Around the House

Today I wanted to share a few smaller updates that we've been working on over the last few weeks.

First up is our shiny new fridge.  We had always planned to update the appliances at some point, but when the freezer section of the old fridge stopper working completely, we were forced to act sooner rather than later.

I can't believe we managed to fit this beast in the same space as the old one.  As you can see, it has French doors and is working out really well so far.  It's waaay quieter than the old one, has loads more room and is energy efficient.  We bought it from Lowes and managed to qualify for the military discount which was a major saving.  Plus they offer free delivery and free haul away of the old one.

Sold!

Next up is a sneak peak of the new family room rug.  Excuse the terrible pic - I was trying to hold it up with one hand and take the pic with the other.  Rugs are HEAVY!  I thought it was a little bit like the West Elm souk rug?  Maybe?  If you squint?  I picked up this guy at HomeGoods.  We've made some major changes to the family room - updates soon I promise.

And of course I couldn't buy just one rug!  I grabbed this little one too.  It's like walking on velvet.  Seriously.  In the morning I'll pop into the guest room just so I can stand on this rug!

I bought the radio you can see on the nightstand during Targets after Christmas clearance.  It was only $10 and reminded my of the Crosley radios you see (only this one was way cheaper!).  Perfect for guests.

Kate

xxx

Headboard History

Happy Monday, and Happy Autumn!  Today I wanted to share the transformation of my $30 head board.  This is how it looked when I first brought it home from a local flea market.

After an allover coat of cream, this is how it has looked for the past year.

It seemed to be the perfect candidate for a chevron paint pattern given that the wood was already carved into that shape - so no measuring or taping needed, yippee!

I used the existing cream as one chevron colour, and picked a colour 2 shades darker than the wall for the second chevron.  I wanted to make sure the tone would work in the room, so using a colour on the same paint chip was the easy option.  It only took a couple of coats and it was evenly covered.

It's like a little hidden surprise when you lay the pillows down, and is a much more interesting than it being in one colour.

 

Kate

xxx

Guest Room Before and After

It's fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiinished!  Ok, so the ugly black ceiling fan is still up, but everything else is D.O.N.E!  About a week later than planned, our Guest Room makeover is complete.

Sit back, because this post is pretty photo heavy.

The bedding was from Ross, lamps from JC Penney, throw from TJ Maxx, nightstands from Target and crazy cat pillow from H&M.

I've had these 2 wall shelves sitting in a cupboard for months, so it was great to finally get them on the wall.

I mixed some vintage family items with thrift shop finds and a few new pieces.

The camera was my Grandads, the print was from the Christmas Tree Shop (for only $4!) and the little bowl was from a thrift shop.

You can just about see the newly painted headboard behind the pillows.  I left 2 of the panels in the cream, and painted the rest 2 shades darker than the wall colour.

I tried to add something to read and a place to put rings or coins or watches on each nightstand.

And of course no nightstand would be complete without a felt owl.

Can you believe my mum made this?  Love him!

Every time I see this pillow it makes me laugh.

And now for a good old before and after.



And after!

Kate

xxx

Finishing up

If you follow me on Instagram you'll have seen that the curtains in the guest room are finally up.  Here's a sneak peak at the texture - can you believe they were only $6 a panel from Lowes?  I couldn't make them for that!  The curtain rod was a steal for only $10 at Ross.  Somehow I always find good deals there, despite the fact that their shelves are usually half empty.

We've also had a new queen mattress delivered for the master (thank you Macys Labour day sale).  Look at how ridiculously tall the bed is now, ha!  You can't even see the nightstand because it's so high.  Poor Murph man needs a pole vault to get on there.  Seriously though, we'll be removing the box spring this weekend to take it back down to a normal height. 

We moved the old mattress from the master into the guest room (which is sooooo close to being done).  I have professional supervision arriving this weekend (ie my father in law) for the great 2013 fan switcheroo, one more coat on the headboard and I'm calling it.  Pics to follow on Monday.

Have a great weekend - and if you live in Birmingham check out the annual Art Walk downtown.

Kate

xxx

Chevron-and-on

My latest creation for the Apartment Therapy Style Cure guest room makeover is a chevron frame.  I picked up a large square frame with a huge plain mat (on sale for $5 at Michaels).  It's usually used for people to sign at weddings.

I love a good chevron, it came a very close second in the coffee table pattern stakes, so it was a easy choice when I was contemplating how to decorate the mat.  Plus, I thought if it looked really bad I could always cover it with a fun fabric.

It looked a bit dodgy halfway through, but I reasoned that I was going for a hand drawn look and not perfectly symmetrical lines. 

Here's a closer look at my not-so-straight straight lines!

I went back and filled in some of the thinner chevrons, and added vertical lines to the wider chevrons to help break up the pattern.

Left on the to do list is to:

Paint the headboard
Change the hideous ceiling fan
Hang the curtains
Hang a couple of shelves
Add accessories
Finish and reupholster the chair

So, as you can tell, progress is slow.  The aim was to have the room finished by the end of this week - but I'm thinking it's looking more like the end of next week.  Mainly because I need some serious adult supervision before monkeying around with the ceiling fan!

Kate

xxx

The Style Cure

Apartment Therapy has been running the Style Cure in August, and I'm all over it.

They send out daily emails throughout this month with tips and motivation to make over one room in your house (spoiler alert - I chose the guest room).  Up until now there has been a lot of listing and planning, but this weekend I began implementing my grand plans.  I'm still not entirely sure how everything will come together, but I'm keeping the faith.

Here's a look at the guest room from the MLS listing.

And here it is after we moved in.  All we really did was get a few key pieces of furniture and called it a day.  You'll notice the bed looks suspiciously low.  Well, that's because we don't actually have a mattress for that room (yet!).  It's not terrible, but it's hardly a show stopper either.

Sadly it didn't stay quite so tidy for long.  All of our unwanted furniture seemed to end up in there.  And the clothes for donating.  And the ironing board.  And the random artwork.  And it quickly became a hodgepodge mess.  Now you can see why it was an easy choice for the Style Cure.

This weekend it was time to paint.  I knew I wanted something light and fresh and decided on Pearl Ash by Olympic from Lowes.

Unfortunately, whoever last painted the room did a really shoddy job and the existing beige paint was all over the baseboards and ceiling.  I decided to go over the baseboards with white first, then I could cut in with the Pearl Ash and get a nice crisp line.  It took a little extra time, but was totally worth it.

I did 2 coats and it turned out great.

I'm just starting to collect some accessories.  So far I have 2 of these amazing lamps from JCPenney.  They were marked down to half price, and I had a $50 giftcard, so they only cost me about $20 for the pair.  Bargain!

Stay tuned to see how it all comes together!

Kate

xxx

Birds on a Wire

Despite our recent yard sale, I did manage to cling on to a few future project pieces (aka old crapped up junk!).  Top of the pile was this frame that my bread print originally came in.

I quickly found a new frame for the print, and popped it on the wall in the nook.

The sad little frame was relegated to the basement.  This weekend I finally came up with the perfect use for it.  I dusted it off and dragged it back upstairs, but it was in a bad way.

I wanted to use the frame to create birds on a wire with little bird silhouettes and silver thread for the wire.  First up was covering up the chipped frame by painting it black.  Next I cut out my bird silhouettes from thick card (I googled bird silhouette and was spoilt for choice).

To secure them to the wire I taped a simple paperclip to the back of each bird.

To create the look of wire I found some thick silver thread at Michaels and staple gunned it randomly across the frame.  The ridge the glass used to sit in was the perfect groove for the staple to be well hidden.  Then it was just a case of placing my little birds on the wires.

I love that you could make this project as big or small as you like, and use as many different colours as you like.

It worked out being the perfect size for the blank wall in our guest room.

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Kate

xxx

Thrifting Success

This weekend I made the trek out to Gardendale to a fantastic flea mall - 2 floors jam packed with treasures.  I snagged a mid-century-ish orange chair for only $15.  We originally had this dusty green chair in the corner of the guest room.

I love the shape, but the green did get lost against the wall colour, so its nice to add a pop of contrast.  Mo seems to like it too.  The green chair now has a new home in the other guest room - also known as home of the lost furniture.  It's such a mish mash in there that at some point I'm going to have to put some serious time and effort into bringing together.

Next up was this magazine rack for a crisp $18. 

 

You can see the great shape better from the side.

 

 

How could I not love the top with its geometric pattern.  It reminded me of something you'd find in Urban Outfitters.

I also picked up a couple of glass bottles and some wall sconces that have made the spray painting list. 

 

Kate

xxx