Bedroom Updates & A Faux Pillow Cover

We are taking a break from all things outdoors today (on the blog at least, in real life we are right in the thick of it) and taking a peek at a few updated things in our bedroom.  So just for fun lets look way back and take a quick walk down memory lane and remember the old master cave of yore...

We wasted no time and painted that paneling - trim was made white and walls a gray.  We added a new chandelier light, painted a couple of ikea side tables, added some drapes, a new rug and we were feeling good.

This room is a slow work in progress so after a year we were ready to start adding a few things here and there.  First we found this awesome duvet cover at Target for under $30.  I was sold when I saw the price and then absolutely loved the addition of the big bold stripes.

I also made a faux pillow cover for our little accent pillow above, here is what I did...

This is what I started with, there is nothing necessarily wrong with this pillow but it just didn't match anything we have so I decided to cover it with some fabric that we already had (actually, this is a tablecloth but it's perfect for this).

First I cut off all of the tassels, and then I cut out two squares of fabric that would fit around my pillow.  By the way, this is a pretty quick and non-professional way of doing this.  If you are like me and can't sew this is the way to go, it took me like 10 minutes max.

After I had my two squares I used fabric glue and created a "hem" along all of the sides of both squares. Then I put the pillow on top of one fabric square and then placed the remainder square on top of the pillow (creating a pillow sandwich with the fabric squares)  then I glued together the two squares with the fabric glue again.  The fabric is slightly folded over along the sides of the pillow so there is a seam on the opposite side that you can't see when it's sitting pretty on our bed.  It's ghetto, I know- but it worked.  You can't tell and it's just an accent pillow so it shouldn't get a lot of wear and tear.  

Now back to our regularly scheduled blog post about really exciting bedroom updates...So little by little I love the way our little bedroom is coming together (ghetto faux pillows and all).  We really need something on the walls, they are practically screaming at me to put something on them - so that's my next little project.  

After that I feel like I need to address the opposite side of this room, which we won't mention here in this post.  

And so the progress goes on.

Have an awesome day!

Laundry Room Paint Progress

The painting is completed and I will just say - there is a whole lot of cheer going on.  If this room was dark and dingy before - it's anything but now. Two coats of primer, two coats of white trim paint, two coats of wall paint, two coats of floor paint and two coats of flooring sealer = one bright and fresh space and one tired painter.

Before

Progress

(Just ignore all of the painting supply clutter - and my crooked pictures.)

I'll be honest, when I first started painting the yellow I freaked out a little.  It was so different and so much brighter than before that it scared me a little.  I actually had to stop painting for a while - What really went down was that I went back twice, painted a little, walked away, came back, freaked out and then I decided to wait for Justin to get home for a second opinion.  He actually loved it, which gave me more confidence in the color choice and once the room was painted fully I loved it too.  It's funny how much my opinion changed after it was totally completed - such a difference.

So here is a floor walkthrough - we started with old linoleum and decided to paint it (mainly because of the asbestos issue - it would be really costly to remove it) and we really like the result.  It is a temporary fix for us.  Eventually we will do something more permanent but we are still weighing our options.

We used the same steps as we did when we painted the floor in the bathroom and in the closet: we primed the floor first (two coats) - I just used the same primer that I used for the paneling.  Then painted two coats of paint - just regular old paint, nothing special.  I actually found this paint on the oops shelf at our local hardware store for a whopping $5.

Then we finished it off with a floor sealer - same sealer we used for the bathroom project.

This sealer really is awesome.  It's eco-friendly has a very low odor and dries pretty fast.  It leaves a nice glossy and durable finish that is pretty resistant to scuffs and scratches.  If you are thinking about painting a floor like this, you have to get a good sealer - it's the only way to do it.

We are loving our happy new space.  To me, this is the perfect room for a bright yellow like this - I don't know if I would like our bedroom or living room painted this color but I love it in here.  I think it puts a little cheer into doing all that laundry.  More things to come in here this week!

  

So just wondering...what color is your laundry space???

Hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Our Painted Closet

Throughout last week I was able to get our closet completely painted from top to bottom (I don't know how that even happened).  When you start a project like this there is something about it that causes a chain reaction for other projects along the way.  If one closet gets cleaned out then all of the others need to be as well.  So last week we felt like our house was turned upside down, as we started cleaning, clearing and organizing but we are starting to slowly get things and back in order.  Let me share with you are closet progress to far...

Here is where we started:

Everything was cleared out to be purged, organized and simplified.

Priming was the first step - I ended up applying two coats of primer (this is just the first coat).  I followed the same steps for painting paneling as we did in our bedroom. 

Then two coats of white for the trim and shelves - I just used off the shelf Olympic white (like the rest of our house).  Then I applied two coats of Olympic silver lake - I found this paint in the Oops section at the Home Improvement store, it was $2.50!  I wanted a gray and just happened to really like this color - so always check there first, you never know what kind of deal you will find.

Next, our floor - I painted it the same way we did our bathroom floor, but essentially all I did was apply two coats of primer, two coats of paint - this was not any special kind of paint - once again I found this paint on the oops shelf (this one was a whopping $5), this paint started as Olympic Steeple Gray but the lovely people there tinted it darker for me since I was wanting a more slate color.  After the paint fully dried I applied three thin coats of Safecoat glossy floor sealer.  The key to this is to use a brush and to apply thin, even coats to assure you don't get any bubbles or streaks in your finish.  You could definitely add more coats of sealer for an even stronger finish.  I just used the minimum number of coats recommended since this is in a closet.

I have to say I have been pretty pleased with the way our bathroom floor has held up over the last several months.  The Safecoat sealer is the key to painting a floor like this.  I just love how the original floor pattern comes through the paint, it adds so much character.

So here is where we stand, all painted and pretty, ready to be filled.

Thanks for stopping by today!  We have a fun giveaway coming at you this Wednesday so make sure you check back to enter.  Have a wonderful week!

I'm a little late to the game but I have joined up with some other great bloggers with the Imagine the  Impossibilities Challenge this month with our little Closet Revamp/Purging/Organization Project.  Take some time to check out Thistlewood Farm (one of the awesome hosts) - check out some great projects and link up with yours too!!!

Master Bedroom Remodel Progress

For those of you who have been following since the beginning, you know that our master bedroom was the room that absolutely sold us on the house.  Ok, I'm lying - it was pretty awful.  We endearingly gave it the name master cave since it was covered top to bottom in faux wood paneling and extremely small - the majority of the world would not call this bedroom a master of anything.  We have not been able to change the size of the room but we have however given this room a lot of upgrades to make the room feel larger and also feel comfortable and relaxing.  Today we are taking a little trip down memory lane and looking at the progress we have made on this room so far.

Master cave beginnings - 

First thing we did was paint the walls (or paneling) a soft gray and the trim white.  We used Olympic no VOC paint in Secret Passage for the walls and Olympic no VOC paint in just plain old off the shelf white for the trim - both in eggshell finish.  For detailed instructions on how we painted our paneling check here.  Right off the bat this was a huuuuuge improvement and we loved it.  Painting this room immediately brought in light, made the room feel larger and offered a calm and relaxing feeling.

We didn't like our doorway at all - call us claustrophobic; so we took off the door and created a new fabric doorway - you can see how we used a table cloth from Target to do that here.  We actually really love not having a door here that is always banging on the wall and other doors and love the added color and the bright pattern the curtain brought in.

Next we hung our dramatic curtains - high and wide.  Instant sophistication.  Hanging your curtains higher and wider than your small little window will help bring your eye up and create a larger looking space -  check it out here!  

We also have brought in a rug for a little texture and pattern action to help pull the whole dramatic curtain thing together.  Rug is from Ikea ($19.99!)

I think our most favorite update is the new chandelier light fixture, this is definitely our main focal piece in the room.  It's amazing what a new light will do to a space.  If you don't do anything else - update your lighting, it takes years off of your old house and it's really easy, see how we did it here.  We found this chandelier at Ikea as well for $39.99 - a steal for an awesome light.

Finally we grabbed these side table chests, painted them (here) and found cute lighting to put on top.  Both from Ikea - Ikea Rast Drawer Chest - $29.99 and Table Lamp $16.99!  We love the added storage, balance and function these chests provide.  

This part of the room really hasn't changed much.  Our space is really small so we don't want to add any furniture until we find something we love and that is appropriately scaled for this little space.

Just a few shots, I love the lighting, can you tell?

I'm really wanting to add some pretty pillows for some much needed style to this bed - It's a comin'.

And, the final before and after (so far) - for a dramatic effect.

Some things on our list to do - pillows, artwork, shelving and maybe even a sitting chair - if we can work a small one in.  We love our room now, it's relaxing, inviting and feels like a little retreat (a grown-up space since our house is now a giant playroom for King Silas).  Thanks for being a part of our journey so far!  

The Kitchen, So Far

So we are back after having a nice break from the ordinary and taking a visit to Nashville to visit family.  We had a great time seeing everyone and enjoyed watching Silas play with his cousin Maddux - who are 7 weeks apart and even got in a little mini trip to see Memphis, take a ride across the Mississippi and put our feet down in Arkansas.

At the Mighty Mississippi in Memphis

Now that we are back we are putting together a list of things that we want to accomplish over the next couple of months as the summer rolls in and our life gets super busy.  We have curtains we still need to hang, faucets to install, bathroom mirrors to replace, rooms left to paint, art to hang and that's just the little stuff (as I type Justin is busy working on a few of these things, what a great husband I have).  We still have the exterior painting looming in the distance.  With all of the rain lately there just hasn't been a great time to plan this kind of project.  Hopefully we will get a break from the weather and also from our busyness to start, because we are so ready for the outside to change.  We talk about this often. As you know our kitchen has gone threw a mini makeover since moving in and we have lots of plans for it in the future but we thought it was a good time to stop and take a look at how far it's come.  These are just some of the things we have done in our kitchen that we feel have made the biggest difference.

Beginnings...Oh yes, the kitchen of our dreams.  Complete paneling overload.  Painting this kitchen took almost a week to complete, but sooo worth it.  Brightening up this space helped bring it into this century and also helped open up the kitchen immensely.  All of this dark paneling was totally shrinking the space.

I'm still cringing at this monstrosity of a fan...it will be gone one day, this I promise.

Source List:  Cabinets and Trim: Off the Shelf White in Olympic No VOC paint

Back kitchen wall:  Olympic No VOC paint in Abracadabra

Side paneling wall:  Olympic No VOC paint in Tattered Sail

As you can see we added a cabinet to this long wall - this is an antique piece called a Hoosier cabinet.  We don't have a pantry so this is serving that purpose right now, it actually holds a lot more things than I thought it would, I think it's kind of cool that we are using it for it's intended purpose and not just a decor piece.

I love how this wall looks painted, It adds a lot of character to our kitchen.  Painting real wood knotty pine paneling is a pain in the butt, not gonna lie - but you can see it's well worth it.  If you are thinking of painting paneling or knotty pine in your home you can read how we did it Here and Here.  (This is also our change sorting station - we use the cash only budget method so we end up having lots of spare change by the end of the week - every penny counts.  You can read more about our envelope cash method and how we budget Here).

Oh knotty pine cabinets, how we hated thee.  And ugly cabinet hardware, and ugly faux marble back-splash and ugly countertop...ok I'll end it there although I could go on.

Ok, so all of the hated items are still not gone - like the countertops for example.  But, we are dealing with it since the cabinets looks a bajillion times better with a little lot of paint.

More Sources:  Cabinet Hardware is from Lowe's

Bamboo Blinds - "Miranda" from Home Depot

Rug - Ikea

This is the best before shot I could find of the sink/window.  I wanted you to see the reason we hung the clock where we did - not necessarily because it's a great place to check the time but because there is a huge whole behind it.  

I really love this window - I don't really love the dangling cord but once again I'm dealing because the white paint looks so great on this window trim.

Quick before shot of our backsplash.

And -after we painted over it.  It was really simple and added so much impact.  You can read about that Here.  I also love these glass canisters I picked up at Target.  I make enough sweet tea to quench five families thirsts so a huge canister of sugar at a seconds reach is awesome.  I guess I'm easy to please. 

An over the fridge shot...why not?  You can see where the two kitchen colors meet and greet.

And finally, our little eat in kitchen nook.  It's so much prettier now.

I wanted to show how we just painted right over the fuse box...no biggie and it blends in so much better now.  Eventually I plan on painting the little desk here below, still debating what color right now.

My sweet friend brought over this hydrangea from her yard, I love having fresh flowers in the house and it's so pretty I had to take a picture.

We hope everyone had a wonderful Memorial Day break and we are so thankful for our wonderful Armed Forces who have served and our serving our country so humbly and honorably.  Tomorrow we have another giveaway coming at you and then we will start sharing some of the things we are getting crossed off of our list.  Take Care!