Insert Trendy Door Headboard Here

Everyone has seen the trend on Pinterest with the old re-purposed doors as headboards. I have been drooling over this idea for a long time, but due to certain restraints, I was unable to do it. With the freedom to do as I wish, this project was high on my agenda. Not to mention a bedroom is a persons sanctuary so I needed to get it done so I could have that safe and relaxing place to lay my head....hopefully without termites. On the shopping trip I posted about last post, I picked up this awesome door. Its the highly desired 5 panel set up and it was in this awesome green color which I was planning on painting it anyways. Also, it had natural distressing from years of wear so I didn't have to do anything to it to achieve that look. It was almost like it was meant to be....

So I scrubbed it down with vinegar water to remove as much of the grime as possible and to brighten the color. I gently went over it with a bristle brush to remove any loose paint chips. I removed the hardware and then got to work. Amazingly enough, this color green matched what was in my HGTV color pallet. I bought some fabric and fabric rope with enough left over to make a throw pillow or two. Never know where those might come in handy later. I sealed the door with 5 coats of semi-gloss wood finish to give a nice sheen and to keep anymore paint from chipping. Then I padded the panels and wrapped the padding with the fabric and bordered it with the rope finishing off the corners with some upholstery tacks.

I worked on this until the wee hours of the morning. I couldn't wait to see the finished product. I added a piece of crown molding at the top to finish it off so it wouldn't be an ugly rough edge. To mount it, I ripped a 1x4 down the middle at a 45 degree angle and secured one half to the head board and one half to the wall using anchors. I then hung the headboard on the piece mounted to the wall and with the weight of the door, it cinched in nice and tight and i can promise you, it is going nowhere.

It wasn't until I made the bed that I realized that I had sheets that matched the blues in the padded fabric. Its amazing how things just fall together sometimes. While unpacking my daughter, I found this throw pillow from an old bed set of hers that matched my greens and blue, so I reclaimed it as mine. I always have to add something a little extra, so I decided to add some lighting to finish the look and to give the room a soft glow as night.

Again, I know its a dark picture, but now you get the idea of the rope light. This is actually quite a large room and only maybe half of it is shown I have a few more pieces I need to finish first to complete the room. If you look carefully, you can see one throw pillow I made with the remaining fabric sitting on the yellow chair in the corner. While I didn't make that chair, I still had to assemble it and it was a great buy from Target. I highly recommend one.

Have I mentioned I love antiques?

Yes, yes I do. I love modern, but I also like to throw in a few antique accent pieces when I can. I love the character and they always make for a great conversation piece when people come to visit. Its even better when they are functional pieces and not just on display like you are at a museum. I found a neat little place a little over an hour away that had quite a few things I was looking for to start a few different projects. While there I came across an 1880's Eastlake Rocker that I had to have. I was keeping my eye open for an antique chair of some sort to refinish, but I didn't have a defined style I was looking for. When I saw this and the condition it was in, I fell in love and immediately started googling on my phone to see how much it was worth so I knew where to start my offer. I ended up paying about half of what he wanted, but partly due to the fact that I bought a lot from him that day. All in all I saved about 35% total off of everything and I'm not going to complain about that. The wood on the chair was in pristine condition. The fabric however, had to go. I know I said I wanted to add a pop of orange, but this wasn't it. The fabric was about 40 yrs old from the last person who refinished it, it stunk to high heaven, it was faded bad in some spots, and the padding needed to be replaced anyways. So a few hours in my garage and I had a fantastic piece to add to my living room. Its functional and gets used all the time. People that visit ask if its ok to sit in it and once they do, it becomes their favorite seat. My mother visited and I don't think she sat on the couch once. She was glued to this.Yet anther success in my quest for adult living.

For future reference, I will not be picking a striped pattern in the future. Talk about a pain to get lined up and not distort when pulling the fabric to secure it.

Barney has to go

So here's where the fun all begins.....in the living room. I have this awesome new house all on my own, but there is one glaring eye sore as soon as you walk in. It appears Barney has exploded all over the wall....in high gloss no less. Ugh.

This is obviously no good. Its dark, makes the room look small, and its just depressing. So off to Sherwin Williams I went to venture into the nightmare of finding colors that will all coordinate. I am not one of those artsy people so I was really hoping there would be one of those cool, hip young girls there who just have that flair for color and fashion sense. Nope. I was met by 2 bearded men and one boy who could tell me everything I needed to know about grades of paint and supplies, but the term color wheel was a foreign term. Thank heavens for HGTV and putting together their HGTV Home color guide which is a complete palate of colors that will go together no matter what combination you use. I chose the color pallet Rustic Refined and went with the copen blue for the living room.

3 coats of primer and 2 coats of paint later, I was finally able to put Barney to rest. I took this picture before the paint had dried (thats why there are still streaks), but I was so excited I couldn't wait. Such a huge difference! The room looked brighter and more open. My mood instantly changed and I felt happy and excited about the possibilities of having my first "adult" house that was all mine to do with as I wish. A third coat was applied the next day just to be safe. Barney needed to be left in the 90's where he belongs.

So here's the final result. Its a little dark, but I had to take the photo at night or else the glare from the window over powered the picture. Its also a little distorted from trying to do a panoramic to get most of it in. The house has this neat catwalk system around the top of all the rooms since the ceiling is so high. To me it was just begging for rope lights, so I added them and it gives a nice soft glow to the room at night for watching a movie. I know you cant see it well, but I added a small pop of orange to the mix with the curtains that wasn't in the color pallet. I went to the fabric store and made them myself. Yet another proud adult moment....lol. So living room is complete and I have to say, its very relaxing to sit in.

Hello, anyone still there?

Well hello again to anyone who is still around to read and hasn't written me off as dead over the last 2 years since my last post. Wow, I can't believe its been that long, but I have had a lot going on you could say. Without going into too much detail, I ended a marriage that had gone horribly south and have had to rebuild. I have redefined myself in almost every way possible and have really worked on becoming who I am and being happy with that. A big step in that was taking charge of my health and realizing my self-worth. I have worked hard and have dropped 135lbs total so far. My confidence has soared and I no longer let people walk all  over me. So what a better time to start over and build my life around who I am and what I want? I'm 33....its time to be a little selfish for once. The next few posts are basically a catch-up as to what I have done since moving 4 months ago. I had more pics of the house, but I dropped my phone in water and lost all my photos showing my blank canvas. I do have one that made it through, so here it is.....my new start with a blank canvas for life.

Its been a while, but it was worth it...

So I know I have slacked off a bit with the projects, but this latest one I needed the room for.  So after cleaning the garage and rearranging a few things, I finally had the room (just barely) to work on this current project. So now, I present to you.....my new dining room table.....

Back to work...

So I recently went back to work full time so I haven't had as much time for the projects, not to mention I didn't want to be working in the garage in all this heat! So here is the next finished project. I had no intention of doing one of these, but a friend of mind sent me a link in pinterest and said she wanted one but didnt know how. Being the good friend I am, I quietly made one and sent her a picture when it was done....just because I can. ;-) I think I would like it more in a rectangular shape so I may be making a new one soon.  I made each piece due to Micheal's being out of stock on the crates. If you aren't that skilled with a saw, you could wait till the year 2037 when they get them back in stock (ok, maybe a little exaggerated but not by much) and this becomes a much easier project.

stop to smell the flour....and sugar and coffee

Today was a slow day so I decided to knock out some little things I had seen on pinterest that I have been wanting to do. Growing up my mom had these glass canisters and I have been looking for years to find them. I found the larger ones with the colored rings at Tuesday Mornings and the smaller ones at Michael's. Someone had pinned these labels and made them available for download, so I purchased some transfer paper and well, you can see the end result. Just to give credit where credit it due, here is the link: http://thepaintedhive.blogspot.com.au/2012/02/magic-decal-transfer-tutorial-with-free.html

The second project of the day, was to make my own dishwasher detergent. This is fairly inexpensive and will last me for a very long time. Again, to give credit...here is the link: beingcreativetokeepmysanity.blogspot.com/2011/01/dishwasher-detergent.html