Spray Paint & Fun Days

So I had some big plans for my off days this week that involved lots and lots of paint. But as it turns out, this weather is just too good and my hubby has the day off work. So we decided to spend the day with our new little guy Brady.

We adopted him recently from the local Humane Society and he is the best little guy. So we’re gonna go roam around in the Bronco, play at the park and just generally enjoy a rare day off together. Life’s just too short, ya know? So I just have a quick before and after to share this week. I’ll get to the big stuff next week. 

Before 

After

This is why I love spray paint! And painters tape. Have a beautiful weekend!

My Must-Haves for a Cozy Fall Porch

It’s finally my favorite time of year. Fall is here! There is just something about fall  that feels like renewal. I don’t know if it’s just the break from the smothering humidity we get in the south, but I feel like I can breath again. With that feeling comes along the need for change. And the need for salted caramel lattes from Starbucks. Oh. My. Word. Have you ever had one of those things? Forget the pumpkin bring me the salted caramel.

Anyway, since we like to spend time on the porch, especially this time of year, I decided to give it a fresh new look and share my “must-haves” for a cozy fall porch.

1. A seat big enough for two. A bench is perfect for a porch. They’re typically small but still big enough for two. I painted this one with three coats of plain old white paint that had been sitting in the basement for-ever. I used this to paint it. 

This thing is where it’s at! It’s the Graco Spray Station 1900. My brother-in-law gave me this for Christmas and I will be forever grateful. It would have taken days to paint all those slats by hand.

2.Pillows! Pillows are really a must-have in any situation though, right? I made all of these (except for the sequin pillow and the large brown and white pillow) from leftover fabric remnants and an old shower curtain.

3. A cozy throw. Perfect to curl up in on a chilly night while reading a good book. I picked this one up at TJ Maxx. It’s soooo soft.

4. A tray. You have to have a spot for your coffee or hot chocolate. Or wine. ;) I made this tray from an old picture frame and pretty wrapping paper.

5. Pumpkins! Is there anything more fall than pumpkins? I could go crazy painting and decorating pumpkins but I limited myself to just two. I spray painted these then blinged them out a little. I added a monogram to the black one using nail trim. For the white one I spray painted the backs of some iron-on leaves and hot glued them to the pumpkin.

So do you think I missed anything? So looking forward to hanging out on the porch as the nights get cooler! Happy Fall Ya’ll!!

Linking up at some great blogs this week. Hop over and check them out! Liz Marie Blog / A Stylish Interior / The Shabby Nest / Start at Home / Suburbs Mama / DIY Showoff / Rain on a Tin Roof / The Blissful Bee / The DIY Dreamer / Simply Designing with Ashley / One Project Closer

Thrift Store Art Makeover: Chic Horses

Hey there! Well this week I’m finally adding some artwork to our home that I’ve been thinking about for the longest. This is proof that pretty artwork doesn’t have to be expensive. For me, it just required a little patience. 

 After weeks of searching I found what I needed.

1. I had to find the perfect frame. I picked this up at a thrift store for $10.00. 

 

2. I had to find the perfect horse print. I’ve seen many photos and paintings of horses but this one just spoke to me. Ya know what I mean? I found this at Hobby Lobby. With their weekly 40% off coupon it only cost around $18.00.

 

3. I wanted it framed in gold and matted in white. (The frame was already gold but was kind of dated, in a faux finish.)  I picked up these spray paints for less than $10.00. Gold for the frame and white for the mat board.

Before

After

Less than $40.00 for a large, matted and framed print. Not bad! These guys are getting a home above the fireplace in the living room. I’ll have more pics for you once I get it in place.

Linking up at some great linky parties this week!

Liz Marie Blog

Suburbs Mama

Start at Home

DIY Showoff

Rain On a Tin Roof

Love Grows Wild

The Blissful Bee

A Stylish Interior

Here I Go Again

I’m back at it again. Making more design boards for the bedroom. I still haven’t decided if I want to leave the room painted Bittersweet Chocolate or repaint it a lighter shade. Lately I’ve been finding myself drawn to white rooms. There is just something so fresh and clean-looking about a white room.

It makes me think of that song by the Dixie Chicks, Wide Open Spaces. Except in my brain it goes, WHITE Open Spaces. Yeah, that song is gonna be stuck in your head all day. You’re welcome. Anyway…..what I’m thinking about now is leaving one wall Bittersweet Chocolate and painting the rest of the room a soft white. Maybe ;)

Here is my latest design board for the bedroom. 

This is the plan:

• Reupholster the headboard in a coral ikat fabric.

• DIY some white window panels with some type of gold border.

• Hang some antiqued mirrors/frames. 

• Bring in my DIY capiz shell chandelier from our little home office.

• The indigo blue will come from the Nate Berkus bedding I already own. (I know what you’re thinking but it’s working in my mind.)

• Buy one of these chests I found at Garden Ridge. 

These chests are all $199.00 or less! So happy they moved into the neighborhood!

The white dresser is from my guest room and I should be able to pick up some mirrors and picture frames at a thrift store for practically nothing.

That’s the plan for now. Just gotta get it done!

Coral Chest: My Obession Continues

As my obsession with coral gets totally out of control I find myself wanting to use more of it in every room.  I am totally obsessed with coral. I found this chest at a thrift store and it was in great condition. It’s the perfect size for the guest room and it has a decent amount of storage space. It was screaming to be painted coral.

This is the before.

Once I got it home and started painting it I was pretty surprised to find this.

It’s from Pier One! I’ve never bought any furniture from Pier 1 and this piece is the real deal. It’s actual wood.

I painted this piece starburst orange which is a Benjamin Moore color but I used a combination of Valspar and Glidden paints.

Since I wanted to use the original ring pulls WITHOUT the plates behind them I had to make an adjustment. I used Plastic Wood to fill in the holes that had been drilled to hold the plates. Plastic Wood is perfect for this kind of job because it can be painted or stained.  Once it was sanded and painted there was zero evidence of the outer holes.

I spray painted the pulls with metallic gold spray paint by Ace Hardware.

Then I used Rub-n-Buff in gold leaf to paint these weird little accents.

Much better.

It’s perfect next to my little chair with the DIY spot fabric.

I finally have a little extra storage for my clothes which means it doesn’t constantly look like a clothes bomb exploded in here. So are you obsessing over anything lately? I would love to know I’m not the only one!

I’m linking up this week at the following AMAZING blogs.

Liz Marie Blog

Miss Mustard Seed

Suburbs Mama

Finding Fabulous

DIY Showoff

Give Me the Goods Monday at Rain on a Tin Roof

A Stroll Thru Life

The Blissful Bee

Domestically Speaking

Not Just a Housewife

Start at Home

 

Bling-y Bentwood Rocker

I have a problem. I’m somewhat addicted to gold spray paint. I feel the need to paint ev-er-y-thing gold. It just adds a touch of drama. I love that.

My dad gave me this old Bentwood rocker and I took it without much excitement.  I put it in the basement and forgot about it for a while until  one day when I just felt the need to paint something.

So I took it outside and painted it blue.

Yeah…not so much. Huge fail.

Then I put it back in the basement and forgot about it for a while. Again. Well, shortly after that my obsession with gold spray paint began and I had been thinking about all the different things I could paint gold. That’s when I remembered the rocker. I’m loving the new glam look.

So much better than the blue.

I just covered and taped off the wicker and spray painted the rest with gold metallic spray paint. I used both Valspar and Ace brand paint. Both are terrific spray paints. Then I used a paint brush to paint the wicker in Balboa Mist.

I still haven’t decided where it will stay but  I will probably put it in the living room. It would also be a great bedroom chair.  How cute would this be in a little girl’s room?

Do you have a go-to color for spray painting? I would love to know! Leave a link to your projects in the comments section.

Hope everyone has a fun holiday weekend!

This week I’m linking up at some very cool blogs. You should check them out.

http://madeinaday.com/2013/05/23/made-u-look-linky-72/

http://www.classyclutter.net/2013/05/spotlight-saturday-link-party-6.html

http://suburbsmama.blogspot.com/2013/05/sunday-linky-party-9.html

Dipped and Fabulous

Hey there! How was everyone’s week? Mine was kinda busy but I did manage to get a lot done. Including this fabulous little table. 

Ok so I’m usually a little behind on the trends. This wasn’t even one I was really planning on trying but I just happened to look over by the fireplace and realized I had a black end table next to a black chair. Just seemed like a little too much black going on for one small area.

This is what it looked like after I painted it black but before I moved it next to the black chair.

And this is what it looked like when I bought it.

I thought this table would look much better painted white but I thought it needed a little something else too. That’s when I remembered the “dipped” trend. I also thought about how much I love a touch of gold.

So after I painted it with two coats of chalk paint in Balboa Mist, my favorite shade of white, I prepped it for the “dipping”. Which isn’t actually dipping at all. (If only it were that easy).

I measured how high I wanted the paint to go up each leg then wrapped it with painters tape. I used Zip Lock bags to protect the top of the legs. I punched a small hole in each one then pulled them up over the legs and secured them tightly with tape.

Then I wrapped the rest of it in plastic and secured it with tape.

Finally, on to the easy part. I sprayed each foot with two coats of Valspar Metallic Gold spray paint letting them dry between coats. All that was left was to apply two coats of Minwax polyurethane in a matte finish.  I decided to leave the hardware white. I didn’t want to take away from the gold. Plus I just think the white on white is pretty.

In case you didn’t notice, I used the coral lamp that I used to have in “the lounge”. It looks so much better on that white table and it gives that little corner the perfect touch of color.

Much better. Oh, and yes I realize the  rug is too small. I just wanted to cover the vent for better photos. It’s just a prop stolen from another room :)  So what do you think? Have you ever “dipped” a piece of furniture?

Hope everyone has a happy weekend and a fabulous Mother’s Day!!

Metallic Desk Chair

Ch-ch-ch-changes….

So I have been making a few changes around here. I tend to do that a lot. Anyway, the dining room just wasn’t coming together the way I wanted it to and we NEVER ate at the table. So I thought, what’s the point? That’s when I decided to make better use of our space by rearranging some things. I moved the dining table, chairs and china cabinet into the living room and moved my desk and storage chest into the dining room, which is now the office. It’s all workin’ for me now. The best part? We actually eat at the table now. Love it.

Ok, back to the point. The desk chair just wasn’t right ever since I painted the coral stripes inside the desk and especially since I moved it into a room with such a dark wall color. I think I just needed a little bling.

So I painted it with two coats of Valspar metallic spray paint in gold. I’m really into metallics lately, especially gold. This spray paint is one of the best I have ever used. It covers really well and I still have some leftover, even after using it on another small project. I debated priming the chair first but I was afraid it might end up being a little brassier than I wanted since the primer I had was white.  So I just went for it.

Then, I used a staple gun to recover the seat in one of my favorite patterns, an animal print in shades of black and grey. I thought that would tie in well with the desk and the wall color.

This is what the chair looked like before.

This is what it looks like now.

I also hung a memo board I made out of a piece of corkboard and a shower curtain I found in the clearance section at Target. It’s a great spot to pin fabric and paint swatches.

Now I just need something to hang above the desk and MAYBE a small craft table for the center of the room. Turning this room into an office was definitely the way to go since it is a much better use of our space. I love it now and use it everyday.

P.S. I’m linking up this post to emilyaclark.blogspot.com. Check out her blog. You’ll love it!