flip

The console table was about $24 and the side table $12 - from Salvation Army. I spent $12 on clearance hardware.

They were well made tables, and a good brand. I know sofa tables and entry tables go for good prices on craiglist. So I didn't paint these with me in mind, but used what I had for resale. They sold for $200 within two days. It was a nice fun furniture flip. Maybe took 2 hours to paint?

 I painted these two dressers, using the existing hardware and leftover gray and metallic paint. I like the tone of brass with gray.

This was the before picture.

And I even used the dresser outside at a party before I sold it

 

Fun project to resell 

One more after picture

 

Christmas 2014

A few times a year I skim over "The Nester" and am always inspired and moved by her. She talked about decorating with simplicity and freshness and with real elements - popcorn garlands and handmade childrens items on a real tree instead of gobs of seasonal storage that just add to layers of stuff. She talks about being a memory maker, not a stuff manager. It lays at the back of my heart and mind now - is seasonal decorating about building family time and memories together or is it about hauling out boxes of stuff and spending time unpacking and then repacking the stuff.

The chalkboard wall was a family project - everyone adding in their snowflake. It didn't take long - each snowflake maybe 30 seconds to draw. This was a fun activity that we will do again. I do like having a chalkboard wall. It builds a feeling of informality and connection and art into the home. I really want my house to be a lived in thing, not a museum of display, but only things that are useful and unimportant and meaningful. Unimportant and meaningful can be a hard blend - I want my home to be held with open hands, so that gathering and people always are important and the items are not. However, I want the items in my home to have stories and be serving a good purpose. The chalkboard wall has been this - welcoming family to draw all over the walls, while still providing style and function.

We had a little forest of christmas trees across the table - and the boys egg carton reindeer crafts in the window. We tried to do many projects this year - including a scrapbook of memories.

here is another kid craft - in the window Ama helped the boys make paper christmas trees which went on a candle holder. And I made a metallic NOEL deer head print for the wall.

Our nativity scene is something that I will always box up and take back out. I love putting out the figures and even packing them away again.

There is the picture on the wall of Christmas art that Tristan made as a child, and my newest favorite thing - a topiary reindeer. I just love him. And he'll be hauled up and down from the attic for years to come too. But there will be a balance I hope. Not too much STUFF - only a few well loved things that are always a joy to put away and take out.

We had some other decore, but this was the jist of it. Merry Christmas.

side table

I picked up this side table for $3 at goodwill. The primative lines seemed like it would make a good boy's bed table in an industrial room.

But I didn't need a bedside table, I needed a livingroom table, and this just didn't fit right. So I painted it with some metallic blend.

Along the seams I threw in a few nailhead trim tacks. It was simple because I used the existing crack and just tapped them in.

The middle is more gold and sides more silver. This wasn't intentional. I just painted at two different times so the mix turned out differently. It didn't seem to matter either way to me. But it does make a sidetable suitable for the livingroom now. I bought the character sketch books at a resale too. That made me happy and they tuck into this table quite well.

Dresser Redo

A friend was moving and getting rid of this dresser. They had looked for a matching handle for the missing one and couldn't find it. With the hectic parts of moving, the time it would take to redo the scratches on the top seemed not worth it. So they generously dropped it off for me.

It was nice to have a reason to get new hardware. I was excited when I saw these guys on clearance:

 

They seemed like a fun "industrial" piece. And they came in the mail quickly. It cost $37 for the hardware, which was my only expense, since I used paint and primer that I already had at home.

I used a bonding primer so that I didn't have to bother sanding.
Then I mixed metalic craft paint on three paper plates. With one I added in black craft paint, with the other I added in white craft paint, and with the other I added in gray craft paint. Craft paint is cheap. About $1.50 per color. And the metalic one I bought in a slightly larger jar at $5 but I've painted many things with it and it's lasted me a long time.  I put a poly glaze to seal it, and used some black craft paint to kind of make the groove "pop" with a touch of darkness.

I did this project in little bites. Sometimes with a kiddo on my lap. 15 minutes to slop on a coat here and there over a few days.

And this is the result

Boy's Bedroom Finished

In my previous post the boy's bedroom was shown, so I wont show any before pictures here. Just the end result.

I painted one wall white to brighten the space. And then added white on another wall with a wood "chair rail" to hide my paint line and add interest. I just used scrap lumber that I did a gray wash on and nailed up.

The photo was one that I had before, I painted the frame gray, and turned it sideways. The mat was $12 at Hobby Lobby with my 40% off coupon and the print is of the Brooklyn bridge with the American flag flying. It was on amazon for $7 and I rather loved it. A bit industrial, and a fun way to show off the flag. A flag room is the theme, by the way, as my 5 year old became a bit obsessed about flags and countries and maps and geography.

Lego table stayed.
Found fairly good prices for flag pillow cases ($4, $10 and $12)
Banner was a world cup one for $3.50 (all free shipping)

White wall did help brighten the whole room

Quentin was kindly given a toddler bed - which works for this year. He's so happy to be with his brothers.

I had looked for bunk beds for two years, on and off, and finally found these. $200 and super solid and sturdy with a style that I like and room for a Friend-spending-the-night mattress underneath.

I kept the ship bench but took off the doors and added bins to hold Quentin's clothes. This way he can change his shirt or shorts easily by himself, even if other clothing is in the closet.

My grandmother gave me her playpen - the one she had used with her children - she actually put her Christmas tree inside of it to keep the babies away from the ornaments. I couldn't figure out what to do with it - not exactly meeting child safety codes anymore - so took out the bottom to use as signs.

But after finding $7 clearance lamps at Lowes, I had a new vision.

Reading rack, easy to move to a new wall if/when needed.

I have a lot of people to thank for this room. My husband, for dragging out the carpet and pad and cleaning it and taking apart the old beds and storing them (for when our two youngest sons are ready for real beds!)

My brother for putting the lights together for me - they actually were simple but I couldn't fathom looking at instructions two days after giving birth and feeling rather fuzzy still.

My friend for giving me a toddler bed - and delivering it!

The craiglist older couple who sold us a great bunk bed AND delivered it AND set it up so that at 9 months preggo I didn't have to bother with it

My mom for helping me mount the boards to the wall so that the room could be finally finished

And it is nice to have the boys all in one room with even more space than with just two of them in there. And it's brighter and more functional as a hang out space. And Tristan can read at night now since he can't fall asleep very easily, and the light is high enough away from his brothers to not bother them. So. Happy ending.

Boy's Bedroom

When we moved into the house the boys room looked like this:

Although I didn't love the dark paint color, I also didn't love the idea of painting everything. I found a big finished carpet on sale for under $100, and since that was the best price I could find for a huge quality rug, and since it was in the same tones as the wall paint, I just went with it.

 

I also had a green chair to throw in. So there it was, a dark mossy bedroom.

 

The beds were free.

The little cupboard was on the side of the road. I painted it and when my dad visited he added the top half and I bought a wheel. My mom gave me the fabric for the sail.

My mom also sewed me the stripped bedding. I wanted something slightly sailor looking, and durable for boys, and washable, and light to balance out all the darkness of the room. So having my mom make the bedspreads instead of finding that (for the right price!) was very convenient.

My mom also used some $1 bedskirts to make simple curtains.

 

When we added the fooseball table to the mudroom, I took out the corner table (the one from our old house's breakfast nook) and used it in the boys room for a lego table. I keep their off season clothes and blankets in the benches.

 

The mural was supposed to add some light color to the walls/room. I tried a projector to help me get my outline. It didn't work great, but was somewhat helpful. And at least this gave the room a sense of nautical theme.

 

Now, however, our 3rd boy wants to be sharing a space with his big brothers. And it seems convenient to me. So I'm anticipating triple bunk beds and a redo of the space.

I'm still not game for painting the whole room. I'm too pregnant and there is too much happening. But there will be some small changes to make some big differences. I'll show you soon!