A Sneak Peak I'm Moving

A while back I decided to redecorate this blog.  Well pretty much get a new template, new colors, new look, new name, redo it all.  Actually just to make it more "me".  Choose a name that reflected me and told others what I write about.  Integrated some other branding opportunities like twitter and such and overall just made it a more friendly place to be!  I hope you think so too.

So I took the plunge, picked out a new template and off I went.  After uploading one and not liking all the quirks, I chose another.  To make a long moving story shorter, and the reason why I haven't been posting on here, is because I've moved!

Come by and follow my new blog, Decor Adventures today at: http://decoradventures.blogspot.com/ 


Let me know if you like it, what kinds of adventures you'd like to see and certainly, tell the neighbors :-)  You'll find the Google friend connect on the right side bar.

I'm still working on some details (like the header I'm waiting for Cheffy to finish), but the house is mostly ready.

I look forward to seeing you there soon.

Contemplating a Color

Back in the summer I saw an old sewing machine table on the curb while out for a walk.  Apparently walking around the neighborhood is a good way to find things, like the empty picture frame turned jewelry holder I made and now this.

So I stopped to pick up the table and brought it home.  Here it is.

It's not the best wood out there, there are veneers on it, but I liked the shape and of course it was free.

Last night while I was in my studio I decided to pick up the sander and see how easily that stain would come off.  The answer?  Easily!  In about 2 minutes I had sanded off the entire top and the edges of the top 2 pieces.

Now my question is what to do with it.  Specifically, what color to make it.  I can always stain it black, which I am particularly drawn to.  I've done most of my other pieces in ebony including the end tables, the chair in the living room and the little bench among other pieces.

The wood color itself is pretty light but there is a left over pinkish stain on it, probably from the cherry that is on it now.

I'm kind of leaning towards white on this one but I'm not sure.  I will probably put it in a corner in my office/tv/extra room, which is painted a medium blue and has black, white, light birch and sage green furniture and accessories.  Here is a photo of part of the room.

What I'd love are your thoughts.  Should I paint it, if so what color?  Should I stain it?  Should I try something else?  Has anyone redone a piece like this and if so, what did you do to it?

Tell all!  And thanks for the feedback.  I look forward to working on it more soon.

Still Working On It

Almost two weeks ago I joined a bunch of other bloggers in The Inspired Room's Procrastinator's Party.  This was a gathering for all of us late bloomers, to jump in and get moving on a project we had been putting off.  Melissa gave us until the 20th to work away like little elves and now we are here for the big reveal, the after photos!

Too bad I only have during photos :-(  So many of you came by and left encouraging comments on my original post about my project, thank you!  I've been working almost every day on this, but furniture refinishing takes a looooong time.

I decided to enter Len's Ice Chest in the party, my first paid refinishing job, which needed a complete overhaul.  Here is the chest before.

Len wanted it "refinished", which means I had to strip off all the old paint, sand it all down, polish the hardware, polyurethane it then put it back together.  I'm about half way there.

Here are some shots of my work.  This is at the beginning of the stripping.  There were about three coats of paint on there as far as I can tell, white, a tan color and a mint green.

Here is the same side of the chest after 2 applications of liquid stripper.

Here is the latest photo of that same side, the front, and top door all stripped and mostly sanded.  Let's hear it for progress!

Here is the other side.  All the darker spots are left over stain from the paint, oil-based I'm assuming.  They will sand out but I'm debating leaving some, which can add character to the piece.  Those inset panels still need to be sanded.

So I'm making progress, slowly but surely.  The top and front door fronts are mostly done, I have to strip the insides.  Someone painted the entire inside, I don't know why you would do that to an ice chest!  You can see a little of the mint green paint in the phot above on the inside.

I will certainly post on the final after.  I have more sanding to do, then I will condition the wood and possibly stain it, depending on what Len wants.  Stay tuned and thanks for the support.

See all the other after photos from the Procrastinator's Party here.  Congrats on all your work!

Think of a Word

Last summer I made a great purchase at a garage sale.  For only $5.00 I picked up this entire box of 2 inch black metal letters.  The man who sold them to me said they were one of many items in an estate sale.  I imagine they were used to make signs of some sort and I have been looking forward to creating some of my own.

Here they are.  There are 5-10 of each.

They even came with numbers and the words 'The', 'Mc' and 'De' or is it 'Dc', which I think stands for dollar maybe?

The funny thing about the letters is there is no E, N, R or S.  It's like Wheel of Fortune, try spelling words without those letters!  So I have to be creative.

I had some black 5x7 frames and with the burlap I got on sale the other week I decided to get to work and make some seasonal decorations.

First I cut out the burlap to fit inside the frame.

Then I placed the letters on the glass in the frame and put the burlap as the background.  Very easy.

See the words I came up with for this season.

I even made one for my bedroom.

And one for the bathroom with a background that matches the rest of the room.

I will definitely make more for the holiday season, but would like some suggestions on what to say.  Leave some words or phrases I can make in the comments.  And remember there is no E, N, R or S.  Be creative, I'll show them on future posts.   Thanks for the decorating help!

Making a Table | During

Last week Thursday I wrote about the start of a furniture project, making a table.  This was a piece a friend of mine and I actually make from a old table that looked like this.

I specifically wanted a piece that fit into an area of my bedroom and so we decided to disassemble the table, reconfigure the frame and then put it back together.  Oh yea, and refinish and paint it too.  This week I'll show you some of the during process and then next Thursday will be the big reveal, my finished table.

So far we:

Took the table apart, here are the legs.

Cut the frame to fit a narrow depth, and reassembled the frame.  Here is a mock up with the baskets it is being designed for.

We also:

• Put a shelf on the top portion of the legs at the bottom of the square parts of the legs. (Did you follow that). This was to hold the baskets.
• And created a frame on the top to increase the space between the pending shelf and the top so the baskets I had would fit.
• And sanded everything then painted the shelf.

Here I am sanding away.  Excuse the iphone photo, but check out my matching work clothes :-)

More sanding of the top oak pieces outside.

But that's all for today, I don't want to tease you too much :-) Stay tuned for the final reveal, the after of "Making a Table" next week Thursday. Sounds like a soap opera!

10 Tasks, Check

Last Monday I joined Gina and an ambitious group of fellow bloggers over at The Shabby Chic Cottage with the 10 Tasks in 10 Days Challenge.   We were to do, like it says, 10 things within 10 days, whatever those tasks would be, the objective was to get them done and feel good about it.  Today Gina is celebrating with Transformation Thursday, the big reveal of our lists finished.

Below is my list and my updates.  My idea was to include some things that I knew I could get done but also some things I had to get done.  I'm happy to say I completed them all.

1. Dust the top of the fridge.  The hard to reach, climb on a chair, cleaning task nobody likes.  Done on day 1.

2. Clean up my desk, see it's sorry before state below

To organize and clean up a messy spot like this, I take things in easy steps:

A. Remove everything from the area, even if it lies on a pile on the floor.

B. Clean and dust the area
C. Return items to the area that you will keep there.  Everything you will use, items you are not getting rid of, etc.
D. Clean out the remaining leftover items and decide what to do with them - sell, keep for another purpose or recycle.  This most often takes the longest, but it is satisfying to organize things and take care of them.  Then you have a clutter free space.

And it's after state.  I did this on day 7.  Now it is ready for use.

3. Finish up paperwork for a group I volunteer with and hand it off to the next volunteer.
Done. I was looking forward to getting this completed because it helped with item #2 above.  Paperwork tends to overtake my life so I am constantly looking for ways to get rid of it.

4. Recycle as many magazines as I can. I have about 100 all over the house (pathetic I know) and I am always going through them, pulling out the things I like and recycling the rest.  My goal for this challenge was to get rid of 20 in 10 days.  As of today I recycled 25, goal surpassed.

To keep my magazines organized otherwise, I keep them here in this basket, this is before and after photos of the clean out from this challenge.

To collect other magazines so they are not lying all over I keep them here in my bookshelf.  These are magazine I plan to read through and recycle and include Martha Stewart Living, Travel + Leisure, Real Simple, Old House Interiors, and Buffalo Spree, our hometown mag.

5. Wrap wedding presents for friends.
This was done on day 3.  This paper is from IKEA and I love it because it works for any occasion.  Holidays, weddings, birthday, anything.

6. Take out and put in the closet my winter clothes

Done on day 3.

7. Put away the summer clothes
Done on day 3 with item #6 above.

8. Clean out the front closet. I removed 3 boxes of things I do not need in there and even washed the floor. Done on day 10 (last night).

9. Take the cushion to the upholstery place to have it redone. This was on the original task list but I have changed my mind about having it redone to the tune of $65 and plan do it with the help of my boyfriend's mother, who has taught me how to reupholster other things.  I will definitely post on that later.

10. Put the winter bedding on my bed, wash the summer bedding and put it away.
This is done too, I forget what day, last weekend I believe.

Congrats to everyone else who checked off items on their list.  See the rest of the lists here.  I look forward to partying with you again soon.

DIY: Jewelry on Display

A few weeks ago I began my new jewelry display project with a frame I found on the curb one night while out on a walk. I have seen variations on these before and since I didn't have a use yet for my frame, I decided to make it into a display to fill some empty space in my boudoir and put some pretty things out in a neat and organized way.

I'm here to show the finished project as part of (my first) the 39th Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch.  {That's me, #110} Follow along with your prest-o change-o project this week!




Tuesday is DIY Day (my first) at A Soft Place to Land. Enter your do-it-yourself project for a chance to win a gift certificate to Madison Reece Designs.  And take a look at all the other amazing projects on the list.




Thursday I will post as part of Transformation Thursday at The Shabby Chic Cottage (my first).

Inspiration from this project came from many places, but mostly I loved the way Centsational Girl combined the fabric look behind the wire. I was hoping to use some of my fabulous fabric in the project and here is a way to do it, thanks Kate!

Take a look at the frame before.

And now, the after, with the entire project completed. What I made was a chicken wire/screen with a fabric back in a 18x24 inch picture frame.

Here's how I did it:

What You'll Need

• A picture frame, any size or shape, depending on what you like and the space you have
• Paint, spray or can, if you choose to paint the frame and or screen
• Chicken wire or screen (I used the traditional once inch 6-sided circular pattern but the 1/4 inch grid pattern might flatten better)
• Sand paper to distress the frame, if you choose
• Plastic gloves to protect your hands
• A mask for when you are painting
• Wire clippers
• Fabric of your choice
• Foam poster board
• Staple gun
• Hooks for the jewelry (I uses small s-hooks found at the hardware store)
• Picture hanging hardware
• Jewelry of course!

First you lay out the wire on the back of the frame to cut it to the size that will fit it into the frame.  This is a little tricky and I suggest using gloves when you work with chicken wire because it can scratch you.  The paint can and cordless drill are to weight it down and flatten it since it comes in rolls.

Then paint the frame and the chicken wire.  Since I wanted the wire to blend in with the fabric I chose a light tan color paint.

After it dries overnight staple the wire in the back of the frame, making sure your staples will not poke through to the front depending in the width of the wood where you are stapling.  Some people have glued the wire in, but since I was trying to keep it flat and wanted to secure it, I stapled it in place, putting the staple over the wire so it would hold.

Next, or while your wire is drying overnight you can glue or staple the fabric to the foam board.  Cut the foam board to fit just inside the frame (where the glass and photos would go) and cut the fabric with once inch extra on each side, and then secure the fabric to the board.  Again, you can glue it or staple it, but note the staples do not secure tightly because the foam is not very dense.

After that you place the foam board into the frame with the wire stapled in.  This can also be tricky (or was for me) since you want to make sure it is secure.  I used little tools called glaziers tips, which are used to hold things into a frame structure, such as matting or frame backing.  They are inexpensive and you can wedge them in with a flat head screwdriver. This secures the fabric covered foam board in place.

I cut off the extra wire, attached the hanging hardware and was set up hang it on the wall and put on my jewels!

Here is a close up with the hooks and jewelry.

 Here is a wider view in my room. I really have to straighten that candle.

And lastly, my completed DIY jewlery holder in a frame.