Barn Wood Coffee Table & Living Room Makeover: Part 1

I live in a world of brown.
My couch is brown, my floor & walls are brown, the chair & ottoman are brown, my TV stand is brown....you get the idea. I need white with pops of color in my life and I have decided it should start in my living room.

The first thing we decided to work on was the coffee table. Yes, the top is brown but I made up for it with other things in the room.


 I saw a coffee table makeover from City Farmhouse and knew that was the look I wanted. She used an Ikea coffee table and stained and aged wooded boards to give it a worn farmhouse look. 

source

I loved the look but I didn't want to spend $40 on lumber and I didn't want to take the time to age wood.

My husband and I were in the city one day and saw a pile of old barn wood. We fit as much as we could in our van and started brainstorming what we would do with it. 

We talked about building a patio table.

We talked about making a bench for our entry way. 

It was such a great find that I didn't want to use it until we knew for sure what we wanted to do with it.

A light bulb came on and the old barn wood is now the top of our coffee table.

I bought this coffee table at Goodwill for $7. Over a two year period I painted it a pretty greenish blue, then a light gray and then turquoise. I hated the turquoise!
I painted the table white and had my hubby add the barn wood to the top.

The boards are tongue and groove boards so they fit like a puzzle.
My husband cut the boards so they over-lapped the edge of the table, fit the pieces together and screwed them in place.

As I mentioned brown has taken over my house. I've said it before.....it looks like Mr. Potato Head threw-up all over my living room (and probably other areas too).
Yes, there is still brown in this space but this is only part 1 of this living room transformation.

this table was also a light gray and I put a quick coat of yellow to brighten it up.

I really wanted a custom slipcover for my brown couch but I can't sew and I didn't want to pay $400 plus to have someone make one.

Overall, I like the slipcover. It takes looking at pictures to see how you didn't tuck all of the fabric. Oh well!
I have been sleeping on the couch lately (all pregnancy related) and there is hardly a wrinkle when I get up. That fact alone makes me love this slipcover.

Want to know where everything came from?
I found the yellow pillows at World Market for $12.99 each
The woven tray is from World Market $19.99
Slipcover from Target $99
Rug is from Target  (bought 2 years ago)
The black and white photos were taken by Dan's grandfather so they are very special to us.
The other pieces on the gallery wall are pieces I collected and stored for doing this project and the 4 small colored prints are from a trip we took to D.C.


We have started looking at wall colors so that will be included in part 2.
We have a one-sided vaulted ceiling and a large open room so I'm a little worried about how to blend the rooms together without it all being one color. Suggestions?

What projects are you working on?
Has brown taken over your house....or are you a fan of brown?
I would love to hear about it! Leave a comment here or on my facebook page (click here).





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under the table and dreaming

Two Toned Star Dresser

Happy weekend, even though it is almost over. I have a very quick before and after. I found this dresser on Craigslist last year and had it in my inventory for a while. A lady named Marta saw it and wanted to use it as a TV stand.

BEFORE

I snapped this picture before we loaded it up for delivery. Marta found pulls at Lowe's which were on clearance and in limited quantity.  Thankfully, she was able to find enough for this dresser but we had to wait to add the hardware until we delivered so I don't have many after pictures.

AFTER

She decided to keep all of the drawers and house her electronics on the top or on another table next to the TV stand. We didn't center anything for these pictures....it was just a quick after shot.

 I love how the hardware matches the dresser perfectly. I also like her choice of knobs.....it's so modern and different.

I have to share the picture of her kitty Mattie (he really wanted to be included).

Custom Mustard Yellow Buffet

I spent the day running errands with my daughter, giving my hubby time to study for class tonight, and rushing home to take advantage of the sun poking its head out to take a few pictures. 

As I was getting ready to stage this buffet I got a text message from my client letting me know the sun was out and she was dying to see some more photos. This is for you Ashley!!

Ashley found a buffet and wanted to paint it mustard yellow. She gave me three shades of yellow to pick from and I picked Almond Puff by Valspar. I don't know if my eyes or going bad or the girl that was training in the paint department mixed it wrong but the color was off.  First, you get to see the color I mixed and at the end of this post you can see the huge mistake of a color I chose.

 BEFORE

One of our errands was Trader Joe's to get  flowers.

I don't have a color name since I mixed the color myself. 

I sprayed the pulls, waxed and very lightly distressed the edges. 

I sanded the top and used Kona stain to restain the top. 

Ashley has a farm table in her kitchen with a dark top and a coffee table with a dark wood plank top so we went dark with this piece too. 

Want to see what the Almond Puff looked like? 

It's the color on the right and the color on the left is the one I mixed. I took it with my phone at night so it's not too clear but you get the idea. 

I kept picturing yellow school buses, and those big bright smiley faces...maybe even a yield sign. 

I was going to use a black glaze to tone it down or maybe even add a little brown paint to help adjust the color. Both were a FAIL! 

Thankfully, I think I made the right call and came up with a great color that was very close to the three Ashley gave me.
 I can't leave you with this picture so here so one more good one!

Yellow is my grandma's favorite color and I never liked it. In the last two years, yellow (especially mustard yellow) has been added to my top 5 favorite colors. 

 Are you a fan of yellow?

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Chippy Bench in Teal Zeal

I want thank all of you for your sweet comments about our new baby and our family photos. If you missed that post you can click here.

I forgot to mention that we are having another girl which is perfect because I kept everything that belonged to Elise.

Now on to the furniture!

My client wanted to makeover a bench for her little girl's room. 

BEFORE

AFTER

I felt like my staging was lacking so I called in reinforcements!

She makes the bench look so tiny when she's jumping off. 

The paint is Teal Zeal by Behr and I used my orbital sander to distress. I went back with a light grit sanding block to smooth it out. It gave the bench a great chippy look! After I distressed I sealed with paste wax.

The pulls are from Hobby Lobby and the fabric in the drawer is from Joann's. 

My client used that fabric to make curtains so I added it to the drawer to hide ugly stains left over the years and to tie the bench into the room.

This bench is going to look so cute in a little girl's room!



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Meet my Family

Most of my posts are about furniture and maybe a random DIY post. I wanted to share a little of my personal life with you all.

We recently had our first family photos done. I'm the type of person who never had the desire to have photos done professionally. I think mostly because I look at pictures of myself and pick myself apart. I did the same thing with these but I know in a couple of years I will see myself in a different light and I won't judge myself so much. It sounds horrible to admit that but I know I'm not the only one. I do LOVE these pictures though.

 
 Meet my family.

Me (Helen), Elise and my amazing husband Dan.

Another excuse I had to not do family photos was the cost. 

I was given the opportunity to barter with a client so I had no excuse to not do a shoot. 

If you are in the St. Louis area and are looking for a great photographer who is above reasonable on her prices check out Krista B. Photography. The link takes you to her Facebook page which shows her awesome talent. 

Make sure to tell her Helen sent you!

I've been keeping a secret from most of you guys.

This shoot was special because we were able to capture just the three of us before we become a family of four.

We are expecting a baby at the beginning of July. Yes, that's right, this baby is almost cooked and I'm just now sharing the news.

 

 

 Our daughter (Elise) is very excited about being a big sister.

Enjoy the many faces of Elise. 

 

  

 

I'm sure I will share more of myself and my family on my blog but I don't know how much is too much. 

My focus is my business and the furniture but there are so many exciting things going on in my personal life.I don't want to bore you guys but we will see which route I take.

As a follower and blog reader what do you like? 

A little of both worlds or just the furniture?

Custom Dresser Set in Burnt Red

I want to share a quick before and after with you guys. 

A few months ago I painted a dresser set (click here for pics) for a client. Once it was in her space it was too small so she was on the hunt for something a little larger. Not only did she find something but she found something much better!

BEFORE

  

AFTER

 

If you compare the color of this set to the original dresser set the colors look almost the same. 

This time the color used was Burnt Red by Olympic and I used black glaze to darken it a little. 

I think  the color is a little darker in person compared to the pictures. 

I have to admit that even though I have a blog and I am technically a "blogger" ( I use that term loosely) I am horrible at checking-in with the the blogs I follow. I don't know if it's an attention problem or time issue but I am really about it. However, I am much better at keeping up with blogs through Facebook. If you are the same way make sure to follow me on Facbook (click here).

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