Update to the no cost makeover

Wow, nearly 2.5 months since my last post.  That's a record.  I miss you all!

I did end up doing my little "no cost" make-over, but it was slightly modified in terms of the "no cost" part.

In order to get the blue, tan, white & black color scheme I talked about in my post, I ended up buying some fabrics to make the toss pillows that pulled the design together.  So, I'll count that cost.  The rest, I just moved the furniture around like I figured I would, but still haven't bitten the bullet and painted that ladder shelf. (Going from white to black, to really pull the theme together.)

So, the fabrics I purchased were super inexpensive- one was $5.99/yd, the other two were 2.99/yd.  I purchased 1.5 yards of the black and white damask, and 1 yard each of the trellis and circle damask.  Also, I had found a white fabric shower curtain on clearance for $2.50 at Target, so I used that also to make two solid white pillows.  I still have enough of the trellis fabric to make another pillow, so even though the fabric total was around $16, I didn't use it all!

Also, the mirror above the fireplace was purchased in 2010 (Just before Christmas) so it doesn't count in my 2011 project cost tally (but for score keeping purposes, it's a huge round, chunky mirror, exactly like I wanted, and it was $45.)

So, I moved the couches, moved the ladder shelf, put in another table and my Louis XVI chair, moved the sofa table, and added in a small cabinet (yet to be painted) with a lamp.  We got a new TV stand (also in 2010), and have the glider from 2010.  (Love the glider, but it's hard to decorate around!)

Stay Tuned!  I've got a lot of posts coming up soon- even though I haven't been posting much, I've been taking photos of everything I'm doing.  It's been a busy place around here, and is just about to get busier!

PS: Baby C is growing like a weed!  Here's a sneak peak at his weekly pictures.  YES!  I'm still taking a new photo EACH week!

Week 1:

Week 10:

Week 20:

A little no-cost makeover

Anyone else out there relieved to pack away the holidays?  The house always looks so large once the tree is down, and the holiday decor is safely packed away and out of sight for another year.  However, the large space always leaves me feeling the urge for a change, and a fresh room.  It'd be easy, given all the money in the world, to plan out a fresh new space.  The trick though is to try a no cost makeover.

Our room has pretty good bones.  The couches are neutral, there's a brick fireplace, white slatted blinds, hardwood floors, etc.  I couldn't picture the room pulled together though (for our no-cost makeover) until the other day that I sat on the opposite couch in the room and it came to me.

Our makeover will be based on this color scheme:

 

So, the execution plan will consist of the following:

Paint ladder shelf black (I showed you this shelf before here)

Recover couch throw pillows in white fabric (I've done that once before, here)

Add series of four Black and White NY City prints to the room (from the office, that's not being used)

Reorganize picture frame ledges (see them before, here)

Add white cylinder lamp shade to current lamp, plus add another lamp (this room is dark at night!)

Re-arrange furniture

Here's the room now (right after Christmas decor was removed).  

NOTE: This is not for the faint of heart... I'm not proud, and I wouldn't consider this room pulled or put together in any way... ok, disclaimer over, now you can see the photos.  :)

How on earth do you decorate/stage a fireplace like this?!

The tree (9ft this year!) was in that back corner

Anywho, I hope to work on this room this weekend.  Our adorable baby boy though is so cute, that I just love hanging with him, so I'm not sure how much I'll get done!

Just thought I'd share.  Now, to get this done, and be excited over our room again!

Initial Artwork: Letter C

I suppose initial artwork, or lettering in the nursery is nothing new.  It's nice to stamp a nursery, or a kids room with their name to make it more personal.  (Heck, I've even talked about my love of monograms before too!)  When we settled on a name for our baby boy, I was able to purchase a white letter "C" to try to attempt a project along these lines.

So, here's what I did.

First I took an $8 clearance frame from Home Goods (regularly $25!).  Of course, the butterfly motif wasn't going to quite cut it with the baby boats bedding.  :)  It was all wrong!

The white frame stayed, but the green mat was painted blue.  I painted this with acrylics, and I think it looked like wood when I was done.  I just loved that the mat was cut to fit the square frame already, plus the cut out/lined details were great.

Because of the depth of the frame, I was able to adhere the C to the board, and still have room to close the frame down.  First though, I needed to cover the cardboard backing with green houndstooth fabric, that matches the curtains.  I used spray adhesive and adhered a piece of fabric to the top of the cardboard.  Since the mat was going to cover the edges of the cardboard backing, I didn't fold it around the back edges... just simply adhered to the top.

Then, after a failed hot glue gun attempt at putting the C on the fabric, I checked out my E6000 glue for it's specs... turns out it adheres fabric to wood with a 3 smiley face rating (I guess that's good?!)  So I dabbed it on the backing of my MDF "C" and placed it in the middle of the fabric (I had lined up the mat as a guide.)

Then, just cleaned and reassembled!  Oh, I just L-O-V-E it, but am even more excited to see it on the wall in baby boy's room!

It's amazing what a little vision and paint will do!

What do you think about the transformation, and colors?

More to come on the nursery progress.  Labor Day Weekend brought a lot of progress that I can't wait to share!

Nursery Progress Report

I felt it was time to show off some of the in-progress projects that are going on nursery-wise around here.  We had a big weekend planned, but that was derailed realizing I'm sick, yet again (seriously?  SERIOUSLY???)

Either way, some really great progress has taken shape, and I'm feeling less stressed than before (read: still slightly stressed, but just a little less...  :)  )

First, I'm happy to report that the painting of the walls in the nursery is 100% done!  If you recall, I used Olympic Premium No-VOC paint, mixed to PPG's Lime Green 209-5 for the walls.  I did the dirty work first, one night, of cutting in, and the edging.  This way the rolling of the paint took no time.  This paint is awesome!  It went on really well, and though I did two coats, I could have gotten away with one had I put it on a tad thicker the first coat.

Next, we have purchased the beadboard, chair rail, and baseboards- all 40 linear feet!  The beadboard is cut (the sheets start out 8x4') in half, so I have 10 sheets that are 4'x4'.  I think we'll go with 38" high beadboard, so we'll need to make some cuts for that to happen.  The garage will be set up like a workshop this weekend, so that hopefully next week some of the hard labor of wood installation can actually start.

Then, the remaining painting (chair rail, beadboard, and baseboards) can occur!  This part of the project I can't help much on... it kills me!

As for some of the other touches, those are definitely on their way.  If I can get some sleep today, and feel ok tomorrow, I should be able to knock those projects off the list!  Remember my design board?  Well, I'm talking about the star artwork, the mobile, and the alphabet art. 

I'm still a little frightful of sewing the replacement covers for the glider and making the curtains, since I've only used my sewing machine a few times!  (Remember these curtains, and these pillows from earlier this year?)  I think the curtains for the window are slowly turning into curtains for the closet instead, and the intention of purchasing blinds for the window is becoming a reality.  Either way, the fabric will be a nice touch- just depends where it ends up!  (Closet doors were removed, and I really want to be able to hide that mess!)

We still don't have a dresser, even though I know the one I want.  I've been striking out lately, even though I did get excited when Kate @ Centsational Girl found the same one I was looking for, and painted it white...  We're in the same area, and it seems that folks just love those dressers, and they either aren't selling them, or they're snatched up quick! But, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for one that was just posted about 30 min ago, and it's already white!  :)

I'm really having fun watching it all come together, and planning for what happens next, I'm just a bit anxious about it all getting done.  Looking at the calendar, there really are limited weekends left to work with.

How long did it take you to pull a room together?  Did you ever have a room that felt like it just wasn't going to EVER be done?  Do you work well under pressure, and deadlines?!  Do tell!

Black and White All Over

Just call me Picasso.  yea!  I painted! 

As I alluded to a few weeks back during my office post, I joined a friend, and painted one Sunday morning in my pjs!

This canvas is gallery style wrapped, and purchased at Michael's with a coupon of course.  :)  I chose a black and white pattern option, similar to a fretwork pattern since the opposite room will have a zebra ottoman one of these days.

I wanted a border on the edge of the canvas so just eyeballed it and added some strips of painters tape. 

 

Then, I actually made two templates, and traced both- one for the outside line of the black spots, and one for the inner. 

 

  

  

(can you see the pencil lines?  It's really faint...)

Next, I just took some time and painted two coats of black acrylic paint in a sort of coloring book style!  Yea, it took a few hours, but painting with friends is super duper fun!

 

  

 

A few days later, I pulled the tape off, and reapplied further in the center so I would then be able to paint my entire black border.

For now, it's hanging horizontally, but if we get an entryway table, the option to turn it vertically is there.  :)

There's that bench again.  And yes, I did decide to paint it black, I just haven't done that yet.  Soon I hope.  So, for now I'm enjoying the graphic print, especially since the wall is sort of an extension off the room I'm considering to be my more modern taste, with the orange curtains and all.  :)

So, what do ya think?  It's pretty contrasty, no?  And, doesn't the painting just solidify the fact that the bench needs.to.be.black?!  I think, yes.  :)