Fireplace Re-face

In part of getting ready for Spring (and the baby!) our house was in desperate need of a paint job.  Well if it needed painted then we should address the rock . . if we are doing the exterior rock we should do the fireplace inside. . . and the list just goes on right?!  That's what brings me to today's post.  Our house is painted (that will be my next post) and our rock is done.  I thought I would start by sharing the fireplace transformation.

Here is the inspiration photo in which I wanted my fireplace to somewhat mimic: 

Here is the BEFORE:

Here is the Rock that I chose:

Here is the AFTER pictures:

I hope you like it!  I love how much lighter it makes the room feel!  I wish that we could claim the labor on this project but we can't.  We hired out the tear down and install of our new rock.  By choosing a concrete made rock this project all together ended up being very affordable. Stay tuned for the reveal of my exterior house!

ENJOY!

Living Room Inspiration Board

Since I took those few months off from projects around the house . . My mind was been constantly dreaming of what to do next!  In addition to the bedroom re-do I dreamed up, I have come up with a Living room re-do.  

My husband wants to add a little leather to the room and I want to add chairs to make the space feel more open then of course you just have to change everything to make it work! Take a look at the inspiration board I came up with:

1. Seabury Sofa from Pottery Barn $2300

Lumbar Pillow from Pottery Barn $29

Taza Pillow from Crate and Barrel $89

2. Brown Leather Chair from RC Willey $649

3. Lourdes Chadelier from Ballard Design $220

4. Oxford Chair from Overstock $180

5. Jai Drum Table from World Market $99

6. Cronell Square Ottoman from Orient Express $310

7. Scroll Tile Rug from Pottery Barn $599

I would choose a slightly different color for the sofa and of course add the right accessories to make all of those neutral colors work. I hope you like it!

Enjoy!

Living Room Upgrade

I am so excited to reveal our upgraded look of a living room!  I cant stress enough what a coat of paint can do to a room. We went from this dark and drab of a room:

To bright and open! 

Much better right?!?  Well let me tell you how we did it.  First of all I apologize for all who couldn't wait to see the original paneling that I wanted to do.  My husband and I went to Home Depot and were totally sticker shocked!  It would have cost about $250 just to panel that back wall.  So back to the drawing board . . for a cheaper option.

We sat around looking at our house and got inspiration right from our windows:

 So we decided to mimic that same decorative trim to frame out the TV. The best part of how this turned out is that it looks like the trim addition always belonged in our house. This project ended up costing about $50 with all the supplies and a full day of work. After cutting and using the nail gun to attach the molding to the wall, I caulked all the edges waited 2 hours and then painted the trim.  Here are some photos during the process:

What a difference huh!  Well in addition to working on the molding and paint, I got to work on making some frames.  Remember these frame scraps I purchased?!:

Well I made some additional frames for my refreshed Living Room:

The frames are quit easy to make with just a 45 degree cut and wood glue with clamps to hold over night. 

I hope you are inspired and I hope that you find a room in your house that you can lighten up!  Enjoy!



Small Changes

Sometimes small changes make the biggest difference . . especially when you are yearning for something new and fresh in a room.  I have been feeling like something new in our living room.  First of all here is a wall that we stare at quite often:

Especially on Sunday nights when Once upon a time comes on!  (If you have not seen the show then you need to!)  Back to the change . . All I did was add Hardware to the TV console.  It took a very inexpensive piece of furniture from Target to a whole new level. 

Great isn't it.  What a $12 fix can do!  I like how it broke up all the dark brown colors.

Now to the next small change.  I do have to admit it is not done yet but tomorrow I am going to paint the living room:

I can't wait to see the difference this paint will make!  I have found so much inspiration on Pinterest with light, bright, and airy colors!  I think that light is in.  In addition to the paint we are going to try and get some Paneling up on one of the walls as well . . This is one of my inspirations:

I want to do horizontal paneling like in the picture but am tossing around the idea of Vertical as well. Cant wait to show you when its done!  I hope this inspires you to make some small changes . , in your home!
ENJOY!

Pottery Barn knock off shelf!

I have had my eye on this for a long time:

Pottery Barns Vintage Shelf.  I wasn't going to pay $399 . . so let me tell you how I paid only $15 for mine!

1. Searched Craigslist for reclaimed wood and scored with some trim wood pieces for just $15.

2. Begged my husband to make it for me for Christmas.

3. Happy to say I am now enjoying my new ledge!

I wish I could have shown you a picture of the wood before my husband cut and put it together.  But I was too late before I found out he was making it for me. Isn't the transformation great though?!?  After he put it together I just painted it with SW 7050 "useful gray"(which might be my new living room color) then sanded it to get the vintage look. 

the idea with this shelf is to make a mud style room in my hallway (because I don't have a mud room).  I screwed hooks from Home Depot into another great craigslist find of wood trim(less holes in the wall).

Now all I have to do is build my bench and there will be a place for all my things when I come in from work!  I hope you were inspired and I hope you all have or will find a great husband like mine!

DIY: {Monogrammed Pillow}

Ready for another quick and easy DIY project?!?  This seriously took me about 10 minutes.  Below is a picture of a pillow I have had my eye on that I used for the inspiration:

Here is what you need:

Here is what you do:

Back the fabric with Pellon then:

here is the finished

MONOGRAMMED PILLOW

Again, this project was so simple.  The possibilities are endless with the different types of fabrics, fonts and letter that could be used.  I hope you were inspired!

Thank you again to all my new readers!  Stay posted as I create more give-a-ways for you to win!

again . .

My mission is to supply you with visual eye candy.  I am not a writer . .in fact I hate writing . . so as you follow my blog it will be short and sweet with just the pictures and words needed to re-create my inspiring projects. Thanks again for following!

DIY: Picture Gallery

Every time I get the Pottery Barn catalog I am just amazed at the gallery walls they can put together. So I decided to stop craving over them and make one of my own! The best part is that I did it with frames I already had! Here is a picture of the inspiration I wanted to follow:

Just keep on reading to follow how I created my own gallery wall!

Pictures just dont do justice. . this gallery really makes the room feel larger and taller!  I hope this has inspired you to do something crazy and fun in your home!  Below is my recent purchse from the foundary . . Love it!  The rug pulls everything together. . enjoy!

{House Rules}

I just love how this came together.  I wanted to design something that showed a little bit of what I love and what i want to live by.  I came out with this House rules sign.  I gathered all of my wood scraps and put together this base . . painted it then painted it(again) with a wallpaper design  and placed the Vinyl on top. Thanks again to Janey Mac for cutting the vinyl! Watch out for a free give away of a similar project on my blogs that i like to follow! 

p.s. you know my husband is around when you see sports on the tv!



Pillow day!

Pillow Day!

I just freshened up my couch with some new pillows.  What a easy way to re-fall in love with a room!  I personally made some pillows with mixing in some store bought pillows . . A perfect way to create your own personal and unique couch!

You can find the flower tutorial that I made for my pillow here.
The fabric I chose for my other homemade pillow is called Riad and I found it at Kravet.com.
Combine your creative pillows along with store bought to create a one of a kind look!
Take a peek at my next pillow project here . .