For those of you wondering how long it takes to complete typical DIY work around your home, please read no further.  Move on now, nothing to see here.   …I have given up on estimating the timeline of a project and have decided just to go with the flow.  Once you add a kid in the mix, it’s all downhill from there.  Sorry to say, but my one to two week fix for the dining room in our 1992 Colonial has taken well over 2 months and has yet to be completed.  Since things are taking sooooo long, I thought I would share what I have done so far.  Because, it really is just some of the final finishes that are lacking.

Let’s start with the before shots:

This shot shows us making do with our old furniture, decor and the shears and shades that the previous owners left in place.

It’s hard to tell, but the wallpaper in this room was not only very dark green, but it also had a pattern like crushed leather.  It looked a lot like an old style ink blotter for a desktop.  At least that’s what we think the look was that they were going for.  Unfortunately, we were not “going for” the gentlemen’s library feel for our dining space.

This shot of the fireplace shows the trim work that appears to be an after thought.  It’s as though they just forgot about adding a mantle or something?  The previous owners gifted us the gold mirror.  mmmmm….

Here is the front wall of windows, a shot that we have posted before, showing our curtain fabric choices.  There is also another mirror that a relative gifted us many years ago.  This one is gold too, but with an antiqued wash.  Still not exactly our cup of tea.

As you may or may not remember, the first two big decisions we had to make for this space were paint colors and curtain fabric.  It took four samples from the home improvement store and four more mixed in baby food jars to get the right shade for the walls.  I ended up using the French Grey color chip that I found at Home depot, but mixed at Lowe’s with Valspar Eggshell finish paint, on the bottom portion of the walls.  I had a quart of the same color mixed with a high gloss paint for the chair rail and the trim around the floor just for a little contrast. 

Unfortunately the Antique Silver color was two muddy once I put it up on the walls and just did not have enough of a hint of blue for my taste.  So, I mixed it with the French Grey until I had just the right shade and had it color matched at Lowe’s.  I also wanted the upper walls to be darker than what the Antique Silver offered up against the deep blue grey of the bottom portion of the walls.  After getting the wall color completed I finished out the crown molding, window and door trim with glossy white Valspar paint.

We have not had many sunny days lately (or at least not when the sun comes around to this side of the house), so I have not been able to score a really good shot of the paint color to share.  Oh well…

As you can see from the wide room shot above, we decided to go with the Bird and Vine tablecloths from Dwell Studio for Target for our curtains.  After carefully cutting them in half, I sewed up the edge and then put a 1.5 inch hem in the top for some stability and then hemmed the bottoms to length for each window.  At $21.99 a pop, I would say these were a pretty cost conscious solution for the curtain panels. 

I also added more substantial wooden curtain rods with simple finials painted out in the same glossy white as the crown molding.  This piece of the project took a bit longer than expected because I ended up building my own rod system from the trim pieces you can purchase individually at Lowe’s and Home Depot.  Instead of buying the already finished curtain systems I opted for this more cost effective way to get exactly the size I wanted for a “high and wide” mounting.  Even though it was a pain to paint all these pieces I did save about a third of what I would have spent on the prefinished items.  I also found that many of the rods in the home improvement stores are either really bulky and large or kind of small and wimpy.  The Allen & Roth line at Lowe’s is quite nice, but their white pieces are actually sort of more ecru and looked dirty next to the glossy white of the other trim in the room.

And, although I prefer bamboo shades to wooden blinds I decided to go with the latter.  They are still not my favorite, but I figured they will stay with the house if we move and this home calls for a plantation blind or shutter look more than the that of bamboo shades.  Again, not my favorite, but I think the windows came out just fine anyway.

We decided to paint out the trim around the fireplace the same color as the crown molding.  It actually makes the grey streaks running through the marble look much better.  The surround also looks slightly less out of place or as an after thought.  My ideal fix for this wall would be to pull all the trim down from around the marble and use small glass tiles with a bit of shimmer from floor to ceiling just on this one angled wall.  I think that would be such a nice focal point for the room.  That is a far off in the future project, though, and we are quite happy with the paint job for now.  As soon as possible I will be spraying the gold trim piece, along with the rest of the gas insert surround, a mat black to further spruce up the fireplace area.

Another little project I have been wanting to tackle for years now was to paint the antiqued gold mirror white.  The color was never quite right and it is a bit ornate for our tastes, so we figured a nice coat of glossy white paint (same as the trim in the room) would help tone it down and play a little more nicely with the rest of the space.

NOW, for the elephant, or two, in the room.

This chandelier actually evoked hysterical laughter from The Mister and I when we were first looking at this home.  Granted, the previous owners had filled the space with big, bulky, dark wood period pieces, but this light always seemed over the top to us.  I have always looked at it as to large for the room, but I discovered I may be off in my thinking after a recent visit to a local decorator’s outlet.  I was told that the chandelier should meet the measurements of the room size, not the table below it.  Oops.  I was thinking the opposite, and now I realize that I think it’s just my general dislike for the shiny, brass that keeps me from accepting this guy as the right fit for the room.  I have considered spraying it out, but I believe it is a nice and probably costly piece of brass.  So, I think I may replace it with something more our taste, but leave it in the attic in case future owners want to restore this room to it’s former gentlemen’s library glory.  BTW (sorry Kelli)- It’s hard to tell from this picture, but this thing is nearly 30 inches across.  It’s HUGE!!!

The other issue is the table.  It is only a dinette size and was our extra game table at our last place.  I have dreams of relocating it to our spare bedroom upstairs that plays double duty as my craft space.  I think it will be the perfect size table for all my sewing and crafting needs.  In the meantime I have this crazy idea that I am going to craft my own table from plywood and paint it out white.  That way I can get the exact size I want and I don’t have to worry about matching the wood tones to anything else I put in here (something I gave up on long ago after acquiring the Danish made rosewood hutch).  I did finally settle on some simple chairs that are pretty comfy, plus I figured I could slipcover them for different looks if I want to in the future.  They are the bentwood modern stacking chairs from Target in the espresso finish.  Not only did these come in sets of two, but I was able to purchase them at a price cut for $59.99 a set.  WHOOHOO for the budget!

Hopefully, we will be able to stop playing “which of these things is not like the others” soon and take this room DIY completely off the list.  Stay tuned for the latest project I created for myself involving a piece of furniture to take up that empty space below the newly painted mirror.  I’m super excited about this one and I think it will really make the whole space!

Bon Appétit!

Kitsch Krafts

It’s the hardest part of any DIY paint project.  Well, that and doing everything while the baby sleeps!  Luckily the paint can dry in between naps and I don’t go to crazy in the meantime.  Hanging with the Little Guy always takes my mind off all the work I have to do around this place.  The priming is complete and I am waiting for the swatches of wall color to dry.  While I am trying to make a decision about which colors to use I plan to get a couple of coats up on the ceiling.  Lord knows when the last time that thing saw a fresh paint job.  It’s funny how white things seem until you paint them with a fresh coat of white paint.  As soon as the chair rail got a hit or two from the brush after I splattered primer I could really see the distinct difference in colors.  Can’t wait to get the ceiling and all that trim cleaned up!

In addition to the wall color I need to make a decision about curtains.  Since this room is large I thought about going bold with a fun patterned fabric for the stationary panels I plan to put up high and wide along all three windows in the room.  The real privacy will come in the form of bamboo roman shades.  So, I was perusing Target the other day and came across the new table linens from Dwell Studio.  As always, I was drawn right in by their use of color and fun pattern.  I was also lured by the size of the largest tablecloth, 60” X 104”, which is exactly the size I need for these windows.  Unfortunately, finding the longer sized curtains in the ready made world of window treatments has proven very difficult.  If, and that is a big IF, I find a ready made panel that I like it either doesn’t come in the larger size or that size is super expensive, or it’s out of stock.  That was my luck up until recently in searching for curtain panels.  Until I walked into Target that fateful day.  I left with just enough tablecloths to make curtains for the dining room and adjoining living room.  Now I just need to choose which to use in each room.  Here are some shots of the dining room pre-DIY disaster with the curtains held in place via clothespins over the sheer panels the previous owners left.

Linen #1 – Large Medallions

Linen #2 – Branches with Birds

Usually I do not like a lot of bold pattern, so I may end up just using one set in the dining room (since it’s a larger space) and going with plain fabric for the living room.  Both linens use the exact same color combo of chocolate brown and deep blue gray with an occasional bit of mustard thrown in for contrast, all on a white background.  My plan is to put up white wooden curtain rods with rounded finials that sit above the window and just below the crown molding.  I also want the rods to hold the curtains outside of the windows on either side, just overlapping at the trim and up to the edge of the bamboo shades I plan to hang for privacy.

I am curious to know what you guys think.  So far everyone that I have asked has picked the same style with the comment, “This one looks like you”.  What is funny is that I was leaning toward the opposite design.

So, let’s see what you all think, “looks like me”.

Kitsch Krafts

This is what has been occupying my time almost nonstop since the beginning of May:

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Yep, the wallpaper steamer didn’t work to my benefit.  Actually, I take that back.  It worked so well that it took down the wallpaper, the paint behind it and the top layer of the drywall within about 15 seconds.  I stopped after destroying one section of wall (you can see part of it in the far left of the second photo above.  Despite the really bad damage taking down the wallpaper caused I have been able to patch these spots with drywall compound, sand them down and cover everything with a couple of coats of oil-based, odorless Kilz primer.  It’s already looking like a new place and I am chomping at the bit to get the final colors up on the walls.  I think one more coat of primer is warranted to be sure that lovely border stays hidden forever and then I will be on to round two of painting.  Seems like this one week wallpaper removal and painting project has taken on a life of its own and wants to grow into a month long endeavor.  I have been slightly depressed about the length of time this has taken, but I have learned some lessons for future redecorating projects for other wallpapered rooms in my home.  I think I will skip the removal and go straight for the heavy duty primer.  I have always been told painting over wallpaper can be disastrous, but in this case I think I would have saved about two weeks time and I still would have had a nice looking paint job.  Oh well, you live, you learn, right?

Now, for my next big decisions…paint color and curtains.  I had been planning some light shades of blue gray to play off the darker shades of blue gray I was going to paint in the adjoining formal living room.  However, the dining room is almost twice as big as the living room and it gets a LOT more light.  Plus, the furniture in that room is all blue (I don’t know what I was thinking!).  So, I have decided to flip my plans and use the darker colors in the larger space.  I want the rooms throughout our home to glide seamlessly into each other with pops of color here and there, but I don’t want just a neutral white or beige background.  Although I like that look, I really want to have some color on the walls.  Over the years I have found that I lean toward shades of blue, green and gray with all different shades of stained wood thrown in the mix.  So, I am sticking with this color pallet throughout the house.  I also love a hit of bright red once in a while and that will definitely show up here and there as well.  Right now, though I need to get two colors picked out for the dining room because I hope to have them on the walls before the end of the week.  Here are the shades I am considering right now…(at least until the next trip to Lowe’s or Home Depot!):

Set #1- Woodlawn Silver Brook & La Fonda Villa Fountain (The middle colors)

These are from Lowe’s Valspar line and they are also both National Historic Trust colors.  They are definitely more blue/turquoise than gray.

Set #2 – Antique Silver & French Grey

These are from Home Depot’s Glidden line and have a little less turquoise in them.  They also both have more of a gray look to them when holding them up in the room.  Go figure!?!

What do you guys think?  Of course the lighter color would be above the chair rail and the darker color below.  Oh yeah, and I am planning to paint the chair rail along with the bottom color so it sort of fades away.  I love the moldings in our home, but I’m not wild about this chair rail.  The rest of the trim and moldings in the room will be high gloss white.

I would love to hear your opinion, and I know some of you definitely have one!  So, let it rip…

Kitsch Krafts

I would like to send a SHOUT OUT to the well trained, detail oriented people that put up the wallpaper in my new old house!!  Using sizing or primer on the drywall before adding thick pasted vinyl paper to the wall was apparently just one step to many.  I understand your need for immediate gratification and am so excited to see that you went right over the wallpaper border! 

(Yes, what you think you see is correct.  The drywall below the chair rail is missing the top layer of paper.  Insert scream here.)

I am also anxiously awaiting the opportunity to spend the next week repairing the dramatically damaged wall before I get to add my final coat of paint.  YEAH!! 

Off to Home Depot....I believe one of these is in my near future. 

Wagner Xtra 705 Power Wallpaper Steamer

sign....

Kitsch Krafts

I appreciate the advice that has come my way regarding our yard spruce up and concerns with offending the neighbors.  They have been away over the past week so we have not been able to discuss our plans with them any further.  As soon as we have some progress in that area I will be sure to give an update.

In the mean time, I have been back at work trying to decide on some inside spruce ups.  As you all know from my previous posts we do everything on a tight budget and it often takes us a while to complete any remodel or fix up because we have to save up to make it happen.  Recently I decided that I want to switch out some of the leggy furniture in our formal living room.  Over the years we have collected some very nice vintage Danish Modern pieces and everything has thin tapered legs.  While that look was perfect for our last home (See Here) with it's lower ceilings and long skinny living room, it just gets lost in our new place.  The new living room is more square and has 10 foot ceilings, so all that squatty furniture feels a little to grounded and the thin legs on everything do not have the same effect of visually opening up the space.  I realized that nothing feels very anchored in this room and I want to get some more bulky items to fill in the empty spaces. 

One of the things I would like to change are the end tables.  They have served us well for many, many years now, but I think it's time for something new and a little more interesting.  A few weeks ago I noticed a Big Lots advertisement showing those barrel shaped, Asian-inspired ceramic stools/tables that you see in gardens.  I meant to rush right over and see if I could snag a couple since they were only $20 bucks! 

Wilson & Fisher Decorative Garden Drum at Big Lots.

Unfortunately, I procrastinated and when I finally got over to the local store there were none to be found.  Although I am not trying to go to far with an Asian-inspired look, I think this type of table is just what is needed to help bulk up the space.  Since missing my opportunity at cheapo Big Lots I started searching for these stools/tables online and I have been shocked to see how much they sell for.  I also found a couple of other really cool versions that I think will solve our problem perfectly! 

Cane Mai Ceramic Garden Stool at Overstock.com

Vivid Turquoise Ceramic Garden Stool from Lamps Plus.

Ceramic Quilt Stool from Spiegel.

Now, I just need to save up a little more and pray they don't sell out before I can get to one of these.

Do you all have any areas of your home you are itching to slightly revamp or completely redo?  Do you think this is a spring fever sort of thing? 

Kitsch Krafts

This project is by far one of my most favorite!  That is because it’s all about the history.  My grandparents purchased a twin bed and dresser set from a local furniture shop in Royal Oak, MI back in the early 1950’s.  This set was to accommodate a growing family, which already consisted of two young boys and a third child on the way.  The oldest of those boys was my father.  He and his brother shared a room and used those beds and dressers until they left the nest.  At that point there were three younger sisters taking up space in the compact five bedroom home my grandparents owned and in all their frugal nature they had two of the girls still employing those twin beds and dressers. 

Many years later when my brother and I had come along, and after the tragic lost of our first family home to a fire, those beds were pulled out of storage and passed on to my immediate family to be put in to use all over again.  My brother and I had our own rooms, but the furniture in each space was exactly the same.  Not until high school did I finally switch over to a full size bed, but I kept on using my dresser.  When I finally moved out on my own I took with me a bedroom set that I had scored at an estate sale.  After sanding and painting the larger dresser and full sized bed frame, I took off with a bedroom set more fitting a young adult.  (sort of, it was painted in bright pastels and looked like something straight out of Miami!)  Before I could leave, my mom was dusting off the old twin bed so she could get it back into use in her newly found guest room.  That bed set moved with her up to MI for a short stay and then later it was brought back down to TN after she returned to the south. 

At about the same time, the Mister and I were looking for something to set up our own guest bedroom and mom offered up the now well-traveled family bedroom sets.  We jumped at the opportunity to own a bit of family history until we saw the sad state of these pieces.  Before coming back to TN, they had lived for several years in my grandfather’s old home.  The same home that housed my college-aged cousin and an ever-changing group of college-aged boys.  As you can imagine they put these pieces to the ultimate test and when they arrived in TN they were in pretty rough shape.  Dirty, dusty, smelly, cracked, scratched, water ring stained….I wasn’t even sure I could bring them back from the depths of where they had gone.  But, with no furniture refinishing experience (only painting over crummy wood) I jumped right in!

Lucky for me we had a new home with a big garage and plenty of space for me to spread out the pieces and work to restore them.  The first thing I did was strip down all the old varnish that was left on the head and foot boards, along with both dressers.  Then I sanded out all the rough spots and did my best to take down any bad scratches.  When I was finished with this step I had a lovely smooth surface to start with.  Start?, you say.  Yes, I had bigger plans for what these pieces were going to become.  I wanted to use the bed in our master bedroom and since it was no longer the 1950’s, when couples used twin beds, I had some work to do.  I planned to join the footboards to the headboards and then both of those combo pieces to each other, creating one large king sized headboard.  After a lot of drilling, cutting and lining up of dowels, plus TONS of gluing I finally had a semi-finished piece.  I then had to add trim pieces to mask, or “pretty up” the joints and close off the space behind what was the feet to the footboard before adding the top shelf piece.  It took some time, the hardest of which was finding nice real wood trim in maple.  Thank God for the few small lumber stores that still exist!

The headboard in progress.

Stripped down and ready for trim pieces.

Another angle of the top before adding the shelf cap and backing trim.  These were the feet of the original footboard.

After completing the headboard, I coated all the pieces with many (to many to count!) coats of polyurethane.  I lightly sanded with 120, and then 220, grit sandpaper in between coats and ended with a light rub down of lemon oil for a super soft, velvety finish. 

Our finished headboard in all it’s restored glory!

One of the refinished dressers.  (We are still working on the decor of this bedroom, so please ignore the surroundings in the two pictures above.)

For a glimpse of the pieces in a more finished space, here is the set in our bedroom at our TN home.

(Photo Courtesy of Zeitlin Realty, Nashville, TN)

(Photo Courtesy of Zeitlin Realty, Nashville, TN)

We love how the pieces turned out and have been using them now for close to 5 years.  One day we may decide to switch out our massive headboard for something different and I have had thoughts of undoing all that I did to bring the pieces back to twin status in case my future children want to use them.  But, for now, we will just enjoy our vintage bedroom set and all it’s fun history.

Do you have any furniture pieces with history in your home?  Have you refinished any furniture pieces or do you like to leave things “as is” so they can continue to tell their story?

Kitsch Krafts

During the last few weeks the Richmond, VA area has been buried by Old Man Winter.  We have spent our time bundled up in our warm house, staring out into the deceptively sunny yard.  Deceptive because it looks lovely out, but don't be fooled it's FAH-REEZING out there.  This weather has me dreaming of spring and summer and the opportunity to spend some time on the deck of our new home.  The deck is a great size for our table and chairs, plus our loungers and small grill have a little spot too.  I hope to put together some pretty potted gardens and maybe give the wood a little facelift with a sanding and some stain once warmer weather rolls in. 

While dreaming of the chance to start those little outdoor projects I am reminded of how we transformed our concrete patio at our 1960's Tri-Level home back in Nashville, TN.  Our old home sat up on a hill and the patio was sort of carved into the hillside behind the house. 

The stacked stone retaining wall around the patio was made from the rock that was dug up during the construction phase.  We loved the look of the old wall, but over the years the concrete patio slab was cracked and very dingy looking. 

Along with the staircase up to the smaller patio off the kitchen, the whole back portion of the house just looked old and uninspired.  We started with a good power washing, but that resulted in a lighter gray concrete that looked new and bright against the old mossy stone wall.  It just looked wrong and the cracks seemed to stand out even more.  Basically all the concrete areas around our home needed help and power washing alone was not going to cut it.

That is when we opted to try out concrete stain.  At first we were pretty intimidated by using a product that could end up looking bad on a surface we could not sand down and/or easily change.  What if we ended up with drips or areas that were lighter or darker than we wanted?  Would we be stuck with a mess or mistake forever?  After much hemming and hawing we took the plunge and purchased one gallon of a reddish brown and one gallon of dark brown stain (we got these at Lowe’s and unfortunately I cannot give specifics because they no longer sell the brand we used.  However it was very basic stain).  Prior to applying the stain we cleaned the concrete again with an etching wash and then used concrete crack filler that contained sand and could be stained to blend in.  Even though the product said it would hold stain we purchased a brown color just to help it along a bit.  Once the cracks were filled up and dried we started staining.  We followed the recommended application process to the letter and also purchased an inexpensive garden sprayer for the red highlight color and opted to roll on the base of dark brown.  The idea is that you roll out the base to the desired tint and then randomly spray the highlight color on top of the base while still wet.  Then to aid in making the colors look a little more like natural stone (as much as concrete slabs can) we used the roller again to lightly blend the colors and soften the overlapped edges. 

One other thing to mention, that became a part of this project, was the decrepit wrought iron handrail along the upper patio outside the kitchen, as well as, the front porch.  Both railings were covered in old white paint that was peeling off in huge chunks with layers of rust flaking away underneath.  Even though the project started as a way to make our back patio more inviting it connected directly with the back steps up to the patio off the kitchen, so we felt that we had to prepare this as one BIG project.  And, since we did not want the back of our house to look so much better than the front (first impressions, ya know!) we included that area too.  So, before we stained the kitchen patio and the front stoop we cleaned up both handrails.  I striped all the old chipping paint off, then we primed and spray painted the railing with a hammered bronze color that perfectly matched the new outdoor lights we planned to swap for the old ones. 

Here is an example of the new outdoor lighting.  (Photo Courtesy of Zeitlin Realtors, Nashville, TN)

The handrails looked like they had just been installed once we were finished  It was a total transformation.

The rich color shows well in this photo that I took immediately after completing the front stoop.  The next two were taken two summers later and in brighter light, but the color is still quite deep and dark.

(This Photo Courtesy of Zeitlin Realtors, Nashville, TN)

(This Photo Courtesy of Zeitlin Realtors, Nashville, TN)

In the end we were able to apply this staining process to the back patio, up the back steps, across the small patio off the kitchen and up the front door steps and across the stoop.  We ended up with a deep reddish brown mottled color that looked amazing against the red brick of the house.  The main color of the brick is red, but with dark green and several shades of brown mixed in.  So, the deep reddish brown of the stain made all of the concrete areas around the home look completely different.  Everything just blended very well and the new concrete color created a much smoother transition with the old stacked stone wall.  In the end, all of our outdoor areas were much more cohesive and inviting.

So tell me about your fun outdoor perk-ups and projects!  Are you planning anything for the spring already?

Kitsch Krafts