Before & After: DR Sideboard

With all the craziness, I've been slow to post some of my finished projects.  And, once the baby arrives (due this Sunday) I know I won't have time.  So, here is the sideboard I found at a tag sale for $25.

BEFORE (Post Sanding)

It wasn't the best quality, but it was the perfect size for our small dining room.  If you remember from this post, I decided to paint it BM Pale Avocado and add this hardware.

I haven't hung my antique gold federal style (eagle) mirror above the sideboard because we're moving in less than a month and I really don't want to put new holes in the wall.  So, here is the sideboard now.

AFTER

The other day, I placed my mirror on the sideboard to see how it would look.  I'm dying to hang it - I think it would go perfectly above the sideboard.  

AFTER

I found that mirror at an antique store for $45.  I love it.  The sideboard has a collections of items which I love and found at various places.  I know my orchid looks in bad shape;  I can not for the life of me keep orchids alive.  

And, do you spy some DwellStudio Gate Citrine fabric in the reflection of the mirror?  More on that tomorrow - I will reveal my dining room (as it currently stands) and will show you what an awesome job Melissa from Windows by Melissa did on my roman shades!    Stay tuned!

Our Newly Renovated Bathroom

I wanted to post this earlier, but we had five showings and an open house since Friday and I literally was running around like a crazy woman.  Of course, wouldn't you know, I can't find our before pictures!  But, our upstairs bathroom was rough - really rough.  The kind that hasn't been updated since the 1940's (when the house was built).  I did manage to find some pictures mid renovation.

We had a sink that just jutted out from the wall like the ones you see in a jail cell.  No joke.  We had a gross medicine cabinet with two ugly sconces.  We removed them and took them immediately to the dump.  We had an awful ceiling with a huge crack and peeling paint.  My husband tore out the existing ceiling and installed a vapor barrier followed by beadboard, made by Nantucket Beadboard.  We used their MRI product, which is a premium grade moisture resistant fiberboard.  We primed and painted it with mold/mildew resistant semi-gloss paint (even along the edges, after they were cut to size).  Here it is, partially installed.

The floors were covered with individual square vinyl tiles - how lovely.  And the plywood around the toilet was delaminating (breaking apart) after 60+ years of condensation around the toilet.

My husband did all the flooring.  He tore out the baseboards, the laminate tiles and cut out the plywood subfloor.  He installed a new cement board sub-floor.  I chose the tile and decided on the Daltile's porcelain hexagon tiles 2"matte white which came in square mesh sheets making it a tad easier to install.  We grouted in delorean gray.  Here's the floor post-tile but pre-grout.

We kept our existing tub and just had it resurfaced which ended up saving us a good deal of money.  Our shower/tub walls had been one of those cheap plastic inserts (ack!).  He tore that out, as well as the drywall behind it.  Up went more cement board, which provided the foundation for our tiled shower walls.  

And, now the afters!

The walls are painted SW Nonchalant White which is a subtle green.  We purchased the Del Mar 36 inch wide vanity cabinet which ended up being a perfect fit for this very narrow bathroom.  It is only 12.5 inches deep.  I love the toilet - it's a kohler.  

I can't remember where I bought the sconces, but I purchased the mirror from Lowes.  It was hard to find a narrow mirror and this one came with oil rubbed bronzed brackets which I spray painted chrome.  

My DIY greek roman shade which I love.  

Here is the beautiful subway tile.  I love how clean and bright it looks.  I bought a tension rod from Target because we didn't want risk drilling into the tile right before we put the house on the market.  It has held up pretty well and I don't think you can immediately tell that it is a tension rod. 

It was hard to capture a full on picture because our bathroom is so small and narrow, but I hope you got the jist of it.  I am very happy how everything turned out given our resources.  What do you think?

Before and After: Painting Over Wallpaper

Thank you for your kind comments about our dining room saga.  Some of you asked if the color on the furniture complemented the color on the walls - it kind of doesn't.  The color palette in the room is cream/gray/citrine and now I have these stark white chairs and table.  It sticks out like a sore thumb.  Anyway, I'm trying to see if I can hijack a highschool student to help me repaint them!! 

Anyway, before we painted, our dining room had wallpaper.  Actually, it still does.  But now it just has paint over it! :)  The wallpaper was there before I moved in and it is just not me.  See below.

I find the stripes overbearing for our small dining room.  So, let me tell you 3 reasons why I chose to paint over the wallpaper instead of taking the wallpaper down.

1) Condition of walls.  The reason the wallpaper was hung in the first place was because the walls are not in great condition. I was concerned that after taking the wallpaper down I would probably have to skim coat and sand the walls to ensure an even and smooth surface.  This would be a pain.

2) Removing wallpaper is not always an easy task.  Sometimes the paper comes down in sheets and sometimes it doesn't.  And since I am pregnant and have no experience with this I decided not to go there.

3) Time and Money.  I wanted to get this done before the baby comes and since we're moving in the near future, I didn't want to waste too much time or money removing the wallpaper, sanding walls, etc. 

You get the picture.  So, how do you paint over wallpaper?  Well, here is a good tutorial that I followed, but I will give you a quick run down of how I went about it. 

1) Identify all the visible edges, as well as any loose/peeling wallpaper.  With a razor, carefully trim back any loose pieces.  See the seams below.

2) Next, put just a little joint compound (the mud used at joints in drywall) on any uneven spots - so this means all seams, edges, and places where loose wallpaper was removed.  This is the most important part, since you want the surface to be as smooth as possible before painting.

I had our painter do this and the key to having a seamless look is to ensure that the compound is "feathered" out properly (so the seam disappears).  If it is visible or bumpy, you'll need to sand it more.  Use 150 grit sandpaper or finer.

3) Once the compound is dry and sanded, you will need to prime over the wallpaper.  You need to use an oil based primer.  This is critical because the glue holding the wallpaper onto the wall is activated by water.  Putting latex (water based) paint on will just cause the wallpaper to fall off the wall, which is what we're trying to avoid.  Also, the primer is also the first step to hiding the wallpaper pattern, so it doesn't show through the top coat.  Oil based paint stinks ... so ventilate the area well.  

4) Now, you are ready to paint your walls.  The painter used two coats of latex paint (eggshell finish) and voila!

So that's it ... I love the new color (BM White Down).  It's just so much more airy and open.   

Before & After: Our Upstairs Hallway

It's been forever since I last reported on our upstairs hallway.   I finally completed it.  If you remember (don't worry if you don't because it has been forever), we painted horizontal stripes on the walls.  I loved them, but found it difficult to decorate such a small space with bold walls.  My goal was to brighten the room and I was dead set on having a mirror in the hallway.  We lived with one for a long time, but I wasn't thrilled with it.  I finally ditched the idea and went the graphic route.  I love how it turned out.

After:

After:

Before:

Before:

Even though this took a long time, I have to say I took my time sourcing/finding the items for this hallway.  

Rug: Ikea Erslev

Ceiling fixture: Lowes (This makes the space.  It took me forever to find a stylish flush mount for our v. low ceilings)

Table lamp: Ikea Marby

Tray: West Elm

Poster: Super Rural

Book: Reader's Digest $9 (for a set of 3)

Table: Garage Sale $20

Lamp Shade: Garage Sale $5

Flowers: Gladiolus $5

Artichoke: Garage Sale $2

So, what do you think?  A big improvement in my opinion.  

Mini Makeover: My Patio

If you remember in this post, I told you that we have teensy tiny patio I wanted to spruce up.  Our patio was virtually a place where we kept our trash cans and stacked garden chairs during the winter.  It is nothing pretty to look at by any means.

Before

If we were to stay in this house longer, the first thing of order would be to either re-paint or spray wash the foundation and re-cement the stairs.  I also would replace the metal door and windows, but it's not worth it because we want to move.

If you remember, I also said I had no budget for this makeover so I wanted to shop my home and repurpose what I had.  As you can see above, we had two wicker chairs, a garden stool and an outdoor/indoor rug (not pictured).  All of these were to become the main ingredients for the mini-makeover.  

Above is the mood board I created for my project.  Here, you can see the rug I had to work with - definitely not my favorite, but it worked just fine.  I spray painted the wicker chairs glossy black and the garden stool an apple green.  I bought cream round planters from Joann's (out of all places) for 50% off.  And, I bought sunbrella chair cushions and mini lumbar pillows.  

After

Here is the after.  In my humble opinion, I really think the planters make it.  They add color and life to this patio.  So, what do you think?  Not bad for re-purposing what you currently own and using your green thumb!! 

Now if only the mosquitos would disappear, I could sit out here in the evenings!!!

 

In My Kitchen: Before & After

I'd say our kitchen is the only room in our house that is 99% completed.  This makes me happy.  Of course, if I had unlimited funds, this would be up for debate.  But, given what we have, our kitchen is complete.  So, let me invite your into our kitchen:

Our kitchen is small: 11 x 11.  We redid the kitchen shortly after we got married and I moved in.  It was a gut job (including the ceiling and floor but the walls remained).  My husband and I designed our kitchen.  He performed a lot of the manual labor: installed ceiling, recessed lighting, cabinets, and appliances.  We had professionals install the flooring, granite countertop, moldings and subway backsplash.  

Since this is not our "forever" house, we decided against taking down the walls and just working with what we have.  While it is not large by any means, it's functional and quaint.  

There use to be nothing on this wall.  Just a aluminum rack to hold pantry goods and dishes.  Do you see my kitchen stool to the left - the only place to sit in the kitchen! :)

A close-up of our backsplash.  Originally, I was planning on going with Ann Sacks tiles, but given our tight budget, we opted for good 'ol Home Depot subway tile.  I love how it turned out. 

Okay, and now for the before.  Let me just set the scene.  This was my husband's house before we got married so when I moved in it was his bachelor pad.  The kitchen was exactly the same kitchen that existed in 1948!  His priority, at the time, was his basement (he loves woodworking), not the kitchen.  Go figure.  Oh my goodness, I can't believe I'm posting these pictures.  

Bleh...how about that copper kitchen clock?  Or the contact paper back splash?  That light fixture?  Those horrible dirty cabinets?  Do you want to see where the oven was?

Yes, right next to the refrigerator and do you want to know what was to the left of the stove?  Oh yeah, the washer machine.  Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of that.  The good thing about that is you could do a load of laundry while simultaneously cook dinner!  I think this should be the new trend.  :)

And, look at that linoleum floor!  Lovely.  I believe when we were dating, I tore out a tear sheet of a kitchen as inspiration and there it hung on the side of the refrigerator.  Well, all I have to say, is that after we got married, this kitchen was history.  As the slogan goes, "You've We've come a long way, baby!"