COZY CHIC CORNER

WE HAVE A WOOD FIREPLACE THAT WE USE IN THE WINTER, OBVIOUSLY, BUT WE NEVER HAVE HAD ANYTHING NEAR IT. I KNOW THE FIRE PLACE IS REALLY DARK, BUT THAT WILL BE A FUTURE PROJECT TO PAINT. SO THE WALL HAS USUALLY BEEN BLANK. OTHER THAN A FEW WALL HANGINGS. THE HEADBOARD LEANING AGAINST THE WALL WAS MADE FOR A FRIEND AND HASN'T BEEN PICKED UP YET.

THESE WERE MY INSPIRATIONS FOR MY WALL. I KNEW I WANTED TO USE A MIRROR SO IT WOULD BRING MORE LIGHT TO THE DARK CORNER.

  

CLASSIC CASUAL HOME

UNKNOWN SOURCE

A FEW YEARS BACK, MY HUSBAND AND I WENT TO A LOCAL ESTATE AUCTION AND NOTICED THIS DRESSER. THE DRESSER HAD BEEN IN OUR MUDROOM EVER SINCE. I THOUGHT IT WOULD WORK GREAT FOR THIS SOON TO BE COZY CHIC CORNER. THE KNOBS WERE PLATED IN BRASS, SO MY WONDERFUL MOM TOOK A FEW HOURS(JUST FOR ONE KNOB) AND SANDED IT DOWN TO A NICE SILVER COLOR. THANK YOU MOM!! SHE HAS MORE PATIENCE FOR TEDIOUS JOBS LIKE THAT.

AS YOU CAN SEE THE WALL COLORS HAVE CHANGED. MY MOM IS A GREAT PAINTER AND SHE CAME DOWN TO PAINT OUR LIVING ROOM, DINING ROOM, KITCHEN & THE HALLWAY. SHE'S AWESOME!! THE COLORS THAT WE CHOSE WERE FROM BEHR "SALT GLAZE" PPU12-11 & "MUSHROOM BISQUE" PPU4-7. SALT GLAZE WAS AN ACCENT WALL THE REN NEXT TO THE FIRE PLACE TO BRIGHTEN UP THAT CORNER. MUCH BRIGHTER NOW!  THE RECTANGULAR MIRROR I ALREADY HAD SO I LEANED THAT AGAINST THE WALL ON TOP OF THE DRESSER.  

THE PILLOWS ON THE CLUB CHAIR NEEDED AN UPDATE. I HAD Himalaya Ikat Porcelain Blue FROM FABRIC.COM ALREADY. SO I HAD MY MOM RECOVER ONE OF THE PILLOWS.

I LIKED THE WAY THE PILLOW TURNED OUT!

ADDED A TABLE LAMP THAT I TOOK FROM ANOTHER TABLE IN THE HOUSE. A LIGHTED STICK ARRANGEMENT THAT I'VE HAD SINCE MY FRIEND'S ASHLEY & MIKE'S WEDDING(5 YEARS AGO). A PHOTO OF OUR SON, A CRYSTAL WIRE BALL & A PORCELAIN EGG. IT REALLY CAME TOGETHER. OHH AND THE NAKED NUDE NICK IN THE BACKGROUND, AN ADDED TOUCH!

NOW GRANTED THE INSPIRATION PICTURES HAD A PAINTED DRESSER, BUT MY HUSBAND LIKED IT RUSTIC. SO I HAVEN'T PAINTED IT....YET.

IT LOOKS SO MUCH BETTER! BY BRINGING SOME PIECES TOGETHER, THAT I ALREADY HAD AROUND THE HOUSE, I HAVE TAKEN A SHABBY BARE WALL AND REDECORATED IT TO A COZY CHIC CORNER. 

I CAN'T WAIT FOR A COLD SNOWY WINTER NIGHT, NEXT TO THE FIRE, WITH A CUP OF JOE. 

CIAO

Rusted Fire Pit to Decorative Candle Holder

SO, I'VE SAID MY HUSBAND AND I OWN A CHIROPRACTIC PRACTICE IN OUR TOWN. WELL, OUR MASSAGE THERAPIST KERRY WORE THESE GLASSES TO LUNCH THE OTHER DAY. I LOVED THE COLOR AND IT INSPIRED ME TO PAINT SOMETHING.

 

FIRST, I HAD TO FIND THE SAME COLOR. I WENT TO MY LOCAL HARDWARE STORE. I WAS NOT LOOKING FOR A PARTICULAR BRAND OR A PARTICULAR FINISH. I JUST WANTED THAT COLOR.  I DID WELL (OR PRETTY DARN CLOSE). IT IS BY "COLOR DECOR" AND IT' S CALLED BLUE, EASY ENOUGH. IT WAS ONLY $2.99 PER CAN, SO I BOUGHT 4 CANS, JUST TO BE ON THE SAFE SIDE.  AND, HEY, IF I HAVE ANY LEFT OVER, I COULD ALWAYS USE IT FOR ANOTHER PROJECT.

 

SO NOW, WHAT TO PAINT?  THEN I REMEMBERED I HAD AN OLD, RUSTED FIRE PIT THAT MY SISTER HAD GIVEN TO ME. IT HAD BEEN SITTING OUT ALL WINTER LONG, SO IT WAS REALLY BAD, INSIDE AND OUT.

YOU CAN HARDLY SEE THE NEARLY RUSTED OUT BOTTOM, BUT, TRUST ME,  IT'S THERE.

SINCE THE FIRE PIT WAS SOO RUSTED I WANTED TO GET AS MUCH RUST OFF AS I COULD. THE FIRE PIT NEEDED TO HAVE A SMOOTH FINISH BEFORE I PRIMED AND PAINTED IT. I ALREADY HAD SOME WIRE BRUSHES, BUT YOU CAN FIND THEM AT YOUR LOCAL HARDWARE STORE FOR A COUPLE BUCKS. THIS SMALL WIRE BRUSH BELOW WAS GOOD TO GET IN THE SMALL CREVICES AND THE MESH ON ALL THE SIDES.

 

THIS SMALL WIRE BRUSH WOULD HAVE TAKEN FOREVER, SO I ALSO BOUGHT A BIGGER ONE TO USE ON ALL THE LARGER, FLAT PIECES OF METAL. IT WAS A FEW BUCKS MORE BUT IT WAS WELL WORTH IT. CAN YOU IMAGINE SCRAPING THIS FIRE PIT WITH JUST A TOOTH BRUSH SIZED WIRE BRUSH??? IT WOULD HAVE TAKEN ME FOREVER!!

AFTER SCRUBBING OFF AS MUCH RUST AS I COULD AND GETTING THE SURFACE SMOOTH, I PAINTED IT WITH A FEW COATS OF WHITE PRIMER SPRAY PAINT. SORRY, I HAVE NO PICTURES TO SHOW YOU THIS STAGE.   I REALLY LIKE THIS BRAND OF PRIMER.  RUST-OLEUM PAINTER'S TOUCH.

AFTER THE FIRE PIT WAS PRIMED, INSIDE AND OUT, I SPRAYED IT WITH MY BEAUTIFUL BLUE BY "COLOR DECOR".  HERE'S HOW IT TURNED OUT.

 

AND SINCE THE BOTTOM WAS PARTIALLY RUSTED THROUGH, I HAD A PIECE OF THIN METAL CUT TO SIZE. YOU CAN FIND THIS METAL AT YOUR LOCAL HARDWARE STORE. THEY COME IN LOTS OF DIFFERENT DESIGNS. I JUST DIDN'T WANT THE RUST TO SHOW THROUGH.                  

SINCE THE PRIMER AND SPRAY PAINT WERE NOT FIRE PROOF, I DON'T RECOMMEND TO BURN WOOD IN IT ANYMORE SINCE IT WILL BUBBLE UP AND RUIN ALL THE TIME AND EFFORT YOU PUT IN TO PAINTING IT. USE CANDLES INSTEAD TO ILLUMINATE THE FIRE PIT.

EVEN WITH CANDLES YOU WILL HAVE A GREAT SOURCE OF LIGHT AND IT LOOKS PRETTY TOO!! ALL YOU NEED NOW IS FRESH COCKTAIL.



CIAO  

10 DIY UPHOLSTERED HEADBOARDS {w/tutorials}

I HAVE BEEN OBSESSED WITH UPHOLSTERED HEADBOARDS LATELY!!! I LOVE TUFTED HEADBOARDS, HEADBOARDS WITH NAILHEADS, HEAD BOARDS WITH DECORATIVE CURVED TOPS,  NOT TO MENTION ALL THE FABRIC OPTIONS.  I WISH WE HAD 10 BEDROOMS IN OUR HOUSE BECAUSE THESE NEXT 10 HEADBOARDS WOULD DEFINITELY MAKE THE CUT. 

I HAVE BEEN REALLY GETTING INTO THE TUFTING ON HEADBOARDS, AND THIS HEADBOARD HAS VERY CLEAN LINES AND A CRISP WHITE FABRIC. THIS HEADBOARD IS FROM LILIKOI JOY.

I LOVE THE SIMPLICITY OF THIS ONE. CLEAN LINES BUT HAS A NICE NAILHEAD TRIM ON THE EDGE. THIS ONE IS FROM THE ACCENT PIECE.

I LIKE THE DARK CONTRAST OF THE FABRIC TO THE SILVER NAILHEAD TRIM...NICE!! AND THE CURVED CORNERS ARE A MINIMAL DETAIL BUT GIVE A CLASSIC LOOK. THIS HEADBOARD IS FROM THE GRAY BUNGALOW.

NICE DIAMOND PATTERN ON THIS NEUTRAL FABRIC. AND IT IS GREAT THAT IT CAN GO WITH ANY COLOR SCHEME YOU HAVE FOR THE ROOM. THIS ONE IS FROM PRETTY PROVIDENCE.

IF YOU WANT TO BRANCH OFF FROM A TRADITIONAL SQUARE HEADBOARD, THIS IS THE ONE AND A GREAT PATTERN TO BOOT. FROM DESIGN SPONGE.

IF YOU WANT CLASSIC, YOU GOT IT.  STRAIGHT LINES, TUFTING, NEUTRAL FABRIC AND NAIL HEAD TRIM.  BUT WHAT I LIKE BEST ABOUT THIS HEADBOARD IS THE WINGS.  FROM LISA THE LAZY BLOGGER

ADD A TWIST TO TRADITIONAL CURVES WITH FAUX-CROC FABRIC IN A BLACK PATENT  LEATHER FINISH....NAUGHTY!!    FROM PARLOUR

ANOTHER CLASSIC FROM SARA AT RUNNING FROM THE LAW, AND DID I MENTION I LOVE THE RUG???

THIS HEADBOARD HAS WINGS, AND YOU KNOW I LOVE HEADBOARDS WITH WINGS!! SARAH HAS A GREAT TUTORIAL AT SARAH M. DORSEY DESIGNS

KRISTI AT ADDICTED 2 DECORATING "TURNED THIS HEADBOARD TO GOLD" WHICH THAT IS SOMETHING SHE HAS BEEN ACCUSED OF DOING A LOT LATELY.

MY NEXT HEADBOARD PROJECT WILL BE FROM THE GRAY BUNGALOW FOR MY SISTER. SHHH!!! IT'S A SURPRISE.

CIAO

Beautiful Bright Nails

Has anyone heard of Shellac Nail Polish?

Here is a quick fun fact for the day where are beauty products come from. Shellac is a resin secreted by a Lac Bug in India and Thailand. It is scraped from the trees and sold as dry flakes shown below.  It is then dissolved in ethyl alcohol to make liquid Shellac.

It, in my opinion, is the happy medium between regular nail polish and Acrylic. It doesn't ruin your nails like acrylic does but it is stronger than regular nail polish. Shellac comes in all different colors.

 

Also, with Shellac after each coat of nail polish you stick your hand in a mini oven with a UV light. No more waiting for each coat to air dry, BORING. You can dig in your purse and find those keys and off you go. Great for an on the go gal. 

 

I have the BEST Nail Tech ever!! Her name is Kelly at Miracles Salon, she is fabulous!! Kelly tries to get me to branch out, instead of my normal french manicure. So, my pinkie is the lime green that is everywhere this season, I did ask for that color this week, and the rest she just went to work. Here is what she created this week.

Basically find an awesome Nail Tech and use Shellac, your nails will look amazing every time.

CIAO

Laundry Room Remodel

I don't know about you but I absolutely hate wood paneling. Our laundry room/husbands game room had wood paneling, yucky brown carpet, no storage, no organization and it just wasn't pretty. Our house is a work in progress. My husband bought this house a few years ago and when we met we started updating. Sad to say this house was stuck in the 1970's so the wood panel must have been a hot commodity at that time. So on one side of the room was shelves for my husbands office/game room, and on the other side of the room was "my" laundry. 

See no storage which in turn means no organization. So we met with a local construction company Barco Construction and Design to plan what we wanted. We knew we wanted sheet rock instead of paneling for sure, for my side I wanted some cabinets on either side of the window for storage, I wanted a hidden ironing board, and a counter top above the washer and dryer. For my husbands side he wanted a desk of the same counter top above the washer and dryer, shelving and storage.  

After deciding on the color with my husbands help we decided on a bright orange color aka construction vest orange. I was not to keen on that color so I bought an outdoor rug since this is a high traffic area and it was Terracotta. So I took the bright orange paint back to the store with the rug and matched the color. And it turned out to be very close. We only used the orange on either end of the laundry/game room and Mushroom Bisque from Behr PPU4-7 for the other walls. I will tell you Mushroom Bisque is throughout our house with accent colors because it is such a great neutral color!! Definitely recommend it!

After LOTS of electrical problems, mold problems, fire hazards  and many other problems the finishes started coming together.

The outdoor rug I had the paint match.

 

 My husbands office/game room. Did I mention he is a big Texans fan, HUGE TEXANS FAN!!

I love turning something shabby into chic. This project I was the designer not the contractor but I still loved choosing all the finishes to everything.

I added some simple decor on the walls with some coordinating fabric. Psst the ones on the left are shoe box tops super simple!!



CIAO

Studded Headboard

I was recently asked to upholster a headboard for a friend. The word got out that I upholstered one for our master bed room, I wasn't mad, secretly I was glad. Ours was super simple, I used a table cloth(which I recommend very durable and only cost $25 from TJ Maxx) and since I only wanted a square shaped head board it was a breeze for my first time.

Anyways, after taking measurements and and figuring out the color scheme I went to work. The lumber was provided for me and as you can see the legs already came attached which makes it even more difficult. But I measured a 2" border around the top and sides only. This will make it easier to know where to put your studs. After I measured the border I used adhesive to adhere my foam to the MDF. I cut the foam with a sharp knife along my border line.

After adhering the foam to the MDF, I rolled out the batting to cover the foam. I cut the batting down and left enough slack to wrap around the back of the headboard.

After covering with batting, I did the same with the fabric. My friend wanted a black leather look for cheaper, so I order a few different swatches from fabric.com. We chose Cordoba Vinyl Black, it was $6.98/yd and I ordered 6 yards to be on the safe side. Ended up only using 4 yards but better safe than sorry. As you can see I have a hammer nailer, I started off using this but I ended up breaking down and buying an upholstery gun. You will find an upholstery gun at your local hardware store.

After covering with fabric I turned the headboard where the back is facing up. I started with the sides first and pulled the batting and fabric taut and stapled away. Then I worked on the top of the headboard to get crisp edges. Since the legs came attached to the headboard the bottom was a little difficult, but I just trimmed around the legs and left the flap of fabric at the bottom without trimming it off.

Remember the 2" border I drew on the MDF I used that same guide for my nail heads. I first took straight nails at the top two corners and at the bottom edge. I then tied twine to the nails to make straight lines to follow. I did use a ruler to TRY to space the nail heads evenly. I spaced the nail heads an inch apart. It is hard to use the individual nail heads, I definitely recommend the nail head strips, you can find them on ebay.com pretty good deal at $3.95 + S&H/yrd. I did this all the way around the border.

Here is the border done

I then wrapped the legs. The client did not want the head board against the wall so I wanted to make sure it would look finished.

Next was the back of the head board. I started with the top. I used a cardboard strip so when I folded the fabric back over it I would have a clean edge. I stapled the cardboard strip down then folded the fabric back over it so the right side was faced up. Then I hammered nail heads every few inches on the top and when I got to the corners I folded under and kept going with the nail heads. When I got to the bottom where the legs started I had nail heads right next to each other.

For the bottom I trimmed the fabric so I had about a half an inch. Then I folded under to finish the edge and evenly spaced the nail heads.

Supplies Needed:

MDF cut to size
2x4's cut to size
Nuts & Bolts
2" thick foam
Spray Adhesive
Batting
Fabric of your choice
Nail heads
Staple gun
Ruler
Twine
4 Straight Nails
Cardboard Strips

*Note to self practice with nail heads on something first because its harder than it looks. You get one to every 3-5.

Ciao