Halfway

Halfway through another busy year of work for me. Oh my gosh the building that is going on in our valley is off the charts! So many new homes, so many new people moving into the area. The remodel’s, the new flooring, the tile, the cabinets for existing homes. It is so fun to help my client’s pick out the beautiful products that will be part of their lives for many years.It is so rewarding to work on a project and be a part of a clients dream home.

What do you think of this beautiful fireplace update? Isn’t it gorgeous?

And this beautiful kitchen remodel?

 

I was also lucky enough to be part of a Spring Parade of Homes with one of my contractors. Super exciting to walk through with my Dad and stepmom and show them all the designs we created!

 

I’m working on several homes right now that I just can’t wait to see how they turn out. Working with these clients who become friends is so rewarding. They are so excited and I just love working with them. I will post the before and after picture’s when we finish up in the next few weeks. One of them being my girlfriend Kim’s bathroom remodel! Cannot wait to see all the changes!

Halfway through another amazing year of design! I love my job! It can be stressful, I put out fires constantly it seems, but it’s all worth it when you have a happy client! Do something you love, create a life you love! Bring it on July! Let’s see where it takes us!

 

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Bar Stool Style for Cheap!

If you know me, you know I have been out perusing the local thrifts stores. I love them! My local area has so many thrift and consignment stores to choose from, I just have to decide which side of town to head to. Not to mention it’s yard sale season! Yes! I have a hard time driving past a yard sale sign and not checking it out.

One of my newest projects has been finding a sturdy bar stool, inexpensive of course, and turning it into something I can display in my kitchen/dining area. It took me a little bit of time to find one I could see potential in. It seems like whenever I’m out shopping now, I’m looking at items in a different way. Not what it appear’s to be at the time, but what can I create out of it?

 

I found this little gem at the thrift store just down the street. Super sturdy oak chair for with a removable padded seat cushion for $12. Can’t beat that! I took it back to my work space, took it apart and did a little scuffing and priming. You dont need to sand it much. Just scuff it up a little bit with some sand paper so the primer will stick to it.

Of course I used my usual Sherwin Williams Extreme Bond Primer, and General Finishes Black Gel Stain.

These are the products I have been using on the other item’s I have refinished for my home lately. I love the way they work together and the price is right.

The cushion was just held on by two bolts so it was easy to take the chair apart. While the primer was drying, I tackled the seat cushion and proceeded to remove the old fabric and foam from the seat. I just happen to have some fabric that I had bought years ago. I just loved the pattern and creamy white color, and it was perfect for this project.

Time to add a coat of black gel paint to the chair. It is an oil based product, so you have to make sure you follow the directions disposing of rags and brushes safely. Check with your local city for disposal instructions. I put mine into an empty paint can filled with water. I like to use a foam brush and a rag to apply the stain. I applied three coats for coverage. Then I applied a coat of an oil based  polyurethane clear coat finish that I picked up at the local Lowes.

I let it dry for several days to make sure it had a nice hard finish.

I picked up a new foam seat cushion at Walmart and cut it to size from the existing seat. I wiped down the particle board type seat, then wrapped it with the new fabric. Starting on one side and pulling it tight,  I stapled the new fabric to the underside of the seat.

Trim off the excess fabric, and your set to start putting your new refurbished chair together! I attached the newly covered seat cushion back to the chair frame with the existing bolts and it’s a finished product!

It matches my dining room furniture perfectly! 

What diy projects have you tackled lately? I would love to hear about any tips you have for refinishing furniture. Thanks for hanging out with me again on another diy update! Until next time, create and design something awesome in your life!

The words will come…

I can’t be the only person that finds blogging difficult.

I can think of a dozen topics, but getting started is just plain hard!

I have decided I would post two blogs a month. That’s my goal. But here I am waiting til the last day of the month to even get started.

I’m actually on a plane right this minute. Needing a few days break from reality, I decided to just take off…from work…from the gym… from life…sometimes life can be overwhelming.

I found myself with the opportunity to join my cousin on the Jersey shore for the car races. I also found myself saying “I bought my ticket “.

No one was more surprised than I was when I threw caution to the wind and didn’t do the responsible thing and stay home and work like I usually would. Not saying I don’t spend time with my friends and have a lot of fun in life… I do… But I spend a lot of hours working too. Remodeling homes, working with contractors and clients on new builds and spec homes to working with my installers does not end at 6pm. Not even close. Late night and early Sunday morning texts from clients are not uncommon. But getting away for a few days seemed like the right choice to make. Be carefree! Forget About work! Turn your phone off! Ya, that’s not going to happen. But I plan to have an amazing time while I’m gone. I haven’t seen my cousin in years so I am over the top excited to hang out with him and catch up. He sponsors a racing crew and owns a car wrapping business.

He and the racing crew rented a house on the shore that looks amazing! Not to mention the racing events for the next few days!

So here I am… still looking out the window of the plane… and now founding myself with a blog to post. I guess all you have to do is start…just start…just like they say you should.

And the words will come…

Refresh Shelving Unit

You can take an ordinary wood dowel shelf, and turn it into a more modern up to date piece of furniture! This was really pretty simple to do, and I really like the shabby chic way it came out! I used primer, gel stain and chalk paint. Keep reading to find out how I did it!

I bought this piece at a yard sale years ago and decided to update it instead of selling it off in a garage sale. All it needs is a little refresh! First I started with sanding it a bit with a palm sander. You dont need to sand it all the way down. Just scuffing it as they say, so the primer will stick to it. 

Next I put a coat of primer on it so the paint would have something to adhere to. Once again I used Sherwin Williams Extreme Bond Primer. I think it’s the best out there, and you want a good primer and paint so your furniture will stay looking great for years! This primer also dries quickly so you can get to the painting part, especially if your impatient like I am!

Before I started painting, I taped off the areas that I wanted to gel paint black, with blue painter’s tape. It’s easy to pull off when you are finished and it leaves a great edge. I decided to paint the top and the bottom of the shelving unit in black. I used rags and a foam brush and applied  General Finishes Black Gel Stain. It gives a nice finish to your furniture and has a nice deep color. It is an oil based product so you need to make sure that you dispose of your rags and brushes safely. I put mine into an empty paint can filled with water. Check with your city for disposal instructions.

After a couple of coats of the gel stain and a day or two of drying, I started on the chalk paint for the body of the shelves. It gives a really cool shabby chic matte finish. I ended up using Rustoleum Chalked in Linen White. This product had good reviews and I was able to pick it up at my local Walmart. I painted on two-three coats and called it good. Letting it dry in between coats. I wanted some of the wood underneath to show through a bit. Next I took a piece of sand paper and randomly distressed it a bit more. Then I top coated with Chalked protective top coat in matte clear.

 

HERE IS THE FINISHED PRODUCT! I PUT THE GLASS SHELVES BACK INTO IT AND DISPLAYED IT IN MY OFFICE! I LOVE HOW IT TURNED OUT! AND IT’S SO FUNCTIONAL!

HERE ARE A COUPLE OTHER PIECES OF FURNITURE THAT I PAINTED IN THE SAME FASHION. THESE WERE VINTAGE DISPLAY TABLES I PICKED UP AT A YARD SALE FOR $20. GREAT BARGAIN! A LITTLE GEL AND CHALK PAINT AND TA DA! I AM ALSO TRYING TO BRING A SPLASH OF THAT CHARTREUSE COLOR INTO EVERY ROOM. SO I WAS SUPER EXCITED TO FIND THESE GREEN KNOBS AT HOBBY LOBBY.

NOW IT SEEMS WHENEVER I LOOK AT A PIECE OF FURNITURE, I START WONDERING WHAT I CAN DO TO IT! I’M OBSESSED WITH REFRESHING AND UPDATING FURNITURE PIECES AND DECOR!

LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK OF THESE PIECES AND IF YOU HAVE ANY TIPS OR PICTURES OF PROJECTS YOU ARE WORKING ON!

UNTIL NEXT TIME! 

 

Spring Flower Arrangement

Looking for a a fresh, spring-y bouquet of color to display in your home?

Check out this easy and inexpensive arrangement that you can make just like that!

Your local Dollar Store has some really great finds if you’re willing to look for them!

And they’re only a $1 each! Who doesn’t love a bargain? I know I do 🙂

I discovered some pretty Hydrangea’s, Cattails, decorative green cluster sprays, purple sprigs and foliage grass that looked pretty awesome when I picked through their floral display.

Next I checked out their rock displays and came up with a nice white stone and also found some clear marbles to throw in with the rocks just to mix it up a bit.

They also have quite a selection of glass cylinder vases to choose from.

I found a burlap roll in my craft supplies and decided to wrap the stems of the flowers after I got them arranged the way I wanted. You might have a decorative ribbon or some other fabric that you love hanging around that you could incorporate into your arrangement.

I filled the vase half full of the rock/marble mixture and inserted the flowers.  Next I filled up the rest of the jar once I had the flowers inside of the vase.

 

And that’s it!

Very inexpensive and super quick to put together!

I’m trying to add a touch of this beautiful green color to each room of my home. So this was a lovely addition to my living room!

What do you think of it?

Have you found any great buys for DIY lately?

 

 

Succulent & Moss Centerpiece

Making a pretty centerpiece from thrift store and dollar store finds!

I’m excited to share this fun little project with you!

Here is a list of items that i found for the project

At the Dollar Store, i found some cute succulents in little plastic pots and quite a few different candles in assorted sizes and colors. I didnt want a centerpiece too large, so i opted for two of the medium sized candles in white. Walmart was where I found the Reindeer Moss for under $4. The long wooden tray I found at the thrift store for $.99! I had been looking for the perfect centerpiece tray and after a few visits to different thrift stores, I finally found the perfect one!

 

It’s a super fast and easy project to put together, but it looks like you spent some cash on it when it’s finished!

Starting with the reindeer moss, I arranged it in the tray filling in all the areas. You can add as much or as little as you would like, depending on the look you are going for. Next I added the small pillar candles and nestled them between the moss.

 

 

After that, I just added the succulents into the middle and ends of the tray.

 

 

Simple yet pretty and colorful centerpiece

Easy and fun to make and display!

 

Make your own centerpiece and share with me how awesome it turned out!

 

 

Thanks for stopping in! Watch for my upcoming blog’s about fitness and nutrition! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fireplace DIY Facelift

My fireplace before I moved in.

I’ve been wanting to tear this fireplace down and update it since I first saw it. Moving into my new home over a year ago, it was just one of the many areas I wanted to put my own touch on. There were many other items that needed updating first, such as painting, new floors, etc. I’m really excited to show you what I have done with the floors and the cabinets, but I wanted to make the fireplace my first post. I’m proud of it, I think it looks amazing, and I cant wait to show you how I did this fireplace remodel! Contact

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 Fireplace Remodel: Tearing Out the Tile

My fireplace before I moved in.

Here is the first picture of my fireplace before I moved into my new home. I was not a fan of the green tile, oak shelves, and mantel. I’m not even going to talk about that blue carpet on the floor! Believe me, that’s the first thing I ripped out of the house, but I’ll save the flooring for another post!

Taking the tile off was kind of a fun little added bonus! It was actually super easy, I just used a flat bar to pry both the tile and the backer board up off the sub-floor. It didn’t take long to remove, but then I needed to tackle the sheet rock and holes that it left on the wall surrounding the fireplace. Prep! Prep! Prep!

I was ready to pull off the existing mantel and build a new one.

I was so ready to pull off that existing mantel and build a new one. It was held to the wall by a ledger board that I ended up using to attach the new mantel.

Fireplace DIY Remodel: Replace Tile and Update Mantel

This is the ledger board that I screwed my new mantel to. The ledger board is used to hold the mantel to the wall. I also patched the drywall to make a flat surface so that I could start installing the new ledger stone. I was really excited about it and couldn’t wait to start putting it up!

So this is where I lost the pictures of me building the mantel! Ugh! Technology can be a real pain! I went to Lowe’s, bought 1 x 8 Pine and had them cut it to 55 inches, which is the length I had measured out on the wall above the fireplace box.  I also had them cut the ends to make end-caps for when I nailed and glued it together. It came out exactly the way I had imagined.

Here is the installed mantel! It was pretty easy to put together and mount on the wall. Then it was time to start stacking the stone. I used Mapei Porcelain Tile Mortar. It’s a bit thicker than others, but I needed it because the ledger stone was pretty heavy. The stone came in 6 x 24 sheets, and is around an inch thick. I used my little tile saw to square off the ends. It took me several days to install. I did one sheet at a time, braced it, and let it dry for a day in between.

Fireplace Remodel: Paint

I put the finishing touches on the shelves and installed them. Almost complete. A little touch up and paint the mantel.

Tada!! The tile came out amazing! So far, it’s lookin’ good! For the shelves, I scuffed them with sandpaper, primed with Sherwin Williams Extreme Bond Primer, and painted both the shelves and sides with Pro Classic Trim and Door  in Snowbound. I also painted the back of the shelves with Pro Classic in Dovetail. At this point, I was putting the finishing touches on the shelves and installing them. Almost complete; they just need a little touch up, and then I need to paint the mantel. I plan to paint it the same shade as the shelving cabinets, Dovetail.

Fireplace Remodel: Final Product

 

And here is the finished fireplace! I love it! The white and gray really brings out the colors in the ledger stone. I’m so happy with the way it came out! If I can do it, you can too! Thanks for hanging out with me today and following along on my Fireplace DIY Facelift! I cant wait to show you the other projects I have tackled in my new home. Until next time… Re-vamp, Re-style, and Re-design it!