Redecorating on a Budget
Kitchen Details
We are settling into our newly revamped kitchen and I have to say that I just love it! It turned out just the way I pictured it would in my mind. I think we created a white kitchen that still has a lot of warmth. We still need to switch out the chandelier and add pendant lighting. We will get to it at some point but at the moment I am still looking and trying to find what I really want. For now, I wanted to share our journey with you.
I am so ready for cooler weather to arrive. I just completed a small cafe table for my porch but it is just to hot to enjoy it.
I have been looking for a small table for the front/side porch but didn’t want to spend alot of money on it. We have such a great spot but we really haven’t used it since we finished off our back screened in porch which was a long time ago. The front porch just turned into wasted space. So I want to change that starting with this cafe table.
This little table didn’t look like this when I picked it up the the local antique/consignment. The chairs didn’t beong with the table but the are the perfect size and very heavy.
Summer is winding down so we squeezed in one more trip to the Island. I just like being there because it is so peaceful and away from the grind of day to day living. I am so not ready for the school year to begin because my oldest will head back to college, my middle son will start his senior year in high school and my youngest (also know as my tech guy and my photograper) will be in his last year of elementary school. When I am at the Island I do not have to think about any of that…
this is another reason that I love the Island…
I have been working on several projects and haven’t gotten around to finishing any of them yet! We are back from our Easter trip so I am ready to get busy and complete some of these projects.
Here is what I am working on at the moment.
Several months ago my sister in law saw a family birthday calendar on Pinterest that she liked and she asked me if I could make one for her. I told her I would and I FINALLY started and completed it! It wasn’t that hard to do it just seemed like every time I would think about getting started something would get in the way….Mainly CHARLIE
He is so cute but he is A LOT of work!!!
Anyway, back to the Calendar…this is the finished product.
My supply list included:
Scrap of wood
Vinyl lettering
Decorative tape
paint and brush
eye hooks
decoupage
sanding block
stickers
tags
The first thing I did was sand my piece of wood. Then I did a base coat of white paint. Once that was dry I added the vinyl lettering and spelled out Family Birthdays. I then painted over the entire board with my second paint choice which was blue. After that was dry I removed the vinyl lettering. I used the sanding block over the entire board again. I like the effect it had on the lettering. I then added the stickers for the months of the year. I was going to stencil those but I knew I would never be able to get that done. I added some decorative tape just to give it some dimension and add a little something extra to it. I added eye hooks to the bottom and attached tags for the names and dates of the birthdays. I will eventually switch the tags out for metal disks once I master the art of metal stamping. Right now I am still in the learning process!
I think it turned out great. I might have to make one for myself…
(All photos are courtesy of Kolson Close Up)
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I am sharing a simple project today. I have been thinking of painting this table for a while and could’t decide on exactly what I wanted to do. I really like the look of the grain sack fabric and thought I would do my version of it on this little table.
(Photo courtesy of Kolson Close Up)
I used my last bit of Pure White Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. I did two coats with a good sanding in between each coat. I painted the blue stripes Sherwin Williams Indigo Batik. Once everything was dry I used my sanding block to rough it up a bit and makes the stripes a bit faded so It looked more like the grain sack cloth stripes
I picked this table up a long time ago for a few dollars at a consignment shop. I liked the color when I picked it up and it looked perfect in the kitchen by my bench. I have since moved it upstairs in my sitting room and the color just didn’t go with my bedroom.
This was the piece before…
( photo courtesy of Kolson Close Up)
I use this little table all the time. It is so versatile.
If you like the look of grain sack furniture check out this chair by Confessions of a Serial-Do-It-Yourselfer.
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I finished this wine rack several months ago and am just now getting around to sharing with you today. I found this piece for $19.00 at an antique shop on our way to the Island Home. I am not sure what kind of rack it is but I am going to use it as a wine rack. This is what it looked like when I found it.
I really like the red but it just was a bit too much for the kitchen. I decided to spray it using the stainless steel paint that I had on hand. It matches the appliance in the kitchen. It is simple, neat and keeps the kitchen looking organized!
I think this piece is really unique and I am glad I found it!
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Today I am sharing with you, my homemade totally free Christmas Countdown sign. Everything I used, I found around the house and the garage!
Don’t pay attention to the number of day until Christmas. That is what the actual countdown was when I made the sign and I am not ready to know how many days are REALLY left until Christmas until I get through Thanksgiving first! Then I can begin to panic a bit because I already feel like I am behind.
The sign was really easy to make. I found the wood in the garage left over from a previous project. I sprayed the entire piece of wood with a silver spray paint which I used on a bottle cap project that you can find here. I also used the silver paint on my wine rack which I will share with you in a later post. Once the silver paint was dry, I used my vinyl letters to spell out Christmas Countdown and Days! I then used Pure White Chalk Paint from Annie Sloan to cover the entire piece. Once that was good and dry, I used Emperors Silk Annie Sloan Chalk Paint to paint over the entire piece again. While that was drying, I used a smaller piece of wood and sprayed it with chalkboard paint for the number part of the sign. I then found one of our Christmas cards from last year and cut out the Santa. When everything was dry, I peeled off the vinyl letters to reveal the silver paint beneath the letters. I used wood glue to attach the chalkboard piece of wood to the sign. I then decoupaged the Santa to the sign and then gave the piece a light sanding so some of the white would show through the red. I think the sign is adorable and once I get my fall decorations down I can’t wait to decorate with it!
ALSO I WANTED TO WISH MY OLDEST A HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY! I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE YOU OVER THANKSGIVING BREAK!
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It has been a crazy couple of weeks around here but I am back and trying to finish up some projects that have been stashed in my garage and utility room for too long!
This past summer I picked up a few free pieces and one of them was a table top. It came from a shop that we used to go into all the time near the Island. One day we drove up and it was out of business but they left some things outside with a cardboard sign that said FREE! We picked up a pallet and the tabletop. The tabletop had paint smeared across it and the laminate was pulling away from the sides. I didn’t care it was free and I knew we could turn it into something. My son no longer ask me WHY? or ARE YOU SURE? He just says I will load it up for you…Thanks B.K.
The pallet is still sitting in the utility room but I finally painted painted the tabletop. Then it sat for a few more weeks until I could find a base. Two weeks ago we took a trip to the Island to finish up a few last minute things there and made a quick stop at one of my favorite spots and YES I found a table base. I had found one there before and I was back and forth trying to decide if I really liked it…and I am so glad I waited because I found this…..
and I knew it would be perfect for the tabletop!
It is kind of hard to tell in the photo but it kind of has a yellow tint to it but I knew that I could paint it so it was no big deal. The other thing you can’t tell from the photo is that the base it metal which I love. Here is the end result….
I just set it up in my living room so I could show you how it turned out. I used Annie Sloan chalk paint in Graphite for the tabletop and rubbed a bit of the Pure White paint over it so it wasn’t so flat. Once that was dry I stenciled the longitude and latitude of the Island. On the base I also used the Pure White. Super easy and I think it turned out great!
Come back later and I will show you some of my other finds and the odds and ends that we did at the Island Home before prepping the house for Winter!
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I am such a huge fan of Sarah Richardson. I DVR all her shows. My all time favorite is Sarah’s Cottage. I would watch each episode over and over when we bought our Island Home. I love the Groceries sign she found while out shopping with Tommy. I finally decided to make my own version of it today.
I started off with a scrap piece of wood that I found in the garage. I had several letter from Michaels that I bought on clearance a while back. I painted the scrap would Pure White Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. I painted the letters Annie Sloan’s Graphite. Once everything was dry I attached them with hot glue. Easy Project. This will look so cute in the kitchen at the Island Home. I may just have to make a quick trip tomorrow because I am missing that peaceful place. This is what I started with:
So this was my inspiration from Sarah Richardson.
Again, this is my version:
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