if it ain't broke... don't PAINT it

When I bought my house there was this weird room at the back of the house that really didn't have much purpose.  It was small... pink... huge holes in the walls... no closet... and oh... did I mention it was pink!
My house is old so I have the nice big ol' wood baseboards everywhere and wood trim.  Someone along the way refinished the wood, but decided that this stupid room in the back of the house didn't deserve refinishing. Instead the wood got painted... yellow... then green... then white and maybe pink in there somewhere :)
Over the last few years I've taken down the wall between the dining room and kitchen and made this room the dining room.  works great! 
I had to figure out the wood situation though, so I got on good ol' youtube and made it happen.

1) Ripped off all the wood that could come off.  Some stayed put because it would do more damage taking it off that it would just leaving it.  Patched and primed all the holes in the walls.

2) I started stripping.  I used a great product called circa 1850.  It goes on like a gel and within a minute it was bubbling up.  I used a scraper and just peeled it up.

Note:  Make sure its well ventilated... ya... I did this in the winter and it wasn't well ventilated... I was not good the next day.  I had quite the hangover.

3) Replaced the ruined wood and put back the good wood that I could salvage.  The original wood they used was beautiful fir.  I don't know about you, but I couldn't afford that.  I went to a good wood store and ended up using oak.  The stain actually blended well and I found the grain was actually quite similar in the end.

4) Then came along the stain.  I ended up trying a few different things.  I actually stripped and stained this room twice.  Stupid I know.  Honestly after the first round I stood back and looked and absolutely hated the color of the stain.  I think I was s
till high on fumes when I did it (funny part is i'm not kidding).  I really hated it.  Way too red.  So instead of whining like I wanted to... I just did it again.  really annoying, but it had to be done.  I settled on Miniwax - Polyshades in the color Red chestnut.  Perfect!  Just what I wanted. 



5) Then painted (Martha stuart color "calabash", but in bear paint). 

6) Put up crown moulding, a little ceiling detail and then voila!

Donzo!

Now I have a dining room worthy of board games and dinner party's.

 

Doily Light

 

I thought I'd post a pic of the Doily Globe light that I've made recently.

I really love it.  It suites my dining room perfectly.

The making process basically involves a yoga ball, glue, lots of doilies and a lot of patients!

If your interested in purchasing one, stop by my etsy shop.

Wire spool storage solution

In my office I've had a little bit of a storage issue.
I would really like have a clean sleek look, but that's hard when i have a lot of books and .... stuff :)
I've really been trying to purge and give to charity those things that I just don't need, use or see myself using in the future.  It's been good!
I wanted to find a little coffee table that also could be used as some sort of storage piece.

I've always loved those big old wood storage spools.
I friend of mine was able to get his hands on a few for me (thanks!) so here is my new coffee table, wood wire spool book shelf.

Wood spindles are dividing the books to keep them from falling.  I put 4 small caster wheels on the bottom.  I placed a little tin cup in the center hole as a pensil holder or for remotes.  I brightened it up with some cute green apple paint and voila!
done!  Works great and looks fun too!

The Blanket

I have been seeing this blanket and similar ones to it popping up all over pinterest.  I love this blanket.  One day I just couldn't have it enough and decided that come hell or high water... i was going to figure out how to make one. 

So I did!
It was quite the process and my arms may or may not have hurt after :)
but I did it!




 
It took awhile to get the wool.  I had to order it from a farm in the states.  I've found one local to use now (which is great).  The ball of wool was sitting on the couch as big as a person next to my Himalayan.  You could see the defeat in her eyes :)



I actually used a new knit stitch that I love and have been using
                                                            it in a lot of things.

I have decided to sell them, because I really enjoyed the process.  It's a lot of work and not necessarily a big   money maker or anything, but I enjoy the hobby.

You can find them at Hobbyfelt on Etsy.

Feel free to check out my little modest shop!

Have a great day!

                                                   jan

best extra storage solution ever!

I was finding that my closet was cluttered with things I don't use that often.  I didn't want to get rid of them, but I also didn't want to trip over them.  I thought that finding something that would look good for under the bed would work perfect.
These old suit cases came from MCC (Mennonite central committee) thrift store for 2 bucks a piece!!! 
I taped the handles with painters tape, primed and painted (green apple color in satin finish) and they turned out great!

I love them!
Now when your walking up my stairs you can't see under my bed either (usually its just a creepy cat staring back at you, but either way).
They added some contrast to the room too.

a dresser transformed...

I don't have a ton of counter space in my kitchen.  So I've been looking for inspiration to give me a little more counter space and also somewhere to put my kitchen aid.  So naturally i turn to the Internet and the beloved pinterest (thank you Lord for pinterest).

I found quickly that the answer to my issue was in a kitchen cart of some sort.  I found an idea using an old dresser and got to work.

I found an old dresser that was needed some fixing up and a good sanding (I almost like it with the distressed look, but it wasn't apart of the plan).

 

 

So I fixed the drawer, sanded, primed, painted, put on caster wheels, put 3+ coats of poly on the top, added some accessories and VOILA!

 

 

I lined the drawers in a fun wall paper just for kicks.

 

I was so excited about how it turned out.  I actually gained so much more storage space and it looks really cute. 
So far everyone who has seen it has commented on it.  The polyurethane on the top was the smartest decision.  If you try it yourself, don't skip that.  It will last so much longer and make sure it dries completely.
Feel free to comment with any tips or ideas!

the dining room wall

So I have a character home.
I really do love it.  I've owned it for over 5 years now.  Being a 100 year old home there are always little projects that I can do to personalise it to me.
I had a pretty unappealing kitchen (been renovated recently... for another time) and a useless room off the back of my house.  The wall came down between the 2 rooms making that useless room ... my new dining room.
I wanted to do something fun with the dining room wall.
I had been collecting old window frames for years and knew that I would put them to good use some day and I came up with this idea.
It's a patch work of Old Window frames that I found in back alley's and antique shops.
The dining room is still a work in progress, but I was pretty excited with how it turned out.