First (Small) Project!

Hooray for small projects! My amazing mother took Jess and I out to lunch today. Afterward we were just hanging out, doing some little errand shopping she needed to do. So we did her stuff, and then we were so close to the Dollar Tree that I had to go. (Our one lonesome Dollar Tree in Lincolnton is tiny. The one we went to is one of several in Gastonia, and its huge compared to ours.) She's recently started following my blog (love you Mama!!), so I was telling her about some of the dollar store projects I've been wanting to try. She ended up buying me a glass bowl with a lid, a glass jar with an airtight lid, and a glass candle pedestal.

After Jess convinced me we could spare a couple dollars for some paint so I could start, we went to Hobby Lobby, who's weekly sales items included the paint and brushes I needed (hooray!).

I started with the small bowl with a lid. I haven't painted anything with a brush since art class in school, so it took me a while to get the hang of doing it and keep from spreading the paint too much or too little.

After one coat of paint: you can see on the lid where there are still spots of the glass showing through

Here is Isabelle supervising from Jess' lap

A second coat of paint, drying overnight, and this is the final result:

Can't you picture it in some designer bathroom with cotton balls or something in it? I'm thinking I'll probably put Q-tips in it, since we don't use cotton balls much. It cost me about $1 total.

Glass Bowl- FREE (my mom bought it for $1 at the Dollar Tree)

Paint- $1.52 (and there is plenty left to use on other projects)

TOTAL: $1.52

Here is what I'm working on atm, an old tumbler that a friend gave us when we moved in (love you Cindy!). I think I'm going to paint it to match and put toothbrushes in it. (Atm, everything pretty much lays on the counter. And I am determined to organize it, one thing at a time!)

Linked to Mariah's Creations Link Party

The Wonders a Simple Coat of Paint Can Do

I am currently working on a small painting project that I'm excited about, its my first since I started this blog! It won't be ready in time to post tonight, so here's another post I've been working on instead. Details tomorrow hopefully on the project!

I am convinced that a good fresh, coat of clean paint can update almost anything (especially white paint, but not always). I've been questioned on this recently (you know who you are), so I decided to put together a post with some examples. If I can find something of my own for a few bucks or even free (I scour Craigslist on a daily basis), I would love to make my own example. So, without further ado, here goes (prepare for a small photo barrage):

Centsational Girl- this is my favorite of all the items featured here

Young House Love

This silvery-white beauty was transformed by Beckie (who is a total sweetheart!) over at Infarrantly Creative

Now, normally I'm the world's biggest skeptic, so I can guess what some of you will say. And I agree that the change in environment does go a long way in making things look better. Its like those horrible ads for body makeover programs and whatnot, where the before shot looks like someone who's had no sleep (I'll give the benefit of the doubt and ignore the druggie angle), crazy hair, basically it looks like a police mugshot. And then the 'after' woman has on make-up, and her hair done, and she's smiling, and the lighting is better, and half the time doesn't even look like the same person. Picture me squinting at the computer screen, analyzing her eyebrows, or eyes, or whatever else to try to determine if its really the same person. Wow massive tangent. My point is, you can't deny that if you took the item on the right and placed it next to an un-remodeled clone, that it wouldn't still look 1000 times better even without the designer room surroundings.

I want to paint the dresser in our room white. We bought it for $30 from a good friend, so I'm not sure exactly what its made of, or if its even solid wood... but it is HEAVY so I've always thought it was. Its about 5 feet wide and 3.5 feet high (just guessing, I haven't measured it). Its a medium-colored wood, like mahogany or cedar maybe? (Keep in mind I know nothing about wood colors, I'm only guessing those because I googled wood colors and those were the closest to it.) I've wanted to paint it since we got it, I just never got around to it. So maybe that will be my project? All I know is that I will have a project for you ASAP!

Just for fun, here are a few great painted pieces in awesomely fun colors:

This fantastic piece comes from Tamara at Get It Girl Style.

I LOVE how she put the lime right up against the teal wall, its such a FUN use of color! And its so easy to be afraid of large amounts of color. But she's workin' it!

This piece was featured on Pink Shirts and Car Wrecks, but the credit link went to an Etsy user that apparently is no longer on Etsy. (If someone knows who I can credit, please let me know!)

I love the waves and the progression of color here. This would be so fun in an ocean-themed kids room!

Photo from The Fairy Paintbox

 I just couldn't resist including this for that fantastic color-blocked wall!

The Newest Thing I'm Drooling Over (Cuz If You Know Me, You Know It Changes Fairly Often)

Atherton Home Manhattan Convertible Futon Sofabed and Lounger in Chocolate, $299 at Walmart.com

This beauty is the new love of my (living room) life. Its $299 at Walmart.com (which means free shipping if I pick it up at the store!). Normally, I'm skeptical as hell about Walmart furniture. I've some bad experiences before (well ok, one dresser- but I will never buy furniture from South Shore again, no matter how gorgeous it is in the pictures- that's how bad that one dresser was). On top of being a sofa and a bed, it has the added versatility of being a lounger. Allow me to demonstrate:

Are you in love yet? Its a sofa, bed, and chaise all in one! Jess and I love to cuddle up together (which may be partially why the recliner got broken...), lay back and watch a movie or whatever tv show we are currently burning through on Netflix (atm, Grey's Anatomy). I can so see myself having 2 of these in my living room in place of any other sofas or chairs. Plus there'd be double the sleeping space for overnight guests!

I also checked out the reviews, because of my aforementioned skepticality (is that a word? Spellcheck says not) on Walmart furniture. The reviews on it are stellar. Its got 4 stars from over 600 reviews, which by Walmart standards is pretty amazing. 88% of people said they'd recommend it to a friend.

I'm totally replacing the Ikea sofabed on my living room mood board with this one! For $20 more, I get SO much more.

Thoughts? Anyone have one or know someone who has one?

Mudroom Bench Plans

Remember this space? The little nook just inside our back door that would be perfect for a mudroom area? I have some major plans for it (major, as in life-altering. For me.).

The nook. That I despise, because no matter how much I clean, and straighten, it never stays that way long

This is my idea for a faux built-in bench, loosely based on this tutorial from Lowes:

Its not perfectly to scale, but its pretty close

The thing is that its about 2 feet deep. So either I have some super deep cubbies that I figure we'll end up having to go elbow-deep to dig shoes out of the back of, or I figure out a way to use both spaces effectively. So I'm thinking about making the cubbies about a foot deep, perfect size for shoes, especially shoes that 13 year old boys with big feet, and leaving the other foot of space in the back. I've thought about using the space in the back for some sort of recyclable sorting bins like these from Ikea:

DIMPA Recycling Bags, IKEA

$6.99 for 3! I'd have to do something to make it look good though. I'm thinking it'd be neat to build something that they could fit in, like a storage bench. You'd lift up the seat of the bench to take out the bins when its time to take off the recycling. (They are just under 18" tall according to IKEA's website, so they'd fit in the 24" tall bench. Plus they are about 8.5" wide which means with 3 they'd have plenty of room to fit within the approximately 38" wide that the bench would be. They wouldn't crowd the air filter and I MAY even be able to squeeze a little more storage out of it!) And when the seat is down, it would just look like an extension of the front bench. Plus the cubbies in front wouldn't be so deep that we'd loose shoes.

(I feel like maybe I'm not explaining this very well. I'm trying to draw up pictures, but I'm a horrible artist, so bear with me.)

I've even thought a bit about logistics for the seat. Instead of having to hold the seat up with one hand and worry about the bins with the other (since I'm not sure how heavy the seat will end up being, plus I'm just clumsy, and I can already see myself hitting my head lol), I'll make it so the seat will stay up until I'm ready to close it. Either I'll use hydraulic lifts on the seat hinges (you know, the kind that make the trunk of your car stay open on its own until you pull it down), or (and I think this will be the more simple of the 2 options, especially considering we are literally beginners with everything), I'll install a small but powerful magnet (possibly 3 small ones, if its really heavy), on the wall and on the bench seat. Genius, right?

If anyone has any input (good or bad), problems you forsee (especially those of you with more experience!), ways to make better use of the space, etc, PLEASE don't hesitate to comment or email me!!

Anyone else planning, working on, or completed organization projects of any sort? I'd love to hear about them/see them!

New Living Room Furniture

I know I haven't posted in a few days, and for that I am sorry. Its been a crazy past few days. (Let me tell you, working 12 hours and driving an hour each way to and from work on an hour's sleep- NOT fun. I seriously came home and unintentionally slept for almost 17 hours.) BUT I am (hopefully) back to normal now, at least as much as possible!

I think my lamp may have to be put on the back burner as being the very first project I do (aside from the one I have in the works that will be completely FREE). Every piece of (sitting) furniture in my living room is crap. Broken. Or just wholly uncomfortable. (Ok, let me clarify that any of these are fine if you just want to SIT. But I am a creature of comfort, I like to lounge, or recline, or lay. Plus I have an undiagnosed bruised tailbone, or something that makes it wholly uncomfortable to sit for more than a minute or two, along with a bad back from 8+ years of working in nursing. Yes, I bought a donut pillow, but I haven't had it long enough to tell if its helping.)

First off, there is the recliner that was given to us by my in-laws when they got new stuff. It was functional at the time, fast forward to more than a year later and when you recline it you end up lopsided because the arm is broken in half (or so Jess tells me, I haven't bothered to flip it up and really get into the details. But she tells me its beyond repair). And then there is the HALF of a (faux?) leather sectional that we got free when it was abandoned in an apartment (benefit of being the office manager's daughters!). We actually got the whole set, but we couldn't fit it all in our small living room and still keep the recliner. And Jess refused to give up her beloved recliner. So we gave the sofa side of it to our sister who had recently found herself with a huge almost empty living room. We kept the loveseat and the middle piece. If you don't want to sit in the dysfunctional recliner, then you have to sit on some part of the sectional. There is the middle piece, on which I have to contort into crazy twisted positions to be comfortable, which in turn kills my back. (I know, I know, I'm too young to be falling apart like this!) The end piece used to recline, but something is wrong with the metal support that should pop out the footrest. I have no idea what's wrong with it. I know Jess tried to fix it, to no avail.

So here I go, scouring Craigslist like I always do, hoping like hell I'll get lucky really soon. (I almost got a GORGEOUS chocolate-brown chaise the other day, the guy had listed it for free! He said he'd just bought new a few months before for a couple hundred bucks. I spotted it about an hour after he posted it, and emailed him immediately. He told me that people were already offering him over $100 for it. So I politely conceded to them, secretly hoping he'd decide to give it to me anyway for being so sweet, but of course he didn't. Sad face here.) And if I end up getting something really hideous (as long as its functional, I don't care at this point) I'll have to suffer with a blanket covering it until I can afford a decent slipcover, because re-upholstering a loveseat or recliner is still a bit out of my skill range.

Until then, I'm dreaming.

I'm not entirely crazy about leather or faux leather, but you have to admit this set is beautiful. Clean, simple lines, a bit of curve to it... Just my style.

Metro Chair and Ottoman, $289 at Walmart.com

It would take me about 2 minutes to spill something on this and mess up the velvet (and the price- well just !!!), but a girl can dream right?

Avenue Six Curves Tufted Chaise Lounge in Chocolate Velvet, $449 at Walmart.com

And then there is this, the sofabed from Ikea that I still intend to buy when we have some cash to spare:

Beddinge Lovas Sofabed in Genarp Brown, $279 at Ikea.com

Storage Beds

My quest for better organization has me doing a lot of consideration of dual purpose furniture. The coffee table ottoman that I included in my living room mood board and the convertible sofa would be great starts. Today I've had storage beds on the brain, because two very small closets and one dresser are not near enough storage for our bedroom. So the hunt begins, to find the balance between affordability and quality. Of course my first stop was Ikea, where I found these beauties:

Left, OPPDAL, $299; Right, BRIMNES, $249

The only thing I don't like about them is that they don't have a pronounced headboard. I want a headboard. I know I could make my own fairly cheaply compared to buying one, or even make a fake one on the wall. Its silly of me to hang onto the idea of getting a true headboard, and I can't explain it. And I know that I could just get a normal bed, and buy a bunch of storage boxes to go underneath, but I've always wanted a platform bed. If it came down to it, I'd pick the platform bed over the true headboard. But for now, I'll keep looking, and see if I can't find some way to have my cake and eat it too.

Hillsdale Furniture Tiburon Kona Storage Bed

I found this beauty that I was in LOVE with (gorgeous headboard AND drawers!) until I realized that the whole queen bed set (base, rails, head and footboard, drawers) costs $949. (They have it set up as buying piece by piece, so it showed up as being just over $100. I hate it when things are labeled misleadingly.) Juuust a little out of my price range. So I will keep looking. Or back to Ikea I'll go. Suggestions anyone? Recommendations?

Salt Lamps

I was browsing through lamps on Etsy earlier, and I came across this beauty:

Isn't she GORGEOUS? Link to this one here

And I fell in LOVE. I've been hearing about these salt lamps a lot lately, the health benefits are supposed to be tremendous. The negative ions they put off are said to reduce a lot of airborne toxins like mold and bacteria, as well as many other allergy and asthma triggers. I want one! And Jess has bad allergies, so it would totally be worth it. But I can't bring myself to spend $50 on a lamp that's less than a foot in diameter. I'm all for supporting small businesses, but we're also on a budget, and I could buy one 2" bigger than that one for $30 at Target. This will definitely be among the first things I buy when I get back to buying things, wherever I get it from!

Anyone have one yet? Can you tell an honest difference since you got it?