Old Farmhouse Room Redo

I have a friend, Lori, who lives in a beautiful old farmhouse...complete

with gorgeous wood trim, nostalgic charm, and crooked floors!

Lori has been battling breast cancer and her amazing life group from our church

came and did some renovations to her home.

As Lori has been recovering, she has gotten the itch to make more changes to her home.

One of the places that she has really wanted to change is her son's room.

Here are some of the "before" pictures.  I apologize because they were taken

on my camera phone so they are very blurry!

The room was covered in outdated wallpaper and just overall had a feeling of falling apart...

Lori asked me to stop by and give her some ideas of how to inexpensively 

bring changes and life to the room!

On a side note, Lori was planning on throwing away the dressers in the picture

above...I gasped and said, can I have one and give it a second chance?

This is what I did with it!

Since Lori had "new to her" furniture to put in the room that was blue,

I suggested a calm blue for the top of the walls and beadboard wallpaper for the bottom.

I also suggested painting all the trim in a bright white and adding 

painted chalkboards to the closet doors.

Here's what Lori did.....

Lori and her mom removed all the ugly old wallpaper and painted the walls a

beautiful soothing blue color.  They added the beadboard wallpaper to the 

bottom and painted everything a gorgeous crisp white.

She taped off rectangles on the closet doors and added chalkboards

with chalkboard paint.

I love how she added a black light and a map of hiking routes on

the Appalachian Trail!

 I suggested she accent with white frames, so she took frames that she already

owned and spray painted them white and added special photos and memorabilia.

Doesn't her "new to her" furniture look perfect!

Truly, it feels like a brand new room!  And mainly, the transformation was

the result of elbow grease and paint!

And because we all love a good before and after...

You don't even notice the beautiful original wood trim in the before pictures!
The paint and beadboard wallpaper just make it *pop*!

Great job, Lori!  This was the type of remodel that I love....I

get to be the idea generator and someone else does all the work!

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Hutch Makeover

I recently had the opportunity to refinish a few pieces

of furniture for a friend.  I forgot to take before pictures, but

here are some of the afters.

This was just your average pine hutch....the back was wobbly and it

had wooden knobs to match.

My Dad helped with this project....he actually did a lot of the work!

First he took a $15 piece of wood from Lowe's and cut it to fit the entire back.

This made the whole piece more solid and less wobbly.

Then he primed it with a sprayer and  sprayed two coats of an

off-white satin paint by Behr.

I complained to him because my job was to come in and distress it...he

did such a good job painting, I had a hard time taking the paint off!

After taking a hand sander, I added one coat of Satin water-based polyurethane

sealer and some snazzy new knobs....

I didn't want to give this piece back!

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Dining Room Chairs....

 

Remember how I found these dining room chairs at the Habitat Restore for $60?  I am working on transforming them with a little bit of homemade chalkpaint....

I took some sand paper and started the distressing.....6 chairs + 1 table adds up to a lot of painting and distressing!

I ripped off the disgusting seat covers...

When I am doing a project and I need to keep track of screws, I always put them in a baggie and tape them to my piece....

I recovered the seats with drop cloth....the same material that I used to slipcover my wing back chair......

{Notice.....I didn't finish the legs yet???}

I love the look of faux grain sacks....

{source}

I plan to add the faux grain sack stripe to the seats, I just have to first decide on a paint color for the walls......which may take another 5 years!

Although.....would a scroll-ish stencil in white look good??

Still painting....

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How to make your own paint. . . .

There have been tutorials for how to make your own chalkpaint, but what about a tutorial for how to make your own PAINT???

The following is a guest post written by James Lander of Coupons.  Coupons is a consumer savings site that provides couponing tips and etiquette advice. They also offer top-retailer coupon information.

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Paint made with natural materials is easier on your walls because it allows the surfaces to discharge moisture naturally. While there are a number of eco-friendly options out on the market, they are pretty costly – almost twice as much as conventional paint. Making your own paint is far cheaper.

You can choose from a variety of mixtures when trying to make the ideal paint. This is a guide on how to make basic casein paint.

Basic ingredients of paint:

• Pigment – adds color to the paint. Safer alternatives include pigment derivatives from plants, insects, minerals and iron oxides.

• Binder – helps glue the paint to the surface. Natural paints use binders made from starches, casein, and linseed oil.

• Filler – adds bulk and gives the paint texture. Paints made with starches are often paired with clay as filler because it enhances the binding ability of starch.

• Solvents – also called thinners, helps to achieve a practical consistency.

How to make casein paint

Ingredients:

• Non-fat milk – 1 gallon

• Type S lime – 2 ½ ounces

• Water – 2 ½ cups

• Filler – 6 cups

• Natural earth pigment

Instructions:

1. Set milk aside in a warm place and leave for a few days to thicken. Then pour it through a cheesecloth lined colander into another container; it should make about two cups of curd.

2. Blend the curds and the lime powder together using a blender. If mixture is too thick to blend well, add some water. Remove lumps by straining.

3. Prepare the binder and immediately add water.

4. Moisten the pigments and crush. Slowly add pigment to the mixture in bits until you achieve the desired color intensity.

5. Blend with filler.

After the paint has been mixed, spread on a small area to test, and let dry completely. Observe and make adjustments accordingly:

• Add water if the paint doesn’t spread easily.

• Add binder if it dusts easily.

• Add filler if it appears thin.

• And finally, add pigment powder if color isn’t rich enough.

Tips

Mix ingredients in specific proportions so that the paint doesn’t crack, peel and dust off easily. The more the paint dries, the more opaque it becomes, so allow each coat to dry completely. Avoid very thick coats.

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What a neat idea!!

Thanks so much for sharing!

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Guest Post. . . . .Chalkboard Door

I want to thank Nicole for inviting me here to offer up a guest post.  I thought that I'd share with you today the project that kick-started my blogging career.


The on-the-cheap, make your own chalkboard door!





My home is filled with those cheap, hollow, faux wood manufactured doors, including the basement access door in our kitchen which previously looked this!





What I really coveted in the kitchen was this¦

Sources:  Country Living & Domino

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These doors can range anywhere from $400 to upwards of a few thousand.  Way beyond my budget.  Not to mention the additional costs for hardware and installation ...


So I put on my thinking cap and came up with an idea to turn our ugly builder grade door into something both beautiful and practical for a mere $30.00.


I started by gathering my supplies:





I had most of these on-hand.  I only needed to purchase the chalkboard paint (from JoAnne's for $5.00); the black foam core (from Office Depot for $10.00 for two 30' x 40' boards); and the 1 3/8' x 3/8' trim (from the Home Depot for $.79/foot). 


The foam core worked perfectly as the blackboard base because it's substantial, yet lightweight, yet not too thick that when framed out with trim would make the panels look built-in ...


Step 1:  Use the X-Acto knife to cut your foam core to size ...





Step 2:  Apply two coats of the chalkboard paint to the foam core panels.  (Since they're porous, the foam core started to curve upwards at the edges. I solved that problem by turning them over and applying a coat of paint to the back sides ... once dry, they sat perfectly flat).


Step 3:  Use the miter box to cut the trim pieces. I used simple joint corners versus the more fancy mitered ...



Step 4: Give the trim two coats of paint that matches your door. (I used Benjamin Moore white semi-gloss).


Step 5:  Apply the Power Grab to the back of the foam core and attach to the door.  Use your level to make sure they are, well, level.  Hold in place for 3-to-5 minutes to make sure contact is made.  If you use painter's tape to hold the foam core chalkboard in place it may damage your chalkboard like this:



Step 5:  Apply the Power Grab to your trim pieces and affix to the door.  Use painter's tape to hold in place while it dries.  Just be sure not to attach the painters tape to the foam core board.



Step 6:  Caulk along the outside edge and corners and touch up with the semi-gloss ...



In the end you'll turn a previously boring door into something both beautiful and functional!






I loved it so much that I re-created it on the powder room door!

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As soon as I saw this project, I pinned it.....I just LOVE it!  

Here are some of Linda's other amazing projects over at It All Started With Paint!

{Entryway Before and After}

{Painted Porch Rug}

{Gorgeous kitchen before/after}

Linda is also running a great link-up this month...

<a border="0" href="http://itallstartedwithpaint.blogspot.com/2012/01/mission-impossibilities.html" target="_blank"><img src=http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vL7oNAjeZc0/TwnzvIIzeII/AAAAAAAAC9k/KP-fuGoInHo/s1600/itic+Final +5.png></a>

Is there a project that just seems impossible?? For me, it was painting my stairwell last year! Go over and link your "impossible" project and Imagine the Impossibilities!

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DIY Painted Ornament. . .

Grrrr.....I just realized that I deleted a bunch of the how-to photo's for these ornaments....truly, even though I don't have pictures, they are SUPER easy to make!


First....you take a fillable glass ornament and some acrylic paints......I used three colors for each ornament.  Then, I squirted the paint right at the opening and let it drip down the sides.


The ornament will still look a little "messy" during this phase....I panicked slightly thinking....how did I mess this up???

You want to turn the ornament upside-down on a paper cup.....this is when it turns into something pretty!

As the paint drains out, the colors blend into a gorgeous ornament!

I painted the top of the ornament with glue and shook some Martha Stewart glitter on it...

Then I just hung it with a simple ribbon...

I plan to use mine as gift toppers for Christmas presents and hostess gifts!

Read more ...