I’m a person who handles changes very well. I’ve lived in 8 states in 40 years, moved more times than I can count, and generally I am not afraid to try (at least once!) just about anything. I’m a person who tends to embrace the change, live it, love it and learn from it.

It is a season of changes for me right now. Some are simple like getting a few bangs cut in my hair last week. It might seem simple at first, but after the fact I realized I have not had bangs since college! Oh, those were some pretty tall bangs too! It is amazing how a small change in hair can really make a difference. If there had been more time the other day I feel certain I would have come home with some change in color too….but on a whim haircut we (my fab stylist Sandy!) could not pull that off.

Instead I colored it myself by somehow getting lots of paint in my hair over the weekend! Paint? Who me? Yep, I can’t sit still, I’m at it again. Again, when I’m feeling restless about changes in my life I turn to paint therapy…..

Kitchen...last week

Here is a shot of my cluttered kitchen last week.  The color on the walls is Sherwin Williams Fenland. It is a nice gray green. It actually holds the record for the longest color to be on any wall in my house.  I think it dates back to 2004!  The only room that has only been painted once!  Wow..it was time!

Previously in this post I talked about how I really wanted to paint the cabinets.  I mulled it over and decided I was not ready to take that on in my life quite yet.  The door is still open….

I’m still working on it…but here is a sneak peak picture to show you some of what I have done so far…..

sneak peak

I’m out of control with that Linen White paint!  Did you expect that….white?!?  Don’t worry I’ve got some color going on too.  I love how the painted black pantry door came out!!

More Changes…

I do have some news.  After much prayer and discernment my precious friend and business partner, Trish, and I have decided that our website Seek the Triad is taking too much time from our families.  I would not trade the last two years of working on this awesome project for nothing.  We have had more fun that I ever imagined, met more incredible people and learned so much!!  It has been a journey that I will cherish in my heart forever.  I gained an incredible friendship through it.  If that is all I walk away with I will forever be grateful.  I know we will still have some great times “seeking” lots more in life together!

A new chapter begins….

I’ve been busy adding finishing touches on my Master Bedroom and am still just smitten that this is actually my bedroom!  I love my 4 poster bed, but those poles sure get in the way when trying to photo all I’ve done.  In this photo you can see that I have added an old window over the bed.  This was a curbside find.  I cleaned it up and took my Corner Cat sander for a spin on it to add some distressing.  I also added this end of the bed bench from Hobby Lobby that was on sale for $69.  I plan to maybe put a cushion on top of it.

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Here is a better view of the cast away window.  I love that it is long and 8 panes.  For now I’m not doing window treatments.  I kind of like the clean stark white look for now.

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The dresser was accessorized with the help of my friend Nancy McKee, who owns a fabulous store in my town called Total Bliss. It is Total Bliss. I know I’ve talked about it before because it is the first place I go for decorating inspiration and accessorizing. Nancy will also bring things over to my house for me to try out!  She also uses things you already have and arranges them just right!  I love how she took those great gray blue candle sticks and gave one height with a stack of books.

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We added some simple starfish to the this fabulous wire basket sculpture thing {not so sure what to call it, but I LOVE IT!}.

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I got this fabulous lidded jar at Homegoods for 9.99.  I added some sand and some wooden beach wood from Michaels and dropped in on one of my favorite photos of the boys.  A lot of bang for the buck!

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I bought these lighthouse pictures 12 years ago for my office on clearance. They had cherry frames on them until last week. I found them in my “excess items” closet. I painted the frames white and they worked perfectly into my decor theme!

Nancy also helped me accessorize the top of the armoire!

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I love the driftwood garland from Total Bliss and it was only $18.99!  Nancy also added the wicker tray and lid placed on top of a few books.  We also used empty shoe boxes and draped them in burlap and set a beautiful and very inexpensive platter from Total Bliss and some  beachy bottles and jars from TJ Maxx.

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My next project is my reading corner.  This chair is super comfy, but worn out and is cranberry!  I could not stand the sight of the cranberry so I threw a large piece of fabric over it.  I’m going to have a slipcover made for it.  I painted the little table next to it Woodlawn Blue.  The same shade that the fronts of the nightstand drawers are painted.  I’m sitting in that chair right now!

For anyone who missed earlier posts on my bedroom the wall color is Silver Gray by Benjamin Moore and I’m head over heals in love with it!

I’m declaring this room the best in the house right now!  I hope I’ve given someone else a little inspiration in their home!

The furniture has been moved back into the room, the bed has been wrapped in new bedding and about 85% of the decorating has been completed! It takes me time to add the final touches to a room. So today I will reveal the room as it is right now!

The Before and The After

About 5 weeks ago I started with a rather Brown and Boring room. The carpet was dingy and drab, the furniture was feeling dark and my comforter had seen better days. My room did not make me feel good. It stressed me out and it just plain felt dirty. That carpet had raised 2 babies. It had seen a lot of action, lots of sippy cup leaks, dirty toddler feet, and lately some peeing dogs! So, after 9 years of wear I was ready to tear it out. I then set out with a plan to brighten and freshen up my room. After the installation of the hardwood floors I tackled the Board and Batten Project here.

Painted and distressed furniture!

I also got serious about getting rid of that dark furniture and painted 2 nightstands, a huge armoire, and a big fat dresser! I painted the furniture just plain old Benjamin Moore White. I did not want a white paint conflict between the walls and furniture so I did them both the same color white. I had no idea how many shades of white are out there!

I painted the fronts of the nightstand drawers using one of my rejected paint samples from the wall. The drawers are Benjamin Moore Wedgewood Gray. I really thought this was THE color for the walls, but it was a little too green. It was perfect for the drawer fronts. I then got these great cast iron bird knobs for the drawers off e-bay. I distressed everything..my favorite part about a furniture makeover!  This is where the furniture comes to life!

I then tried a new technique to me for the finishing coat. I waxed the furniture instead of painting it with a coat of Poly! LOVE IT! I bought Mylands wax (www.mylands.com) off the internet. My local painting guru suggested this product and I’m so glad I tried it. It gave my furniture a wonderful protective seal. It is smooth and shiny. I just can’t explain how wonderful it feels!! Weird huh? Yes, I feel furniture! My new thing is now WAXING!

Side Table Lamps

I felt the lamps needed a little more height so I covered one book in burlap and then used another book minus the paper cover. I splurged on the lamps from Pottery Barn.  I scoured TJ Maxx and Homegoods for weeks trying to find something cheaper.  I looked online to and when it came down to it I was just not satisfied with anything else because I had these on my mind as “the lamp”.  They are fillable too, so I can change up the look of them over and over.  For now I am keeping them empty and a I tied a starfish around them with some twine.  I love these shades too, they bring in some of the tan color of the beach!

A few accessories...still on the lookout for more!

Here are my TJ Max and Homegoods finds.  I filled the glass containers with shells and sand.  I love this pretty square white cakestand.  I’m still tweaking this, but this is where I am at right now.

Favorite Photo

I loved this frame and I loved this photo…but the photo is a 4×6 and the frame is a 5×7.  Solution…burlap of course.  I made a burlap matt and put the picture on top!  Oh the many uses of burlap!

I’ve still got finishing touches to do.  I want to hang somethings on the walls.  I’ve got an empty corner that I will be recovering a chair for to make a reading nook.  I will keep you updated on all my tweaks!

The new view!

I love walking in my back door and looking down the hall at this! I love waking up feeling like I am on vacation!! All the hard work, and body pain was so worth it! I still have painters arm in my wrist, elbow and shoulder and I’ve had some extra chiropractor visits for my neck!

****Update – I’ve added some more decor to this room so visit this post to see the final tweak!******

I’m still alive! My house has not imploded itself and life is getting back to normalcy after the BIG project! Today I’m unveiling the board and batten process in the room! It really was super easy!

Before installing the Board and Batten I painted the top 1/3 of the room Silver Gray by Benjamin Moore (flat) and the bottom 2/3 of the wall just plain white Behr paint in a satin finish. I also removed the ceiling fan blades to clean (scary dirty!) and painted the inside of the tray ceiling Antique White by Sherwin Williams.

I used MDF for this project available at Home Depot for $31 for a 4 x 8 sheet. I used 2 sheets for this project. I decided to to the horizontal boards 6″ wide and the battens 2″ wide. I calculated out how many boards and battens I would need for the project and set off for Home Depot with all my measurements. Home Depot has a big saw that cuts boards down to any size you want! Take full advantage of this big saw! Have them cut it, even if you have the tools at home to do it yourself! MDF is messy! Dirty up Home Depot, not your house!

Up until this part of the project I have not used any help from anyone until the awesome employees of The Depot cut my wood and my precious 8 year old carried it all into my room! Where is hubby? Still wanting nothing to do with this project!

measurements

But, in order to get these boards properly installed onto the walls I was going to need a compound miter saw for the corners. Enter the hero with the saw, Scott Redmon. Scott is also a very talented graphic designer and owner of Triad Graphics. He is the one that keeps my website Seek the Triad looking so pretty! Scott, Trish and I show you in the video how we mitre the corners and install the boards. A very easy process using Liquid Nails and a trim nail gun. I was not allowed to touch the miter saw but I did feel nice and empowered with that nail gun! Hubby stayed far away still….but he did a fab job taking care of the kids!

assisting with the miter saw

It took us less than 4 hours to miter the corner boards and install all the boards and battens!

complete!

Scott packed his tools up and I was left with a room full of board and batten that needed to be primed and painted. Ugh! I had glorious plans to prime the boards before installation. At 10:00 the night before Scott was to arrive I decided that was not going to get done. I spent the next 4 days painting the board and battens while my precious father did my ceiling and one more coat of blue (just felt like it needed it!) and he painted the baseboards and the window and door frames! What a blessing!!!

Stephen Price from Stephen’s Flooring Company then came back to do a 3 day process of putting down the poly on the hardwood floors. Meanwhile, I was distressing the furniture to be put back in the room.

Stay tuned because I will reveal the loaded room very soon!!! I’m documenting this on my other blog, so I can’t get ahead of the came over here on One Nutty Girl!

Here is the photo that has been my driving force behind my Master Bedroom inspiration….

from Just Beachy Blog

I flipped for this bedroom on Just Beachy. I book marked it forever ago and just kept staring at it dreaming of my very own coastal bedroom one day. I loved the look of the board and batten and totally wanted to tackle a job like that. It seemed such a huge room to do and I was a little bit scared. So, to ease my fears I sought out a place to “practice”.

The After

I picked my back hallway entry in from the garage and was pleasantly surprised by the ease of it. You can read about it here.

There was only one thing hindering my room remodel…..my almost 9 year old carpet. The training of 2 puppies had officially finished it off in the last since months. I could not even contemplate a pretty bedroom until I knew the carpet could be replaced.

Flooring becomes a Reality

old carpet

I did a really big project on that furniture that I’m not ready to reveal yet.  I did it in the bedroom since it did not matter if I ruined the carpet.  After that was completed I was left with a some very dirty celery green walls, and some serious dusty and dirty baseboards and crown molding.  I embarrassed by the amount of filth was in my room!

subfloor

The carpet was ripped out and even the subfloor was a refreshing change in the room!  I had to get a little advertising in for my Seek the Triad website!  I then started testing paint colors.  Oh what a process.  All in all I went through 5 paint samples!  I finally settled on Benjamin Moore Silver Gray.  Can’t wait to show you that!!

wood

Next up….a whole lot of this was delivered and Stephen Price from Stephen’s Flooring Company began to work his magic.  I’m so glad I hired someone to do this part of the job.  We had actually considered trying this job ourselves.  So glad we did not!!!

yeah floors!

The floor were installed!  Before the sanding and ploy was put on I got the green light to paint away and not worry about any spills, they would all be buffed out!  Yeah, let the messy painting begin!  I then had about 5 days to get busy painting and putting up the board and batten.  I painted the top with flat Benjamin Moore Silver Gray and hit the bottom with plain old Behr White in Satin (chose not to do semi gloss) on the bottom.  Here is my little helper carrying in wood for the board and batten.

bedding

Here is a look at the bedding I am using.  I bought a white quilt at Target to go with a silver gray comforter that I already had that was new but had been sitting in my closet for a few years.  I knew I’d use it one day!

I’m documenting this project as well on Seek The Triad as well….so I can’t get ahead of the reveal that is going on over there…so hang with me!

snoozing on the job

It seems that Asher is not keeping my blog up like I thought he would…lazy dog. Instead he and Lanie have been snoozing on their Molly Mutt dog beds while I work myself numb on my Master Bedroom project!

It is a good thing I’ve been absent from Blogland because it seems everyone is going to Blissdom except me! So many of my favorite peeps I just want to hug and see their beautiful faces, especially Edie from Life in Grace! CafeAngelica is still trying to convince me to just jump in the car and go. I think my man would just about kill me if I did!

Currently you have to have a map of our house to get from one room to the other! It is like a maze in here. Our entire contents of our bedroom are disbursed throughout the entire house. We are talking BIG HUGE pieces of furniture blocking doorways. A king size mattress lives in our hallway. Box springs live behind our couch. There are about 10 paint cans in the room, tools, ladders, messy paint brushes (can’t clean them to save my life!), and the list goes on.

The laundry is out of control, there is no food in the house, I can’t find anything to save my life! It is complete and total chaos. I can’t even count the hours of painting. My legs are throbbing from the up and down squats and ladder climbs, more forearm is sore from using the brush motion. My precious Dad took pity on me yesterday and came over and meticulously painted my ceiling. What a lifesaver that was. I kept staring at it dreading that part.

I must have the painting done today so that the hardwood floors can be sanding down tomorrow and stained and poly. Then we will have to wait at week before moving back in. It seems like forever! I want my bed back!! I crave some sort of organization!

I’ve exceeded my time online by 6 minutes….the shower and a busy day (of not painting!) is calling!