DIY Pottery Barn Inspired Shelves

This project was inspired by Shanty 2 Chic and her $20 shelves (and a friend who had just made similar shelves and promised it would be a simple project).  It turns out it was a simple and inexpensive project and I love how it turned out.  Pottery Barn sells similar shelves for $35-$55 that look like this:

Gorgeous.  But expensive.  Especially since I wanted four of the 3' ledges at $45 each!  We followed the tutorial over at Shanty 2 Chic but we had Lowe's cut the 2 – 1×4′s and 1 – 1×2 for each shelf down to 3'.  After Matt assembled the shelves for me I stained the shelves with a Rust-Oleum Dark Walnut (I purchased a 1/2 pint at Lowe's for about $5).  Later that evening after the stain dried (it dried really fast!) I used some leftover paint (Benjamin Moore Arctic Blue) from painting our laundry room.  I let the paint dry over night and then the next day I sanded the paint to distress the shelves so the dark stain would peek through.  I love how they turned out!

The best part? I can rearrange to my heart's content without having to patch nail holes and rehang picture frames.

Thanks for stopping in!

xo
Steph

Exterior Update: The Reveal

The first time I laid eyes on our house it looked like this...

But in my mind it looked more like this...

& a few times along the way it looked like this...

Along the way it was easy to get lost in whichever project we were working on at the time and lose sight of my original vision, making it hard to imagine what it would like when "finished" (if we will ever be finished I don't know!) And now, though there are still numerous things to do inside and outside I am so glad that it finally looks more like what I imagined it would all those months ago (we closed on our house in September 2012)!

Here's a list of the exterior updates that we made:
-adding a false gable (you can see it framed out in the picture above)
-new soffit & fascia
-new siding
-new roof
-new shutters
-paint the brick part of the house to match the new siding
-new porch railings
-new concrete walkway and steps
-raised garden bed
-and in the back we tore out the old deck and put in a brick paver patio

 PS Can you find the puggle in the picture above??

& I love our new window box,  more on that next!

Thanks for stopping by again,

xo
Steph

Craigslist Dining Table Makeover

Last post I showed you how our china cabinet went from this...

 to this with the help of Annie Sloan chalk paint.

Before the China Cabinet came along though I found a set of four chairs and a table on craigslist (before we even moved into the house) and of course I painted them white but for that project I used a homemade chalk paint (paint + plaster of paris + water) using a recipe from Naptime Decorator and some paint I had left over from painting this mantle for our wedding (photo thanks to Lauryn Galloway).

So this is what I started with, in this picture you can see that I started to sand the table because I had originally want to stain the top and paint the legs, but quickly discovered that the tabletop was only a wood veneer and it wouldn't be possible to stain it. So I stopped wasting my time sanding and got to work painting because one of the benefits of chalk paint (both Annie Sloan and the homemade version) is that you don't need to spend any time sanding or prepping your piece of furniture aside from making sure it is clean and dry.

The table took three coats of paint and the chairs each took two (let the paint dry completely between coats.  Then after the last coat of paint I let the paint cure for several days and then used wax to seal the paint and to help prevent scratching or chipping of the paint. I used a cloth to apply the wax and rubbed it in firmly to the paint and wiped away the excess wax.  I used Minwax Paste Finishing Wax and have used this for my Annie Sloan china cabinet as well (Annie Sloan also makes a waxing product but it's about double the cost of Minwax) and Minwax has worked well for me!

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I also painted the four chairs that came with the table and two other chairs that I got for free off of the curb in Roanoke. Here's the table as it is now.  I love the way it turned out!  The grand total spent came in right at $100.

• table and four chairs- $75
• two head chairs- free!
• paint- $0 (leftover from a previous project)
• plaster of paris- around $5 (with a coupon at Michael's and there is plenty leftover for future projects)
• fabric-around $20 (I used Online Fabric Store)

When comparing Annie Sloan chalk paint to the homemade version Annie Sloan paint definitely goes on a little smoother and has a smoother finish.  The biggest downside to using Annie Sloan chalk paint is the cost (its around $38 per quart) however it really does go a long way...my huge china cabinet only took two quarts of paint! I really anticipated that I would need more than that.  Overall there are benefits of both homemade and Annie Sloan & I think I will use both again in the future!  Have you tried Annie Sloan paint compared to homemade chalk paint?  Let me know your thoughts!



Thanks for stopping by!

xo
Steph

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint China Cabinet Makeover

Since we bought our house one of my favorite hobbies has become combing Craigslist for good deals on furniture.  For the past several months I have been looking for a china cabinet that would give us some much needed extra storage and look pretty of course.  About a month ago I found this little gem.  Well, maybe little is the wrong word.  Anyways, here she is.

 

And I've been so anxious to get some Annie Sloan paint and brighten this cabinet up.  Here are some inspiration images of painted china cabinets that I found on Pinterest.

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There is something about white painted furniture that I just love.  I have been looking forward to trying out Annie Sloan chalk paint so when we visited some friends in Roanoke last weekend I had to stop by Black Dog Salvage to pick some up.  I bought two colors, Provence and Old White and I got to work!

 

First we took off all of the doors and I started painting the inside of the cabinet in Provence.

Unfortunately I didn't take many more pictures of the progress but after I finished painting the inside of the cabinet in Provence I started working on the doors and the outside of the cabinet painting with Old White. And I love how the cabinet turned out! I was undecided if I would like the splash of color on the inside of the cabinet or if I should paint it the same color as the rest of the cabinet but I love how it makes the white china and milk glass really pop. 

Thanks for stopping by!

xo
Steph