Shelving Update

I've been changing small things around the house lately. I decided to change up these floating shelves I had in the living room.

They were okay, but I put those shelves here when we first bought the house 7 years ago. I decided it was time for a change. I also wanted something that fit better with the barn wall. I had several wooden drawers in the garage I knew were made for some kind of project. I decided this was it.

The bottom of these drawers were pretty shot, so I just removed them. I sealed the shelves with a matte clear spray paint. After hanging and styling, here's the final results:

I think these fit in with my barn wall much better than the old ones. Plus I have a lot more display space than the old shelves did. Stay tuned for more updates like this around the house soon!

Don't settle for dull, live a (re)finished life!

Rustic Bridal Shower

My brother in law is getting married at the end August and we recently had a bridal shower for my fabulous future sister in law at the same place where they are getting married. They are having the wedding at this fabulous farm a few miles from my parents house. Mom and I had a lot of fun decorating the barn.

Here's the entrance:

 

We used lots of burlap and lace for decorations. The wedding will be using some of the same decorations as well.

We had a sangria bar set up.

Yum!

 

I made an easy fun little banner by putting gold stickers on a premade set.

 



I made some delicious cupcakes from recipes I found here and here. They were super delicious!

Here's some more pictures of the barn and the various decorations:

Barn Wood Accent Wall

Let me just start this post by saying I have the best parents ever. They recently stayed with us so they could go to grandparents’ day at school for Maddy. After they attended that, they put up this barn wood accent wall all while hubby and I were gone. I came home to this:

 They even did this fabulous trim around the doorway to the hall.

The only thing I had to do was put back the furniture and artwork on the wall. I did end up rearranging some of the artwork here and there.

I’m so happy with how well this turned out. I must be the luckiest girl in the world.

Don’t settle for dull, live a refinished life!

Antique Turned Wine Cabinet

I have had this antique sheet music cabinet for a long time.

 

I've used it for various kinds of storage over the years, but I've always wanted to revamp it somehow. I finally settled on the great idea of turning it into a wine bar/storage area. The first thing I did was pull off the back which was warped and rotten. Then I pulled out a few of the shelves to make room for some wine glass holders. I had to put a new back on. I chose to paint some bead board with a pop of color. Here's the result:

It works out great. I especially like how well it fits in this little space in the kitchen. I also like how nice it looks with this pallet wine rack my brother and sister in law gave us for Christmas.

What do you think? I think I love it. I also think I need a glass of wine to celebrate.

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

Ceiling Fan Update

My husband recently put a ceiling fan in the guest room. It's a used fan, but it's a Hunter and really good quality. The only problem with it is that it looked rather dated. It has the 90's brass color and the shades were not really attractive. Here's what it looked like:

I apologize for the quality of these pictures. It was extremely difficult to get anything with the way the lighting works in this room.

I didn't mind the brass so much, as the room as some industrial notes. So, I opted to try changing out the shades and see what happens.

Such a difference with almost no work. I added a $2 bulb cage from the hardware store and an Edison bulb and look at the change!

I love the look!  It just goes to show you not every change has to be drastic in order to make a difference. I finally finished this guest room, so I will be doing a reveal of the whole space as soon as I figure out how to work my new camera flash. Hopefully, it will help these pictures turn out better.

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

Pinspiration #3: Mail Organizing Station

I was inspired by this lovely project from Beyond the Picket Fence:  

I needed a solution for my mail piling up all over the house. Here's my version:

I decided to put it right by the front door as otherwise the mail would just get left on the T.V. stand near there anyway.

FYI- my dad painted that painting for me and made the frame from old barn wood. Love it!

I already had all the supplies on hand for this project. I was digging around in the garage for a board when I found the piece of bead board already cut to the perfect width. Score! Did I mention it was already painted white? Double score! All I had to do to the backing was sand it a bit and antique it with a little stain.

I also had the books on hand from a previous auction buy. I just removed the covers, glued in fabric sides and screwed the cover right into the bead board.

Don't worry about the book insides, they will be put to good use! I thought the covers needed some extra hardware, so I glued some scrap-booking label parts I had lying around to the fronts.

Because I can't resist, here's an "action shot"

I love this thing! Hopefully, I can convince my husband to put the mail in here instead of laying it elsewhere.

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

*Planning to share at: Metamorphosis Monday;  Made by You Monday; Time To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party;  Whatever Goes Wednesday; Wildly Original Linky Party; Clever Chicks Blog Hop; Serenity Now Weekend Blog Hop; 

Mini Fairy Garden

I've been drooling over fairy gardens on Pinterest. In fact, I have a whole board dedicated to ideas. I've started one in the backyard under a tree, but I'm not satisfied with how that looks yet.

I also planted an enameled pan with a small fairy garden. Here's what it looked like shortly after planting:

Here's what it looks like now:

I bought the bench online. I made the mushrooms from buttons and floral picks with wire.

The fence I made from wire and mini popsicle sticks.

It's been so wet and rained so much here that today I found out I have a real mushroom growing.

Maybe the fairies planted it.

I love how this little garden turned out! I'm hoping to get my tree fairy garden in better order to show you soon.

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

*Planning to share at: Metamorphosis Monday;  Made by You Monday; Time To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party;  Whatever Goes Wednesday; Wildly Original Linky Party; Clever Chicks Blog Hop; Serenity Now Weekend Blog Hop; 

Rocker Chair Cover

This is one of my "spruce up the house for company in a week" projects. This rocker in my living room had ugly, and I do mean ugly green corduroy on the cushions.



Here's the ugly:

And here's the pretty: (or at least the not so ugly anymore.)

I used a curtain I got at the thrift store for a dollar. The sewing was pretty easy, I just measured the cushions and winged it a little. The back is just a rectangle sewed in half. For the bottom, I traced the shape of the cushion and added a bit for seam allowance. I cut two of those and then a strip to go around the side and sewed it all together.

I wish there was time to do my whole couch this way. *sigh* Stay tuned for other projects throughout next week.

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

Outdoor Solar Chandelier

I had a metal chandelier that held candles for a long time. I was always going to do something with it, but I wasn't sure what. One day, I stopped by the Dollar Tree (love that store) and found some bright solar lights. Then it hit me, why not use those for the chandelier and make it an outdoor one?

My supplies:

I sprayed the chandelier with lime green Rust-Oleum paint. (sorry, missed the action of this one.)

Then I popped the ends off the solar lights like so:

The ends didn't quite fit into the candle cups so I used regular plain old fun tack to get them to stay in there. I could've glued them, but I wanted the option to change them out or even used regular candles in it someday.

And here it is hanging up:

Here's the best picture I could get of it all lit up at night:

Not the clearest pic, I know, but that's the best I could do without a flash to distort the whole shebang.
Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

*Planning to share at:
Metamorphasis Monday; Time To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party; Trash to Treasure; The Power of Paint Party; Wildly Original Linky Party; Transformation Thursday; What have you redone?; Shabbilicious Friday; Start at Home Paint Party; Funky Junk Interiors' Party Junk. 

What did I do with it? #5

Remember this post, where I asked what I should do with these three aluminum pans? I decided to make a three tiered storage piece to hold craft supplies.

First, I painted each of the pans a fun color. I used spray paint and painted them upside down. I decided I didn't want to spray the insides of the pan to leave some fun contrast.

A side note here; I tried using a different white spray paint on the top initially, but it turned out horrible! I didn't like the color (too white), the paint dripped badly and all around, it looked terrible. This happens for me almost every time I use a-brand-I-shall-not-name. I've since noted to myself, stick to RustOleum Painter's Touch!

Meanwhile, back to the project: I found some candlesticks that I had in the basement and spray painted those as well. (Pretend I actually remembered to take a picture of this step, mmkay?)

Next, I printed out numbers (1,2 & 3) using a font I liked and cut them out. I Mod Podged them on the front of each pan. (I was going to do something clever, like cut a funky stencil or use a transfer technique, but this was fast, easy and looked great.)

Finally,I used E6000 to glue everything together. I decided because of the way the candlesticks were that I would just glue the tops of them to the pan above it. That way I can take one level out and move it elsewhere if I need to.

What do you think? I can wait to start putting bits and bobs in it. This is the first of many projects to help me organize and contain my craft supplies into one area in the basement (a monumental task for sure!).

Don't settle for dull, live a refinished life!

*Planning to share at:
Metamorphasis Monday; Time To Sparkle Tuesday Linky Party; Trash to Treasure; The Power of Paint Party; Wildly Original Linky Party; Transformation Thursday; What have you redone?; Shabbilicious Friday.