From the window, to the wall...

Do you ever start a small update and then it just grows and grows and grows into a big honking expensive update.  Well, that's exactly what happened with the living room.  It started with selling the old sofas and buying new ones.  We have wanted to update the carpet since we moved in so hey, why don't we do that now too?  For a second there I thought about just replacing old carpet with new carpet.  Then Murph got sick.  I mean projectile vomit sick (think Exorcist - only smaller and fluffier).  After that swift dose of reality, we decided to replace the carpet with some kind of wood or laminate flooring.  And while we're replacing the floors, we might as well paint the walls, right?  And that's how we ended up redoing the whole living room.

In for a penny, in for a pound!

I liked the teal, but I didn't think it would look good with the new dark grey sofas.  Dark sofa, dark-ish walls and dark-ish floors was going to be, well, too dark!  So out came the testers.

I LOVED not having to cover the carpet before starting to paint - I just pulled it up around the edges so I could get low into the baseboard.  The flooring guys were going to remove the crusty old carpet as part of the new floor installation.  We literally painted the walls on Saturday and the flooring guys arrived on Monday so it wasn't too long to deal with the chaos.

We heaped all of the big pieces of furniture into the middle of the room so we could get around the outside of the room easily.

And two coats later we have a much brighter room.  It's a light taupe/grey colour that really changes depending on the time of day.

Do you like the floor lamp smack bang in the middle of the room?  It's a new trend I'm starting.

Next up are the floors..........

Kate

xxx

Sofa so good!

And we have new sofas!  We lived with the hand me downs for the last 6 years so it was definitely time for something our own taste.  I tried my best to disguise the lumps and bumps with pillows and throws.

But ultimately, they looked like this.  Holy 80's Batman!  They did, however, wear really well, were a nice neutral colour and were super easy to clean.  I had a load of interest on Craigslist and they ultimately went to a good home.

And for their replacement we chose the Luxe Sofa from World Market.  I shopped around loads online, I must have ready about a million reviews.  The Luxe Sofa is slip covered so we can take the covers off and wash them (important with a mischievous little dog) and it means we can change the colour easily if we want to update the look of the room.  We took full advantage of World Market's post Christmas sale and managed to get a 3 seater frame, a 2 seater frame and both slip covers for $600.

To save on shipping costs I ordered them at the store to be delivered to the store and picked them up using a Home Depot rental truck.  I saved about $200 doing it that way so it was definitely worth it.

Here's a little sneak peak.

Next up are the floors.  Oh yes, and the walls too.  It's all change around here!

Kate

xxx

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

Metallic madness!

Happy Wednesday! I hope you all had a great weekend. I wanted to stop by to show you how our mantel is looking these days.

After taking down all of the Christmas decorations, I decided a change was in order. This was how it was before.  A little pink and a little spring-y and a lot thrown together!

And here it is after messing about with it this weekend.  You might recognise the star burst mirror from around the blog world.  It's the Martha Stewart mirror from Home Depot.  It's a complete steal at only $35.  For that price it was only a matter of time before I bought one!

 This pic from Handmaid Tales shows the original colour it comes in..

I spray painted this little one Champagne mist by Rustoleum.  It's just leaning above the mantle for now (there is painting to come in the very near future), but we do plan to eventually mount it.

If you look closely in the mirror you can just about make out our new sofa.  We managed to lug the old ones into the garage and they're currently lurking on Craigslist waiting for a buyer.

More living room updates to follow!  Big plans I tell ya, big plans!

Kate

xxx

DIY Chalk Paint

I made something!  Ok, technically I didn't make it, but I did refinish it which is close enough.

After a bit of a dry spell craft/DIY wise, I decided to chose a nice easy project to kick off 2014.

I found this little cabinet at our local thrift store for $25.

It had a couple of scrapes but nothing major and the top glass panel is in perfect condition which is a major bonus.  It's made by Lane so is a good quality piece, is really sturdy and ridiculously heavy.  I thought it would make a perfect tv cabinet.  

I've seen chalk paint all over Pinterest and the blogosphere.  I Googled a couple of major brands, and making my own (while saving a few pennies) seemed to be the best way to go.  Plus the 'no prep required' really sweetened the deal - you know I love a shortcut!

I picked up a tester, a couple of mixing cups and a box of plaster of Paris all from Lowes.  I mixed:

1 Lowes paint tester (221 ml)
75ml plaster of Paris
75ml cool water

These measurements are all in milliliters because that is what's on both the tester and the measuring cups.  Much easier than having to Google conversions!

The mixture itself was like slightly watered down paint - but not to the point where it would run or drip more than usual.

I removed both doors and the hardware, then used a regular cheapo paintbrush to apply 2 coats - no sanding or priming needed.  It went on unbelievably easily with each coat dry to the touch in about an hour.  I'm not sure how well the mixture will last, but I had enough paint left to refill the tester jar so I'll let you know!

I left the cabinet overnight to dry completely, then applied a coat of Minwax finishing wax with a cloth to seal the piece.  Next up I spray painted the hinges and pulls using Rustoleum in Champagne Mist.

I picked Almost Charcoal for my color, but failed to take into account the fact that the plaster and water would lighten the color.  So it's not quite as dark as I wanted, but I'm still pleased with how it turned out.

I'll snap some more pics once we've heaved it upstairs.  We just need to drill a couple of holes in the back for the cable wires to run through and we'll be all set.

Kate

xxx

Lime Chair

And the newest member of our household is this little beauty:

I'd been eyeing this chair on the Target website for weeks.  It went from regular price, to sale price, to clearance, to gone!!  Ugh, don't you hate it when you wait too long to buy something then it's no longer available.  I know, I know, 1st world problems! 

So when I saw a stack of them at our local Southeastern Salvage for only $50 I knew one of them had to be mine.  It was super easy to put together: plop seat on base.  And it's really comfy too.

Kate

xxx

Living it up!

So how was your Labor Day?  I'm officially starting the campaign for a 3 day weekend at least once a month - who's with me?

Our Labour Day weekend meant having friends over for the first college football game of the season.  And that also meant we had a massive tidy - so I quickly whizzed round and snapped some shots while the place was looking halfway decent.  I've shown you bits and pieces of this room recently, so I thought it was about time we had a look at how everything has come together.

So here is where it all started - our hot dog family room (mustard and ketchup!) we inherited from the previous owners:

And here it is now.

My favorite piece in the whole room is the DIY Union Jack coffee table.  See more of it's journey from $30 craigslist find HERE.  Here's a little snap shot of the before/after:

And here it is front and center in our family room.  I bought two big baskets from HomeGoods to go underneath and it's worked out great for storing magazines.

My triangle paint chip art is going strong.  More on that freebie art HERE.  We're still rocking the hand me down sofas, but maybe next year we'll upgrade and pick something more our style.  Until then, I'm disguising the 80's style lumps and bumps with pillows and a strategic throw.  Sometimes you just have to work with what ya got!

Our crafty desk (made from wire shelving, cardboard and contact paper) is nestled next to the french doors.  Taking thrifty to whole new level!  Find more details on that transformation HERE.

Our mantle is a springy little treat, and I just love the pops of pink against the teal walls.  I really don't change it much from season to season so it'll probably stay like this until Christmas.  It's a mixture of high street and flea mall and thrift shop. 

The little 'love' is a Christmas decoration and the glass owl is vintage Blenko.

I'm still loving our JC Penney floor lamp.  I'm telling you, JC Penney wins every time for budget friendly modern lamps.

And there you have it :-)  I finally feel like it's starting to come together and is a room we love to spend time in - which is really all you can ask for.

Kate

xxx

2 for joy

During my trip home I inherited some fantastic retro/vintage family goodies.  Most of it was too big or heavy to bring back this trip, but I did manage to squish my favorite thing in my case (carefully rolled inside a cardboard tube).

My mum did this pen and ink drawing of 2 magpies in 1984.  She is one talented cookie.  Any shred of creativity I have has definitely been inherited from her. 

Its now hanging in our living room, above the little shoe cabinet that used to be in the kitchen. Along with my latest knick knack - a $5 sale vase from TJ Maxx.  I thought it was kind of Jonathan Adler-ish.  Maybe?

Kate

xxx

Coffee Table Before & After

Here is my starting point - a $30 Craigslist coffee table, in all his gingery glory!

This was definitely a well used table - and it had the rings and stains and scuff marks to prove it.  Some were just on the surface and others were deeper ridges and nicks in the wood.

There was only one thing for it - invest in a sander!  (hmmm, he was looking extra orange in this shot.  Lovely!).

I sanded and sanded and sanded.  You can tell how long it took me by the fact the table was in complete sunshine when I started and complete shade by the time I had finished.  It was totally worth it as I was left with a nice smooth clean surface to work with.

I knew I wanted to paint the legs white.  I gave them a rough sanding by hand and then layered on 2 coats of white paint.

Next up was the table top.  I was really torn between painting or staining.  In the end I went for stain.  Mainly because I've never stained anything before and thought, at only $30, this was the piece to experiment on.  And also because I wanted a more muted/subtle finish.

Now for how to tackle the staining process.  I could have gone with an allover dark finish - but where's the fun in that!  Since I had decided on stain, I thought I might as well go all out and try something different.  I considered a chevron pattern, but the idea of trying to tape all those zigzags really didn't appeal.  In the end I came up with a Union Jack.  The table had the perfect dimensions (44" x 26"), and being from the UK I figured I should own at least 1 Union Jack based piece of furniture!

A quick stop a Lowes and I had picked up 2 tins of Minwax Wood Finish (Golden Pecan and Dark Walnut), a roll of painters tape and some foam brushes.

I started by applying an allover coat of the lighter pecan colour - this would represent the white in the flag.  I used a foam brush to apply the stain and rubbed any excess off with an old rag.

Next up was taping off the white areas to build up the darker colours that would represent the red and blue.  I used 1" painters tape.  There was a lot more measuring involved than I had bargained for (the chevron wasn't looking like such a bad option at this point!), but I wanted to make sure it was as to scale as possible and not off center or wonky.  For anyone interested, I used a 1" outline round the larger middle cross, and 1.5" and 0.5" on the smaller diagonal cross.  The large cross is 6" wide (including tape) and the diagonal cross is 3" wide (including tape).

I Googled to see how the painters tape would hold up with stain instead of paint, but I couldn't really find any info on leakage/bleeding/tips etc  In the end, I just went for it.  For this stage I used Minwax Dark Walnut.  I would be lying if I said I wasn't at least a little alarmed when I began to sponge on the wax.  It was much runnier than I thought it was going to be and looked like oil, and I felt certain it was seeping right under the tape.  I powered on regardless, following the directions on the tin.  I didn't let it sit for very long as I was paranoid it was going to be a blotchy mess.

But unbelievably, after wiping away all the excess, I peeled of the tape to reveal crisp clean lines.  There were a couple of spots where I hadn't sealed the edges properly (mainly around the outside lip of the table) where the wax had gathered, but with a bit of elbow grease it was easy to blend in.

Next up was the second layer of Walnut to make the blue area of the flag a little darker than the red.  This was much easier than the initial taping as all of the measuring was done.  I simply ran the painters tape around the existing triangles, trying to stick to the lines as I went.

I was a little more confident this time around when applying the stain.

Between each stage I allowed the stain to dry for 24 hours, and I sealed it all with 2 coats of Minwax Fast Drying Polyurethane.  The new knob was a $2 Hobby Lobby find.

I'm so pleased (and surprised!) with how well it turned out.

Now for a good old before and after shot.  No more ginger coffee table for me!

More pics to come when I get it off the ugly driveway and into the living room!

Kate

xxx

I wanted to stop by to add just 1 last pic of the table in its new home (excuse the quality - its a phone snap!).

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