I'm twenty-four weeks pregnant, finally feeling better, and admittedly nesting... much like the busy little robins flying around outside my window all day long. This baby is coming and much of our house still looks like we just moved in. In the last week, I set my sights on some smaller projects and set my handyman on some bigger ones. The smorgasbord of details and before and after photos are below.
I haven't yet had a chance to write about my love affair with spray paint. It's a DIYers best friend. It's cheap, durable, quick and easy to apply. Spray paint comes in a variety of colors and textures, dries quickly, and leaves a smooth finish. This is only a short summary of why I LOVE SPRAY PAINT!
Take this little mirror for instance. The previous owners of our home left it behind, hanging in our half bath. I just can not imagine why! I actually could not wait to get it down and throw it away. It was much too small for the space, very plastic looking and so full of gold ugliness! But after staring at it for a couple months, I started to see the hidden potential.
I haven't yet had a chance to write about my love affair with spray paint. It's a DIYers best friend. It's cheap, durable, quick and easy to apply. Spray paint comes in a variety of colors and textures, dries quickly, and leaves a smooth finish. This is only a short summary of why I LOVE SPRAY PAINT!
Take this little mirror for instance. The previous owners of our home left it behind, hanging in our half bath. I just can not imagine why! I actually could not wait to get it down and throw it away. It was much too small for the space, very plastic looking and so full of gold ugliness! But after staring at it for a couple months, I started to see the hidden potential.
I cleaned, lightly sanded, and spray-painted it purple for my daughters room. It's so cute now and perfect for a little princess room!! Totally worth for $4 upgrade.
The reflection in the mirror gives a clue to my next project.
This old fixture was above the dining table in our old house (above). Judging by it's style, it was originally brass. Someone had already tried to salvage it by painting it white. But it was poorly done and the bottom point was rusting. We completely overhauled the kitchen, but I could not part with the light. At least not totally. I sanded, cleaned, and spray-painted it pink and Josh moved it into the nursery.
When we moved, I once again, couldn't part with it. Sentimentally, I just wanted something of our old house to take to our new house. My first choice was the front door lock and handle. I suspect it was original and antique. It was beautiful, but in the end, we couldn't take it. So I settled for the light. Josh took it down, it got a second coat- this time purple (my daughters favorite color). I painted this light and the mirror with the same $4 can of spray-paint I used on the mirror. You can't beat that. Now the light is back in her room where it belongs. Here are some really terrible photos of it now:
With my daughters room well on it's way, I turned my attention towards the kitchen. The kitchen in the new house is also in need of a make-over. Really great quality cabinets, but orangey colored wood from floor to ceiling. We're still deciding what to do there, however I do know I want white cabinets with blue accents throughout. I picked up this little cabinet on a garage sale website for $10. I think it was listed as a pie rack, but I am curious what it really is?
I had to do some cleaning, scraping and sanding to remove the gunk that was on the top (before and after pictured above right). As you can see, I was not able to totally remove the gunk that worked its way into the grain. This would have been a problem if I were staining. But you can get away with covering a lot when you are painting. I then sanded every surface lightly with a medium grit sandpaper. Cleaned off the dust and sprayed away. I was pleasantly surprised that this only took one can of glossy blue spray-paint. Only $4!! I put back the original hardware and stapled the netting back on where it had fallen off. I love the way it turned out, but I know I'll love it even more up against my future white cabinets and dark hardwood floors.
My final reveal is compliments of my husband, my daddy, and our contractor. It is a BIG one! The stairs in our main family room were upside-down 'L' shaped and used to jut out into the room, almost cutting it in two. It had no natural flow, was a huge waste of space on both floors, and it made for a really awkward corner in the room that I wouldn't know how to furnish. The awkward corner previously housed a humongous box TV, and I'm more of a 'keep the TV hidden' kinda gal. I am sure this was a turn-off to home-buyers looking for an open-concept, but not to us! We saw the cathedral ceilings and large living space and went forward with the house on my hubby's guarantee that the stairs indeed, could be moved. I can't take the credit, I played the role of the skeptic. But he was absolutely right! We hired a contractor to move the stairs mainly because it was a structural issue in the center of the house. As much as I love a good DIY project, the best DIYers know their limitations! Josh and I removed the carpet and installed the wood flooring ourselves. My two favorite handymen, my husband and my dad, installed the banister. I settled on the mix of iron and wood after scouring through pictures of wood banisters that just did not excite me. The iron was not tremendously more expensive than the wood balusters, but it was a couple dollars difference per baluster. Since the banister was short, the upgrade was affordable and worth it. Josh painted the ceiling before we moved in and just today had the chance to install our new light-fixture. The old one was supposed to looked like icicles... that's right... two tiers of ICICLES! Besides creating some kind of Frozen themed room, I have no idea why you would want a light that looks like icicles. It was ugly! There are a few more pieces of floor molding that need to go in (and that ceiling fan needs to be dealt with), but with the icicle light gone, I am too excited not to share!
It's simple, clean, bright and beautiful!! I love it! If we can accomplish all of this in a week, I can not wait to see what next week holds! Now onto hanging more on the walls and figuring out what to do with the ledge. To decorate or not to decorate? I'd love some input in the comments below.