Living room before and after

We've lived in our house for about 5 1/2 years.  For 4  1/2 of those years, I have wanted to paint the living room. I've just never gotten around to it.  We had known the color for a long time, it just was a matter of getting to it.  My in laws were coming for a visit, and we decided we'd get it done before they came.  As in the week before they came.  Did I mention it was also Halloween week? Don't you start major projects before you have company? Crazy as it may have been, I am so happy with how it turned out!

Here's the before before - our living room circa 2009.

Here it is in 2010 after I redid the mantle decorations and added some curtains. 

 Most of the paint was a neutral "Oatbran".  It wasn't a huge change, but better than the builders' flat cream that showed every mark and was just in general "blah". The new color shows off our trim so much better. Here you can see the corner of the entry, half painted (new paint on the right)

And the dramatic after- our accent wall! (plus Christmas decorations and the hubster).  

 I love how much prettier the fireplace looks!

My Mantel before and after

I decided that my mantel decor needed a little shaking up.  I don't know what prompted it, but once I thought of it, I couldn't rest until it was done.  So after many google images searches, blog browsing and a few Goodwill trips, I am happy!

The before (sorry, I wasn't so good at taking pictures then).

I like the flowers in the center (from our wedding!), but the other decorations weren't colorful.  With white walls and white woodwork, I needed something that would stand out. 

I went shopping in my house and moved some candlesticks from the piano, but it needed more. 

I got a few vases at Goodwill and transformed them with jute (idea from Thrify Decor Chick) Cost : $3 for vases, $1 for jute, $1 for craft glue.

Then I read this post about transforming books and I had to do it! I don't have distress ink, so mine aren't as cute.  I'll probably do that one day, but I was all about keeping costs low.  I didn't have any books to use, so back to goodwill - $5 for 2 books, $2 for scrapbook paper.  I hated paying for books, but it allowed me to shop around for the sizes that I wanted. 

A little more shopping in my house and I found an awesome metal piggy that my sister gave me a few years ago as part of an inside joke.  It was perfect!

The results:

I'm still trying to decide how to arrange the books.

And of course, I'm practicing my photography skills.

The addition of the curtains my mom so graciously sewed for me helps a lot too.

Before:

After

Total cost of make over: $12 ($32 if you count the fabric for the curtains). 

I'm linking up!

Thrifty Decor Chick's Before and After Party!

Valentine's Tree

I've never been one to decorate for holidays other than Christmas. This year, however, I seem to have this major desire to decorate for every holiday. This afternoon, I whipped together this little bad boy. It only took me one naptime and one trip to the dollar store. Now that's my kind of craft!

 

I had a little tree that my MIL used at our wedding luncheon. I've kept it for 4 years, never knowing what to do with it, but not wanting to throw it away. I decided it would make the perfect little Valentine's tree! I found some darling little wood shapes at Michael's for $.50. Add a little ribbon and felt (to hide where the ribbon is hot glued on). Perfect!

But it still seemed like it needed more. I remembered some darling little heart picks from the dollar store that I would not let myself buy until I had a specific use for them. I knew they'd be perfect. I pulled the sticks out and used a tiny bit of craft wire to make a loop. With the hearts being foam, it was super easy to stick the ends of the wire all the way in.

I love how it tuned out!! I also love that it only took about 30 minutes total. Yea!

Please excuse the lackluster photography - I'm trying, I really am!

I'm linking to

 
(couldn't figure out how to get the Show and Tell Party button from DIY Showoff)

At long last, the after pictures

You know how you start something simple, like painting the kitchen. And then you have the "as long as we're painting, we should....." And then the project morphs and grows and everybody in the house gets sick and progress stops. And then Christmas comes you are so busy that you don't have time to work on it. And then everyone gets sick again. You begin to think the projects will never be done.

Not that I would know about that.

It all started about a year ago, when I noticed water dripping off of our light fixture. Hmmmm, probably not a good thing. A quick call to our handy man (my dad!) and 3 holes in my ceiling later, the water leak was fixed.

After the ceiling repair, our kitchen was in desperate need of a paint job. It only took us a year to get started. Here are the before and afters:

Before:

After:

I love the farmhouse plates from Goodwill for $.25 each. The plate hanger I picked up at a garage sale for $2. Awesome!

Before:

After: New paint and molding!

My sister gave me this sign - I love it!

Before:

After

Minus a little sanding and touch up paint on the ceiling, we are done! I am really pleased with how it turned out.

I am so in love with the wall color (Oatbran by Valspar) I want to paint my entire house with it!

I'm linking to the Shabby Chic Cottage Transformation Thursday.

A small change with a big impact

So I have been really working on my mantle this year. I liked it ok, but still felt like it needed something. I love the little jars with ornaments and snow (epsom salt). But I felt like they kind of got lost on the big white mantle. I stared at them and talked to every.single.person who came over about how I needed to make a change. Then I saw the little boxes that came with the boxes I used for my ornament trees. Using the box and the lid, I was able to add some height and color without changing the jars at all. I LOVE it!

Before:
After:

Now, if I can just get the garland up before Christmas!

My first spray painting project

I sort of copied my sister in creating a white collection to decorate my dining room wall.

Goodwill cups and vases - about $6 total.
2 cans of spray paint.
shelves from Lowe's clearance.
a silk Orchid (my favorite flower)

I LOVE it!

November

Though I can't claim making all (or even most) of my holiday decorations, I was so pleased with how they turned out, I couldn't resist blogging about it.

Thanksgiving
Love the little pumpkins from Dollar Tree. Seriously, I go there too often.
Found the cute scarecrow at a craft fair a few years back.


Cute pumpkins made by my sister - fabric circles, beans, and a pumpkin stem. She says they are pretty easy.
And yes, these stay up until Thanksgiving day. No mixing holiday decorations in this house!

Christmas trees

I was totally inspired by this ornament tree.
I really needed something for my mantle, and thought the little trees would be perfect. It took a few tries, several trips to the dollar store and a whole lot of hot glue, but I think they turned out pretty well.

Here's what you need.
Ornaments - from the dollar store! :)
Ribbon
Styrofoam cone (I spray painted mine red to match the ornaments)
Small balls - my sister had some left over from her garland and gave them to me. They come as a bunch and each is attached to a wire.
Hot glue gun
First, remove the caps from the ornaments. I started by gluing the balls on. I stuck them in the foam first to make a dent in the foam. Then I filled the dent with hot glue and pressed the ornament in. I did mine very randomly, but I think it would work better if you started at the bottom and went up.

Then, I used some ribbon to fill in the cracks. I secured the end of the ribbon with a pin, then just kind of weaved the ribbon around until I was happy.
Then I pulled the silver ball bush apart and stuck the small balls in any space big enough to hold them. I didn't have a pretty base like the original. That's where the multiple dollar store trips came in. I finally found the perfect thing - a small round gift box. It came as a two pack. I decided the bigger one made a better base. Hot glue that to the bottom of the tree and Voila!
Check out the full effect.
Now I just have to figure out how to hang up my garland. Any tips? I've never done it before!
Close up -
I must point out the cute ornaments in snow/epsom salt. Thanks to the idea from The Inspired Room

I'm linking up to The Inspired Room's holiday linky party and The DIY Showoff Holiday Highlights!