Curb Appeal: Outdoor Lights Refreshed

Nothing is better than a fresh coat of paint to bring new life to something that is old and worn.  Last year when  we had the exterior of our house repainted it became evident that our light fixtures were showing the effects the Arizona sun and elements.

Since I have proven to my husband the wonders of Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint, this was the natural fix to our faded, dirty and tired lights.

This was such a quick and easy fix I often wonder why it took us so long to do it.  As you can see from the before pictures, the metal and paint was faded and starting to get a dirty, uncared for patina.  What you can't really see, is how filthy the glass was.

We simply took down the lights and gave them a quick wipe down with soapy water to get the dirt off.  Then we used some rubbing alcohol to do a final cleaning to remove any oils, etc. My husband taped off the electrical components.  A couple light coats of ORB gave them an instant freshening. 

 

It immediately looked so much better.  Note:  We have a couple different types of fixtures.  The ones on the garage have 2 smaller lights while the one by the front door has a single, larger bulb.

Here is a side-by-side comparison.  So much better.  I love how the fixtures have a new glow to them and how the glass now sparkles in the sunshine.

While we were at it, we also gave a fresh coat of paint to the doorbell plate which was a horrible gold color and the frame to our house number.  I love how now all of these elements match.

 

Such a quick and simple project.  It only took a few hours and the house looks so fresh.  I love it!

Quick & Cheap: Back Door Makeover

I love to wake up and make a quick and cheap update to my house that brings a smile to my face.  Today's project does just that. 

I was wiping down the door knobs and light switches around the house to help tackle germs during this flu season.  When I got to the garage door I noticed how dirty and scuffed it was so decided to wipe it down...to no avail, it was just too dirty.

I decided to give our back door - the one that comes from the garage - a little freshening up.  The perfect subject for a Quick and Cheap makeover.

To start this makeover I headed to my paint stash.  I found a great little sample jar of green paint from Lowes.  It was a little duller than I wanted so I stirred in some blue paint I had on hand which gave me the color I was looking for.

Within a few minutes, I had a coat of paint on the door.  A little later, I brushed on a second coat.  Perfect.

While the paint was drying, I pulled out the Silhouette Machine (my Christmas present from the hubby - LOVE HIM!).  I did a little search of Pinterest for ideas but didn't like what I was finding.  Welcome home seemed to boring.  Instructions to remove shoes and hang up coats seemed to nagging.

A quick web search and I happened upon some quotes from Dr. Seuss.  Fun.  Simple. And brings a smile to your face.  A quick download of the "Grinched" font and I was in business.

Now, isn't that an awesome saying to greet us when we come home from a long day away!

Here is the before and after...

By definition, Quick and Cheep makeovers are just that - quick and cheap!  So here is the breakdown...

• $3   Paint Sample (1/2 left)
• $1   Vinyl  (if even)
• 45   Minutes (not counting paint drying time)

I kind of look forward to leaving the house, just so I can come home and see this greeting me!

Kid's Bathroom Updates

A change of plans on trying to sell our rental house resulted in a few updates to the kids bathroom over the weekend.  We had picked up a few things to make some updates in our builder basic house and since our renters requested to stay, we decided to utilize those things in our current house - another builder basic.  The perils of living in a tract home neighborhood is that nearly every house on the block has the exact same fixtures, mirrors and look.

Since this is our forever house, our goal is to eliminate the cookie cutter appeal of the house to better reflect our taste and style.  We have done a few things like replace the cheap brass door handles with brushed nickel and change out a few of the light fixtures.  This weekend our focus was on the upstairs bathroom - also known as the kid's bathroom.

These mass produced homes are notorious for the "Hollywood" light fixtures in the bathrooms and the over-sized naked mirrors.  Another name for these standard features ... builder cheap and builder basic.

Our updates included a simple installation of a new, brushed nickel light fixture that we were able to find a local used building supply store at a deep discount.  My husband also installed a new "hotel" shower head that we picked up the used supply store as well.  When we bought this house, we were able to find some amazing new and gently used light fixtures at the local Habitat Store.  We recently found another similar store here so of course, we had to check it out for other possible updated fixtures. 

For the mirror we utilized some left over baseboard molding that was in the garage to create a simple frame.  Following some of the many tutorials out there, we mitered the corners and painted the molding white to match our existing trim.  Then we simply glued the molding directly to the front of the mirror (making sure to paint the back of the frame since it reflects slightly in the mirror).

I love how these simple changes give a fresh new look to an otherwise boring room.  Of course, these updates inspire me to want to do more changes.

Right now, since our kids are young, they bath in our Master bathroom since it is downstairs and a bit larger for us to assist them better.  However, soon they will begin to shower on their own.  I know kids are not good at hanging up towels properly on a towel bar.  I would love to put up board and batten on the wall opposite the sink to add to the beachy feel of our "fish" bathroom (every house we have lived in has had one).  The board and batten is ideal for hooks to hang towels as they secure better to solid wood.

Maybe I can get that done in the next few months!  In the mean time, I will enjoy the wonderful updates that my darling husband did last weekend!  Thanks!

Introducing...the buffet

I know I have stretched out the dining room update series but let me tell you, this is the pièce de résistance. Through a series of unexpected events, this year has seemed to be the year of the dining room.  Many of the changes at our house this year have involved the two eating areas - the kitchen table and the formal dining room.  This series came to be when I found the most amazing piece of furniture at a flea market.

About a month ago, my friend Heather from No Business Like Sew Business and I got the hubbies to drop the kids at school so we could hit a big flea market like sale that a local church hosts each November.  They always have a TON of stuff from furniture to housewares to cars and more!  Their prices are amazing which makes it doubly awesome.  You never know what you might find.

For a while now, I have been looking for a dresser or buffet to offer some more storage.  Well this year, I found this ...

Isn't she lovely.  Let me tell you, the picture is VERY deceiving.  It was an "interesting" cream colored piece that has, over time, yellowed into a splotchy, nastiness.  Additionally, it was covered with a thick coat of dust, grime and a few stickers.

The lines were amazing, the craftsmanship was awesome (dove-tail joints) and it was wonderful solid wood - no particle board here!  It is 6 feet long and heavy as sin!  The best part, it was a mere $35!  It was meant to be.  Yikes, now to get it home!  It was super heavy and while we had a van, there was no way my friend and I were doing it ourselves.  Fortunately, my husband called as we were having the guys at the sale were loading up so he met us at the house to help get it out.  Ah, timing!

Admittedly, I was a bit nervous for him to see it, but in true hubby fashion, he was able to see the vision.  Clean it up, a wonderful coat of paint, some new hardware and it would be amazing.  Thanks for staying with me on this darling!

I was so excited, I got started almost right away.  I decided black would look amazing and rich.  There are some awesome tutorials out there for how to repaint furniture.  I am know expert in this area so I read a few methods and decided upon a very light sanding, Zinsser primer, satin paint and a couple coats of polyacrylic.  I removed the hardware and filled in the holes with wood filler

After the first coat of primer I realized how amazing this project was going to be.  The lines were even more beautiful than I realized.  I had removed the center door in order to spray paint the hinges and better paint the complete piece.  Next came the final coat and new hardware.

Seriously, I am in love with this piece.  I just can't believe how wonderful it looks.  The hubby suggested the hardware - a combo of cup pulls and a simple long bar all in a brushed nickel.  I can't stop smiling!

 

I still have some styling to do.  I am trying to determine what to hang above it.  I am debating between some family photos (aren't our new family photos amazing - thanks Carrie Ord Photography, you are amazing) or a picture or mirror.  Until then, I went with a simple display on top.

This has been a really fun project and has further shown us the pride in taking a piece from sad to fab!  The total project cost was just over $100 with paint and hardware.  Trust me, we NEVER would have found a piece this amazing for that price.  Maybe 10x that price.  Plus, we get the joy in saying we did it ourselves!

Thanksgiving this year was so fun in our new dining room.  My beautiful chairs, the perfect sideboard, great food and family.  I couldn't have been more thankful for another great year.

 

Thanks for stopping by.  I have many more projects I have been working on and can't wait to share them with you.

Recovered Dining Chairs

Thanksgiving was a couple days ago and we were so excited to utilize our newly updated formal dining area.  I am so happy that this random series of events has allowed us to bring a fresh look to our dining areas.  Today in the series, I am sharing our newly reupholstered dining chairs.

Last week I shared our new kitchen dining chairs, the leather parsons chairs.  Oh how I love them.  However, I recently fell back in love with our larger, formal dining table too!  The upholstered seats were boring, uninspired and nasty dirty.  Not anymore.

Over a year ago, I was perusing the mounds of fabric in my favorite local discount fabric store and came across this beautiful gray and white graphic upholstery fabric.  I literally scrounged through the mounds of fabric to find a couple of pieces that were reasonably good sized. 

The difficulty of the discount fabric store is they buy left-overs, end cuts, etc. so the pieces are generally not real large or can have damaged areas and flaws.  Any piece under 2 yards you must take the entire piece.  I didn't care because I payed $3.99 a yard for this designer fabric that is available at Jo Ann's for almost $30 a yard.  I was ecstatic.

While I have wanted to redo these chairs for quite some time, I feared ruining this beautiful fabric since we were still using these chairs on a daily basis.  Now that we were moving these back to the formal dining room, I was free to proceed.

Here is the dining table before.  As you can see, the fabric on the chairs was neutral and uninspiring.  (Never mind that it was snagged, stained and disgusting.)

And now with the beautiful new chair covers.  The subtle print and neutral gray brings some character and style to the seats.

I am absolutely loving the chairs. The table itself got small makeover too.  In our previous home, this was our only table and we used it everyday.  The finish was beginning to look dull and scratched.  After cleaning it thoroughly to remove any grease or food residue I used a 220 grit sandpaper and gave the top a very light sanding.  I followed this up with a couple of layers of fresh polyurethane.  I then declared this table off limits for a week in order to make sure that the finish had plenty of time to cure.  This simple one day project gave the table a bright and beautiful new life.

Finally, in order to add some accent to the head chairs, I made a simple lumbar pillow out a gray velvet I bought at the same time I bought the chair fabric.  With an elegant silver fringe, the pillows add a touch of glam.

Come back later this week when I share my favorite addition to this room, a new sideboard that has undergone an amazing transformation in the past couple of weeks.

New Chairs in the Nook

As I mentioned last week, we have experienced an unintentional updating of the dining areas in our home.  Over the next few weeks, I will be sharing some of the updates.  Expect to hear about some fun purchases, makeovers, sewing projects, art projects and simple styling.

It all started at the kitchen table.

We found an amazing like new Pottery Barn table on Craigslist when we bought our house a couple of years ago.  It is a beautiful round pedestal table that allows us to add a leaf when we have guests.  The table came with a wonderful piece of glass to protect the table top.  Unfortunately, the table did not come with chairs.  Bummer.

In the interim, we have used 4 of the chairs from our larger dining table.  This has worked fine but has never been our long term goal.  These chairs have cloth seats and after 2 kids, the seats were beyond nasty.

The series of updates was originally supposed to start with me recovering the chairs to give them a fresh, clean look.  I even purchased some fabric.  Well, the fabric sat here for a long time.  Then this summer the plan took a sudden change.

We happened upon a really nice chair for this table at the most amazing price.  As my husband wandered the aisles of Costco he found a simple brown leather parsons chair.  We went back over the weekend and in true Costco fashion, they were gone!  Bummer.  Fortunately, we returned from vacation and found that they had been restocked!  Yahoo.

These new chairs are awesome.  The rich chocolate color of the leather looks amazing with the dark wood tone of the table.  I love that we can wipe down these chairs after meals.

Just prior to finding these chairs, we had a slight problem with the table...

Our daughter was counting the money in her piggy bank and managed to not only break open the pig (not the intention) but crack the glass table top too!  She was so sad, but honestly, I should have known better than letting a 7 year shake a giant ceramic pig over the top of a glass table.  Life happens.  We have not replaced the glass yet because well, it is not cheap.  Soon though, I am tired of the lovely vinyl table cloth we have been using to protect the wood.

Isn't she beautiful.

Dining Room Updates: a series

It has dawned on me over the last several months, that without even knowing it, we have been updating the dining areas in our home.  We have two dining areas in this house, a combined formal dining/living room and our kitchen nook.

As my blog implies, this is our forever home, the house we plan to grow old in and it is and always will be, a work in progress.  While we have a long wish list of projects for our home, sometimes you just "happen upon" a great deal and then that item jumps to the top of the list.  Ironically, the dining areas have been the focus of these perfect finds and projects recently.

Over the next few weeks, I will share a series of posts on the updates we have made (and still working on) to these rooms in our home.  This series involves new chairs, broken glass, upholstery, refinishing, sewing, styling, savvy shopping and more.

Let me start by sharing the "before" of these two areas in our home.


Kitchen Nook
The majority of our meals happen at the kitchen dining table. This nook located just off the kitchen screamed for a small round table, perfect for our family of four and our everyday meals.

We were fortunate enough to find a beautiful Pottery Barn wood pedestal table on Craigslist when we bought the house 2 years ago.  It came with a glass top to protect the wood which is awesome. Unfortunately, the table did not come with chairs.  Chairs has been our wish list ever since.  For the past 2 years, we have been using 4 of the chairs from our large dining table until we found the perfect chairs for this room.

Formal Dining Room
As you enter our home you are greeted by a large open concept "formal" dining and living room.  I use formal in quotes because we are so NOT formal people.  Even when we have dinner guests, we are more likely to put the leaf in the kitchen table than use the dining space designated for this.

The formal living area was a new space to us, therefore we did not have any furniture for this room and it has not been a priority.  I know, we have lived here for 2 years and it still largely sits empty.  The only thing in this room is our large dining table from our other house.  The "nook" area in our other home was huge so we purchased a large table for this space.  This is what it looked like for the past couple years.

As a reference point, I wanted to share what our dining area/kitchen nook looked like in our previous home.  As you can see, the "nook" allowed us to have a dining table that seated 8 people comfortably.  That always baffled me but I loved that it freed up a space in our great room for other family needs.

I can't wait to share with you some of the amazing projects I have been working on.  Let me just say, I can't wait to host Thanksgiving this year in our new formal dining area.  I still have a lot of work to do but it is great to have a deadline!  We have so many blessings in our life and this year is not any different.