The Fake Chimney
This ancient house once had a chimney, two actually. In fact, one is still partially there. In the living room, you can see the shape of the old chimney up one wall. Usually I love character and uniqueness from times past. In this case, though, they covered this chimney up since there was no longer a fireplace. Then, since you could still see the shape of it, they added faux brick to it. Horrible, ugly, pinkish faux brick. It didn’t stand out nearly so bad when the little old lady who lived here previously had the room dark, dingy, and covered in nude paint and odd decor. But once we painted the walls grey, lightened the room, and completed changed the style, the chimney stood out like a sad, sore thumb.0ec56792a3b0f484bcf03c32a4763bf50bca28e68adedf8191
You get the picture here, but unfortunately this is even a mid-project shot. I really wish I had a picture of the drab room when the previous owner lived here to show!
We debated for a while. Do we tear it out? Do we paint it? Do we just take the faux brick off and embrace the odd shape in the room?
One day I said I was painting the bricks white and because we owned the paint and this was “free”, it would at the very least be a temporary solution and that we could always do something different down the road when we had more time. (Ha!)
No one stopped me, so I went forward with a brush and some paint. My plan was to add a couple of coats and make them completely white. One coat in I found that it was actually a bit difficult to get the paint down in all the crevices. We left the one, imperfect coat to dry for a night. The next day we realized the this “whitewashed” look was it. I didn’t need a second coat at all.
Then I wanted a faux mantel to finish it off. Several weeks of debating with each other ensued. I had a very specific picture in my mind of color, shape and size.
We finally have that little mantel, made of 100-some year old barnwood, added to our chimney. And I LOVE it.
Sometimes tiny, simple, easy projects turn into more lengthy and complex ones. Ok, usually. But, when you are done and sit back and look at your work, that makes it all worth it
Don’t mind the empty wall next to it, at least the Christmas tree fills the space for now. I have plans for huge floating shelves all up and down there as “built-ins” for the room. Any guess how long that will take us? 😂
Teen Bedroom Redo
So, I’ve mentioned that this new-to-us old house is in pretty ugly shape and that we have been redoing all the rooms bit by bit. One of the rooms that hadn’t gotten any love since we moved in was Jordin’s room. Check out these dingy, bland, old lady looking photos:
We hadn’t even hung anything on the walls because we knew we wanted to paint. Poor girl! Plus, the rooms all need to have more outlets put in (how is one outlet nearly enough?!) and overhead lights with switches added (hello?!). Needless to say, she was not thrilled in her set up. But, enter her 16th birthday, and we had the perfect excuse to make ourselves get the room beautified and surprise her with completely glammed out digs. Annnd… after:
Ta da! Total teen girl. Her jaw dropped. Win!
This was the mint turquoise color she had picked for her bedroom at our previous house and she was really wanting it again. It is super pretty, and not quite as bright in person. She also loves pink and peach. I added some navy to calm and tie the colors in and some gold hints for glam factor. Sounds busy. Totally goes.
Some old, some new, plenty of Hobby Lobby help. She wanted a little girly and a little rustic. She also wanted “fairy lights” so fairy lights she got.
We can’t change the brown furniture (it was her grandmas), and new carpet isn’t going to happen just yet, so working with what you’ve got sometimes has to just work… but…
Truly I love how it turned out. Dont tell her but Santa is thinking about a rug and a chandelier, along with new knobs for the drawers. 😍
Quick Paint Job
Winter is always my dreary time. Usually I don’t seem to get much done. But lately, I have been on a roll of projects! Last week I whipped out a tiny and speedy paint project. I used the same charcoal chalk paint from the small wall in the kitchen and painted the opposite facing wall in the dining room. I didn’t like the green, but love this dark, fresh color now! Here is the (messy) before:
Check out the after (forgive the Christmas decor that wouldn’t normally be there :)) :
And I just adore the new canvas of B! I’m even thinking about painting the small chunk of wall going up the stairs behind this wall. I think that will balance everything out well. Small bits at a time. After all, I have to paint after little man goes to bed 🙂 What do you think?!
Mini Paint Project
I have finally completed a tiny project that has bugging me on my to-do list forever now!
Remember the little downstairs bathroom with the cute antique cupboard… (tiny room = bad photos, sorry!)
Well, here is the very sad, and a little scary inside of this cupboard…
So, a little paint and some pretty things to make the cupboard useful, and… viola!
The cupboard is antique, and therefore has many bumps and cracks, so it will never be “perfect,” but now its not such an eyesore. When company is over I will not be so embarrassed to let them reach in for another roll of toilet paper or necessity!
I even did a bit of decorating to the necessities in the cupboard. These antique jars got new fun lids. And a small box got a bright cover to hold small things.
Aah, much better! What do you think? More projects on the way too! 🙂
A New Chair Love And Wedding Tid Bits
I fell in love with another chair. That happens often, doesn’t it? My wonderful, loving fiance drove me an hour away to pick the cutie up. Now, we have one more seat in the living room. Best part of this little guy though, is that it would work in just about every room of the house as things evolve.
What do you think?? I’m in love. I love the navy and white stripes, but my favorite part is the nail head trim that goes all the way around the back. I think he is pretty old and was redone with changes to the bottom half and I just adore how they did it! He even has casters, which make it easy to reposition for company. And once the walls are painted I think this will work so well in here.
Also, we have been super swamped with wedding planning. I have made every little detail by hand, and wold love to show you all, but also want them to be a surprise, so that will have to wait! But, I did want to show our framed engagement picture. This will be used at the wedding too, but also will be on the wall in our living room, somewhere! Notice the same feel of the stripes? Not intended, but I love it! I took an old frame and painted it, then roughed it up. The mat was also painted in one of our wedding colors. I think it turned out really well.
I think the two new additions go so nicely together in the living room! And, the rest of the wedding details are coming along too! Can’t wait to share! Only three months from today! 🙂
The Rug Hunt
Remember seeing the antique rug in the dining room?
Well, we thought this rug was a bit too bright and attention grabbing for this area. Plus, it was really taking a beating being in the center of our home. We were on the hunt for a rug. A very specific rug. Most importantly, we had to be able to afford it on our teeny tiny budget. We also wanted it to be big. It had to be at least 3 feet wide and at least 12 feet long. Wider and longer would be even better. This was the hardest part. Almost all runners were only about 2 feet wide. Not going to cut it with a large room and two dogs creating a lot of traffic. We were also hoping for either a print we could agree on, or something fairly neutral, but also not too light so that it would get dirty fast. Gravel roads and a farmer living in the house, oh and those two dogs again, means dust, dirt, and crud on a frequent basis. Do we sounds picky yet?
We hunted and hunted. Then we debated and debated. We found the one. Or at least what will be the one for a while! It was a “dark natural” colored banded jute rug. This one was 3 feet by 12 feet and was from the Home Decorator’s Collection, bought from Amazon.
We really like how the rug choice turned out. Its nothing fancy, but the neutral-ness of it allows for us to paint and change the room when we get the chance. This rug seems strong and durable, but is also soft and welcoming. Actually those bands you can see in the close up picture are super comfy on your feet, almost massaging! It does slip some, and in the future we may get a no-skid rug pad, but for now it has been perfect!
We couldn’t leave the dirty old door mat there with the pretty new runner! Here’s the old grungy mat:
It just so happened that I fell upon an awesome, and very inexpensive door mat right after getting the runner. You will never guess where I found the new mat! Dollar General! $12! And so adorable! It is also jute and looks so great with the runner!
So, what did we do with the antique rug? We put it upstairs in the hallway. We had some traffic issues with the light colored carpet in the hall, but not enough to continue to wear this rug out super fast, so we are trying it out up there. So far I think it is growing on me!
I think this little rug rearranging is going to work out just fine! 🙂
Spring Changes
Spring feels like it is here! I am so ready. My house, not yet. One thing that needed a quick change up was the curtains in the upstairs hallway. If you recall from the tour, one side of the hall had a silky striped curtain, and the other side had sheers that matched in style and color, but they had leaves on them. I never liked that the windows didn’t look the same. Plus, with the warm weather and the windows being opened, this was happening:
So, after brainstorming a while I decided to layer the two different curtains and then tie them back. I used a tension rod for now, which is held up on the main rod. It worked like a charm!
What do you think? The tie backs now hold the curtains from whipping in the wind and I think the whole layered look is more cohesive for the hallway. Super easy and I love the results. I love a project like that!
I feel better about the little thing done! Now on to tackle the yard. Six acres of lawn that the previous owners never, ever weeded. We have high hopes, and little time. I have started on the rock gardens and things are looking up. I will give you all a peek when we get some thing planted. Here is a shot of our back door area. There is a rocky, weedy disaster going on back here that we plan to take care of asap!
It is looking pretty bad back there, so I can’t wait to show you all what it turns into!
Small Dining Room Changes
I have been waiting months to bring home my grandma and grandpa’s antique ice chest. Its finally here! We planned to move the “buffet” I painted for a while in the dining room and next it will serve as a changing table/dresser in a nursery (someday). The ice chest is in gorgeous condition and I think it goes very well in the room (also to be painted someday!).
Also, notice Jeremy’s newest addition to the room? 🙂
I thought the “L” paperweight was super cute!
I love it! Also, a tid bit about this room. The walls are wall papered, but with small, randomly torn bits of this cream marbled wall paper. It really was a neat technique. Now, if we ever need to patch a spot, all we need is a small chunk to cover it. The previous owners left us plenty. But, this isn’t my first color choice. Yes, neutral, but to me its a bit blah. I was thinking about testing a spot to see if I could paint right over these wall paper chunks. I think in a navy or gray the chunks could still give a layered texture, but be more my color. Anyone ever try this? Suggestions?
Also, I finally found a table runner I love. Now I can show off my pretty table a bit more. Well, as soon as its pretty, that is. Here is a shot of the runner:
The table is a gorgeous antique table that has leaves for expanding for company. We bought it from the previous owners as well. But, the top has seen better days. There are scratches and white marks where something sat. I am hoping to use Restor-A-Finish on it and be done. Soon! Here is a shot of the ick:
Very soon I hope to be back with an update on that table! Maybe a nice Easter table setting to incorporate my new runner! 😉
Kitchen Curtains
I don’t sew. I wish I could, but I am just not good at it. I hope to start practicing and at least be able to make a basic straight line someday, but for now, I don’t sew. So, when I am on the hunt for new curtains and all of the pretty options are out of my price range, what do I do? I get out the iron and the hem tape and I “fake glue” myself a pair.
Remember these kitchen curtains?
The valances above the windows were here when we moved in. They were fine. Actually, they were god quality and in good shape. Just not our favorite color choices. The curtain on the door was brought from my old house. I used it to cover the window temporarily, until we could figure out what we wanted in here. Now the floral curtain is on the door window just beyond that, which leads outside. After all these months of looking at these mismatched curtains, I finally wanted to get busy. I knew I wanted something more neutral, as we plan to paint in the near future. I liked the shape of the valances, and I didn’t mind the deep red roller shade (for now?). Then I happened upon the perfect twist of fun stripes and neutral colors…
Ticking fabric. A little rustic and old school, yet funky and fresh as curtains. The cream/tan combo will go well with the new colors to come. And I tied the faux roller shade with twine.
And I did all of it with iron on hem tape, even the tab tops! What do you think??
More projects to come 🙂
Evolving Living Room
We finally have some progress! No, the walls are not painted. Still peach. But, the little love seat has been replaced with a large L shaped sectional couch!! This makes the room so much more cozy and functional for us. Now I just can’t wait to entertain. And paint!
Here is the view into the living room from the doorway. The sectional is a perfect suede in a neutral cream color. The button tufting at least makes the more modern shape a bit more traditional. We all know I love button tufting, right?
What do you think? Better, no? When the walls are a nice gray I think things will come together even more. I am also working on making a tray for the ottoman, because we are now not using the old coffee table. I will update when I get that brainstorm finished!
Make Mine Eclectic 