Our growing furniture family

Hi all (don't freak out about the Christmas picture yet - there's a point)! Short but sweet post to introduce the newest additions to our furniture family! We've been looking for chair to go in the alcove by the fireplace. See here, where are Christmas tree is?

Well, without the tree, it's essentially an empty space. As much as I would LOVE to keep the tree up year-round, Mike says no. Ergo, we needed to get a chair. So here it is (sorry these pictures don't do it justice - eventually we'll get something that's not a phone camera!)

Surprisingly we found the chair at Target (I L-O-V-E their newest home line, Threshold!) And I had a coupon so it was even better! However, I didn't like the ottoman Target offered with it (it was too similar in size to our exisiting ottman). Luckily, we found this square beauty of an ottoman at Marshall's for only $40!!

And here's a close up of my new wall art. I love it! Another great find at Marshall's; it was more expensive then I would've liked but I couldn't resist. Again, sorry for the poor quality of the picture, but it's an awesome modern sketch of New York. Love Love Love!

 

 

That's my update for now! Look for a tutorial on how to make a side table. We want to make one (similar to our coffee table design in our living room) to put next to the chair. I love that spring is coming because now we have the ability to start building things again! You may wonder why that matters - well, it's because our garage has been a freezer for the last couple months. And sadly, the garage is our "work shop." So get excited for the projects ahead!!

More Decorating - My Favorite!

Another project we can check off our list is finding wall decor for above the couch in the living room. I love decorating - like the painting was great, the new floors are beautiful - but I just love the small details! Below shows the progression of this room:

 

 

So this is how the room has been - that back wall just waiting for some decor. It's especially bland when you look in from the street (and since we have no blinds yet, you can do so quite easily). All along I've wanted big frames with extreme matting - like gallery frames.

I've been looking around everywhere trying to find some without breaking the bank. So while wandering around Target - yes, I'm fully aware I'm obessed - I found them! at only $22 a piece! Now my only problem was figuring out what to frame. I didn't want to do more wedding pictures - soon our house will be wallpapered in them if I'm not careful.

So then because I'm such a lyrics person (they make the song!) I printed out lyrics with lessons.

I chose 3 different lyrics:

1. "You can't always get what you want but if you try sometime you might just find you get what you need" -The Rolling Stones, You Can't Always Get What You Want
2. "Be a best friend, tell the truth, overuse I love. Go to work, do your best, don't outsmart your common sense. Never let your prayin' knees get lazy, and love like crazy." -Lee Brice, Love Like Crazy
3. "Here comes the sun, and I say, it's alright." -The Beatles.

And here they are (And I say, it's alright!!)

 

 

 

DIY chalkboard

I love to up-cycle so when I knew we had extra cabinet doors (from removing the cabinets above our fridge in the kitchen), I got to thinking ...what can I make?? Well, guess what - I'm making a chalkboard. It was rather simple (aka my kind of project).

Supplies:
1 kitchen cabinet door
1 sm. can of Rustoleum chalkboard paint
Frame paint (we used left over wall paint)
2 foam rollers
1 foam brush
1 paint brush
Sawtooth frame hangers
1 door handle

1. Prepare space. I was daring and used my kitchen table, so I put down plastic. I also elevated the cabinet door on a small box so that I could easily paint the edges.

 

2. Sand, degloss and prime the cabinet door. I used my same go-to primer I've been using all along: Zinsser's Primer.

3. Paint the "frame." I used left-over wall paint for the frame. To easily get in all the nooks and crannies, I used a normal paint brush. Then I used a foam roller to smoothly paint the flat surfaces. I had to do about 3 coats of paint for the coverage I wanted.

 (Can you tell I started the project late at night, got tired, and started again the morning? So pardon my lighting change.)

4. Tape off painted frame.

5. Let the chalkboard paint begin! To get into the corners and edges, I used the foam brush first. Then I used the roller for the rest of the coverage. I chose to do 3 coats of chalkboard paint, with 4 hours of drying time in between each coat (per the can's recommendation).

6. Remove hinges (after removing the painter's tape). In hindsight, I probably should have removed the hinges before I even started. But here, in my timeline, is when I chose to take them off.

7. Attach sawtooth hanger. This is for hanging up the board on the wall - I chose to only have one in the center. Here, you can also attach bumpers to each corner of the board so that it isn't constantly banging against the wall.

8. Attach the door handle. I found a handle for $3.50 at Menard's that I liked. I also made sure it was wide enough and deep enough to actually hold chalk. I also kept in the mind the width of the frame.

9. Admire! Now all I need to do is buy some chalk...