A work in progress…

One of the many things that my daughter Emily and I have in common is that we don’t do bored very well.  This weekend after doing most of the things that every weekend holds she found herself bored and in need of something to do, little did she know that I was bored and wishing to release a little creativity.  When she asked if we could purchase the paint for her room at 4pm on Saturday we quickly loaded into the car and set off for the home improvement stores paint section.  After looking at rows and rows of purple color choices we managed to pick two that we agreed on, purchased the paint and returned home to begin our “little” project.  How to accomplish an unplanned painting of a child’s bedroom in one (half) of a weekend, clear half of the room by piling it onto the un-empty side of the room, pour paint for your roller and begin.   Emily has been helping me roll her room since she was about 4, drop cloths were very important then but not as needed now, she rolls while I cut in around the room and when I’m finished I complete whatever rolling still needs to be done (mostly the top half of the walls).  By Saturday night half of the room was complete and we decided there was not enough light or energy to move everything again until the next day.  I took advantage of the clear side of the room with its freshly painted walls and began chalking out her new feature wall, Purple on Purple Zebra Stripes!  I usually like to look at some form of inspiration when I chalk out a design.  Sometimes it’s a small picture of what is wanted that I free hand and enlarge, this time I pulled the black and white zebra rug out of the girls bathroom and chalk in hand began drawing out the zebra design.  Finding the center of the wall was key for this design and while my wall is not an exact copy of the rugs design it was the perfect jumping off point so that the wall looked planned yet random and other than the fact that it is purple, like a real zebra might look.  Sunday afternoon we moved all the contents of the room to the dry freshly painted side and repeated the painting process and then the only thing left to do was put the room back together.  Lucky for me Emily is the daughter who thrives on order and she was very helpful in quickly returning the room to its previous tidy state.  While the painting is finished and we are VERY pleased with how the zebra wall turned out we are not entirely finished with this room redo.  Next we will begin changing out the window treatments, refinishing a shelving piece and eventually deciding on a grand headboard treatment and replacing the light fixture, I will as always keep you posted with our progress and hope you enjoy the journey with me.

Monkeying Around

Like most do it yourselfers I love to garage sale!  On a nice Saturday morning my youngest and I will head out for a few early morning hours spent looking through other peoples things.  Trash to Treasure!  I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I have picked something up for .50 – 10.00 and refinished and repurposed it.  It’s truly an addiction, the cheaper the item and the worse shape it’s in the more excited I get to redo it.   Here is a look at my latest find, a plaster monkey table base with a glass top.  You see, I am currently still in the process of designing a room makeover for my youngest who just happens to have a thing for monkeys.  We took one look at it and instantly knew how GREAT it would be as a bedside table on the side of the bed that did not already have a nightstand.  The room is a work in progress and eventually will be painted purple with some form of wall mural (possibly purple on purple zebra stripes) and accents of white and turquoise accessories will fill the space.  Em is very eclectic (mom calls it bohemian) and loves a wide array of bright cheery colors as well as lots of textures and patterns.  After arriving home with our find it didn’t take long for the fun to begin, I cleaned the plaster monkey base with a disinfectant wipe let it dry while I mixed some paint and got to work.  We decided that to make it really pop and stand out in the space in a funky way (because a plaster monkey nightstand doesn’t stand out enough on its own already) that we would paint it turquoise and finish it off with a high gloss.  Knowing that the future room will have some zebra print in it we decided to add a touch of that to the top edge of the table and to the very top we added a stencil design that can be seen through the glass top of the table.  A few hours later the end result was just as amazing as we had hoped it would be!  Take a look for yourself and be sure to leave a comment on this blog to let me know how wild and crazy (I mean wonderful) you think this latest DIY redesign turned out.

Mirror Mirror on the wall…

We all have mirrors hung somewhere in our home.  They are a great decorating choice to reflect light into a dark space or make a small room appear larger.  I have found that mirrors tend to be a little pricey at least the ones that I am always drawn to so, I decided to work with what I already had.  Here is a look a two mirror updates that have really refreshed the look of my home.  The first one is in the entry way of my home and adds a great focal point upon entering and also a great place to check your makeup and hair before you head out the door.  This particular mirror has already had many updates, it began its life in my home over my oldest daughters changing table in her nursery 15 years ago and was done in a whimsical polka dot.   Its next home was to my entryway about 10 years ago where I painted it brown and distressed it to have a slightly leather look to it.  However, recently I painted my entryway a dark chocolate brown and discovered that the mirror was lost on the wall and in desperate need of yet another update.  I was inspired by an imported Spanish mirror done in mosaic tile that I had recently seen in a friend’s home, I was determined to pull off a similar look on a much lower budget.  The search for the right color mosaics began and I decided on square glass pieces from a local craft store.  I painted the frame of the mirror a light blue to reflect light once the glass pieces were attached.  Next I hot glued each mosaic piece around the frame in a random pattern and the final step was to grout.  The end result is a wonderful updated mirror that really pops on the chocolate brown entryway walls and not only reflects a lot of light but draws your eye to its beauty. 

The second mirror is one that hangs in the small entryway to the master bedroom and was originally my grandmothers.  While I’m not an overly sentimental person as my family will tell you, I do have one piece of furniture or glassware from each grandparent thats become a daily part of my home.  This mirror was originally framed in cherry wood and more ornate than the first and yet it too was recently lost on a dark wall after repainting.  This time I went for a distressed painted look and used several shades of green and beige dry brushed on and sanded down in places to update the mirrors look.  I adore how it looks on the wall now and think that the details of the mirror actually stand out more with its new finish than originally. 

I look forward to hearing what you think of my recent mirror updates and would also love to know if you own a mirror you wished had new life