Saturday DIY: That Wall

We've been working on a way to jazz up this wall under our stairs.

It took us three trys but we've finally gotten it right. Just goes to show that every DIY does not always go as planned despite what you see on the internet.

Try #1: Chalkboard Wall.

I was so excited to try this. I had visions of creating a menu when we had friends over for dinner-which happens often btw. And of course, messages left from said friends, etc.

So, I painted it. Left it for a few days as instructed. Chalked it up & then wiped it down.



And wiped it down. And wiped it down. And wrote on it. And wiped it down. The darn thing never came clean. I'm not sure if it was the texture of the wall or what but it just looked dirty all the time.

Fail.

Try #2: Stencil.

I used my silhouette to create a stencil of Eugene, or a cocker spaniel. I had a vision. I tried it out using some plain white paint.



The stencil was too big and too close together. Not to mention that it wasn't nearly as crisp as I wanted it to be.

Fail.

Try #3: White faux-brick.

For the win.

So during a Saturday expedition to Kent we found this faux-brick material that's actually made of plaster. That makes it super easy to cut. So after hemming and hawing about it we grabbed three boxes and put them to work.



Four hours later, a lot of chalk & a decent amount of caulking we had ourselves a wall. We sprayed it down with a never-wet Rustoleum product to seal the plaster so it wouldn't crack or rub off.




And a little close up-



And we are in love.

So naturally we upgraded the fixtures in the hallway too.

This was what we had up.



They were here when we moved in and while I have always liked the wrought iron I'm not a fan of the yellow-y lampshades.

So, we went modern with orbs.






Aren't they the most amazing? I love the orbs. They are simply awesome and take the whole hallway up a whole other notch!

xoxo
K

What I'm Working on Wednesday

So on the weekend we got adventurous. We decided-on a whim, like you would- that we would make a new coffee table. Yep. We have been discussing needing a new one for a while now but we got up the gumption to take on a little DIY project.

One word: pallets. Yep. It was a pinterest-inspired project naturally.

Here's a sneak peek-



We are in the staining process here. Also, that's obviously the underside of the top pallet. And yes, I'm staining it in my dining room.

I'm hoping to share the finished product on Saturday!

xoxo
K

Saturday DIY: A New Chair

So one of my latest treasures was this lovely modern 70's-era chair I found for the rock bottom price of $30 at our local Habitat for Humanity restore. It looked sturdy and upon first sit it was comfy.



So naturally I took it home. I knew I wanted to try it as an upholstery project. I had already reupholstered a queen ann style bench but a chair is a whole other ballgame.

Let's just say that this chair wasn't meant to come apart. It took some serious prying and tools, sweat and labor (and a few tears) to get the fabric off the darn thing. There were also a few injuries to my hands. Just another day of DIY projects for me.



 So after finding an amazing chevron tweed material for $3/m I said a silent prayer to the fabric Gods, paid my $18 to the store clerk and ran to the car before they could stop me! When I got home I set to work covering her. It took a lot of attention to detail & the cushion cover was a pain in the you know what but I finished it.

I added the nailhead trim as well to the front and thought about changing the legs but decided against it.


So, here's the scoop-I love the arms. They are wide enough for laying a laptop on or resting a little furry chin.

 

The chair however is not the most comfy chair to sit in for hours of movie-watching on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon. So it probably won't stay-but I am glad that I had the experience of trying to reupholster something a little more complicated. Not sure if this is my last reupholstering project-next time I might go with something a little more simple!

xoxo
K

Saturday DIY: Powder Room Overhaul

I have sneaks.

I'm working on a massive project. An overhaul of a space some of you may know well.

Let's just say it started out like this.



Ick. An ugly green color for the walls and that gross black vinal baseboard found in office buildings. Not to mention the black door and a black heater. Ick. Not homey or pretty at all.

So after some deliberation, and a little panic at my idea for a focal wall, it now looks kind of like this.



And they love it. If you are local this happens to be The Paperie's current bathroom. It's not even close to be done. But, it's getting there. Ignore the ceiling-it's getting painted and a new fixture. Not to mention that vent that shall be getting a coat of spray paint to blend into the rest of the room.

I'm pretty excited about it so I wanted to share a little of it here on the blog.

Stay tuned for more projects I'm working on for this room soon!

xoxo
K

Saturday DIY

I love kijiji.

I seem to have a little luck when looking for unique items on good old kijiji.

I picked this one up for $20 recently as a perfect retro cabinet for M's music room/office.




It was covered in that gross wood veneer and looked cheap and icky. So I took the stripper & some stain to it and turned it into something nice and warm and more wood-like.

Here's what it looks like now-




It's a great place to store his supplies and music 'business'.





Inside the drawer there was that gross green grass-like stuff. I got rid of that and replace it with some fabric I had around using some spray adhesive.




Totally cute right?!

And now he has something beautiful to store all his 'stuff'.

xoxo
K

P.S: Stay tuned for an exciting new project I'm taking on. I'm starting work this week and I'll be sharing progress pics throughout October here and on instagram. Find me @krlewe for pics.

5 For Friday

1. I'm on a mission to 'finish' decorating our dining room. Last week I decided that an extra chair that had been loitering in the corner was going to become a permanent fixture. But, it needed a little sprucing up. So I re-upholstered it with some remenants of fabric from a few other projects. Here's the before & after for you.



I also made a little cushion for it as well.

Still on my list: Recover the table chairs. Hang the Rob Ryan Plates I bought last week. Figure out another larger picture installation for the large wall. Finish creating a vignette on the china sideboard.

As always, it's a work in progress. 

2. So I also decided that this week would be a good time to take on a huge painting project. The scrapbooking room was painted a beautiful color-a deep blue- when we initially painted it upon moving in. However, it was a very dark color for a room with only one window. I have always been inspired by Ali's white walls in her scrapbooking/office rooms and so I wanted something light & bright but not sterile. So I went with a lovely light grey color that looks great with the cloud white moldings. I also changed up the layout a little. Look for that post coming soon!

3. I'm ashamed to admit this but I've been re-watching 'The Hills' this week. Yep. Turns out it's on Netflix & I'm a sucker for a series. It's even more ridiculous than when I watched it the first time around.

4. If you haven't heard, The Paperie is doing a big workshop on our own version of 'Week in the Life' next month along with Ali Edwards. Ali talked about WITL a little on her blog yesterday. You can read that post here! 

5. I'm been very inspired recently by Cathy Z's digital project life. I'm hoping to incorporate some digital features into my WITL album next month. Check out her latest blog post about PL here. 

Have a great weekend! It's a long weekend here in Canada for labor day. I'll be back on Tuesday!

xoxo
K

Sunday Sewing Projects

So I've been giving my sewing machine a workout this past two weeks.

I bought fabric from IKEA when I was in Ottawa with a project or two in mind and I managed to cross one of those projects off my list this week-new pillows.



I had a few inserts lying around so I bought this black, white, cream & eggplant fabric to match our living room decor and made a few pillow cases.

While I was at it I changed my camera strap because the fabric strap I had made was old and tired.

Old-


new-


Then I decided that the dining room table needed a new table runner.





You may be experiencing a little deja vu because I've used this fabric before. It's remnants from my reupholstered bench project.  So I made a simple runner with the blue printed fabric on one side and a plain cotton, navy piece on the other.

Just a few little projects I've crossed off my list so far!

xoxo
K

Saturday DIY: The Half Bathroom Remodel

The half bathroom has been an ongoing project for the month of June/July & it's finally complete. Baring a few accessories it's complete in my eyes.

For previous posts on this half bathroom check out this & this & this.

And now the big reveal. This room is a long narrow rectangle with the window opposite the door. The door opens from the dining room area which is painted Benjamin Moore's Newberryport, a deep nautical blue. There are esentailly two 'walls' to photograph.

Now, come on in-
(Before)


(After)


(Before)


(After)


Stipes & dark blue cupboards with glass knobs. And look at that counter- it ain't orange anymore!

And the other side...

(Before)


(After)


Those orange accessories aren't necessarily staying. I do love the octagonal mirror-thrifted for $5 and then painted. I need to do a little shopping for some new towels-maybe in a gray chevron or a bold bright blue like the cupboards.

xoxo
K

Saturday DIY- On Monday

I've been working away the last few weeks on a little big project. The entire half bathroom on our main floor is getting an overhaul and I'm doing it on the cheap people.

So here's the before shots-




Look at all that rusty orange. And that countertop has a lovely tinge of orange to it too-it's much worse than the picture suggests. 

I DIY'ed these countertops (more on that to come)-



gave the cupboards a fresh coat of paint & hardware-



and experimented with stripes, creating a focal wall that can be seen from the hallway and dining room. It's possibly my favourite part.



The rest of the walls were painted a beautiful gray called Stone Harbor by Benjamin Moore. 



Light fixtures need to go up as do two mirrors (painted white)-one of which I found at a garage sale last weekend! Can't wait to show that puppy off.

Also, waiting in the wings for a few updates is the dining room. I'm thinking of re-covering the chairs, sewing a runner for the table and I've got a few ideas up my sleeve for a centerpiece section for the table. That being said, this is it's current condition.

Yep. So, dining room's on the back burner for now.

Stay tuned for more progress!

xoxo
K

The Jolly Green Giant

Or that's what we've been calling it around here!

A few weeks ago we (being me) found a free dining room cabinet posted on Kijiji. You can see a little sneak here and here.

But the transformation has been nothing short of epic around here and so I felt that the Jolly Green Giant deserved her very own post.

So after a favor from my Dad and cousin- a.k.a a willing lifter with a truck-we picked her up.

This is what she looked like- top & bottom- before her transformation.





I was lucky it was a beautiful day so I sanded her outside in the extra driveway. Then I had M give me a hand in bringing her into the dining room to prime and paint her.



I gave her a coat of primer and three coats 'emerald isle' eggshell Behr paint as well as new hardware before adding a little something to the thin wood backing.


*Not the greatest lighting so you can't really get the full effect of the green.
 
I picked up a roll of grey and white stripped wrapping paper-yes, you read that right- and covered the back of it. I love it.

Then we heaved her up the staircase and into the craft room. And I filled her.



Ain't she a beauty?! She's wonderful for storage but honestly, she's huge! Here's another view.



But boy is she a beauty! She sure makes me jolly!

xoxo
K

5 for Friday

It's good Friday around here and we couldn't be more thankful for a little break. I'm looking forward to a little R&R next week while we're on spring break. 

1. I have a sneak peek of something that I've been slaving over all week for my craft room.





























2. I saw this cool idea on the Studio Calico blog this week that must make it onto my next tag. So cute right?!

3. I hauled out this book last night. Needed a little motivation and this is a GREAT book.

4. Kelly Purkey's Project Life debut kit was revealed in it's entirety this week. It is stunning and I'm in love. I've got some exciting plans for the kit-not really PL oriented but BIG plans for it nevertheless.

5. We had a little visit in a first grade classroom I worked in yesterday from someone special.



Yep, that's a real bunny. We had two of them in fact. Too cute.

Hoppy Easter!

xoxo
K

Happy Monday.

I've been MIA.

My DIY life has taken over my scrapbooking life. True story.

We've laid hardwood two weekends in a row now and between the hauling up of the carpet and tack strips and the laying of the hardwood we've been busy. I also managed to squeeze in the re-upholstering of a new queen ann bench and finished the layouts for the February 'Keeping Track of Life'. And I also worked on my project for the kids Easter Vacation class. Throw in a new novel that I can't get enough of. Busy, busy.

So here's a little 'Five for Monday':

1. Here's a peek of the the hardwood in the spare room.



Eugene liked to watch-until the hardwood nailer came out.

2. Here's a sneak of the layouts for the class.



3. This is my latest Kijiji find. Yes, antique wash stand. Can you see the potential?



4. Reading this right now. Honestly, if you have a pet-specifically a dog-this is for you.
Bring your tissues though.

 

5. I also worked on the kids Easter vacation class that I'll be teaching in April.



xoxo
K