Bound and determined to get it done…painting finished

I’ve put off painting my living room for almost an entire year!  This week I finally got to it. I painted the ceiling too, and it’s quite a challenge with 16’ ceilings.

Lot’s of patching after doing a gallery wall and changing it up all of the time.

 

The day after I painted the dreadful tan colour, I wanted to change it. With a north facing room, it looked fleshy during the day…yuck!

Here is a before and after of the wall with the faux fireplace.

 

I won the 55” smart tv from work. It will eventually mounted properly, but for now sits on the mantle. The new to me Ikea Stockholm rug also helps to enliven the space.

this is the opposite wall. I tried a different lay out, but it just didn’t work in this awkward room, which is 12’ wide and 22’ long, and the path to the door intersects it in the middle

 

I still have some work to do, add trim to the window, hang curtains,  change all of the sockets and light switches (1 done, 7 to go) and later in the year, change the flooring to match the dining room and kitchen.

I’m happy to have it completed (mostly) before 2015 rolls in.  I really hope it’s a better year for me; after reeling from the sudden death of my sister 3 years ago, my nephew died suddenly this year. Tragic and heartbreaking and very difficult to come to terms with.

Here’s to 2015, may it be the best year for you and yours.

Blue and white and lately

As a single, sole support mum of two, making a little extra money helps me to give my kids things they otherwise would not get.  I didn’t intend to buy and sell furniture, but as I acquired new pieces the old ones had to go somewhere. Over the last two years I have bought lots of palm beach regency and faux bamboo furniture, most of it sold quickly and at a VERY good profit. I’m lucky enough to live in a densely populated city with lots to choose from and lots of buyers.

Recently I bought four of these chairs with a dining table included.

These rattan Brighton Pavilion chairs are showing up everywhere in home decor lately. I flipped the set without doing anything to it and now my daughter will be going on a school trip to Chicago! That’s economics Mum style!

Recently I found a set of two faux bamboo étagère's. I was hoping that I would be able to keep them the natural walnut colour, but they were in awful condition and would have been way more work than I have time for. Instead I opted to spray paint them in high gloss black lacquer. How long they live with me, I don’t know.

It was fun styling them with all of my thrift store treasures.

 

Another thrift store treasure was this blue and white ceramic lamp at $15. The shade was another find, brand new for $3 and a perfect fit.

Large purchases will be a thing of the past as I traded in my old trusty van, for something a little sleeker. There is still enough room for a fair amount, but nothing too big.

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In February I damaged my right foot (hey, maybe I can make a new movie with that tile, one to rival My Left Foot..ha ha) and have been limping around since. Several trips to the doctors, new orthotics and deep tissue therapy and I’m still hobbling. It has really thrown me off of my reno game and I’ve gained a fair amount of weight, which certainly doesn’t help. Or, maybe it’s that I gave up smoking…hmmmm  Anyway, I'm at the point where I just want to work through the pain and get something done.  Maybe next weekend. 

Hoping your weekend is a good one.

Summer was entirely too fast…

Hello out there! 

I’m going to mark this summer in my memory as the summer that wasn’t. I can count on one hand the number of times I turned on my central air conditioning.
Of course that left me with a few extras bucks; there is always a silver lining.

I haven’t posted much this summer and every time I went to write something, I felt overwhelmed . I have come to realize that I really miss blogging. It served as a motivator to get things done and I’ve been really slacking. I still haven’t gotten around  to painting my living room.  At least I have my colours picked out. The ceiling will be the darker of the two colours, and the walls the lighter, which is what is in the dining room. The darker colour will come down the wall 12” followed by some white trim, all in an  attempt to bring the high ceiling down visually…let’s hope it works out ‘cause it’s going to be a lot of work.



I did manage to buy and sell some fab furniture this summer.
This set of 4 chairs were really dirty, but I cleaned them up with 1 part vinegar to 3 parts canola oil, and they came out smashing. The  seats were recovered with a Target shower curtain.



I found a couple of lamps for $8 each, but didn’t like  the colour so much. Spray paint to the rescue.





My kids and I found a restaurant  not too far from where we live that we will NEVER eat at. Guess why?


I am selling my gilt faux bamboo coffee table and side tables because I have a new table. I love it (for now)  and got it at a very good price from a lovely couple. When I went to pick it up we had a great conversation and they showed me around their home. The hubby even played his piano for me with a composition that he wrote himself. His wife said I must be very special because he NEVER plays for other people. I was really touched.



I have done some junkin’ over the summer, but am trying my best not to buy things that I don’t really need.  Today I bought some new throws for the chairs, to change things up a bit.



I am looking forward to  fall, my favourite  season. To me it always evokes a sense of nesting and comfort, oh, and turkey dinner….mmmmm

As soon as the cooler weather arrives, but before the snow, I’m going to get my painting done. Then I’ll replace the flooring.



I hope to be back again soon. Thanks for stopping in.

Rustic Console and other changes

I heard you, loud and clear, the blue console was too blue, too small and just didn’t fit with my space. Hey, I’m willing to share my fails too *smile*

I needed something big and bold that would hold my tv and my blankets and some decorative items. I used two plans that I found on line and created this baby. Total cost for the wood was $96, plus stain and some Kreg screws, about another $15. I couldn’t buy this for that amount.

I haven’t added the X’s to the sides yet as I don’t have a saw that can cut the correct degrees, so I have to figure out how to do it with a circular saw, another day.

Let’s have a look at the before and after, you will agree I’m sure that after is a whole lot better.

I’ve found some great deals on new to me items in the last little while…

Yesterday I was at my local Sally Ann and found this rug for $19.99, brand new. At Ikea it is $159 for this size! (CDN)

My old Ektorp sofa was bought second hand and I got 3 years out of it before I had to replace it. I found a new Ektorp sofa with a Risane slipcover for $180. I love the slipcover with it’s tailored finish and the linen colour goes perfectly with my new to me scoop arm chairs.

And finally I found this Chinese cork sculpture at the Goodwill for $4. It is so pretty and I don’t know how they are able to cut the cork so intricately.

 

I keep saying it, but one day I really will get to the painting. In the meantime, I’m enjoying the changes and the thrifty finds.

Faux bamboo chairs, again

I finally got around to painting the set of 6 chairs that I picked up last fall.

Although they looked good in my dining room, the four side chairs have been sold.

To be totally honest, the backs of these chairs while beautiful, are not that comfortable to sit at for any length of time.

 

The two side chairs received an update with white paint and I made some seats in green with blue piping.

The previously cherry, crappy stained credenza received an update by removing the drawers and adding a shelf and taking out the front cross bar. I picked this up over a year ago and it had a coffee table and side table with it. For only $55 I thought it was alright and I gave away the side table and coffee table. The drawers were dove tailed and I wondered why crappy pressboard/mdf furniture would have that? Turns out the entire piece is solid wood, which I found when I started sanding out the few nicks that were on the top.

This is the only photo I have of it in it’s previous state

Now it’s blue and I think I made a mistake. I guess I could strip the paint off and stain it to a nicer colour. Oh well.

 

I’m not even sure I like the chairs. Maybe once the wall is painted and the flooring is changed, I may change my mind. Lesson is that not everything needs to be changed.

Garage workbench and what’s been going on ‘round here

It seems like forever since I’ve posted anything. I have been anxiously waiting for the weather to finally warm up. I’m happy to say that despite the overcast day, it didn’t rain.

#1 on my list of things to do is to clean up the garage, yet again. To that end I have had my eye on the plans posted by Shanty2Chic to make a workbench. The best thing about it is that I can roll it out onto my driveway where there is a lot more room than in my single car garage.

I was finally able to put my Kreg Jig to use…look closely, no screws are visible!  It took me 6 hours to build it, which is not too bad considering that I am not very experienced.

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I had the casters on hand, which helped to keep the cost down. They are only 3” wheels, but I think they will be ok.  If not I can replace them with larger ones. The materials cost me $72. I used melamine for the top because it cleans up easily and osb for the bottom because it’s inexpensive.

Last weekend I attended my nephews wedding in Montreal. It’s only a 6 hour drive but I’ve never been there before. I would like to go back in the summer time when things are hopping. It was pretty quiet and I didn’t have a lot of time to tour around, but there are some amazing sights to see. It’s like being in Europe, but close to home.

 

 

I returned home from Montreal on Mother’s Day. I said hello to my kids, talked a little about my trip, asked how they were doing…I didn’t even notice what my amazing daughter had done for me; She created this cherry blossom tree on the chalkboard wall!  It took her many hours of work. I would be lying if I said no tears were shed. I was so touched and overwhelmed and grateful to be home with the two people I love most.

Tomorrow promises to be sunny and relatively warm, so I’m going to be painting my Chippendale faux bamboo chairs.  I bought a new to me glass table from Kijiji and the chairs are going to look fantastic with it. I have completed the quarter round and can’t wait to move on to my living room.

It’s Victoria Day weekend here which means Monday is a holiday. woo hoo!  Thank you Queen Victoria.

Dining room painted and flooring installed

I think this is the longest it’s ever taken me to get through a project. I finished painting two weekends ago and after living with exposed subfloor for two weeks, I had had enough.

I continued the flooring that I used in the kitchen, Allure Vinyl plank in Hickory.  Now this level looks cohesive.

 

I still have to install the quarter round, but that’s nothing in comparison to all the work I have done in here. It is so much fresher and the dark grey had started to depress me.

 

 

 

I used Dulux diamond paint in a flat finish, to help hide the lumps and bumps in my walls.  The colour is Fine Silver; I keep saying it looks blue, but everyone else says it looks grey.

I hope that next weekend it’s warm enough to get outside and paint the set of 6 faux bamboo chairs. They’ve been waiting patiently since November. 

Soon I will muster up the energy to paint the living room, but I’m not looking forward to it.

Blue and White–and getting closer to painting

My vacation in Jamaica was exactly what I needed for a fresh start. I feel inspired and invigorated.

I’ve finally decided on a paint colour for the walls, but am still contemplating the colour for the ceiling.

After searching for a decent price on a garden stool, I finally found one at half price at Bombay Co., it was the floor model and the only one in the province! 

While I was there, all of their blue and white ceramics were on sale for 30% off, so I picked up a box of 6 to add to my one measly one. I added them to my big cloche and love the look.

The sofa and loveseat combo takes up too much room in my awkward to arrange living room, so I found these two chairs on Kijiji for a decent price. My plan is to recover them since the linen has seen better days.

This little trinket box was $8 at HomeSense, perfect for storing my smaller remote controls.

 

The green throw and cushions have come out to remind me that at some point things will start turning green instead of the gloomy brown that is outside, hopefully.

So here’s the plan so far:

Paint the walls the light grey that is in the smallest sample. The ceiling and down the wall about 3 feet will be two paint colours up on the same chip, a darker blue/grey. This will have a band of white separating the two colours. 

The drapes will be replaced and hung at a traditional height instead of up to the 15’ ceiling.

The floor will be painted a dark brown in a high gloss finish.

I am going to frame out above the fireplace and paint it white, which is where my tv will go. I realize that it will be rather high, but I have nowhere else to put it that makes sense.

I really wish my living room weren’t so awkward. With the traffic pattern in such an odd configuration it’s difficult to place furniture.

If I find time this weekend, the dining room will get painted in the light grey/blue that the living room bottom portion will be.

I finished painting the bookcase railing before I left for vacation, but I still have to style it with some books and get rid of some of the temporary knick knacks.

So much to do, so little time.