Inspiration and Big News
After being out of town, and a little out of touch, most of last week, I am finally catching up. Reading through a backlog of blogs today I ran across the most gorgeous farm house tour on Apartment Therapy.
The details of this home struck a cord with me, because we happen to have just bought an 1891 farm house. Yes, one more move! We close in about two weeks. We are anxious, nervous, excited, and very busy. This is the first time I will really be moving away, although not far, just to Iowa. This is our dream home, and we are very excited to remodel and decorate once there. Pictures soon to come!
But for now, here are two of my favorite images from Shannan and Cory’s home tour. Check out the rest here.
I love that light fixture! And the pillow is gorgeous! I am so excited to put some of this inspiration to use in the new place!
This was one of my favorite photos because of the crate used to hold towels. We found an old crate of glass bottles at a garage sale for a few dollars, and had planned to use the bottles as wedding decor. Little did we realize that the crate had a Tipton, IA business emblem on the side, which is where we later bought the house! I would love to incorporate our crate in a useful way like this!
What do you think?
No-Sew Curtains
Every room of my new house has needed curtains. But, wow! Curtains are expensive! I always see other people’s fun curtains and think, “I can do that!” But then I get started and realize, oh yea, I can’t sew. At all. My mom suggested using iron-on fabric hem tape and making faux roman shades. Light bulb!
I have a little mud room, where the dog kennels and laundry live. These blinds were broken and grimy. I thought this was the perfect place to try this experiment out on. Its a small room, so it can take a bright punch, plus we aren’t in there all the time, so if they aren’t prefect on the first try its no big deal.
So, after reminding myself that the situation couldn’t get much worse, I set forth. I bought a few yards of a fun, floral fabric for each window. I used tension rods, and used these to mark the width of each window. Once I had the width I used the hem tape and ironed a hem onto each side. Then ironed a hem to the bottom and a pocket at the top. I hung the curtains, rolled them up, and tied in place with matching ribbon. Viola!
The bright fabric ties in the red antique table I use for folding laundry, and the fun towels I bought for next to the sink. You can see here that the whole little room needs some work, but for now at least the curtains are fun!
What a simple technique with big impact, no?
I love this big old sink, even though it needs some work too. Here you can see the little purple and yellow picture that I hung too. You can also see the antique expandable mirror.
I think this experiment turned out pretty well and will definitely use this to make me braver for my next curtain project!
Sheet Music Table
I have had this little vintage fold-up table sitting in the closet for a while now. My grandma had given it to me, cracked green paint and all. I would stare at it now and then, uninspired, but I knew an idea would eventually come to me.
Finally one day last week the idea did come to me! Sheet music! I happened to have some old sheet music, some Mod Podge, and even some ribbon and scrap book supplies. I, of course, forgot the before picture. And this was one of those that would have been good to have! But, after working on this project all weekend, I am finally finished and I really like the results.
I later read somewhere that in order to keep the ripples and bubbles from occurring you can dampen your paper before adding Mod Podge. I will definitely try that next! But for a first try, I think it turned out super cute! What do you all think?
Our New Buffet
Our new buffet is actually what was once a very old and icky buffet. I saw it at a garage sale for a few dollars and couldn’t resist. I thought it would be fun to see if I could bring life back to this old gem. It was a lot of hard work getting the old veneer top all off and fixing some chunks that were missing from the detailing on the front. Then I sanded, filled, sanded some more and painted with a glossy black paint. It still has some areas that have small flaws, but I am probably the only one who notices now. But, it is sturdy and I have plans for this to one day become a baby changing table once I inherit a piece for the dining room from my grandmother. Here it was before:
And after:
No too bad, eh?
An Awesome DIY Project
This chandelier is completely awesome! I drool everytime I look at this picture. Someday I hope I can work up the courage to attempt this DIY project. For now I call it inspiration and stare longingly at the photo each day.
Old Chair Becomes New Chair Love
About a year ago I was given this kind of ugly old chair by a friend who knew I had a thing for chairs and also a thing for redoing ugly vintage pieces. The chair sat in my garage just waiting for me to be inspired. And finally… I have a new dining chair!
Here is the funky chair before:
This baby was probably gorgeous is its day, but the orange had to go. And the finish on the wood had also seen better days. So, I got to work. I first unscrewed the cushion from the chair from underneath. Then I had to pry off about a million staples. But, this step proved to be quite inspiring. You see, I am a beginner reupholster-er. This chair gave me a bit of creative insight. Once I started prying off the staples I realized that not only was the fabric cover itself tacked down, but also the piping around the bottom of the cushion was a separate piece. This was a strip of fabric folded in half and stapled around the edge. Easy!
Here is a look at the cushion and staples. You can also see the strip of piping.
And here is my new dining chair, including my take on this simple piping idea!
I love how the piping contrasts with the leather fabric. The color ties in with the dining room so well. And here’s the new beauty in its place at the dining table:
The fabric on the table is another project to be coming soon! I am working on a fun table runner to brighten the place up for summer!
My 50 Cent Table
Last weekend I found the sweetest little antique table and a garage sale. For 50 cents. Yes, 50 cents. Here she is:
I saw the potential. It was a bit wobbly, but with the tap of a hammer, the leg was put back into its slot, and viola! No more wobble. Next, I lightly sanded the entire table. Then I applied about 4 coats of a turquoise pant with a sponge brush to the entire table. Once the final coat was completely dry, I used a fine sandpaper and roughed up the edges of the table and legs for an antiqued look. Here she is now:
I love it! And I really like the way it fits in the living room, but I think this could be one of those pieces that travels easily from room to room. I’m completely satisfied, and all for a total of 50 cents!
Sneak Peak of the Outside
I am learning how to use the Blackberry wordpress app to update posts, so I thought I would test this out by giving you a little sneak peak of the outside of the new house. Now that the flowers are all planted things are starting to look bright and fresh!
A Rustic Glam Light Fixture
I love the idea of mixing some glamour with rustic elements. Maybe this isn’t a new idea, but definitely my style! I recently came accross this gorgeous room. Particularly, I loved the light fixture and think this could be an easy, yet stunning project.
I found this lovely photo on decor8’s blog, originally from housetweaking.com. What do you think? I think I might have to give this a try myself!
see it here: www.housetweaking.com
Black Kitchen Inspiration
The kitchen needs some help. I can’t change the fact that it’s super small and always will be. But, I can give it a bit of a facelift. This is in the works. I already have all the plans in my head. Yes, I want to paint the cabinets black. Black. It doesn’t matter how many people doubt me now, because I already have my mind set. But, just to put other people at ease, I thought I would share Nate Berkus” gorgeous black cabinet kitchen!
Gorgeous, no? I totally believe I can pull this off too. Stay tuned!
See it posted originally here: www.housetweaking.com
Make Mine Eclectic 