Headboard

My sister and I took a trip to Ikea this weekend. I wasn't planning on buying anything, but I found this awesome door in the reject section.

There were 2 of them and they each had a sticker saying they were $65 each, so I didn't think twice about it. Buuuut, my lovely sister decided to ask about them and it turns out they were really only $7 each. Now that's my kind of price!

We each bought one and I knew right away mine would turn into a headboard. I didn't want to paint it with a billion bottles of craft paint to match my coral and window frame, so I ended up going to Home Depot and getting a color match in a sample size. It's only $3 for a sample, which is probably less than I would have spent on a billion bottles of craft paint AND I have some left over!

Of course I had to give it a coat of stain to match the rest of the goodies in my room. For the crevices, I wrapped my piece of sheet (haha, I just wrote 'piece of shit'! I'm glad I realized it right away so I could change it!) around the end of a flat head screwdriver and dipped it in the stain and ran it through all the nooks and crannies. A Qtip also helps distribute the stain.

You can tell that the 'S' is a perfect match to the headboard. Good job Home Depot!

Now, since I haven't moved yet, I'll give you a little sneak peak of what it will look like. I got the crisp white duvet from Target on sale for $15 for a king!

And the pillow was another Target score. I had been eyeballing it for a while last winter, but wasn't willing to spend $24. I kept checking back and it was finally on clearance for $6. Much better!

From Ikea Reject to Faux Wood Kitchen Towel Holder

I have to apologize in advance because I didn't take many pictures of the process I went through. Ok, I didn't take any pictures. I know, I suck.

Anywho, I started out with this cabinet door in the reject...er, clearance section at Ikea.

And at $3 bucks, how could I resist?

I truly had no stinkin' clue what on earth I was gonna do with it, so I painted it Rustoleum's Heirloom White. I think we could all agree that's a safe bet. But it looked totally boring after I painted it and inspiration still wasn't striking, so I got out my Minwax Dark Walnut stain to give it some age, but my silly self didn't wait for the Heirloom White to fully dry before doing so.

Oops!

But to my surprise, I actually like the way it looked! Ok, this is where I'm supposed to have a picture of what it looked like, but I'm kinda lame and didn't take a picture =) But I sure will try my best to describe what it looked like. Ok, close your eyes and imagine completely weathered barn wood with a grey tinge to it. Yeah, it looked pretty cool. Only prob was that I didn't get the stain in the cracks, so I had to go back later (let it dry at least 24 hours) and get the stain in all the nooks and crannies with a Qtip. I accidentally got stain all over the place ('cause sometimes I'm just messy like that) and I kinda sorta ended up doing another coat of stain on the whole door.

Again, a happy accident. The second coat was much richer and less weathered-looking, but I do have to note that it took about 2 days to fully dry, which is like, forever for impatient DIYer's like myself.

Once it was dry, I added 3 knobs (that match my tv stand). Super easy!

I'm thinkin' since there is so much empty space above the knobs, I will decorate it with seasonal decor.

What would you do with the empty space? I'm not really inspired by anything right now so I would love to hear what you would do and possibly get some ideas.

 

Window Frame Revamp: Take 3

Yes, this would be numero tres of making over this poor little victim, but by golly, I think I finally like it! 

In case you don't remember, I last left you with this:

I loved the knobs so much, but didn't think they looked right. I was about to return them, but then I asked myself why I would do that when I love them? There's gotta be something else I could change, right?

Then I thought about how I've never been crazy about the color, even thought it matches my other bedroom furniture, so I decided to go out on a limb and paint it. The problem with the color was that it's a warm color and so is the beach mat, so the cool silver knobs just threw it off.

My solution? Paint it the same blue I just painted the coral.

Here is a pic in case you don't feel like going to the link:

So, I painted my window frame and stained it with some Minwax Early American and I finally love it!

And now the knobs look so much better, in my opinion.

Ok, I promise you won't be hearing about this guy again...I think.

P.S. This is how the window originally looked.

 

Coral Makeover: #2 1/2

Well, it's another makeover folks, and this time the victims are coral...muahahahaha!

As you may remember, I bought 2 pieces of purple coral that I spray painted white, but I knew they wouldn't be staying like that for long.

It's not that the white was bad, but it looked a little too modern for me...Oh, and I found out the walls where I am moving are white so they would just blend in.

I decided on blue as the accent color in my room so I went to Michael's and picked up some light blue paint.

It looks a lot brighter in the pic, but the sticker on top was kind of a subdued, slightly silvery blue color.

I loved the color when the paint was wet, and although paint usually dries darker, this paint dried brighter!

So not the look I was going for! I wanted to tone it down so I thought I might experiment with stain, having no idea how it would turn out.

I quickly realized that there was no dabbing it off, so I had to rinse it in the sink. The first time around I only let it sit about a minute, which wasn't long enough, so the second time I let it sit for about 10.

TIP: If you rinse wood stain in your sink, wash it as soon as possible! I used a Clorox bleach cleaner, which seemed to do the trick.

I know the end result isn't for everyone, but I love how the color is much more dimensional now.

It looks like it was just pulled out of the ocean, mud and all.

It's still bright enough to not be boring, yet toned down so it won't stick out like a sore thumb.

Window Frame Revamp: Take 2

Remember my window frame revamp I did a while back?

Well, I had revamped it before I knew what theme I was going with in my bedroom, but now that I decided to go with a beach theme, I don't feel like the burlap and aged bronze knobs will go that well with the decor, so it was time for a change!

I had a beach mat that I got for $1 at the thrift store a while back, so I stapled that to the back.

TIP: Once you cut horizontally into a beach mat, it will start to unravel, but you can prevent it by measuring the amount or length you need and gluing ribbon on the backside (so it won't show) before you cut.

I went to Lowe's and got these knobs for $2.70 each and replaced the aged bronze knobs.

I was planning on doing a whole vingette, but I didn't know which boxes everything was packed up in. It's getting harder and harder to find stuff!

I wasn't quite sure about the silver...

...but I wanted to match my lamps from Ikea.

It's not a perfect match, but it will do. I'm still not sold on the shiny silver with the aged look of the window, but it does remind me of a silver ship bell. Hopefully it will grow on me, but if not, I can always change it again =)

UPDATE: I don't think I'm diggin' the shiny knobs, so stay tuned. I really have no idea what I wanna do yet =)

Beach Sign

I think that all beachy rooms should have a 'beach' sign...you know, just in case people can't tell what the style of the room is from all the white, distressed furniture, natural materials, and calm blues and greens. Hey, ya never know!

So for my beach sign, I started out with this $1 frame from the thrift store. LOVE the detail in the corners!

I primed and painted it Heirloom White and then stained it with some Minwax Early American. My original plan was to cut the word 'BEACH' out of cardstock and place it directly on the glass (no backing) with some double-sided tape, but that didn't quite work considering I broke the glass when I was trying to get it out! Fortunately, I have some leftover beach mat from a few other projects I've worked on, so I decided to glue that onto the cardboard backing.

TIP: I have found, so far, that the best way to attach beach mat material to cardboard is by using E6000 glue.

So, after I glued the beach mat to the backing, I glued my letters on with E6000 glue. I found it difficult to get glue on the serifs, so I used a toothpick for those parts.

Alright, are you ready to see the finished product?

I love the juxtaposition of the ornate detailing on the frame, the dull beach mat, and the bright blue.

I wish you guys could see it in person because the pictures don't do it justice.

And that coral behind the sign? That would be the same coral I painted here. After I painted it white, I knew it wouldn't stay that way for long, but I think I might have to do something else to it. Usually paint dries darker, but this stuff dried brighter!! I've been pretty stain-happy lately, so I might just try and tone it down that way.

  

A Dining Room Chair Tale

My budget for dining room chairs was next to nothing, so when I saw some cute little bistro chairs a while back at Ikea for $15, you better believe I was planning on buying some!  I knew I would have to sand, stain and seal them, but hello, $15 bucks!! But for whatever reason, I waited until the other day to buy them. I went to the website to make sure the summer collection was still there, but it was gone!  I even drove to Ikea just to see if maybe they had a few stragglers left, but the guy told me the summer season ended in June???? "Dang it, that's just my luck!", I thought to myself.  I wandered around and found some other chairs for the same price, but they weren't as cute and I would have to sand, stain, and seal them too. So, feeling pretty bummed at this point, I left and took care of some other errands, which led me to the front of Cost Plus (one of my fave stores).  I saw a big sign that said the outdoor furniture was up to 75% off, so I decided to go in and look...which looking back, I don't know why that caught my attention since I won't have a backyard when I move.  Anyway, as I was looking around, I rememberd that they carried some cute chairs that I always checked to see if they were on sale, but they never were.  I didn't see them and decided to ask someone if they still had them, and to my surprise, they did, and they were 15% off! They were originally $20, so that took them to about $17, just $2 more than the Ikea chairs. And then I thought about how I belong to their rewards program and they always have coupons for $10 off a $30 or more purchase.  Woohoo!!!! So I went home, printed out the coupon, and went back to get my chairs...and the best part is that they ended up costing less than the Ikea chairs! Wait, no, the best part is that I don't have to sand, stain, and seal them!!

So the moral of the story? Sometimes when one door closes, a much better one opens...oh, and join the member rewards programs to all your fave stores =)