Projects! Projects! Projects!

I’ve been bursting with projects lately and ought not have waited so long to share. I suppose this would all go faster if I took pictures with something connected to the internet, but I don’t so I’m finally getting to it now (and not without a tussle every now and then with my toddler son!).

The dining room curtains are up, recycled from two homes ago. They are different lengths but since it is symmetrical and somewhat hidden by the table and chairs, I can handle the difference.

I picked up a desk on the side of the road after dropping off our daughter at preschool. It was in two pieces, vintage looking. The paint was a sweet light yellow, but one side had been spray painted black, and did I mention it was in two pieces? I got it home and my husband put it back together. I joyfully perused Vintage Market, a local shop full of beautiful rustic, vintage decor, and a carrier of Annie Sloan’s Chalk Paint. I purchased a very small jar of Louis Blue and went to work. The paint was amazing! One dip in a jar of water, one dip in the paint jar, each brush stroke clung beautifully to a glossy messy previous paint job.

The vintage blue look is sweet and perfect for my daughter’s room. I returned to the same Vintage Market and purchased four drawer pulls that coordinated beautifully.

See the light blue lines on the knobs?

The success of this project has made me more eager to look out at yard sales and estate sales. I picked up a rocking chair for $20 at an estate sale and this table at a yard sale for $10.

 

I got my husband (on a good day) to do a few more projects for me. We took some old wood siding from my parents’ house. I painted it the same orange as the wall in my son’s room. The old wood allows the texture to show through without the paint covering it up. The man cut it and nailed it onto the wall to form arrows. I love the look!

My love hung two shelves in the bedroom for me. In my mind, the shelves and items on them ground the framed prints so everything looks more complete.

I am still working on how to arrange items on the right-hand shelf. The “memories” box is very important to me as it is identical to the box which our second miscarried baby was buried in and it holds mementos from the pregnancies of both miscarriages.

I’d love to have a St. Joseph statue on the shelf as well. Our only St. Joseph statue was beheaded in the last move, which is gruesome to write about and slightly disturbing to look at.

I have my eyes more and more on that master bathroom. It is a mess. It has never been painted. The walls have a funky texture that is very good at catching dust and never letting it go. I would like to paint the walls a subdued mint green (very light). The plan is to some how (likely paying someone) have the large mirror cut into two smaller mirrors and use more of the redwood siding removed during my parents’ home remodel for a frame. The wood is painted gray, very “chippy” as they say. Rustic and, if you will, shabby chic, although I hate that term.

While I dream of that remodel, I have been joyfully making lamps for our bedroom. My mother gave me a group of ribbed-glass wine bottles. My father drilled a ¼ inch hole at the base of each bottle.

A lamp kit from Home Depot made the transformation easy.

I picked up three lamp shades from World Market for eight dollars only to find the circular frame that rests on the socket to be weirdly large.

A quick perusal online found ten dollar lamp shades at Target. I will take apart pillow cases from the discontinued bedding collection to which our comforter belonged and using a hot glue gun, fit the fabric to the shade for a printed, coordinated lamp shade.

Since the fabric is cotton and white with a colorful, abstract-floral design I think they will be lovely!

Other the lamps there is one other project I’m nearly prepared to start. With three kids it takes ages to collect the materials I need! I have a pair of white curtain panels from IKEA. I plan to stamp gold leaves on them like confetti, copying a pair of curtains I fell for on the Land of Nod website. I can’t promise pictures coming soon, but I can promise the best intentions!