Prime Time

I would love to skip the sanding and priming part of my dining room furniture, but it has be done, and someone has to do it!

Guess that's me!










I'm going to paint everything white for now. The table may end up another color, depending on which fabric I decide to use on the chairs?

This fabric is 54" wide so it will only take one yard to recover for seats. :D






I also have some cute fish fabric that I could use on the chairs...

I'll have plenty of time to decide. I've got four chairs and a table to sand, prime and paint!

Hope you are having a beautiful day!

Dylan, Drapes and Lamps

Thanks for all of your sweet and encouraging comments about Dylan. He is taking his antibiotics and seems to be doing well.  He is one tough little doggie!

I stopped by my thrift store again last night. I found this twin size sheet for $1.99 and a pretty lime green dust ruffle for the same price. Lots of fabric to work with for four bucks! I'm going to use it to add trim to my white sheet drapes.

I have two glass lamps that my mother and I made years ago. They are both completely filled with sea shells and are very heavy!  I'm going to take all of the shells out of the lamps and wrap the posts with bubble wrap before putting the shells back inside.

I love this little 1:12 lamp that Kris at 1 Inch Minis made.  So cute!

I know it is not as heavy as mine. :D




I took my lamps apart and spray painted the lamp parts with Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze. Now they look brand new. I'm also going to use this paint for my electrical conduit curtain rods.

I'm hoping to find some pretty shells inside my lamps to use to make finials. Love these!

Image from Landi Designs Etsy

I've got my work lined up for today. What are you planning to do this weekend?

My Little Friend

This is a photo I took of my sweet little Dylan. It was taken two days after his cancer surgery in January. He has been doing great.  :D

Dachshunds are known to be stubborn and determined. He wasn't about to let a "little" surgery get him down!  He has been right by my side every minute. I can't even take a shower without him in the bathroom with me. He runs around the house, plays with Nugget and Henry Cat.

Of course he cuddles right next to me at night.  I think he likes to feel me breathing right beside him. I know I do...

Last night I discovered that Dylan has developed a small open wound on his chest. I felt something damp under his arm when I picked him up to help him outside.  It is right where his surgery was done months ago.

We're going to the vet this afternoon. Being a nurse, I imagine all sorts of horrible things...  I hope it is a localized infection that can be treated with antibiotics.  I know it is probably something else.

Please pray for us. We knew the time would come eventually. I just hope it's not right now.

Delicious!

I just had to try out my new paint in the kitchen. It is Glidden's Watermelon Smoothie and I love it!

I think I will paint the frame on the watermelon art white? I may do a color wash to make it look more like driftwood? I may look for an entirely different frame that is more modern?

I asked the girl in the paint department at Home Depot if she had ever seen a pink kitchen? She said, "No, but I think it's going to be beautiful!"  Me too.  :D

While I was at Home Depot I got my rod cut to size for the living room. Now I just need to spray paint it and get it up.

I'm still trying to decide what to do to freshen up the white sheets I'm planning to use for my drapes. I found a great tutorial at Floridays Mom for making no sew drapes. I love the chevron fabric she chose!

I really don't want to invest in a lot more fabric. I think I will just trim my sheets with either ribbon or an inexpensive fabric? Like these found at Houzz.com.

I've got one hour left this morning to get something done before I have to go to work. Think I will take the seats off my dining room chairs so I can paint them later...

Hope you have a great day!

I Wasn't Planning to Paint the Kitchen...

When you paint one room it makes all of the other rooms look like they need to be painted too! I have a really ugly kitchen. It looks like this. 

Yes it is always messy like this and cluttered with projects I'm working on...

The watermelon art was done by a friend in Florida. I've always like it and now it has inspired me to paint another room!

There is only one ceiling light in the kitchen with a 60 watt bulb. Very ugly and very dark. I think I will lighten up a bit!

This is Glidden's Watermelon Smoothie. Even the name sounds yummy!  I still need to finish the living and dining rooms first but I think I will buy a tester of this color and try it out in the kitchen. :D

Inspiration photo from DiaOcOnline in Vietnam

I finished painting the dining room yesterday. It looks much better now. Next project will be painting the table and chairs. That is if I don't get distracted by another project!

Hope you have a beautiful day!

Moving On...

I got the bamboo blinds up in the living room this week. I really like how they look. I'm still trying to decide what to do about drapes. I think maybe my white sheets will work just fine?

I'm moving on to the dining room this weekend. I still have lots of little things to do in the living room but I want to get these walls painted today.

Here is the fabric I found to recover the chairs. I ordered it online Wednesday from the Fabricguru.com and it arrived yesterday. Now that's what I call service!  :D

It is an indoor outdoor fabric so I think it will work well on the chairs. It will be a LOT better that what is on them now, that's for sure!

I'm going to paint the chairs white.  Not sure what color the table will be?  The top of the table has a black laminate veneer on it.  I'm hoping satin paint will cover it...

I may choose a color for the table from my other new fabric. I really like the light blue and I LOVE this print!

I plan to use this fabric to make shades for the dining room windows. That will be a project for another weekend!

Hope you have a beautiful day!

Fabrics and Furniture

I finally decided on a couple of  fabrics. The first is for my dining room chairs. The zig zag for a pillow?

I found both fabrics at Fabricguru.com.

I'm also planning to paint some furniture. My dining room chairs, end tables and china hutch.



















Not sure what color they will be yet? Think I will wait until I get my Ibis fabric.  :D

Wish I didn't have to go to work today.  I've got too many projects going here at home!

Hope you have a great day!

Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day!

I've been working ALL weekend in my living room. Yesterday morning I moved some furniture around after painting the wall and window trim. It is a whole lot easier to redecorate a dollhouse than a real house!

Today I finally finished painting. Two coats. Next time I will invest in Behr's one coat paint!

I'm ready to hang my bamboo blinds and curtain rod. Well, not really ready. I discovered that I need to go buy some heavy duty wall anchors. I thought I had everything I needed!

I've been unable to cut the electrical conduit I'm using for the rod. I either need a new hacksaw blade or a helpful handy man at Home Depot to cut it for me? I should have taken him up on his offer on Saturday!

I moved my "new" white sofa to the other side of the room. I like it better there. Now I can sit and look outside instead of at a wall.

I really like how the white paint has brightened up this room? It's still dark in here this afternoon!  :{

I'm headed over to my daughter and son-in-law's house for a cookout now. Too tired to do any more work!

Hope you are having a great Memorial Day!  I am so thankful to those who gave their lives for our freedom and the ones who are us serving now. May the Lord bless them, keep them safe and bring them all home soon!

"New" Sofa!

My search for a "new" sofa for the living room has ended!  I found a great white slip covered one like this one at my favorite thrift store yesterday. I took some photos with my camera but they didn't upload. Mine has three cushions on the back and three on the seat. The cover is a nice heavy cotton duck fabric.

Of course I had to peek under the cover to see what the original sofa looked like. It is a peachy orange vintage fabric with fringe on the bottom. Very cool.

The store manager had not yet priced the sofa. She said it was just put out for sale yesterday. I made an offer of $70. She walked away. Then she came back and said $89 plus $50 to deliver it. I walked away, but not too far.

I went back and sat on the sofa and thought about it. A lot. Just a new slipcover alone would have cost me about $100... It was comfy and exactly what I've been looking for...

I found the manager again at the sales counter and asked if they could deliver the sofa for less since I live close by? I reminded her that I had just donated my beautiful TV armoire that is now priced at $199 in the store.

She thought about that. Then she came back with $89 for the sofa and delivery at $25. I offered her $80 for the sofa including delivery. She was a hard nut to crack! She walked away again, this time to the back of the store.

Call me determined. I made a fool of myself calling out to her for a better offer. I walked around all of the other sofas they had for sale and called out their prices. One was $35, another $40 and another $65. I asked her why the one I wanted was so much? She didn't answer.

She came back and put a price tag on "my" sofa. The price was $80.99! I laughed and said "SOLD."

Now I'm trying to find someone with a truck to pick it up for me, to save the $25 delivery charge. Even if I have to pay for delivery, I found a nice sofa that will look great in my living room for $125.99!

Not a bad deal. Did I mention I LOVE this thrift store?  :D

Next stop, a different store that has a green retro three light lamp like this one. Priced at $80. I need more lamps in my room...

Cut, Cut, Cut

I just finished cutting ONE of my three bamboo shades. After trying three different saws, I found that using my old tin snips works great!

Here is how I'd like to hang them. No, this is not my living room. Photo found at Young House Love.

Off to cut, cut, cut! I'm working on a blister on my thumb already... Hope to get this project done today?

I found some electrical conduit at Home Depot to make my own drapery rod. Couldn't find one long enough for my windows. More on that later!

Added bonus: I now have tons of 2 inch pieces of flat bamboo! Perfect for a dollhouse!  :D

Consignment Store Sofa?

Just saw this sofa on Craigslist. $399. Might work?

I'm charging up my saw to cut the bamboo blinds to fit my windows. I started doing one with a hacksaw and miter box but it was too hard.  Bamboo is HARD wood!

Love this fabric!

It's been raining here all day but the sun came out just now. Even when the sun shines it's dark in here!

Hope you have a nice day!

New Project(s)

It's been a while since I posted. I've been pondering a new project. NOT a mini one this time...

I've decided that my rental house is too depressing, too dark and too "not me." I'm on a mission. I'm going to start lightening up in more ways than one!  :D

I'm starting with my living room. I searched through my photos but couldn't find a "before" photo of this room. Probably because I hated it so much!

Today, the thrift store picked up my huge TV armoire and delivered some "new" furniture!

Love this $15 chair! 

The pillow came from TJMaxx.

I also bought four "new" dining room chairs. $9.95 each. I'm planning on painting them.

I have a pedestal dining table that is black right now. That will change!



I am so inspired by Jane Coslick's colors and those at Maine Cottage. It will be hard to decide what colors I want to use. . .

Here is one wall staged with my old wicker chair and my "new" one. There has to be blue somewhere in this room!

I'm planning to hang bamboo shades on the windows on the other side of this room. Down with the old ivory mini blinds! I'm looking for the perfect fabric to make drapes and recover the dining room chairs. Here are three I'm considering...

I am not opposed to painting all of my old tables and my china hutch too. Looks like there will be a lot of painting and sewing going on here!

This all started with two beautiful pillows that made me smile when I saw them.  :D

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!