4th of July weekend

I recently had my birthday and my wonderful husband gave me some chalk paint powder from BB Frosch. I've been wanting to try this product our for a long time so I wanted to get started right away, and luckily I had the perfect piece to start with.

This vintage Chippendale desk with batwing hardware and rope molding. Now these pictures actually make this piece look better than it did in person. Trust me when I say there was no way I wasn't going to paint it.  It was pretty far gone. 

 Plus it was a disgusting mess. We brought it into the cool air conditioned house before I cleaned up the cobwebs and dust, the estate sale I bought it from said it had been in their garage for awhile, but soon I found out that wasn't the only mess that needed cleaning.

 This is one of the more mild pictures, but all over the bottom of the drawers, especially the ones at the bottom of the desk, and inside of the actual bottom of the desk I found these disgusting brown little bug pod things that just were clinging in every crevice and crack. My skin was crawling, I was completely grossed out, and yes I spent HOURS cleaning and cleaning and disinfecting this desk.

This picture above shows how they were all over the bottom inside, not the best picture, but lets be honest here, you really don't want to see it anyway right? Thankfully I believe the bugs were long gone, or just died in there years ago because they were actually pretty brittle. I still don't know what it really was, but I've never seen this before in my life and I hope to never have to clean that up again.

After it was clean Nate helped me fill in the holes from the original hardware with wood filler. The new drawer pulls I want to put on here are just barely too wide for the existing holes.

 Here was the very professional method we used to mix our chalk paint. :) An older disposable Tupperware with a 1 cup measurement marked on the side.

We measured the 2 tablespoons of chalk paint powder then added the 1-1 1/2 tablespoons of water, mixed it then added 1 cup of paint. Which we pored right into the Tupperware but just went above the line to compensate for the height of the powder mixture.

 The paint I chose was a $5 sample can of Sherwin Williams - Snowbound.

 I painted the first coat and almost went through a all of the paint I had mixed.

 So I mixed some more and did the second coat which was looking much better but not quite enough.

 I was a little disappointed that 2 coats wasn't enough because one of the big claims with chalk paint is that it has better coverage and needs less coats, but without a primer and with this dark stain going to white, I shouldn't be too harsh.

 So here it is with 3 coats, so I used 6 tablespoons of my chalk paint powder. Tomorrow I'm hoping to get the wax on and then the hardware and she'll be done and ready to be used.

Finally!

I finished making this upholstered bench and I love it! And our little girl loves it too.

There are little things that I wish I could fix, that always happens when I make something, but overall I'm so happy with it! I love it!

So a few years ago I bought this table for $2 at an estate sale around the corner from where we live. Then a year later I finally did something with it. I painted it with a glossy white spray paint.

 

 

 After choosing my fabric, making my buttons, and getting the right padding I got my wonderful husband to drill holes for the tufting.

Then I wanted to get started but this little one made it a little tough for the last year. But a few weeks ago I finally decided it was time to do it no matter what, but even with her awake it wasn't really working.

So during naptime and after Daddy came home, it was done! Just like that, I can't believe it took me that long to finish it, when really it only took a few hours and it was finished!

 And now it has a home in our little girls room in front of the window where she watches for passing squirrels, dogs, and her Daddy.

Re-Upholstering

So FOREVER I have wanted to take an upholstery class, and this last year, 2013, I finally did!!!!

It was a lot of money, the price of the class, plus the tools, and any materials you use there, plus your fabric, it adds up fast!!! BUT, Nate and I thought now that we have a few pieces that need to be reupholstered, that we got really good deals on, the cost might even out after I know what I'm doing and can do it on my own. Sorry that was a long sentence. 

 

 So my class started Oct 10th, It was on Thursday nights and was a 3 hour class.  I had it once a week except a few times when the teacher was sick and on Thanksgiving.  So I learned very slowly, but it was SO MUCH FUN, and SO worth it.

 

So the above picture is the first chair, or chairs, we have two, that we bought to reupholster.  And my plan was to do one of them and this other mid-century modern chair that my husband found at a yard sale, GO NATE! So I asked my teacher what she thought, if I would be able to finish both and she quickly told me that I should do his first, it was easier, and then maybe I'd get to start on the other chair before the class was up.

 

 So I was a dork and thought we had a "before" picture of this chair but we didn't so this is what I've got.  This is it upside-down on the table with the outside back panel of the fabric open.  And believe me when I say this thing took too long to take apart.  The staples were pretty stuck in there and with the pattern it was hard to find a few...

This is the bottom and you can see how the padding was damaged from the springs

cutting through it. But luckily the springs were still good so I didn't have to replace them I just reinforced them and put burlap in between the new padding and the springs.

So my last class was Dec. 12th, and I had barely finished my chair, but the arms and legs still needed to be put on, so unfortunately it wasn't ready before we left town that sat. for the wedding and Christmas, but now its done! And yeah I didn't even get to the other chair, oh well. I'm hoping I can figure it out on my own with only a few calls to my upholstery teacher with questions. We'll see:)

 

So Voila! Here is the after and here it is with the old fabric on it to kind of give you an idea of what it might have looked like before. Use your imagination :)

 

 I used a brown and ivory herringbone pattern I found on sale at Joanne's, we originally wanted the gray and ivory, but the brown was $30 cheaper per yard and it looked very similar.  Also I had hoped to get a larger scale herringbone pattern, but this was the right price for us, and I'm happy with it.  Also everyone in my class really liked it too so that helped convince me it was okay to veer off the original plan I had. We also decided not to add the extra piping and skirt piece that the original chair had on the bottom front.

Sorry for my yellow looking pictures, totally still use my point and shoot camera here. SLR's are just things in my dreams.

And sorry the fabric doesn't photograph very well, but it's definitely an improvement from what we had before, not that the fabric before was horrible, just harder to work with, and most important, Nate LOVES his chair, and takes all the credit for it because he found it, and said we should buy it, even though I did all of the work, except he did help me put the legs back on.  Merry Christmas Honey!

Oh and on Saturday I spent all day rearranging/ cleaning things in our room so now it lives there, i'll have to put a pic. up later, right now I'm getting over the flu...ughhh! Be smart get a flu shot, SO much cheaper and less painful than having the flu. Especially while you are pregnant.

Wow this house is a LOT OF WORK!

I have been meaning to get this blog going, but life just moves by so quickly.  I originally started this blog with hopes to win a fabulous makeover contest from Vintage Revivals. Then things would've started off so smoothly with a fun big makeover, and then you could follow us on our journey of home-ownership with our own DIY's, repairs, and eventually makeovers.

Well, obviously I didn't win, and so my plan didn't really work out how i'd hoped.

But now I'm ready to begin because this sad basement has started its own makeover, all on its own really!


Unfortunately just not how i'd hoped.

Over Memorial Day weekend we had a CRAZY rainstorm, dropping record amounts of rainfall in just a few hours, after having had rainstorms all week that had saturated the ground, this one was especially bad for us because it all came INTO our basement.  YUCK! After saving toys, TV, and the minimal furniture we have, we began the  FUN  exhausting clean-up process, emptying the shop vac multiple times all with the beautiful/ annoying humming of the box fans.  After a bout a week of moisture, and seeing that things just weren't really drying out, we realized we had a bigger problem.  So Nate decided it all had to come out, so we spent another weekend tearing out paneling, sheet rock, and insulation.  And although it was all happy feelings for Nate, he was just itching to get that paneling out since the day we purchased the house.  I had the worst upset stomach.  I think I was just tired of all of the messes, problems, mold yuckiness, and I was not feeling excited about it.  I just had this feeling we'd be living in "construction" mode for months and months until we could afford to fix it.

 Here's to hoping that doesn't happen...

Please vote for me!!!!

We are #82. Just click on this link and then scroll to the bottom where all of the entries are and click the star icon under #82 to vote for my room.  Thank You Thank You Thank You! You actually can vote once every day until September 14th. 

I am in Desperate need of an "Epic Room Makeover", from this crazy cute gal Mandi over at Vintage Revivals. So I decided that I needed to create a new blog that wasn't private so I could enter her Epic Room Makeover Giveaway Contest.

 

So we just moved into this adorable old home in Nebraska.  We are not originally from Nebraska and let me just say it's an adjustment. We've lived here for 3 years while my husband attended Law School, and now that he has a job we are here to stay. But THANK GOODNESS for our new adorable 1920's charmer to help me feel right at home.

We love all of its character.  The little architectural surprises have been fun... and not so fun. We love the built-ins, the staircase, french door, etc... and we "love" not-so-much, how our queen box spring mattress wouldn't fit up the cute staircase we have, so we slept with the mattress on the floor for a whole month... and how even I have to duck to go down the stairs to the basement, and how it was covered, I mean COVERED in spiders and spiderwebs when we moved in. Thank goodness for pest-control and the vacuum!

Okay sorry I kinda dragged that out.

Anyway, we love the architectural details in our home, and we are having fun freshening it all up, BUT there is one specific room that I need serious help with. And I know that Mandi is just what I need.  I love her creativity, her thrifting, and her fresh sense of style.

So here is an idea of what we are living with.

 Love it right? By the way these pictures were taken when we walked through it when it was for sale, not my furniture. and although its super cute and we do like traditional we need that with a fun modern twist.  And that's why I'm totally confident that Mandi is our gal! 

 Love this swing on the screened-in porch, although they didn't leave it...but they did leave the playhouse!!!! Love how it matches the house!

 

 

So this is what we need help with.

 

our Basement.

 

 So as you can see that wonderful "charm" comes right down to the basement too...except its 1970 panelling charm.  At least its been painted right? Ha, just wish it wasn't this puke green color that looks even worse with the fabulous lighting.

 And we sure have options with the lighting. We have this track light, which definitely helps light up the room, if we plug it in. And why did they put it there? 

 

Behind my husband's desk there is a built-in, used for storage and a window which is actually filled with insulation, so maybe we can bring some natural light in? It would be nice, but seriously not much, but I'm sure it would help my boys when going down to turn on the lights.

 There is also this other beauty of a built-in. Again, don't understand why its there and what would I do with it? I think it needs to go, or have a Mandiliscious makeover, I'm sure she could make it fabulous somehow.

 Oh, and they were nice enough to leave this other panelling "jem", a movable side table, TV console, etc...

 My Son wanted in on the tour, "What is THIS Mandi?"

 This shows you the opposite wall, all panelling, except for the barn style door that leads to the bathroom and laundry room.

 Which surprisingly has been updated! Now we just are in desperate need of an update in the other room.

 

 

 

 

And here are the pics. we took during our walk-through, not a true pic. of the room at this time, but wanted to include it as it gives another perspective on our room.

 

 

So we have hopes of fixing this room someday, but it's currently at the bottom of the bottom of the list.  I'd love to make it a fun basement hang-out for watching movies, playing,relaxing and getting some work done.  It is definitely the coolest area in our home especially during these humid summer months in Nebraska, and with an old house usually the second story doesn't get cooled by the air conditioner. And I'd LOVE to do this for my husband for all of his hard work these last three years during Law School, supporting a family (that started with one and now two little boys), holding a job, loosing his Dad two weeks before our second son was born, and being the editor-in-chief on the Law Review.  He's been through so much and still done so well in school. I'm so proud of him, and the boys and I would love to show him with your help Mandi.

 

 

 

OH! and P.S. there is kinda another challenge with this room, that I especially need your creativity and help with.  You know how I mentioned that I even have to duck when going down the basement stairs?  Well to get out washer and dryer down the stairs, they are a little more narrow than usual, we had some trouble.

 

 We had to take the banister off, and have yet to put it back up, you may have noticed it propped against the wall earlier.

 A little bit of molding in the way? oh just pop it up out the way! ...I just tell myself at least I have a washer and dryer in my home, then its all worth it.



But seriously I need a professionals help.

 

So PLEASE PLEASE pick me!