Before/After

Hutch Before and After

May 7, 2013

Last week, I shared images from a fireplace facelift from a friend/client. And today I have another fun before and after from that same room….a painted hutch!

The hutch was in good condition. But the red no longer matched the decor in their family room.

Several cans of spray paint later, the hutch went from red to white.

A fun evening of shopping brought home several new accessories for the shelves.

And here it is now, after it was painted and re-styled.

Here are a few close ups of the vignettes.

And once again, the final after…

What a transformation!!

jen

By Jen 3 Comments Filed Under: Before/After, client projects, Home Decor, Uncategorized

Painted Fireplace Before and After

April 25, 2013

Several months ago, a friend and client of mine moved into a new house. The fireplace needed a little facelift.

Before moving in, the walls were painted a light gray and the brick around the fireplace was painted white.

Here is the fireplace today!

Quite a jaw dropping difference!

Once again, the magic of paint amazes me!

Over the next week, I’ll be revealing a few other projects from this room as well. So make sure you come back to check it out!

jen

linking up to:

create with joy, i should be mopping the floor, home stories a to z, romance on a dime

By Jen 5 Comments Filed Under: Before/After, client projects, fireplace, Home Decor, mantel

Bookshelf Update

March 31, 2013

I hope everyone had a great Easter!

We were able to see both sides of our family this weekend. Saturday was with Dan’s family. And Sunday was with my family.

Next door to my dads house was a field of daffodils, which made for the perfect location for family pictures. As you can see, the weather was amazing!

And remember my bookshelf project?

I needed a piece of wood cut for the top, so I had my dad do the dirty work for me! He has an amazing shop and my saw wasn’t cutting it {sorry, couldn’t resist the pun!}.

Now that the top is cut, I can get to work on the crown molding!!

Stay tuned for updates on my bookshelf over the next week or so!

jen

By Jen 3 Comments Filed Under: about me, Before/After, tutorials

A New Bookshelf {and a project}

March 18, 2013

I’m working on updating Emmie’s room. When she turned three, she got a big girl bedroom. But four years later, I’m feeling the need for an update. After noticing marker on her comforter {what kind of mom let’s a child have markers in her bedroom?! Ahem, me!} and lack of storage space, it’s time for some changes.

Lately I’ve been looking for a taller bookshelf and have come up empty handed. Then the other day, I found this white bookshelf.

via

I like the clean lines. And I like that it’s white. But I don’t like that it looks like it’s out of a box.

So I have some plans….

Here are a few inspiration photos.

Look at what a little crown molding can do to an otherwise plain piece of furniture!

And see how much character a planked background adds!

via

Now to get the bookshelf assembled! And after a few trips to Lowes for supplies, I should be in business!

Stay tuned in the coming weeks for progress updates!

jen

By Jen 2 Comments Filed Under: Before/After, Home Decor, house, shopping, tutorials

The Desk – Part 3

July 19, 2012

The desk project is progressing. I confess it is a larger project than I had originally imagined. But I’m fairly certain I will like the end result.

The stripper that I used did a great job of prepping the desk for painting.

And now that the desk is ready, I got to crack open my new can of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.

Isn’t it pretty?! I love the white shiny can.

The kids were anxious to get their hands on this project too. So we all donned some of Dan’s old scrubs and got to work.

This was the first time I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. And while I heard the paint dried really flat and chalky looking, I was still surprised when it happened.

And I’m nearly done! Just need to finish up waxing the desk and wait for my drawer pulls to arrive {I ordered them yesterday}. Then the desk can go to it’s new home in Jack’s bedroom.

To read The Desk – Part 1 and Part 2, click here and here.

jen

linking up to:

miss mustard seed

By Jen 2 Comments Filed Under: Before/After, furniture, Home Decor, house

The Desk – Part 2

July 11, 2012

I’m discovering that blogging during the summer is more of a challenge than I had originally imagined! Maybe it’s because the kids are out of school. Or maybe because we are out at the park and pool when the sun is shining. Whatever the case, I’ve been slacking on my blogging and I do apologize.

Today I wanted to update you on my desk project. Remember what it looked like when I brought the desk home?

I sprayed on the stripper and was amazed at how quickly it began to work!

On several parts of the desk, the paint practically fell off. And on other parts of the desk….

…what a mess! I sprayed stripper and scraped. Then sprayed more stripper and scraped some more. Boy oh boy, what a hassle.

Once I felt like I was finally making some progress on the desk, I purchased my first can of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Graphite.

I’m just about done stripping the desk. So soon I can try out my new paint! Stay tuned for the next update!

To read The Desk – Part 1, click here.

jen

linking up to:

serenity now

By Jen 3 Comments Filed Under: Before/After, furniture, salvage, Uncategorized

The Desk – Part 1

July 3, 2012

Before I get started writing about my desk, I wanted to announce that this is my 100th blog post! If I were Ellen or Oprah, I’d have some giant giveaway or party. But I’m just me. A mom, wife and blogger from the northwest. So my simple announcement is the only recognition that my 100th post will receive. OK, back to blogging….

I recently bought a desk from a friend at a garage sale. It has some character. And the size was right for Jack’s room. So for a bargain price, I brought the desk home.

The green paint is fun. But it doesn’t match Jack’s room.

So after a quick trip to Lowes….

I’m now armed with the gear to strip off the paint and give the desk a new look!

Stay tuned for updates on my progress!

jen

By Jen 6 Comments Filed Under: Before/After

Adding a Zipper to a Target Pillow

June 13, 2012

I recently purchased a pillow for our couch from Target. I liked the pattern, but I didn’t like how full of ‘fluff’ it was. I like to lay on my couch {and I’ve been known to snooze on my couch too} so a comfortable pillow is a must. I decided to add a zipper and down insert, thus eliminating the hard pillow issue! And it also makes the pillow cover removable for easy washing!

Using my seam ripper, I tore out the seam on the bottom {and removed the large tag as well}. Then I removed all of the fluff {and believe me when I say there was a ton! It nearly filled a plastic trash bag!}

I thought this was interesting….when I turned the pillow inside-out, the corners had poly fill sewn into them. I thought this was ingenious! Whenever I use poly fill, it is always a challenge to get it to stay in the corners of the pillow. Using Target’s method, my issue would be solved! But for this project, it doesn’t matter because I am using a Pottery Barn down insert.

I purchased an invisible zipper and sewed it into the bottom opening. I did not take pictures during the process. Nor am I writing a tutorial on how to sew in a zipper. It was not a pretty process and did not go smoothly. But I got it done. And while it is not perfect, it will do the job!

The pillow is so much more cozy and soft with the down insert! It was a small time investment but worth the effort!

jen

linking up to:

savvy southern style, michele raven designs, the shabby creek cottage, the 36th avenue, somewhat simple, house of hepworths, aka design, the shabby nest, at the picket fence, stuff and nonsense, chic on a shoestring decorating, the southern institute, nifty thrifty things, between naps on the porch, skip to my lou, my uncommon slice of suburbia, home stories a to z, todays creative blog, it all started with paint

By Jen 9 Comments Filed Under: Before/After, Home Decor, house, tutorials

Redecorating for a New Client

April 14, 2012

This week I had the pleasure of heading to Seattle to help Jamie, a new client, with her family room. Jamie and her family live in a fun, older home that has lots of charm. She was overwhelmed with the placement of her furniture and the look of her shelves, so she invited me to help her out. Nothing new was purchased for the transformation. I just rearranged existing furniture and frames and created a shopping list for Jamie for filler items (such as end tables, a throw, and pillows to add some color to the couches…). So the room isn’t complete yet…..but we sure made some progress. Now let’s look at some pictures.

Lots of frames were displayed on the shelves…

And the narrow room made furniture placement a challenge. The couches were facing each other, perpendicular to the fireplace and tv.

Before we started, I had Jamie walk me through her house so I could see if there was any home decor that we could ‘borrow’ from other rooms to decorate her shelves. After I spotted some potential items, I cleared off all of the shelves, creating a blank slate for decorating.

When the shelves were cleared, I was able to easily assess the different sized pictures that I had to work with. I created a gallery wall on the floor by arranging and rearranging the frames until I came up with a display that filled the wall space best.

By selecting which pictures would be hung on the walls, I then knew which ones were left to accessorize the shelves. After raiding the kitchen for a few vases and cutting some fresh flowers from the front yard, I created simple vignette’s of frames, books and vases.

Here are the new shelves…

The couches and lamps were moved too, giving the room better flow. The love seat now faces the fireplace and tv….

And the longer couch is perpendicular to the fireplace, in front of the widows.

By moving the couches away from the shelves, it opened the corner up for another chair and side table. For the time being (until a new chair and table are purchased), I put an extra dining room chair there as a place holder.

Jamie hopes to paint the room soon with a more basic color, like a light gray. And she will add in accent colors with pillows and throws to brighten up the brown leather furniture.

I feel like the walls and shelves clearly display what is important to them….family. The room has a new, refreshing look – without having purchased a single thing! Doesn’t it look great?!

Let’s take one last look at the before and after…

Thank you, Jamie, for inviting me into your home to help out!

Jen

linking up to:

stylish once again, i heart naptime, the girl creative, nifty thrifty things, i should be mopping the floor, sisters of the wild west, the sweet talk shop, between naps on the porch, the southern institute, making the world cuter, craft o maniac, home stories a to z, my uncommon slice of suburbia, todays creative blog, tip junkie, how to nest for less, blue cricket designs, the shady porch, savvy southern style, romance on a dime, the 36th avenue, somewhat simple, house of hepworths, aka design

By Jen 11 Comments Filed Under: Before/After, gallery wall, Home Decor, mantel, organization

$75 Fireplace Makeover

March 26, 2012

One evening this fall, my friend Julie decided it was time to tear out her fireplace facade. The builder used sheet rock for the mantel and a tile surround that Julie did not care for. After living with it for several years, Julie was done and off it came! Not sure how to proceed, their fireplace stayed like this for a few months.

I figured with a little wood and some effort, I could give her fireplace a new look for not too much money. Julie took me up on my offer and we started planning.

Kevin and Layla at The Lettered Cottage were our inspiration for this project. They did something similar with their fireplace and I hoped to create something like it for Julie.

The first step was getting rid of the the gold on her fireplace insert. You might remember my post a few days ago when I did the same thing to our fireplace. With a little high heat spray paint, the gold was gone in a flash!

Thin plywood was measured and cut into a triangular piece for the mantel top.

The same plywood was used for three different sections that became the background of the new fireplace (see numbered picture below). I don’t have a table saw, so I brought the measurements with me and the kind people at Lowes made the cuts for me.

I used a primed 1×6 for the mantel and ‘L’ brackets were attached to the back. By attaching the L brackets to the mantel top and face, I could avoid having to drill holes through the front (which equals less touch up work in the end).

Once the mantel face was hung and the mantel top was nailed down, I cut molding with mitered corners to trim around the fireplace insert.

After all of the molding was nailed into place, the corners were spackled and the edges caulked. Then the entire mantel was painted white.

The new mantel was fun to decorate with a splash of bright colors too! Julie painted some of her existing accessories and I helped her put it all into place for an updated look.