The Endearing Home

Living Room Progress

May 22, 2013 By Lauren 2 Comments

For the next few weeks I will be taking a break from the bonus room makeover. I decided I needed to focus on finishing a few of the many other half done projects around the house. I really wish I could learn to complete a project before moving onto the next. Instead, that darn “to do” list just keeps on growing!

Today I am sharing a little peek of the living room. This room has truly been slow going to decorate since we moved in two years ago. We were lucky that the living room furniture from our previous home fit well in our new home. But, this time I wanted to take a bit of the “formal” out of the living room and create a more casual space. Sometimes working with what you have can be challenging and takes patience to pull a room together, which I am generally not very good at when it comes to decorating.

So…. what’s been taking me so long? Well, since we moved in I have painted and repainted the room several times to try to get the wall color right. I have also been filling lots of nail holes from constantly moving pictures around, both without much success. The other challenge was sticking to a tight budget on home decor accessories. There has been lots of time spent shopping around and waiting for sales and coupons, but well worth the effort to avoid paying full price.

The room is finally coming together. Here is one corner in the living room that I recently finished up.

Along with a few new decorative items, I spruced up the chest with paint, glaze and mercury glass knobs. Several of the previous drawer pulls had broken off in the move and the paint around them had chipped off. The new paint really helped fix the damage and brighten up the chest.

Source list: Home Goods (knobs, wall art, candle, boxwood topiary), Kirkland’s (lamp, table runner), Carolina Pottery (metal orb), Green Front Interiors (ceramic vase and coordinating piece), Reclaim Beyond Paint in off white and antiquing glaze.

Well, the kids will be soon be out of school and my mom is coming to visit for a few weeks. So…. guess I better get back to work on that “to do” list and trying my best to not add any new projects to it!

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Filed Under: Home Tour, project gallery Tagged With: boxwood topiary, mercury glass knobs, Painted Cabinet, Wall art

Bonus Room Makeover Sneak Peek Part 2

May 15, 2013 By Lauren 5 Comments

Here is a quick update on the progress I have been making with the bonus room makeover. I was hoping to have everything finished in time for my daughter’s birthday party, but at this point it’s just not going to happen. Even though it’s not quite done, it looks much better than it did a few weeks ago and we have already been enjoying our new family hangout!

I made the shelf a while ago with wood pieces I found at Lowe’s. I think I spent around $10 for the wood and then primed and painted it with some paint I had in the garage. I also gave an old unused mirror a quick update with some Provence Annie Sloan chalk paint that I had on hand. My daughter found the sign at Target and the lampshade is from the clearance section. The items on the shelf are things from around the house.

I purchased the bookcase when my girls were babies and other than a few scratches it has held up great over they years. To spruce it up I gave the bookcase a coat of Reclaim White paint and added a touch of color to the inside with a few coats of La Craie Jolie Blonde chalk paint. I found the coral color baskets on a recent trip to Home Goods. One is for the girls magazines and the other two, well, I honestly don’t know yet. But, the colors tied in perfectly with the room so I just had to bring them home. Extra storage baskets always come in handy!

The last big project on the “to do” list is installing some board and batten. I have never done a project like this before so I am a little nervous. Power tools, measuring and working with wood is definitely not in my comfort zone, but I think board and batten will be a great addition to the space. I have been watching lots of great blogger “how to” tutorials and I am slowly getting up the courage to give it a try, wish me luck!

Filed Under: project gallery Tagged With: Bonus room

Happy Mother’s Day

May 12, 2013 By Lauren 1 Comment

I didn’t plan to take a week off from blogging, it just sort of happened. This time of year always seems to get super busy and I have a hard time keeping up with everything. Next week is a another busy one with my daughter’s birthday and party, but it is a week I am truly looking forward to and lots of celebrating!

I have a few posts planned that I will sharing throughout the week, hope you will stop by and say hello! Wishing you all a beautiful day and a very Happy Mother’s Day!!!!

Hugs,

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Bonus Room Makeover Sneak Peek Part 1

May 3, 2013 By Lauren 12 Comments

Since the time our girls were toddlers we have had a space in our home that was designated as the “playroom”, a place to play and help contain the mountains of toys from taking over the house. Well, the time has come to say goodbye to the playroom. Now that our girls are teenagers and getting ready to start high school, the playroom is no longer overflowing with toys and has found a new purpose. With less clutter and cartoon watching, this room has become our new family hangout. The bonus room is now where we spend the most family time together watching movies, our favorite shows, playing board games and making crafts. So, we decided it was time to give the room a little makeover with a more grown up look.

The first big decision in sprucing up the room was picking a paint color. The girls really wanted to be included in the design process since this room is where they have sleepovers and spend time with their friends. So, we talked about different colors for the room and they decided on gray walls with pops of yellow and a touch of chevron. It has really been fun incorporating their ideas into the makeover.

After looking at what seemed like hundreds of paint colors from every paint store in town, I finally settled on one that I have to say is my new absolute favorite color! I chose Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore, but I had it mixed at Sherwin Williams when they were having a 40% off sale. Revere Pewter is the perfect mix of gray and beige and I love how it makes the colors pop in the room.

So, there is the first little sneak peek of our bonus room makeover. I have most of the painting done and several projects in the works for this space. I can’t wait to share the progress with you in the next few weeks. Hope you will come back to see how it is all coming together and stay tuned for the big reveal!

Filed Under: Home Tour, project gallery Tagged With: Bonus room, Makeover, paint, Playroom, Revere Pewter

From Trashed To Treasured Painted Cabinet

April 26, 2013 By Lauren 27 Comments

For months I had been looking for a cabinet to add a little extra storage in the family room. It had to fit in a narrow space, so finding the right size was a little tricky. I had been looking on Craigslist for a while with no luck, until one morning I spotted a new listing. It was the perfect width and height and the price was right at $40.

The cabinet was in great condition, but the color of the wood was too light.

I had recently picked up a can of chalk paint in a color that I thought would be perfect for this piece. I was so excited to get started on this project! That is until the first coat went on and I quickly realized the color was too close to the wall color and looked blah! I decided to add some wax to see if that would help darken up the color, but no luck. Then, the real disaster happened when I decided to add some dark wax before completely covering with clear wax. I had read lots of tutorials on waxing so I knew better, but out of my desperation to save this project, I did it anyway. Big mistake!

I could not believe how I took this perfectly good piece of wood furniture and ruined it. I wish I could blame it on the paint, but I can only blame the painter. The real failure on my part was not prepping the surface properly with a light sanding first. This was a heavily varnished piece, so the paint was not sticking well, it would just flake off.

My family was so sweet and did not say a word all day even though they could clearly see this was not going well.

After spending a few hours trying to fix my mistake, I decided, for my sanity, it would be best to just walk away and give it another try tomorrow.

In my second attempt I decided to use my “go to” paint for all of my painting disasters, and if you have been following along on my blog you know there are many! So far the Reclaim paint that I purchased on HSN has never let me down and fortunately that was true for this piece as well.

Remembering what the cabinet looked like the day before I really had my doubts if it could be fixed. But, after a few coats of paint, a little sanding and a coat of clear wax, I was breathing a sigh of relief that I had rescued this project.

I finished the piece off with a couple of cute knobs I found at Hobby Lobby and some shelf liner from Dollar Tree. I also painted the inside with a coat of La Craie chalk paint called Sugar Cane. It does not show up well in this picture but it is a very pretty light blue color.

I did end up spending more on paint than the actual cabinet which kind of took the fun out of finding a bargain. But, I do now love this little cabinet and all of the extra storage. To make myself feel better I will just think of the extra money spent as my continuing painting education expenses. I am learning with every project, but just in case I will be sure to keep some of my “go to” paint on hand.

Filed Under: project gallery Tagged With: Chalk Paint, Painted Cabinet, Reclaim Paint, Shelf Paper

Quick Change Wall Art

April 20, 2013 By Lauren 3 Comments

Last year I found some pretty seashell prints on Etsy for $10 each that I had purchased for our bedroom. I made the matting with a piece of poster board from the dollar store and a scrap piece of burlap. By using frames I already had and making my own matting this was an easy and inexpensive way to spruce up the walls.

Several months ago I found a pair of bird prints for $3 each at SuzAnna’s Antiques in Raleigh. I loved the price tag and how they tied in with the colors and other bird accents throughout our family room.

I had no plans to buy new frames, instead I searched through my stash of old pictures in the garage. Having no luck finding a pair that would work I thought about my seashell pictures. The black frame and natural color matting tied in perfectly with the bird prints. I thought this would be easy, just put the new print over the old one and call it a day. But, unfortunately the prints were too big for the for the 8×10 opening.

Making the matting was easy to do, but it does take some time and effort. At the time I was not up for making new matting just to fit the larger size of the new prints. So, I came up with a solution by laying the print on top of the matting. I then added some velvet ribbon that I found a Michael’s for a few dollars to frame it out and give it a more finished look.

The ribbon is simply held in place on the back with a few pieces of tape. So, in those summer months when I feel like adding a little ocean inspired decor to the room I can easily switch back to the seashell prints.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Filed Under: project gallery Tagged With: Birds, Burlap, Matting, Picture Frame, Prints, Ribbon, Seashell Prints, Wall art

Mirror Turned Memo Board – Wayfair & Hometalk DIY Blogger Challenge

April 12, 2013 By Lauren 5 Comments

A few weeks ago I was invited to participate in a DIY Blogger Challenge sponsored by Wayfair and Hometalk. Wayfair is the largest online retailer of home furnishings in the United States and Hometalk is a wonderful resource for home and garden inspiration, advice and ideas! These are two awesome online sites, so of course I was thrilled about the opportunity to be a part of this fun and exciting challenge!

25 bloggers were asked to select one of three products, a mirror, bookcase or lampshade, available at Wayfair.com. The only rule was we had to incorporate one of the following design themes: rope, black and white or geometric pattern.

For the project I selected the Stratford Wall Mirror with Shelf, and because I have been having so much crafting with rope lately, I thought it would be perfect for the DIY challenge! I honestly had a hard time deciding which to choose because they were all great items with tons of DIY idea possibilities!

Here is the mirror before. I just love the thick white frame and attached shelf. It was so pretty and perfect as is so I was kind of sad to change it. But, that wouldn’t have been much of a challenge, so I grabbed my handy glue gun and got to work.

I know it’s no longer a mirror, I guess I let my love of repurposing take over when I read the “completely makeover” instructions. The memo board is not attached with glue so it can easily be “popped” out by giving a little tug on the ribbon and changed back into a mirror. This would also be a great solution to cover up a cracked mirror.

To attach the rope I used my glue gun and applied a thin strip of glue to the surface. I worked in small sections, pressing on the rope for a few seconds and then moved on to the next section. I started from the inside part of the mirror frame and worked my out, cutting the rope to length to fit each row.

To make the memo board, I measured the mirror and cut a thick piece of poster poster board to size. Then, I put the poster board on top of a piece of batting and cut around, leaving a couple of inches extra on each side. Next, I used my glue gun to attach the batting to the back of the poster board. To cover the batting I used a piece of linen, cutting slightly larger than the batting, wrapped around the edges of the poster board and again attached to the back with my glue gun.

To complete the memo board I added thin velvet ribbon, tightly securing to the back of the poster board with the glue gun. I also added a tiny dot of glue where the ribbon joined on the front so that it held in place.

The corners were a little messy with glue and where the rope joined together. To cover this up I added some paper flowers that my daughter made and some fabric flowers made from burlap ribbon and scrap linen and toile fabric.

Something I discovered when working on another project with rope is that it works just as well as cork! You can put pins and thumbtacks in it and and it will securely hold lightweight things in place.

I will be using my new memo board as a weekly menu meal planner. It is where I will be putting up my recipes for the week, along with coupons and a few of our family favorite take out menus.

I want to thank Wayfair and Hometalk so much for the opportunity to participate in this DIY Blogger Challenge, it was so much FUN! You can see all of the projects from the other super talented and creative bloggers on the Wayfair Pinterest Page and at Hometalk #DIY Challenge.

Filed Under: project gallery Tagged With: Burlap, DIY, Linen, Mirror, Ribbon, Rope, Toile

Burlap Floral Arrangement

April 3, 2013 By Lauren 5 Comments

“Hey, I can make that!”

Have you ever said that to yourself when you are out shopping? You see something that you know you can make yourself and make it for LESS! I just love when that happens! Especially, when I already have most of the supplies and just need to make a little time to put it together.

This happened to me a few weeks ago when I was shopping at one of my favorite stores, Kirkland’s and found this lovely little floral arrangement wrapped in burlap. If I remember correctly it was around $12.99. I know it’s not exactly a budget buster, but it’s always nice to be able to save a few dollars and have that nice sense of accomplishment that you made it yourself!

So here is my “knock off” version:

And my inspiration from Kirkland’s:

Here is my super easy tutorial and simple supply list:

Flowers ($5.00) *Any flowers of your choice. I found this bouquet half off at JoAnn Fabric. Dollar stores also have a great selection of inexpensive flowers.

Empty container (free) * I used an empty peanut jar. I washed it out and removed the label just in case it would show through the burlap.

Scrap piece of burlap (kind of free since I already had some) * Cut in a large circle.

Rope or twine (I think I used about 50 cents worth of this big package of rope that I purchased a while ago for another project) *Wrap around the top and bottom to help hold burlap in place.

Glue gun *Used to attach the burlap to the inside of the container so that it stays in place and also used to attach the rope.

I recently picked up few yards of these fun printed burlap fabrics which would be perfect for this project the next time….

Have a wonderful day and happy crafting!

Filed Under: project gallery Tagged With: Burlap, Floral Arrangement, Rope

A Recipe For Adding Extra Storage To Your Kitchen Island

March 27, 2013 By Lauren 7 Comments

A big kitchen island was on the top of the wish list when we were house hunting. I wanted lots of space for entertaining, seating and a little storage nook within easy reach for my cookbooks.

Something like these…

Traditional Kitchen by Atlanta General Contractor Dresser Homes

Traditional Kitchen by Bethesda Design-build Case Design/Remodeling, Inc.

Traditional Kitchen by Minnetonka Design-build Lecy Bros Homes & Remodeling

Traditional Kitchen by Mount Pleasant General Contractor Phillip W Smith General Contractor, Inc.

Contemporary Kitchen by Quakertown Design-build Sullivan Building & Design Group

Contemporary Kitchen by Beech Island Kitchen And Bath Fixtures Frost & Keading, Inc.

Traditional Kitchen by Barrington Kitchen And Bath Insignia Kitchen and Bath

Traditional Kitchen by Philadelphia Architect Krieger + Associates Architects Inc

So…what did we end up with?

Not exactly what was on the “wish” list.

When we purchased our home we had big plans to re-do the island. But, after living in the house for a while it was just no longer a priority. We actually found the island to be both practical and functional. But, I still really wanted that little nook for my cookbooks and extra storage.

I was so excited when I found this cute little refurbished table for $50. I was hoping it would fit well next to the kitchen island and it did! Now, I have the perfect spot for my cookbooks and the kitchen island is finally complete!

Here are some ideas if you would like to add a little extra storage/cookbook shelf to your kitchen island:

Librarie Bookshelf from Ballard Designs

Library Console Table from Home Decorator’s Collection

Or, if you are handy you can make your own with this awesome tutorial from Ana White:

I think adding a small bookcase that fits the space would be a great solution too.

So, we may not have the big island for entertaining, with lots of seating, but we were able to add a little extra storage without any construction or a big price tag.

Filed Under: project gallery Tagged With: Cookbook Shelf, Kitchen Island, Storage

From Messed Up To Dressed Up

March 20, 2013 By Lauren 11 Comments

Do you ever have one of those projects that you get really excited about? You come up with an idea, plan it out in your head. You go shopping and gather up all the supplies you’ll need. You set everything up and just can’t wait to get started!

Until…..you quickly realize this is not going quite as smoothly as planned.

The rope that I thought would be so pretty wrapped around the wreath and those bunny ears made out of hangers. It was just not working!

Oh and let’s not forget almost setting the whole thing on fire with my glue gun. I would scream if I saw my kids using a high heat glue gun on straw covered in plastic wrap. Seriously??? What was I thinking!

I had hoped to have this wreath project all finished and cleaned up by the time my kids came home from school (or at least hide the glue in time.)

But, instead my daughters’ came home to find this…

Between seeing the giant mess and sensing my frustration, they asked me what was wrong? I told them all about the rope, the bunny ears, all of my plans to make a pretty Easter wreath and how this project was just not going so well.

And then one of my daughter’s said the most wise and wonderful words.

“When I was in kindergarten my teacher said, if you mess it up, dress it up!”

I wrapped my arms around her and gave her a great big hug, changed my grumpy attitude and got back to work!

So, I sat there on the floor surrounded by my mess and I took those words to heart and”dressed” it up.

I was not proud that I got so frustrated and was on the verge of throwing the whole thing in the trash.

It didn’t exactly turn out the way I originally planned, but my daughters’ loved it and that all that truly matters!

I am so grateful to my girls for their words of encouragement to keep trying, to not give up and most importantly to keep things in perspective. It’s just a wreath after all!

Wishing you all a happy first day of Spring and a Happy Easter too!
XO

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Filed Under: project gallery Tagged With: Easter, Ribbon, Spring, Wreath