A Nursery!
So, this big news was big a year ago. Oops. But, the nursery is still cute, so I wanted to share!
I just love how it turned out! The blue walls became a soft gray, we added barn board shelves to hold a collection of John Deere tractors, I made a mobile from small shed antlers, and the giant bull poster from the Angus producers ties the farm colors together!
I love the vintage games and trucks and tractors on the book shelves. Don’t worry, the green lamp did eventually get a little white shade!
And a stash of cowboy boots and cloth diapers to boot! 🙂
So, like I mentioned, this was news a whole year ago. So here is a peak of what else a year can do.
😉
Chair Project
Hi there! Recently I found an old, scuffy, beat up antique oak chair at a garage sale. $5 later and I had another project to start in on. Before:
The oak finished was pretty spotted and scratched and the leather seat was so old that it was rotting. I started by gently scraping any paint splatters off of the oak. I also pried the old leather seat and padding off. I used a stain refresher to touch up the oak stain. I didn’t think that painting this one would do, and it wasn’t bad enough that it needed to be stripped and completely restained. Fortunately, this method seems to have refreshed the old chair fairly nicely. It still has a bit of antique charm in the uneven coloring, but I think I like it.  I then cut new batting to make a cushion and then stapled down the cute flower-y print. I then used black upholstery tacks to add black trimming around the cushion. Here we go:
I think it turned out very well! 🙂
Little Side Table Project
Hi all! I want to share some wedding projects and some other big news very soon, but for today I wanted to stop by with a quick project.Â
We found this little side table at a garage sale for .50 cents. Yup, .50 cents.Â
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Shabby, yes, a bit. But, I loved the round shape and primitive pedestal. So, I patched, sanded and painted. I picked a burgundy-ish color and then I stenciled my favorite paisley on the top in silver. I thought this was a bit modern to mix with this little table. I roughed up the edges and faded out the design on the top. I think it turned out really cute!
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What do you think? Well, this little guy already found a new happy home 🙂
Vintage Kids Desk Redo
Over the summer we found an old kids desk for $2 at a garage sale. Jeremy might have thought I was crazy, but I knew this baby had potential.
Before:
I sanded her down, and painted a few coats of this lovely grey. Then roughed it up with some distressing. The finishing touch was the adorable new yellow knobs! Here is how she turned out:
Adorable, no?
I’m pretty proud of this little baby and hope that someone else loves it and wants to give it a new home too! 🙂
Yard Work And Such
We inherited a lot of yard maintenance to take care of from the previous owners. I mean A LOT. With six acres I am sure that some of that is inevitable, but this is just over the top. The must have never done yard work once while they lived here. Never. The weeds, even in the close to the house areas, were over my head. The trees had split and grown funky many years ago. The rock garden was more like a dirt pit scattered with rocks. Need I go on? So, point being, this is our first spring here and we have been putting in a lot of hard work out there. I can’t wait to get a new shipment of rock and show you how the “for now” patio area is coming. But, for right now I thought I would show you just how much tree trimming we accomplished the other day.
Here is the shot looking back at the house and you can see how the rock beds are coming along and things are even turning green now!
And that is only the front! Hey, we have neighbors! 🙂 There were many other trees like this all over the property, not to mention weeds that had become their own trees all around the house, barns, and outbuildings. We have even uncovered some things we didn’t know were there when we moved in!! No joke! The other day we found an old metal lawn chair set up by a cattle shoot. They had made a shooting range down there and we couldn’t even see it! We found an old wheel borrow with what used to be flowers planted in it, various pieces of junk, both useful and non, and even learned we have an old hand-pumped well! And it works! Yea, so anyways, on to the fun part. With all of this hard work I just knew there would be some enjoyment in the end. Trimmed branches and a wine bottle…
Just a touch of spring, for the yard and for the house! Just in time for Easter. Gorgeous! 🙂
DIY Serving Tray
This has been on my to-do list since we moved it. Or maybe even before. But it became even more urgent when we bought the new couch with an ottoman. Now I have no room for a coffee table, but that means nowhere safe to put drinks and essentials. However, the previous owners left us lots of junk in the barns, so this one was a snap.
Gross old window uncovered in a heap in the barn:
Add some barn door hardware as handles:
The window was in surprisingly great shape once it was cleaned up, so I added a little paint and distressed the edges, added the hardware, and then used an Uppercase Living decal I had packed away on the glass. (I had minor trouble with the decal, so it may get a new one in the future. Talk about frustration!) And here you have our new serving tray:
Just finished this little guy and we already love it. We think it looks cute in that rustic way, but is also super handy!
Well, what do you think? We are happy with the way this quick and easy project came out! Have you ever tried anything like this?
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 🙂
Rustic Blue Chair Love
I finally got the chance to finish a little antique chair project over the holiday weekend. This little guy was found at a late garage sale. Shabby pink paint hid the cute chunky style of this cutie. Enter my rustic blue paint…
Before…
And after…
Well, what do you think? I think this one turned out super adorable! For sale now in the shop! 🙂
House Tour Continued: The Rest of the Downstairs
Finally here to finish the (inside) house tour! Coming from the living room tour, next you would walk into the “office” room. This room was already red, and I owned a lot of red furniture. It is wild in there. But, soon to look a bit different. This room is so handy. We have room to do computer work, crafts, store paperwork, and lounge. There is also a closet and plenty of floor space for kids and toys. Since it is connected openly to the living room it would be easy to keep an eye on little ones playing.Â
This is the one room that we have a box left to unpack. You know, that one pesky little box that has nowhere to go?
And next, the dining room! You can see there is that shelf in the way still…
The table and chairs we bought from the seller.
The window is a view into the sun porch we saw before. The stained glass door on the other side is the same as the sun porch door, but leads to a storage closet, which has proven to be super handy!
This is the door we use most frequently, but it is actually a side door. The little screened in porch is out that door and there is a big circle driveway there.Â
Directly the oposite direction of this picture is the kitchen…
Isn’t the arched doorway adorable? There will eventually be a small table under the window.
Yes, the curtains are currently mismatched. Soon to be fixed, when I can make up my mind!
I also love the rustic cabinets! The little silverware drwaers are like cigar boxes!
The ceilings are low, but its cozy. Out the door by the window is a stairway to the basement and a storage woom we lovingly call the “dog room.” Unfinished and super ugly, but this area is a life saver!
Now to backtrack into the dining room. The door next to the dining room entry is to a 1/2 bath and a laundry room. Oh, how a mainfloor bathroom is wonderful!
Not fancy, but perfect to us!
Well, what do you think? That is pretty much the whole house, flaws and all! I can’t wait to start making chnages and show you all!
A Quick Doorstop Project
The main level in our new house has a small bathroom in the laundry area (yes!), which is super handy, but sometimes a bit wierd. We like to leave the door at least half open so that you know the room is not occupied, but you also dont want the door flung wide open to see everything (let’s face it, even when clean, bathrooms just aren’t that appealing!).
So, to stop the door from flopping about annoyingly, I made a doorstop. Cost? Free!
I went out to the barn and grabbed an old brick, then cleaned it off. I used some soft, thick, scrap fabric I had on hand, and wrapped the brick like a present. I secured the fabric with a glue gun. Last, I added ribbon trim, also scrap, to the seam for a finished look… Viola!
Nothing fancy, or groundbreaking, but it was cheap and does the job. I don’t think it looks half bad either, if I do say so myself! And, you get a sneak peak of the bathroom/laundry room! Just a note, if you are thinking about a project like this, it works great! I love how this thick, soft fabric slides easily and quietly on the tile floor with a scoot of the foot. I recommend!
Make Mine Eclectic 