Ahhhhh.....

Today is the first day of school! It is always a bittersweet day. I’ll be the first to admit that I do enjoy my quiet alone time while they are in school. However, I do miss the precious moments we shared all summer.

My coffee mate

I had coffee alone today. Can’t believe just the other day my coffee mate and I were sharing a few moments together. His is decaf! He said he was practicing for when he became an adult. Oh my, I realize that will be here before I know it! How has 8 years of motherhood already passed? Or do I get to claim 14 years of motherhood…8 plus 6?

another goodbye!

I also bade farewell to this gem as well! I was truly sad to see this work of mine go. I wanted to keep her sooo bad!

Ah...the Hunter Green days!

She came to me a glorious shade of Hunter Green. A friend of mine found her for $25! It has a display tray that pulls out, covered in a lovely blue faux velvet. My friend purchased it for her beach house. My only instructions were to make it beachy!

Beachy Blue

I painted the sides leftover blue from my dining room, and I painted the framing around the glass top polar white from Behr. I performed my magic art of sanding and glazing.

The After

I painted the inside of the display area leftover Wintergreen Ash from my laundry room! I’m in love! Sadly I bid her farewell too this week. Oh well, she belongs at the beach!

Can you believe I saw the same Hunter Green table in a consignment shop the other day for $225??? Who is buying Hunter Green? What would you pay for my after? 225?

Lettered

I linked up my Board and Batten Hallway project on The Lettered Cottage on friday and I’ve gotten quite a few questions about it. I so enjoyed all the comments and questions. I’ve decided to do a follow up post to answer the questions and give you a little bit more detailed information on how to tackle the project.

The great thing about doing this project was it was a small area. It was the perfect place to try out some new skills in preparation for some bigger projects on my never ending “to do” list. The bad thing is that I did not take many pictures. I get so involved in things that I forget to take pictures! So hang in there without too many pictures if you can!

1. Measure the area you are going to be doing and draw out your board placement on a piece of paper. I have 9 ft. ceilings. I placed my top board 64″ from the floor. Not sure why I choose that, it just felt right. I actually drew a lot on my wall while I was deciding where I was going to place everything.  I had to use some math skills here.  I knew I wanted 5 sections so I to calculate out how to do this with the length of wall I was working with.  This is where drawing it on the wall first really came in handy!

measurements

2. Armed with my very precise drawing and all my calculated measurements, I headed to Home Depot. Totally confused on what wood to use, I finally settled on 1/2 inch thick plywood. {next project I will choose true MDF, the plywood was very rough on edges after it was cut} I also purchased all the supplies I did not have.  You need the following:

paint

primer

painters chalk

chalk gun
wood filler
chalk smoother tool (not sure the technical term, but this is a tool that smoothes the chalk out)
I borrowed a nail gun. I would rent or borrow one before attempting this project for sure! Lifesaver! It was my first time using a nail gun and it was very easy to use!

Still armed with my very precise drawing and measurements, I then had the Home Depot employee cut every single one of these boards! In my previous post I asked if I should have tipped this guy that saved my life. I learned from all my comments that I did the right thing by not tipping. The employees are not even allowed to accept the tips if you offer.

3. I brought home the supplies. Heard husband groan and say “I’m not helping!” and then I politely answered “you don’t need too!”

4. I painted the wall with 2 coats of semi gloss white paint that matched my trim.

step 1

5. I then sanded the rough parts of the boards and battens and primed them. Then I did have to eat crow and call hubby for help. You see I did need someone to hold the boards up while I used the nail gun. We secretly both wanted to use the nail gun. So I shared it with him. We knocked them out in no time. Here is my tip on this part. Before you get all gung ho and start your nailing, make sure the boards are all cut exactly right. I had a few small gaps I had to fill in with extra chalk because I did not do this.

6. I then filled the nail holes in with wood filler and chalked wherever the wall met the board. Easy Peasy!

7. I painted the boards with 2 coats of white semi gloss and attached a piece of decorative molding on top.

8. Screwed in the $3.73 cent hooks from Lowes.

The After

9. Added some decor and some letters to mark everyones hooks. The “d” is for Dogs, for their leashes. Oh yes, we then cluttered it up with all our crap!

The Tweaked View

So far it is working out great and our stuff is staying off the floor. However, school does not start until Wednesday. The true test will then come to see if they are hanging up their backpacks without me nagging.

My next project will be my master bedroom.  I’m not sure when. I have this glorious vision in my head of what it will look like.  It involves painting all of our bedroom furniture and ripping up our NASTY carpet first.  I refuse to do anything in there until the carpet is gone, gone, gone.  At this point I almost would rather have naked sub floor then have to look at the carpet!

I’m so glad after all these months of oohing and ahhing over board and batten projects that I finally did one myself!  I hope I have inspired you to try it yourself!  Grab a friend and do it together!

I’ve introduced you before to my Shih Poo’s Asher and Lanie Lou, whom I refer to as “The Fuggles”. They are my best buds and follow me every where I go. They sleep at my feet in my office {which is actually my dining room} while I work on my computer. I decided that I wanted them to have a comfortable and stylish place to snooze. So, I started poking around Open Sky to see what great dog products they might have available and I found “a must have!”

It is a Dog Bed Duvet by Molly Mutt! The perfect option for me who has 2 puppies that get into lots of muddy trouble. It is machine washable! You can use it to cover your existing dog bed, or do like I did and stuff it with a large pillow I already had. You can even stuff it with old clothes from your “take to Goodwill” pile, old blankets, towels, etc. There is a “stuff sack” you can purchase as well. I picked out a cute brown and blue fabric to match my office colors!

While waiting for my Duvet to arrive, I stumbled upon a picture in a magazine of a dog bed made from an old side table….that was on a Sunday.

On Monday I purchased this from the Habitat ReStore for $20…..

On Tuesday I purchased 4 curtain rod finials from Hobby Lobby for $8….

Curtain Rod Finals

On Wednesday we made our dog bed. I say “we” because being a good mommy I decided to let the kids join in. I had an inner war between the control freak side of me  and the be cool mommy side the entire time!

My Helpers!

We took out the drawer, flipped the table upside down and cleaned her up real good.

Use What You Have!

I then began searching for something I had around the house to make feet for the dog bed. I really was not in the mood for cutting wood. So, I raided the kids blocks….the kids were not so happy about this. I chose the ones with the rounded sides, the ones that are hard to build things with anyway. They gave in to my choice and we proceeded to drill holes and screw the blocks into the top of the table. Well, let me just say that kids blocks are very HARD wood! I actually broke a drill bit off! Yep, I got tattled on too….”Hey, Daddy, Mommy broke your drill!” I put felt pads over the screw and flipped her back over to start painting.

2 Coats of Paint

We screwed the finials on the top first. I then raided my paint collection to see what was available. I had a wee bit of my laundry room paint left {Wintergreen Ash by Valspar} and we {ugh, I let them paint the inside!} slapped on two coats of paint.

Just as the paint was done drying The Big Brown Truck arrived with this!!!!

Molly Mutt Dog Bed Duvet

I stuffed it right away with a big giant pillow I had in a closet that had just been taking up space. I zipped it up and stuffed it in the new dog bed. I was totally amazed at what a perfect match the paint was to the duvet as well!

The perfect dog bed!

Mr. and Mrs. Fuggle are very happy and are sleeping just like doggy royalty in their new bed. When they yuck it up I’ll just throw the cover in the washer! It is so pretty and so functional!

This is the first item I’ve added to my new Open Sky Shop and I’m making it available for you to purchase too! They have 3 sizes and many colors to choose from.  If you purchase anything from Open Sky from now until August 16h you will receive FREE SHIPPING! All you have to do is enter the coupon code FREE SHIPPING at checkout

Medium Dog Duvet 27″x36″x5″

Small Dog Duvet 22″x27″x5″

Huge Dog Duvet 36″x45″x5″

Did I do a good job making a custom dog bed for my babies?  What do you think of the Molly Mutt Dog Duvet? Do you like the concept of recovering your existing dog bed or using things you already have to stuff it with?

This is the tale of one of the fastest makeovers I have ever witnessed or participated in. Total time from brainstorm to completion was only 9 days! We were at our friends lake house on Hyco Lake in NC for the July 4th holiday. Homeowner and dear friend Annie said, “Hey, I’m thinking about painting these cabinets!” I had already painted them in my mind {anyone else mentally redecorate people’s houses?}, so I squealed in delight when she said the words out loud! I think if she was not entertaining a house full of people we would have been in the car to Lowes 5 minutes later.

Before with Screens

We planned out the project right away. Annie wanted to somehow get rid of the screens that were in the top cabinets. Without a pantry she lacks a place for food storage. The fact the kids could see all the treats in the cabinets were not working too well!! She came up with the idea to put bead board in the centers of the cabinets to close them up.

Where I came in!

Jump forward 5 days to July 9th. I arrived at the Lake House at 9:00 pm and was greeted by this! Superwoman Annie had begun at 2:00 pm and already had all the cabinet doors off and was just finishing up the first coat of “Innocent” by Behr, paint and primer all in one. I grabbed a brush and jumped in while her Hubby was cutting the bead board inserts.

We then made the executive decision that cutting out the screen was going to be a near impossible {and total PIA} task. The screening was mounted in between 2 layers of wood. We scrapped that idea and decided to mount the bead board behind the screen. {Much to Norm’s relief!} We painted until 1 am when we finished up the second coat.

Power Pancakes

Superwoman was back up at 7 am and cranked out some Multi Grain Pancakes {Krusteaz Mix from Costco – super yummy!} and a pot of coffee. I slumbered until 9 {what a friend I am!} and then we hit it again. Executive decision was then made that we needed a third coat. Ugh! But it really needed it!  We munched on these pancakes all day!! Pancakes, Coffee, Blueberries and Water and laughs got us through!

Our View!

We stayed super focused even though we had this fabulous view! We rocked and rolled.  After the third coat was on, we started sanding and glazing!

Painted, Distressed and Glazed!

I of course have done the sanding and glazing thing quite a bit, but it was Annie’s first try. She caught on right away and blew me out of the water with her speed. We used the Ralph Lauren Tea Stained Glaze from Home Depot.  {P.S. The Home Depot paint department verified that they are getting rid of the RL paint, so I will be stocking up on this glaze…it rocked!} Norm then got cranking on attaching the bead board inserts with Liquid Nails and finishing nails.

lower cabinets with new knobs

We put new knobs and handles on the doors and Annie started attaching those! Don’t you love the new look against her wide plank blue floors???

Bead Board Inserts

The bead board inserts turned out great too! That glaze hit those vertical lines so nicely!

After (before clean up!)

At 6 pm we were staring at this scene! Check out my favorite dude Max in this shot. I LOVE me some Max. He is a Yellow Lab on Basset Hound legs! Such a sight.

At 7 pm we “fluffed” ourselves and Norm took us in the boat to the Marina and treated us to a big fat dinner. The pancakes were long gone by then. I was so amazed that we got it done that fast! I’m so used to doing my projects solo. It was so much fun to hang together. The time just flew by!

I flew the coop back to my abode late that Saturday night. {I still had more to do at my home on Sunday!}

Total spent was roughly $175 for paint and materials, including the new hardware!

Are you itching to paint your kitchen cabinets? If you can find a friend to pitch in and help you can get it done in a weekend! I hope this inspires you that you can do it if you dream it!

Do you remember this post from way back in March when I asked for your help in deciding what color to paint my friends Ballard Designs inspired Media Cabinet? Well, if you missed it, check out the post here. The original plan was to paint it black. Well, the votes were cast and white beat out black!  I decided to go with Cameo White by Benjamin Moore instead!

My friend and his father built this cabinet together and styled it after one they had seen in the Ballard Designs catalog. I was then tasked with the job to paint it and distress it and make it look like they had actually purchased it from Ballard. No pressure what so ever. I was like “sure I can do that!” I love any type of a painting challenge.

I lovingly painted the entire piece with 2 coats of Cameo White and then began the tedious process of sanding it to create the worn look I love so much. I loved how the top drawers came out! I then worked my magic with the chocolate brown glaze. {link to my glazing tutorial here} The next and very important step in finishing any piece of furniture, especially when there are small kids in the house, is the poly clear coat. I put 2 coats of this on. The rest of the cabinet was out of my hands.

My friend and his father stained the top of it and put the doors, knobs and handles on themselves. Then I patiently waited for them to send me pictures!! So here it is in its final resting place with a brand new TV on top!

Ballard Designs Media Cabinet {www.ballarddesigns.com}

What do you think? Did we get close to the actual cabinet in Ballard Designs? Did I disappoint all the peeps who voted for fans black?

before shot of hallway

When you enter my home from the garage entry I have a long hall. The laundry room is on the right. I’ve done and redone this hallway several times. In the preschool days I painted 6 layers of magnet paint covered with chalkboard paint. I could adhere all the artwork via magnets and they could doodle all over the wall. I got sick of the dust and painted over it awhile back.

step 1

My next plan….Board and Batten! That plan entered my brain quite awhile ago when I first saw it popping up all over Blog Land. Well, I finally got the job done. This is not a tutorial. I’ll show you the first step….because that is all I have a picture of! I just got busy with the project and did not take any! {To make matters worse I dropped my camera when taking the final after pictures and it has gone to its grave.  I’m am cameraless!}

I painted the 2/3 of the hallway with Sherwin Williams Super Paint White Semi Gloss. I figured the wall was going to take some serious abuse so I need all the protection and washability I could get. Also, let me add that those plastic pour containers with the lid that screws back on are GONE! What a great idea at first. I can’t tell you how many times I could not get those lids off when I wanted to paint. I would just keep trying until I got it, but I would get soooo frustrated. Maybe it was because I was lazy and did not clean the paint off the rim before I shut it. Oh well, just glad the old can is back!

The After

I got the guy at Lowes to cut all my boards. I’m sure he was cussing me under my breath when I left too! I did help him measure everything out and mark it. My neighbor pointed out that I was quite rude for not tipping him. Honestly the thought really did not cross my mind. In my mind he was just doing his job. {of course I had no cash anyway} Feedback here…would you have tipped him? Because I will be going back on my next project. Do I need to switch to Home Depot in case I am recognized as the loser who did not tip?

Love the 3 prong hooks

I got these great 3 prong hooks from Home Depot for $3.23 each! I love them because they give you 3 hooks in one to hang stuff on. Each boy can hang their backpack, jacket and hat! Hopefully they will hang these items up!

Adding a little bling

I wanted a coastal feel {really I just want to move to the beach!} when you first walk into the house. On my recent trip to the Outer Banks I got some great starfish at one of my favorite stores, The Cottage Shop.

Driftwood!

I also got this great piece of driftwood from the beach!

A hook for everyone

Here is another view. It is very difficult to get a good picture because it is a hallway. I had a blast doing this project. I made a few mistakes and learned a few new things. I used a nailgun for the first time {loved it} and found out I’m a pretty good calker!

This look is very addicting as well! I’m thinking about tackling my master bedroom next!

All in all it was relatively cheap to do as well.  The board I cut up was $24 and I sill have 1/2 left.  The hooks were $3.23 each.  The starfish were $12 and I had the rest!

Please leave me a comment if you have any specific questions about the project and I will get right back to you!

I’m linking this project up with Melissa at The Inspired Room! She is so inspiring! Check out her Friday Linky Day!

Trolley Stop Hook from Anthropologie for $12.00

My current project involves coat hooks. I’ve been trolling the powers online to find some. I’m in love with turquoise and Anthropologie, so here is the meshing of my love of both in the Trolley Stop Hook. I will need roughly 6 hooks, so this may break the bank, but I could see maybe 2 scattered in with something cheaper.

coat hook from Lowes $6.75

I’m also digging this one from Lowes. A little bit of a twist on your basic hook, with a better price tag.

Alphabet Hook from Anthopologie for $12.00

How about these happening alphabet hooks?

Wire Initial Hook from Anthropologie for $18.00

Another great alphabet find!

Nut Lovers Hook!

This one is saying “Nutty Girl”!

Anyone have any other hook suggestions? I typed in coat hooks on E-bay and was overwhelmed by Page 10 of 158! Any Open Sky Shop Keepers have hooks in their shops?

another makeover?

I’m revamping the back door entry area yet again….maybe 3rd time is a charm! Here is a glimpse at my 2nd attempt on this post.

Step 1

Yesterday I did a lot of measuring and planning. Today I made a trip to Lowes. Here is a sneak peak from my trip.  Let’s hope my measuring was accurate because I worked this dude hard in there!

how easy can they make it?

While I was there I spied this product. If you don’t want to measure, mitre cut, nail, putty, etc., you can just buy the precut rectangles and  just glue them to the wall.  They look  just like fancy wood wainscoting. Wow, what will they come up with next?This one package cost a little over $12.00, so you pay the price for convenience. Kind of defeats the thrill of the project too.

I hope to reveal the finished hallway soon!!!

I have a quirky confession to make. I have hated chalk all my life. Hated the way it felt in my hands as a child and still do. Hate the dust. Hate the sound it makes when you write with it. Just plain hate it! So, I was Over The Moon when a reader told me about Chalk Ink after my post on Organizing With Cracker Jars.

Slate Tags With Chalk

Here are my Cracker Jars {I bought them at Wally World} when I used plain white chalk.

The After

Here they are after I re wrote the tags with the incredible Chalk Ink! Gone was the horrid feeling I had just holding the chalk in my hand! Plus, my handwriting is so much better!

The most important jar in the house!

Are you loving the slate tags? I got them in Melissa’s Open Sky Shop at The Inspired Room!

black board

Be Thankful!

The Chalk Ink Markers are not just for chalk boards. You can write on glass, mirrors {I use my bathroom mirror and my ah ha moment place} and plastic. They wipe right off with water too! I got mine at Michaels.

Have you heard about these or are they new to you too?

Thank you Life to the T for showing us your secret to that fabulous metal letter you painted to look like leopard!