Remodelando la Casa

Bedroom Wallpaper Dilemma and a Winner

2013-05-16T09:22:00.000-04:00

Bedroom Wallpaper Dilemma

Hey Everyone!

I've been busy working in so many things but in the end I haven't finished anything! It looks like I've been doing nothing at all!

Today I want to talk about my bedroom. I began the year full steam ahead renovating it, the ugly, stained ceiling got fixed, painted, and wooden beams were added, fuff it was quite a job! I still remember being stuck up there in the attic!

Then storage problems were solved by building a bookcase/fireplace unit, another big project.

Finally, the windows got trimmed too, and I even painted around them with that pretty blue color, it looked like the room was finished, but no, far from that!

This is how it looks right now! I simply painted around the windows because that was my first contributors writer post for Pretty Handy Girl, I couldn't send her the pictures of the pretty trimmed windows with that "poop" color on the walls! So, that's the only part I painted.

Since I'd been out of the bedroom during all that work, tired of sleeping on a tiny bed for more than a month, I just brought my bed back and forgot about this room for a while.

I could have painted the whole room after finishing with the bookcases, but I want something different for that back wall, I want to make that wall the room's focal point.

That "something" is wallpaper and it's being a problem because I haven't found a wallpaper within my budget that I like. For some reason I really really want to have a textured paper and here I'm going to show you the ones that I've been considering.

The first picture in this post is kind of my dream come true paper, because I like its movement, I'm such a straight lines, geometric shapes kind of person, that it's like pushing aside from lines and embracing swirls, the problem is I haven't even found if that's a wallpaper!

This next picture is more like the usual me... geometric shapes! I like it but I'm not crazy about it.

Houzz

This is different, lots of movement, but still not quite what I really want.

Eden

I told you, I keep on gravitating towards geometric shapes!

Cole and Son

Here again.

Grandinroad

This white brick wallpaper is another one I really like, even though is, again, a geometric pattern, the fact that they are bricks make it a more natural selection.

Wallpaperdirect

I've looked at regular wallpapers too, like the one below, but then I probably can paint those designs and save me the $70/roll they cost.

Burkedecor

That's been my dilemma and that's why that room is still a mess. I'd like to hear from you! I'm working towards a "white room", which one do you recommend?

The winner of the Mohawk Home rug up to 5' x 8' size and under $150 value on site is:

DEBRA MEADOWS SMITH

Thanks!

Linked party at:
Tuesday’s Treasures at My uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life, Wow us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage,Cowgirl Up at Farm House Porch, Feather Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground, Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick , Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Project Parade at DIY Show Off, Overflowing with Creativity at It's Overflowing, Hooking up with HOH, Tutorials and tips at Home Stories A to Z, Tutorial Tips and Tidbits at Stone Gable, Monday Funday at Creatively Living, Creative Friday Link Party at Jennifer Rizo, Wrap Up Party at Tatertotandjello, The 36th Avenue, Tuesdays at our home at Our home away from home, Amaze me Monday at Dwellings - The heart of your home

Happy Mother's Day

2013-05-12T12:42:00.000-04:00

Happy Mother's Day

Just because you're....

Hard working

Nurturing

Loving

Responsible

Resourceful

Caring

Warming

Understanding

Motivating

Kind

Awesome!

How to Make your Curtains Longer

2013-05-10T08:15:00.001-04:00

How to Make your Curtains Longer

Thank you so much for your generous comments on the dining room reveal! We are really enjoying this room. Since I changed it, we've been having all our dinners there, so far we had use it more than we did all last year, it's like being in a different home!

One of the new things for this room were the curtains, I bought two sets of Ikea - Merete Curtains $24.99/pair.

Even though they are 98" long, they were still short by 3"! I didn't like that :( They had to be fixed.

This post is about how to make your curtains longer when they are a bit too short for your windows. Remember, my sewing skills are pretty lame, if a true seamstress sees my work he or she is going to cringe big time, but hey, it works for me and I think nobody is going to come and check up close how this looks.

So, in case you need to the same, and don't have the curtain police around, this is what you have to do:

Calculate how much material you need too add by first hanging the curtains. Then, measure from the very end of the curtains all the way to the floor, and that will be your number.

This next picture shows how the extra piece of fabric is going to be attached at the last ½" of the curtain, that will bring the total panel ½" up from the floor which is good anyways, you don't want your curtains touching the floor.

Find the fabric you want to use, the width should be the same as the one in your curtains plus 1"(for seams).

For it's height I doubled my measurement 3½" x 2 = 7" and added 1"(seams) for a total of 8".

Here is why. Each strip of fabric gets folded ½" on each side

Then the whole strip of fabric gets folded lengthwise.

The curtain panel is then placed, aligned with the ½" seam, placing it in the middle of the strip of fabric (sandwiching it).

Pin it in place and sew it. Close both ends too.

The front and back are going to look finished. Do you see those lines? They are far from straight, but well, you're the only one who knows!

That's it, ready to be hung up again.

In place.

Hugs,

Linked party at:
Tuesday’s Treasures at My uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life, Wow us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage,Cowgirl Up at Farm House Porch, Feather Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground, Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick , Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Project Parade at DIY Show Off, Overflowing with Creativity at It's Overflowing, Hooking up with HOH, Tutorials and tips at Home Stories A to Z, Tutorial Tips and Tidbits at Stone Gable, Monday Funday at Creatively Living, Creative Friday Link Party at Jennifer Rizo, Wrap Up Party at Tatertotandjello, The 36th Avenue, Tuesdays at our home at Our home away from home, Amaze me Monday at Dwellings - The heart of your home

Revamp your Kitchen with The Home Depot

2013-05-06T07:00:00.000-04:00

Revamp your Kitchen with The Home Depot

We've been enjoying our "new" kitchen for almost two years now, it wasn't a very easy DIY project but it was done and we are still thrilled with the results. There were many many hours invested trying to transform it from plain and boring to modern and bright.

I've told you many times how painting those kitchen cabinets with brushes and rollers was such a tedious job!

That's in part why I'm here talking about The Home Depot. Do you know cabinet replacement is not the only thing they offer? Nope, they also offer cabinet refacing and refinishing too! If you, unlike me, don't want to mess up with paint, primers, brushes and rollers, The Home Depot gives you those three great options to choose from.

But that's not all, while working on our kitchen, our trips to The Home Depot increased, we bought there nails, tools, primer, wood, many of the backsplash supplies, ducting for the range hood, even the door knobs!

The part we struggled the most was the electrical, luckily the Master Electrician at our closest Home Depot was a great source of information too.

I want you to check out the video below and see why The Home Depot is my go-to place for home improvement!

It will be a nice way to give your kitchen a new face.

Dining Room Reveal and a Giveaway

2013-05-01T07:00:00.000-04:00

Dining Room Reveal and a Giveaway

Hello Friends,

I'm super excited about this post today! The dining room was transformed and I didn't even plan on changing it!

It all began with the two painted chairs. They got a new coat of paint and of course new covers. The problem was when they met the other "ladies" in the dining room, they didn't fit in quite well. Don't you agree?

That's when the big change came, yes, with paint! Off with the mellow yellow, in with this beach-blue color.

And it kept on growing! The blue walls were not enough. Some shelves were installed to fill those empty spaces!

And because I've seen these wonderful shelves with such pretty corbels, I wanted my little shelves to also have corbels... at least some little ones!

The shelves were filled up.

The old mirror was brought in again.

The cheap art was transferred onto the other wall, new curtains frame the window.

Chairs from the kitchen table area were brought in.

Well, so many changes came just because a pair of chairs got painted! But the thing I wanted to change the MOST was the red rug.

See how it didn't go with anything in this room. Not even with the rug in the adjacent living room.

Luckly Mohawk Home came to the rescue!

Among so many beautiful choices I picked

Mohawk Home Simpatico Biscuit/Starch 8 ft x 10 ft Area Rug

And I'm loving it!

The rug was something the room was in dear need of change. The subtle colors in the new rug blend pretty well with the furniture, light fixture, and the color on the walls.

I used it on top of a rug pad I already had and it feels pretty soft. There hasn't been any pilling yet and I hope it continues like that.

The chairs look waaay better with the new rug.

And the whole room looks brighter and more cheerful!

I am very happy with how this room turned out, but I am super excited to partner with Mohawk Home to give a lucky winner a Mohawk Home rug up to 5' x 8' size and under $150 value on site.

Mohawk is committed to designing quality flooring products that match your distinct way of life, most importantly Mohawk rugs are made in the USA! Check out this video:

You can also connect with Mohawk Home on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Hometalk, You Tube, or on Mohawk Homescapes blog.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

p.s. Join me over at Pretty Handy Girl for a fun project just in time for mother's day.

Linked party at:
Tuesday’s Treasures at My uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life, Wow us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage,Cowgirl Up at Farm House Porch, Feather Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground, Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick , Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Project Parade at DIY Show Off, Overflowing with Creativity at It's Overflowing, Hooking up with HOH, Tutorials and tips at Home Stories A to Z, Tutorial Tips and Tidbits at Stone Gable, Monday Funday at Creatively Living, Creative Friday Link Party at Jennifer Rizo, Wrap Up Party at Tatertotandjello, The 36th Avenue, Tuesdays at our home at Our home away from home, Amaze me Monday at Dwellings - The heart of your home

30 Great Looking Storage Solutions

2013-04-30T08:12:00.000-04:00

30 Great Looking Storage Solutions

I am very happy to share with you 30 great looking storage solutions

over at Hometalk!

Do you have an untidy space in your home?

Check out these amazing ideas to transform that space from untidy

to organized and pretty at the same time.

Baskets, metal containers,

crates, jars, buckets and

many more amazing ideas were used

to create great looking

storage solutions.

Are you new to Hometalk?

Here is why you should check it out:

Hometalk is the place where homeowners, designers,

contractors, professionals and bloggers hang out

to share projects, ask questions and help each other

on everything related to

home improvement.

Visit the Hometalk home page or their

Facebook page and

be prepared to get inspired

with the thousands of photos and projects

that Hometalk has in store for you.

Shallow Open Shelves in Dining Room

2013-04-29T05:00:00.000-04:00

Shallow Open Shelves in Dining Room

My last post was about a trip to an antique store where I liked so many things, but undoubtedly the one thing that got me the most was a set of amazing shelves with gigantic corbels, you can check them out right HERE.

Since I painted those two chairs in the dining room, I've been sprucing up the room a little bit, you can see how the "new" chairs don't fit quite well in the room, and now with the new idea of easy shelves, I found the perfect spots to install some of them. Well, they were not going to be as big or with those beautiful corbels as the ones I saw.

But they will visually fill up those spaces. I took my measurements, drawing lines on the places were I like them to be, and most importantly marking pretty well the STUDS LOCATION.

I don't have too much room in there, the shelves had to be very shallow. The material I used was remnants of 1 x 4 used to trim the windows (left picture below), I also use the aprons that were taken off from the window skirts the builder had installed on those windows (right picture below).

This is how they were going to be installed.

Pocket holes were driven to each 1 x 4 board-shelf, making sure they were aligned to the location of the studs on the wall. I didn't want to see hardware around the shelves.

I had aprons for six shelves, but I was thinking of installing ten. So, for two shelves another remnant piece of molding was used and for the final two shelves I decided to create some corbels (hmm still thinking about the pretty ones in that store), the only thing was my corbels were going to be very small.

Again, the material was 1 x 4, making a rough drawing of the corbels on it, and cutting the shape out with a jigsaw, two at a time.

All the material was ready, but before installing them, and knowing my measurements pretty well, I decided to first give the whole room a new coat of paint. Using left over paint from other projects a new shade was created.

The room was painted, at first it looked too "bluish", but I stuck to it, anyways I didn't want to paint again.

The shelves were nailed together - shelf and apron- with 1¼" nails, before installing them on the wall.

Then, the shelves were attached to the studs on the wall.

Using 2½" pocket-hole screws to reach well into those studs.

The top two shelves were attached to the wall driving the screws from the top, for the three lower shelves the screws were driven on the bottom of the shelves to conceal the holes, as you can see in the picture below.

These shelves are shallow, only 3½" deep, I'm not going to use them to store heavy items, their use is mostly decorative to fill that empty space. If I change my mind I simply unscrew them and they are off. I didn't use glue, not even caulking around them to cover the gaps.

The only thing needed was to shop around the house for items to be displayed on them.

Remember the LOVE sign? HERE is the tutorial on how to do it. One of the kitchen cupboards got a very welcome free space after taking some items from there too.

Now the blue walls don't look that "bluish", those empty spaces are filled and I'm loving it. Join me next time for a mini dining room reveal.

Thanks,

Linked party at:
Tuesday’s Treasures at My uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life, Wow us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage,Cowgirl Up at Farm House Porch, Feather Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground, Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick , Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Project Parade at DIY Show Off, Overflowing with Creativity at It's Overflowing, Hooking up with HOH, Tutorials and tips at Home Stories A to Z, Tutorial Tips and Tidbits at Stone Gable, Monday Funday at Creatively Living, Creative Friday Link Party at Jennifer Rizo, Wrap Up Party at Tatertotandjello, The 36th Avenue, Tuesdays at our home at Our home away from home, Amaze me Monday at Dwellings - The heart of your home

A Vintage Sample

2013-04-22T05:00:00.000-04:00

A Vintage Sample

Hi everyone,

The weekend was so gorgeous! A bit cold but we had lots and lots of sunshine, beautiful! On Saturday we went to Ellicot City, MD to an instrument/music fair and got a new ugraded flute for our daughter. Sunday, with my Sil and her Sil Carol we visited this awesome place: Old Lucketts Store and believe me it was love at first sight! Wherever we went beauty was right there.

Here is a small sample of what I could capture in the small time we were in there.

This days I'm loving chairs, all the ones I saw were simply beautiful.

There isn't a single thing I wouldn't like about this room, the table, chairs, silver accessories, everything is so pretty! Look at that tree branch on the ceiling!

Those super size moss balls draw lots of attention.

I'm telling you, lots of chairs, all of them, lovely.

This chandelier got my attention, I'm looking for a chandy for my bedroom, perhaps too shabby?

This bottle drying rack chandelier was another cute one.

I love the clock plates in this arrangements, perfect for a new year's eve party.

A cupboard full of goodies.

Don't you love that pillow?

Hmmm look at those pillows on that bed, so fluffy.

I'm already looking for a big empty wall where I can install shelves like this ones. Well, I have to find the corbels first.

Outside they also have awesome stuff.

We didn't have that much time to look around, we didn't buy a thing in this place, maybe next time.
After lunch in a good restaurant in Frederick, MD, Carol asked me to pose in front of one of the many church steeples in the area. This was at the top of the parking lot.

Some more snaps I took while there.

A very beautiful day. Thanks Pili and Carol, I had lots of fun, we have to do this again!

A quick update.

Thanks to Megan Vaughn, My Pinteresting Family, now I know there is going to be a Hometalk Meetup at Lucketts and I'm going to be there! Woo Hooo this is so exciting! I'm going to meet many talented bloggers like Donna @ Funky Junk Interiors, Karen @ The Graphics Fairy, Miss Mustard Seed, Miriam @ Hometalk and I know many many more.

Are you coming to the Hometalk Meetup at Lucketts Market on May 19th? I want to meet you too!

Recovering Chair Seats

2013-04-18T13:15:00.000-04:00

Recovering Chair Seats

Thank you so much for your nice comments on the previous post about painting the chairs. I'm going to enjoy these "new chairs" for a while. I haven't bought more paint yet, as many of you pointed out, it is highly addictive, I can't wait to finish the remaining chairs!

But this post is all about the cushion, as you can see, the old cushion didn't cut it that well with the new painted chair.

I loved that old fabric, but it was now time for a change. Recovering a chair seat is one of those easy projects that give you lots satisfaction, it kind of gives you a new chair.

First things first, removing the old material, beginning with the cushion underlining material. Let me tell you, getting those staples out of there was not that easy.

I was even thinking of leaving the old fabric in place, most of those staples were really deep into the wood, but afraid that two layers of fabric didn't allow the seat to fit in the chair, made me go ahead and remove every single one of them.

A very pointy knife was my solution to loosen up those staples, then with a staple remover they were pulled out. Sometimes they break, if that happens remove both pieces with pliers.

While removing the material I paid close attention to how those corners had been worked. Lots of pictures were taken for me to follow.

It looks pretty easy, one pleat on the top corner and then the other one coming from the bottom corner, stapling them as you work.

Many of you loved the new fabric, well, let me introduce you to it: Target -New Medallion- Shower Curtain. I love it too! Price wise it was a more reasonable alternative to cover all six chairs.

The main design was centered on the seat. Once you turn it, the stapling begins.

You can use a manual, electric or pneumatic stapler, but for this project I used my new pneumatic stapler. Once again let me remind you of how working with the proper tools makes everything go so smoothly!

I used to work with an electric stapler but most of the time the staples didn't go all the way in, other times they got tangled inside the machine, it was so frustrating. This new machine was about $35 with two sets of staples included, way more cheaper than what I paid for the electric one and it works wonders.
Perhaps you don't have an air compressor, but this new stapler and the pair of nail guns I have are at the top of my favorite tools, it would be a good investment to have these tools if you're a serious DIY'er.

OK the stapling began, front and back first, pulling the fabric nice and taut, then the sides.

When all the sides are done you can work on the corners. As I showed you previously, my best technique was: "Monkey see, monkey do" :)

The excess fabric was trimmed off and the underlining material was stapled back in place.

Every chair is different, I guess is a matter of look at what you have and try to copy-cat it the best way you can.

Have a great day!

Linked party at:
Tuesday’s Treasures at My uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life, Wow us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage,Cowgirl Up at Farm House Porch, Feather Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground, Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick , Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Project Parade at DIY Show Off, Overflowing with Creativity at It's Overflowing, Hooking up with HOH, Tutorials and tips at Home Stories A to Z, Tutorial Tips and Tidbits at Stone Gable, Monday Funday at Creatively Living, Creative Friday Link Party at Jennifer Rizo, Wrap Up Party at Tatertotandjello, The 36th Avenue, Tuesdays at our home at Our home away from home, Amaze me Monday at Dwellings - The heart of your home

My First Experience with Chalk Paint - Chippendale Chair

2013-04-15T04:30:00.000-04:00

My First Experience with Chalk Paint - Chippendale Chair

The time finally arrived. After witnessing so many transformations around blog land, my time came. I couldn't hold it any longer, I had to give it a try!

Maybe it was my sister-in-law's fault. She was the one who needed paint to transform some pieces of furniture. She was the one who invited me to go paint shopping. Ha, I couldn't get out of that store without something in my hands!

At the time I was thinking of painting a pair of kitchen stools that are in need of a new coat of paint, but no, my eyes went instead toward these girls: My Chippendale chairs, of course, I have lots of those! 12 to be exact. Why? you might ask. Well let me tell you a story.

As soon as we started our family we wanted to fill our future house with good quality furniture. I went to many stores trying to find the perfect dining room set, and after many trips I finally found it! Beautiful Chippendale chairs that cried out loud to me: "high end" :) We bought six chairs but no table, NO. Just the chairs got all our budget! We had to wait to buy the table.

By the way, these are NOT those "high end" chairs we bought at that time.

Time passed, we moved into our new house and still no table! That's when we discovered Craiglist, there, I found a similar table to the one I kept on dreaming about, but it was waaaay cheaper than the one at the store, and that wasn't all! It came with SIX Chippendale chairs and a rug. What a deal, we got the whole package!

These are those CL Chippendale chairs.

They are a bit bulkier than the first ones I bought, but in general they are OK. Lately I've been thinking about selling them, we don't need that many chairs. But heck! They became the perfect project after having ASCP in my hands!
One of them had a damaged arm, that was one more reason to paint them.

First, it had to be fixed. That nail was pulled out, both sides were sanded, and after applying glue, a couple of new nails were driven to hold the arm in place. The gaps and nail holes were then filled with calking

The other end of the arm received a similar fix. Lots of glue, some nails and clamps was all needed to make it strong once again.

So, the painting began. No sanding or prepping, that is really nice!

After one coat, this is how it looked. For my liking, it was not ready, it needed another coat!

That's when I began thinking I should've bought more paint, a SAMPLE might not be enough! Well, remember I wanted to paint two simple stools not two chairs with so many details! As usual, my project got bigger than what I first thought.

This was the remaining after applying one coat to one chair.

ASCP - Paris Grey

That chair got a second coat, and the other chair its first coat of paint. Only one sample (4fl Ounces /118 ml), covered a lot!

Here you can see the difference from one to two coats.

But, unfortunately, it was NOT enough for both chairs! After three coats (two coats on one chair and one coat on the other), the remaining paint was very thick. I added a tablespoon of water, mixing it very well. Adding the water almost allowed me to give the second chair the final coat, but no. All the back on that chair was left with only one coat. :( I need to buy some more.

It looks like I didn't waste a bit! :D

Then the distressing part arrived. Using regular sand paper (280 grid), I did a light sanding, nothing too heavy.

They were all ready for the wax. These chairs have so much detail that it would've been hard to do it without using the proper brush. It is so good to work with the proper tools!

Very thin amounts of wax were applied in uniform coats.

You can see the difference from a simply painted to a painted and waxed surface.

After the wax dried, both chairs were buffed with a regular cotton cloth and oh boy, I'm happy with the results!

A new cover for those cushions and my not so "high end" chairs got in the spotlight!

Now the question is... Should I sell them?

I like those distressed edges.

Perhaps I'm going to enjoy them for a while.

Besides, I still need to finish the back on one of these and paint four more!

If you're thinking about transforming a piece of furniture with chalk paint here are some great posts from blogging friends that have done this not once but several times.

Kim at Savvy Southern Style, this post was about her Kitchen Cabinets Tutorial, but that's just one of the many transformations she has tackled around her home, you will be amazed.

I also love the paint transformations and tutorials from Yvonne at Stone Gable. Creating a Color Wash Effect is one of my favorite tutorials from her.

One very well documented first experience with Annie Sloan is from Jenna at Sas Interiors. A really good starting point.

I'm definitely happy with the experience, my next project is already on a waiting list. What's your next project? Are you still waiting to give it a try?

The -How to recover a chair seat- post is right HERE

To see how they look in my "new" dining room click HERE

Linked party at:
Tuesday’s Treasures at My uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life, Wow us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage,Cowgirl Up at Farm House Porch, Feather Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground, Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick , Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Project Parade at DIY Show Off, Home Sweet Home at The charm of Home, Overflowing with Creativity at It's Overflowing, Hooking up with HOH, Tutorials and tips at Home Stories A to Z, Tutorial Tips and Tidbits at Stone Gable, Monday Funday at Creatively Living, Creative Friday Link Party at Jennifer Rizo, Wrap Up Party at Tatertotandjello, The 36th Avenue, Tuesdays at our home at Our home away from home, Amaze me Monday at Dwellings - The heart of your home

At The Flea Market

2013-04-10T09:05:00.003-04:00

At the Flea Market

Last weekend, as I told you before, the weather was gorgeous. It was a bit cold early in the morning when we (the hubs and me), headed to our community flea market. We usually walk, but this time we drove to get there. It was the first one to be held this year, so I was pretty excited to walk around looking for those special finds!

There were not as many vendors as usual but nonetheless we managed to come back home with some treasures.

My husband liked these binoculars, he was looking for vintage cameras, but there were none. I love the binoculars leather case and my kids thought they were very "cool". The price $5.

I'm growing my stash of silver pieces, the one with the rounded shape and little feet is my favorite so far. It's price $3.
A little research on the other one gave me an Ebay copy cat: "The White Horse Scotch Pewter Jug Liquor Pitcher" it sells there for $35, more than what we payed for all of our finds. My pitcher was only $2.

Two silver vases, not crazy about the color but they might come in handy for photo sessions! $2 each.

A set of picture frames that were not in great condition.

But I liked their summer feel, hmmm maybe because of the dolphin :) Well, for only a dollar for both of them, what's not to like!

The first find of the day was this basket/tray, I loved the chunky feel, the materials, at first I didn't like the color.

But it worked perfectly during my new family room wall reveal. I might paint it though. The price $2.

Last but not least a pair of router bits. The biggest expense, $10 for both! If I get them at the store the price will be way higher than that.

Something else that we came home with was this vibrant chair, it was picked from the curb! I need to check what kind of damage it has and if it's something is worth fixing, just looking at it makes me smile.

Those were all our finds. We were thinking on spending only $20, we ended up paying $28. The router bits were the ones who set us backwards, but hey I know it's a good buy!

How about you?! Have you attended a flea market this year, are my prices comparable with the ones in your area? What's your greatest find so far?

I can't wait to attend next month's flea market!

Hugs,

Linked party at:
Tuesday’s Treasures at My uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life, Wow us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage,Cowgirl Up at Farm House Porch, Feather Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground, Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick , Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Project Parade at DIY Show Off, Home Sweet Home at The charm of Home, Overflowing with Creativity at It's Overflowing, Hooking up with HOH, Tutorials and tips at Home Stories A to Z, Tutorial Tips and Tidbits at Stone Gable, Monday Funday at Creatively Living, Creative Friday Link Party at Jennifer Rizo, Wrap Up Party at Tatertotandjello, The 36th Avenue, Tuesdays at our home at Our home away from home, Amaze me Monday at Dwellings - The heart of your home

Geometric Designs Wall Art

2013-04-08T16:05:00.000-04:00

Geometric Designs Wall Art

The warmer weather is finally arriving! This past weekend was really gorgeous, we just had to stay outdoors and enjoy all the beauty of Spring time.

Well, I also managed to work on this project, changing the wall art in the family room.
For Christmas time I wrapped some canvasses with fabric and placed the Ho Ho Ho felt words on top and that was it!

For Valentine's Day the letters were changed for Xo Xo Xo, hah easy change! But after Valentine's Day this is how they have been.

It was on my to do list, but nothing came up until I saw these pretty designs! Yeah, those are Kleenex tissues. I love those designs and the colors. That was my inspiration.

I took a picture of each package, worked the designs with my new printer and ...

hello beautiful!

I got the four designs on the tissues plus one extra. You can download the designs I used, they are not of great quality but the 8x10 size works pretty good. Hoping they are not trade mark designs ;)

Green Pink Yellow Blue Orange

Then the prints were attached to the canvasses with Mod Podge, but not before painting the old designs, attaching painters tape all around the canvasses to create a "white frame", and cutting the paper to size.

Since the canvasses are not a hard surface, many creases appeared while applying the Mod Podge.

Not that noticeable when it dries though. The tape was taken off and onto the wall they went.

The dark green design was a piece of fabric I already had, a last minute decision to include that one in the gallery to better fill the space.

The new gallery ties in nicely with the art above the fireplace.

And I love how those bright colors give the room a happier atmosphere!

More Spring projects coming!

Linked party at:
Tuesday’s Treasures at My uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life, Wow us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage,Cowgirl Up at Farm House Porch, Feather Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground, Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick , Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Project Parade at DIY Show Off, Home Sweet Home at The charm of Home, Overflowing with Creativity at It's Overflowing, Hooking up with HOH, Tutorials and tips at Home Stories A to Z, Tutorial Tips and Tidbits at Stone Gable, Monday Funday at Creatively Living, Creative Friday Link Party at Jennifer Rizo, Wrap Up Party at Tatertotandjello, Diy by Design, The 36th Avenue, Tuesdays at our home at Our home away from home

Good News

2013-04-03T08:18:00.000-04:00

Today I'm still as excited as the first time I read an e-mail from Brittany -Pretty Handy Girl
where she invited me to join the team of Pretty Handy Guys and Gals!

It is an honor be one of her new contributor writers!

I'll be joining Jeff Patterson -Home Repair Tutor; Jacque Knowlton and Matt Knowlton - The DIY Village and Jaime Costiglio - That's My Letter

Every Wednesday one of us will be sharing a project tutorial.

Today I'm presenting my first post:

A fairly easy way on How to Install Window Trim

I would love for you to stop by, say hi to Brittany,
and while there get empowered
by all the amazing tutorials, tips,

and handy information Pretty Handy Girl has in store for you.

DIY Bookcases for Bedroom - Final Reveal

2013-04-02T19:46:00.000-04:00

DIY Bookcases for Bedroom - Final Reveal

This is the third and final part of a series for building Bookcases in my bedroom. For the first part click HERE.

At the end of the second post, this is how the bookcases looked.

The electric fireplace had arrived and it was hung onto two 2x4's in the middle of the two bookcases. It was time to make it look pretty.

I wanted to enclose the fireplace, so out of MDF a front face was cut, the inside cut-out was the perfect fit for the fireplace but it didn't work! It was so tight fitting that it was impossible to hang the fireplace. I wanted to be able to take the fireplace off the wall at any given moment, like if the lights for the flames burn out, it needs to be taken down so they could be changed. This style didn't allow that. It was more like a permanent solution that I didn't want.

One extra problem I encountered was the flat trim I had previously attached at the front sides of the bookcases. Whatever I was trying to fit in between both bookcases didn't get in! I took it off, it was a pain on the neck to get rid of it. The glue had hardened pretty well, every time I managed to pray away an extra piece I promise myself to never put trim on the outside, before building the inside. I think I learned that lesson!

Since the first plan for a "flat-front enclosed fireplace" didn't work, my next move was to build a small cubbie below the fireplace and a simple mantel above it.

This is how the cubbie was done:

This is the mantel.

On top of the mantel a chunky shelf was drilled in place.

The back was painted chalkboard black. I also painted a 1/4" plywood to fit inside the cubbie. If I change my mind I can take it off and is white again.

Finally, 1/2" MDF was cut in 3" stripes to give the overmantel a nice design and to cover the gaps on the sides and the electrical hole at the top (that top part was screwed in place to have easy access later on).
All the small moldings were the final touch.

Then I was in a paint marathon! I used Kilz 2 Latex to prime the whole unit. Behr Swiss Coffee - Semi-gloss finish was used as the top coat.

And they were DONE!

Some accessories.

Remember the post about wood cuttings? They were coming here.

This is how it evolved.

Until now.

The windows got all trimmed out too, you can read all about it on my first contributor writer's post at Pretty Handy Girl.

Linked party at:
Tuesday’s Treasures at My uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life, Wow us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage,Cowgirl Up at Farm House Porch, Feather Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground, Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick , Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Project Parade at DIY Show Off, Home Sweet Home at The charm of Home, Overflowing with Creativity at It's Overflowing, Hooking up with HOH, Tutorials and tips at Home Stories A to Z, Tutorial Tips and Tidbits at Stone Gable, Monday Funday at Creatively Living, Creative Friday Link Party at Jennifer Rizo, Wrap Up Party at Tatertotandjello, Diy by Design, The 36th Avenue, Tuesdays at our home at Our home away from home

Wood Cuttings

2013-03-29T13:21:00.000-04:00

Wood Cuttings

One project I'm working on required me to go beyond my backyard to the wooden area and grab my material, yes, tree branches of different thickness. they laid in the garage floor for some weeks until I was ready to cut them.

For the project, I needed the cuts to be 6" long. I began with the thinnest branches and had no trouble cutting them with the miter saw. It was very easy when the branches were straight, the twisted or curved ones were harder to hold and the saw kicked back when trying to cut through some of them.

It was time and I think is always a good idea to CLAMP THE WOOD! The small clamps I had were fine holding the thin branches.

For the thick branches I didn't take risks! The hand saw was my tool.

The material was cut and it was ready to come inside the house.

But first, it went into the oven to kill any insects that they might have. There are no great instructions out there on how to do this, some people freeze the wood, some others warm it up!

I read somewhere, to place them in the oven at 110° - 130° F for six hours. I was going to follow those instructions, but Alas! my oven doesn't take 110° or 130° degrees! It begins warming up at 170°F! So, that's the temperature I used for four hours, since I had to crank it up.

I didn't see suspicious things -critters- on the logs, but its good to be extra cautious.

While they are ready, let me show you some amazing projects from around the web with branches and logs and cuttings from them!

Birch-Log Coffee Table

Better Homes and Gardens

Natural Wood Statement Necklace

The Scrap Shoppe Blog

Wall Art

Better Homes and Gardens

Tree Branch Table

Man Made Diy

Wood Round Wall Tutorial

Home Stories A to Z

Aren't they lovely?

The ones I cut were used on this project click HERE.

Linked party at:
Tuesday’s Treasures at My uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life, Wow us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage,Cowgirl Up at Farm House Porch, Feather Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground, Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick , Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Project Parade at DIY Show Off, Home Sweet Home at The charm of Home, Overflowing with Creativity at It's Overflowing, Hooking up with HOH, Tutorials and tips at Home Stories A to Z, Tutorial Tips and Tidbits at Stone Gable, Monday Funday at Creatively Living, Creative Friday Link Party at Jennifer Rizo, Wrap Up Party at Tatertotandjello, Diy by Design, The 36th Avenue, Tuesdays at our home at Our home away from home

Easter Tablescape 2013

2013-03-25T04:00:00.000-04:00

Easter Tablescape 2013

I like to decorate mantels and table-settings, it's like playing.
Sometimes I'm really happy with the end result, and sometimes not so much.
But most of the time I'm very happy while adding a little thing of this here and maybe this nice color there.

This tablescape transported me to a time when I used to do lots of this: playing!

It's Spring break, no school, the days were long, we had all the time to play! Yes, we, me and my sisters! What better friends!

The games were endless, tag, hide and seek, cards, kitchen, but the game I liked to play the most was "A la Tienda" (having a store)! Well, the store I re-created most of the time was something like a grocery store because that's what we had in real life, a small neighborhood tienda.

Each of us created a make believe tienda and then visited each other to "buy" stuff.

There were not many toys to play with, we had to have a big imagination!

Our dusty backyard was the perfect place to find all sorts of things!
Very skinny wooden sticks worked great as pasta.
Light, grainy dirt was our everyday rice.

Outside, on the side of the house we could find all our green material.
The long pieces of grass were converted into beautiful leaks or green onions.
Flowers were picked up for those customers with good taste, the most common were those little white and yellow flowers that grew in between the grass. :)

Empty little boxes were chocolate bars.
Rocks were candies, but the bigger ones were potatoes!

We even ventured into our real tienda to look for items we could use from there!

Bottle caps were dishes or simply cups.

Any box or container that was not in use in the real tienda had to go to ours.

Picture clippings from newspaper inserts were my favorite wall decor.

Of course, we were allowed to have real fruits, which meant our little tiendas were well equipped with them. Bananas, oranges, guavas, mangos.... they were there.

Oh, it was so much fun to find special items, that "one of a kind" that my sisters couldn't find.

A big box, an unexpected colored bottle or a mundane container with a nice shape made the trick.

When everything was ready, my tienda was full of customers and I was happy to have them all, just as happy as I'm going to be celebrating an Easter brunch with my family.

Have a great Easter week everybody!

Some links you might like to check:

Toolbox

Bunny Bottle Toppers

Wall Art on a Budget

Last year's Easter Tablescape

Linked party at:
Tuesday’s Treasures at My uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life, Wow us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage,Cowgirl Up at Farm House Porch, Feather Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground, Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick , Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Project Parade at DIY Show Off, Home Sweet Home at The charm of Home, Overflowing with Creativity at It's Overflowing, Hooking up with HOH, Tutorials and tips at Home Stories A to Z, Tutorial Tips and Tidbits at Stone Gable, Monday Funday at Creatively Living, Creative Friday Link Party at Jennifer Rizo, Wrap Up Party at Tatertotandjello, Diy by Design, The 36th Avenue, Tuesdays at our home at Our home away from home

Art on a Budget

2013-03-24T08:19:00.002-04:00

Art on a Budget

I've been decorating my dining room for Easter time, we usually have a brunch on Easter day, so it's been like a tradition to set the table and the room for the occasion.

My plan included new art pieces to change the mirror and print that has been there forever! Really! They've been there since we moved into this house, like 15 years ago! I'm getting tired of those, I still like them, but change is good. By the way, that's my Easter table-setting from last year.

Now, buying new art was out of question, something within the house had to be re-purposed or created. Earlier this year during a -going out of business sale- from Crate and Barrel I scored three sets of canvas stretchers, they've been sitting in the basement waiting for a moment, like this, to be put to a good use.

Source

The only thing needed was fabric, three different prints, so I headed to the fabric store with my daughter (not a really good idea), after ten minutes of looking around she wanted to go :( Well, not so fast, the hunt was on.

The fabrics I liked the most were really expensive for my budget ($10/yard with coupon), others were OK ($5/yard WC), but couldn't find a perfect trio. Until I found a print I liked, not fabric fabric, is that material used, I guess, for tablecloths, not too "plastiky", nice print, and the price: $1.50/yard WC. A win win situation, the only problem: Just one print! Anyways I bought 2 yards.

The fabric was cut and stapled to the stretchers.

In order to create variation some of the shapes were painted, with acrylic paint, a different color.

And Voila! The trio was ready.

Two of them are replacing the mirror.

The other one went to the opposite wall.

Cheap and easy peasy! What's better than that.

Click HERE to check the Easter tablescape this year.
For the new dining room reveal click HERE.

Linked party at:
Tuesday’s Treasures at My uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life, Wow us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage,Cowgirl Up at Farm House Porch, Feather Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground, Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick , Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Project Parade at DIY Show Off, Home Sweet Home at The charm of Home, Overflowing with Creativity at It's Overflowing, Hooking up with HOH, Tutorials and tips at Home Stories A to Z, Tutorial Tips and Tidbits at Stone Gable, Monday Funday at Creatively Living, Creative Friday Link Party at Jennifer Rizo, Wrap Up Party at Tatertotandjello, Diy by Design, The 36th Avenue, Tuesdays at our home at Our home away from home

Wooden Toolbox

2013-03-20T05:00:00.000-04:00

Wooden Toolbox

I've been asked many times how I began working with wood. As it happens to many of you, I love decorating my home but I don't like to spend big bucks doing it! I wanted to transform my home from the simple bare builder's grade to the one with lots of moldings and details. So my liking for moldings urged me to get into other wooden projects to decorate around the house.

With baby steps, project by project I have kept on taking bigger bites every time. That's the case with latest, building bookcases in my bedroom is one of those projects that has given me lots of headaches, sometimes I think I'm trying to bite more than I can chew, but when the project is done I'm always happy I got into it.

A wooden toolbox, is one of those projects where you can gain more confidence with your measurements and perhaps to conquer the fear of using some power tools, even though it can be done with a regular saw, hammer and nails.

Some pieces of scrap wood would work perfectly fine! You can go ahead and cut the bottom and long sides to your desired measurements. The one I made is somewhat big 24"L x 9"W x 10" H All the material was 3/4" thick.

The end sides are then cut to size and you can draw the lines for the top "triangle" to be cut.

Again, you can do this with a regular saw. I did it using a circular saw, both pieces at the same time, it fastens the process a lot. You need to clamp the wood pieces to your bench and attach a guide for the saw to keep the line, measure the distance from the blade to the side fence of the saw and that's where you need to clamp that guide. Then go ahead and cut it!

Time to open the holes where the handle goes. The handle I used was about 3/4" in diameter, I placed the drill bit point 3/4" from the top and attached some tape around to mark how deep I wanted to drill. Both pieces were then sanded to round the sharp edges.

The pieces were all cut and ready to be assembled.

But first some pinky pink acrylic paint was applied.

A wash out white was applied next.

After the paint dried, it was time to put it together. The long sides were attached to the bottom piece.

Then the end sides, but don't forget to insert the handle before nailing the last side.

The toolbox is ready.

After a light sanding of the end sides and applying a bit of wax on the whole thing, it was time to play :)
These green bottles I took from my neighbor's recycling bin where the ones awaiting a box!

I like the texture, the roughness on those long side pieces of wood.

I got so excited with my new "toy" I went outside to take some pics! My lilies are still going strong, remember them from my previous post?

I can't wait to set my Easter table now that I have the centerpiece!

Are you ready to do your own toolbox? Send me a picture if you do!

Linked party at:
Tuesday’s Treasures at My uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life, Wow us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage,Cowgirl Up at Farm House Porch, Feather Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground, Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick , Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Project Parade at DIY Show Off, Home Sweet Home at The charm of Home, Overflowing with Creativity at It's Overflowing, Hooking up with HOH, Tutorials and tips at Home Stories A to Z, Tutorial Tips and Tidbits at Stone Gable, Monday Funday at Creatively Living, Creative Friday Link Party at Jennifer Rizo, Wrap Up Party at Tatertotandjello, Diy by Design, The 36th Avenue, Simply Vintageous, Tuesdays at our home at Our home away from home

Saint Patrick's Day Wreath

2013-03-14T18:35:00.000-04:00

St. Patrick's Day Wreath

Hi everyone!

It's cold again! I was so happy with the temperatures we had last weekend but they didn't last that long :( No more working in the garage for now, instead I'm happy doing some crafts.

I don't usually decorate for St. Patrick's day but this year my daughter has kept on asking and asking me about it!

Are you going to do a mantel for St. Patrick's?

No, I'm not, it's only one day, I prefer a mantel for Spring!

Well, you know you can do one for St. Patrick's and one for Spring?

Ha! No, I'm not going to do that!

Are you going to do a tablescape then?

No, I'm not, besides we are not Irish!

Hmmm you don't need to be Irish to celebrate....

Well, finally I gave in! When I told her my plans, she got a smile from ear to ear and I think that pays it all! :)

My husband gave me this bag full of wooden clothespins he had since who knows when, he used them to hold gels in front of the camera (he is a cameraman), but now that he is not doing that anymore he doesn't need them.

Time to use them again.

With one embroidery hoop, green spray paint, acrylic paints, washi tape (found mine at Target), ribbon and some paint chips I set to work.

The clothespins and hoop got spray painted, it doesn't have to be perfect!

I painted the top surface of some of the pins white before attaching the washi tape. Some others were painted light green and left just like that.

After the tape was trimmed, the clothespins were attached to the hoop, no glue needed! I like that I'll be able to re-use them later on.

Three different color paint chips were used for the shamrocks.

The chunky ribbon holds the wreath in place.

A good pop of color from the Lilies and my St. Patrick's day vignette is ready!

That little corner in the foyer is the perfect spot!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Linked party at:
Tuesday’s Treasures at My uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life, Wow us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage,Cowgirl Up at Farm House Porch, Feather Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground, Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick , Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Project Parade at DIY Show Off, Home Sweet Home at The charm of Home, Overflowing with Creativity at It's Overflowing, Hooking up with HOH, Tutorials and tips at Home Stories A to Z, Tutorial Tips and Tidbits at Stone Gable, Monday Funday at Creatively Living, Creative Friday Link Party at Jennifer Rizo, Wrap Up Party at Tatertotandjello, Diy by Design, The 36th Avenue, Simply Vintageous, Tuesdays at our home at Our home away from home

Diy Bookcases for Bedroom - Part 2

2013-03-12T08:00:00.000-04:00

Diy Bookcases for Bedroom - Part 2

For the first part of the Bookcases you can click HERE. This is how they looked at the end of the day.

Thank you so much for your wonderful support and good comments on that previous post. As I always say I am NOT a professional (far from that). You, dear Karen, were comparing me to Norm Abrams! Although I love and admire his work, I am completely sure I'm a rookie compared to him! This post couldn't be more evident, hopefully you can learn from my mistakes.

Here comes the first one. I was so excited to see the carcasses there on the wall that I began closing that top part. With my husband gone for a whole month I thought about surprising him with this project done. Hmmm... It didn't happened!

As soon as I finished closing that top part on both bookcases, which included a whole lot of time trying to do perfect cuts around those beams, I discovered that I should have waited to do that after installing the face frame! That night I was so disappointed to know all that work had to be done one more time!

The following day was dedicated to put together the face frames. At this point you need to know how high your baseboard is going to run, taking in consideration the flooring space and any reveal. Also, door sizes, and how low you want to bring the top part.

The face frames were put together with the Kreg Jig. Measurements are critical for this part. As soon as I finished assembling the first frame I went to put it in front of the bookcase and OOOPS!! It was 3/4" wider than the bookcase! I was running to unscrew the whole thing before the glue had set as a stone, cut the 3/4" on every horizontal piece, centered the lower one, drilled the Kreg holes once more and assembled it again.

Oh, on the second frame, the middle board broke while screwing it! I was fuming!
Well, after nailing the frame in place it was time to finish the top (again!).
Now onto my third or fourth mistake? The top part had to be included in the whole face frame, since I didn't do it that way I had to go piece by piece, not the best way, too many partitions!
The only piece I run from end to end was that white piece of trim, in fact, is a baseboard placed upside down ( My daughter was not too happy holding the other side of the board while I measured and checked and double checked for the tenth time how well my cuts around the beams were done before installing it!)

I couldn't use crown molding because it is a slanted ceiling (maybe it can be used, but I didn't dare using it!). The baseboard was placed flat on the front, I didn't bother mitering those corners because of the same issue, the slanted ceiling! The butt joints were sanded pretty well to follow the trim contour. Shoe molding at the top closed the little gap.

A small half round trim was attached to cover up the seams. On the sides, flat pieces of lattice were also added.

Then I went to work on the middle part, the chimney section. Using 2x4's and plywood a "wall" was created, this way I can hide cables on the back.

My husband's return was a couple days away, so big help was needed. Ha, that was little help, that face doesn't say happiness. He sanded the four doors I took off from my bath vanity, the ones I chose to re purpose in this project (we were still using them, but I know that "kitchen cabinet vanity" needs to get out of our bathroom someday).

And I primed and I painted, just one coat, because it was not fully ready some caulking was still missing, but I wanted the hub to see something nice.

An opening for the outlet was left, one more opening at the top was left because I installed LIGHTS! Yes I'm yelling! The opening at the top was left to work the lights, it's going to be covered later on.

This was the easiest way ever, for me to install lights that's why I'm so happy! Because First, That outlet is connected to a switch on the other side of the room. Second, The strip of LED lights (5 meter) has a sticky side, you just peel off the backing and stick it wherever you want. Third, you connect the strip of lights to the transformer and as soon as you plug that baby, you have lights!

You can click HERE for the full tutorial I followed to get this kind of lights.

I installed the strip only at the top since the other shelves are not going to be fixed ones.

Little holes allow the strip to go from one bookcase to another. Here the center section of my bookcases where I sent the lights to the top and back on the false wall until it reaches the outlet.

This was the hubs surprise. Not totally done, but almost. What he liked the most: The lights! He doesn't have to work on that :)

I already ordered the fireplace. This is what I got.

For the full reveal click HERE.

:)

Linked party at:
Tuesday’s Treasures at My uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life, Wow us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage,Cowgirl Up at Farm House Porch, Feather Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground, Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick , Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Project Parade at DIY Show Off, Home Sweet Home at The charm of Home, Overflowing with Creativity at It's Overflowing, Hooking up with HOH, Tutorials and tips at Home Stories A to Z, Tutorial Tips and Tidbits at Stone Gable, Monday Funday at Creatively Living, Creative Friday Link Party at Jennifer Rizo, Wrap Up Party at Tatertotandjello, Diy by Design, The 36th Avenue, Tuesdays at our home at Our home away from home

In The Heights - School Decorations

2013-03-08T19:39:00.000-05:00

This week I was giving a helping hand at my daughter's school with their newest production:

My daughter is one of the junior sound engineers. They all have worked so hard and have done such a good job, I am so ready to go and watch the show, tonight is the opening!

But this post is about my job, I was in charge of giving the concession stand a more festive look.

During the week my family room was the one that looked pretty festive with the banners I was assembling.

A canopy for the front window was the most important item in my plan. The materials I used were cheap plastic tablecloths.

Wooden supports were nailed together.

Painted, and then the canopy was stapled to them.

With strong pieces of Velcro it was attached to the wall.

Some wall signs and that was it!

The spirit of The Heights came right there to the concession stand :)

Have a great weekend, every one!

Linked party at:
Tuesday’s Treasures at My uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life, Wow us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage,Cowgirl Up at Farm House Porch, Feather Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground, Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick , Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Project Parade at DIY Show Off, Home Sweet Home at The charm of Home, Overflowing with Creativity at It's Overflowing, Hooking up with HOH, Tutorials and tips at Home Stories A to Z, Tutorial Tips and Tidbits at Stone Gable, Monday Funday at Creatively Living, Creative Friday Link Party at Jennifer Rizo, Wrap Up Party at Tatertotandjello, Diy by Design, The 36th Avenue,

Spring Mantel 2013

2013-03-06T18:06:00.000-05:00

I'm so tired of Winter, I can't wait for Spring! The weather is taking forever to change. Today I was taking the pictures of my "Spring has Sprung" mantel, that was the only thing that looked like Spring! Outside the weather looked like we are in the middle of Winter, cooold and lots of snow coming down! Oh well!

My Spring mantel inspiration came from this:

Every time my daughter wore it I kept on thinking how I could use the bird images?! Time came for those birds to fly away, I did my own version, changing the wires for branches.

Using a piece of "art" I created long time ago for my daughter's bedroom, the new art was painted.

The birds were copied from the t-shirt and cut out. As soon as I get a new printer I'm going to add a free downloadable for the birds.

My helper having fun, as usual, punching out some leaves.

Some more materials.

The same vases I've been having on the mantel for a long time, got "fenced" :)

With the many pieces of wood that I have around, a little fence was created, I didn't even cover the nail holes, and one of the wood pieces was damaged, that gives it a more of a worn out feeling :)

A little garland, some flowers and two fellow friends.

My kids favorites, as usual, got out of storage.

That sticks game in a carrot still gets my son busy for a while.

One of my bunny bottle toppers gives company to the stringy poodle.

For now, I have to keep on looking at my mantel to remember that in fact Spring is coming, no matter what!

Linked party at:
Tuesday’s Treasures at My uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life, Wow us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage,Cowgirl Up at Farm House Porch, Feather Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground, Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick , Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Project Parade at DIY Show Off, Home Sweet Home at The charm of Home, Overflowing with Creativity at It's Overflowing, Hooking up with HOH, Tutorials and tips at Home Stories A to Z, Tutorial Tips and Tidbits at Stone Gable, Monday Funday at Creatively Living, Creative Friday Link Party at Jennifer Rizo, Wrap Up Party at Tatertotandjello, Diy by Design, The 36th Avenue, Tuesdays at our home at Our home away from home

Knitted Bunny Bottle Topper

2013-03-01T13:23:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone, Spring is almost here! Even though the cold weather makes it feel like we are in the middle of Winter, I couldn't hold it any longer I needed to begin doing something more Spring-ish! I know, I know, I need to finish those bookcases, but I was waiting for the fireplace/heater to be delivered and that garage is sooo cold to go to work in there!

Like two weeks ago, I took my son to a birthday party, while waiting for the party to finish I went to a nearby PB store and these guys stole my heart: Knitted Bunny Bottle toppers! (fuff that's a hard one for me to pronounce!) I love them but not the price, like ten bucks each one, I think.

Pottery Barn

So, time to do my own cheaper version! Ha I didn't knit a thing (I wish I knew how to). Old thrift store sweaters and a hat were my cheat!

Easy peasy patterns and lots of cutting!

Lots and lots of ears and squared buddies!

I think this project can be done using a glue gun, I chose the sewing machine.

Using embroidery thread the eyes, nose and whiskers were done!

And they multiplied just like perfect little bunnies do!

I got fuzzy ones, chunky ones!

And not only white ones but grey ones too!

Let's see the whole bunch again: Smokey, Cupcake, Jack, Shadow, Snowball, Buttercup, Buttons and Snow White :)

Not in the picture: Stormy ;)

My blogging friend Betty @ Maddiebella Home, with her "assistant"s help, created another cute variation of these bunny bottle toppers to be displayed at her Kid's Whimsical Easter Table. Isn't it beautiful. Check it out HERE.

Have a great day!
XOXO-

Linked party at:
Tuesday’s Treasures at My uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life, Wow us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage,Cowgirl Up at Farm House Porch, Feather Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground, Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick , Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Project Parade at DIY Show Off, Home Sweet Home at The charm of Home, Overflowing with Creativity at It's Overflowing, Hooking up with HOH, Tutorials and tips at Home Stories A to Z, Tutorial Tips and Tidbits at Stone Gable, Monday Funday at Creatively Living, Creative Friday Link Party at Jennifer Rizo, Wrap Up Party at Tatertotandjello, Diy by Design, The 36th Avenue, Domestically Speaking, Tuesdays at our home at Our home away from home

KILZ Paintervention

2013-02-26T11:05:00.001-05:00

Have you had one of those "I should have waited" moments after doing something? This is one of those moments for me!
Let me explain myself! My bedroom was the embarrassing room in the house, its ceiling was the worst part, it had nails popping out all around, tape peeling off, water stains, in general it needed repair, most importantly, a good coat of paint, maybe two! Well, it was done remember? If you haven't seen it click HERE for full details.

Now the ceiling is looking really good, I even went ahead and gave it architectural detail installing ceiling beams.

But after hearing about this wonderful opportunity is when I think I should have waited! I don't have an embarrassing room any more!

Good thing is YOU can enter those water-damaged, splotchy, cracking and aesthetically challenge interior rooms along with a caption explaining why your entry deserves a Paintervention!

CHECK THE DETAILS:

KILZ^®launches Paintervention, a contest to rescue homeowners from embarrassing paint jobs.

Where simple paint jobs go wrong, KILZ, a leading producer of primer and paint, steps in with its Paintervention photo contest on Facebook. KILZ is partnering with a top industry contractor and interior designer to help transform contestant painting mishaps into dream rooms.

From February 21 through March 21, fans will submit photos on KILZ's Facebook page of splotchy, cracking and aesthetically-challenged interior rooms along with a caption explaining why their entry deserves aPaintervention. The most deserving entries will be voted on by their peers and then judged by a panel for a chance to win one of 10 prizes:

Grand Prize: One submission will receive the grand prize, a $1,000 gift card from a major home improvement store and an e-consultation from Paintervention’s partnering experts, interior designer Joni Spear and professional contractor Scott Burt.

First Runners-Up: Three runners-up will each receive a $100 gift card from a major home improvement store and a gift package of KILZ products worth up to $100.

Second Runners-Up: Six second runners-up will receive a gift package of KILZ products worth up to$100.

WHO: For more information on this contest or for help with other decorating stories, KILZ andPaintervention’s partners can help. KILZ is pairing up with Scott Burt and Joni Spear to share tips and advice on interior painting projects to all participants. Here’s more on our partners:

· Painting contractor - Scott Burt: Scott is a full-time painting contractor, owner of Topcoat Finishes, Inc., and the editor of Topcoat Review a blog that shares product news and trends in the painting industry. Scott can provide insight on preparing surfaces for painting and evaluating problem areas.

· Interior designer – Joni Spear: Joni, owner of Joni Spear Interior Design, has over 20 years of experience in the interior design field. Joni was named to Houzz.com’s best of 2012 and 2013 for interior design. Joni can provide insight on interior painting design ideas to help refresh a problem space.

WHEN: Contest begins: Thursday, February 21, 2013

Submission deadline: Thursday, March 21, 2013

So go ahead take pictures of that embarrassing room and submit them, you can be a winner!

Kilz Facebook Page

Disclaimer: I have used Kilz Products before and I liked how they performed. All the opinions expressed in this post are mine, I was not compensated or swayed to write favorable things about these products.

Spanish Colonial Crush

2013-02-25T04:00:00.000-05:00

Here is a new set of pictures taken during our last visit to Bogotá, Colombia. I love this house with the charming patio and water fountain in its middle.

Located in La Candelaria, a historic neighborhood in downtown Bogotá, where the architecture of the old houses, churches and buildings has a Spanish colonial and/or Baroque style.

From previous posts you might already know of my big crush with this style!

The terracotta roofs, ornate windows and doors, and in this case how colorful it is.

This particular house is not a simple house any more. Since 1968 it holds one of the edgiest theaters in Colombia. Founded by a group of independent artists trying to get in sync with experimental theater and with the cultural movement of the 1960's, they wanted to create an environment accessible to the masses.
Its mix of social and political issues, but also the classical and contemporary productions has earned it a reputation of being one of the best theaters in Colombia and Latin America.

Once inside you'll find the ticket window by the entrance door to the auditorium, which holds 250 seats.

The only thing is that in this particular afternoon, it was closed and I was more interested on the architectural aspects of the building than in the play.

The "patio de ropas" (clothing yard) was where I wanted to be! That's one of those places where you just keep on thinking of the people who had lived here. Well, it has held the theater company for more than 40 years, but before that it had to be a house, a family's home, I guess. I imagined kids playing around the fountain.

Perhaps, running along those corridors.

The ceiling, which looks like made out of "bahareque" (wattle and daub), reminded me so much of the "bahareque" house I grew up in.

I love the simple railings all around it .

The terracotta / cobblestone floor in that pretty design.

The lanterns, plant stands and of course that old chunky bench!

It was one of those places that makes you so happy to be traveling back in time, and I sure did!

Linked party at:
Tuesday’s Treasures at My uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday at Coastal Charm, Table Top Tuesday at A Stroll Thru Life, Wow us Wednesdays at Savvy Southern Style, Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Creek Cottage,Cowgirl Up at Farm House Porch, Feather Nest Friday at French Country Cottage, Vintage Inspiration Friday at Common Ground, Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick , Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch, Saturday Nite Special at Funky Junk Interiors, DIY Project Parade at DIY Show Off, Home Sweet Home at The charm of Home, Overflowing with Creativity at It's Overflowing, Hooking up with HOH, Tutorials and tips at Home Stories A to Z, Tutorial Tips and Tidbits at Stone Gable, Monday Funday at Creatively Living, Creative Friday Link Party at Jennifer Rizo, Wrap Up Party at Tatertotandjello, Diy by Design, The 36th Avenue,