I just wanted to quickly show you what we are up to now.
It’s just a little picture to freak your freak. 
The above room is not our kitchen.
The chaos had moved to the room next door.
I would love to hear what you think my hubby was thinking in his mind when I took that picture!
(Keep it G rated, ladies.)
You have to see this to believe it!
My master bedroom has undergone a major transformation.
When looking at my bedroom on the Parade of Homes yesterday, I was feeling a little insecure that maybe it didn’t look as good as I had hoped.
But when I looked back at the “before” pictures of my room, I cannot believe how far it has come.
I love my new bedroom. It truly feels like a master retreat when I walk in the room.
Here’s the recap of where I began:
I had a cherry bedroom suite that I sold on Craigslist for $700.00. One of my kids puked on my comforter (seriously), and I had to throw it away, so I didn’t even have a complete bedding set. I really hadn’t done much to decorate the room except throw some pictures up on the wall.
Here is my awful “before”…
And here is the “after”
I did not change the wall color or the window treatments. Those two things can cause a lot of stress. :) I knew I wanted the walls to be neutral, and I liked the way the curtains matched the color of my fireplace.
I think the wall color is called Navajo White by Porter Paints. We painted it five years ago, so I’m not real sure.
The curtains I got at Homegoods a couple of years ago for $8.00 a window. It was only $16.00 for all four panels! You can’t beat that price.
See how much space the king sleigh bed took up? I had it up against that wall because it was the only place it would fit. I tried moving the bed in front of the window one time, but it looked horrible. When you walked into the room, all you could see was that HUGE footboard. So the bed remained on this wall…
When I tried the four poster bed in front of the window…I loved it! The bed was my mom and dad’s bed, so I didn’t have to purchase a new bed which helped a lot with my makeover budget. And it’s a king bed, so we were able to use our same box spring and mattress.
One of the things I didn’t like about the layout of our old bedroom was that you saw our tv as soon as you walked into our room. So one of my goals for my makeover was to find a piece of furniture to hide our tv in.
Now our tv hides in this black armoire that I got at a habitat store for 40 bucks.
It was missing the back, so my husband added one.
He also built some shelves inside to add more storage, so the total project cost us about $90.00.
We removed the ugly ceiling fan from the middle of the room.
The fireplace was the hardest thing to accessorize, and I am still not crazy about it. All of the items on the mantle were things I already had.
The picture of the boys was a 16×20 wall canvas that I won last year in a giveaway at Reluctant Entertainer! It has been in our foyer for a long time, but I decided to frame it and put it on my mantle.
Believe it or not, I already had this frame that I wasn’t using and it was a perfect fit! The frame was gold, so I painted it black and wiped off the edges with a wet paper towel right after I painted it so the gold would show through.
I love the way it turned out! I took this picture last year on the road directly in front of our home. I love those boys!
The bed used to be against the only “solid” wall in the room…
…now my new dresser resides there. The dresser used to be green, and I bought it at an antique mall for $210.00. It was the most expensive purchase for my room.
The little lamp was a $10.00 purchase at an antique mall. The mirror frame was $4.50 and the blue vase $1.00, both from Goodwill. I got the wall mirror at Lowe’s for $25.00. It isn’t exactly what I wanted there, but it will have to do for now. I am still looking for a mirror or something else to put there.
But I love what the mirror says…
Here is the “before” view of the other side of the room…
The “after”…
I love watching tv from our cozy (dare I say romantic) bed.
Another “before”…
“After”…Look at all that floor space!
The accessories on top of the armoire are things I gathered from other parts of my house. :)
Here is another picture of my bed with my lamps all lit up…
I was having a hard time finding lamps for my room. I knew I wanted lamps made of glass, but I really couldn’t afford them.
I found these lamps at Garden Ridge for $24.99 a piece, plus $9.99 for each shade. They were exactly what I was looking for. I almost got them, but since I didn’t have much money left in my budget I decided not to.
The next day, I was talking to a family member who told me about some lamps she saw at Garden Ridge that she thought would be perfect for my room. (She follows my blog.) :)
It ended up we were talking about the same lamps! She felt like that was more than a coincidence and told me that she felt led by the Lord to buy them for me. What a blessing!
I just absolutely love them!
I was going to put a skirted table on this side of the bed, but couldn’t find any material that I liked. I’ve had this metal side table for years, and it was currently living in my den. I decided to save some money and use it in my room. It actually works pretty well.
I didn’t want this side of the room to look too “weighted down” with bulky furniture, so this piece keeps it kind of “light” and open.
The large pitcher on the bottom of the side table was a $5.00 find at Goodwill. It was an ugly tan color, so I spray painted it white!
I love my new lamp on my ($25.00) vanity too!
I don’t know if I ever mentioned that I bought the white coverlet and pillow shams from Sears. It is their Country Living brand. I got them on sale for a little less than $100.00. The tan pillow was my mom’s. I wanted to make some pillows with some blue in them, but had trouble finding material I liked.
I bought the frames on each side of my bed for $2.00 at the habitat store and painted them black. I printed the pictures off of my computer from Vintage Printables.
And of course, my favorite addition to the room is my chandelier that I purchased at Lowe’s for $145.00! I am so glad I splurged! Every girl needs a little “bling” in her room, right?
Here is the breakdown of my $700.00 budget:
$145-chandelier from Lowe’s
$90.00 – armoire
$210.00 – dresser
$25.00 – vanity
$25.00 wall mirror
$100.00 Country Living bedding from Sears
$36.00 Brown burlap/velcro bedskirt
$4.00 frames for both sides of bed
$10.00 – small lamp from antique mall
$25.00 _ (approx) miscellaneous accessories from Goodwill
$20.00 – two sets of white king pillow cases from Walmart
________
$690!!!
I did it!!!
And I love it!!!
If you missed any part of this makeover, just click on “Master Bedroom” in my sidebar labels, and you can see every project I did these past few months for this makeover.
Thank you so much for all of your comments and encouragement throughout this whole process! I promise you that I would have never taken on this makeover if it weren’t for this blog and everyone who reads it…so THANK YOU!!!!!
A couple of announcements…
Don’t forget that this Friday is my second linky party…
I will have the linky system up around 9:oo p.m. Thursday night.
This is a chance for you to share the best DIY project that you completed in April. Please keep the projects related to DIY home decor or home improvement. Only one entry per person, and be sure to link your post back to my party.
If you don’t have a project to link up, you are still invited to come by and view everyone else’s. And I like to encourage everyone to visit at least 3 to 5 blogs and leave comments for others. We all need the encouragement! :)
Also, be sure to stop by Poppies at Play today to see the next four homes on their Parade of Homes! I have loved visiting everyone’s lovely homes!
Click on the button to join the parade..
I am linking my master bedroom makeover up to these parties:
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
DIY day at A Soft Place to Land
Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick!
Have a blessed day!
Traci
P.S. Check out my sister’s new fab blog!
Love it. Love her.
I am so excited to be participating in a blog Parade of Homes sponsored by Poppies at Play!
For those of you who are visiting my blog for the very first time, let me introduce myself.
My name is Traci, and I am a stay-at-home mom of four boys. I am married to a wonderful man who loves the same things in life that I do. We love sharing in this adventure called “life.”
I was an elementary teacher for 6 years before my first son was born, and it is hard to believe I have been at home with my boys for the past ten years. What a blessing!
I started my blog in March of last year after my mom kept encouraging me to. I am so glad she did. It has been a huge blessing in my life! My blog is dedicated to my mom who passed away in September of last year after a short battle with gastric cancer. Her love and her faith in God has changed my life forever. (You can read about her story by clicking on “mom” in my sidebar.)
Over the past year, I have been fixing up my house one room at a time. I just recently finished our master bedroom, and I am so excited to reveal it today!
I am not an interior decorator. I have no degree in design. I have just used the inspiration I have found in blogland this past year to decorate my home. :)
So welcome everyone to my
ol’ Kentucky home!
I like to call my home the “House of Thrifty Finds.” Almost everything in my house is from Goodwill, garage sales, or hand-me-downs. I will point my thrifty treasures out to you throughout the tour.
As you enter our home, you will see this vinyl saying that my Mom helped me put up last August.
Directly down the foyer is our kitchen and eating area.
I purchased the hutch for $75.00 at a garage sale and painted it black. You can read about that project HERE.
The white buffet on the left side of the picture below is a $55.00 find at Goodwill that I painted. You can read about that project HERE.
I love this view of my curtains through the mirror. I made the curtains from drop cloths, and I absolutely love the way they turned out. If you want to see how I made them, just click on “drop cloth projects” in my sidebar.
Our biggest renovation in our home has been the kitchen. Last fall, we tore out the soffit above our cabinets and created new, taller cabinets. You can see the complete DIY renovation by clicking HERE.
I love the glass cabinet doors and the open shelving my husband created above the microwave.
The bead board cabinet doors added to the cottage style I was striving for.
We also installed recessed lighting inside the glass cabinets and underneath the cabinets. You can never have enough light in the kitchen!
On the right side of the kitchen, I made some cafe shelves like the ones I saw in Ballard Designs catalog. You can see the tutorial of how to make them for yourself HERE.
Our master bedroom is
right off of our kitchen. I have been working on our bedroom for a couple of months now, and I am so excited to finally share the finished product.
I renovated our entire bedroom for less than $700.00, and I will be sharing a ton of Before and After photos, plus the break down of my budget, tomorrow. You won’t believe the difference, so be sure to stop back by and check it out!
Here is the view as you enter the room…
The bed was my parents, and I painted it black. I made the brown bedskirt from burlap, and I think it turned out beautifully.
I was so excited when I found this little vanity for only $25.oo! It fits perfectly beside my bed. It just needed a little TLC which you can read about HERE.
I have enjoyed accessorizing with items that are special to me, like the picture of my mom and me when I was a little girl and a decorative bird that was my mom’s.
The chandelier was my “splurge” for my room. I got it at Lowe’s and I love the way it adds a little romance to the room.
This black dresser was purchased at an antique mall, and I painted it black as well. (Can you tell I like that color?) :)
Here’s the view of the other side of the room.
I got the armoire for $40.00 at a habitat store! It needed a little work (like it was missing a back), but it works perfectly for our room now. Our tv hides in there! Click HERE to see that project.
Our master bath is really small, but can you believe it was actually smaller?! We renovated it a couple of years ago by knocking out a wall and making it a little bigger.
My husband did all the work in our bathroom. He is quite the DIY man!
One of my favorite “rooms” in our home is our covered back patio.
I love watching my boys play in the back yard and enjoying lots of cookouts with friends and family out here. Those are some of life’s sweetest moments!
See that red door in the background of the below picture?
That door leads to the guest house we built over our detached garage.
My husband built our guest house, and I got to decorate it. A winning combination!
We didn’t really have any money to decorate the guest house, so I had a ball shopping at Goodwill and garage sales. I am one of those people who think it is FUN to decorate with thrifty finds!
My hubby built me these amazing cabinets! If you want to see how he made them, click on “cottage cabinets” in my side bar labels.
I got this cute little coffee table at Goodwill for $6.50 and painted it white. It fits perfectly with the room. I also got the chair for $6.50 at Goodwill and covered it with burlap.
If you would like a complete tour of our guest house including the bedroom and bathroom, click HERE.
Well, that concludes my tour!
Thank you so much for stopping by, and I hope you enjoyed your visit.
The next house on the Parade of Homes tour is Beth from Stories from A to Z. Her house is beautiful and so is she…inside and out!
Just click on the #3 button below, and it will take you there.
Enjoy the Parade!
Have a blessed day!
Traci
Okay, I am feeling really brave today because I am sharing a video of me with you.
I found such a great deal that I had to share it with you “in person”.
(I took this video from my phone, in my son’s room, late at night, and I’m looking pretty rough. I must really love you guys!) :)
Here is what the vanity looked like when I walked into the Antique Mall…(insert bright light from heaven and choir of angels singing)…
Here is what the top looked like when we brought it home. I loved it despite it’s flaws…(we had started sanding it a little already)…
My hubby helped me sand it with 80 grit (coarse) sand paper to get some serious work done on top…
Then he sanded the whole top with 120 grit sand paper, and then smoothed it out with a 220 grit sand paper.
Now, I apologize for not taking pictures of the next steps. I was so excited about this project that I truly forgot. But I will tell you what we did.
I wiped the dust off the top and applied two coats of Miniwax “Dark Walnut” stain with a clean cloth. (Be sure to let it dry in between coats.)
Then I cleaned the bottom half of the piece with a wet cloth and a little bit of Murphy’s Wood cleaner.
Then I put a coat of Minwax Polyurethane (satin finish) all over the entire piece with a large sponge brush. Be sure to put on a thin layer.
When it was completely dry, I lightly sanded the top of the vanity and applied a second coat just to the top.
And here it is….(It looks orange-y out in the sun, but it is really a dark brown.)
The drawers work perfectly even though they have some big scratches on them, and I love the way they look. The scratches give the piece so much character…like there is a story behind every scratch.
And here it is in its new home…aaaahhhh….
Doesn’t it fit just perfectly?
I may put a mirror over the vanity…I haven’t decided yet.
The top turned out silky-smooth! I got that mirror picture frame at the Antique Mall too for just $4.99. I thought it would add some more “bling” to the room.
I love the details on this piece….the engravings, the cute little round feet…
One more reminder…$25.00!!!!!
Seriously? You can’t beat that with a stick!
So can you tell I love this piece? Hope so!
I am sooooo close to having this room finished. I am mostly looking for some lamps and some material for pillows.
The “big reveal” will be coming soon….
I am linking this party to DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land!
And Home is….@Reluctant Entertainer!
Be sure to mark you calendars for my next linky party.
All you have to do is link your favorite DIY project (related to home decor or home improvement) that you have completed in the month of April. One entry per person please.
If you don’t have a project to post, then just come and hang ou
t at the party and check out everyone else’s great projects. :)
I will be posting more details about the party this week.
Have a blessed day!
Traci
UPDATE: I have had a bunch of questions about my Easter outfit. :) You girls are so funny! The dress is Calvin Klein, and I got it at Marshall’s on clearance for $44.00 (which is actually kind of pricey for me). The shoes I got at Payless for $14.99, and I already had the necklace and earrings. There ya go, sweet things!
I hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend.
The weather here was absolutely perfect, and I enjoyed spending time with both sides of our family.
I did get a couple pics that I wanted to share with you.
Me and my boys…
The loves of my life!…
The whole crew after church…
I missed Mom terribly. I have such wonderful memories of Easter as a child. Mom played a big part in making it so special. I pray that my boys will also look back on these days and feel the same love that I did growing up.
The best part of the day was being in the Lord’s house and celebrating Jesus’ love for us all!
**********************************************************
Now to another piece of furniture that I finished for our master bedroom makeover.
Remember this inspiration picture I shared with you?….
And remember this dresser I found at an antique mall?…
Well, I broke down and bought her. They were asking $250.00 for the dresser. (Remember I had a $700.00 budget from the money I made selling my previous cherry bedroom suite.)
I did NOT want to pay that much!! I am sooo cheap! I knew that as soon as I bought the dresser, I would find one like it at a garage sale for like 25 bucks, and I would be totally kicking myself!
So I waited for about two weeks as I looked at every used furniture store, Goodwill, and antique mall I could find, and I saw NOTHING like this dresser.
I went back to the antique mall and offered them $200.00 cash, but they didn’t take it. So I called my Aunt Sue who buys and sells antiques, and ask her what I should do.
Long story short, my Aunt Sue went to the antique mall and talked the dealers down to $210.00. That’s as low as they would go, and since it was exactly what I was looking for, I decided to get it. :)
Thank you, Aunt Sue!
And here she is now…
Isn’t she cute?
I followed the same painting steps on this dresser that I used for my black armoire, except I cover the whole dresser with primer. You can read about the details HERE. I also will probably be putting a coat of polyurethane on this dresser for extra durability.
I did want to share with you how I did the drawer pulls.
They looked like this at first…
My husband primed them with some self-etching primer that he uses on his cars. (You could use regular spray primer.)
Then I spray painted them black (look at the handle at the top of the picture.)
I used a Folk Art paint from Walmart called Metallic Antique Gold ($1.25) and wiped it over the black handle with a paper towel.
It gave me exactly the look I was after! Can you see the difference in the picture below?
I love the way they look on my dresser…
Pretty close to my inspiration picture, don’t ya think?
LOVE IT!
Now for the hard part…accessorizing! I always struggle with this step. I’m not sure what I want to put on it…lamp?….pictures?….flowers?….we’ll see…
I am linking this project up to these wonderful parties…
Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick,
Thrifty Treasures at Southern Hospitality,
Make it for Monday at Cottage Instincts,
DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land
Furniture Feature Friday at Mustard Seed Creations
Blessings!
Traci
I have been working fast and furiously on my master bedroom re-do. I have gotten a lot done but still have more to do.
I wanted to share with you the entertainment armoire that I found for our bedroom.
As I told you before, I wanted to be able to hide the tv in our bedroom. To do this, I decided to try and find an entertainment armoire to re-do.
I searched at some antique malls and on Craig’s list, but had no luck. The ones on Craig’s list were all $200 to $300, and I didn’t want to pay that much. (Remember, I am doing my master bedroom re-do on a $700.00 budget.)
One day I ran into a Habitat store and saw this armoire…
I walked over to check the price and expected it to be way more than what I would have wanted to pay.
So you can imagine my surprise when I saw that it was only $40.00!!! I was so excited!
To be honest, it wasn’t exactly the style I was looking for, but for 40 bucks, I could learn to love it!
When I opened the doors, I quickly realized why it was only 40 dollars…
The back was gone!!
But that didn’t bother me or Eli one bit! That was an easy fix! (My 8 year old help me take these pictures.) :)
I called my honey and said, “Honey, I found an armoire for 40 bucks!”
He said, “Great!”
I said, “The back is gone.”
He said, “Oh.”
“Can you put a back on it for me?”
“Yup.”
So I paid my forty dollars and took that baby home! :)
Here it is from behind…
My hubby applied wood glue to the edges…
And then used his staple gun to nail the new back on…
( 4 x 8 sheet of birch plywood – $18.00 at Lowe’s)
I also need some more storage space inside the armoire for baskets, so my hubby built some extra shelving. He used a 4 x 8 sheet of MDF board for the shelves since we were going to paint them. It cost approximately $ 15.00 at Lowe’s, but we only used a little of it. My husband used the leftover wood to make a work table for his garage.
Here are the products I used…
First I applied a liquid deglosser over the entire piece to prepare the surface for painting.
Then I primed the fronts of the armoire with KILZ. Technically, I should have primed the entire armoire for the paint to adhere properly. However, I knew that I wanted to sand down the edges of the armoire after I painted it. If I had primed the edges, the white primer would have shown through, and I didn’t want that.
So I didn’t prime any of the parts that I was planning on sanding. Again, this is my way, not necessarily the right way. :)
I did prime the insides of the armoire because I knew I would be painting them black.
I used my favorite Valspar paint in black satin to paint it.
Then I used a medium grit sanding sponge to sand the edges like this…
I love the way the cherry wood shows through.
Here it is in my room…
(I am sorry these pictures are not the best, but I think I had my camera on the wrong setting. Now it is nighttime and too late to take any good pictures.)
I love the way it turned out!
I just threw some things on top to take these pictures. :)
And I haven’t bought any handles yet. I am still trying to decide what type I want.
Here is the inside of the armoire…
I got the baskets at Gordman’s. They were 10 dollars a piece. We are using them to store socks and such.
I love the way the doors slide back into the armoire. And the tv is up good and high so we can see it perfectly from our bed! :)
We are using the bottom of the armoire to hold some of my husband’s clothing.
Here are the total costs:
Armoire – $40
Wood for back and shelves – approx. $25.00
Paint – $9.00
Baskets – $20.00
So the whole project cost me less than $100.00! Not bad.
I found this armoire at an antique mall a few weeks ago and almost bought it…
They were asking $375.00 for it. I think my armoire turned out just as nice, and I saved $275.00 by being a little creative!
So I used the money I saved to buy a little “bling” for my room!
Here’s a sneak peak…
Ooh-la-la…I love it!
Stay tuned for more of my master bedroom makeover!
I am linking this project up to…
Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch
Make it for Monday at Cottage Instincts
DIY day at A Soft Place to Land
Furniture Feature Friday at Mustard Seed Creations
Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!
Traci
Just had to share with you another great email I got from one of my readers a couple of weeks ago.
I love it when I receive these emails and pictures! :)
It is so much fun to hear and see that people are actually using the ideas I post about on my blog in their own homes.
What a blessing!
My friend, Gina, had written me last fall about the steps I took to paint the hutch in my kitchen black. Here is the picture of my hutch that she is talking about…
BEFORE…
AFTER…
Here is the email I received from Gina:
Hi Tracy-
I don’t know if you’ll remember e-mailing back and forth last October, so I just replied to your last e-mail to refresh your memory. After all these months, I was finally able to get to my china hutch. Here are the before and after pictures. It’s really hard to get a good picture of it. It looks better in person. I completely copied your hutch. I hope you don’t mind. Ever since I saw what you did with yours, I’ve wanted that for our dining room, even the white dishes. It took me awhile to find dishes that I liked. I found mine at Ross for $13. I had been collecting other things for awhile. I love the white platter on the bottom that was $10 at Goodwill. The green pitcher was a fluke. I saw that at Ross also and just loved the color. I had it somewhere else in the kitchen, but I love it in the hutch. If you look closely at the pictures, you’ll see I even have birdies in there! I got those at the dollar store and sprayed them gloss white.
Here’s what I did to this $65 hutch from Craigslist, with a little help from my husband. I added the beadboard to the back of the top part of the hutch. I wanted a “Ballard Designs” kind of look. The doors on the bottom took a little more work. I was kind of “winging” it as I went along. But, I basically replaced that hideous molding around the outside edges with something more simple and added new handles. I used a spray gun attached to our compressor and I loved using it. I’m very happy with how it turned out. The total cost including the cost of the hutch was around $150. I’m working on our dining room now and have a buffet that I got for $20 at goodwill that I’ve started on. I’ll send that along when I get done. Hopefully, it won’t take 4 months!
Thanks for your inspiration! I absolutely love doing this stuff and it helps to have ideas from creative and talented people like you!
:-)Gina
Here is her “before”…
And her “after”…
Bottom half “before”…
I love the way she took the molding off the doors. I wouldn’t have thought of that!
Here’s the “after”…
She also sent me a picture of a dresser she got off Craig’s list for 40 bucks…
She repainted the dresser and the hardware for her daughter’s room, and I think it is absolutely adorable now!!!
And here are some more pictures she sent me of the buffet she refinished. I love how she changed the look of the buffet by adding different feet to the bottom.
The buffet also had rounded edges on top, so her dad used his router to create a more interesting edge. I love that idea!!!
Edge before…
Edge after…
Gina, it turned out beautifully!!! I have been inspired by YOU to think outside of the box when picking out
furniture.
You definitely have the gift of seeing the diamond in the rough!
Thank you for taking the time to email these pictures to me. :)
************************
Have a blessed Sunday,
Traci
I have started my master bedroom makeover this weekend.
I’ll be sharing my progress with you over the next couple of weeks.
So today, I want to show you the “before” pictures. And of course, point out the little things in the pictures that make me laugh (and cringe.)
I did nothing to my room before taking these pictures except for vacuuming the carpet. I didn’t want to show off the Poptarts on the floor. :)
This is as real as it gets at my house.
I just sold our 5 piece King Cherry bedroom suite this weekend on Craigslist. And I hope to use the money I made from it for this bedroom makeover.
This is my mis-matched bedding. I had a red comforter that my youngest son puked on one night, and the dry cleaners said they couldn’t clean it without it falling apart. So I threw it away. :)
I have a red quilt on my bed now. The pillow cases are left over from when I had a cream matelasse on the bed at one point.
Please check out the horrific bed skirt. I’ve always hated it, but needed something to cover the junk I hide under my bed. It’s not quite doing the job is it? :)
Notice the bolt of lining that is propped up by the door? That’s been there a couple of weeks. It’s a reminder of why I need a “craft room”.
This room used to be a den, but when we bought the house, we turned it into the master bedroom. It has 3 light fixtures in the ceiling. I want to get rid of the ceiling fan during this makeover, and try to incorporate a chandelier or two in the room.
I also hope to find a armoire that I can hide the t.v. in instead of having it as a huge black focal point in the room.
I love our fireplace, but I always have trouble knowing how to decorate the mantle. I just threw these things up there to get them out of the way. Take note of the missing candle.
Here’s another view of the bed. Those are my mom’s accent pillows that I threw on there because I might keep them for this makeover. They do match my window treatments.
The big piece of wood on the floor is the top of an antique blanket chest that I inherited from my mom. The bottom half is still in the garage. I might try to incorporate it in the makeover.
Notice the missing globe on the light fixture. It just fell right off one night and broken into a gazillion pieces. Scared me to death!
Here is another view of the room. The louvered door on the left is our tiny laundry room. The door by the fireplace leads to outside.
The door to the right is the bathroom. You can read my post about the bathroom makeover HERE.
This next picture made me smile from ear to ear. Please notice a little piece of cuteness on the far right side of this picture….
Did you find him? He was waiting patiently for me to finish taking pictures. Oh, I love that boy!!!!
This next picture is keeping it as real as I can keep it.
I wasn’t going to share it, but I don’t want anyone to ever think that my house is as neat and clean as it is in most of the pictures I post on my blog. It never is.
This is real life…
So there you have it.
This is my starting point. I am very excited to start working on this room! And I can’t wait to share the progress with you.
It’s going to look totally different!
Thanks for stopping by!
Traci
Oops. I did it again!
I made another window treatment for my office.
If you are keeping count, which I am trying not to, that’s window treatment #3 in just a couple of months.
Yes. I am bordering on completely insane.
But I am very pleased with the results, and I am announcing here in front of everyone, “I will not make another window treatment for this office for at least a year. I promise.”
My office is the smallest room in my house, yet it has given me the biggest headache!
I just couldn’t get the look I was after, but I am as close as I am gonna get.
I. am. done.
Here’s where my office began…shortly after Christmas…
Yikes!
It took a couple of weeks to “decrapify” (as TDC says) my office.
Then I made this Roman Shade using my faux wood blinds, and I got this…
Double Yikes! Not liking it at all. Especially with my yellow walls that I hadn’t painted yet.
So I painted the walls my favorite color, Khaki Shade by Sherwin Williams and made another window treatment (#2).
Tutorial HERE.
Better, but I wasn’t liking the ribbons. Don’t know why. They just weren’t jivin’ with me. Too cutesy? Too girly?
I was trying to accessorize the rest of the office, but I could not get pass the window treatments. They were just plain buggin’ me.
So I used a similar procedure and made one more window treatment with some black material from Hobby Lobby. (#3)
Phew! This is more what I was after!
I am still playing with the accessories. I need a lamp shade, but not sure what style to get. The lamp was my mom’s. It was a cream color and I spray painted it white.
I think I like the “blessings” sign over the window. Is it too much? Do you think it would look better without it? Be honest. I am a big girl….I can take it. :)
I have to use a flash when taking pictures of my office because without it, it looks like this…
Does anyone know if there is a setting on a camera that reduces the glare of a window without using the flash?
Anyway, I have finally finished accessorizing my shelves. I am not moving another thing! Did I say I am done with this room? Done.
All of my accessories are things I had around the house.
I have had the two flower prints for a few years. My mom printed them off the internet for me, and I put them in black frames. Instant artwork.
I couldn’t find anything to put on the first shelf. So I stuck these empty frames up there, and I kind of liked it.
Then I kept layering them with the little tile that I made a couple of months ago, and a little stick ball thingy that was Mom’s.
I LOVE my burlap covered books. I knew I was going to use them in my office. They were so easy to make. You can read about them HERE.
The little bird was my mom’s. Love it.
More of my burlap books, mom’s little white vase, and her red “blessings” tin…
I hung my burlap board on this wall. You can learn how to make one yourself by watching my first video tutorial. (Or buy one from my Etsy shop.)
I got the white basket from Goodwill last summer. It was $1.50 and an ugly green color. I spray painted it white. Easy.
The plate holder on the wall was my mom’s. I put a white plate in it for now. I am going to get a smaller white plate with maybe a monogram?
I love the little horse and carriage silhouette I found at Goodwill for 50 cents. I just fell in love with it. I am contemplating painting the frame black, what do you think? (Yes, it’s hung with a push pin right now…see it?)
Two last things I want to do in here:
1) Cute little chandelier.
2) A chair I can re-do. I would love to find an old ugly dining room chair at Goodwill and turn it into this….
of course in white…
Well, that’s it. I’m D-O-N-E.
Is there a room in your house that has given you decorating nightmares too?
Last month I found a cute little wooden fruit stand at Goodwill.
I guess it’s a fruit stand? I’m sure it could hold many other things as well.
My eye was immediately drawn to it because of it’s shape. I loved all of the curves all over it. Very cottage-y.
I wasn’t crazy about the dark wood color, but knew that it would look great painted white.
And it was only $3.50! I knew I would use it somewhere…if not in my house, then in our guest house.
When you are shopping for items at Goodwill, look at the shape or outline of an item. If it is an ugly color or has an ugly picture on it, don’t let that stop you from buying it. Paint covers a multitude of ugliness!
I tried something a little different on this piece. I rubbed all of the edges that I would be sanding with candle wax before I primed it.
Why? Because sometimes I have trouble sanding off the primer to get down to the wood. It frustrates the heck out of me!
I saw somewhere in blogland that someone used candlewax on the edges before painting. So I thought I would give it a try!
After I rubbed all the edges with my candle, I used a spray primer to prime it.
Then I painted the whole thing white. I used Krylon Satin white spray paint from Walmart.
I had to paint it in the garage and then bring it inside to dry. I cannot wait for warmer weather so I can do more painting outside!
Then I used my sanding sponge to sand all of the edges. I think the candle wax worked! The paint just sanded right off!
Ooooh, I loved how it was turning out!
Then for the final step, I applied a layer of Valspar Mocha Glaze to give it a little more of a vintage look.
I got this bottle at Lowe’s forever ago, and I have done a million projects with it. It lasts for-e-va!
I applied the glaze with a paper towel, and wiped it on and off until I got the look I was after. It’s a subtle difference, but I love how it turned out!
Then I just put some of my artificial apples I got from Marshall’s in it, and I was finished!
I love it!
Now for a parade of pictures of my little beauty…
Well, that’s all!
A very easy project, but I am so happy with the way it turned out.
Here is a sneak peek of a project I’ll share with you next week…<
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Have a blessed day!
