Revamping my livingroom

When our family moved to our new house almost 4 years ago, we had to completely rehab the whole house.  The house was never updated and was neglected for many years. It was a huge undertaking! Our family and friends thought we were crazy but we never said we weren't. We couldn't tackle this project all at once such as going in and completely redoing it top to bottom before we moved in.  So, we tried to renovate as much as we could before we moved and figured the rest will be projects we'll take on along the way.  Well 4 years later, very little has changed!  I'll start by showing you my livingroom before and now.

This is the picture of my livingroom while the floors were being sanded and stained.  I chose a very dark almost black stain for the floors.  During the reno my husband discovered that there was a two feet of space in between the ceiling.  We decided to make a large tray ceiling and put rope lighting all around the inside of the tray. 

I love the dark stained floors… Except my livingroom looked like a bowling alley, I had to fill it up with furniture and accessories.

It was starting to take shape, but still lacks character and style. 

I grabbed these two gorgeous leather chairs my friend was ditching.   I think they're a beautiful addition to the room. 

Here's how my livingroom looks now…  It is looking much better, but yet a bit too brown.

I still want to change or add to the curtains, install a corner fireplace, maybe change the color of the ottoman and attempt to make slipcovers for the sofas.

What do you think?  Do you have any ideas on changes I could make in this room?  I would love to hear some suggestions.

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Welcome back Spring!

Eventhough we had a very mild winter, I am so happy that spring has arrived.  I can't wait to watch nature renew itself again, to see all the flowers bloom, to feel the warmth of the sun.  

So I found this table at a house that my realtor friend was selling.  Previous owners of the house left behind some of their furniture… Score!  Well it didn't seem like a "score" at first, the table was scratched up and needed some TLC.  I sanded it and sprayed with a primer paint.     

I wanted to paint the table silver, the best way to get a bright silver look is to use aluminum spray paint.    I found that there is a distinction between the coverage with different brands of spray paint.  Some of the paints I tried was too watery or too thin.  The best one I found was Premium Decor Paint from True Value,  it gave it an excellent coverage with one coat.  But just to make sure, I gave it two coats of paint and sprayed on a clear sealer.  

I love the way the silver looks, it give the table the glamourous touch that I was after.

I am using it for a side table next to my couch, not sure if that is where the table going to stay.  It doesn't really go with the rest of my very brown furniture I have in my livingroom, which I can't wait to change.  Maybe this is the start of the change in my livingroom.  

What do you think?  I would love to hear some comments!

Linking this post to:

Making the World Cuter 

Show Off Your Cottage Monday

Just Something I Whipped Up

Creative Blogger Party & Hop

Creative Me Monday

Let's Party 3 Mango Seeds
Simple home life
Creating my way to Success

Renovating and decorating my home is a never ending project… I am always  looking for ideas.  Here are some gorgeous spaces I recently came across while browsing the web for design inspirations.  

With a neutral backdrop such as white or grey, this color combo makes a really unique statement. It's bold yet feminine at the same time. 

Calming bedroom

Loving the rustic table against the white sofa...

Source: picsdecor.com via Sheer on Pinterest

Beautiful expansive space!

Source: cotedetexas.blogspot.com via Sheer on Pinterest

Soothing colors...

Source: picsdecor.com via Sheer on Pinterest

Source: cotedetexas.blogspot.com via Sheer on Pinterest

Source: picsdecor.com via Sheer on Pinterest

Source: home-styling.blogspot.com via Cheryl on Pinterest

Source: frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com via Douglas on Pinterest

Source: 3.bp.blogspot.com via Douglas on Pinterest

Source: laurenleonardinteriors.com via Douglas on Pinterest

Hope you all had a wonderful relaxing weekend!!!  

Anthropologie inspired bedside tables

Here is a fantastic bedside tables I found  here by Anthropologie… Unfortunately, they are no longer available on their site.    However, you can make these cool side tables for less than a $100, they were being sold at Anthropologie for a mere $931.57.  You don't even need extensive woodworking skills to do this project, in other word anyone can make this.

The finished product is 22" high and 14" wide.

Materials needed:

1 - Mini chests with 3 drawers from Ikea

4 - 123 Wooden legs from hardware store like Home Depot

4 - Metal top plate (to attach legs to chest) from Home Depot

Decorative trim, assorted styles, 6-82 long

Paint

3 -  Knobs (ours were vintage, but check hardware store)

Wood glue, paint brushes, hardwood for base

One piece of hardwood cut to the size of the bottom of the chest (which is Width: 14 "

Depth: 10 1/4 ")

Prime and paint

You will also need (but may already have):

Small nails

Sandpaper

Hacksaw

Put together the mini chests as per Ikea's lovely instructions.

Attach the legs


You can’t just screw the legs into the chest because then, of course, the bottom drawer wouldn’t open. You have to adhere the hardwood piece of wood for the bottom of chest with generous amount of wood glue so you can screw the metal plates into the wood at the four corners.  

Now you can screw the legs into the plate.

Decorate with trim

Cut all the trim with the hacksaw to the size of the chest (not the drawers - so that they will go right to the edge).  The rough edges can be sanded down.  Lay down the pieces out on the floor in the pattern you would like.  Use one of the wider trims as the top layer on each drawer so the little cut out is completely covered. You need to leave a space between the trim on each drawer to make it easier to attach the knobs later.

Now start gluing the trim to the drawers. Hold each strip down for a minute or so. You can clamp the top trim with a couple of binder clips.
You can attach the trim with little nails but I don t recommend it - the wood splits very easily.

You will want to cover up the ugly plywood and metal plates on the bottom with trim.
Let it all sit for at least a couple of hours to let the glue dry.  Sand all the edges well.

You can prime and then paint. Or buy a paint that is primer and paint in one and do two thin coats.

Do not paint the sides of the drawers or the inside of the chest because it's already a snug fit without

layers of paint.  Let it dry overnight.  Attach the knobs by screwing them in where you left a space between trims on each drawer.

Beautiful side table, don't you think?

Linking this post to:
Homemaker on a Dime

Sprucing up a kitchen

Here is another fantastic project done by Mr. Home Improvement (My hubby) in a client's kitchen.  The client wanted a tuscan style kitchen… She had already some nice features like and arched alcove to tuck her stove into and tuscan style tile for the backsplash.  I painted their walls with a terra cotta color (not sure of the exact name of color) and glazed with a burnt sienna glaze.  

This is the undercoat...

This is with the glazing treatment…  This treatment was done by pouncing with a sea sponge and wiping to get a nice mottled effect. 

Best of all in this kitchen makeover was the flooring.  The clients had outdated looking tile and wanted a new look for the floors.  But, they didn't have enough funds in their budget to take out the existing tile and replace with new.   Thats when my Mr. Home Improvement Hubby had the brilliant idea of cutting the edges of the existing tiles with a rotozip to insert small 4" X 4" tile as accent pieces (this is definitely not for the faint of heart).  This takes real skill, but with lots of patience and practice cutting tiles with a rotozip, it can be done.  It gave the floor a brand new look.


Here was the before… Really blah!

Here is now with the tile inserts… It gave the floor a whole new look!

I love these beautiful tile inserts!

Have a great weekend!


Linking post to:


Chic on a Shoestring Decorating
Homemaker on a Dime
My Simple Home Life
The Shabby Creek Cottage