VALANCE SIGNAGE

One month after we moved into this house, back in 2013, we were hit by a huge winter storm, and were out of power for EIGHT DAYS.  On day two, our new neighbor, whom we had just met, showed up with a trailer full of wood so we'd be able to stay warm by having a fire in our kitchen fireplace.

But it wasn't just any old firewood, it was this gorgeous old solid oak that had nicely weathered over the years.  Of course, at the time, we didn't realize this, or care - we were just trying to stay warm.  But once Winter finally faded into Spring, we re-evaluted what we had left.  Then that summer, we used some of it to build this amazing wall/potting table out on our carport.

And even after that, we still had a little bit of it left.  So this past Saturday, I ventured out into the shed to see if any of it would work for a little project I was conjuring up.  And we did!  YAY!!  

 Just enough for this....

 A valance for my youngest sons room.  We had just recently painted his room, and it just needed this one final little touch.

I had seen this "definition" on Pinterest way back when I first started pinning in October of 2011.  It "defines" him to a tee!

I think what inspired me to finally get it made, was the fact that I had just acquired this amazing antique oak desk.  It was my first CraigsList purchase, and it was the perfect piece for him to sit at and do his homework.

 He LOVES the desk, but HATES the "definition".

A BRAND NEW BATHROOM

Back in February, my husband and I started a new nutritional program that required us to have "Cleanse" days - which basically meant we fasted for a day. On the very first Cleanse day, to keep our minds off being hungry, we decided to start demo-ing the boys bathroom.  Little did I know, on that cold day at the beginning of February, that this bathroom would not be completed until 4.5 months later.

Like, I just said, it all started with the removal of the tile.  This lovely olive green speckled tile basically went all the way around the room up to 54" high.  When I started taking it off, it was very clear that it had originally been installed using liquid nail - UGH!!

Because of this unusual original installation method, the tile was taking the drywall with it when we chipped away at it.  So, we would need to remove all the old drywall and install new.  Luckily, my husband had a lot of help for this step.

I'm sorry, but is that not the cutest thing you've ever seen?

After the walls were redone, we next focused on the floor.  We quickly discovered that there were three layers of vinyl flooring, with the last layer being installed on top of a 1/4" underlayment.  Once we got up that underlayment layer, there were literally hundreds of staples that needed to be removed.  After working on that for an. entire. day - the hubby came home and decided we need to pull everything up down to the subfloor.  I worked on that STAPLE REMOVAL for NOTHING!!!!

My frustration was short lived, once I saw the benefit of what we had already done.  When the new tile floors went it, I was instantly in love.

After a Very Busy Spring and Early Summer, and only being able to work a few days each month on the project, it all finally came to fruition the weekend before our annual big July 4th party.  Everything in the room is brand new except for the original Olive Green porcelain tub.

Presenting...

The vanity/top combo and the light fixture came from Lowe's.  The mirror was bought in Nogales, Mexico when I lived in Tucson many moons ago.

The faucet was the original one, and the backsplash tile also came from Lowe's.

The shower curtain came from World Market.  I was so excited when I found it because it pulled everything together - the color of the tile, the green tub, and the wall color, which was paint we had bought to match a different shower curtain that we had and were using when we had no intention of ever redoing the bathroom other than to repaint.  And in the pattern, it offered the perfect accent color - teal.

Love the little niche in the shower the hubby built.

Yay!  A new toilet!

I SO love the view I now see as I walk down the hall and pass this gorgeous room.  Now if I can just keep my boys from peeing on the floor, I'll be one happy Momma.

TIRE PLANTERS

The property that we live on, used to be a working farm.  Sadly, back in the day, they didn't take their trash to the dump - they either burned it, buried it, or threw it in the woods.  So because of this, there are a ton of old car and tractor tires in the woods.  

I decided I would do something, with, well 3 of them.  I saw this idea on Pinterest a LONG time ago, and over the summer it bubbled back to the surface of my brain, and voila... Tire Planters!  Just added some potting soil and some pretty little Impatients :)

They hang on the side of the shed, and are visible when people drive by the house.  They add a little something special to an otherwise boring metal wall.

NEW KITCHEN ISLAND

Since we've moved into this house almost three years ago, we've had a couple of different set ups in the middle of our Eat In Kitchen.  The first being a simple table, the second being this...

A 30" x 60" stainless steel restaurant table.  

Then my husband's friend helped him acquire a 7' stainless steel table with a nice deep sink in the middle of it.  See, nice and deep!

The table came with a built in stainless backsplash, which made it a little awkward to sit at, so we decided to build a nice overhang.  I didn't think we needed the overhang to run the entire 7' length, so we added some shelving at the end.  Here it is after being built, but before it was finished.

And here's the finished product.  We used a transparent gray stain, and polyurethaned the top so it would hold up to being used as a breakfast bar by my two little guys.

This project was completed last October.  It's now September of 2015, and the sink has never been hooked up.  UGH!

FINALLY... SHELVING!

So back in January, before I made the ottoman in the previous post, the hubbs made me some FABULOUS shelves!  I never posted back then because even though I was SO EXCITED to finally have a place to display all our books and other stuff, it took. me. forever. to put anything on them.  And still, they need a lot of work.  But here they are...

For the supports, I went to the hardware store and got the basic metal brackets, which are like $1.50 each.  Then I bought a couple of spools of jute twine and went to town wrapping and wrapping and hot glueing and wrapping and wrapping and hot glueing TEN brackets.

 Aren't they cool?

The shelves are made out of 1"x6" pine that he battoned together on the underside and then faced with a 1.5" edging.  He then stained them using the same stain as what we used on our kitchen island (that post coming soon).

Here they are today - 9 months later.  I have gotten a few books and knick knacks on them, but they still look pretty stark.

Now that the kids are back in school, and hunting season is soon approaching, I will have some free weekends where I can search through boxes we have still never unpacked and get more of our stuff out.  But regardless.  I. LOVE. THEM!!

OTTOMAN

On my personal FB page last week, I posted this photo and asked my friends to guess what I was going to make using these items - nobody guessed.

A few months ago, I had brought home two of these large wooden boxes, which are actually drawer boxes.  I work for a kitchen & bath design firm, and these drawers were a mis-order, so they were going in the trash.  I'm like... "I'LL TAKE THEM!"  I knew I could come up with something to do with them.  I was originally thinking maybe toy boxes for the boys room.  Then when I rearranged our furniture after taking down the Christmas Tree, our big club chair was in desperate need of an ottoman.  So for a few weeks, one of the boxes sat in front of the chair, upside down, with a pillow on top.  Then last week, while looking for something else, I found this huge bag of old macrame cording that my old neighbor had given me.  There was one skein that had never been opened.  It was navy blue and 300' long.  It got me thinking.  As my mind starting racing at 100mph, I remembered that we had kept the top and the shelf of an old coffee table that they boys had broken by constantly jumping on it.  Now my mind was really going, and I had to go to the big city the next day - I was definitely making a stop at Hobby Lobby.

At Hobby Lobby, I found this AWESOME navy wood grain print fabric, and while there, picked up some 3" thick foam.  Now my mission was to find something for feet - I headed to Home Depot.  I looked at the typical bun furniture feet, but thought it would end up making the overall height too high.  Then I spotted the wood rosettes.  They were only 3/4" thick and would make perfect little feet if installed upside down.

And so, on Saturday morning with a little help from the hubby, we cut the shelf down to create something for the box to be attached too.  We also created a top for the foam pad to be attached to.  After the box part was all assembled, including the cute little feet, I painted the edges of the shelf and the feet using some leftover trim paint.  Then he also helped me staple gun the fabric to the top.  We only used a piece of 1/4" luan plywood, so it was very unstable when you pushed down on it due to the thickness of the foam.  There was no way I could have done it by myself.

Then for the arduous part... attaching the cording...

SIX hours and 22 glue sticks later.... VOILA!!!!

My new Ottoman...

About 44 rows of 1/4" wide cording...

The cute little feet...

The BEST part... the lid lifts off and the boys can store the toys the play with in the living room in there.  YAY!  No more cluttered coffee table!  Yeah Right!  I can dream, right?

And now, I have a wonderful little reading spot!

Not too bad for just under $20, and a few minor burns from the blue gun!!