Project Nursery: Final Reveal

So we pretty much have the nursery all put together.... with a few days to spare! Now the baby can come any time and I will feel okay about it.

Here is a before picture to remind you what it looked like before...

And here is what it looks like now... {Awesome Glider that was a gift from my Grandpa Fox}

Now all we need is the final accessory to make this nursery complete... a baby!

Project Nursery: Piggy Bank

Remember the piggy bank from my nursery inspiration post? Well I searched high and low for that dang thing. And guess what? Discontinued. Sad. So one day as I was browsing the aisles of Home Goods I found a white piggy bank with purple polka dots for $7.99. I thought I would snatch it up since the one I originally wanted was close to $30. I went to Roberts and bought some glossy ceramic craft paint in bright orange ($1.89) and repainted those purple polka dots orange. I had to do a couple of coats to completely cover the purple, but it turned out better than I thought. A brand new piggy bank for less than $10. And it will match the room perfectly!

{inspiration} {my piggy bank}

Project Nursery: Antlers

I saw the cutest nursery with a modern woodland theme and I thought the antlers were the perfect touch! Lucky for us Jerry had a pair of antlers he has had for quite a while. So after a few coats of fresh white paint we have a great new accessory for our very boyish nursery. I also love that it gives it a personal touch from Jerry.

{inspiration}

{my try at it... the antlers are a little skeewompus, but I like how unique they are}

Dog Bed

Since our dog is with us all the time and she sleeps and stays out in the living room, I thought I would beautify her kennel and make it a little more coordinating with our house. Here is the before and after.

I think she likes it....

Speaking of beautifying things... here is a picture of my new favorite throw pillows on our couches. Best part about it? They were on sale for $5 each at KMart. Who knew KMart had such cute stuff??

Project Bathroom: Before and After

I wish I had more BEFORE pictures, but unfortunately I didn't take too many! I was not too happy with my paint choice the first time we painted this thing about a year ago, so I ended up painted the entire room instead of just having one ugly accent wall. I also repainted the ceiling (not by choice... I kind of had to because I kept hitting it with the roller when I was painting the walls! I am not patient enough for painting!) a creamy white color. Now... my project is not complete without finishing touches right? I used my same oil rubbed bronze spray paint and painted all of my existing hardware (towel ring, tp holder, towel bar). I even sprayed a basket I had around to match the bathroom a little better. I decided to paint the vanity in the bathroom pillar white by behr and added some cute oil rubbed bronze hardware. Last but not least I sprung for a new light fixture... oil rubbed bronze of course! It looks like a whole new room, and I am pretty happy with it!

{BEFORE}

{AFTER}
SO... let's break it down...
TOTAL COST: $44
Paint on walls: $0 (left over from front room)
Paint on ceiling: $0 (left over from master bedroom)

Paint on cabinets: $5 (after $10 gift card from work)

Hardware on cabinets: $16

Refinishing tp holder, towel ring and towel rod: $0 (left over from fan project)

New light fixture: $23 (after $25 gift card from rewards debit card)

{Before}

{After}

Satisfaction from lots of hard work: Priceless.

*Next up on the to-do list for this room... remove mirror and add framed mirror, get new ORB faucet, get new shower curtain and accessories. Those are all another project for another day...far far away. For now I am happy with my newly redone bathroom.

Project Bathroom: Cabinets

With the walls a little darker, the room needed a little lightening up. I painted the dated orange icky oak cabinets with a nice fresh coat of Pillar White paint with primer from Behr. We also added some hardware to give it a little more character. I was so mortified of taking on this project, but I have to say.... I am really happy with the result! I researched a lot of cabinet makeovers, and went to Home Depot and also asked for some simple advise. I ended up first wiping down all the cabinets with mineral spirits. This takes all the gunk and grime off as well as any extra shine that needs to be removed. Then I lightly sanded any rough spots that I could feel on the cabinet fronts. I taped off the room and went to town. I used the paint with primer so it saved me a few steps. It took me quite a while to finish this project because of the dry time between the coats. Then I wanted to wait a few days for the paint to really harden before I added the hardware. All in all I think it took me a week to finish this room. Not too bad. I am still getting used to seeing a completely different look in here. But for the most part I think I really like it!

{BEFORE}{first step... remove doors}{second step... tape the crap out of it.}

{third step... paint.}

{step four... put it all back together again.}

{step five... add some cool hardware.}

{oil rubbed bronze... my fav.}

{AFTER}

Step six... enjoy.

DI Do Over: Shelves

Every once in a while I will find myself checking out local yard sales or DI's for some fun things to do-over. Here is one of my most recent finds (although this isn't very recent...i'm still catching up in blogland):

I got a couple of cute hanging wall shelves at the D.I. for $2 a pop. I wasn't a fan of the color, so I went ahead and pulled out my new favorite tool... the spray paint. I painted an under coat of red and then painted it black. I sanded down the edges a little to reveal the red paint underneath. I think it looks pretty good and they match perfectly to another shelf I already had!

{before}

{after}

i told you this isn't a very recent project...haha.

Project Office: Extras

It seems I always overestimate the materials I will need for a project, so I always have little scraps of "extras" here and there. Here is what I have done with my extras lately...

I covered our boring black mouse pad with the extra green fabric I used to make my button thumbtacks. {following these instructions}

I used extra fabric from the curtain panels to make a customized bag for all of Desi the Dog's stuff (leash, hunting stuff, extra toys etc.). I even used some of the left over spray adhesive to get the fabric in the right spot before I sewed around the edges.

I used extra fabric from covering the cork boards to make a cover for my ugly Tupperware drawers that hold all my jewelry supplies.

What do you do with your "extras"?

Project Office: Books

So... to keep with the whole uniform idea of my "new" office I copied another idea I saw in a Domino magazine way back in the day. I wish I could find the actually article that I had saved somewhere, it was amazing. She covered all of her books with matching paper. No more ugly school text books or gross torn paperbacks. Don't get me wrong I think some book covers are absolutely beautiful, but some are just down right ugly. It took me a LONG time, but I channeled my inner Jr. High self and covered all of our books with some really cute wrapping paper I found on sale for $2 after Christmas. I think it looks SO much better! (Now nobody knows that I own all of the Harry Potters. haha.... well.... I guess everybody knows now.)

{here are all the ugly books before}

{and here they are after}

I know this is a really big personal choice, and some people might think I am crazy,

but I really think it looks nice.

Project Office: Spray Paint

So... my color scheme for our newly redecorated office is olive green, tan and white. A little different, but I really wanted something that looked organized and serene, but with a little bit of unexpected color here and there. I am by no means a decorator, so I did the best with what my little mind had to offer. One thing that I have learned through DIY blogs and other sources of inspiration is that not everything has to be perfect at first... it can be changed to be made perfect. I have a really slim budget for things like decorating, so I usually have to make do with what I have. Sometimes what I have just really isn't what I want, and this is where my new favorite tool comes into play. Two words... spray paint. I had a few things that I wanted to use in this space that just didn't fit. I also found a few really cute things at hobby lobby in the 80% off section that I thought would work, but just weren't the right color. I am terrible at before pictures, so you will have to just imagine what they looked like before!
I had my own little spray paint party and this is what I came up with...

I got these book ends at Hobby Lobby for $1.60 last year... they were black, and I really wanted to lighten up the space. So I brought some bright white spray paint into play and TA-DA...
I REALLy didn't want to have to buy all new magazine holders. The ones I had were just fine. But they were BLACK. So I got some spray paint for plastic in Dover White and this is how they turned out. I like them A LOT better this way. What was I thinking with all the black stuff??
I got this frame at the DI like six months ago for one WHOLE dollar. I didn't know exactly what I was going to do with it. It was painted red and gold. I found some army green spray paint and went to town. I still need to get some glass and put a photo in it. But I like it this way!I used that same army green spray paint on a couple of frames I found at Hobby Lobby for $1 each. One was red before and the other was pink. (don't mind the lack of picture.... I'm still working on that)I used some of my left over oil rubbed bronze spray paint to paint an old lamp that was a hand me down from my mom. It was black and gold crackle painted. A new lamp shade from Smith's Marketplace on sale for $9 to match my curtains and I am in love! I repainted this frame I got a while back at HobLob for $2 as well with my left over ORB spray. It was a light tan color before, and it was just too close to the color of my baskets so here is the after!

{you have to look really close to see a real difference, but I like it A LOT better}

I also found these babies in the hoblob clearance section for a good 40 cents each. They were black with gold fleur de lis painted on them. I painted them a crisp white, distressed the edges and now they hold all of our grocery bags!

See?? Things can really be transformed by a few squirts of spray paint! Now everything is matching and I think it looks great all together in the final product! And I did it all for less than $23!