Smorgasbord - Part Dos

Happy Sunday everyone! Well again, we don't have any major project posts, so I decided to do another post of randomness...

First, we'll start with another frame/picture makeover. I found these frames (we got 2 of them) when I went with my mom to the mountains a few weeks back. I loved the print, but the burgundy frame was not at all in my color scheme. So I brought them home, did a little sanding and priming, then spray painted them black. They turned out super cute. Here is the before pic:

And here is what they look like after. Love 'em!

Ok, remember the little table I made over in my previous post. Well I did another switch-a-roo after I came back with a super cute lamp and some vintage cameras from my yardsaling yesterday. It was out with the black lamp and apples (I move them to the corner of the bar) and in with the new lamp, cameras, a chair I had in another corner and some plates I had laying around. I think it looks much better than the lonely nook before.

Next on the smorgasbord we have our very unused formal living room. For those of you who don't know, we have a den, a rec room and formal living room (way too many seating rooms for me, but I suppose it will be good one day...). So the only things we have in that room are this little seating area, the pictures from the beginning of this post and the table ensemble shown below.

Most of the items in this picture are from a yard sale. What can I say? I'm a sucker for a deal. But note to self, I do have to have those chairs recovered one day...

Next, I'm back to the dining room. I got some good input from a friend about moving my chairs to either side of the hutch, so I did and it looks great! She also suggested I get some upholstered chairs for the ends, so I'm on a mission to find those...I sure wish I knew how to cover furniture it would make my life so much easier, not to mention cheaper!

Anyway, other than the musical chairs, I did some switching around inside the hutch, added some things up top and did a little centerpiece. I still need to get some things on the wall, so I'll be keeping my eyes peeled at the markets and sales. (I do have some white plates that will be making their way in there soon...)

Finally! (And I'll stop with all the randomness...) I am revisiting the front door. We had some blank space on the left side of the door and it was driving me crazy! I couldn't think what to put there. So eventually my brain woke up and I realized I had these really strange, metal thingys that I bought from Hobby Lobby a while back that I had no use for. I decided they would look great against the brick, so I put one on the front porch and painted one for the back.

For the front, we paired the metal thingy with a planter basket that I found at my trusty Tuesday Morning, added some cute plants and wa-la! Instant floral decor. It turned out great!

For those who don't remember the before, view this post...

And here are the afters. Oh and btw, I found a new light fixture at a yard sale for a buck! I gave it quick coat of black and it was the perfect fix to our old broken one.

Ok, enough with the rambling. It's time to go take it easy for a while, something we don't do very often. I will say this though, we are getting bathroom redo fever....

Here Batten, Batten, Batten...

Well as many of you have read, we redid our dining room. I know, I know. When will we ever stop? To be honest, I think it's become an addiction. We just can't stay still! Hopefully one day we'll just look around and say "Ok, I think we're done." But it's not likely :).

So in our previous post, we mentioned that we were going to install a fun wall treatment to our dining room walls called, Board and Batten.

It was as super simple project (it took only a weekend to finish). However, I must warn you, if you don't like to paint this project IS NOT for you! It took 3 coats of paint and if you are a messy painter like me, you'll have just as many coats on your hands, legs, face, etc. :).

So without further ado, here are the befores...

And finally, the afters...

The rundown of the makeover is as follows:

1. Used MDF for the 6in board on top and the 2in boards that run perpendicular (the bottom molding was already there). Then we added a 2 in "shelf" on top out of the same MDF.

2. Painted with Behr's Ultra Pure White Primer and Paint. Again, even with the primer, you will need 3 coats. For some reason, white is much harder paint to cover other colors.

3. We replaced the chandelier with one I found a yard sale for $20 and added the shades that I found at Tuesday Morning for $4.00.

4. I painted the china cabinet the same color as our kitchen cabinets, Behr's Cotton Knit.

I think that's about it. I'm debating what to do with the dining table. Should I paint it? Just the chairs? Get upholstered chairs? Ahh, the decisions.

I hope you like our transformation. I think it turned out pretty good and adds a whole other dimension to our home.

Have a great Wednesdady everyone! I hope you enjoyed your day(s) off like we did :)!

Board and Batten it up!

Good Morning Everyone! I wanted to post a little something about one of our current projects. I am IN LOVE with the "board and batten" look and we have decided that it would look fantastic in our dining room. For those of you who don't know what "board and batten" is, some of the pictures below will help.

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We've started painting and we decided to use the same colors as the kitchen (brown, green, white and cream.) I'll be sure to post the afters soon, but here are the befores:

So, the to-do list for the dining room is as follows:

1. Clear out room - done except for the large cabinet that will be painted my favorite white, Behr's Cotton Knit.

2. Paint top half of the walls - done, but still needs a second coat

3. Determine height of wall treatment and buy supplies

4. Borrow table saw and get to work :)

So, stay tuned...the afters should be up shortly!