backsplash complete!

Here it is all grouted.

It's been hard to get great pictures.  We enjoy lots of afternoon sun in the kitchen in the summer but the winter has the sun falling behind the trees before I can snap a decent picture!  We are so happy with the finished look!  The grey grout is a very soft grey so while there is contrast it isn't extreme.

It is the finishing touch that the kitchen has been needing!  I'll be working on getting some nice photos of the whole kitchen when the sun will cooperate!

My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia

shelf upgrade

I talked a bit about this eyesore in my homegoals

It isn't awful but it certainly isn't anything special.  We need a piece of furniture for this space.  A buffet would be nice but it has to be open on the bottom because there is an air vent behind.  We'd ideally like to find something second hand and give it a makeover.  This takes time as you know!  In the meantime I wanted to do something to improve the look of this rinky dink folding bookshelf that has been in three apartments and finally got a "distressed" paint job and was tossed in this corner of the dining room months ago.  I've seen "mantles" for folding bookshelves.

home decorators

The mantles help to fancy these bookshelves up a bit.  I figured we could make our own.  So, I went to Home depot and got a piece of wood cut to 28"x12" to fit the top.  I brought it home and put it on top to make sure it would work. 

Yup, that will do!  I also picked up a little trim to dress it up.

We just cut the trim to size for the front and sides of the top piece and tacked it on.  I caulked around the trim a little to clean it up and painted the whole thing white.

I put another coat of paint on the shelf.  Then I ran a line of wood glue around the top.

 Then I stuck the top on and waited for it to dry.  Someone had a good time with all the books on the floor in the meantime.

And then....

Some more shots...

A much better look I think.  It will do the job and look a little more snazzy until we find something else.  Not bad for a $7.00 piece of wood and $2.00 worth of trim right?

linking up to Not Just A Housewife 
and My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Coastal Charm
Reasons to skip the Housework
The Kurtz Corner
Savvy Southern Style
Creating a house of grace
Its Overflowing
The Shabby Creek Cottage
Delightful Order
French Country Cottage
Miss Mustard Seed

quick letter art

When I switched out the frames in our dining room here I freed up some frames for use elsewhere.  Our gallery wall above the sofa in the living room is constantly shifting and growing.  I joke with my husband that one of these days I'm going to tap in a nail and the whole wall will crumble down because there are so many holes.

When we got back after the holidays I started fussing around the house.  Does anyone else do this before they even unpack their suitcase?  I am compelled to decorate after being away from the house for a week.  I know, a little strange.

So we shifted the gallery wall once again and I had a gap to fill.  So I took this fabric I have.

I used the burlap for the background.  Burlap, what?  More burlap!  The love affair is in full swing!  I drew a little lower case b on the chevron fabric and cut it out with scissors.   It isn't perfect but that is part of the charm.  I just put the b on top of the burlap and assembled the frame again.  No glue or anything. Here it is

That makes three letter b's on the gallery wall.  I'm not sure what my fascination with letters is but I can't get enough.

 

linking up to It's Overflowing

 Savvy Southern Style

 Delightful Order  

Home Stories A to Z 

The Shabby Creek Cottage 

House of Hepworths 

No Minimalist Here 

Let Birdz Fly 

French Country Cottage 

chalk paint desk

On Saturday I tackled another chalk paint project.

This little desk.

It has lived a long and useful life.  It was a desk for my Mom's sisters when they were young.  My grandfather painted it white with red drawers for them.  Later my Mom took it for a sewing table and painted it in this off white enamel.  I took it for a drawing desk in our old apartment and most recently it was in my basement craft area.  I never got around to repainting it and it was time for an update if it was going to come live in the master bedroom.

So I mixed up more chalk paint with good old plaster of paris.  The same 1 part plaster of paris to 2 parts paint worked well.  If the color I made for the desk looks similar to this table  I did that is because I used the same left over samples to mix up a nice silver grey.  I painted the whole desk in the grey but thought it needed some flair.  So I taped off a square on the top with painters tape.

and one down at the bottom as well.

I mixed up a nice buttery yellow for them since I've been thinking about introducing some yellow to our master bedroom for a while now.

I put a coat of minwax over the whole thing, put on new knobs and here she is in her new glory.

I picked up this $5 chair from an estate sale and recovered the seat with an extra curtain panel.

I put some of that fabric in the top drawer as well as a liner.  A happy surprise when I open the drawer.

Look at this swatch of fabric I found at a discount fabric place a while ago.  It looks perfect with the desk.  I hope they have some of it still because I'd love to make a pillow or two with it, well actually ask my Mom if she would make a pillow or two.

So there you have it!  I did a happy dance when I finished this desk.  Isn't it nice when something comes out better than you expected? I'm so pleased to have this pretty little thing to blog at.

See that lovely little owl dish to the right.  It was a gift from my friend Anna who just started the blog A Warm Home she is a super talented artist, cook and crafter and I'll no doubt be getting some great inspiration from her and some serious laughs as well.  Make sure to give her blog a visit!

linking up to The shady porch 
and Miss Mustard Seed

fluffy felt, burlap and button wreath

I'm already a little sad about how blah the house will look once all the Christmas stuff is down.  I'll walk around the house and think everything looks empty and sad.  This is a yearly thing for me and I'm prepared so I figured if I have a new wreath to hang up at least I can combat the post holiday decoration slump a little.

My love affair with burlap is going strong and I also have a bit of a thing for felt.  I can't sew.  At least not proper sewing.  A little repair for a tear here and there and some loose button attachment is about as far as it goes.  Wonderful felt has allowed me to make two Halloween costumes with hot glue and I have to say they weren't too shabby.

I wanted a fluffy wreath and I wasn't sure how it was going to work but I got a foam wreath form, white felt, oatmeal felt, burlap and some pom pom trim just because I love it.

I just started cutting circles and squares out of the burlap and felt.

No real method.  Some I cut with pinking shears, some with regular scissors.  They were all different sizes and definitely not uniform.

I took a bunch of natural colored loose buttons my Mom offered up.

I layered felt, burlap and buttons and just randomly started hot gluing them on the wreath form.

I cut some pom pom trim loose

and attached some of those to the felt as well.

And so I cut...

and glued

until this

looked like this.

Then I cut and glued some more until finally it looked like this

Here is a detail

It didn't take as long as I thought it would but there were several hours of cutting and gluing.  I like my fluffy wreath.  Looks cozy and winterish right?  I thought a bit of burlap "ribbon" to hang it from would be nice so I just cut a long strip. 

I'm linking up to Delightful Order ,  It's Overflowing
Somewhat Simple 
The Shabby Creek Cottage
Funky Junk Interiors