Our Armoire Makeover!

You guys!  I'm so excited to finally show you our armoire makeover!

Remember when we scored this handsome fellow for $13 at a local thrift store?!?

Look what he became!  Yesssss!  We are in love.

This was our most time consuming project to date, and during the process, I was thinking I am never doing this again.  But by the time we had it inside, all the frustration was forgotten, and we think it was totally worth it!  I think that kind of means the armoire is our baby.  Yep, I definitely birthed a painted armoire.

Wanna give it a try?  Here's some suggestions of what you'll need.

Because this guy was laminate wood, we had to take some extra steps to make sure it would hold the paint, thus the special primer and throw away set of painting supplies (thank you internet and fellow DIY blogs for this tip!)  The oil based primer would be very difficult to clean, so we chose to buy cheap supplies and toss them instead of trying to clean them.

Some other extra things we had to do:  buy wood for an extra shelf and new backing, and use wood filler on some parts of the trim that had come apart a bit before painting.

Ready to get started?  Here we go!

We started by taking it all apart.  You could tape off the hardware if you prefer, but since we wanted to spruce those up with some spray paint, we went ahead and took everything off.

Next, we sanded it.  Here's another part you could skip (according to the primer label), but again, we decided to be thorough.

And then primed it all.  Twice.

We took a break after this step.  A two week long break.  Whoopsies.  But then we had a fresh start when it was time to paint the darn thing.  We decided on a white inside and greenish outside.  I have fallen madly IN LOVE with the color- Dusty Miller by Glidden.  It goes perfectly with our basement walls, which are a lighter greenish gray color. 

The hardware spraying contraption was all Andy, of course.  What a smarty.

After letting it all dry for a day, we Andy put it back together and we filled it up with all our junk nicely organized office supplies!

It fits perfectly in our basement, holds everything we need it to hold, and is a nice light piece of furniture in the midst of all the other dark wood we have in there.  Just ignore that top shelf that we still need to paint...

I LOVE being able to have all the cluttery stuff put away and hidden.  And those canvas bins in there?  Another thrift store find!  I think they were $2 each!  Amazing.

I think this whole project was completed for well under $100, which is an awesome price for a big armoire!  I mean those can break the bank if you buy one new.  Even other ones we saw at the thrift score cost $200.

So, what do you think?  Was it worth the hours and hours of work?  Has anyone else completed some furniture makeovers recently?

Happy weekend, everyone!

Linking up to:
Becoming Martha
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
Simply Designing 
Homemaker on a Dime 
The Dedicated House

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DIY scallop paint sample canvas wall art

This wall art is another great one for those extra paint samples you have lying around!

Here's all you need.  I used my cricut machine to cut the circles just because it was easier for me.  But you could also easily trace a circles and cut them out, or use another circle cutter that you may have for scrapbooking.

First I spray painted my canvas (no pictures for this step, but I did several light coats like always).  If you want clean white edges, tape them off during this step!

While the paint is drying, you can cut out your circles.  I cut as many as I could with the samples we had left over from painting some rooms in our house when we first moved.

Next, you need to decide on your arrangement.  I spent a while playing until I had one I loved.  Okay, let's be honest... I had my circles cut for about 2 weeks before I finally decided how I wanted the layout.  But that's just me... I'm particular sometimes.  This was one of those times.   

Once I had my arrangement, I headed out to the garage to spray glue it all together.

Then I came back inside to trim the parts that went off the edge, and put a layer of mod podge on top just to give it a nice shine all over.  You can skip that step.  Actually, I forgot to include it in the supplies... whoopsies.

And there you have it!

Here are all my recent canvas wall art projects.  We're planning to hang them together as part of our basement project that's in the works.

In case you missed these projects...
DIY chevron wall art
DIY quote canvas

Fun projects for the holiday weekend, right?  Hope you have a good one!  

Linking up to:
Simply Designing
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
Chase the Star
AKA Design
Homemaker on a Dime


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a photo tour of some of my favorite stores

Hi guys!  So ever since painting the basement, I've been heading out to local discount stores every day to see what's out there that we could use to complete the space.  We also took a day trip to Ikea and found a few things. 

One of the first finds at Ikea were these curtain wires that were displayed as photo hangers.  We thought this would work as kind of a modern bulletin board to be hung above our desk.  Two wires with clips came home with us!  Aren't they cool?  I'm sure you could DIY something like this pretty darn easily, too. 

I loved this purple painted cabinet- my photo isn't great- it's much much prettier in person. 

We've been wanting a new office chair and I'm pushing for white.  This one is from Staples.  I think it would help to brighten the basement and be a nice contrast to our dark wood desk and bookcases.

Next up, Gordmans!  I am so in love with Gordmans!  They have amazing discounted items, and tons of home decor.  I love browsing around their vases and artwork especially.

Here's some art I covet.  We're looking for two long canvases to flank the curtain wire from Ikea that we bought.  Most of the long skinny canvases were 3 ft. by 1 ft. and cost $20- $30. 

I love this heart sculpture so much.  I think it's only $15.00.  So.... I should get it, right?

There are also always lots of chairs available, each around $100.  Some day, I would love to own a cool chair like these, or like this one from Pier 1.  

Next up are the lamps.  I love the shape of this big floor lamp.  I think it would look awesome over a desk or in a reading nook.  And the orange one would be an awesome color pop on our desk.

Here we have the vases and owls!  Oh, the vases.  How beautiful is this colorful selection?  I would take any of them in a heartbeat.  Then there were two whole shelves of owl sculptures!  I know owls are in right now, and I'm glad because how cool are they?  I think the tootsie pop owl really started it all... it just took a few decades to catch on.  

 

Last up is my trip to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore.   I love browsing around there.  We really want a big armoire or old media cabinet to convert to office storage in the basement.  I would love to paint this guy white or even a color like light blue, add shelves, and use it to store our office and craft supplies.  It would be perfect.

And look at the beauty of that old frame!  It it only had a mirror in it, I would have snatched it up, but I'm just not sure what I would do with it.  Any ideas?

Our office desk is in the basement, so it's a big open space, next to a living room/ t.v. area.  There's also a ledge that goes halfway up the wall on 3 sides.  It's an awesome space to have, but a bit awkward, and pretty long and narrow.  

What do you do for office/ craft storage?  Do you house it all in a big cabinet?  Open storage?  Bins and baskets?  Shelves?  Any ideas for me? 



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DIY Quote Canvas

You're probably getting the feeling that I like making wall art.  If so, then you're right :)  I also love sharing it with you so that you can try it yourself and make it fit your family!  Here's my easiest wall art yet, and the best part is that you can change it up any way you want.

I originally saw an idea like this from pinterest last winter, and we made some little canvases with Christmas tree stickers and little stars and created winter scenes.  I can't find that pin right now, I apologize.  But if you search something like "paint and sticker canvas" you'll probably find some other great ideas.

The quote I chose is from my hilarious husband, Andy!  I wanted to make a surprise for him so bad, and the original quote I wanted to use (Charlie's hit song from LOST "You all everybody," read more here if you don't know what I'm talking about and want to know... it's pretty funny I think) wouldn't fit on the canvas, so I had to regroup.  I also didn't have enough Ys in my letter package.

The story behind this quote is that Andy has a very funny sarcastic sense of humor.  MOST of the time, you'll find me cracking up at everything he says, but every once in a while, either a joke falls flat or I'm not sure if he's joking or not.  That's when I give him the look, and he says "That was a joke, you know?  Jokes are funny?"

Cue my laughter.

His other line is "The best jokes are the ones you have to explain."  But I didn't have enough letters for that either.

Anyways, please choose a quote that is meaningful/ funny for you and your family!  It's so easy, so let's get started!

First, I coated my canvas with some nice bright white spray paint.  I think this step helps the tape and sticker lines turn out crisper.  Crispier?  Nice and crispy.  What does that remind me of?  McDonald's fries or something?  (Side note:  I just googled the word "crispier" and was given the definition "a pleasingly firm, dry and brittle surface" and the example phrase, "crispy fried bacon."  Ha... that's funny to me for some reason.)

Okay, back to the canvas.  The next step is to stick on your letters.  I wanted mine straight, so I marked a faint line with a pencil and ruler, making sure to stick my letters above the line so it would disappear when I spray painted over it.

If you want stripes or another pattern, tape that off now too.  Now is also when you should tape off the sides, if you want them to remain white.  Or you can make the stripes continue over the edge- it just makes the spray painting part slightly more tedious to make sure you get all around.  I actually forgot this step and ended up going back later and covering the whole front to repaint the sides white. 

I painted several light, even coats and then let it dry before peeling off the tape and stickers.

Here's where you can see one of my mistakes (see the next photo)- I bought felt stickers.  Some of the fuzzies got plastered down to the canvas when spraying, and those parts remained fuzzy white.  I didn't like that.  Cue my crazy perfectionist attempts to touch up the letters with a tooth pick.  I also had a chunk of semi-dry purple paint fall off onto the white stripe and make an ugly purple spot, so I touched that up with white paint and a Q tip.

Actually, touching up wasn't a big deal, and I'm glad I spent the time doing it.  No, it's still not perfect if you inspect it close up, but it looks great from a few steps back. 

But I hope I'm saving you the trouble- don't buy felt letters!  There are lots of other kinds that will work.  Those thick foam ones might be nice because they're smooth but can be gripped easily when pulling them off.
 

And you're done!  Easy, right?  Especially if it all comes out crisp and clean the first time.

Has anyone else tried the old tape and sticker spray paint canvas trick?  I LOVE it!  Please leave a comment with a link to your project if you've done it before, or if you decide to try it!

Linking up here:
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
AKA Design
Chase the Star 
Simply Designing 
Homemaker on a Dime


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so we painted. for days.

I'm so excited to say that we finally decided to paint the basement!  Look at how many choices we started with!  We just can't get enough of paint samples, apparently. 

We were all set to go with something different and choose the yellow.... but in the end, we just couldn't do it.  I was afraid it was too much like a nursery and we would regret it.  We picked the light grayish green on the right.

I used to think that we would have one of those homes with nice rich cozy wall colors in every room, but so far we've chosen light and bright.  Kind of surprises me, but so far we've been really happy with our choices.  (Except for one bathroom debacle, a super light mint green shade that we couldn't stand.  Andy repainted it a cool blue- my hero.)

Can you spot the leopard print Snuggie?  It's my one true love.  Best Christmas present ever- thanks mom!  You know those commercials with the people wearing their Snuggies out at a soccer game?  And they're all cheering on the bleachers in their Snuggies?  I remember seeing that and thinking who would do that... ever?  But I'm here to say, I've worn my Snuggie to a parade on a cold night, in the bleachers.  And I was totally that person.  No shame here.  It was awesome.

I had no idea what an undertaking painting an entire basement was going to be, or we may have never started.  We spackled, sanded, taped, and painted for most of the weekend.  Our house has quite a few small dents and dings all over the walls and baseboards.  So handy Andy is fixing up everything before we paint each room.  We're about halfway through the house now. 

On Saturday we worked from 11:00 -6:00 straight!  I'm talking no lunch break.  This was serious business.  I was so glad we stuffed our faces with McDonald's breakfast, and that I had this little guy to help me through.

Thank you, iced hazelnut coffee.  You were sent straight from heaven.

I'm also thankful that it all only took one coat!  Oh halleluia.  Oh my Lord, two coats would have sent us over the edge.  We usually go with Behr paint and primer in one, and we've been happy with it, especially this time.

You can see how much of a help the kitties were.  I mean, honestly, look at these two.

Must be rough.

I swear, I'm coming back in my second life as a pet cat.  What a life!  Andy and I always ponder what they think about all day.  Do they worry?  Do they dream?  Do they have thoughts?  Maybe some psychology majors out there can clue me in.  I heard once that cats don't have a very good memory... but I've also read that they can be trained to do tricks, so who knows.

Ah well... I'm so glad the basement is done!  We rearranged a bit, and now it's time to decorate (the walls have been bare for over a year... sad, I know).  We may even run over to Ikea on Saturday!  Love.

Any other painters out there?  Which paint do you swear by?  Or the bigger question:  which animal would you be?



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DIY Foam Board Wall Art

I want to show you guys how to do this pretty simple, pretty inexpensive, and just plain pretty DIY wall art!

I saw this once on HGTV I think, when they needed some art to fill up a wall before the open house.  When we bought our house, I gave it a try and it turned out great!  This bad boy is hanging above our guest room bed (it's about the same width as a queen mattress).  It's a great way to fill up a large space. 

Here's what you need.  You could substitute spray glue for the mod podge (I've used both), and probably some other glue instead of the hot glue.  Whatever suits your fancy.  But this is what worked for me.

Start by cutting your foam board.  I decided to first cut four large squares, each 12x12 inches to fit a full piece of scrapbook paper.  Then I used the remainder of one piece of foam board and cut three smaller squares and two rectangles.

Tips I have for cutting foam board, if you've never done it before, are to make sure your blade is sharp and to make two cuts- one to cut through the top and the second to cut through the bottom.  I think it cuts cleaner that way.  I used a big piece of thick particle board to cut on top of, because of course the knife will cut all the way through- so please don't ruin your floors or cut yourself!  My husband would add: "Always cut away from your body." 

Once the pieces were ready, I tried some different layouts until I was satisfied with how it looked. 

Next, I laid the paper over the boards to see which patterns and colors I liked together.  Then I cut the paper to fit the board, and attached them together with mod podge.  Here's where you can use spray glue instead, or whatever you prefer.

I was glad I took pictures along the way, because I used the camera to check back and see my layout!  Everything got all mixed up when I was modging and podging, so I was thankful to have a guide.  I let the pieces dry and then got them all set up to hot glue together.  Then I hot glued and that was it! 

Here's the final product, ready for hanging.  I think he's going to live in the basement above our couch.  We're brightening up the kinda dark basement with some new paint this weekend (yesssss), so I'll have to wait to hang it up for a few days.  I think it'll be be-yoo-tee-ful, so I'm excited to see it up on the wall!

 

The total cost for this project was only about five dollars!  The foam board was on sale (two for $2.99 I think) and the paper was on sale (25 cents each) too.  Everything else I already had. 

The total time spent was probably around an hour, maybe even less. 

So what do you think?  Does anyone else get some great ideas by watching HGTV?  I'm so glad I caught whatever episode this was on, because I love the way this project turned out!

Linking up to:

Chic on a Shoestring Decorating

AKA Design

WhipperBerry

Simply Designing

Homemaker on a Dime

Destination: Craft 

The Dedicated House

 

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Thrift Store Find turned Guest Room Decor

Yesterday, after seeing this awesome project, and also table top decor like this one,

I headed to Goodwill to search for glass items. 

Here's what I came home with.

I paid just under $4 for these guys.  Then I picked up a sprig of flowers at Michaels for $1.

And used some wire cutters to cut off little branches to be used in each vase.

Next up is to find an old tray to set them all on. 

And probably add pretty scrapbook paper to the bottom of it. 

Simple, and inexpensive.  What do you think?

Linking up to:

My parents are coming to visit this weekend!  LOVE!

 

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DIY Tissue Paper Wall Art

Want a project that takes very few supplies and not a lot of moolah?  Try this tissue paper wall art!

Here's all you need.

I picked my tissue paper up at Party City for about $1 each.  The decorative one was around $2.  I chose yellow and gray because those are the colors of my sister's wedding next summer, so if she likes the way this turned out, she can use it at the reception. 

The steps for this project are really easy.  First, you need to cut out squares from the tissue paper.  Mine varied in size from about 1 inch to 2 inches square.  You can see I kept the paper folded over and cut strips first, then squares.  That really helped to save time. 

Once I had cut squares out of one piece of tissue paper per color, I started putting them on the canvas with mod podge.  This step is also called "mod podge your face off." 

(Sidenote:  I have always called this "modge podge" but I recently looked at the bottle and it's actually called "mod podge."  Whoa.  This blew my mind.  How long have I been saying this wrong?) 

Sometimes, less is more. With this project, I found that more is more. The more I layered, the better it looked. You can do any pattern you want, but I wanted to group my colors a little bit. 

The last step was to line the edges with the decorative paper.  I chose a wedding-y pattern just in case it shows up at the reception somewhere. 

Total cost of this project?  Less than $10 with coupons and sales.

Total time spent?  Probably an hour or so, along with some wait-time in between mod podge coats.

My verdict? I like it, but I don't love it. I won't be offended in the least if my sister doesn't like it. I think what I don't like is the gray- it's too dark for the yellow. The gray was also technically silver, so it was kind of metallic, which made the blending not as pretty.

I would love to try this again with different colors! I have a package of pastels (light pink, light yellow, light purple, light blue), which I think would look great together for some nursery art, but since I don't need any nursery art yet (sorry, mom), I didn't use those colors. Maybe I'll try it for my next friend who has a little babe :)

If you DO have kids, I think this would be a fun project to do with them!  You parents know better than me, but I would guess that depending on their ages, they could go from just helping place the squares, to doing it all themselves.  And how cute would it be if you cut out letters and put his/her name on top? 

If you try it, let me know!  I would love to see your versions- especially ones with a better color scheme than mine!

Linking up at:
Someday Crafts
Beyond the Picket Fence
Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
AKA Design
Simply Designing
Homemaker on a Dime
The Dedicated House
My 1929 Charmer



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