Shelves

I picked up these shelves at the MCC again for $2 each. I am hoping to get the done and put them up in the main bathroom.

This lovely green has got to go! Soooo....
I sanded

and I primed

And I primed again

Then I painted this morning. I only painted the outside this morning, I will wait until later to paint the rest of it. Luckily this only looks like a one coat project.

I'm back at 'er

I know that it has been a while, but lastnight I was able to decompress and surf some home blogs. There are a few that I LOVE one that it strictly before and afters and then others that are moms with young ones that, when the project gets done its done. The speed depends on the agreeablility of ones husband as much as inspiration.

But lasnight, I got inspired, and hubby was out for the evening. And the kids, well they were actually very helpful and agreeable. I threw a drop sheet on the kitchen table, as it is December and a bit cold and damp outside, and I went to work. ((I would suggest using plastic under the drop sheet for your kitchen table. I had to do some scrubbing to get the paint that went thru the drop cloth onto the table.

So I onto the projects.....

You all remember the desk. ((I love it still)) I had to search and scope out stores to find a chair that would fit in that small space. I was actually looking for a stool, until I found this chair.

So these first 2 pictures are backwards. The chair ($8 at MCC) came with a big ugly price sticker. I googled and found out that using furniture polish (supposed to be actual oil) would lift the stickers right off. So I sprayed Endust and let it sit for a minute, then I had to scrape it off. But no damage to the wood or the lovely green paint.

Primed with 2 coats.

Then painted this morning. I have a feeling that this chair will need a few extra coats. I still haven't found the material that I want to pad the seat with. that'll come. As it is in the kitchen as a side bar of sorts, possibly co-ordinating fabric to the valances. We'll see.

The Mirror

This is the story of a mirror I bought at Rona in the AS IS department for $20. I figure I probably paid too much for the shape that it is in, but I loved the size of it and the mirror itself was a great piece.

I look it outside and taped around the mirror itself.
I then sanded it down a bit. The blue is a reflection from the sky.

Then I went spray happy on it.

I am getting better about keeping it even. NO bad spots on this one!

All dry in the sunshine!

took the paper off and not a mess! NICE!

Hung it up in the spot I bought it for. Not sold on it yet. We'll see.


Our cedars are looking so great. They were just trimmed lastweek.

I even put the desk still not painted in it's place to see how it all looks. I am thinking that the whole thing looks really off balance. So I am going to keep looking for things. Maybe a different mirror/picture. That darn light switch right in the middle of the wall, I mean what were they thinking?

Knobs on the cheap!

I found super cheap knobs today. I was at Walmart for my stock up trip on all things kid. Diapers, Cheerios, Gold Fish and I thought I'd take a look at their knobs. Now I know that they aren't the same as I had in mind, but these were cheap and they will work in the mean time. Remember there was no way those other things were making their way back on there.

They are in the oil rubbed bronze finish that I was hoping for. They are just plain knobs rather than cup pulls or rings. I checked out Rona today and the ones I like there are $6/each

These were $6.47 for 6!!! So even if I use them for a short time and find great replacements later, these are classic enough to save and use on my next project. Yeah!!!

Do you like them?

Primed and not quite ready

This is the primer that I bought from Home Depot. It is multi use and I actually bought it to prime a couple of set of ikea shelves that I have that the blond wood is ultra annoying. I just haven't gotten around to clearing off the shelves to get them out to prime/paint. So it says on the side of the can for the primer to completely prime (*sorry not sure of the correct wording) the desk, to leave it for a week. Aggghhh. Seriously? So I am going to try to do that. I primed it yesterday Wednesday and I may cheat and paint it on Tuesday, as Wednesday will be busy and I don't see it getting done later next week. I am struggling now with the idea to do a stencil or something on the sides .. or to leave it. I guess we'll see how it all comes out. I am stressing about distressing the desk. I still have to buy the paint and the glaze.

The primed desk. The primer covered it very well. I was impressed. I used a foam roller with a rounded end to keep the primer going on even without leaving the slop that occurs on the end of the roller.

I have been looking for pulls for the drawers. Did you know that they are easily $5-9 each? There are $2 ones but lets face it, they look like $2 ones.

Here are the ones that I am leaning towards. Not sure which way to go. If you would be so kind to leave a comment in the comment section to let me know your idea, I'd love that

Thanks!

The desk sanded

The sanded desk

The sanded drawers

Sanding was a lot easier than I thought that it was going to be. The primer that I chose said that you didn't need to, but I wanted to try it out. There isn't any intricate work on this piece, so I thought that I would. The paint that was on it was glossy and seemed thick. So what the heck

The $10 Desk as it was when I bought it

I bought this desk for my DD#1 to use as a vanity for now and maybe move on to a proper desk as she grows. But I am loving the size and design so much, that I am strongly considering using it as a mini hutch beside our kitchen table. I am thinking white but aged & distressed. A tall black lamp, and a flower arrangement. The drawers for the kids' art supplies and such.

So as you can see I am a terrible blogger. I buy things then start on them, forgetting to take pictures as we go. With this one, it looks as though I had already begun sanding it.
drawer less
I bought this desk at Bibles for Missions once again.
I later went to Value Village and saw the same desk not painted for $149.99
I was shocked. I can appreciate wood furniture, but man oh man.

The drawers on the porch
So the pulls on this desk are made of wood, but shaped like rocks. They are terrible.
They are not going back on nor will they be re-used,
unless Hubby decides to build a climb wall for the kids.

Kitchen window treatments

This was the window treatments day one!

Actually day minus one. They came with the house

Then in late July '09 the house was painted,

I had taken the previous treatments down about 8 months prior, and left it blank.

And then just last week we finished the valances.

I love them. I sewed them myself and I lined them,

something that I would normally just ignore,

but I truly believed in this idea.

As did MrK as he was very helpful in the installation!

I have got two very different ideas for

the family room and livingroom! I can't wait!

Fall centerpiece

I made this centerpiece for my table this afternoon. I picked up 2 large picks of fall leaves & berry type sprigs (1.00 each) from Dollarama as well as 2 packages of 2 orange willow type balls ($1.25 each) I spray painted the balls black. and removed all the leaves off of the picks and arranged my centerpiece. I like it. I am worried that the kids will tear it apart, but we'll see. So here is my creation for $4.50

Oh and another favourite thing..

I saved the pick stems. I painted them black as well

and will use them maybe another time.

((Halloween is just around the corner))

My first project

Today I went to a thrift store (BfM) and they had their furniture all 50% off. So I picked up this chair. I love it. I saw it way up on the scaffolding, I had to move a love seat and an entertainment unit to get to it. It was so pretty and it was in good shape for a starter project.

Its hard to tell in this pic, but there was some serious staining on the seat cushion.

The underbelly

The finished product

I love it!

Welcome to the New Blog!!

I am finding inspiration everywhere online right now, on how to spruce up our home, take pride in it and be more organized. So here is where I am going to show my progress and maybe even some not so prideful moments. Welcome.