DIY My Way

Finally....

2009-11-25T07:15:00.000-08:00

I have been waiting to replace our 37 (!!!) year old doorknobs ever since the day I moved in our house. Finally, I found some on Overstock.com that were perfect, and very inexpensive. I have always avoided taking pics of the old ones because they were HORRIBLE- but since they are now gone:

Check out the brass and the black speckled paint. Yuck! Now, after much hard work from Joel, we have new doorknobs! Doesn't it make the door look so much cleaner and much more updated? I love them, and thankfully they didn't cost an arm and a leg. I had to buy 10 after all!

Stella is Famous!

2009-10-29T13:32:00.001-07:00

So Burger over at Hamburger's House is running a Bachelor Contest. He is the baby boy of Sherry and John from my favorite blog, Young House Love. You had to enter your dog in the contest with a brief description of the pup, and our little Stella made the cut into the Semi-Finalists!! See it here on his blog.

She's the #11 spot, looking oh so cute! And here she is taking a nap to rest up for the next round of eliminations....And here she is drinking some water to get ready for round 2....I think Cooper is giving her hints on how to play hard to get :) We are so proud of our little girl! Wish her luck! And make sure to check out Burger and his Parents' blogs to see what they're up to!

New Master Bedding

2009-10-09T06:31:00.001-07:00

I have been looking for Master Bedding FOREVER. Over a year actually. I finally decided to go to Target and see if they had anything that matched our blue walls....Sure enough, Target did not disappoint (they never do!). I found the perfect comforter, shams, and 2 throw pillows- and on Clearance! Check out the before....And now the much more sophisticated after!

The colors go so well with the walls and the furniture! Here's a closer look....

It is so comfy too! I cannot believe that I got a comforter, TWO sets of shams, a bedskirt and 2 throw pillows for only $39! What a deal. And we even shared the love with the love seat to tie the whole ensemble together :)

Frosted Glasses

2009-10-07T06:45:00.000-07:00

We hosted a Chili Cook Off last weekend at our place and I wanted to make some kind of party favors for people to bring home and remember the day. I thought Pint Glasses would be perfect, but they were REALLY expensive! Instead, I invested in this stuff: Rustoleum Frosted Glass Spray Paint. It was only a few bucks at Home Depot!I looked into the etching creams at the craft store and they looked like a lot of work and a big mess. This was soo easy! I bought Ikea beer glasses ( I think I got 48 of them for $70!) and I used contact paper, cut a little chili pepper into it, and covered the glass. Then I just sprayed into the opening and voila! I know it's a little hard to see the frosted glass....so here is another angle:
Then, with leftover cut-outs of little chili peppers that I had laying around, I decorated the other glasses. I put the chili pepper sticker on the glasses, and then sprayed around them....

Here's another look:

Cute huh? I will admit, it took me all night after work, but it was worth it. They turned out pretty good and were just waiting for our guests to pick up on the way out!

We got a NEW bed!

2009-09-28T12:19:00.000-07:00

Thank god for Overstock.com! I am ashamed to say it, but Jeff and I bought a new mattress last year, and have been using the same exact bed frame that I have slept on since 1992- and it is supposed to be a water bed frame! 17 years later, we decided it was time to splurge. Here is our crazy old bed frame with plywood somewhat exposed (and some really cute models!)....Aren't those Little babies ADORABLE! Okay sorry, I digress.....once I started to clean out the drawers underneath the bed, I realized we should go ahead and clean out the whole room, and give it a little makeover too! I moved the huge pic above the couch, and then slid the bed onto that wall. the whole room looks so big now!What do you think? I really like an inexpensive makeover, and the room feels so fresh and open now! Here is the bed close up (ignore the bedding, it's too hot for our down comforter yet)

My New Workstation

2009-09-25T06:09:00.000-07:00

Our office serves 4 purposes. It is Jeff's official office where he works and uses the desktop computer. It is our library and hold tons and tons of books and magazines, it is my workstation for crafts and sewing, and lastly, it is where we run on the treadmill.

I know, that's a lot of purposes for one room to serve. Too much. So, I wanted to make the room a little less cluttered and move my workstation (which is pretty much an eye sore with my plastic shelves that hold my crafts). The closet in this room is ENORMOUS. It is about 10 ft long by 3 ft wide- and it has a light in it...so I thought, why not move my workstation into the closet?

I've been inspired from a few designing shows and photos like this one:But I really didn't need anything that elaborate. After all, it still has to store our luggage and a few of my sisters things. I just needed a place to hem, work on holiday crafts, curtains, and store all my junk. I wish I had taken a before pic, but here is what I am working with now:Not bad for a free makeover huh? I have plenty of room and actually better light than I had when it was next to the treadmill! Here is a closer look....Now, In the future I hope to update my "desk" but for now, this table does fine. I think this makes the office seem so much bigger too. Here is how it looks after my stuff was moved.

Congrats Dinner for Jeff

2009-09-23T11:45:00.000-07:00

I cook every night, but Jeff just got a new job a little over a month ago, so it was time for a celebratory dinner! A couple Fridays ago, I made Jeff a very special one. Filet topped with crab meat and mushroom gravy, green beans with bacon, and king crab mac n' cheese. YUM! Just had to share the king crab mac n' cheese photos.....it's BY FAR the most expensive side dish I've ever made! Jeff ate leftovers for 3 days....

First I bought a pound and a half of Alaskan King Crab Legs. I separated these into the meat in the body part (to top the Filets) and then the leg and claw meat with the reddish outer layer to use for the macaroni. Next I grated my cheeses. I used half Gruyere (my absolute favorite!) and half extra sharp white cheddar- there are the same cheeses that are used in Auntie's famous mac- which is the best I've ever had!Next I made the cheese sauce while the pasta cooked. Just made a simple rue with butter and flour, and then I added milk until it thickened up- then added the cheese. Pretty typical from every other cheese sauce! After that, I just mixed the sauce, noodles, and crab meat and put them in a casserole dish and sprinkled buttery breadcrumbs on top and baked it all together. DELISH!Doesn't that look yummy? Here is a pic of the beautiful Filets with crab meat and mushroom gravy.... MMMM....That is just a perfect steak isn't it? Can't get much better than that meal!

HELLLO FALL!

2009-09-21T08:17:00.000-07:00

I am so thrilled that it is finally FALL. Summer decor comes down, and warm colors and Fall stuff goes up. I love the smell of pumpkin spice, so that candle is a staple during this time of year. I also bought some cinnamon brooms this year at local Publix which add so much to the scent of the house. Our two little shelves in the great room looked like this all summer...And now after packing these away, the shelves are quickly transformed to this....Here's a little closer look :)

The dining room table that was very springy and bright before.....

Is now so very festive with all white tableware a homemade table runner that I sewed last year, and some fall inspired silk hydrangeas that I had in a closet collecting dust. I also put some real white and orange pumpkins on the runner, and dolled it up with shimmery, thick orange ribbon.

I try to take on a craft project or two each holiday, so this year I wanted to make a cornucopia. I bought a basket, some silk flowers, gords, pumpkins, leaves and berries at the craft store and made my own for almost $40 cheaper than the ones at Michael's. Not bad!
Happy Fall to everyone! Enjoy it :)

Before and After - Guest Bath

2009-09-17T12:54:00.001-07:00

Just HAD to post this. I came across the oldest pic of our bathroom from a couple yrs ago, and the newest. Can you believe it? I know I need a new countertop- but for now, I think it's a huge improvement :)

Looking GOOD!

2009-09-17T12:26:00.001-07:00

SO....after a few days of hard work, I finishing the tiling and the Grout! It wasn't easy though....the toilet actually had to be removed so that I could tile underneath it. It's not a pretty sight, but I have to share....

How about that flooring under the toilet- YES! And the pastel wallpaper? This bathroom was a gem! Honestly, this is the first toilet I've ever removed and Jeff had to help me out with this part- it's tough. I wanted to do this bathroom all by myself- but I just couldn't pick up a whole toilet alone. It wasn't fun cleaning around it, preparing for tile.....yuck.
I highly recommend strong rubber gloves at this part....and a bowl to catch the extra water when you unhook it. Even thought the water was off, it ran all night. BUT, after the tile was down, and I spread the grout (and sponged it off right away- unlike my shower a few yrs ago) it looked like this!

YAY! Next, I needed to replace the ancient light fixture. It was pretty bad.
I removed it (turning off the power first of course) and there were 3 layers of wallpaper under it! I had to remove them, then sand, and then Spackle and sand again- much better now. And with a new flat tan color on the walls to give it some warmth...
Lastly- all I needed was some accessories and the room was looking like a real bathroom finally! I wanted to keep this room neutral, since we have a lot of colors that are NOT neutral in our house.

All I need to do now is to fix the separation in the middle and put the quarter-molding on the bottom. TA DA! My first floor tiling project :)

Starting the tile work- all by myself

2009-08-26T06:08:00.000-07:00

Now that the Wall is down (good riddance) I started to tile the bathroom. Alone. It was a bigger job than I thought, but it's really not that hard. It's just tedious. I bought porcelain tile at Lowe's for around $1.15/sq ft, so the whole floor cost me about $70 in tile! Pretty cheap if you ask me!

First I started in the middle of the floor so I could get a straight line going (because not all of our walls are very straight). Instead of going off a wall, I went off the hardwood floor boards that were at the very beginning of the doorway - because I knew that was a straight line. See below in the pic....See how straight that is? So I stared the tiling at around 8pm, and worked for a little over an hour. I've only completed two lines of tile so far, but it's a great starting off point for tonight when I plan to finish the floor with my trusty new tile saw. Here is me standing next to my hard work for the night. Even though I work for Quikrete, I decided to use pre-mixed Mortar to speed up the process. Stay tuned for the rest of the fun......

12 Layer Cake

2009-08-10T11:21:00.000-07:00

We had a cookout a few weeks ago and Jeff used our new smoker to smoke a couple Boston Butts. It was really good. I took it up myself to be in charge of the sides and the dessert.....but not just any dessert, a 12 LAYER CAKE! And yes, it was just as much trouble as it sounds.

Even though I don't eat desserts at all, this seemed like a great challenge.

First off, you make the cake batter (from scratch) and pour about 1/2 inch into 4 aluminum 9 in cake pans for 12 minutes. This is the first of 3 baking groups you have to do.

After the first group comes out, let them cool for 5 minutes, then go ahead and dump them

on a cooling rack. Then I just wiped down the pans and filled them again and baked those off, then did it for a third and final time. Now I had 12 cakes and had to make the ganosh.

After layering and layering, you finish with the 12 and step back to take a little break...

Here it is looking all pretty on the dining room table after a layer of whipped milk chocolate frosting.

And here it is with a big piece cut out. Pretty inviting huh?

I didn't try it (I know, crazy huh?) but everyone seemed to really like it! They also said it was a bit rich, but aren't desserts supposed to be? If you want to make this bad boy yourself, here is the recipe: http://www.oprah.com/recipe/food/recipesdesserts/food_20030508_cake

GOOD LUCK!

The bathroom DEMO begins!

2009-08-07T12:34:00.001-07:00

We have a been living with this dated guest bath for 3 years, mostly because we rarely have to use it! It has peel and stick laminate flooring that I did the week we moved in....and it is WAY too dark. It also had a door seperating the bath area from the vanity area. We removed the door, painted every trim white, and painted the walls lighter, but it was still missing....A LOT.
So, I took it upon myself last Sunday to start to remove the wall that seperated these two areas and made this bathroom super cramped. After a few hits with a hammer (regular one, not a sledge hammer!), here is what I was left with.

It was a MESS! And I realized that there was an outlet and a light switch with millions of cords running into the ceiling that I had no idea what to do with. I cleaned u a little, called an electrician to move to the outlets and light switch, and Jeff started to remove the floor. Things were looking up....

Now after the floor and the rest of the beams were completely removed, we had a sneak peak of what to expect from our new renovation. Here it is minus the old floor and the old wall...

Lookin better huh? I cannot wait to tile tonight and get this new paint on the walls.....stay tuned for a great makeover (HOPEFULLY!). Keep your fingers crossed :)

The Cutest Fourth of July Sweets......EVER!

2009-07-01T07:10:00.000-07:00

What could be more American than a burger?

Does this little slider make you think of a BBQ on the Fourth or what? Only it's not a slider- it's a cupcake/brownie with buttercream icing! What's cuter than that? Here's how I did it..

First, I used plain old Better Crocker Super Moist Cake Mix to make about 20 cupcakes....I only got this brand because it was on sale. so any brand will do.

Next I baked them off and let them cool while i made the brownies. Like my St. Pattys Day cucpake liners? That's all I had at the house! You have to line them so they don't look like burnt buns.
Next, I made the brownies (from the box also). This time I used what I had, which happened to be Ghirardelli that we got from Costco a few months ago.
Notice that I didn't even use my trusty Kitchen Aid. No need! These really could not be easier to make. Look how lonely she is.... but still sittin' pretty!
So after the brownies cooled, I actually used a Champagne Flute to cut the brownies into little patties. This is only because I don't own a cookie or biscuit cutter....a girl's gotta improvise! There will be lots of brownie scraps leftover (this is where Jeff comes in to help...or eat). Then I sliced the cupcakes in half and filled them with the brownie patties and they look like this...
I think they are really cute like this, but they need a little extra something. I took one container of buttercream frosting and divided it into three bowls. Then, dyed them green, yellow and red (for lettuce, mustard, and ketchup of course!). Here is the process of icing becoming condiments....
Next, just spoon them into little quart sized ziploc bags and cut a tiny hole in one side to squeeze out the icing onto the patties...
Once you have iced them, dip you finger in some water and dab it on top of the cupcake,

then top it with a few little sesame seeds. Every burger is better with a sesame seed bun!

Add a flag to be patriotic, and you're ready to serve em' up! ENJOY!

A Little Gift For My Sister....

2009-07-01T06:46:00.000-07:00

We have had this hand-me-down light wood table for about 7 years. The Benvie's were nice enough to give it to Megan and I when we got our 2nd apartment together and had no furniture....so it's been around a LONG time.

It made the move to the house with us, starting in the kitchen (and looking awful against those yellow walls!)....

Then moving into the dining room during that transition. Here it is before Dad's dining room furniture arrived...SO....other than the dated wood finish, this was a strong, heavy, good quality table. However, once we got all the furniture from Dad's house, we ran out of room....and it became our outdoor dining table, and all the rain and weather turned it into THIS!

That shot was even after a good scrub! Here is a close up of the condition it was in....so sad.

But I knew we couldn't ditch this good, solid table! It had been through so much! I decided that I needed to pass this one down again since we don't have room, and since my Sister is staying in Atlanta another year- I thought that would be perfect for her new apartment! I primed it and added two coats of white semi-gloss paint and it looks brand new!! Check it out:

And guess again how much this cost me to refinish.........NADA. What would I do without leftover paint!

Updating the Kitchen Stools

2009-06-30T11:53:00.000-07:00

For years I have overlooked my awful, paint-stained kitchen stools that sit quietly under my island. I have been meaning to prime/paint them to match the kitchen, but needed a free day. I finally got one recently, so here is the mini transformation...YUCK! I'm pretty embarrassed that these things even lasted a month in my kitchen! Look at all the different colors of paint on them (can you tell they're mine?). First, just like any other

wood furniture painting project (and exactly like the kitchen cabinets), had to prime these puppies with some tinted primer so our glossy black paint would stick. How much better do they look already? Even just after one coat of primer! And how completely different they look after the black glossy paint? Guess how much this project cost me? Absolutely NOTHING. Leftover paint is a beautiful thing....

Making Up For Lost Time....

2009-06-30T11:48:00.000-07:00

I know I've been MIA- I'm sorry. I have been really busy with projects though, so hopefully the million posts I do today will make up for it. Many more to come, hope y'all enjoy! I promise I will post more frequently....promise.

Just to keep you entertained in this boring post, here is a cute pic of Megan and I building the half wall in our entryway/dining area. You have NO idea how much I wish I had a 'before' of this one. Those turquoise pillars were CLASSIC!

My Front Door Issues

2009-06-30T11:35:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else have a front door that is painted the same color on both sides? I had that problem with our door, which was a really heinous orange/reddish color. Once we painted the great room/entryway, we were left with this lovely view....Well, this was not what I wanted to look at when I sat in my living room, so after we painted the dining room (which is located directly to the left in the pic above), I decided just to use the leftover paint from that project on the back of the front door. Here it is now (before we scraped the paint off the glass window- oops!).....still, much better huh?
And did you notice the little planter to the right in the first pic? That is a plant from my Dad's funeral (almost 2 yrs ago!) and I noticed it wasn't really matching anything anymore either. So, it got a little makeover of it's own too! Bye bye green and beige stripes, HELLO white! Spray paint to the rescue again :)

Stay tuned for some CUTE baked goods!

2009-06-30T10:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, so everyone knows I am not really a sweets fan (I really hate the taste of cake). I do however, LOVE baking something really fun to bring to a party, shower, etc. Take this cake for example:This was a replica (well kinda) of Megan's wedding cake, that I tried to recreate for her bridal shower just for fun. It didn't turn out too bad right? It was my first experience with fondant and dye. It wasn't easy!

Well, since it's the fourth of July coming up- I have a few tricks up my sleeve for tonight. I am baking the cutest little guys for work (since we are leaving town and don't have a party to attend). I will be sure to post pics! It's gonna be soo fun!

Baby Signs- My new craft!

2009-06-30T10:08:00.001-07:00

I wanted to make Maya a special name sign for her door or bedroom...So I decided to use green, pick and white to go with her room already, and wanted to make stripes so it wasn't TOO girly. Then I thought, painters tape would work great for that!

I painted the whole board green and then applied the tape, and painted white and pink between the stripes.

So when the paint was almost dried, I peeled off the painters tape and we had perfect little stripes to match Maya's room. I used some white block letters from Michael's, and hot glued them onto the painted board, then also glued on some cute pink wooden flowers. The ribbon is stapled and nailed to the back so it can be hung.

And here is another one I did for Kayce to give to her friend Kayte at her shower. For this sign, I just bought a wood block that was carved in a circle from Michaels and I painted it dark brown (the colors of Kayte's nursery are brown and pink). After that dried, I free handed her name and a few flowers with some craft paint and voila! Attach some pink gingham ribbon to the back with some heavy duty staples and you're done!

Veggie Garden

2009-06-14T10:12:00.000-07:00

I finally planted our veggies this past weekend- I know, June is a little late!! We've been pretty busy this spring/summer, so I couldn't get to it until now. Hopefully a few will bloom for me before it gets too cold!

This year, I decided to plant the veggies OUTSIDE the fenced in backyard, due to 2 crazy pups that like to chew every plant back there. So, I went to the side yard that we never use, and dug about a 9ft by 5 ft hole and filled it with planters soil.

I planted one huge tomato plant that already had a few on there so far. Then I planted a green pepper plant and a bunch of seeds. This year, we will have green beans, mesculin greens, carrots, squash, zuccini, sweet potatoes and hot peppers (hopefully). I'll let you know how it turns out!

Old sconces, until now....

2009-05-20T19:58:00.000-07:00

I've had these sconces since the day I moved into my house. They used to go very well with the brown walls....until now. They are very dark, almost rod iron and very heavy. After we lightened up the family room, we realized that these really didn't go very well with our beachy decor. Then last night, I decided to change them up! Just a little spray paint......that's all you need :)

Here is my "during" photo:

And after 3 quick coats (in under an hour)....here is the after!

New Rug!

2009-05-20T19:45:00.000-07:00

After we did the redecorating in our great room, we realized that there was one problem......we needed more color! We had a TON of blue and brown, and needed to add a little something. Overstock.com has amazing deals on area rugs, so I ordered this one and 3 days later........

What do you think? We love it! Thinking about some olive green pillows for the couch to bring in some more color.....we'll see!

Giving an old pot a new purpose!

2009-05-03T16:47:00.000-07:00

I had this terra cotta planter that I had painted to use for the Easter Centerpiece. Now that Easter is over, and I already planted my container tomatoes in a few other larger planters, I needed to find a use for this one...So I was grocery shopping and they had HUGE Basil plants on sale for $4.99 at Publix! A perfect accompaniment to my tomatoes! I took some craft paint and painted over the pink, then used some green to paint on the letters "Basil", and a few leaves for decor. Here is the new planter!

New Dining Room!

2009-04-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

SO, when we started painting the great room, I realized that baby blue and dark red look AWFUL together! This is what caused our next project, painting the dining room. Not only did we paint it, but we changed the table settings and recovered the valance too! Here is the before:And here is the after! It looks so much bigger and brighter doesn't it? I found some CHEAPO baby blue bowls at Ikea to go with the great room color, and some inexpensive linens at TJ Max. Recovering the valance with some blue and white damask fabric really finished it off (along with my $9 Home Depot Ferns on top of the china cabinet!). Here is another angle....

An ugly mirror becomes pretty!!

2009-04-30T20:21:00.000-07:00

I was looking around for a couple weeks to find something to hang in the entryway with our new blue walls and beachy theme. I knew I didnt want to buy something expensive, so when I found this $19 gold mirror, I knew it was perfect. Check it out before:

So I covered the mirror with cardboard and blue painters tape to prep it for the white spray paint I bought for $3 (that's specially made for ceramic and plastic surfaces)

Then after a coat of white spray paint- look at the beachy, elegant finished product!

New Window Treatment

2009-04-30T20:07:00.000-07:00

Our window treatment around the sliding glass door was a valence made out of siding, covered in batting and then in fabric. Mom and I made these a few years ago, but the look of them was getting pretty old. We needed to lighten up the door, and make it look a little larger than it actually is. Here is the before...So we removed the valance, Jeff sanded the wall and filled it in with spackle, then it was painted. We got some bamboo shades from Depot to match the floors, then some big white Ikea curtains to line them. Add a $10 tree from Ikea too, and here is the result!

Lighten up!

2009-04-26T09:56:00.000-07:00

Our family room looked great in a dark shade of brown, until we got our hardwood floors that are ALSO the same color. We had to paint the walls to make the floor really pop....and so we weren't consumed by brown. Here are the "during" shots....we also had to remove the huge valance and sand and spackly the wall behind it.

Here is the after! It looks so much happier and breezy. We also changed out our shelves with some beachy accessories to match the decor. YAY!

Easter is here!

2009-04-09T16:14:00.000-07:00

Maya's Easter Basket this year was a really fun project! I used the same wood letters that I bought for Cameron's door sign and painted them pink and hot glued them to this cute blue basket. Then I put a ton of cheerios and goldfish into little plastic eggs (instead of candy). And filled a easter bunny container with a cute spring dress....along with a few eggs turned ducks that I made....here is the finished product!

Laundry Room Renovation!

2009-04-08T18:35:00.000-07:00

Our laundry room has been the worst room in the house for a long time. It has been driving me nuts! This is how the room used to look with the horrible old brown stained wood and huge doors.

And after the doors were removed and the trim and cabinet were primed and painted....here is the after....

And here is the before of the shelves and the rod.

I took the rod down and spray-painted it black to go with the new floating Ikea shelf (which we already had stored in our guest room closet). All I did was remove the 1970s shelves on the left and spackle the holes, then painted over the whole nook. Then I hung the floating shelf and added red storage bins and some fun antique signs....

Guest Room Update!

2009-04-01T06:40:00.000-07:00

I have been wanting to make my guest room a more inviting place FOREVER. It has been a bare, cold room and I am slightly embarrassed to have my guests stay in. SO....I just used some things I had around the house and made it into a cute little room finally! I bought a duvet cover because the old comforter was very faded, and it really changed the look of the room. Here is the old room (with the extra tv stand on the side of the bed just waiting for me to make it into a bench!)Here is the new bedspread with the bed moved to the opposite wall.

And with my newly remodeled "bench" And now for the little finishing touches....A floating shelf from Ikea that Jeff already had, and black and white pics that were hanging around the house in frames already!

And when you enter the room, a clearance piece of wall art from Target ($4!)
So much better!

Turning old furniture into something new!

2009-03-30T06:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, so when you combine 2 adults fully furnished homes into one, it makes for a LOT of furniture. Not all of ours could fit into the house.....some is in the garage, some in closets, etc. Coincidentally, we both had the very same TV Stand. Since there is only one big screen TV in the house for the stand, the other was going to waste. It is actually a pretty nice piece of furniture, so instead of giving it away, I came up with a little idea of my own :)

Here is the TV stand before...Our guest room was lacking furniture. It only had a bed and a couple chairs in there. SO, I figured I could transform this stand into a guest bench/storage area since it was so low to the ground. All I did was purchase some foam padding and cream colored fabric from the fabric store for about $25, and I sewed a cushion for the top. Then, I took out the drawer in the middle and used that space to stack guest towels. I put magazines on the top rack for guests to browse, and then put two storage baskets (that were already in my bathroom vanity) on either side with lotions, aspirin, qtips, extra toothbrushes, etc. Lastly, I just bought a $4 wooden tray from Michael's and painted it black and put a bud vase, some books and a candle on it. Here is the tray before and after....

And here is the final product!

Kitchen Night Light Idea

2009-03-27T06:48:00.000-07:00

I made this a few weeks ago and forgot to post it! I saw this on a craft blog once and had to try it out. All you do is take an empty wine bottle, put Christmas Lights in it, and get some plastic grapes and glue them onto the bottle as well. Wrap it in some twine, ribbon, or whatever you like and you will have a cute little kitchen nightlight (for $4) instead of using your hood light above the stove. Pretty clever idea if you ask me! Excuse the cell phone and hair dryer cords in the pic :)

Just your typical Wednesday Night...

2009-03-26T06:46:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I know I take on a lot of projects and people think I'm crazy. What drives Jeff nuts is that I do them all after work, running, and cooking dinner on weeknights. I just can't sit still....I save my relaxing for the weekends! For example, here is what my dining room table looked like when Jeff got home last night. Haha....

I had a lot to do! I finished the wine charms for the shower on Saturday finally....here it is on my wine glass :) Pretty cute huh?

I also made my buddy Brandon's new baby a gift! He is due to arrive in May, but I wanted to make sure that he got this before little Cameron arrives. When we were kids, we always had our names in wooden blocks on our door, so I wanted to do the same for him- but with a twist. All I did was buy a wood plaque at Michaels (obviously my favorite store) and cover it with some cute blue gingham fabric. Then, I painted wood letters to spell his name, and while that dried, we ate dinner. Gotta multi-task....

Then, I just attached the letters (and these little wooden blue birdies) to the fabric covered plaque with my hot glue gun. I stapled some cute blue ribbon on the back so he can hang it and that was it! All in all, it took an hour...look how cute!

MORE Spring Cleaning (but in my favorite room!)

2009-03-25T07:13:00.000-07:00

I have been without a coffee pot for almost 2 months (I know!), and a microwave for 2 years. Jeff's parents have been staying with us, so we have been using their coffee pot, and Tiay left her microwave at the house, so it has been in the LAUNDRY room so it doesn't crowd up the kitchen. Well, Patty and Joel left yesterday, and Tiay is moving in May. It was finally time to give in and purchase these two appliances. We never use a microwave because I usually cook every night, but I realized that boys need one no matter what. I had to do some counter top reorganizing (and consolidate spices so I could move my spice rack to the pantry instead), but Jeff finally got his wish and now we two matching appliances BOTH on the counter top, and BOTH that still go with our kitchen decor. Now I'm a happy camper too. We also cleaned out the fridge and went through every dressing, condiment, etc, and tossed what we don't use. We even washed the shelves! It makes such a difference to cook in an organized kitchen...

Before shots:

Lots of spices, cookbooks and olive oil to the left of the stovetop

So, I moved all the spices and oils to the pantry and the knives and cooking utensils to the left to make room for the microwave. Then had extra room for my cookbook holder. MUCH better.

AFTER shots.

Homemade Wine Charms (because anything you can buy, you can make yourself)

2009-03-25T06:52:00.000-07:00

This weekend, I am helping to throw a "Wine and Cheese" Wedding Shower for Kristina and Toby. I am in charge of food, wine charms, and my own little touch- a replica of their wedding cake (another thing on my "to-do list"). So far, I have almost completed the wine charms. These guys can be expensive when you have to buy 50 of them! So, I figured I could make some and personalize them a little bit.

Kristina is having "Nectar" as her Bridal Party color, and is also having green accents- so I chose 3 colors of shiny card stock to reflect that. I also bought a Martha Stewart Craft Punch (in the shape of a little wedding cake) at Michael's and crystal beads and wire rings. Then the process began. Sure it will take longer to make them myself, but it's cheaper ($15 for all 50!) and more thoughtful and personalized :)

Here were my supplies from Michael's:

I used my nifty craft punch (thank you Martha!) to make all these little wedding cakes, and then used needle nose pliers to feed a wire charm link through the top of each.

After adding the charm links to the card stock: Then, I fed a crystal bead on either side of the link onto the wire ring. TA DA!

I know this pic is light (I was making them in my bed while watching my HGTV I can't watch in the living room)....but I will take more tonight when I have them on the wine glasses to test them out!

Time to Reupholster this Chair FINALLY!

2009-03-25T06:22:00.000-07:00

So, Mom and Farah were about to throw away this old chair that had definitely seen better days. I never pass up a hand-me-down (because paint and fabric can make anything better!), so I took it home to reupholster and make it look new and fresh. Right now it is a fake leathery material and spots of it are worn and peeling...so that wouldn't cut it!

I picked up some faux suede fabric (at $7/yard) in a warmer beige color, and then started my project. But, I realized I only got 2 instead of 3 yards- so I have to go back and get 1 more so I can finish! I've only completed the arms and the foot stool. All I did was unscrew the cushion from the steel frame, flip it over, pull the fabric tight and staple. It's kind like wrapping a present....you do the corners last. So for $20- I will have a brand new slider. YAY.

Here is the chair before...

The lovely arm rests..
After removing the cushions and reupholstering the arms...

The close up of the fabric after the foot stool is completed- BETTER!What do you think? Stay tuned because I am definitely finishing this puppy in the next month. I have SOO many projects to do before summer- AHHH! I still have to make a bench and headboard for the guest room, paint and clean the laundry room, AND plant my veggie garden! Lots to come in the next couple of months!

Master Closet Spring Cleaning....

2009-03-19T09:06:00.001-07:00

I knew I wanted to do this after winter, so we could get a little more organized and remove coats and sweaters in our walk-in in the Master. Not to mention we needed to do something about the HORRENDOUS pink carpet that was in there! It was matted down and beyond dirty (despite many shampooing attempts). So Joel pulled up the carpet and laid down some of the leftover floors, and we will just have to buy another $50 worth of flooring to finish the project. It looks so great and SO much cleaner! Here is once side the has been completed so far....

BEFORE:

AFTER!!

AHHH.....Spring Cleaning.

2009-03-16T07:15:00.000-07:00

I personally love Spring Cleaning because I take on soo many crafts, home improvement projects and parties that I tend to accumulate so much stuff! Yesterday, I tackled the hallway closet, my fabric collection and the junk drawer in the kitchen. It feels so good to get it all done! I used 2 HUGE black trash bags and filled them up with junk to throw away. Then, I picked up a bunch of plastic storage bins and threw all my fabric from the office in them. SO now, I have cleared room in the office, and have consolidated all my things (including the vacuum which never fit before) into ONE closet! YAY! Next Spring Cleaning project for the week is our Master Closet (which we will also be putting the leftover hardwood floors in).

AND AFTER!!

10 Ways to Enjoy your Home!!

2009-03-13T11:04:00.000-07:00

I found "20 ways to enjoy your home" on a great website, but I narrowed it down to my 10 favorites. These are soo true...ENJOY!

1. Take a good bath once a week, and read a good book.

2. Clear out as much clutter as possible, clean off the counter tops, open the curtains and let some light in!

3. Surround yourself with things you love - Things that make you feel good.

4. Display things that have been passed down from family members.

5. Always keep a scented candle burning. (We do this in our living area and bedroom every night)

6. Work at wanting what you have rather than having what you want. (I need to work on this!)

7. Turn off the TV and put your favorite music on.

8. Stop resenting your house for what it isn't and start appreciating what it is. There is always something to be thankful for!

9. Keep fresh flowers on your kitchen windowsill in little bud vases or glass jars. (See my windowsill below, the bud vases were $.88 a Walmart!)

10. Don't replicate the look of a model home. Strive to create spaces that exude warmth, comfort, and peace.

More floors

2009-03-13T10:17:00.001-07:00

Here are the finished floors through the entryway. The quarter round molding still needs to be installed, but it is looking SO good! Joel did the best job with the entryway....it was really tricky!

VIEW FROM BACK DOOR:

VIEW FROM FRONT DOOR:

Also, here are the two silhouette paintings of the pups....they turned out pretty cute!

CRAFTS (for Auntie)

2009-03-12T07:37:00.000-07:00

Auntie loves to see my paintings and crafts, so I figured I post my latest from last night. I fell in love with these great dog silhouette prints on http://www.thisyounghouse.com (my favorite website). You can pick your dog breed and color for the background to match your decor. Only problem is, they were $20 each....and just a flimsy print. I thought it would be better to make them myself.

I bought 2 canvases at Michael's, and one tube of chocolate colored acrylic paint. I then printed out pics of a lab, and one of a boxer (these are what I used as a reference since my dogs don't sit still). I drew the outline in pencil, and now tonight I'll use the brown paint to trace and fill in the background. It should match our bedroom perfect. Lets hope they turn out ok. Here is a preview of what I've done so far...

COOPER (BEFORE)

STELLA (BEFORE)

Another thing I did last night was organize my jewelry. I got this idea from a friend, and it's a cheap way to display jewelry and fits perfectly in a standard vanity drawer. I bought a plastic organizer for nails and screws at Lowe's for $4. It has little compartments to store different hardware. See below...

So then all I had to do was untangle my jewelry, cut the separators and insert them to make small or large sections. I purged some of my old jewelry, and then divided my earrings, rings and bracelets throughout. And, since I can't sit still through an entire show...I did all this while watching American Idol- sweet!

HARDWOODS!!!!!!

2009-03-11T08:37:00.000-07:00

I am so happy to finally have hardwood floors! I have wanting these since the day I first looked at the house with my realtor. The carpet was old and bland. Off white, dirty, dusty and just BLAH. We have 2 dogs that have been potty trained in the house too- so that didn't help at all.

We went to Home Depot Clearance Outlet (yep, they have those!) and bought these great engineered hardwood floors. It is a "floating" floor, so there was no nailing or stapling. Patty and Joel once again came to the rescue and ripped up all our carpets, cleaned the floors and prepped them for the hardwoods. Last Saturday Jeff, his Dad, and his brother worked ALL DAY LONG while Patty and I did yard work. They came across a few rough areas, but in the end, it was done and it looks amazing! I can't believe the difference. They are not totally complete, but I will update as we go along. Here are some 'before and afters' to give you a sense of what we were dealing with. The before pics are from the first month in the house, so the furniture has changed along the way, not just with the floors. ENJOY!

GREAT ROOM BEFORE:

GREAT ROOM AFTER!

DINING ROOM BEFORE:

DINING ROOM AFTER!

Front Porch Makeover!

2009-03-11T08:19:00.000-07:00

Now this is a little trick that everyone should keep in their arsenal. You know how I think a little paint can do anything- well, this is proof! My front porch is ROUGH to say the least. 35 years of wear and tear on this puppy were starting to show, and instead of replacing it, we needed a quick fix. So this past weekend, after a trip to the paint department at Lowe's and Depot and a day of painting by Patty and I, we have a brand new (looking) front porch!! We did the "color match" through Valspar paint with a piece of siding from our house, so we have the exact color as the siding (for the railing) and were able to use that extra paint to cover blemishes and re-paint the door frame to brighten it up. I think it looks so much cleaner...

FRONT PORCH (TOP) BEFORE:

FRONT PORCH (TOP) AFTER!

FULL VIEW BEFORE:

FULL VIEW AFTER:

My First Attempt at Tiling....

2009-03-11T07:48:00.000-07:00

Before Jeff moved in, I lived upstairs in the Bonus Room (pics still to come). It has an adjoining bathroom upstairs which was part of the new addition to the house in the 90s, and actually has a fairly new vanity! Shocker! However, it also had a horrible plastic bath/shower combo that just HAD to go. I have always wanted a jetted tub, so I found one cheapo at Depot, and had a contractor install it and hook up the electrical. Here is what we were left with after the install:

UPSTAIRS BATH BEFORE:

Now the hard part, TILING! It was pretty rough, and I made it harder on myself than it needed to be. My Mom started it off and told me what to do, then I finished it and added the grout.....and left it on overnight- OOPS! So, Jeff and I spent our Friday night chipping away hardened grout off the tiles. In the end it looked great, but it could have been much easier. Word to the wise, always sponge off the grout after you apply. I've learned my lesson.

TILING THE SHOWER:

The walls were a mess afterwards, so I decided to install beadboard and found an easy click and lock plastic version that is stain resistant and not hard to install. I also painted the walls to make it a little happier and brighter in there. Here is the before and the final after shot!

BEADBOARD APPLICATION AND FINISHED PRODUCT!

The Johnson's Save The Day!

2009-03-11T06:53:00.000-07:00

I can't tell you how lucky I am to have these 2 people in my life. They bend over backwards for Jeff and I on a regular basis, and are the most hardworking people I know. Originally, we had a big screened in porch that look great at first glance, but little did we know, the previous owners had covered the rotting floor on the porch with carpet. Once that had gotten soiled and

full of dog hair, we ripped it up and found the deck was barely usable. Here are some before photos of the carpet, then the rotting wood underneath. Ewwww.

DECK BEFORE:

THE ROOF IS OFF, STILL OLD BOARDS:

So, the Johnsons came to Georgia for an extended stay and said that they would rip it down and build us the new OPEN deck that we had always dreamed of! The kicker is- they had never built a deck before! Not to mention, siding had to be replaced where the roof was ripped off. They worked SO hard for months, and it looks amazing! These are some pics of the finished product!!

My Favorite Room in the House

2009-03-11T06:24:00.001-07:00

I am really excited about this room!! It's my favorite room in the house, and where I spend the most time. I couldn't stand working in my kitchen until I made this quick and easy update. First of all, I was working with the original appliances from 1973- yikes! Only 2 burners worked, and the oven cooked at a faster rate, so baking was not even an option (good thing I don't have a sweet tooth). The thing that bothered me the most were the awful original brown wood cabinets. That wood was the same color on every baseboard and door and vanity that I worked so hard to paint, so I couldn't stand it anymore! Here is the horrendous before:

KITCHEN BEFORE:

I even forgot to mention the floors! They were white linoleum, and you could see every ounce of dirt. I tried my best to make the room look cute, but to no avail. SOOO, I took a huge risk and primed and painted the cabinets black ($20) to go with my 'bistro' theme, changed the hardware to chrome Ikea knobs (I think they were $1.99/pack of 4), and installed inexpensive track lighting from Depot. Then added an island for prep work, laid linoleum tiles that were beige and didn't show dirt, and bought new appliances. The appliances were definitely a splurge but TOTALLY worth it! After all, kitchens sell houses! Check this out:

KITCHEN AFTER!

Then I wanted to get rid of my old table and buy something more up to date, so I found this one at Big Lots for a really good deal. After some finishing touches, here is the breakfast nook.

Can you see why this is my favorite??!?

My love/hate relationship with Mulch

2009-03-10T12:13:00.000-07:00

SO, one of the big projects last weekend was tackling the leaves and the flower (or plant) beds. Not much grows in our front yard. We have a creek that runs through it, and the bugs will eat anything pretty that is planted. We also had a pipe burst under the driveway in November, so there is now a huge trench that has been filled with dirt and runs from the street to the house....very attractive. So, as if we didn't already have a challenge with our front yard, now we have a protruding trail of mud. WONDERFUL.

So, Patty and I picked up 30 bags of mulch this weekend, thinking that would be enough. We raked all the leaves, trimmed bushes, ripped out all the weeds and these horrible weeping plants along the front walkway. This took us hours and hours. Finally, we were able to lay the mulch. They were 60lb bags, and half of them were soaking wet! Needless to say, I could barely move on Saturday night after carrying all 30 bags, and I don't care if I ever see another bag of mulch again. I will say that it makes a huge difference though! I couldn't believed how great it looked. The pics don't even do our hard work justice. Of course, I have some 'before and afters'...they're my favorite!

FRONT WALKWAY BEFORE:

FRONT WALKWAY AFTER:

BEFORE:

AFTER:

It's AMAZING what a little paint can do!

2009-03-10T11:47:00.000-07:00

I knew when I started this blog that this would be one of my favorite subjects. I think people always underestimate the power of paint. It can transform ugly walls, furniture, and cabinets and make them look brand new (and much cleaner!). I have painted every single room in the house, every baseboard, doorway, door, the front porch, two bathroom vanities, and my kitchen cabinets (you'll have to wait for that one- it's the best!). It has made a world of difference in every room. The best part is, you can start all over again if you hate the color! It's one home improvement project that can be redone for under $20- every time. Right now I am researching how to paint my guest bathroom countertops- so stayed tuned for that one! Here are the 'before and after' Master Bath and Guest Bath Vanities after a quart of paint and some new hardware....

MASTER VANITY BEFORE:

MASTER VANITY AFTER!

GUEST VANITY BEFORE:

GUEST VANITY AFTER!

The Office

2009-03-10T09:33:00.000-07:00

Over the past two years, this office has been a few different things. It started off as a "Clemson Office" with bright orange walls (what was I thinking?!?!), then changed colors to pale green and it became Tiay's room for a year. Now, once again, it is an office where Jeff stations himself when he works from home, and has also turned into my sewing nook. We researched colors, and found that Yellow stimulates your brain....so we decided to go with that. I wanted to make it look a little formal, so I made a makeshift chair rail with some molding and semi-gloss white paint. It is such an inexpensive alternative to wainscoting and looks just as good! Here are pics of the office that has been transformed MANY times. I think we finally got it right :)

CLEMSON DEDICATION:

AS TIAY'S BEDROOM:

FINALLY, OUR OFFICE!

Master Bedroom

2009-03-10T08:44:00.001-07:00

This was actually a really fun project, because it was going to be the first room I shared with a boy! I needed to get creative so that the room was decorated for BOTH sexes. I knew that Jeff and I love the blue/brown color combo, so we went with that. I also knew that the bed should be moved under the big window in the room and dressed up with huge curtains. Just like the rest of the house, all of the doors and baseboards had to be painted white. The ceiling fan was ancient, so my sister and I hung a chandelier to give it a romantic feel. Picked up a great loveseat from Overstock.com and accessories from Target and it all fell into place. Here are some pics!

MASTER BEDROOM BEFORE:

MASTER BEDROOM AFTER:

YAY! My First Post!

2009-03-10T07:57:00.000-07:00

Ok, so A LOT is going on at the house this week. It's been quite a crazy weekend.
We took on way too much (as I usually tend to do), but the outcome has been incredible.
A Special Thanks to Patty, Joel, and Erik for helping Jeff and I. It looks amazing!

Before I post pictures from the work we accomplished this weekend, I wanted to
get everyone up to date on what's been done to a few rooms for those of you who have
yet to visit.......shame on you!!