one wasn't taking me very far). So as I was chatting with my mom and telling her what I was looking for guess what! She was getting rid of hers! *tadahhh!* I was so excited that I rushed over and picked it up. But as I was loading it with toys I noticed some problems.
Look, I must be a bad mom because I HATE looking at movies with open shelving!!!! *gag* I also didn't want to shove them into bins because I knew if Veda couldn't see the movie she was looking for she would rip them all out! The second problem was all of the space that VCR was taking up, with tons of room on top of it? I know, this is where you say "Then buy that poor child a DVD player! They are smaller and do not look like electronic dinosaurs!" But all of those movies you see are from when I was little, and they are VHS... Plus I think she will survive this traumatic childhood loss ;^). The third problem was that the shelves were weird shaped. No matter how I moved them I always had a tall area. Who has toys to fill that?????

So I headed to Home Depot, where I picked up a laminate shelf and some brackets. The shelf was 7 dollars and some change, and the brackets ran 2 dollars and change for all of them (You see that, I am sticking to that $15.00 a week budget like glue!) Now I could have saved more money and used scrap wood. But because all of this furniture has a pre-finish on it, it would have looked out of place even if I had painted it. All you need to do is measure your spaces, and head over to the storage area. What I bought was a stock shelf, so it is not in the lumber department. They said they don't cut things with finishes there, but a couple eye-lash bats later and it was cut ;^)

This may not seem like a big project or a big deal, but look at all of that storage I created now!!!And you can see to solve the *staring at movies* problem, I took the left over fabric from the fabulous wall art and made a cover! Right now it is just up there with double sided tape, I need to get a small tension rod. That cover took me barely five minutes, and I did not sew, just got out the trusty iron and stitch witchery
.
And Tadah! I still need to get another of those storage thingys at the bottom. This tells you how cheap I am, I was ranting about the fact that those run $5.88. Eww! But oh well :^(... Those three storage bins on the mid shelf are from the Dollar Store so that makes up for it:^)

So the thing to remember is that although this new modular storage fad is convenient you can still make it even better by modifying it to fit their favorite toys!!! Happy Decorating <3

Crazy Office Accent Wall!

So since I am working on my office/playroom I thought I would explain how our accent wall came about! I get questions about it all of the time, and I can actually admit that I never intended it to be an accent wall!!!

We were headed to the paint store, and my husband had picked blue for the office.... *gulp*... I am not a blue fan, and I don't mean light blue, oh no, he wanted full on slap you in the face blue. Well as we were arguing, I mean, discussing, paint colors, I started to browse through those paint sample idea books they have. And viola' my inspiration! If it had to be blue then it had to be fabulous, and this idea (to me anyway) was indeed fabulous!

Of course I wasn't doing purple, it was BLUE, I mean, blue.... ;^)... We selected a total of 5 shades, from dark to light all in the same color family. Make sure you take your time and lay each color next to the other and make sure it is something that is pleasing to the eye. (couldn't find the samples online so all of these pictures are scanned in, I apologize for the quality).
I got a quart of each, except for the wall color (We had a ton left over, for money saving you may want to purchase a few of those small sample containers instead, depends on how big of a space you are doing). Now this is where we made a mistake, yes I am admitting to a mistake, you may want to document this. I let Michael's well wishing for blue get the best of me and we picked Merlin's Magic for the rest of the walls...If you are doing an accent wall that is this dramatic make the rest of the walls relatively neutral. (We later repainted the three walls, not the accent wall, a sandy beige which went perfect with the blue, see previous post).
Now the most important step in my opinion is to draw a diagram and label it, you can't just start slapping paint anywhere.

That huge jumbled mess is my diagram :^) And yes I can read it, (it's on the back of an old grocery list).... After this you need to pick the order of your colors, and make sure you have good painters tape, and a level. Draw the diagram on the wall, and start painting one by one. A good rule of thumb for taking the tape off is to do it slowly, pull evenly, and do it (CAREFULLY) while the paint is still tacky, otherwise it may come off a bit (Make sure before you take the tape off that there are enough coats in the square, I have two coats done on mine). You may still need to do touch ups, don't worry it's normal. This took me two days simply because there were so many colors, and although you can take paint off when it is tacky you don't want to lay it on tacky paint, so the drying time causes the wait.

Don't be intimidated, make sure you draw a diagram, and if it helps you put a small X on the wall in each area in the color it will be. Trust me it's easier than you think!!! So go figure out where you can make a big impact in your home!!! And please don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions, Happy Painting! <3

Play Room Art 2

My playroom/office extravaganza was in need of one more piece of innovative art! I once again googled my little heart out. I came across someone who had used paint samples and a hole punch for art! I thought about it and ran with it! (I can't locate the place it came from now so if this is you let me know!)

Earlier in the month at Salvation Army I found the painting you see below. There was nothing wrong with it, but it didn't exactly scream play room or office, but I loved the detail in the frame! So 2 bux later it was mine.

To start I taped off the frame and painted over the picture with some left over blue paint.

I went to the store and um, sampled to my hearts content their selection of blue paint swatches :^). I then had to pick up a butterfly hole punch, which was around $9.00 or so, so be sure to grab your 40% off coupon!!! I then punched and punched.... and punched and punched.....

The only part of this project that I didn't enjoy was setting the butterflies up in color order, *yawn*... I should have done this as I punched, but I went a little punch happy.

I then placed them on my canvas in the form that I wanted (make sure you are in love with your design before you stick things down, just a warning because if you are anything like me you may be a bit impatient ;^)... To stick them down I used those foam stickers, it gave the butterflies a great 3D affect, and the best thing is you can get big packs of these foam double sided stickers at the dollar store(Dollar Tree)! I had to cut the stickers smaller though so that it wouldn't show. After that I glued down the tiny butterflies flat, it added more dimension having the big butterflies stick out and the smaller ones lie flat.

As you can see in my original picture of the punched out butterflies I intended to use beige as well, which is the color of the other walls in my office. But I decided to stick with a mono-chromatic look, which I love! So here it is!!!!

They just fly off of the canvas, I was bummed that it didn't photograph that well! But Veda (my daughter) loves it! She walked in and yelled BUTTERBYE BUTTER BYE (which is two yr old lingo for Butterfly ;^)

And remember this can be done in any room with any subject!!! Run with this idea, it is simple, inexpensive and beautiful. And best of all you made it!!!! This could be sports themed, or something for nursery! Let me know if you try this at home, or if you have a theme you want to apply this to and need help!!! Thanks for Reading! <3>

Innovative Play Room Art!

When I pull a room together the artwork is normally the EASIEST thing for me to pick out and place, but when it came to the office/playroom this was not the case! Now if it were just an office, no problem, or even just a play room, I would have had the art quick and easily! But the problem I faced here was that it was both. I didn't want my ABC's on the wall, no to kiddie, but I also didn't want sleek modern office art. What to do? Well I had settled on fabric boards, I figured they had so many cool fabric patterns out and it would bring blue to the beige wall. So I googled fabric panels, and after pages of unsatisfied searching I came across this idea!!!


They were indeed fabric panels, but instead of a board they used embroidery hoops!!! Genius! This did a few things for me, brought a ton of blue to the beige wall, broke up all of the squares on the accent wall, and was kid and office friendly!!! Best of all it was CHEAP, (in the good for your wallet way, not that it looked cheap).

All you do is pick out a few embroidery hoops in varying sizes and some corresponding fabric. For the smaller hoops I was able to use fabric they sell at JoAnn's for .99-$1.99, it is originally for quilting. All together I spent around 12 bux! That's great! And it makes such a great impact!!! And it was also probably one of the easiest art projects I have ever done!!!

(Look at that IKEA frog modeling them wonderfully)

If you'd like to incorporate this into your space, some people even use them as bulletin boards or tack pictures to them! You can do a number of amazing things with these!!!!

You'll be able to see the impact they make better when I post pics of the entire room, but no peeking, I am not done yet! :^)

My Current Project! Office/Playroom Combination!

So if you know me you already know this, I have a compulsion to only show people things when they are 100% finished. But I've decided to break that rule by showing you what I am working on currently! Let me start by what took me to this project, there were a couple of problems:

1.) Veda's toys were starting to attack my living room, which meant that every time I tried to sit down and relax I was drawn to mountains of unattractive plastic, noisy junk.. I mean treasures ;^)
2.) The office, which we had already redone, was painted way to dark. I still love the accent wall (see below) but the main color I let my husband pick out, and as a result when I was studying at night it felt dark and oppressive. (To see this wall color look at my post about scrap booking storage)

3.) For God knows what reason I felt like a bad mom because Veda didn't have a playroom?!?!? Don't ask ;^)

So I decided to make my office into three things: an office, scrap booking room, and play room. And no this is not a big room by any means.

I am not completely done with this redo, still some finishing touches needed, so I'll post the few solutions I came up with on the way!
So one of the things that has helped the most with space is thinking outside the box a bit with furniture placement. I have noticed that it is "in" to have a desk sticking out into the room with only the side touching the wall. "Ding!" the light bulb went off and this was exactly what I needed to free up a ton of space!!!
The desk that would "stick out" would be the scrap booking desk. I got it form a hotel with a chair for 10 bux! (woo-hoo!) My husband and I did a quick paint job so that it matched the rest of the room a while back. But the problem was that it didn't have a back to it, so you could see all of my scrap booking storage totes underneath, yuck! So this is what we came up with!!! Bought 2 yrds of fabric at JoAnns, and some stitch witchery (I do not sew, it always ends badly). I measured the length and then ironed the stitch witchery on to create a hem. Then stapled it to the desk! It works perfectly!!! And what's great is that my 2 yr old is still in the "out of sight out of mind" phase, so since she can't see my scrap booking supplies they are left alone!Under is the back side where the chair will go!

Inexpensive Bathroom Facelift!

When I first walked into our spare bathroom I felt like I was experiencing vertigo! The crazy tone on tone stripes and emblems on the wall were a bit much. But like other projects I had to sit in the floor and stare at it to think out my plan of action, budget in mind.


To start with I looked at the decorating things I had from our apartment prior, as well as the towels etc. And thought that with what I had it would have a slight safari theme. So we chose a camel wall color. But by far the BIGGEST impact was painting the cabinets an off white. I would recommend choosing a semi-gloss because it stands up to wiping and cleaning much more. Now normally I would just spray the hardware, but the style that was in the bathroom was hideous, so we went out and bought a pack of hardware for around $18.00 at the local big box hardware store. And there was enough that I had a few pulls left over. What you can't see in the before picture is that the mirrors were big and boxy, I wanted to break that up, and lucky me, my birthday was coming up :^). So my mom lovingly went to TJ maxx and scored these awesome round mirrors for around $25 a piece!

Now when I went back to that big box store to purchase a towel rack I was shocked! They are ridiculously priced! (Well unless you want brass) So, I bought brass! I took the spray paint left over from my chandelier make over (it was the perfect color) and sprayed it, here you can see the toilet paper holder before it was sprayed and what a difference it makes.
And for the shower curtain, I picked up one of the keep the water in not out curtains that every shower needs on clearance at WalMart, and then for that extra punch I hung a tension rod (which are only a couple of bucks) almost at ceiling height, and hung the drapes we use to have in the apartment, which ironically is the same color as the accent tile in the bathroom!

And there it is! Paint is what made the biggest difference in here! And remember if you have a small budget just add accessories as you go, that's the best way to do it! (The toilet decor ;^) is a decoration my mom and I made for my wedding! Never would have thought it would wind up in the bathroom!)

Scrapbooking Storage!

In the midst of re-doing our scrap booking/office/playroom I was having trouble actually organizing my scrap booking stuff! Well let me re-phrase that, I was having trouble organizing it in-expensively! I needed a space to keep my tools that I use often, in sight, but not in the way.

So back when I worked at a Portrait Studio we were sitting in the tech room chatting and putting picture CD's away, these came in big cylindrical CD cases that we just threw away! And that's when I came up with my scrap booking storage idea!

Under the shelves The CD cases are upside down and attached with small finishing nails, screws would work great as well! I had started by attaching them with glue but they fell off. And on top of the shelves I have kept the rod in that holds the CD's and used it for ribbons.I am not working on cutting slits into the sides of the ribbon storage cases so that you don't even have to open them.

This has by far been the best and CHEAPEST storage solution I have found!!!

From lighting don't to lighting Do!!!

One of the easiest and fastest fixes that we did was refinishing the chandelier in the dinning room. The before picture is a bit hard to make out, but you've seen this exact chandelier before.

In your grandmothers house possibly? Or maybe in your own when you first moved in? Lighting makes a huge change and a dramatic impact in a space, but replacing a chandelier can be pricey.

After considering looking on CraigsList for a new fixture I started to really look at the one I had. The bones of this piece were fine, and with fine tuning I love the way it came out!

The first step (after taking the fixture down of course ;^) was to spray it
We used a spray by Rustoleum, it runs between $5-$7 dollars per can. I went with a rod iron look but with a bit of brown undertones to warm it up. I would recommend going with the Hammered Finish. It made a huge difference, and gave the piece texture. It actually only took me two coats to cover the fixture well.

Now this next step is where you would have to be shopping savvy. I removed the globes and instead opted for shades, which are more modern and gave the fixture a warm look. These shades come in an amazing array of styles, but can sometimes run you $14.00 a piece! And when you need five of them it adds up fast. Luckily I found them for $5.00 a piece at big lots! A recommendation for you if you can't find them is to check out your local craft store, even if you go with a plain looking shade you can buy a couple feet of beaded trim to jazz them up, and still wind up with a great value, and it will be more custom!

So this is the finished product, and for $30 dollars or so you have an amazing new lighting fixture!

Re-Finishing a Deal of a Dresser

Well, after months of storing our clothing in the closet and those plastic storage tubs, we decided it was time to tackle our next project, a dresser! Being budget minded we could not just go out and buy one that was already pretty, oh no, we had to go hunting!!!

My husband and I spent the day traveling to different Salvation Army and other thrift stores. At our last stop, a Salvation Army in Wayne, we found this gem. Well okay, my husband did, I however at the time did not feel the same, which is odd because normally I am the one with an open mind. But can you blame me? It had been a long day and my 1 1/2 yr old little girl had enough, and as a result so had mommy. But regardless I just couldn't pass up the $25.00 price tag.

After we paid we went to lift the dresser into the car, and it fell apart >:0. At this point I was almost in tears and totally done with the whole dresser experience. I spent the ride home silently cursing my husbands name for his input in bedroom furniture.

But, after a day of realizing I over-reacted we got to work. First we sanded the finish a bit so that the paint would stick, we then screwed the top back on, with extra support from some wood glue, because this dresser couldn't just look pretty, it had to actually function!

We added primer followed with two coats of black paint (we had a quart lying around from a previous project). Amazingly the hardware on the dresser was already a great choice, so that cut out a nice expense for us. But looking at the completely black hunk of furniture I decided it needed something. So I got some basic silver paint and a cleaning cloth. I spread a bit of the paint on a Styrofoam plate and dabbed the rag on top, then I rubbed it into the groves and went back over to wipe off. I also took a sponge brush and lightly stroked the drawer faces.

The result was awesome if I do say so myself! It matched our bedroom perfectly!!!! And here are the results!