PLAYROOM REVEAL!!

I guess I've been promising this post for some time now.  The problem is I can NOT get this room finished.  Now, it is "finished"... but it's not perfect.  Is any room ever going to be perfect?  I have decided the answer is NO!  So, I'm going to show you this room in its current state.  Looking at these before pictures I can see we've come a very long way so the few things here and there that I want to add and change will just have to become future blog posts!

This room started as a weekend project with an accent wall, new furniture arrangement, and a few pillows.  3 months later it had grown into new floors, painting all the trim and doors, curtains, etc. etc. etc. The main wall color is Pale Smoke and trim and cabinet color is Super White both by Benjamin Moore. My husband saw the slight transformation and got on board!  He decided we needed new floors and enlisted his buddies to come help lay them one weekend.  BUT... before we could do that... all the trim and doors were wood tone so we decided they needed to be white!  It was one of the best choices we made and the worst task to complete!

Early morning painting... no fun! 

The payoff was totally worth it!  Goodbye 1981! 

The cabinets were all taken apart, sanded, primed, painted, and then got a coat of poly.  Then, about a month later all the cabinets were taken apart {again}, sanded{again},  primed{again},  painted {again}, and then got a coat of poly {again}.  I wasn't aware that oil based polyurethane would turn my white cabinets the color of a banana!  Sad and frustrating, but lesson learned.  While we had them down anyway we chose a brighter white (Super White by Ben Moore) and also painted the hinges in Krylon Fusion Metallic Shimmer.  The ACRYLIC top coat was tinted to the exact white as  the cabinet color to avoid the banana debacle from happening again.

The Hubs doing the sanding as I go right behind him priming with the big can of Kilz you see in the forground.

Benjamin Moore's Super White with newly painted hinges.

Two rounds of sanding, priming, painting,and sealing ended up

being totally worth it in the end! Look at the difference

in color from the above picture where we are sanding!!



Once all the painting was done and the floors were down it was just a matter of rearranging furniture and accessorizing.   I made two curtain panels to hide the giant holes on either side of the fire place.  I am assuming they were put there to store wood.  We use them to store toys, fabric, craft supplies, etc.  If you remember from the original post I wanted sliding barn doors to cover them.  Sliding doors are impossible because the actual fireplace sticks out about 4 inches past the wall.  There may be barn style doors in my future but they will be on hinges.  For now, these panels do the trick of hiding the junk. 

Good storage but U-G-L-Y!

The accent fabric here is "Spot On" by Waverly and the rest of the panel is a white cotton duck.  They are hanging thru a rod pocket on $3 tension rods from Big Lots.   Notice in the before picture the cubby on the left is perfect size to hold fabric bolts!

The wet bar cabinets received that same paint treatment as the other cabinets (both times) and you can read about the fridge transformation here.  The mirror was a gift from my sweet mom she picked out just for this spot.  I love how much light it reflects back into the room!  It is from Pier 1.

What were they thinking in the 80's?!?

Perfect place to clean dirty hands or mix a drink.  It's inevitable that people end up down here whether we are hosting a kids party or an adult party.

In came a new rug.  The one I was coveting from Dash and Albert!  We got rid of the worlds heaviest TV and sold the TV cabinet (it was where the gallery wall is now).  The new TV was a Christmas present from my sweet in-laws.  The couch was reoriented which completely opened up the room.  The gallery wall went up and that was enough for me to call the room "finished enough for now."

Gallery wall and custom lamp shade how-to found here.  I left plenty of room to add to it over the years.

I made this pillow from an old bird seed sack.  Love it!

Before

Inspiration Room from Traditional Home Magazine

The overall cost of this room was very inexpensive considering the amount of work that went in. We purchased the floors from Lowes on Black Friday for right at $700 ($1/sq. ft). We recruited friends to help install (cost... 1 case of beer for the boys :-). We spend about $200 on paint for the baseboards, doors, walls, and cabinets and still have some leftover. The Dash and Albert rug was 30% off so I got it for less that $250 including shipping which is pretty good for an awesome 8x10 rug. I owned most all the frames and just made them cohesive with paint. Mirror was a gift. Lamp $5 from Goodwill and refurbished. Waveryly fabric was $12.99/yd and I bought 2 yds for all the pillows, curtain trim, and bench cover. Other odds and ends maybe $50. Total cost came in under $1300. I'm OK with it because it feels like a brand new space that we want to spend time in rather than a dark, cold, dingy basement.

I wanted this room to have a playful feel because that is where we plan on keeping most of the toys (now I just need to work on my scaredy cat son so he'll go down there alone...). But, when we have big parties at our house this is the room where a lot of people end up so I needed it to also function that way. I hope you enjoy checking it out! If you have a suggestion for the TV wall PLEASE pass it on!!

 

Kandi

Hutch Redo

I have been so overwhelmed to the response to my Mud Room makeover.  Thank you! Thank you! Thank you.! I thought I would show you the step-by-step process of taking a piece of furniture from dated to updated. 

before

after

In full disclosure, I am not an expert painter.  In fact I have only painted a few pieces of furniture around my home.  In the past I have bought a can of paint, and brushed it on.  Whenever I am unsure about a project I  search the blog world for advice; in my search I came across this blog post by allthingsthrifty.com  about spray painting furniture, and I thought I would give it a try.

http://www.allthingsthrifty.com/2010/08/everything-i-know-about-spray-paint.html

A couple of things I learned along the way. 

1.  You do need to prime, I used Kilz, and it does leave a grit on the wood that needs to be sanded
2. Wear a mask, spray paint goes everywhere!
3.  Your fingers and arms will hurt
4.  It takes about twice as many cans of paint as you estimate
5.  It is worth it!  Most professional look you can achieve at home.
6.  On my Christmas list....a professional sprayer and a warehouse so I can work year-round

paints used on this project

prepping hutch for paint

take off all doors and hardware

look at this awful hardware.  Don't be afraid to buy new knobs/pulls....

 Finished hutch....with simple knobs

A note about styling a piece of furniture.  I am currently working with a client to accessorize her home.  This can be an overwhelming process.  Here are a few pointers I like to keep in mind when I am accessorizing a piece of furniture. 

1.  Think about the overall feel of your home, and stick with it....if you are a minimalist, stay true to who you are, if you like collections, keep them grouped so they look like works of art.

2.  I like to stay with only a few colors that flow from one side of the piece to the other....notice in my styling of the hutch I kept to my green/blue antique glass collection, old books and metal (both silver and bronze).  Notice the balancing of the books, and the other "brown" items like the antique cow bell, and baskets.  From a distance the eye sees all the weight of the "brown" items as the same.  So at a quick glance you take in the browns and blues and move on.  Nothing is jarring. 

3.  I don't like to mix ultra modern with rustic country.  In my world it just does not look right.

4.  Don't be afraid to move things around until you get the right look.

I love fresh flowers so I placed a couple of bud vases on the book shelf. (behind the dog, and the picture frame)

Rebekah

P.S. I have been working on a paper heart garland I will share with you on Thursday.

Here is where we link up!

Change Is In The Air

There are big changes coming to Woven Home!  Not only are we expanding our product lines into local stores in Hendersonville and Lynchburg but we are also bringing some changes to the blog.  Along with a new look to the blog we are also going to bring in some new weekly features
including a weekly Pinterst challenge.  Here we will take an idea we have pinned, whether craft, decorating idea, recipe, anything is fair game, and try it out here!   We are also going to be adding a little more about ourselves and showcasing more of our work each week.  Come along with us as we make these new changes, and let us know how we are doing along the way!!

To start us off... here is a little tid bit about the two of us that may give you a little more insight into who we are.   A glimpse into our souls if you will...

We laugh a lot and mostly at ourselves and the mistakes we make... But a little more serious... if I have it in me... these words that have inspired us  lately.



This one is for me!


We are excited about the changes happening with Woven Home, and we feel so honored to have you with us for this journey. 

Kandi & (Rebekah)

Mudroom Reveal

My mud room is finally finished!

                           



I love the way it turned out.  If you remember my budget for this room was $200; and I have to confess that I went a little over budget by about $50.  However, I was able to reuse many of the items in this room, which really helped me stay close to budget.  If you look closely, you will see that I kept the rug, one of the benches, a chair, coat rack, mirror, art, and a few other accessories. 

I don't think I have shared my before pictures with you.  So here they are.....plain white walls, miss matched furniture and lots of shoes!

Look at all that stuff!  I need storage!

View from the door, looking into my house

I wish this picture was not so blurry, but do you remember the buffet I purchase for $100?

My Mud Room Now.....

Wow! What a difference!

I placed a console and a chair on the left wall.  Now I have a place to set mail, keys and lets face it everything else. I am so glad I moved this chair next to the table.  I can now sit down and take off my shoes without walking across the room.  Baskets and vintage suitcases hold shoes and out of season items.  My large antique crock is the perfect place for my kids to throw their scarves and hats.  I find that if I make storage visible and easy for my kids they are more likely to put their things away than leave them on the floor!

View toward the door

Remember that $100 buffet?  It is amazing what a little paint can do!  Look at all that hidden storage!  This piece of furniture holds shoes, art supplies, hats, mittens, and so much more.  By far this was my biggest expense.  I spent $150 on this project.  (buffet + paint)

Coat hooks, bench and buffet (Sorry about the sun)

Chalk Heart Garland (I could not help myself, I had to do a little Valentine's Day decorating)
Hearts from Micheals, painted with chalkboard paint, wired together.   Idea from Pinterest.

Chalk painted hearts a + r = j & c

My hubby and my initials = our sons' initials....

I had the antique coat hooks and bench....but I need extra storage.  We are a shoeless home and tripping over my kids shoes every time I walk through this room drives me crazy!  So I needed a place for the kids to put their shoes.  These metal baskets from TJ Maxx are perfect and each child has their own bin. (metal baskets $8 each) I also bought a vintage sap pale for $6!  It is perfect for wet umbrellas.

So I have to confess I did not have time to make pillows for the bench, so I took a couple of my valentine's pillows home from Boudoir.  These are going back, and they are for sale....(but they do look pretty cute here on my bench.....)

I made this little cafe curtain from a single vintage pillow case. 

Look at the detail!  Beautiful!

a new place for mail

a little chalk paint can go a long way

Isn't it amazing what a little bit of paint, and rearranging the furniture can do for a room!  Before I was embarrassed to have people enter my house through my mud room.  Now I look for excuses to walk into this space.  I love it,  I know that if may not be as fancy as some of the mudrooms I see on Pinterest, but for a $250 budget, it is a space that makes me proud.  To recap; my $250 was spent on the buffet, wall paint (Behr Wheat Bread in an eggshell finish), and various accessories.  I hope this mudroom reveal encourages you to go out and make your spaces beautiful;  just because you don't have a large budget does not mean you can't make changes to your home that make you proud. 

Rebekah

p.s. We were in Hendersonville this past weekend, and I think Kandi is almost ready to reveal her family room. I can't wait to see the pictures.  You are not going to believe the transformation!

Here is where we link up!

Bye Bye Birdie

Let me start by saying I'm not a big fan of ducks in general.  Have you ever taken your child to feed them and next thing you know your surrounded by hundreds of quacking ducks all vying for those few pieces of stale bread you have in your hand.   I mean, am I the only one that starts running low on bread and chunks the whole bag at them and runs?? 

See... this is about two seconds before Will got a good nip!

Now, imagine having a pretty strong aversion to ducks to begin with and then walking into your soon to be new house and seeing THIS wallpaper!

Ahhhhh!!!!  Turn and run!!  They are after you :-)

Ok, so, slight exaggeration but you must admit this wallpaper is beyond awful!  As we did the walk thru of our house on our way to closing I pulled a big chunk of it down!  It felt good!  There were actually two versions of this.  One in Gray's bedroom and the coordinating partner in an adjoining powder room.  I made my sweet sister get to work helping me pull the rest of the wallpaper down.  She is cool like that... even though she gave me lots of mean looks.

Check out this mean look.  She inherited it from my dad!

Some wallpaper removing tips.
1.  Bring your patience.
2.  Pray for good luck.
3.  Use the right tools!

I have removed a lot of wallpaper in my day.  I have tried just pulling it off piece by piece, the scoring tool and spraying warm water, the scoring tool and spraying the expensive wallpaper removing goo, and all three combined.  But, the hands down winner for me has been the scoring tool and a steamer! 

Tools you need.
1.  Putty knife
2.  Wallpaper scoring tool.  I used the Piranha Wallpaper Scoring Tool from Lowes.
3.  Either the chemical remover or a steamer.  I used this Wagner Wallpaper Steamer and it worked great.
4.  Drop cloth.
4.  You may or may not need a step ladder or stool.
5  I recommend you do enlist a partner!

I do not endorce this method.  But, if you do choose to use it... make sure your sister is skinny too.

Drape your floor, remove outlet covers, start scoring.  I work section by section.  Score, score, score. Steam, steam, steam. And, S-L-O-W-L-Y pull from the top down with one person working on each corner of the wallpaper pulling down and in toward the middle. It's not rocket science, but it is tedious and more often than not, a super duper annoying task. For the record, cussing at the wallpaper will not make it come off any easier. Listening to music really loud and working with your sister does seem to help though!

A lot of people swear by the chemical method but for me the steamer worked best.  You can always try the chemical first and if it doesn't work then move on. 

Here are a few afters of the powder room.

The wall color is a warm neutral from Sherwin Williams called Basket Beige (SW6143)

All the art in the room is from Children Inspire Design.  These are the Good Manners Wall Cards.  Totally adorable and totally affordable!

"You Are My Sunshine" print from Children Inspire Design, thrifted picture frame, and $12 Target Lamp.

This is from Gray's room looking in.  The vanity is a custom mixed Navy I had color matched to his bed.   I bought the wooden GRAY letters at Walmart and he painted them himself.

This is a small space hard to take pictures of but it is one million percent better!  So, if you're tired of that dated old wallpaper go get to it!  It's not fun but the finished product is amazingly rewarding.

Kandi

A couple other articles that might be helpful.
Removing Wallpaper with Steam
How to Remove Wallpaper: Patience Is a Virtue
How to Remove Wallpaper