Bulletin Board Makeover

Before we moved to the new house our bulletin board (similar here)was the center of everything. We kept family photos, important dates, invitations as well as any other important paper we could tack up on it.  Then last July we moved and our HUGE bulletin board simply didn't really "fit" anywhere.

In our kitchen the previous owners had a large TV that they simply painted around.  Since they weren't keen on the idea of leaving the TV behind, we get to stare at a lovely outline of a tv and it's cords.

Now one might think, hey just paint that wall, right?  Right. Unfortunately out of all the gallons of paint they left, they didn't leave this one behind.  So I either have to repaint my entire kitchen or just this one wall something entirely different (which I'm thinking I could do a chalk board wall OR do a wall of shiplap).  It simply hasn't happened yet with all of the other projects we've had.

So I decided this would be an EXCELLENT place to put our bulletin board.  And it works to cover up that beautiful outline.  But it is hard to reach and really not something that i can easily update since it's right above our kitchen table.  Except George thought it could use an update and decided to color on it.  I grew tired of looking at it and finally googled "Painting a cork board."  To my surprise, there were a ton of ideas.

Before: Crayon and Sun Bleached Outlines 

I bought a can of spray paint from Target (similar here) and since we had only one small piece of newspaper, I used that and cut the rest of my masking from boxes in the recycling.  I masked off the frame (that Adam made using chair rail) and went to work!

This was super easy to paint! I did a few coats to get it even.  One could get creative and make different areas and could have done multiple colors, lines, or even chevrons.  Its really endless. I just wanted to brighten and clean up the board to make our kitchen a little more cheery.

I'm sure I will add more to the board as the summer goes on.  I am pretty happy with the way that it turned out and am glad I did it!

(Look at all these super cute pics!!)  I am thinking I need some letters at the top or something more :) But until then I just added a cute little $4 banner from target (because I'm too lazy to cut this out myself) and some pics I quickly printed off an app that gives you up to 100 prints for free (per month, you pay shipping).

Happy Summer!!

XOXO

Kristen

Bedroom DIY - Part 2

This post has been in the making for quite.some.time!  Our room is not 100% finished (it's lacking curtains) but I HAD to share the rest of our progress we've made. (Part 1 - here)

One of the ways I gain inspiration for each of the rooms we complete is through reading blogs, websites, and watching home restoration shows (This Old House and Fixer Upper are my Favorites!).   I found this awesome website called Olioboard where I could gather different items and make a style board for our bedroom project.  Here is the board I created while working on this room.

I wanted to blend both the rustic and modern styles Adam and I both love.  I needed a little pop of color which I got from the night stands.  We actually took an Ikea Rast Dresser ($34.99) and made it over to give it an upgraded look.

From this:

To this:

I simply LOVE the way these turned out!  I like how I can quickly explain to Adam what I'm thinking, hand him some primer and paint and off he goes.  Again, simply blessed to have someone so talented in my life!  (And so patient with all my "ideas!")

Our fabulous sconces (up close) stemmed from one of my random ideas (Hey honey - what do you think about adding some lights above each side of the bed, and then put switches next to our beds....?)   I swear that man's head might explode if I have any more "Hey honey ideas."

I bought these online at 1-800 Lighting (similar here). They come in bronze and brushed nickel.  I just adore this vintage look with our barnboard wall!  (Of course I went to Ebates first and got my 5% cash back too!) I think they also had a coupon for new customers and I also got $10 off each light!  Pretty sure every online shopping trip starts with Ebates!!

One of my dear friends has these absolutely stunning curtains in her dining room that I have been pining over since the first time that I saw them.  They are gray buffalo plaid, floor to ceiling. Gorgeous!  So imagine my surprise when I saw a similar pattern in a duvet cover at Ikea!  It was an easy sell to go with the rustic/modern feel in our room.

You know when you take a photo and you think it looks great, then post it and it's not as fabulous? Yeah. I'm not remaking the bed for a picture.

I think the biggest struggle for us was choosing paint. Who knew that finding a gray would be so challenging?  After 3 different attempts we finally got it right!  Thankfully Sherwin Williams isn't too far away and the people were beyond amazing helping me select the right color.  I came home with 3 samples and I put them up so we weren't making the same mistake again!  (The light in our rooms made every paint color look blue - notice the background the samples are painted on - that's our 2nd attempt at gray).

From left: Silver Strand, Mindful Gray, and Colonnade Gray

The 3rd Coat of paint going up and NOT blue!

We finally went with Mindful Gray from Sherwin Williams and have been SO very happy with the color.  I was so hesitant at first because it looked tan and I wanted nothing to do with anything that resembled brown.  But it was absolutely stunning when it went up on the walls!! I have recommended it to so many people and have had rave reviews about the color as well.

Adam trimmed out our windows using 1x4s and 1x2s and white paint (and of course some caulking). I am beyond in love with how the windows turned out, which I think is why I'm so lazy at putting curtains up! I love these beauties! They remind me of vintage windows in older craftsman style homes.

Absolutely stunning!  It's also amazing to me how different the paint colors look at night vs day and in summer vs winter.  These pics were taken months apart (notice the snow in the background in the top photo?!  Gosh I am SO sorry it took forever to post this!).

And finally... another 3 round try before we finally got it right, but this sliding barn door is B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!!!! It turned out absolutely amazing.  We ordered the barn door track online and then purchased a door (3 of them...) from a local overstock company.  We gave her a shiny coat of Peppercorn from Sherwin Williams (I am a loyal fan of their paint - this is not a sponsored post) and hung her up to close off our laundry room.   My biggest recommendation is to make sure you buy the door BIGGER than the size of your opening!  It doesn't need to fit the opening like a regular door, if you buy it that size, it will be too small and you will be disappointed!!

Our master bedroom is by far my favorite room in the house!  We have many projects upcoming and I can't wait to share each and every one with you.  Again, apologies on the delay in time.  I will post again soon!

xoxo

Kristen

Bedroom DIY - Part 1

Hello friends!

Where the heck have I been? Well, most of you know that we moved back in July.  While we hoped buying this house would be less DIY and more R-E-L-A-X-A-T-I-O-N, we were seriously wrong! Each room we've done so far has presented different challenges, including a bathroom which once we painted, re-trimmed and cleaned up, turned out to have a serious leak and created a rainstorm in our lower level bathroom.  I digress...

So we started working on our Master bedroom (seems legit with a leaky bathroom, right?!).  When we first moved into this room we were seriously puzzled.  There is a walk through to another room (my office) which put a door on one of the long walls..  The other wall, had 2 windows... which meant we either had to put our bed against a window, against a wall or on a diagonal.  Anyone who knows me, knows I LOVE balance, so any of the above are not an option.   The first few months of living here, I propped pillows up and locked the door to center our bed in the room.

 

So Step 1, talking Adam into removing the door and closing off the walk through.  At first, he wasn't a fan of this idea, but after months of sleeping against a door, he was convinced :)  

 North Facing Window (please excuse the mess, I was trying to get before pics and this is the best I could get!)

West wall that accesses our Master closet, laundry room and the master bathroom (which will likely have its own post because it needs some serious attention!)   Notice the trim is painted the same color as the wall?  Yes, our whole house is done this way = replacing a lot of trim!

South facing wall - double windows with our pellet stove in the corner. 

It may be hard to tell but there was a chair rail running around the entire room, with the lower half painted one color and the upper painted another.  The carpet was a dark green, and while it was in great shape, it was simply too dark.  

We wanted to make this "our space" and a complete retreat from the rest of the house. Adam and I have very different styles, but we have been able to truly mesh them and make them our own.  He's so incredibly talented and anytime I have an idea he runs with it.  

You can see in the 3rd photo above that there is a pretty stack of wood... One of my favorite websites is Houzz and I find so much inspiration by the talented designers and carpenters whose work is featured on the site. One of the photos I found had an entire wall of barn board in the bedroom and since Adam LOVES the rustic and woodworking in homes, he fell for it and we decided to do a wall of "barnboard."

However, let's be honest, we aren't made of money and finding 100 year old barnwood within a few weeks of starting this project for less than a few hundred dollars simply wasn't going to happen.  Then we considered pallets.  Has anyone ever tried pallet projects?  This wall was 18*8 = 144 square feet.   That's a lot of pallets that must be harvested, sanded, sized, stained, etc.  So, while it sounded awesome, we both knew there was going to be WAY too much work involved in using pallets.  After searching Pinterest, I found a blog where they used 6' dog eared fence slats, so that's what we did.  At $2.45 each, they were already a bit rustic looking, cedar, and not nearly as thick as rough cut lumber.

He gave each of the boards a light sand and then we started to choose different stains.  We had a hard time finding the right color because under the garage light the boards looked one color and inside under incandescent light, it looked completely different.  After a few attempts we settled on mixing Jacobean and Golden Oak. It produced a beautiful deep color with a bit of a reddish huge. I LOVE the way the stain brought out the different knots in the wood... 

Here is a sneak peek of the wood going up!

 

As you can see, we've added quite a bit of electrical to the wall and I cannot wait for you to see the finished product!! 

 

Adam working hard to put the wall up!  You can see he marked off the wall, so he knew where the studs were. He nailed directly to the studs, we didn't put plywood up behind the wall (as others have done).  He staggered the boards and as you can see the boards go directly to the door. We opted to skip trimming out the door.  This was a lesson learned.  The door itself was poorly installed and had to be reinstalled, once he did this, he realized he had to make adjustments to the boards. 

The wall is getting closer to completion!  I LOVE the way this turned out.  We also opted to use black switches and outlet covers.  We had to go with a white thermostat for our baseboard unit, and it stands out like a sore thumb.  Fortunately Home Depot online carried many of the outlet covers that we needed and if you ship to store, the shipping is free.  We also installed dimmer switches next to our bed, which again, had to be ordered online.  

And here is our finished wall!  You can see some of the other finishes with the painted wall and upgraded carpet, which I will highlight in the next post.  The vintage sconces in Olde Bronze (from 1-800 Lighting - similar here) are one of my favorite touches with this wall. They are absolutely stunning and the vintage bulbs that dim are amazing.  It really brings the wall together. I cannot wait to move our new furniture in here!  

Again, Adam did incredible work. He's so talented. I wish I could say I had a hand in the technical aspect of hanging this wall, but I didn't. Design? Yes.  That is all me.  The rest? All Adam. 

I hope you LOVE what we have done so far in this room. I cannot wait for the rest of the room reveal!  Stay tuned!

xoxo 

Kristen