Quickie game room re-do!

Another project I completed on my "computer break" was an overhaul of our children's game room.  This room has been a nasty PIT since we moved into our house 3 years ago.  See evidence here...

Okay, so it really wasn't THIS BAD, but close.  I snapped this pic after I started moving all the furniture out of the way.  This room has been the "catch-all" for our unwanted furniture, kid's toys that are never played with and after moving the sofas, lots of dirty socks and candy wrappers (yuck!)

I had NO budget for this re-do (which is ALWAYS a fun challenge!) so I shopped my house!  I'm always amazed at what I find hidden away in closets and boxes.

Here are the results!

I still need to figure out window treatments, but not bad for $0, eh?  See that rug?  That was a "trash day" find!  I can't believe what people will throw away!  After a dousing of Febreze and a good vacuuming, it's as good as new!

I had these prints from our old house, when I was in my "green & red" phase.

The gray blanket under the TV is temporary until I can find a cool runner.  Our old TV stand was scratched up and the drawers were broken, so this is another trash day find!  It weighs a ton (looked to be from the '70's!) and had a "dungeon-like" door in the middle which I quickly removed.

I consulted with my most favorite blogger Lindsay at Living With Lindsay on how to rehab this piece, since the veneer was all bubbly.  She suggested sanding down through the veneer (which, by the way, took about an hour and some "choice" words!) and then priming the heck out of it (I did 3 coats of primer!)  I spray painted it Rustoleum Colonial Red and then used a dark walnut stain with poly built in to "antique" it.

A big thank you to Lindsay for the advice.  It worked like a charm!

I found this license plate art at Garden Ridge on clearance for $5.  It's been sitting in my garage for the last 3 months waiting for a home.  This hangs over the TV.

I moved the bookshelves that flanked the old TV unit.  This wall has a small inset, so the shelves ALMOST look like built-ins.  The yellow chenille wingback chair was a Craig's list find for $25.  The door you see in the picture goes into the attic.  I like the fact that it's blocked off now (visions of my son playing in the insulation!)

These are the Kassett storage boxes from Ikea.  I love them!  They are cheap and more durable than photo boxes.  I printed labels to organize all the boys stuff.  Let's hope it stays that way!

This was another Garden Ridge find.  They look like lotto balls but they are ceramic.  I got them for $5 for a pack of 18.  Again, they were sitting in my garage waiting for a home!

Stay tuned....tomorrow I'll be showing you the re-do in my son's room!

I'm linking up to DIY Day at A Soft Place To Land and  Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On The Porch 

Check these blogs out for more amazing transformations!

I'm baaaaaaaack! Happy New Year!

Good morning everyone and Happy New Year!  I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!

Okay, a short "woe is me" tale...  we got the Mac back the Wednesday before Christmas.  They had to completely open up the computer to retrieve the memory card that I put in the wrong slot (MAJOR blonde moment!)  I was so excited to begin blogging again when DISASTER STRIKES!  Our internet went down, I mean WAY DOWN, KAPOOT, completely and utterly BROKEN!  My husband being the techie guy that he is, tried in vain for 3 days to fix it with no luck.  We finally got our provider out here on Saturday and low and behold it was some silly cable that had a short in it.  So, after 5 minutes and a nice $40 tip to the technician, we have internet again!  I really don't know how we survived without it, but we managed.

So, with no technology to distract me, I got busy on projects, yippee!  Here are a few of the things I worked on during my "computer break"!

I made this really cool shell topiary...

 

Super easy and I think I will be leaving it up even after Christmas.


HOW TO MAKE IT

(New Year's Resolution 2010: Be a better blogger by taking step-by-step pics along the way!  Okay, I said it!)

1) Use a foam cone (craft store) in any size you like.
2) Use hot glue to attach seashells to the cone.  Start with larger shells at the bottom and go smaller as you near the top of the cone.  TIP - You will have to overlap shells to cover up the foam.
3) Glue a small conch shell to the top of the cone
4) Tie a ribbon bow around the base of the conch shell.
5) Elevate on a beautiful pillar holder.

Time to make: approx 15 minutes.  Cost to make - About $12 for a cone measuring 12 inches


I also repainted my breakfast room table!

Here's what it looked like before...

Sorry for the "shadowy" pic.  My husband liked to call this my "When Creativity Goes Bad" table.  It actually matched some art I had hanging in the breakfast room at one time.  Okay, measily excuse but sounds good right?

Check out the legs on this beauty!

Aren't they yummy?  This was my great grandmother's dining room table.  My Mom gave it to me a couple of years ago when she got a new dining set.  I'm so happy to have a piece of my Granny Mae's furniture!

The table was a late night experiment complete with a couple of glasses of Chardonnay!  I started out by painting the top with a bluish-white latex paint (because that's what I had and I didn't feel like driving to Home Depot!)

I had some trouble covering the old pattern completely, so I dabbed on a mixture of glaze with a dab of charcoal color artist's oil paint.  It turned out like this...

Pretty cool right?  I could still see the pattern through the paint, so I decided to paint a nautilus shell in the center using this as the inspiration...

And here is the new table!

I'm so NOT an artist, but I'm a pretty good "copier".  I used artist's oils that I had in my paint box and mixed colors to get the right shades.

I bought a round glass tabletop at Pier 1 for $99 to protect the paint job.

And aren't those chairs cool?  I found them on Overstock.com for $200, set of 4.  They are plastic which I was a little worried about when I ordered them (I didn't want it to look like cheap lawn furniture!) But I was pleasantly surprised when they arrived.  They are a one piece construction (so no broken legs when the kiddos lean back in them repeatedly no matter how much Mom scolds them!) and the plastic is thicker than your typical lawn furniture.  They can be wiped down easily; a must in my house with my messy boys!  And BONUS, they shipped for free!  Gotta love that.

Coming up next, my quickie and cheapo game room re-do!  Check back!

I'm linking up to Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps On the Porch,  Just Something I Whipped Up Monday at The Girl Creative, DIY Day at A Soft Place To Land,  Make It For Monday at Cottage Instincts, and Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple

Check out these great blogs out for more amazing transformations!

Trash to Treasure!

I love refurbishing old furniture!  I have about 4 projects sitting in my garage right now, waiting for some magic.   I don't know if it was the nice weather today, but I finally completed a furniture project.

This is an old piano bench that I picked up at Goodwill about 4 months ago...

Isn't she a beauty?  I love the carved detail on the legs and the fact that it could be a really neat storage piece...

 

Oh, what sorts of treasures could I put in here?

It was covered in this lovely burnt orange (really more the color of baby poop!) crushed velvet...

 

So with a little Rustoleum White Spray Paint and striped fabric I found in the clearance bin for $4 a yard at Hancock's, the bench now looks like this...

 

 

I apologize for the "shadowy" pics.  I was taking them at night and trying not to use the flash.

Total cost of this little 30 minute project?  $22 ($15 for the bench, $4 for fabric, $3 spray paint)

I don't know exactly where I will put it yet, but for now, it's in front of the tall mirror in my foyer.  Maybe I will put umbrellas in the storage compartment!

 

My house, well....errr....the parts I'm okay with you seeing!

What's that saying?  "The cobbler's son has no shoes"?  I think that's how it goes.  That describes me to a tee!  I'm full of great ideas, ready to help everyone else make their home beautiful on a budget; yet my own home has so many unfinished projects.  BUT, I did want to share a few things I have accomplished!

I would describe my style as transitional with a touch of funky.  Yeah, that sounds about right!

Many more pictures and projects to come...

This is a chandelier that I "refabbed".  My sister-in-law was going to put this on Craig's List for free pickup.  I snagged it, of course!  It was gold with tons of drippy crystals.  Now being that my style has a "touch of funky", I spray painted it blue (Rustoleum Hammered Finish Spray Paint is great)!  I cleaned all of the drippy crystals and rewired them to the chandelier (which took about 4 hours, standing on top of the dining table!)  I love that its just a little bit gaudy & a little bit over the top.  I think every home needs a statement piece like this.  And the best part?  Total cost:  $16 (2 cans of spray paint)!!!

Here are the what I like to call "Kendall Kustom" curtains in my dining room.  I bought the linen panels at Ikea, used striped upholstery fabric left over from my side chairs and trimmed the fabric in chocolate grosgrain ribbon.  Total cost for 4 96" panels?  $108 ($60 for panels, $8 for curtain rings, $40 for rods).  Beats custom all to pieces!

These are the "Kendall Kustom" curtains I put together for the family room.  I found curtains that I loved on Pottery Barn for about $150 a pair (*heart palpitations*), so of course, I had to recreate them "on the cheap"!  I bought chocolate linen panels and stitch witched white grosgrain ribbon from the Dollar Store (yes, the Dollar Store).  Total cost per pair:  approx. $45.  Not bad, eh?

This is a table that sits in our breakfast area that my Mom helped me paint (lemme just say, my Mom is like the craftiest person I know!)  I know what you're thinking, "Where did ya get that CRAZY pattern?"  Well, I had 2 pieces of art hanging in the breakfast room that served as the inspiration for this piece.  However, one fell off the wall and so I had to get rid of both (story of my life).  So, the table remains, but it will probably get repainted in the next year (*uh, that would mean approx 2 - 3 years!)

 

This is the feature wall in my master bathroom.  I have a thing for CHOCOLATE and BUDDHAS, preferably together!  I will most likely paint the rest of the bathroom at some point, but this was a good way to get some color in the room.  It's very "zen".... (sorry for the way blurry shot.  Still figuring out the new camera!)

These are some examples of "art" photography I've taken over the years.  Both are special to me, because they were taken at the beach, my absolute most favorite place to be.  I took both with a point & shoot camera.  Just think what I'll be able to do now that I have my "fancy" camera!  I had both of these put on canvas.  The "Hands" piece is in our master bedroom and the "Brothers Walking" piece is in the art niche in the family room.  I love the ethereal quality of both pieces.  If you want to convert your own "art" photography to canvas, Canvas on Demand does a great job!  They often run specials, but even with discounts canvas is pricey.  I think I paid $99 for the first one and $129 for the 2nd.

This is a shot of the large art niche in our stairwell.  I love the art piece and the photo really doesn't do it justice.  My husband calls it "prison art".  I'm content to know that he just doesn't understand contemporary art.  And another reason I really love it?  I scored it FREE from a vendor when I was a retail buyer, and it's signed!

This is our portrait gallery.  I've spent tons of money over the years in professional photography!  I like how everything is tied together by the black frames with white mats.  Most of the frames were $5 and under.  I've found that if you stick with a basic color like black & white, you can get away with less expensive frames.  I velcroed the frames to the wall, so they wouldn't move when the kids run the stairs or launch balls, etc.

This is just a shot of our family room.  We have always had a hard time with furniture placement in here, because the room is so small (but we have huge soaring ceilings, go figure!)  A sectional seems to work the best and can seat a lot of people.  The sectional came with a matching square ottoman, but I didn't like the "matchy-matchy" look, so I paired it with a large antiqued glass table, to introduce more texture into the space.  The little square storage ottomans were a steal at Target for $15 a piece.  They provide extra seating when we need it and store blankets as well.  The turquoise leaf throw pillows are my bargain of the year...$1 at Pier 1 on clearance!  The lamp was also a great bargain at $20.  It had smudges all over the shade so HomeGoods knocked 50% off and I took fabric paint and repainted the shade! 

I love this slipper chair.  I found it on Ebay for $125 from a model home furniture clearance outlet.  I love the persimmon colored welting on the sides that ties in with my accessories.  See those vases on the mantle?  They used to be aqua blue and I spray painted them!  Remember, you can always paint something different to give it life in a new decorating scheme.  Those wooden masks hanging on the wall are just a quirky thing I collect on our travels.  Some came from the Bahamas and some came from Mexico.  (sorry for the yellow tennis ball under the chair -- kids!)