Rattan Plate Holders plus a Nautical Tablescape

August 1, 2016July 31, 201613 Comments

Do you ever have an item you know you want to do something with, but it takes forever to figure out what? That’s me. All the time. I have had these paper plate holders for years. I saw, in a magazine, how they painted them pretty colors. Ok, I can do that. But should I make them all the same, or different colors, and what colors? Oh decisions, decisions!

I finally decided on grey, because…I had the paint already. 🙂 Then Haley came up with the pattern idea.

The first step was to paint them all grey and let them dry. I always use the Rustoleum Ultra Cover. Love this stuff!

Then I wanted to put a white stripe across the middle with a number in it. I measured out how large the stripe would have to be so the number would fit and then used the piece of cardboard to tape off the rest of the plate.

I taped scrap paper onto the plate with painters tape. This way I won’t get white paint on the grey.

They came out pretty well!

Now came the number. I took an old magazine cover and cut out a square that matched the size of the stencil.

It’s kind of hard to tell, but here is the square. I taped the stencil to the paper and then pressed it flat against the plate holder. I used turquoise for the numbers.

Once they were all dry, I was ready to set the table for a night of Al Fresco dining!

When I told Haley I was doing a nautical theme, she asked if it was different then beach theme. I had to think a bit, but yes, in my mind it is a bit different.

Nautical is more boats, ropes, and glass floats. Beach would be more sand and shells. At least that is how my mind categorizes it!! 🙂

I did add a few shells and my favorite whale to the table along with glass floats and some rope.

I love how the striped runners look under the plates. I got them from Target last fall.

It was starting to get a bit dark on these last pictures, so they are a little grainy.

I love how this turned out and really glad I finally did something with these plate holders. Now if I can only come up with ideas for the dozens of other items I have!!

Here’s a few other tablescapes you might be interested in!

New Apartment, New Stuff

July 22, 2016July 21, 20166 Comments

Hello everyone! Welcome to another blog to show you where I live and what I have done with decorating.

So, I wanted to show off the living room and kitchen in my new apartment. It is a lot smaller than the apartment before, but it is still very nice and cozy.

Okay, let me start off by saying that the chair is probably not staying there. My roommate Mariah’s brothers brought the couch and chair and we aren’t sure what we are doing with the chair. But, besides that, this is the living room. This is the view from the kitchen with the front door in the background. We have a sliding glass door that is behind the chair that looks out onto our porch. We have the couch, the loveseat, the possible chair, a bookshelf and a TV stand.

Here’s the bookshelf and the TV stand. The TV stand was here when I moved in, but I brought the bookshelf and my roommate Bailey helped to decorate it.

The bookshelf is super cute! I covered the back with wrapping paper to add more design to the shelf. Some of the stuff is mine, where some was the other stuff was the other girls’.

And here is the kitchen. It’s so much smaller than the last kitchen, but it’s not bad because there’s less to clean. It’s just a skinny kitchen. Nothing too special. But one of my favorite things about it is the oven.

I love the sign and the pot on the oven. Even though it is a misleading jar, it still looks cool on the oven. It also complements the small sugar jar on the counter next to the oven. And the sign…I don’t drink that much alcohol, but it is a cute sign.

So that’s the new living space in the apartment. It’s super cute and cozy! Even though it isn’t close to being completed, it is still really nice to have a living space. Oh, and if you’re wondering if I’m changing the cushions on the loveseat, I have fabric to make a cover for it.

Parisian Style Brass Coffee Table From Chairish

June 17, 2016June 16, 2016Leave a comment

Parisian Coffee Table by homeonthecorner on Polyvore

Hello everyone! I hope you all have had a great week and are ready to take on the weekend. Maybe it’s time for a change around your houses and you are redecorating, so hopefully this will give you some ideas!

You may remember that we did a post for Chairish showing how we would style an armoire.

It was so much fun to put together and imagine what it could look like! If you don’t remember, click here to read that post. Well, we were asked to do another post, so of course we said yes!

This time we worked with a coffee table. We found this trunk that could function as a coffee table, and we loved it. It is a brassy color which would work really well when it comes to decorating. This could add some sparkle to your room!

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Sarreid 2-Drawer Brass Trunk | Chairish
chairish.com

But what do you put on your coffee table to make it look nice, but also be functional? I mean, your table could be your centerpiece of your living room, so why not make it look amazing! One of the first things I do is decide the theme. And, I love anything Parisian (this is a common known fact on this blog), so I went with a French theme. I started with this bowl from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I love the look of the bowl, and it can be filled with many different things. I decided that I would put pink and white beads in the bottom of the bowl and silk flowers to add some accents. Bowls can be filled with whatever you like, so it is up to you! Trays would be a good choice too. Trays can hold lots of things, but keep them contained and looking neat.

black bowl

Glazed Ceramic Contoured Bowl – BedBathandBeyond.com
bedbathandbeyond.com

pink beads

Jewelry Basics Pearl/Crystal Bead Mix 8mm/10mm 51/Pkg-Pink/Bronze |…
joann.com

white beads

Jewelry Basics Opaque Round Glass Beads 8mm 130/Pkg-White | Jo-Ann
joann.com

The next thing that I went with was some boxes to hold items in. This can be important when it comes to holding the precious TV remotes and maybe even some coasters. The boxes that I found are actually jewelry boxes. They have interchangeable bottoms so you can change them with your theme or color scheme. How cool is that! This works perfectly to hold the Fleur de Lis coasters and make sure they don’t all get separated.

boxes

DENY Designs Rebecca Allen The Powder Room Jewelry Box -…
bedbathandbeyond.com

coasters

Fleur-de-Lis Coasters (Set of 4) – BedBathandBeyond.com
bedbathandbeyond.com

And finally, I added an Eiffel Tower statue. This piece is to help add some height and interest to your decor, but it’s not too tall to get in the way. I also added a pink candle to make your room smell nice. This is important because your table will have decorations, but it won’t be too busy and take away from the beauty of the table.

eiffel tower

Bronze Tone Metal Vintage Style Figurine Statue Paris Eiffel Tower…
walmart.com

Here is the style board again just to remind you how beautiful it is!

Just a couple more tips-use odd numbers when displaying things on tables and use varying heights. This add more interest and is pleasing to the eye. But most of all, have fun with it! Keep playing with it until it pleases you. It’s your own design!

I hope you enjoyed reading about my coffee table that I designed. If you want to check out any of the items that I put on this blog, click on the link by their pictures. We are so happy to have the opportunity to work with Chairish again! Be sure to check out their website and tell them we said ‘Hello!’

Steps to Painting Farmhouse Chairs with a Brush

June 13, 2016June 12, 20167 Comments

Happy summer! I have so many projects to do! Eeekkk! One at a time, right?

So I started with my kitchen chairs. I have the chairs that actually belong to my grandma’s table, but they were getting so much use, I didn’t want them to get too worn out. So when the girls were young, we bought 6 oak ones at a liquidation store. Nothing fancy, just something to have around the table. But by now, they were pretty worn too. Paint time!

I know there are lots of different ways to paint and products to use, but I thought I would share what works for me. This time I used just a good old brush and can of paint. I am going to try chalk paint next time and I would like to try a sprayer too, just sayin’!

I cleaned up the chairs, removing dust and any leftover food. I find it easiest to turn the chairs upside down so I can make sure all the underneath is primered and painted well. I didn’t sand this time, and the primer seemed to hold pretty well.

There are hundreds of different primers out there, but Kilz is the one I like the best. It goes on thick and covers really well. I have never had any problems with it not adhering or peeling off.

After the underside of the chairs was dry, I turned them over and primered the top. Be sure to let all the coats dry before starting a new one. I painted just one coat of primer on all the chairs.

As you can see, I had a very curious kitty come by to see what I was doing! I debated about leaving the pawprints because they looked so cute, but I did end up painting over them. The kitty does still have paint on her ear though!

Once all the primer was dry, it was time for the paint! I followed the some pattern as with the primer. Turn the chairs over and start underneath. When it’s dry, paint the top. I used Orchard Supply brand paint, Benjamin Moore’s Cloud White. I did paint a second coat of the paint, but I purposely did not do complete coverage.

I wanted the chairs to have more of a farmhouse look to them. A little worn. Plus I don’t have to worry if the dogs or cats do a little scratching on them.

Again, wait for everything to dry and then add a protective finish over the whole chair. I used Minwax Water Based Polycrylic Finish. It goes on very smoothly and dries quickly. It’s not tacky to the touch and it cleans up great.

They are all ready to sit at the table again! I love the white! What a difference! I have 2 more to paint and then the farmhouse table. I am going to do the table with chalk paint. I will let you know how that goes!

So fresh and clean! I think Ezzy likes them too!

I will see you next time with the table! Have a great week!

Corner News-June 11-2016

June 11, 2016June 10, 20166 Comments

Happy Saturday to you! How has your week been? This was my first week off and it was busy! I thought I was supposed to be resting! The shelter we volunteer at is holding a yard sale, so Haley and I have been helping to set up. We have gone to the gym a couple of times and have been busy cleaning out the house of clutter. You should see the pile of boxes!! My mom and I will be having a yard sale too, so I have to get it done before then. While cleaning out, what do I do? Go shopping for more, of course!

This gold platter/plate was at the shelter yard sale so I snatched it up. I love the scalloped edge on it. I have already painted it and plan to add a base so it can be a stand for goodies. I think I will cut some scrapbook paper for the bottom and then I can change it out for whatever occasion I use it for.

I also picked up this cute sweatshirt from the shelter yard sale. Do you recognize the seagull from Finding Nemo? Mine, mine, mine! I made it onto a dog bed using the directions from Handimania.com. I figured since the dogs fight over who goes where, this was perfect for them!

I found this plant at Goodwill this week. Sorry for the bad color, but it reminded me of the beach and now I really want to go!! Hopefully I will get a day or two to go enjoy the sand and surf.