Get Woodworking Plans : updates

Hello! Its been quite a while since Ive posted anything about our den and there has been a lot of changes since that post so I thought Id share them today.
This is the room we all spend the most time in, other than the kitchen, as this is where the TV is. :) Its also always been the room that I tend to put everything that I dont love as far as furniture goes but I wanted to change that since we do spend a lot of time in here. First thing I did was get rid of our old TV stand. I hated it. And when youre looking at the TV, you cant help but see the stand its on so I wanted something pretty to look at.
Hubby found an old fashioned dresser so I removed the top two drawers, cut the center wood brace (to allow for the DVD and cable box), painted it, distressed it and changed the hardware to come up with this.

It was a long awful winter and I really was tiring of the plain white curtains we had so I bought these lovely cheerful ones at Target. I dont think Ive ever loved a curtain so much. :)

Hubby picked up this old vintage table at an auction. The iron horse statue evidently goes on the top of a fence? Another find that I love. And I simply cant get enough vintage books lately.

I bought the same curtains for the living room, which has also had changes that I will share next week. Our den is carpeted, which I dont like but it does make the room more cozy and our dog loves to lay in there so its staying. :)

The artwork on the wall above the couch I spent an entire rainy afternoon putting together and painting with old wood planks and various shades of neutral craft paints and stains after seeing a similar version online. Its one of those pieces of art that just makes me happy looking at it.

And thats it for the den changes. Ive come to discover that I really do prefer a neutral color palette in our home with pops of color added by using fruit or fresh flowers. I like it simple. Oh, we also painted the walls Simply White by Benjamin Moore. Id like to find a rug to go in there as well, but am not sure about a rug over carpet? What do you think?
Enjoy your day!
Diana

BIG Kitchen Updates

Diposting oleh bian di 18.46 Label: big, kitchen, updates, Woodworking

If youve read our blog for a while it shouldnt surprise you that installing these open shelves made from reclaimed walnut would start a design chain reaction in our kitchen. That is, after all, how I roll.

Warning: long post ahead with lots of pics. :)

I have never really liked this area of our kitchen because it just wasnt comfortable when I cooked. Mainly, because of the big black box, otherwise known as the giant microwave over the stove. It felt like I practically had my head in it while standing at the stove because of how far it stuck out from the wall. And the vent had fallen off a couple of times and cracked so there was duck tape holding it together. In other words, it was time for it to go.

But, we use our microwave, mainly for reheating leftovers. So, convincing my hubby to get rid of it was difficult. I begged. He caved. But he wasnt thrilled with the idea. Yet.

Luckily, in one of the storage buildings that he had bought at an auction this past summer, there was a brand new, much smaller, stainless steel microwave that will sit in the laundry room, out of sight until we need to use it or until I find a clever way to disguise it in the kitchen. Problem solved.

So, down it came. And what a relief it was to have head room at the stove.

Lets back up a bit. Remember this super thick, 4 1/2 inches to be exact, piece of reclaimed walnut included in the pile that we brought home?

I thought it would be super cool to make a single shelf out of it for above the stove to hold my olive oils and my cherished vibe jars of spices. I had always wanted a special place to put them and this was perfect. So, heres what we ended up with.

I cant tell you how happy we are with it and hubby finally agreed after it was all finished. As you can see, this prompted me to paint the french door between the kitchen and laundry a yummy shade of green. I have been craving more color lately in our home and thought this was the perfect place to add it in the kitchen. I dont think I could commit to painting the cabinets a color as I love the white, but the door was the perfect solution.

And that shelf. That wonderful thick old wood. We found out that it came from a basement where it had been stored for many many years. And I love that it ties in with the other side of the room now with the other open shelves.

Because it is such a special shelf, I really wanted it to hold the things that mean a lot to me in the kitchen; my olive oils and vinegars and my spices. Plus, a very special antique bread board that my hubby gave me for Christmas. :)

These vibe jars are my favorite way to store spices. I love to decant simple things that

come with not so pretty packaging into prettier containers.

Its so much more fun to cook in this little corner now.

Another change I made was adding a floor cloth in front of the sink. Ive always wanted to make one and finally tried it. I have to say that Im pretty happy with how it turned out.

It adds lots of interest to an otherwise very boring floor.

I followed this tutorial. The black and white diamond pattern is one Ive always loved and so I did an aged version. I wanted it to look a little rough and old as perfection was NOT what I was going for, so, when I painted my black squares, I left some of the white color showing through a little, to give it a worn look.

I used simple painters canvas drop cloth and made a square template from wood to trace my diamonds on after priming and painting the off white color. Then taped them off to paint them in. Several coats of a WATER BASED polyurethane is a must so that spills can be easily cleaned up and it can stand up to high traffic areas. To make it non slip, I bought several rolls of this at the dollar store.

And glued it to the under side of the floor cloth.

Easy and cheap and no slipping around the kitchen.

The last change was adding this awesome bar stool that had just been sitting in my hubbys storage building. I must have looked at it a hundred times before I finally decided that it would be perfect in the kitchen.

The "leather like" cover was all banged up and scratched but honestly, thats what I liked about it. All I did was clean it and then paint the base with a mixture of Rustoleum oil rubbed bronze and Rustoleum Copper spray paint.

Now there is a place to sit if anyone wants to sit down. Sure wish I had a pair of these. I love them! And its pretty comfy too!

That green door just makes me happy. :)

I wish I could get a photo of the entire kitchen in one shot.

And because I had a small amount of that thick walnut left,

Ive made 3 thick long bread boards.

I had it planed down and look at what it looks like! So pretty!

And thick. The exact measurements are 20 inches long x 6 inches wide x 1 1/2 inches thick.

I have 3 for sale here. These are the only 3 there will ever be as I wont ever have this kind of walnut again. Its very rare. So, if you would like to purchase one, click here.

So thats it for the BIG kitchen updates. Maybe not that big but certainly big for us getting rid of the microwave hood above the stove.
Im curious, do any of you go without a microwave? Where do you keep it? If you dont have one, how do you survive without it?

Have a great day!

Diana

P.S. The paint color on the door is called Spanish Green by Valspar.

P.P.S. The vibe spice jars can be found here.

DIY Love Mirror Bedroom Updates

Diposting oleh bian di 03.26 Label: bedroom, diy, love, mirror, updates, Woodworking

Greetings! I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Ive said this before but anytime I make a special change in a room, it always seems to inspire other changes, as well.

This past week I finally got around to changing out our master bedroom and bath door knobs and plates to the match the porcelain door knobs I put on our pocket door. I got lucky and found just what I needed in my hubbys collection. I was planning to just change them and be done with it but I was so happy with the results that I put a fresh coat of paint on the doors and then decided to also paint our bedroom Classic Gray by Benjamin Moore.

I love it so much in our dining room and since our master bedroom is right off the dining room, I thought it was a logical choice. I just wasnt happy with the dark paint in our bedroom anymore.
Well, this led to me wanting to improve the art work in our room, as well. Besides the barn door behind our bed, there really isnt much on our walls in the bedroom and truth be told, our bedroom is the room we stash everything in, though it doesnt look like that from the photos. But Ive never shared the other side of the room with you, which is usually where everything is piled up. :)
Anyway, I wanted to put a mirror of some sort above our Anthropologie inspired dresser, so, I scoured the internet with ideas and came across this photo.

I absolutely loved the somewhat whimsical, chic simplicity of it and knew I could create a fun version for our bedroom. Heres what you need.

This mirror cost less than $30 to make. I used two boxes of mirror tiles from Lowes, 1 x 2s and a sheet of ceramic tiles. (You need to remove the little square tiles from the sheet.) First thing I did was build a frame with the 1 x 2s. My frame is 3 feet x 4 feet, which is the size of 12 tiles.

I put the whole thing together with our nail gun. Next, I attached a piece of scrap wainscot to the top of the frame with finishing nails. Dont worry if it doesnt fit your frame perfectly.

Before I moved on to the next step, I wrote all our love sayings on each individual mirror tile with a silver permanent marker. I chose our sayings from cards that I save from my hubby and kiddos. I always save the cards they give me and this worked out perfectly. Its best to have that step finished before attaching the tiles to the frame. Then I applied mirror adhesive to the frame and began laying down my tiles.

These photos arent as great because it was late at night when I was working on this part. After laying down all the tiles, I took the tiny ceramic tiles and glued them to each center connecting all four corners.

Then I painted the frame white to match the ceramic tiles. After that, I cleaned off all my fingerprints, let it cure overnight flat on the ground and then attached a wire and two screw eyes to the back to hang it on the wall. Heres how it looks in the room.

This mirror just makes me smile every time I walk into our bedroom. Its fun and whimsical and I love how each saying reminds me of a special occasion with my family.

I also love the generous size of it. You could also make a smaller version though, if you needed to. I know this kind of art isnt for everyone but it sure makes us happy!

Have a great day!

Diana

INFO updates

Diposting oleh bian di 20.37 Label: info, updates, Woodworking

Just a few updates as life starts to get back to normal around here.

The visit with Georges youngest and her daughter was great fun,

I felt like I was on a holiday too.

We went to the ZOO and went swimming at a local hot spring.

George hosted a BBQ and had my family over.

We invited one of my nephews over and the kids hit it off right away.

We also visited Fort Langley for antique shopping,

where I picked up something for Mother`s upcoming birthday from:
http://vintagehomecolleen.blogspot.com/Colleen has a booth at the antique mall there
so stop in an see what she has available to help your home sparkle.

All of this means,
not much in the way of furniture projects have been worked on for the past week.

I have found extra time to do some blog primping which includes

the black and white pages have merged into one:

p/black.html

and we now have a new color page under renovations:

p/white.html

Ive given you the 3 faces of me on the top of the side bar--->

I thank you all for being patient with my email responses regarding your questions

and thank you to those of you have worried about my absence.

All will be back to normal very soon as many projects are already underway

for your viewing pleasure. (and my sanity)

KRISTY

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