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Tag Archives: DIY
pottery barn inspo
I love Pottery Barn Kids. I don’t really know why. Some of the stuff is just so effing expensive it doesn’t even make sense. But all the bedrooms are super matchy-matchy and freaking adorable. I wanted that for my girls but at like a Walmart price point.
So cute, right? It’s been finished for like 6 months and no one has slept in here yet!
Money well spent!!!
So this was O’s room and had a lot of stuff in it originally. I made these little side lamps before O showed up. They were old Pier 1 side lamps and I just bought new shades and some boa’s and stuck them around the rims.
When O got a little older I saw all these precious DIY dress-up cabinets on Pinterest and just had to have one.
I could totally see it, all the little dress-up clothes hanging on little tiny hangers and looking so freaking cute. Well guess what – as you can see from the image below we just shove all those pretty little outfits in the door and close it. O never hung her clothes up and so not only did I have clothes everywhere but she would be running around with hangers too – uhhhh helllo dangerous!
This was my moms dresser as a baby so it had some sentimental value. I spray painted this since it wasn’t real wood and glued fabric to the door because it was cracked. I also got the butterfly knobs from Target.
I got this bookshelf from my mom also. I painted it and backed it with the same fabric as the dresser.
O’s room was Mauve but I repainted it this candy pink color to match the bedding I ordered from Pottery Barn. I got the cheap last season bedding but it worked out for me anyway because I really liked it and it coordinated with the monogrammed pillows I wanted.
Always wanting to help, unless it cleaning up her own toys, clothes, etc, etc and then she wants nothing to do with it.
Love Love Love this sign we got from a burnt down barn. It was a charity event and I just haaaaaaaad to have it.
O’s aunt made that wreath from pink tissue paper for my front door when I had my baby shower. It’s soooo pretty!
This toy box was my dads growing up and I sanded the weird sketchy clowns off it and painted it 6 million times with that Martha Stewart Glitter paint. You can’t even see the glitter, total waste of time.
It is also filled to the brim with small $5 bribes. It typically costs about $5 to peacefully grocery shop with O, and it is so worth it. I would gladly pay double that to peacefully do anything with W but we haven’t reached that bridge yet. Apparently her patience and cooperation is priceless.
Found these two on Craig’s list. Luckily C went with me to pick them up for one because they weighed like a million pounds each and for two you never know what kind of sketch ball is waiting to chop you up into tiny little pieces off craigslist. SO always bring someone with you!
And don’t be scared to turn the sale down either! Unlike me who bought broken $10 packnplay with baby vomit inside and actually spent $20 because the crazy woman didn’t have any change. My fault for not bringing exact change, I will admit – but ewww so gross for not cleaning your baby puke up before you sold your packnplay! I mean seriously have some dignity people!!!!
Anyway. I painted and distressed these two and I love how they turned out. I was too impatient to order that Annie Sloan chalk paint so I used the Americana from Home Depot. Boy that is some thick stuff. We shall see how it holds up. I guess the good part about them being distressed is that scratches won’t matter???
go bold with hallway stripes
the decision There was a time in my life around 6-9 months pregnant with my second child where I decided I wanted to paint my whole house. Call it cabin fever, or nesting, or pretty much psychotic. But basically I went bat … Continue reading
playroom
Once upon a time I had a fancy dining room.
It had beautiful beaded curtains and a wall with a bunch of lovely black and white photos and a pretty bar table that would collect large quantities of dust.
Then came baby O. I first relocated the beautiful beaded curtains because they posed a huge strangulation hazard. Then I had to move the bar table into the kitchen because our kitchen table was baby-face level and glass which posed a hole new set of lethal hazards.
Then my dining room sat empty. I discussed it’s playroom potential but C wasn’t convinced and we utilized our bedroom’s sitting room as the playroom. That was great until O’s second birthday when all the kids wanted to play in there and I was uncomfortable since it was technically my bedroom. That’s when I decided to hell with our fancy decor, our lives were over anyway. Might as well accept fate and be comfortable in our own house.
Then I stole C’s favorite couch from his office and convinced C’s mom (grandmom) to make pretty curtains.
Begin transformation playroom….
Oh, I mixed the steps up a bit – I did paint first. This awkward sea foam color. I had a lot left over from the upstairs hallway so I tried to use what I had without having to buy new.
I didn’t like the way it looked like a kindercare so I painted over it wit another color I had – and I hate cutting in so I taped a trim line since I did like the sea foam color.
These are the curtains from Joanne’s that Grandmom fixed up for us. I drove to two different Joanne’s for enough fabric but I really liked it. That’s the cozy couch I stole from C. That couch has seen better days. But it’s nice and low to the ground so when the girls fall off it’s no big deal.
Then I painted the black frames yellow.
I had some of those cubes with the girls toys in them but with all the bright colors I wanted something a bit more formal. I found this great armoir (<- I think I spelled that wrong) anyway, I found it on craigslist for like $100. But the guy wanted it gone asap so I got it for $50! It took forever for me to paint it.
I hate Pinterest BTW. It makes me think I can do all this crafty stuff. Then I buy all the stuff just to figure out I am not so crafty. From afar it looks good – and that is enough for me.
It did not come with that smallish child inside.
Here is the finished result. Not gonna lie – I kinda love it. I reclaimed that coffee table too. Lets see if I can insert that post – it was one of my earlier attempts at entertainment…
https://amberunraveled.wordpress.com/2014/07/31/reclaimed/
I got a little silly and painted some shelves yellow too. And found this little canvas that matched, O sings the song all the time anyway so it had some sentimental value an all (but it mostly matched). I wrapped yarn all around that letter O and then said there was NO WAY I was going to do it again so W got the shaft, as per the norm and I painted her W.
And that’s how we got our cozy playroom. I really like it, it’s functional and gets lots of hours.
great room
This is where it all goes down. The great room. I don’t know specifically why some rooms are great and some are called family or living rooms but I like the way you can say GREAT so many different ways.
At least in my head I say it different ways and it’s funny – in my head.
The little people are in all the pictures. They see a camera come out and it’s “CHEESE” and “CHEESEBEEEERGER” the entire time. All the furniture in here is mix matched. Originally we had glass tables that all matched and looked lovely but they were evicted once the kids started running around. I try to avoid unnecessary accidents as much as possible.
The black side table is actually my kitchen table with the glass top removed. Hopefully we can use that again one day once the kids are taller.
The TV looks a little sideways…
My – uh, I mean the girls Anywhere Pottery Barn chairs. I love them.
This surprisingly and extremely comfortable rocking chair came as a set with our camper! I know, so lame to use recreational furniture in your home but it just happened okay. None of us saw it coming. It has more than earned it’s keep rocking babies over the past four years. And I made those pillow cases myself thank you. It took lots of fabric because I messed up the measurements somehow but it all worked out in the end. The fabric was called Waverly – how ironic, right?
No, it’s not me and it’s not a stripper. It’s a painting of a scene from Dancing with the Stars. A painter at our gym did it. He’s super amazing.
home edition
I was cleaning and decided to snap some pictures for bloggy world. This is for you Rose, it will be a virtual tour of my house. But minus the virtual tour part. Okay so it will be more like strategic pictures taken at optimal angles to hide all the crap and junk and make me look like an amazing house keeper, cleaner, decorator, what-have you.
It’s basically an optical illusion. As is my entire life.
HI! Come On In!
Chris randomly called me from Home Depot and said there was a really great door on clearance. Apparently the people who bought it measured wrong so it was an odd size. Being the craftsman as he is Chris made it fit our house by adding extravagant molding details around the frame. It’s so fancy. The old owners last name was “Fly” I think. I think of them often. Like way often. Whenever I open the front door I see FLY written on masking tape on the inside trim. I will pull it off one day.
That crazy thing on the door knob is a child lock to keep in grandparents, visitors and babies.
Frozen
Party time for Oakley. She is turning 4 close to Christmas but we always celebrate early so people can do the holiday party too. It was rather small this year, I kind of slacked on preparations and waited till the last minute but O didn’t care.
Grandmom hard at work. She always helps me out, I am the worst hostess and party planner. I see 1 million ideas on Pinterest and then try to do them all at one time. They never turn out either. I’m literally about to chuck the crock pot out the window but that’s an entirely different story.
O picked a Frozen theme (surprise, surprise!) pretty sure every girl had a frozen birthday this year, that movie is pretty awesome though so I can’t blame them. Cake looks a little sideways but hey- it adds character.
balloons everywhere, like I said I skimped on the decor this year. kids love balloons though so O was happy. We still have one wrapped up in the ceiling fan. It might be there all year, it’s a two story family room so I hope its comfortable. I’ve finally accepted the fact it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
O and her cousin sharing a scarf – I know, seems a little dangerous. I took it away after the picture. I’m such a party-pooper.
We did pulled pork and a couple store bought salad sides. Not too fancy. Mini hotdogs wrapped in Pillsbury croissants – those are super easy and always a hit.
random pic of W sitting on the cooler. She so funny.
reclaimed
Hand painted, then messed up re-sanded, and hand painted again. So it is essentially doubly reclaimed. If that is possible. Go figure.
Why is it that everything I see on Pinterest makes me think “pshhhhh, I can do that!” I must have an inflated sense of artistic ability. Plus my manic obsessiveness totally messes with me. I decided a few weeks ago I was going to repurpose furniture bought off Craigslist, then resell it and get loaded. Well, I have shined. I am a professional at purchasing from Craigslist and getting loaded, just not the right kind of loaded. I originally thought I was going to get rich, not drunk on wine and paint fumes.
But today is a milestone. I have finally completed my first piece and listed it on Craigslist and Ebay and, well that’s it. I couldn’t think of anywhere else to list it. But I have faith! It will sell! Hopefully. Here it is in all it’s original glory, or lack thereof… I didn’t even take a pic of it’s partner in crime. Here they are. Coffee and End table, let’s call them Bella and Edward. (I just watched Twilight)
Oh, wait – look who it is back there, so shy.
These little buggers gave me a fit. I sanded, stripped, stained and then painted a couple times. Then I distressed, stained some more, ooops stained too much. Had to sand back down, repaint and re distress, uggghhhh. But now they do look great, if I say so myself.
So now onto the next ones, I have quite the lineup of furniture too. Many of these I plan to keep. At least until something else sparks my interest.
Until next time.