DIY Archives - Circa 1932

Tag: DIY

23
Nov
2014

Gilding the Pumpkin

Earlier this week, when I shared our fall mantle with you, I promised a tutorial on the gold pumpkins that I used. To be honest, I feel a little silly even calling this a tutorial – I am pretty confident that y’all can figure out how to get the look without my help! Still, I’m not about to go back on my word, so here’s a quick rundown on what I did to turn plain-jane foam pumpkins into these golden beauties!

I know, I know…gold is everywhere. It seems everywhere I look – in stores, online, on Pinterest, etc. gold is going strong as the metallic du jour. Honestly though, I’m not complaining – I have jumped wholeheartedly on that bandwagon. As much as I love stainless and silver, nothing warms up a space quite like a touch of gold. Plus, it goes so well with the colors of the season. From russet, to crimson, to goldenrod, to chocolate – gold sets them off in such perfect harmony.

So for my mantle this fall, I decided the only thing better than pumpkins would be GOLD pumpkins. Well, sort of – I didn’t use real gold (on a budget over here, remember?), but I did use the next best thing – liquid leaf. As for the pumpkins, I got them at Target after Halloween when everything was marked down 70%. You can also buy them at craft stores, Big Lots, Dollar tree. or through the affiliate link above.

Now as an official fangirl of everything golden, I have alot of products in my arsenal that can give something the Midas touch. Someday, I’ll do a big, fat, comparison post of them all so you can see the differences. I love my gold spray paint and my Rub ‘n Buff, but when I want something to really shine, I turn to liquid leaf (similar, in classic gold). Yes, it’s smelly (it’s oil-based). Yes, it’s expensive compared to, say, gold craft paint. But the shine – oh baby…the only thing that compares (other than the real deal, of course) is gold leaf sheets, which make such a mess that I only use them when I absolutely must.

Liquid leaf comes in a bunch of colors, from silver to copper, but for this project I used the color “brass.” It’s gold without being too orange – it has just enough green in it to avoid looking like pyrite. While this product can be used anywhere you would use normal paint, I find it is shiniest and most metallic when used on smooth, non-porous surfaces, like polymer clay or plastic. In this case, I was painting over some dense foam pumpkins that had been sealed, so the surface was perfect for liquid leaf. I just used a craft brush to paint a coat of liquid leaf over the pumpkin – no primer. On most of them, I found I only needed one coat, as the product if very opaque and a little goes a long way. Make sure you shake the paint well though – the metallic flakes in it tend to settle to the bottom, so if you don’t shake it it will come out streaky and transparent. Here’s what my ugly duckling pumpkins pretty much looked like before:

foam pumpkins unpainted — SUCH a realistic color and pattern, don’t you think? Yeah…not so cute.

And with one coat of liquid leaf:

Ahhhhh….much better!

I did find that the liquid leaf picked up some warmth from the base color of the pumpkins. So, the pumpkins that started out white were more of a true brass tone, while the orange pumpkins (like the one in the picture above) took on a warmer, golden hue.

After I got everything painted, I could have easily called it a day – they were beautiful just as they were. But if you’ve read any of my previous posts, you know I have a bit of a hard time leaving well enough alone. So, to add some additional color variation and depth, I went back in with some of Viva’s Inka-Gold in “old silver” and rubbed it into the high points of the pumpkin.

What is Inka-Gold, you might ask? Well, if you’re familiar with Rub ‘n Buff, it’s very similar. Basically, it’s pigment suspended in a soft, waxy base that you can rub onto surfaces to deposit color. Once it has set, you can buff it with a cloth, which shines up the wax and makes the pigment more brilliant. Though I love my liquid leaf, it can be a bit shiny for my tastes. By adding the Inka-gold over the top, it softens down that shininess so it’s more of a satin/glowy finish. Depending on what color you use, it will also change the hue of the paint underneath. Here is a comparison shot so you can see what I mean:

comparison shot of liquid leaf and inka gold — liquid leaf on the left, liquid leaf + “white gold” inka-gold on the right

It’s hard to see in the photograph, but the pumpkin on the right is significantly less shiny than the one on the left – it’s still metallic and reflective, but softer. One other big advantage of Inka-Gold over Rub ‘n Buff is that it is water-based, which means you can thin it with water to make it more of a paint consistency, and it cleans up super easily from both your hands and your project with regular soap and water. If you over apply, all it takes to remove it is a damp cloth! Rub n Buff is great, but it is hard to wash off and it is oil-based which means cleaning up with mineral spirits.

Here’s another shot of the completed pumpkin closer up so you can see the color and sheen variation:

And one of them on our mantle, so you can see them in context:

I didn’t seal these, but if you wanted to give them a quick shot of clear gloss I am sure you could . I was a little nervous that the aerosol would melt the styrofoam pumpkins though, so I decided not to risk it.

So, to sum up:

1) Get foam pumpkins

2) Paint foam pumpkins with liquid leaf of choice

3) Optionally, apply Inka-Gold or Rub ‘n Buff to add dimension

4) Do a happy dance – your pumpkins are done!

Let me know if you try it, and feel free as always to leave comments or hit me up on social media – I’m on instagram, twitter, and facebook!

Till next time,

Sarah

17
Nov
2014

Happy Fall, Y’all!!

categories: DIY, holidays

Well, fall is officially here. Everywhere I look, mother nature is putting on a show, workin’ it in shades of crimson, gold, and orange. This is one of my favorite times of the year – I count down the days will the sky is that perfect crisp blue and there are piles of leaves to kick and play in on my walks with the fuzz (her real name is Isabelle, but we almost never call her that, haha!). Even on days like today, when it’s rainy and glum outside, I love to curl up under a blanket with a cup of coffee, a fire, and a good book – it just feels right somehow.

Of course, today I am tackling the mountain of laundry (seriously, it’s taller than me) piled up in my guest room, so no coffee-and-blanket-pottery-barn-fantasies for me. However, though I may have to tackle laundry in my real life, in the blog world I can pretend I get to spend all day looking at the mantle all decked out for fall. And while I’m pretending, I might as well imagine I am sharing both the fire and a cup of coffee with a friend. So come and join me – would you like one sugar or two?

If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter (follow the links to do so if you haven’t already!), then you caught a sneak peek last week, but here’s the full reveal for you. I will be posting tutorials (with photos – I remembered this time!) for the gilded pumpkins, the wreath and the glass hurricanes later this week and early next, so make sure to come back for those as well.

Here she is – isn’t she a beauty?

DIY fall mantle — pardon the poor lighting – it’s a glum day!

As usual, there were several DIY projects. The wreath, gilded pumpkins, luminaries, and hurricanes were all little projects I did specifically for this season. As usual, I included a mirror behind the wreath – it just helps to open up the room and add depth to the whole look. Someday, I am going to do something with that wall over the fireplace, but I haven’t decided exactly what yet, so it will have to wait. It is especially pretty at night – the luminaries glow and there is a flameless candle in each hurricane as well.

Here a few more pictures:

Overall, I am happy with how things came out. Plus, the whole project cost me less than $20.00! Can’t beat that.

Till next time,

Sarah

30
Oct
2014

Something Wicked This Way Comes…Halloween Mega-post, Circa1932-style

categories: DIY, Halloween, holidays, House tour

NOTE: I was originally going to break Halloween into several posts, but I got behind on my picture editing (oops!). Considering Halloween is, well, tomorrow, I almost decided to forgo doing any Halloween posts, since odds are y’all have already finished your decorating. However, I decided “better late than never” – after all, Halloween will be back next year! So instead of a bunch of smaller posts – here is one big fat Halloween mega-post for your enjoyment. It’s pretty long – you have been warned. As always, feel free to comment and ask questions, and Happy Halloween!

I don’t know what it’s like where y’all live, but in my neck of the woods there’s a crispness is in the air and the leaves are changing. Fall is HERE and I couldn’t be happier to see it arrive. Ask anyone who knows me and they will tell you I am a cold-weather girl. Fall is my favorite season, followed closely by winter. Sweaters and boots, comfort foods like soup and chili, pumpkin-spice everything – I tell you, it’s enough to make a girl grin from ear to ear.

Well, this girl is grinning extra wide because the changing of the seasons also means bringing out new decor, and with Halloween being tomorrow (crazy, right?), the front door wreath, mantle, and dining room have undergone a spooky transformation. As always, I was working my hardest to stick to a teeny tiny budget. Luckily, both my creativity and Pin-spiration are free. So sit back, grab a cup of cider, and take a tour through Halloween decor, circa1932-style.

All told, I spent under fifty dollars on everything. I have limited funds to decorate for holidays, and Christmas always gets the lion’s share since it’s my favorite, haha. As far as theme/vibe, I’m not really into blood and guts when it comes to Halloween decor, so you won’t find a lot of that here. Also missing are blatant references to demons, ghouls, and such – I try to keep things family-friendly in case friends with kiddos drop by.

Instead, I prefer to go with what I call “gothic chic” (with an admittedly healthy dose of Harry Potter). This has a few advantages. Mainly, I can find decor elements that work and yet still fall outside the traditional realm of Halloween decorations. Because of this, I can not only use things I already own, but I can also feel confident knowing that many of the items I do buy can be reused at other times of the year. I know that some people have inexhaustible storage space where they can keep shelves and shelves of things for one particular holiday or event (I’m lookin’ at you Mom!), but in my case storage is limited, and an item that multi-tasks is always welcome.

For the most part, I limited my color scheme to black and white with some metallic accents. There’s the occasional pop of red or purple in there for a little fun, but it’s few and far between. I’ve had it up for a few weeks now, and I have to say I couldn’t be happier – even the Doctor (who fails to share my zest for seasonal decorations despite my best efforts to convince him otherwise) made a point to tell me that he liked what I had done. Win-win!

Ready? Here we go!

As for the front porch, I kept this pretty minimal this year – a few pumpkins on the steps and this wreath to greet you when you come in.

To create the wreath, I just wrapped a grapevine wreath form with black feather boas I got at the Dollar Tree. I tucked the ends into the grapevine to secure them, so there’s not even any hot glue to mess with for this step. I wired on a black crow, also from Dollar Tree, and plopped a miniature witch hat I got at Joann Fabrics on her head to add some flair. A confession: to get the hat to stay, I pinned it in place with applique pins. I just stuck it through the hat and into the crow’s styrofoam head – poor birdie! Finally, I finished it off with black glitter ribbon and some fake flowers hot glued into place (from – you guessed it – Dollar Tree). All in all, it cost me less than ten bucks for the supplies, and took about ten minutes to make. If I were going to do it again, I’d probably spray the flowers black, but I’m pretty happy with it despite the purple.

Once you get inside the house (welcome!), the first thing you see is my entry. I kept this very ~~cheap~~ minimal as well. I swapped out my owl vase for a mercury glass skull I got at Big Lots for eight bucks. I also swapped the silver bowl that is usually on the buffet to hold our keys and phones for a white ceramic pumpkin. It’s supposed to be a cookie jar I think, and I got it at Target for $7.99. I love how neutral it is, and after Halloween is over I can use it in my fall decor. I have plans for that ‘lil bugger, but you’ll have to wait and come back to see what they are!

Moving into the dining room, the focus is all on the table. See?

Here’s a closer look:

halloween tablescape back — The side facing the wall – even the napkins are getting into the Halloween spirit!

Here’s the skinny on the tablescape. I started with a white twin bedsheet (I think it was $5.00 at Walmart?) as the base. Over that, I added a lacy black tablecloth that I got at a thrift store for around $6.00. If you are looking for something similar, I saw some in Big Lots this year – they even came with an orange tablecloth as well (bonus!).

The central tree/branches came from Walmart. I got them many moons ago as part of an art project I did when I was in college (on second thought, better make that many MANY moons ago). Originally they were all white, but I sprayed some of them black with spray paint to add some contrast. Most of the year, they reside on my mantle in a vase, but for Halloween they made the perfect framework to perch some more dollar tree crows on (they are just wired on – no glue).

To get the branches to stay in place, I filled a smaller vase with uncooked rice (small pebbles, kitty litter, or beans would work too), and ~~shoved~~ carefully buried the branches in the rice until I was happy with the placement. The rice weighs the “tree” down, and gives the branches stability. Then I just put the smaller vase in my larger hurricane vase and filled in-between them with faux spider webbing to hide the interior vase and the rice. Tip: the more you stretch the webbing out, the more realistic it looks.

To finish it off, I added some gold mercury glass candle holders that I got at Target and Homegoods earlier this year, as well as a mixture of clear candlesticks and metal candlesticks from the thrift store. A black glass pumpkin from Homegoods’ after Halloween markdowns last year and a chalkboard skull from Joann Fabrics ($5.00!) round out the centerpiece.

Since the only items I bought were the skull, the napkins, the crows, the spider webbing, and the tablecloth, I spent a grand total of $20 bucks for the tablescape. Pretty snazzy, huh?

We’re almost done – all that’s left is the bar, and the mantle in the living room.

For the bar, I knew I wanted to make a spellbook and potion ingredients as a nod to one of my favorite series – Harry Potter. Here’s what I came up with:

The spellbook is just an old book from the thrift store that I glued some new pages into. I created them on my computer, printed them out, and then aged them with tea and distress ink. To up the spook factor even more, I added a skeletal magnifying glass that I got at Homegoods several years ago. I saw them there this year as well, so you should still be able to find them. They come in the gold I bought as well as an aged silver color I believe. The potion bottles were another DIY – I cobbled together a bunch of ideas I saw on Pinterest to create them. I think I went a bit overboard with this particular project, but it was so much fun coming up with the labels and ingredients, I couldn’t stop myself!

Last but not least is the mantle in the living room. Here’s an overview shot (please ignore the unfinished built-ins):

And a few close-ups for your viewing pleasure:

As you can see, I added a crepe paper wreath over the mirror. Go here to learn how to make your own. I also hung up a Halloween banner I found at the Dollar Tree, and popped a spooky printable from A Night Owl into the frame where our wedding photo usually sits. Finally, I added some more potion bottles and some creepy “crystal balls” (inspired by the fabulous Flamingo Toes) atop thrifted candlesticks.

So there you have it – the our little cottage all decked out for All Hallow’s Eve. Make sure to come back tomorrow for the potion bottle tutorial, and feel free to ask questions or leave comments – it makes my day to hear from y’all!

Till next time,

Sarah

15
Oct
2014

A girl and her sharpie – aka how I brought Cole & Son wallpaper into my budget :)

categories: craft studio, mural, paint, Weekend Warrior

Hi again! See, I told you I’d be back 🙂

So, when we last met, I introduced you to my Larry, my DIY fail. I also mentioned that I had already redone the accent wall in the craft studio, so today is a reveal post/mini-tutorial. If you guys want something more in-depth, let me know and I will elaborate with a full-blown tutorial for you.

Now, I don’t know about y’all, but I have a rather long-standing tradition of falling in love with design elements that are WAAAAAYYYY out of my budget. As much as I love those design elements, I also kinda love a roof over my head, food on my table, and, um, my marriage. All this means that I can’t blow my budget no matter how much I love a given table, rug, lamp, etc. But ask anyone who knows me, and they will probably tell you I am ~~stubborn~~ determined (and resourceful). Luckily, I am also not afraid to take risks with paint. Here’s why:

source

Oh, Cole & Son, your wallpaper is so pretty, so my style, so…FRIGGIN’ SPENDY! I first saw this wallpaper on Anthropologie (a website I only browse when my wallet is safely in the other room where I will be too lazy to fetch it), but at almost $200.00 a roll, it just wasn’t going to happen. So, I decided to DIY it. After looking on the internet, I found a bunch of birch tree stencils, but nixed these immediately since they didn’t really nail the original wallpaper. Plus, I thought it might hurt Larry’s feelings if I tossed him aside, only to do another stencil. Y’all know I couldn’t risk that, haha. Further searching led me to this post on Apartment Therapy, though, and I knew instantly that I was close to a solution.

source

Finally, looking over my Pinterest boards, I found this pin of Vintage Revival’s gold sharpie wallpaper.

source

Cue the lightbulb moment: gold sharpie + hand drawn trees = the perfect solution to my craving for Cole & Son wallpaper.

And here it is!! Pardon the less than ideal nighttime photos and the “storage unit chic” look this room is still rocking – it’s coming along, but it’s not done yet.

Here’s a quick description of how I did it:

First, I pulled up a picture of the original wallpaper on my tablet so I could refer to it as I went. This was super helpful in keeping the look uniform and preventing me from getting distracted and just doodling on my walls (not that that was EVER a concern…at all).

Next, I sketched out the tree and branch outlines very roughly in white chalk. I also added in some knotholes. I used the standard schoolhouse stuff that you can get at the dollar store and was perfect – not only did it show up really clearly on the navy walls, but it also came right off the with a damp sponge when I was done.

I then took the thinner of my two sharpie pens (I used both the medium and fine tip oil-based paint sharpies in the gold color), and drew roughly horizontal lines across the trunk of all my trees to fill them in. I spaced these about 1/3″ apart on the main trees in the foreground, and wider on the skinny trees in the background.

Next, I took the heavier point sharpie (medium) and filled in between the lines with a combination of lines and dashes. I tried to keep the pattern fairly regular between adjacent lines, but vary it overall so that nothing looked TOO uniform.

Finally, I used the fine point sharpie to add extra dashes on the one side of the tree trunks, to make them look more shaded and dimensional. I also added some fine branches and leaves at this point, and added the Doctor’s and my initials in one of the knotholes for a personal touch.

All in all, I think I went through about 4 fine tip sharpies, and 3 medium tips. I got all of them at Jo-Ann Fabrics, and used 40% off coupons, so all in all I spent around $15.00 for the whole wall, not including the navy paint. If you add that in it’s probably more like $30.00. Regardless, my DIY job was MUCH more in my budget that the $200.00 original. As an added bonus, I got to do it in my chosen color combo, and I kept the Doctor happy 🙂

So there you have it – the basic breakdown of what I did to create my own personal golden forest. Feel free to comment with any questions you might have, and if enough people ask, I will do a full tutorial with pictures of each step and such.

Till next time,

Sarah

12
Oct
2014

Meet Larry, a DIY fail

categories: Uncategorized

Hey there! Remember me, the girl who hasn’t posted in, oh, forever? Sorry about that, y’all. Yes, life had been crazy. No, that’s not really a good excuse. I really am sorry for all three of you who have missed me (ha).

Moving on, let’s talk walls. The craft studio walls, specifically. Apparently, I’m on an accent wall kick at the moment (see here), so I couldn’t possibly just paint the craft room walls a single color and leave it (oh, the horror of making my life simple, right?) No, I knew – I just KNEW – I wanted the far wall of the craft room to be an accent wall. So, I decided to paint it navy. This of course meant taping off trim, since such a dark color shows every friggin’ wavy line. Have I mentioned how much I LOATHE taping? If not, it’s alot – as in “I’d rather be cleaning my toilet – with a toothbrush” alot. Yeah.

Anyway, I painted the wall, and it looked like this:

please pardon the mess...just keepin' it real people — please pardon the mess…just keepin’ it real people

Oooohhh….AAAhhhh….shiny, pristine, gorgeous navy wall – Bra-VO, past Sarah. We’re done right?

Darn that past Sarah, she’s never content. Apparently I drank the crazy Kool-aid that day, because I decided it needed more. I wanted something with movement, something quirky, something modern, something GOLD, dangit! So I turned where we all turn for inspiration, the internet. That’s where I found this:

"Origami Crane" by DIYstencils — “Origami Crane” by DIYstencils

source

It was quirky, it had movement, it was modern, it (could be) gold, and…it was cranes. Now, there is nothing inherently wrong with cranes, I just have no real desire to put them all over my walls. So I decided to design my own stencil (no problem, past Sarah said), cut out said stencil with my Silhouette Cameo (easy peasy, she said), and stencil it – perfectly aligned – on my very old, very cattywampus walls (I am beginning to lose faith in past Sarah’s judgment at this point). Did I mention that there’s a window on this wall? And that it isn’t completely level? Yeah – sometimes I amaze myself with how brilliant I am. Ugh.

Here’s the thing, though. Once I get an idea in my head, I’m kinda like a dog with a bone. I just can’t let it go. So I decided to try. Now, I have a particular love of elephants, so I decided to sub that in for the crane. I found an origami line drawing of an elephant online, and used Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator to turn it into something my Silhouette could cut. Here is the finished stencil (I used quilter’s plastic from Jo-Ann fabrics to cut it from). Y’all, at this point I was SO EXCITED. I couldn’t wait to try it on the wall. Like this. Ta-da!!!

And a close-up, because I’m nice that way…

It was right about this moment that I realized four important things:

1) it was going to take a LOT of math to make everything line up visually given the crooked walls and window – I am NOT a math person.
2) almost every remaining elephant on the wall was somehow going to be cut off by either the walls, ceiling, floor, or window frame.
3) My stencil didn’t want to bend around corners.
4) I didn’t want to cry.

So I decided to admit defeat, and go with something I can freehand (which is actually already done, so look for another post sometime around Tuesday – really, I promise).

So why am I even posting this? Why put my failure out on the internet for all to see? Well, to demonstrate that we all make mistakes, and sometimes DIY fails happen. But you know what? That’s okay because we learn from it. Plus, now I have a super cute elephant stencil that I already have great plans for. I think I’ll name him “Larry.”

Till next time,

Sarah

08
Aug
2014

A corner to dream…

categories: Uncategorized

Have I mentioned that I am lucky? Like – WHOA kinda lucky y’all. Despite all the tough stuff that life throws my way, I have a roof over my head, a family that loves me, an AMAZING mister – it’s a pretty sweet deal.

And under that roof is a tiny little room (emphasis on tiny) that is all mine – my very own corner to dream in. When we moved into the house, the mister and I decided that we would each get a room of our own – one that we could use however we wanted, and decorate to our own tastes – no spousal vetoes allowed. Unsurprisingly, the mister converted his into a gym (soon to be decorated as a ~~shrine~~ tribute to his favorite college sports team). I decided to make mine a craft room/art studio. So I loaded all my crafty stuff in there, and there it sat – for a YEAR. To be honest, I just didn’t feel inspired in the space. It just felt small…and cramped…and, well, boring.

*As a sidenote, I also don’t feel inspired in the mister’s room, but hey, it’s a GYM, so that’s to be expected, lol.

So, I decided to change that. I am overhauling that space, and it is gonna be beautiful, inspiring, and girly-as-all-get-out. Think pink…and gold…and glitter. It should go without saying that I am totally rocking that “no spousal vetoes” thing. There is, however, a catch. Money. #guessishouldnixtheliveinunicorn #no24ktgolddeskforme

My budget for this entire room is – are you ready – $100 bucks. For everything. New furniture, paint, accessories – it’s all fine as long as the total doesn’t top the century mark. Gulp.

So the theme of this room will be re-purpose, re-use, re-cycle, and re-think. Which is fine by me, because it’s a challenge – and I love me a good challenge. Plus, it’s sure to yield a bunch of DIY projects for you guys. Win-win, right?

I have been working on floor plans, as well as a mood board and a DIY light fixture which I am pretty darn excited about. I can’t wait to share (so here’s a sneak peek of said light fixture in-progress because I am a child and have zero willpower, lol)

Till next time,

Sarah

P.S. – That’s the thoroughly boring (and messy!) craft room in the background – you can see the need for an intervention, lol!

28
Jul
2014

Entryway makeover and an introduction…

categories: Uncategorized

Let’s get the formalities out of the way, shall we? Hi! I’m Sarah, and my hubby and I are in the ~~trial by fire~~ process of fixing up our very first house. It’s a 1932 cottage (hence the incredibly clever blog name), and while it has its quirks, we love it. Much of the heavy lifting had already been done for us (well, sort of – more on that in future posts) since the house was a flip, but in the process of renovating the previous owner stripped away much of the charm that was in the house :(. So, we are on a mission to bring back that charm, while still keeping with our modern aesthetic – blending the two into something new, homey, and uniquely ours. Oh, and we’re on a preeeeeety tight budget too, so expect creative thinking and DIY projects.

Speaking of which, I just redid the entryway of our little house. Here’s (a terrible iphone picture) of what it looked like before – try not to run away in terror!

Yep, it’s a beauty, isn’t it? Cheapo college-era wire shelves? Check! Shoes everywhere, all out in the open? Check! Pathetic attempt at a drop-zone for all the mail, bags, and general nonsense we lug home every day? Right there (those would be the baskets overflowing with stuff, in case you missed it, lol).

Needless to say, this was not the first thing I wanted people to see when they walked into our home. However, we are a “no shoes” house – those dark floors show every speck of lint and dust someone’s shoes may track in – so getting rid of the storage wasn’t an option. And as much as I might fantasize otherwise, the reality is that the mister and I are not going to stop leaving our bags and such by the door. I knew I needed something with hidden storage to stow away all the shoes, and I wanted to turn that little nook into a focal point. So, off to Pinterest I went – a search which turned up these examples of gorgeousness (drool).

Entryway ClosetMudroom makeover - thehouseofsmiths.com — via House of Smiths

DIYEntryBench creative cain cabin — via Creative Cain Cabin

Problem was, I wanted something:
a) fast
b) cheap (or better yet, free), and
c) with a minimum of building (what can I say, we had just finished 450 linear feet of hand built fence, and I wanted a break from power tools).

After some looking around the house at what I already had, I realized that while the Ikea bookshelves (similar) we had in the office were full, they really didn’t need to be – at least half the stuff on them we never used or needed. Just like that, I had the first piece of the puzzle! For free!

So I packed up some of our stuff, gave some more of it away, and moved the now empty bookcase into the entry nook. On its side and with some legs from Ikea added, it was a perfect sideboard. Add in a painted damask accent wall (more details on that in an upcoming post), some lighting, and a few accessories, and this nook went from bedraggled to beautiful.

All it took was one weekend and ~$70.00. I also added some of these baskets from Target to store shoes, and the rest of the cubbies house a basket of stuff for our fuzzy daughter, Isabelle, as well as bags and the aforementioned crap-ola we bring home each day.

So now, drumroll please, the after pictures!

….and for comparison’s sake, a side-by-side:

I know the pictures are not up to snuff. Nighttime photo sessions + iphone camera = not so hot. I will do better, I promise! I also still need to add the finishing touches, like a new overhead light (our house was FULL of the dreaded boob-lights…ewwww), and maybe a small piece of art on the short wall. But seriously, I love it so much, y’all, I can’t even tell you. For now, I’m a happy girl!

Till next time,

Sarah

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