What's Better Than Free?

Last fall, on one of my walks around the neighborhood, I spotted a chair in a garbage pile that was definitely worth saving! The chair was already painted, but it was a yellowed cream, and the fabric on the seat, although a pretty pattern, was torn and faded, so it would need to be replaced. I figured it was an easy project and that it would take me less then a day to complete the makeover of this pretty little wooden chair, and then it would look perfect in the guest room.

Later that week, I unscrewed the seat, gave the chair a light sanding, and began it's makeover with white spray paint. The cheap white spray paint that I had purchased did not even begin to cover the yellowy cream underneath. So, I set the chair aside until I had time to work on it. Fast forward more than six months, and I finally returned to this project. After dusting off some cobwebs, I pulled out the trusty Kilz primer and brushed it all over the chairs spindles and curves. One coat of primer was all it took, and then it was easy to spray three light coats of white paint all over to complete the chair's transformation.

A few days later, when I had another small block of time, I recovered the chair's seat cushion. I ripped off the old faded floral, and then simply placed the seat on top of the fabric I was using and cut a few inches around it, then stapled the new fabric onto the bottom side of the seat. The whole shebang took less than half an hour. After screwing the seat back into the wooden frame, the chair's transformation was finished!

Check out how much better it looks in the corner of our black and white guest room than the wooden clunker that was there before. Isn't it b-e-a-U-tiful?



The best part was that all I had to purchase was the paint, as I already had the primer and fabric, and the chair itself was free!

Linked to Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch, Thrifty Treasures @ Southern Hospitality, DIY Project Parade @ DIY Showoff, Get Your Craft On @ Todays Creative Blog, Pajama Party @ Life in My PJs, Furniture Feature Friday @ Miss Mustard Seed

Guest Room Part Deux

or in other words, how to turn a yucky dated room into a relaxing and luxurious guest room.

Last week I finally revealed the guest room's lovely tranformation. We put so much work, research, blood, sweat and tears into that room. I am so glad that it turned out well, because if it hadn't, well, let's just say it wouldn't have gone well. :-)

Once we had settled on the black and white color scheme we started shopping around for the particulars that would bring this room together. It was a little more difficult than we had foreseen to find pure black and white anything, so we ended up making a lot of it ourselves.

Finding the right wall sconce also proved to be a bit of a challenge. At first we couldn't find anything that worked with our color scheme and was in our price range. But trusty old Lowe's came through for us again, and this little light was only $35.00.

We hit up Craigslist for the headboard, mattress and boxspring. The headboard was originally a creamy country color that wasn't working for the room. We loved the curvy lines though, so we fixed it up with a dozen few cans of spray paint. The lines of the bed go perfectly with these dollar store mirrors in the cubby above the desk.

We found the sheets at the bargain outlet (they're white with three embroidered black stripes) and the bed linens, rug and towels at Walmart.

I put my craftiness and sewing skills to the test making curtains, a bedskirt, the decorative throw pillow, the window seat cushion and the damask stencil on the wall.

For the curtains I chose a honeycomb smocking pattern (tutorial here) to do in black on white muslin. Although I love the final effect, it was very complicated and took a really, really, really long time.

The bedskirt was very easy. I took an old sheet, sewed it to some black broadcloth and then ironed on white grosgrain ribbon with hemming tape. It took maybe a couple of hours and the effect is so elegant, I love it.

The blue satin throw pillow was also very easy. I used a pattern, and the whole thing took maybe two hours to complete. The hardest part was working with the slippery fabric.

The window seat cushion is made out of a cotton quilting fabric, some piping and the fiberfill. Again, very easy, and it looks great. The last DIY project in this room was the stenciled damask design on the wall by the closet. A word to the wise, do NOT choose an uber complicated stencil when you plan on covering a wall with the design. What you see on the wall took me approximately ten hours to complete. :-(

I found the little votive holder on the shelf at a garage sale, and the lamp at the Christmas Tree Shop (it was a brown lamp clearanced out to 0.97 so I sprayed it black and added an inexpensive white shade) I also found the black frames above the bed there and the prints are some of my own black and white shots. The nightstand was a free handmedown.

I found the blue glass vase at the dollar store, and the metallic blue frame at Goodwill. The print was super simple to make in Photoshop, and I love the little saying : The ornaments of your home will be the guests who frequent it. The "guest book" photo album is from Hobby Lobby. It was marked down incorrectly, so I scored it for only $3.50

Overall this was a fairly inexpensive project with the breakdown as follows:

• Various gallons of white paint $50.00
• Headboard from Craiglist $40.00
• Queen mattress and boxspring from Craigslist $80.00
• Spray paint for drawers, lamp, and headboard $20.00
• Pulls and knobs for drawers $12.00
• Supplies for bedskirt $20.00
• Supplies for curtains $30.00
• Supplies for window seat cushion $10.00
• Stencil and paint for wall design $15.00
• Rug $45
• Bedspread $65.00
• Sheets $30.00
• Supplies for pillow $5.00 (We had the insert, which made it much cheaper)
• Towels $25
• Wall light $35
• Lamp for nightstand $1.00 plus shade $5.00
• Various white and black decorations $20.00
• Frames and prints for wall $25.00
• Trashcan $1.00
• Sconces and candles $2.00 (We already had the sconces, so we only needed new candles.)
• "Guest book" photo album $3.50
• Pillows for bed $20.00
• Baseboards $20.00
• Curtain Rods $7.00 and Drapery Clips $7.50

Grand Total: $593.00

Considering that this total includes renovation and decoration costs, I think we did a great job.

Total man hours: if I had to guess, I'd put it at around 100 hours of work. Not for the faint of heart I tell ya! So what do you think? Was it worth it?

Guest Room Part Deux

or in other words, how to turn a yucky dated room into a relaxing and luxurious guest room.

Last week I finally revealed the guest room's lovely tranformation. We put so much work, research, blood, sweat and tears into that room. I am so glad that it turned out well, because if it hadn't, well, let's just say it wouldn't have gone well. :-)

Once we had settled on the black and white color scheme we started shopping around for the particulars that would bring this room together. It was a little more difficult than we had foreseen to find pure black and white anything, so we ended up making a lot of it ourselves.

Finding the right wall sconce also proved to be a bit of a challenge. At first we couldn't find anything that worked with our color scheme and was in our price range. But trusty old Lowe's came through for us again, and this little light was only $35.00.

We hit up Craigslist for the headboard, mattress and boxspring. The headboard was originally a creamy country color that wasn't working for the room. We loved the curvy lines though, so we fixed it up with a dozen few cans of spray paint. The lines of the bed go perfectly with these dollar store mirrors in the cubby above the desk.

We found the sheets at the bargain outlet (they're white with three embroidered black stripes) and the bed linens, rug and towels at Walmart.

I put my craftiness and sewing skills to the test making curtains, a bedskirt, the decorative throw pillow, the window seat cushion and the damask stencil on the wall.

For the curtains I chose a honeycomb smocking pattern (tutorial here) to do in black on white muslin. Although I love the final effect, it was very complicated and took a really, really, really long time.

The bedskirt was very easy. I took an old sheet, sewed it to some black broadcloth and then ironed on white grosgrain ribbon with hemming tape. It took maybe a couple of hours and the effect is so elegant, I love it.

The blue satin throw pillow was also very easy. I used a pattern, and the whole thing took maybe two hours to complete. The hardest part was working with the slippery fabric.

The window seat cushion is made out of a cotton quilting fabric, some piping and the fiberfill. Again, very easy, and it looks great. The last DIY project in this room was the stenciled damask design on the wall by the closet. A word to the wise, do NOT choose an uber complicated stencil when you plan on covering a wall with the design. What you see on the wall took me approximately ten hours to complete. :-(

I found the little votive holder on the shelf at a garage sale, and the lamp at the Christmas Tree Shop (it was a brown lamp clearanced out to 0.97 so I sprayed it black and added an inexpensive white shade) I also found the black frames above the bed there and the prints are some of my own black and white shots. The nightstand was a free handmedown.

I found the blue glass vase at the dollar store, and the metallic blue frame at Goodwill. The print was super simple to make in Photoshop, and I love the little saying : The ornaments of your home will be the guests who frequent it. The "guest book" photo album is from Hobby Lobby. It was marked down incorrectly, so I scored it for only $3.50 

Overall this was a fairly inexpensive project with the breakdown as follows:

• Various gallons of white paint $50.00


• Headboard from Craiglist $40.00


• Queen mattress and boxspring from Craigslist $80.00


• Spray paint for drawers, lamp, and headboard $20.00


• Pulls and knobs for drawers $12.00


• Supplies for bedskirt $20.00


• Supplies for curtains $30.00


• Supplies for window seat cushion $10.00


• Stencil and paint for wall design $15.00


• Rug $45


• Bedspread $65.00


• Sheets $30.00


• Supplies for pillow $5.00 (We had the insert, which made it much cheaper)


• Towels $25


• Wall light $35


• Lamp for nightstand $1.00 plus shade $5.00


• Various white and black decorations $20.00


• Frames and prints for wall $25.00


• Trashcan $1.00


• Sconces and candles $2.00 (We already had the sconces, so we only needed new candles.)


• "Guest book" photo album $3.50


• Pillows for bed $20.00


• Baseboards $20.00


• Curtain Rods $7.00 and Drapery Clips $7.50

Grand Total: $593.00

Considering that this total includes renovation and decoration costs, I think we did a great job.

Total man hours: if I had to guess, I'd put it at around 100 hours of work. Not for the faint of heart I tell ya! So what do you think? Was it worth it?

Glorious Guest Room

After a year and four months in this lovely castle we have called home, I have learned one thing. (Well, actually, I have learned a lot, but I am only going to talk about one today. :-) )

Home renovations never go as quickly as planned.

One year, three months and seven days ago, I blogged about the spa'oom as we liked to call it. I showed you pictures of what it looked like, and the theN current state, and promised the after pictures "real soon." And now, approximately 440 days later, we are finally finished, and I'm back with pictures. Hey, good things come to those who wait, right?

Here's a refresher of what the room used to look like, taken the day after we closed on the house.

Lots and lots of honey toned wood, grass green carpeting on the floor, on the headboard and on either side of the dresser mirror. Black floral wallpaper, black valances and black blinds. Builtin window seat, dresser and desk on one side, built in bunkbeds on the other.

We knew this room would lend itself to one of the most dramatic makeovers in the house.

Here's how the hideousness became the lovely view you see above. We tore out the awful wallpaper the first week, and the bunkbeds came crashing down shortly thereafter.

Then we let it sit for a while as we discussed decorating ideas for the room. It was lover's idea to go with a black and white theme with just a few pops of color. Now it was time for the serious renovations to begin.

We spackled the walls, sanded down the builtins and tore out the carpet. Once this was accomplished we discovered that: the walls were in decent shape and were drywalled, so that saved us the headache of repairing the plaster. The builtins were not cooperating with being sanded so that we could whitewash them, so we had to come up with a plan B. The wood floor was in pretty rough shape, with paint splatters, scratches and a random skinny section of the floor that was simply MIA.

We decided to simply paint the wood builtins a crisp white, along with the newly patched and sanded walls. That gave us a clean, blank slate for the rest of the room. The dresser drawers became a matte black, set off by white handles. Funny story: Apparently there are no drawer handles to be had in white unless you are willing to get yucky plastic ones. However, some pretty silver pulls and my trusty white spray paint saved the day.

And now I will leave you with some beautiful before and afters... so you can admire all of our hard work ;-)

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Linked to Metamorphosis Monday. Check out the other transformations!

Glorious Guest Room

After a year and four months in this lovely castle we have called home, I have learned one thing. (Well, actually, I have learned a lot, but I am only going to talk about one today. :-) )

 

Home renovations never go as quickly as planned.

One year, three months and seven days ago, I blogged about the spa'oom as we liked to call it. I showed you pictures of what it looked like, and the theN current state, and promised the after pictures "real soon." And now, approximately 440 days later, we are finally finished, and I'm back with pictures. Hey, good things come to those who wait, right?

Here's a refresher of what the room used to look like, taken the day after we closed on the house.

Lots and lots of honey toned wood, grass green carpeting on the floor, on the headboard and on either side of the dresser mirror. Black floral wallpaper, black valances and black blinds. Builtin window seat, dresser and desk on one side, built in bunkbeds on the other.

We knew this room would lend itself to one of the most dramatic makeovers in the house.

Here's how the hideousness became the lovely view you see above. We tore out the awful wallpaper the first week, and the bunkbeds came crashing down shortly thereafter.

Then we let it sit for a while as we discussed decorating ideas for the room. It was lover's idea to go with a black and white theme with just a few pops of color. Now it was time for the serious renovations to begin.

We spackled the walls, sanded down the builtins and tore out the carpet. Once this was accomplished we discovered that: the walls were in decent shape and were drywalled, so that saved us the headache of repairing the plaster. The builtins were not cooperating with being sanded so that we could whitewash them, so we had to come up with a plan B. The wood floor was in pretty rough shape, with paint splatters, scratches and a random skinny section of the floor that was simply MIA.

We decided to simply paint the wood builtins a crisp white, along with the newly patched and sanded walls. That gave us a clean, blank slate for the rest of the room. The dresser drawers became a matte black, set off by white handles. Funny story: Apparently there are no drawer handles to be had in white unless you are willing to get yucky plastic ones. However, some pretty silver pulls and my trusty white spray paint saved the day.

And now I will leave you with some beautiful before and afters... so you can admire all of our hard work ;-)

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

 

Linked to Metamorphosis Monday. Check out the other transformations!