Painted Lamps. My Newest Thrifty Find, Modified.

Hello! Today I want to show you my new lamps. I found them at the GW (that's Goodwill). They were brand new from Tar-jay, (that's Target) and still had their original tags. Target was asking $35 each in the store, but I snagged them at GW for a mere $9.99 a piece! Whoot-whoot!

I loved the shape, but knew I wanted to change the finish, and add black shades. Here's what they looked like before I tweaked them...

 Nice shape, but too brown!

When completed, I wanted the lamps to look like old antiqued brass. I have an old lamp on my desk that has the perfect genuine aged patina to it, so I was hoping to get close to that.

I mixed 3 different acrylic paints, pure gold, black, and venetian gold, and applied them mixed and layered until I achieved the effect I was going for.

 I think I got the look I was hoping for.

Here's how they look on either side of the bed. The suitcases at the foot of the bed are going to find a new home in favor of a padded bench.

 My side of the bed. I collect old Japanese abacus'. I brought one up from another room. I like it next to the new lamp.

 A couple close-ups of the finish.

 Mr. W's side of the bed.

 Last of the close-ups.

I have a few more projects to share this week. We were actually going to take a trip to London today, but we had to re-schedule it. Instead, I think we are headed to Disneyland tomorrow with the little guy! It's a big deal when I get the hubs to agree to go with us!

What new projects are you working on? Have you painted anything this week? My wheels are turning...I have so many crazy ideas, I need to calm down and figure out which one to do first.

Off to plan for the happiest place on earth!

xo
-Lisa

Fabric Painted Pillows Tutorial.

Happy Sunday everyone! I have been really tied up this week preparing for an unexpected trip! I will fill you in on that later.

I did manage to do a little project, though. I had some plain tan linen pillows in my bedroom that I've been wanting to spice up for a while. I decided to go for it with fabric paint.

*Note* I was not going for total perfection here...I wanted them to have a hand done quality. Here's what I started with...

 I removed the pillow forms and laid them out on the floor. (Brazen of me with no drop cloth, huh? Hehe! I am lazy sometimes!)

 I used painter's tape to mark off where I wanted the stripes to be, and pressed down firmly, but still not worrying about perfection...

 I used almost two small bottles of this paint, and a sponge brush.

 And, because I am impatient, a hair dryer to speed things along!

 Voila! My new pillow covers! They are still plain on the other side, incase I want that option again.

I also decided to bring back my old custom made bedding. I think I just like it better. Here's what they look like, though I may add more embellishment. See those little gold things? Those are pretty earrings a girlfriend gave me. I just stuck them in to see what I might like to do. 

 A few last close ups.

There you have it!! I am off to find some new lampshades today for lamps I bought this week. Of course I will share those with you as well. (After I tweak them a bit!) ;-)

Soak up the rest of your Sunday!! I'll be back tomorrow.

xo

-L.
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Procrastination Paralysis. Master Bath Update.

Hi all! Well, I am aiming for full disclosure here. I have been in a state of paralysis. Late last summer, I hatched a plan to update my master bath while Mr. W was deployed to Afghanistan. I was aiming to have it all completed upon his return home the day before Thanksgiving. **Warning** Long post, but hang in there for lots of pictures!

I would say that we are 80% there. (He was very surprised, and really likes it). I have not done anything else to the room since his return, and the whirlwind that was the holiday season. We were gone more than we were home from Thanksgiving to New Years Eve!

Now that it's late January, I'm running out of reasons not to dive in and finish it.The truth is, It's overwhelming to me, because I'm not IN LOVE with it just yet... it's just not singing to me.

I started with off -white walls. When we moved in, I stripped the wallpaper, and painted the walls off- white, knowing that I would live with it for a bit, and then develop my new plan. A few years after that, I painted the honey oak stained cabinets tan, and added a stain to age them a bit. Everything else stayed the same until this past September.

I wanted something dramatic, and after trying several colors, I decided to go deep brown. Bittersweet, actually. And, I think it was a Home Depot color that Sherwin Williams color matched. I was also in a bit of a quandary tying to figure out what to do with my white doors and trim. To me, it looked like an Oreo, to have the dark drown of the walls next to the white doors. (Actually, they were Swiss Coffee, I think. So not bright white, but close enough!) Of course if my cabinets were also swiss coffee, It probably would have looked less weird, but I digress.

I flip-flopped back and forth between painting the doors and moulding to match the cabs, or be really daring and paint them black. Well, partly because I am lazy sometimes, but mostly because I was worn out from being a single mom while the hubs was deployed, I went ahead and hired a painter to do the the last coats on the walls, and paint the ceiling. I decided to let him paint the doors black, honestly, I thought it would be easier than trying to have him match the finish I did on the cabs.

I'm still not sold on the doors. Now I'm wondering why I did not just paint them the same color as the walls? It just did. not. occur. to me. Who knows? I may not have liked that either.

Here's a rundown of what was changed, and what still needs to be done...

• All sink, and shower fixtures changed from (Liberace Gold) Shiny Brass to Oil Rubbed Bronze. We are still waiting on the tub fixture to come in. This is our 3rd one. (Long story.)
• Walls, ceiling, and doors painted.
• New cabinet hardware installed.
• New dark brown switch covers, switches and outlets/covers put in. (They used to be white.)
• New rugs.
• Some new accessories, some I already had. 

Still on the list to be completed...

• Painting the old (Liberace Gold) Shiny Brass shower trim. (I found an ORB spray paint that works great for this!)
• The GIANT honkin' mirrors. I was going to frame them out, but now I think I am going to pull them out, and replace with some nice pre-framed mirrors I saw at Home Goods.
• Hang grass cloth wall paper in the inset wall where the mirrors are hung.
• Install wall mounted sconces on grass cloth wall paper on either side of both mirrors.
• Get new textured roman shade for large window over the tub. I want one with a top-down, bottom-up feature. Smith and Noble has some nice options. 
• New hand towels.

That about covers it. Our master bath is open to our bedroom, which is predominately a black and tan color scheme. Here are some pics...

 Sink Fixtures.

 Some of my accessories.

 The view looking back into the master bedroom.

 The view of the bath from the bedroom.

 The wall above my tub. Wall plaques reflect three of my favorite cities!

 View from over by the tub, and water closet.

 Yep, that's my arm! No other way to get the shot!

See, there's still tape on the shower glass where I did the test portion ORB.

P.S. For those of you too young to get my Liberace reference, he was a very flamboyant pianist when I was a kid, with a propensity for the overly shiny, overly done look. His costumes alone were so blinged-out, they could have blinded someone! Think an Italian style Elton John playing showtunes. I've always just called our brass fixtures Liberace gold. I am SO happy to be rid of them! 

I am hoping to get this thing wrapped up very soon. Does you also find yourself putting projects on the back burner if they are not living up to the vision you had for them? What do you do to get going again? I'd love any inspiring words that you have for me!

Well, that's it for today! I will be back with more updates on the master bath, as it nears completion. Wish me luck!

Linking up to...

                         
Have a great day!
xo
-Lisa

A Clutter-Free Night Table.

Ok, this is gonna be a quickie. I am all cozy in my bed, and I am FINALLY going to watch an hour of my DVR shows. Ok, fine...it's American Idol night. Ok? Yes, it's my guilty pleasure. So, let's get right to it!

A few weeks back, I was grumbling to myself about not being able to ever find the TV remote, who's home is supposed to be on my night table. I also was lamenting the fact that every time I reached over for anything I was constantly knocking the tissue box off it's perch. 

I got to thinking that maybe I should put that 3M command strip stuff, similar to velcro on the side of my night table, and the bottom of the remote. Same with the tissue box, but I wanted to find an unobtrusive re-fillable one. Out of sight, and out of the way!

I had a plan! Wouldn't you know, just a few days later, I found the cutest vintage clear plastic re-fillable tissue container at the G.W. (That's my code for the Goodwill, folks!)  It was 99 cents!! Yep. That's right.

I cleaned that baby up with hot soapy water, and applied the hook and loop strips to it, and the remote.

 Hey, nice Uggs, and red jammie pants!

 A little blurry...sorry.

 Once hung, they were barely visible from the side, and I love it!!!

 My night table is quite old, and was purchased at a little Santa Barbara antique store for $50 bucks! The finish was this way when I got it, And I love it. I added some free hand gold scroll work on the front of the top drawer, and little stars on the knobs.

I also found a little beat up pewter tray several months ago while thrifting. It was $1.99, I think. I lived with it pewter for a while, but decided to hit it with some bronze metallic spray paint, and some cork contact paper so I can put my drink on it. It works great!

 See, now there's plenty of room on my night table, and you can't even see the remote and tissue box on the side!

I am currently tweaking my master. It is furnished with collected pieces. I do have a nice large high boy double chest from Restoration Hardware on the wall that's not shown here. The same wall that houses the TV. 

That's it for now. Off to watch my show. Don't judge, I know it's crazy! I love it anyway! :-)

xo

-Lisa

An Organized Pantry in 5 Steps.

Hello all! I am back with the pantry before and after. My pantry is small. It's actually a large cupboard, rather than the walk in beauty of my dreams. But, maybe that's for the best. Less to organize and maintain.

I find that since cutting out most processed food, and aiming to eat more fresh, whole foods, I don't have the need to store a bunch of boxes and cans anymore. I have tried to streamline my shopping, and buy fresh fruits and veggies one or two times per week. We eat a TON of fresh produce.

I have been dreading the pantry clean out, and I'm embarrassed to say that there were things in there that had been expired for years!!! (Mostly canned goods, but some condiments found in the back too!)

Here is the space I am working with, and the new containers I purchased from Ikea a few days ago...

 My pantry. -Uh...Cabinet. :-)

BPA free Ikea containers for storage.

Here are the 5 easy steps I used for an organized pantry.

• Clear out EVERYTHING, and dispose of old items.
• Wipe down shelves.
• Wash and dry storage containers.
• Load back in and arrange in a way that functions best.
• Label dry goods, and keep everything visible.

Here is the lovely before shot of my pantry. (*cringe*)

Yep. That's right, peeps. I'm keepin' it real! Just know that if I were the only one living here, angels would sing when I opened that cabinet, cuz that baby would be sparkling perfection! But alas...

Here's the first step.

 Clearing out and discarding the old.

After wiping down, I loaded everything back in, new containers labeled and ready to go!

 New pretty containers hold breakfast bars, nuts, snacks, and pasta and grains.

 Love it!

Finished pantry below.

I also had to deal with another problem that I kept forgetting to tackle (intentionally blew off). 

The previous owner put up some ugly plastic spice holders, and they were so stuck onto the cabinets, that when I re-painted, I decided to wait to paint the inside, until I dealt with removing them. (Lame?!)

 See those little stinkers? Ooh, and the HIDEOUS old oak finish on the cabs?

 I had to pound, chisel, and scrape!

 Now I get to sand and paint the insides, but NOT today. :-)

I don't need my spices in the pantry, I prefer to have them close to the cooktop, in a drawer.

Well, that was a glimpse of my day today. Who else is in mission organization mode this month? Have you been working in your kitchen too? I'd love to hear your tips and tricks for keeping things neat and tidy. 

Later this week I have to clean out the fridge and freezer, and the coffee and tea cabinet. Not nearly as much work as the pantry! (I hope!) 

xo

-Lisa

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