Hello & A Quick DIY

Hello All!  It has been WAY too long.  I am alive!  My Summer break from blogging turned into a sabbatical!  Life got the best of me... in a good way.  I turned 30 in October and have been putting priorities in place.  Blogging was one item that didn't seem to fit into my new daily routine.  I actually thought I wouldn't come back, but due to the sweetest emails from blog buddies I couldn't stay silent anymore.  I can't promise daily posts, not even weekly, but I promise to clean the cobwebs off my keyboard a bit  more often.
I couldn't not come back with a simple DIY I thought I would share. With the adoption moving right along, we have been looking at our house with baby goggles.  Seeing little projects that help with organization and clutter.  One area that needed help was the entry way.  We had this large empty wall going up our stairs.  I thought about just hanging art, but with the baby and living in rainy Oregon, a place to hang clutter ( diaper bags, jackets, scarves ect.) would be useful.

Sorry I don't have a picture of the wall without the beams already up, but just imagine it without.  So I simply purchased some wood beams from Home Depot. While I was there I picked up some Allen & Roth iron wall hooks for two bucks a piece. We trimmed the wood to the length of the wall then drilled them into the wall with anchors for durability.  Then I simply caulked around the beams to give it a custom look. After a little paint that matches our other moulding in the house and a touching up the wall paint it was time to add the hooks.  And viola!

The whole project cost under 50 bucks.  Can't beat that! Especially for adding esthetically pleasing organization to the house.

Glad to be back,
Heather

Photo Ledge DIY

I totally forgot I never shared pictures of our photo ledge that I talked about trying here.  Sorry for the delay, but better now than never.  I am really happy with how it turned out.  It fills an otherwise odd empty space with a bit of interest.  Did I mention it was a super cheap DIY.

 

Here is the empty wall at the top of our landing.  The walk space is narrow with no room for a piece of furniture.  The light switch always threw me off when hanging a piece of art.  It seamed to always make the art look unbalanced.  I decided that a photo ledge would be a fun way to be able to cherish fun family memories. 

 Here is the wall with my new photo ledge.  If you look close you will notice one frame at the end waiting for a family memory to be saved.  We are going on vacation  this April for our anniversary and hope to fill it.


Here is the how to....

I used two Ikea Ribba Picture Ledges.

Using one ledge only went half way across the wall so I purchased two and used wood filler to fill in the seam between to make it unnoticeable.

Wood Filler & Caulking

I caulked underneath and all around the shelve. Then I painted over the caulking with our existing wall paint for a built in look.

Viola!

Be Well,

Heather

Tie Dye Drape DIY

via

I wasn't planning on posting this weekend but when I ran across this picture, I had to share it with you guys.  Take a look at those fun tie dye drapes.  Those are Ikea's 100% cotton drapes. To check out  the steps involved go here.  Easy peasy!  Wouldn't they look great in nursery or even a beach house? 

Have a wonderful weekend!

Be Well,

Heather

Weekend In Projects

Hope you all had a great first weekend of the New Year! Mine was filled with house projects. With the New Year here, I realized Collin will be here in no time (PRAYING!) I have had a list of projects and empty spaces I have been wanting to conquer since we moved. I figured it is now or never, because when our tot gets here, I know projects will be the last thing on my mind.  I added some color to our bedroom by adding some coral block print shams.  I will share more on that later. 


For now, a little teaser.  Here are some shots I took of projects I started.

 Project 1



Project 2



hmmmmm....Could that be a Campaign piece with a 25.00 price tag?!



Project 3



I had to share this picture of Gracie ( My weekend project helper.)  She would not leave me alone this weekend and I loved every minute of it.
I hope to share the finished projects with you sooner than later!

Be Well,
Heather

Botanical Print DIY

Design Sponge

   

It's no secret, I like house plants.  I almost have them in every room of my house.  Well, now it's time to add some foliage to the wall.  I was inspired by these images of over scale botanical prints.  I love large art.  I think it is stately.  I have a spot in my living room above my side chair that needs a large piece of art to complete the vignette of the space.  I tend to stick with original art, but I am stepping out of my boundaries and going with a print.  We will see. 

Design Sponge



Pinterest keyword Botanical Print



Habitually Chic - Thomas O'Brien Design



Since I am on a budget (ugly word) I stayed away from the large scale pre- framed prints at stores like Z Gallery, Aaron Brothers, ect.  I found the above pumpkin print here.  Trust me friends, I did my homework and they are by far the cheapest for botanical prints. I love the large green leaves in the print. I purchased a  24 by 36 inch print.  I picked up an Ikea Ribba frame in dark wood and viola! The print was 13.99 and the frame was 24.  I think that is pretty good for large scale art!  I will share pictures as soon as the print arrives. 

Ikea Ribba frame

Here's to a great Monday!
Heather

Ikea Rug DIY

I have a complete obsession with pillows.  It's like most women with shoes, I just can't have enough.  So when I ran across this DIY, I had to share it with you!  You probably all have seen one of the Ikea woven rugs?  They are really inexpensive putting you back only 4 bucks!   I never would have thought about picking one up to make a fun shaggy pillow cover, would you?





Find directions here on Martha Stewart's site.

xo,
Heather

Weekend DIY

It has been quite awhile since I have gotten the time to get knee deep in a project, but I made some time this weekend.  I picked up this dresser at Goodwill and gave it a face lift. It's amazing what a little elbow grease and paint will do!  I'm not keeping it.  I am selling it to make some extra cash.  I will get more into that later this week.  Until it finds a home it is sitting pretty in the guest room. 

Hope you all are enjoying your weekend!

xo,

Heather

Mirror DIY

Ran across an awesome tutorial on antiquing mirrors on Pinterest.  By the way, thanks a lot Camille for starting me on such an addictive habit! I find hours fly by on Pinterest.  Anyway, thought you guys might want a good DIY for the files. 

Here is the end result of a mirror antiqued using this method.  Check out the process here.

Inspired

 As I was catching up on my blog reading this morning, I ran across two quick projects that totally inspired me and I had to share them with you!  You might already read the blogs of these very talented ladies but just in case you don't. 
First I was over at Pure Style Home, and saw these fern window boxes Lauren put together on a whim.  I have always liked window boxes but never have I  gotten the nerve to do it because I see too many dead window boxes around town and think about the maintenance.  But to do fern boxes in the Northwest is perfect! The boxes are on sale right now at Home Depot and I love how lush they look!

Then I stopped over at Me, you and a wiener and saw what Bri was up to.  I am seriously shocked every time I see one of her DIY's.  Bri is one talented lady. I would love to borrow her brain for a day.  Anyway, this project was simple and cheap.  She took these decorative brackets and added them to her floating shelves to come up with...

 I love the detail they give the shelves.  They add a bit of glamour.  It's no secret that I love campaign pieces and this project reminds me of them. 

 If you haven't, go check out these two blogs.  There are loads of eye candy, DIY's and inspiration to be seen! 

Have a fabulous day!
xo,
Heather

No Ordinary Lamp Shade

I ran across an image from interior designer, Mary McDonald and immediately found interest in the Asian lamp with the rattan lamp shade.  I love the texture it gives.  You don't see a lamp shade like this everyday....well, I do!!!

This reminded me that I have never shared with you guys my laundry room light fixture DIY.  I found this really cool antique rattan lamp shade at one of my favorite antique stores for 7 bucks.  I then purchased a light kit at Home Depot, "My home away from home" and viola!  The house came with one of those industrial fluorescent light fixtures that made me feel like I was in jail while folding laundry.  I like the new one much better.

And look how cool it looks turned on! 

* light kit - 10 bucks

*lamp shade - 7 bucks

That is how I like my DIY's, cheap & easy!

Happy Monday!

Heather

Grandfather DIY

Wanted to show you guys a quick little before and after. Found this grandfather clock on craigslist for 40 bucks.  Sorry for the bad craigslist picture.

Here it is now.  After some staining, painting, spray painting the pendulum, and sanding.  I'm really happy with it.

Pretty easy too...

1. Sanded the clock down
   
2. Stained it with a ebony stain
3. Painted a coat of creamy goodness
4. Sanded again
5. Painted another coat
6. Distressed it by sanding
7. Spray painted the chains and pendulum black
8. Stepped back and got excited!
   

Don't forget to stop by tomorrow to "Meet & Greet" a Special lady and her fellow.  If you are a mama or a papa you won't want to miss this one!

xo,

Heather

My Next DIY

When I ran across this photo from South of Market, I knew I had a future DIY on my hands. By the way if you have never visited SOM website, go check it out for some amazing eye candy!

 I was super inspired by this graphic vine art.  I love how simple yet bold these two pieces are. I like how they are a modern take of vines. Kind of reminds me of a block print.

 Retail price for one print is close to three thousand bucks!  Definitely not in my budget. But to me it looks pretty simple to DIY.

Here is a picture of one whole single piece.

I love the scale of the piece. I would want to frame them in a thin antique gold metal frame. I have two idea's on where these prints would live, but more on that later.

What do you think? Am I biting off more than I can chew for a DIY?

XO,

Heather

Meet & Greet - Design Manifest

Meet Naomi from the blog Design Manifest.  She is an interior designer in the Philadelphia area. Her blog is her design journal that we luckily get to partake in! She has fantastic taste, using bold colors, with bits of modern, traditional and ethnic flairs.



This is where she blogs...

Bold and Beautiful! No wonder her blog is so chic, blogging in that environment!

I wanted to introduce Design Manifest to you in case you don't already follow because I am always amazed at her DIY projects. Often times I see DIY's and think they look like DIY's! Not Naomi's! Hers look like they are just as expensive as the real deal. There have been two projects in particular that made my jaw drop, but before I share them with you, here are a few photos of her amazing loft.

Pure eye candy, right?!!

OK, now to  Naomi's DIY's.  She took this pine dresser from Ikea.

.

Stained it...

Painted it...

Added hardware...

And Viola!

To see this project step by step and the inexpensive cost breakdown go here.

This next DIY is my all time favorite! If you read my blog at all you know I love campaign furniture and asian art.  Naomi created the perfect piece.

And here is the finished product with two cabinets next to each other...

To see this project step by step go here.

Thank you Naomi for inspiring all your reader's and showing us that design doesn't need to break the bank. Your blog has personally inspired me to tackle projects and think outside the box. Thanks for sharing your knowledge and creativity with us!

XO,

Heather