Painted Thrown Pillows: Upcycle

I had bought some orange cushion covers at Ikea 

No matter what I sat them next too, the brilliant orange looked a little rusty and autumnal. While that is gorgeous, my house leans more towards the bright and bold so dusty colors just don't gel with the rest. 

After placing them in my donation box but dragging my feet about dropping them off, I finally grabbed some fabric paint to see what I could do. They were already a loss.

Now we love them! And the pillow forms inside were thin and cheap so I double-stuffed them with my lumpy old gray cushions too. Those things looked like they were full of baking potatoes. 

But the two together - rich, thick, deluxe comfort. 

I'm a happy lady and my living room has one more bright pop of color.

Side Table and Occasional Table Before and Afters

We've been working hard on our Master Bedroom. I can't wait to show you the pictures of how it all comes together. But first, I have a few more pictures of furniture we've refinished.

Side Tables: Before

After:

Before: I seriously wish I'd snapped a shot when we starter sanding and discovered the lumps in the paint were actually hand painted pictures of fruit. Oh my!

Yeah... I painted it silver. So awesome!!!

I'm so excited to show you our Master Bedroom redo. It's really coming together. If you missed the first post featuring the dresser you can see it HERE. 

Personal Note: Things have gone rather badly for me health-wise and that steep decline has lead to a precipice and a long obstacle strewn drop leaving me a broken, crumpled mess at the bottom. This morning I'm returning to the pain clinic and resuming my ranks among the chronically pain afflicted (Spoonies of the world, Unite!). Maybe they can find out what is causing the difficulties I'm having - could be the herniated disc, the bone disease, maybe the back surgery scarring is all the fuss... Hopefully we'll get to the bottom of things or if not that, they can help with pain management. Either way, push has come to shove and I'm heading back down the path with the scary men and big needles.  I'll be the girl carrying a plate of cupcakes and decorating the path with cute banners and a sugar skull for two. If you see me there, be sure to say hello.

Warmly,       

              Nicole

Dresser Renovation: Before and After

I have a bad history of buying furniture at yard sales or Goodwill (DI) and then stashing it away in my basement indefinitely. Isn't that terrible?

It's just a whole lot of work to refinish something and my plate feels painfully full already. I'm just not one of those bloggers who refinishes a table in the afternoon and then paints her front door that evening. Never will be. I'm clumsy and prone to spills - things never go as planned. Never

Which is why I'm so pleased to have a furniture before an after to share. It's rare as unicorn tears.

Since I'm confessing, my husband and I haven't had a dresser since our house burned down in 1997. We've had several homes, several cars, several a-whole-lot-of-things, but never a dresser. It just failed to be a priority - especially after making do for fourteen years. So when I saw a dresser and end table set (end tables! We haven't had those since '99 when a homebuyer wanted us to throw ours in with the house) at DI for $55.00 I brought it home.

It was in rough shape. See.

Sanded:

Ta-da!

Can I show you my favorite part one more time? Check out the snazzy drawer lining. Me and The Podge got up close and personal. Viva la gift wrap!

Doesn't it totally remind you of this:

Linked up With:

Whipperberry

Sewing Space Part One - Tiered Organizer

I'm working on transforming my desk in the hall "sewing area" from a catch-all surface for everything from laundry to lego to a nice, organized spot where I can sew without having to move a ton of stuff first.

My goal is to add storage, organizers and a little bit of personal style. I'm only half-way there but I wanted to share my progress.

First up, some cute vertical storage. These are all over the internet, but just in case you needed some tips, I took pics of the process.

Go thrifting and acquire two candle sticks (or really any sort of spacer) and three flat surfaces - like plates, platters etc. I have a burner pan, a round cake pan and a tarnished platter for this one. I bought the "expensive" stuff and it came to six bucks.

Look at all the wonderful tarnish and age!

Make sure the bottoms are flat and that the graduation in size is pleasing.

Try them out, unattached, in the space to make sure the height is right. If not, go find a different size of candle stick - they don't need to match.

Spray paint your candlesticks, or in this case, since I liked the white, I distressed the finish using rough sand paper.

Glue together with E-6000

If there is some sort of trick to this, I'd love to hear it. My tower kept sliding around, I ended drying it upside down.

Fill with your supplies. 

There's lots more to share. So stay tuned :-)

Warmly, Nicole

Gallery Shelves: A More Awesome Wall of Awesome

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When I saw DIY gallery shelves by Ana-White on Pinterest I knew what our Memorial Day Weekend project was going to be. After five years, our Wall of Awesome was starting to show it's age a bit and I wanted something that would allow easier dusting, more variety and less holes in the walls.

Here's some Wall of Awesome sections

Before:

Pretty cool, no? 

But it's very hard to dust or rearrange and it leads to this:

A giant wall of Not-So-Awesome

So after more patching then I care to recall, we got to paint.

Antique Tin - Behr Premium Plus Ultra

Meanwhile we made shelves. While the ledges are in fact, "Ten Dollar Shelves", and for eight feet no less, they are anything but quick and easy and it took us all weekend to paint them on all sides, several times, and get them up on the wall in a reasonable fashion.

My living room... because it was SNOWING all weekend and too cold in the garage... yes, I am yelling:

Don't believe me? Here's where we planned to grill:

Anyhoo~

Finally at literally the eleventh hour (or 2300 if you're so inclined) we had the shelves painted, assembled and hung. Hooray. I kinda threw the frames up without a ton of thought because it was the middle of the night everything up there is special to us and I know I'll be messing around with them indefinitely. 

The Wall of Awesome, now, Awesomer!

They're so pretty! Well worth the time and effort. 

I have more DIY projects from this weekend to share with you over the next little while, If you have any questions please let me know.

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I'm a Ginger Gem! Yay!  I made this card for their Cowboys and Cowgirls  Challenge and mine was one of the ones chosen for honors. Thanks so much, Gingersnap Creations.

Linked Up With:

Tatertots and Jello

Whipperberry: Friday Flair

Blue Cricket Design: Show and Tell

Sew Woodsy's What's Up Wednesdays

Just Something I whipped Up

Not Just a Housewife

Nifty Thrifty Tuesdays @ Coastal Charm

Skip to My Lou

Penny Pinching Party: The Thrifty Home

POV: Shelves