Mini-Makeover with DIY Board & Batten

One of my favorite blogs is Better After. I. LOVE. THAT. BLOG!!! While doing my weekly check-in, I came across a bathroom re-do featured from Alison at Thrifty and Chic. She redid her guest bath for $60 bucks and I wanted to get on that ASAP!

 Source: Thrifty and Chic

With help from my hubby this is our mini makeover

We used two 1x4's, which made the shelving and under ledge and nine 1x2's which made the vertical parts. They were all 8 feet long but we made the shelves a little over 5 feet. 

Prep work included: cutting, sanding, nailing, screwing, leveling....(okay, my husband did all of this but it looked super easy)! I'm not doing a complete tutorial but if you want a step-by-step click on the link for Thrifty and Chic which will walk you through the whole thing.

After all of the wood is up make sure to caulk all of the gaps, sand and then paint. I painted two coats of Swiss Coffee by Behr (love that paint) and then decorated.

I had everything on hand except for the frames, wood supplies and towels.

Here is a rundown of where everything came from:

Vases are from Hobby Lobby

Dictionary prints are from Etsy (click here for the shop)

Flowers are from my garden

Towels are from Marshall's 

Frames are from Michael's  

Wood and Caulk are from your local hardware store

Here's the best part....the wood only cost $15!!! Moral of this story: if you have most of your supplies on hand you can do this SUPER CHEAP!

We are wanting to paint over the brown (oh, I loathe brown) but I'm putting that off until next weekend. So far, I love the look of the board and batten and I adore my framed prints. They are printed on old dictionary pages and each one is individual.

What do you guys think of the board and batten look?

TV Stand Reveal

My client Shelby wanted to turn a dresser into a TV stand. I did a post a few weeks back that showed the inspiration for what she wanted. If you missed that post you can click here.

I usually show the before picture first but I'm gonna change things up with this post.
Here is the after.....

This looks SO splotchy...but it's just the below grade photos. Note to Self: Stop Rushing!!!

Moving on....

The dresser was part MDF and part wood. Well.... the drawer fronts and bottom trim were real wood. I usually work with solid wood pieces so I was a little out of my element but in the end it all came together.

The first challenge was the top which was bubbling, peeling and had a large area covered with sticky stuff. Ewww. Plus the overall look of the dresser was not working! Here's a visual of the overall ugliness!

I sanded the top down in hopes to get a smooth(er) surface. I primed the whole piece and then painted two coats of Swiss Coffee by Bher but even after all of that the reddish brown was bleeding through the top. This is where my second challenge came into play. I sanded...AGAIN... and then decided to paint with homemade chalk paint. (My homemade chalk paint recipe is 1 cup latex paint to 1/4 cup baking soda but now I just pour out some paint onto a paper plate and sprinkle in some baking soda and mix until its a medium thick consistency. After the second time making a batch I quit measuring)! The chalk paint did the trick and stopped the bleeding through!!

I took out the two middle drawers and cut birch plywood to make cubbies. Well, my husband cut the wood but I made sure to tell him how to do it!



If it wasn't for my husband I would have forgotten to add holes for the electronic cords. And that's why I call him Dan the Man....seriously, that's his name in my phone!

I distressed the whole thing, spray painted the brass pulls black (which were $1 a piece at Restore) and then added a coat of wax. I think it turned out great for not being all wood. Shelby and her husband picked up their new TV stand today and they loved it. Shelby was a great client to work with and made my job super easy!

Here is a side by side because nobody likes scrolling up and down really fast!!

BEFORE  &  AFTER

Again, I rushed my staging so I apologize for the somewhat blurry photos.

Linking up to:

Lolly Jane Boutique

Nifty Thrifty Things

I Heart Naptime

Positively Splended

Newlyweds on a Budget

Not Just a Housewife

Primp...(sorry the code for you botton was not working)

Miss Mustard Seed

Happy Hour Projects

Momnivores Dilemma

Remodelaholic

Shabby Nest

From My Front Porch to Yours

Somewhat Simple

A Glimpse Inside

Handy Man Crafty Woman

Miss Mustard Seed

Thrifty Decor Chick

Too Much Time on my Hands

Under the Table and Dreaming

Alderberry Hill

Stylish Once Again

Creatively Living (Blah 2 Beautiful)

aka Design

Now That's What I Call a Surprise

My husband came home the other day and told me he had a surprise for me.

Let me tell you how good his surprises can be. When we were dating he told me had a surprise for me. I sat at work the whole day and day dreamed of my surprise. Turns out he and his brother test drove a car that day and got a free baseball cap with a Mazda logo on it.
Are you kidding me??? Yes, he surprised me with a free hat from a car dealership... but looking back I think it was more of a joke (at least that's what I tell myself).


So when he came home and told me he had a surprise I secretly cringed inside. Then he walked through the door with this....

I think this is his best surprise to date!

He was picking up something he bought off of craigslist and the lady gave it to him. It had four stickers on it saying "box is not for sale", which is great because free is so much better. I have no clue what I am going to do with yet but I was thinking of using it next to the fireplace to hold firewood.

Here are some great ideas I have seen....

Carla from Hammers and High Heels used them to hold her shoes! Um, I would love to have her closet & her style.

Source: Hammers and High Heels

I could use it in the bathroom to hold extra towels....

Source: Flowerpatchfarmgirl

Jenn from Pin Cushion Princess used it to hold books. 

Source:pincushionprincess

My daughter's book collection is out of control. She feels books do not belong on bookshelves but rather scattered all over the floor. Right now I have them all stacked on top of her armoire so this might work! I want to make an open faced bookshelf for the wall  (one day)  and maybe I will have a tutorial for that.

What would you do with an old wooden crate? I would  love to hear your ideas!!!

Get Ready for a Whole Bunch of Ugly

I have a client (Hey Shelby!!!) who saw a dresser turned into a TV stand that she fell in love with and she wanted one for herself. After weeks of Craigslist stalking I finally found one that she loved.

This was Shelby's inspiration. Who doesn't love Sausha from Sweet Pickins (formerly Show & Tell)?

source: Sweet Pickins Blog

WARNING!!!!!

Please prepare yourself for some ugly furniture!

This is the dresser I found.

Here's a close up in case you didn't see that amazing fruit motif. Don't be jealous!



 Oh, this poor top. I predict there will be a lot of sanding in my future.

I looking forward to working on this piece and I hope I meet all of Shelby's expectations!!