Hannahs Room

So I have been working on my daughters room.... pretty much forever. When we built the house I painted stripes in her bedroom. I had gotten the inspiration from an HGTV show I saw only I was pretty sick of painting when it came to her room and I didnt feel like taping the stripes so I free handed it. Well, my hand is shaky and it was more like squiggles than stripes. I had intended to put chair railing up for, oh, about 6 years, but never nagged my husband enough. Here is what it had pretty much looked like for the past 6 years, only usually much messier.

 The stripes were cute, but they were visually messy. Since my daughter is a pretty messy kid ( no matter how much I try to make her otherwise) her room was always an eyesore to me.
I covered up the stripes with paintable, bead board look wallpaper and we finally added some chair rail in the form of door casing molding. We got a contractors pack and covered her room, the dining room, the mirrors in the bathrooms, my jewelry holder, and still have 2 long boards and a bunch of scraps left. All for $50!
Here it is now.. ahhhh!

Oh and we got her a bed from IKEA. I really wanted an antique iron bed, and almost had one from Craigs List, but I couldn't get it that weekend and the guy really needed to get rid of it quickly. Oh well. This one from IKEA is pretty nice for a little girl and its much sturdier than it looks.

 Here is the lighting before and after:

Ugly builders light                                                  

  Lovely crystal chandelier I found for $80 and added some plastic colored dangly's to it. And one of those ceiling medallions to cover up the ugly unpainted spot on the ceiling.

Its still a work in progress. I made a bed skirt from tulle but it needs a backing so I will have to share that later. I also want to add some sheers around the headboard and put up a few pictures or something. Then there's the side table which just has a scrap of fabric on it, the messy bookshelves and desk.... sigh.

Burlap Pegboard, Ballard Knock-off

 I am so stinkin excited about this project!  So, I had my husband hang some pegboard for me in my laundry room because I wanted a place to hang my wrapping paper and supplies. Now, I HATE painting, but love what paint can do. Still, I soooo did not want to paint! Not wanting to have the ugly look of pegboard either I thought and thought of what I should do. I first thought of breakin' out the Mod Podge and fabric, then I came across this in my Ballard Designs Magazine.

 

 photo source

 I thought... YES! I can make my pegboard look like that! Its not a corkboard but its the same idea. Though I couldn't find anyone online that had done it, I knew it could be done. I have hot glue, an electric staple gun, and I know I can get those nail heads at Home Depot or Lowes.  Plus, everyone seems to be doing something in burlap and I want to join in on the fun. Burlap is cheap and sturdy and... I love it! The weave of burlap is so loose that I wouldn't have to cut holes for the pegs and I could sort of see through it so it was easy to find the peg holes. 

Here is what I came up with.

Here is what it would have looked like without the burlap and nail heads. Ooooh look! It matches the baskets on the shelf! But oh-so-ugly!

 And this is what it looks like with all the paper, bags, etc. all hung up. eeeeee! I LOVE it!

I just walk in there and stare at it. It makes me so happy!

                                Before                                                                    After

The chest freezer underneath makes a perfect place to wrap presents.

I will show you some more details and how-to's in another post.

Update : Here is my post about the details of making this.

 linking up:

SEW DARN CRAFTY

Curtain Tie-backs

When I finally switched out the temporary curtains in my bedroom ( which were hemmed, king size, clearance sheets) I had to add another tieback to each window. Now the ones I had in there were great, but there was only one per window and I liked the look of two. 

The lamp is not a suitable tieback.

I had an idea to look around Home Depot's wood section and see if I could find some wood post toppers, table feet.. something that would do as a cheap alternative to the pricey tiebacks at the store. Thats when I came across these curtain finials on a clearance rack.

 

A few coats of brown hammered metal looking spray paint and this is what I came up with.

 

Ok... the pic makes them look silver, but they were more bronze. I had never used this hammered metal spray paint before, but I love the look!

ahhh. much better.

I just screwed them right into the wall. It already had a long screw in the back. Probably should have used an anchor, but so far its holding up nicely.

Here is a before of the room with the old red curtains sheets. 

 

Then the after with new tiebacks and curtains.

Keeping busy

I have been keeping myself extra busy lately doing things that I don't really want to do. For instance, I decided that I don't like my green kitchen... never really have. I have wanted to go for a nice yellow with a Tuscan feel to it. Well I got the paint and talked myself into painting. I really hate painting. I used to love it until I decided to save some money and do all the painting, priming,trim, caulking, ceilings and doors in our newly built house about 4 years ago. I wish now that I had just left my green kitchen/ dining room alone. I like the results... well .. the kitchen anyways, but its still a pain to paint.
Here are the before and after pictures of what I did this weekend when I should have just taken some naps or read a book.

Here is the Dining Room before:
And after:


Just another view. The before of this view didn't turn out so well. I don't really like the dining room so much, but its ok. It is a bit too bright in the morning/midday light. Looks like a tacky restaurant, but I don't have the energy to repaint. I may add a darker color wash on top one day. Not anytime soon though. I also want to get a round, antique black color table. This one is a bit too fancy for a tiny dining room.

(02/11/11 I still hate this paint. Hope to redo it soon!)

Heres my little kitchen before I painted. Excuse the nasty mess. I despise a dirty kitchen, and this picture makes me cringe.
After... ahhh. Much better.