Morning Room Challenge: Painting the Secretary

Week two of the One Room Challenge is officially in the books!  I didn't get as much finished as I wanted, but we did make some headway. The main project for the week was to paint the secretary desk that I bought a while back.

I really loved the clean lines & the fretwork in the glass, but wasn't a fan of the orange-y oak look. I decided to paint it black to update the look. 

 

I painted it Olympic Paints' Black Magic in a semi-gloss finish. It's reading pretty gray in the pictures, but it is actually darker than it appears. I love that it is more of a soft black, so it doesn't look harsh with the light colored walls.

 

My UH-OH MOMENT: In order to create less mess when painting the fretwork, I stuck paper underneath it (& on top of the glass). What I didn't realize is that the paint went underneath the fretwork & glued the paper to the back of it. I ended up having to use a knife & some rough sandpaper to remove all the paper stuck on the back of the grids, & ended up scratching some of the glass. Grrr... Now to find a solution for all the scratches...

 

I couldn't wait to add some pops of bold color against the black & I think it turned out pretty great using accessories we already had around the house. The "hustle" & "You make all things new" printables were free. You can find them here and here. The other artwork was done by my daughter & the origami swan was made by yours truly! Proof that decorating doesn't have to cost lots of money!

 

 

The Plans

1. Replace the small "buffet" with a white Ikea Malm dresser.

2. Add trim around the windows.

3. Replace the curtains.

4. Re-finish the table in a darker stain to minimize the "orange-y oak" look.

5. Replace the chairs with two different styles.

6. Give the secretary a makeover in the form of black paint.

7. DIY artwork

8. Add new lamps & accessories to provide cheerful pops of color.

You can see the before pictures & plans here.

Be sure to check out all the other makeover madness at Calling It Home.

 

Also sharing here: 

Girl’s Bedroom Makeover: Third Time’s a Charm

They say the third time’s a charm, & it certainly worked for the curtain dilemma I had gotten myself into for the One Room Challenge (although I really wish I could say, “first time’s a charm”).  (Click to catch up on weeks one, two, three, & four.)

When I posted my plan for my eight-year-old daughter’s room, I mentioned possibly using Ikea Vivan curtains.  I checked them out in the store & thought they would be a great choice since the color was very close to the curtains on my mood board & they matched one of the three shades of pink in the pillow fabric I was using, plus they were only $10 a pair.  Then, I got home, ironed them all, & hung them in the room.



Once hung, the curtains felt completely wrong for the space.  The color was too bold & I just did not like the way they looked.  I decided to leave them up for a while to see if they grew on me, but after a couple of weeks, I decided they needed to go & made another trip to Ikea, this time to buy Ritva curtains to dye pink.  (Totally copied this idea from Little Green Notebook.)  I picked up a bottle of Cherry Red Rit Dye, poured half of it in 12 gallons of water (I used a plastic storage tub) & put my wet curtains in the water.  I let the curtains soak for about seven minutes before checking them, since the Rit website said to let the fabric soak for 10- 20 minutes or until the desired color was achieved.  I thought the 10 minutes was a minimum time, to allow the color to soak in.  After washing & drying them, I realized they were the exact same color as the curtains I didn’t like!  (Can you tell which is which in the photo below?)



I spent the next 24 hours trying to remove the color from the curtains using Rit Color Remover.  I poured a package in seven gallons of water & soaked one curtain panel.  After a few hours the curtain was a very faint shade of pink.  Wanting to save time, I decided to use the washing machine method for the other two.  After an hour long cycle the curtains were unchanged.  I put them in the plastic tub that I had used for the first panel & after soaking for about 24 hours they looked like this:



Looking at these now I probably should have just tried to dye them again, but instead, I went back to Ikea for the third time & bought two more sets of Ritva curtains.  This time, I used the same mixture 4oz. cherry red rit dye with 12 gallons of water.  We basically  dipped the curtains in & immediately pulled them out of the water, rinsed them, & washed them with detergent. 



It’s not a perfect match, but this shade of pink goes with the room much better.



I just have one more project to complete before I am finished with Elie’s room!  Please hop on over to Linda’s blog & check out the other makeovers in progress.



Also sharing at Life on Virginia Street as part of DIY Summer School

Curtains, Pillows, & the Letter Z

Every time I decorate a room, there comes a point where I’m not sure it’s turning out exactly how I had envisioned it.  That is how I had been feeling about my son’s room, until we hung the gallery wall & made a few other additions.  The game changer?



This marquee letter Z my husband made!  I love the way this corner now boasts green, blue, & orange.



Basically, it’s a 2x4 cut at crazy angles with holes drilled in it & filled with patio lights.  Still working on how to hide the cord…



I also made a faux roman shade, which was another near disaster!  (It was completely crooked!  Luckily re-attaching it at the top straightened it out.  I would not have been shocked if it had really been crooked, since I’m horrible at taking measurements!)



I made a couple of pillows for the bed.  The fabric reminds me of the game Space Invaders.  Anyone remember that game?  Not sure why it brings back that memory, but it made me think it would be great for my video game loving boy’s room.



We framed out some mirrored glass too, so now Zeke can make sure he is put together in the morning, or maybe just check out his guns!





Only three more things to do before this room is considered “finished”…

• Build a headboard
• Build a pull-down desk
• Build a bench

You can check out the plan for the room here.

Since his room looks mostly finished (with the exception of the pile of junk where his desk should be), I am going to be taking a little break from Zeke’s room to whip my daughter’s room into shape.  I will be participating in Linda’s (from Calling It Home) One Room Challenge Linking Party.  I guess I am just a sucker for a challenge!



I will be back Thursday with the plans!

Sharing at the Pretty Preppy Party.

Turning Kid Collections into Decor

I believe we have exactly two free weekends between the end of basketball & the beginning of spring soccer!  This past weekend was one of them, so we decided to make the most of it by knocking a few items off the list.

As I have mentioned previously, my son is a collector.  Until recently, some of his cool collections were just sitting in his closet.  In order to inject more of his interests into his bedroom décor, I decided to use those collections as artwork for his walls.

First, I hot glued his collection of shark teeth onto a piece of black cardstock & framed it in a shadow box.  (I surrounded it with a couple of free printables found here & here.)



Next, we used a couple of nails to mount his collection of state quarters.  (Just a few more to find…)



My husband built two display boxes for some of his most special rocks.  (This was a lesson in patience for both of us!  Who would have thought making these would have been so frustrating!  Black paint & wood filler are hiding a multitude of problems!)  He made the ceramic owl in school art class.





Lastly, I framed a rock, two shells, & a postcard of rocks we got at a “rock mining” tourist trap.



Who would have thought all those things stashed in his closet could look so cool up on his wall!

DIY Floral Painting

I fell in love with the Lulie Wallace calendar at Anthropologie, which is unfortunately no longer available.  I love how bright & cheerful her paintings are & I thought they looked simple enough to try & re-create.  I was inspired mainly by “Flowers for Avery” & decided to try my hand at painting.
First, I picked up a watercolor poster board from Hobby Lobby.



Next, I lightly sketched my design.  (It’s really on there, but you can barely see it!)



Please keep in mind that I only took Art 1 in high school & I really know nothing about depth/perception/mixing colors/shading (the list goes on…) & this painting really doesn’t make much sense as far as how the flowers are situated!  Let’s just pretend they are randomly sitting on a table & this painting is a view from above & there is a random yellow ribbon on the table!

Anyway, I painted the flowers first, next the leaves, & finally, the background. 



Despite not really knowing what I was doing, I’m pretty happy with the results.



So happy that I removed the picture gallery from the nook.



I’m hoping to have it hanging soon, but first I need to fill in about 50 nail holes!

$5 Decorating: Making Pillows from Dinner Napkins

Since I have about $0 to spend on decorating right now, I have been planning ahead for purchases I want to make as soon as we pay a few big bills.  In particular, I have been searching for pillow fabrics for the living room.  I think I finally have it narrowed down. 



I plan on keeping the chevron & white fur pillows on the couch, but will hopefully be ditching the small fuchsia pillows for larger ones in this fabric. 

I decided to add some solid turquoise pillows to the zebra chairs & totally remembered, during my online window shopping session, that I had purchased a set of turquoise cloth napkins from Ikea.  (Unfortunately, I couldn’t find them online.)  I’m pretty sure I spent between 4- 5 dollars on the set.  After a quick treasure hunt, I sewed the napkins together & had a cheap set of pillows.  (I just used some old inserts to fill them.)



Pretty nice for only $2.50 each!



I plan on using this fabric on the chairs in front of the window (that I have yet to re-cover) which will tie the blue, pink/coral colors together hopefully!

So, do you have any $5 decorating secrets?  I’d love to hear them & maybe even feature them on the blog!

Hanging Double Shower Curtains & Shower Art

Despite the fact that my kids’ bathroom does not boast beautiful tiled walls, I opted for an opened double shower curtain anyway! 



To pretty up the inside of the shower, I decided to hang this outdoor decoration I found at Hobby Lobby.



It is pretty light weight, so I just use a suction cup hook & it has held up very well for the past four weeks.



I purchased 96” curtains from this e-bay seller (I chose the 50” width & the hidden back tab option).  I used the original shower curtain rod & just moved it as high as it could go, after sliding the curtains on it.



I had purchased a 96” clear vinyl shower curtain liner & just hung it on an adjustable dowel curtain rod behind the larger curtain rod.



You can’t really see this rod, unless you are in the shower or standing directly below it, looking up!  I keep the liner pushed to one end, hidden behind one curtain panel.



I searched all over for how to achieve this look, so hopefully someone will see this post & it will make their life easier! 

Toddler Proof Coffee Table Styling

I love a well-styled coffee table, but toddler safe accessories are hard to find.  In my effort to create a stylish & safe coffee table (keep in mind a glass coffee table is not exactly safe!) I scoured several stores & finally decided to DIY my own accessories.



In order for my accessories to be considered safe, they needed to be light weight (so they won’t break the glass table top when they become projectiles!).  They also needed to be non-breakable themselves--- no glass or ceramic items.  The accessories needed to be large enough that they did not pose a choking hazard.  Finally, they needed to be cute!  If I could come up with items that fit into these four categories, I figured I would be golden!



I was on the hunt to make one of these diy gold urchins when I spotted the spiky stem above.  The “spikes” are basically little straws.  After removing the stem…



it got a coat of spray primer & two quick coats of gold spray paint.  



I really like having a bouquet of colorful flowers on the coffee table too, but finding a vase that was light weight & unbreakable was proving to be difficult.  I found inspiration during a visit to McDonald's & decided to make my own vase out of one of their milk jugs!  (Scroll up to see the before picture!)

I first removed the plastic wrapper & threaded section using some scissors.  Then, I shaved off any rough pieces with a cutting tool.



After two quick coats of black spray paint (intended for plastic) and the last of our knockout roses, it was looking like a cute little toddler proof vase!  (While I believe these roses to be non-toxic, a vase of water & prickly roses isn't the best item to have within a toddlers reach!  Therefore, these will most likely get replaced with artificial flowers in the very near future!)



I finished off the styling with a few books & a small wooden candle holder I painted gold.



It’s good to know this table can still look good with a toddler in the house!  (Please ignore the blue pillows... I was trying out some fabric that obviously isn't going to work!)