Updated Chair for my Kitchen Desk

The other evening the chair for our kitchen desk completely collapsed and broke while my little lady was playing at the computer. I had always been meaning to replace that old thing, but I guess now is a time as good as any.

I found this little wooden chair at Goodwill for $3. It’s in perfect condition, just needs a little love. I decided to try and paint it to match my newly purchased kitchen buffet.



The tools I need to try and accomplish this project: some black primer and spray paint by Krylon, Americana accent paint in gray, orange, red and white, plus a wire brush to give it the same old school effect as the kitchen buffet.

The chair seemed in pretty good condition so I didn’t need to sand it, just a quick buff with some light grade sanding paper so the paint adheres better. I wiped it down afterwards to make sure it was clean and ready. Next I painted the chair with black primer spray paint from Krylon. I only had to do one coat since the top coat would be black as well.



I let the primer dry for about 20 minutes then put on a finishing coat of black Krylon spots going around the spindles...I just had to keep reminding myself to take my time! I always use two coats as well, especially on something like a chair that will get a lot of wear and tear.

Once the second coat was dry, it was time to add the accent paint to the spindles. The kitchen buffet I recently purchased has bands of orange, red and gray, plus some thinner stripes of white so I tried to match as best I could with Americana acrylic paint from Michaels. I used a hard dry brush and lightly painted over the black spindles in designated areas. I tried to keep the brush as dry as possible to get the rustic effect to match the buffet.



To top everything off, I coated the chair with a light spray of satin polyurethane from Mirawax. This really seals in the paint, give the chair a protective cover, and adds a little bit of gloss to the final product.

Final costs: $3 for the chair from Goodwill, $3 for the Krylon primer, $3 for the Krylon black flat spray paint, $4 for the Americana paints, $.98 for two paintbrushes. I had some leftover satin polyurethane from a recent project, so my total bill was $14 and some change! Not too shabby for a new chair that matches my kitchen buffet.

A New Bedroom Fit for a Princess

I’m currently in the process of trying to redecorate my daughter’s bedroom. It’s been a long overhaul to say the least! Before the remodel my three year old had a hot pink accent wall which really overpowered the entire room. I thought it was a good idea to paint the wall this color when I decorated the room with Disney princesses, but it really limited any future designs.

So there’s the before... and after! Here’s how I transformed the room (thus far).

So with a new plain white comforter from Target that I got on sale for $79.99 in January, I got the bug to re-vamp the rest of her room to match! I purchased a green, blue and rose argyle rug from www.capeldealers.com for $138. Yeah, it’s kind of a stretch for me to spend this much on one piece, but I knew I really wanted to base the room these colors so I splurged!

I finally got around to painting the hot pink wall light blue to match the other three walls. I have plans to do a damask stencil design but the overall blue walls is a big change thus far! I put a green glider from her old nursery in the corner with a pink accent pillow to bring out the rose color in the new rug. I’d really like to find a desk to refurbish for that area, but until then this is a perfect place to read her favorite books!

I also purchased a mirror from Pier 1 Imports on clearance for $20. It was an off white so I painted it green to match the chair, then sanded it down to give it a rustic feel. While I was there, I picked up a green damask pillow on clearance for $17 for her bed.

Next I found some silver shadow boxes on clearance from Michaels ($32 for 4 total) and lined them with scrapbooking paper to match the decor in her room (only $8 for the paper!). I also used multi-colored scrapbook paper to cover the wall letters from her former nursery and give them an up-to-date look.

Ah, the transformation is almost complete. I know her light and breezy color scheme doesn’t really go with the rest of my house, but I love it! Just waiting to get my large damask wall stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils to get delivered so I can finish her walls. Keep checking back to see how it turns out!

Accent Table for my Red Kitchen Wall

One thing that has always bugged me about our house is that the kitchen is somewhat small. Yeah, I know... it’s our first home, but the kitchen always seems to be the gathering place when you have company over.

We used to have a larger oak buffet that rested along our red accent wall. I’ve had this piece for years that floats from room to room, depending on where I need storage. It was really too large for our kitchen; we had to walk the opposite way around our kitchen table to get to the fridge. So I’ve been keeping my eye out for something that would match my kitchen colors and have that eclectic feel.

Then I found her! It was on sale at Pier 1 Imports for $149 and matched the color scheme I want for my kitchen transformation. It had orange to bring out the oak in my cabinets, red to match my accent wall, gray to match my countertops and black to go with my dining set and appliances. Really, absolutely perfect!



Normally I don’t like to spend money on new furniture (especially when I have an old piece that I can paint and style to fit the space I need to fill), but I this was the perfect size/coloration for my kitchen and I couldn’t pass it up.

Laundry Room Makeover

One of my favorite DIY websites is www.centsationalgirl.com. Recently she featured a bare wall transformation creating an instant mud room. I loved this idea and decided to use it for my laundry room since it’s right off the garage.

I started with painting my white walls to a desaturated olive green that matches my kitchen (which is located right next to my laundry room). Luckily I had enough paint leftover from that project and the paint was in good shape. Also, I knew that I only had to paint the top half of my laundry room since I would be adding some bead board to the bottom half of the room.

I purchased the 4x8’ panel of bead board from the paneling section of Lowe’s for $19.98 and it almost fit perfectly! Just a smidge off the side and we were in business. I finished the top of the bead board with a wide baseboard trim for $8.50 from Lowe’s. I chose baseboards because I needed at least 5 inches to screw in some hooks for hanging coats and jackets.

Luckily I had some finishing nails, caulk and putty from recent projects to get the bead board in place. First I measured the placement of the wall outlet in my laundry room. I cut a square out of the bead board to extend the outlet. Once I knew the board would fit properly around the outlet, I spread Liquid Nails across the board and positioned it into place. I double checked that the paneling was level, and then secured it in place with finishing nails. Just some caulk for the edges and putty to fill in the nail holes which I later sanded down.

I painted the bead board with an Antique White finish by Zinnser that I purchased at Lowe’s a while back for another project.



Next I bought some white hooks from Walmart for $5.97 each (5 total) along with some red baskets that I can easily label for organization ($20 for 4) and a plain runner rug on clearance for $5. I also purchased some bulletin boards from Michaels for $24 total with the help of a coupon.

I needed some additional storage for odds and ends. I found the plastic drawers down in my basement when I used to keep it in my daughter’s closet with burp cloths, blankets, etc.

So it cost me about $105 plus some change to complete my transformation. What do you think? I’m loving it so far!

Also, you can get the full story for the Centsational Girl mud room here.

Faux Finish Wallpaper in the Master Suite

About three years ago I wanted to wallpaper my hall bathroom, but I was very nervous since I had never wallpapered anything in my life. I was very lucky to bring wandering through the aisles at Lowe’s and happened to find Paper Illusion, a wallpaper that you tear and overlap. The sales man swore there was no way we could mess it up so we decided to give it a whirl.

We picked out the shade Tuscan Red. My house has a red theme throughout, so this color fit in perfectly! It was extremely easy to use. The Paper Illusion comes in a roll large roll like normal wallpaper with a pre-treated glue back side. All we had to do was tear the wallpaper into random sized pieces, dip in water for a couple of seconds, stick it to the wall, smooth it out with a flat edge and wipe away the access glue.



It took me about 4 hours to finish my entire hall bath. The time consuming part was tearing the paper. I didn’t know at the time, but it really doesn’t matter what size you tear the pieces into really; it’s the homeowner’s preference. I ended up doing mostly 8x8” pieces with some smaller ones to fill in the gaps. I also tried to make sure that I covered all of the flat edges from the side of the paper with the torn edges (it makes a cooler effect).

The cost was $39 per roll and I needed two rolls to complete the hall bath (I do have leftovers as well). I also bought a new shower curtain on clearance from JC Penney’s for $19.99. I love completely changing the feeling of a room for less than $100!

So the wallpaper in the hall bath worked out so perfectly that this year I decided to re-vamp my master bathroom and also one accent wall in my master bedroom using this product. This time we chose Marble Earth and I LOVE it...mainly because it adds texture to my bland walls, plus I can switch out my bedspread and bath accessories to anything in the future and it will match!



This project took a little longer to finish, split between a couple of days. Probably around 10 hours total since there was a lot of weird angles in the bathroom.While the wallpaper is no longer in stock at Lowe’s, you can check out www.wallpaperillusions.com for all of their products and colors. They actually have quite an assortment, plus some nice before & after shots.

The price was $39 per roll for this round as well and I needed two rolls for the bathroom and two for my master bedroom wall (I have some leftovers too just in case). Not too bad to completely transform a bedroom and bathroom for $160!



The current red accessories in my master bath are completely yack. At the time I purchased them, I wanted something red to match my bedspread, but I am just NOT digging it these days. Once I find a new comforter, I’ll get some modern accessories for my fab new bathroom. Until then, these will just have to do!