Laundry Room Update! Still Not Done :(

May 9, 2016May 8, 201623 Comments

Is it summer vacation yet! I feel like I am really falling behind on getting things done around the house! This laundry room has been a looooooong process. Honestly, I am not sure it will ever be completely done. I will just keep calling it my ‘half’ room. Half of a floor, half painted, half a washer and dryer… see what I mean? Maybe someday. But I can give you a little update :).

Remember the lockers? They are successfully installed into the laundry room! I love them! Haley keeps telling me I need little chalkboards on each one labeling what’s inside! Steve added some shelves inside a few of them so I could store more items, like cleaning supplies and such.

Here you get a little peek at them on the sides. The big door hides the water heater plus stores a few other items like the mop and broom. Steve added some wood around it so it wasn’t just a big piece of plywood, but obviously that is only half done too. I haven’t got the painting done yet.

I also have been working on a sign for the room that should have only taken a couple of hours, but has been weeks instead. I think this whole project is just not supposed to happen! It has just been one thing after another.

I took a scrap piece of wood and painted it white. I had a frame which was cut down to fit around the piece of wood. But…it didn’t fit quite right either. Wow. Oh well. I used it anyways.

When I started writing this post, I realized I didn’t have the pictures for the letters that spelled out ‘laundry’, but I did have ones for ‘patio.’ So that is what we are going to work with! I have had these chipboard letters for years and I am trying to use them up by making words with whatever is left. I had some for ‘patio’ and ‘laundry.’

I picked out pieces of scrapbooking papers that were in the colors I wanted to use. I had lots of pieces at home, but there are lots of pretty designs at the craft stores too. Then I figured out the order I wanted them to go in. Play around with different layouts until you find what is pleasing to you.

I turned my paper over and laid the letter on it backwards. I traced around the letter and then cut it out.

Now I am ready to attach them. I used Modge Podge for mine. I brushed some onto the letter and then smoothed my paper down on top. I also brushed some Modge Podge over the top of the paper after it was aligned with the chipboard.

After all my letters were dry, I glued them onto the board. I laid them out first so I could see how much spacing I would need. I used tacky glue to attach them. I weighted them down with some book for awhile so they would be firmly glued on.

Now that you have all seen the ‘patio’ letters, let’s move on to ‘laundry’, shall we?

Here it is! The letters attached really well after being weighted down. Just that corner thing…

Here’s the corner, in all its glory. Maybe I can figure something out to cover it or put over it. If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear it!

I hope you all had an enjoyable Mother’s Day weekend. Here I am with my ‘little’ girls!

Have a wonderful day!!

Another Closet, Another Organization

May 6, 2016May 5, 201614 Comments

Everyone has a closet that is stuffed full of stuff where you can’t see what’s in there. You know, things like wrapping paper, clothes, suitcases, sheets, and other stuff.

No…just me. Okay.

Anyway. So in my apartment, I have a closet in my bedroom and a hall closet to put all of my stuff in. Now, this may seem like I have a lot of room to put stuff in and store everything. Unfortunately, I have so much stuff that this doesn’t really work out. Because this, is what my hall closet looks like.

There is so much stuff in this closet that I never want to open it because it isn’t clean. I don’t actually know what’s all in the closet, but it is a mess. I had everything from kitchen stuff I wasn’t using to a tool box to jeans because they didn’t fit in my closet or my dresser.

Step 1: Clear out everything in the closet. I literally pulled out everything that was in the closet and set it on the floor and the stairs so that I could see what I all had.

Look! It’s Empty!

Step 2: Find little things that can be stored in other things. So, I had extra sheets for my bed that I kept in the closet. I had my printer box that was still in the closet, so I was able to fit all of the sheets in the printer box to make more room for other items. I also put all of my gift and Christmas stuff (so gift bag, wrapping paper, a small Christmas tree, a tree topper, you get the point) into my big suitcase. It worked out perfectly!

Step 3: Fit everything on shelves about the same size. I put a few of the bigger items on the shelves that they were originally on. I kept the top shelf pretty much the same, printer box, movies, and a bag of craft stuff. I also kept the suitcases on the bottom shelf because they didn’t fit on other shelves. I did move some things, like me jeans, to the floor where there was more room.

Step 4: Put everything back in the closet. Now, it’s time to fit everything else on the shelves. Surprise! You may now be able to fit more stuff in the closet!

Step 5: Step back and admire how nice and neat your closet looks!

I am so happy that I took this apart and back together. It looks much cleaner and organized. I was actually able to place more things in the closet to make my bedroom a little cleaner. Now, if it can actually stay that way, that would be fantastic!

Toolbox Restyle-Blue Coastal Style

May 2, 2016April 30, 201616 Comments

Hello! How was your weekend? We spent Friday night watching our local Triple A baseball team play, Saturday was a catch-up on blogging day and Sunday, I volunteered at the shelter after church. I would say it was successful!

I also worked on this Toolbox Restyle. As you know, I love the coastal and beachy style. And Lauren is kind of moving that way too when she moves into another place. She made this toolbox years ago as part of a 4-H Woodworking project. I have mostly used it outdoors with candles and such, but decided to fix it up for her to use in her new place. In the meantime, I get to enjoy it in my living room!

I cleaned the box up and gave it a good polish and then wound some rope around the handle. I secured the ends with a little hot glue.

Next, I searched around the house for a few things to fill it with. I tried to add a little bit of navy blue, since that seems to be what Lauren is moving towards.

I found this old paper spool of ribbon in Lauren’s stash. It had pink lace on it. I removed the lace and wrapped white and silver ribbon on it instead. I love the old spool!

This bowl had been green. I liked the design and the shape, but not the color, so I spray-painted it white. I added some white rocks to the bottom, ‘planted’ the (faux) succulents and added a little garland of seashells. The bowl was the perfect fit for the middle section.

I didn’t get a picture of the mason jar, but it hold some seashells and rocks Lauren had been saving. I covered the top of the lid with some scrapbooking paper.

This candle holder was purchased by my mom from Goodwill. It came in a set of three and I liked the height in the back of the box. Lauren and I talked about possibly cutting the little part off the top so she could use a pillar candle instead.

I found this block of wood in our wood stash and added some burlap and navy blue ribbon. A blue candle is perfect for the top and the block fit perfectly in the toolbox.

There are so many different uses for this box. This would be great to change out for the different seasons too!

I’m glad I was able to do something with a piece of art Lauren made so many years ago. It will make a great conversation piece in her new place!

Want to see more coastal decor? Click on the pictures below!

Upcycled Old Metal T.V. Trays

February 22, 2016February 21, 201620 Comments

Hello again! Did you all have a wonderful weekend? I pretty much just stayed home (saves money that way!) and worked on bringing some spring inside! We already have blossoms on trees and flowers blooming here. It’s probably too early, but it’s so beautiful, it’s hard to complain! I did get to work on a couple of projects too.

I have had these trays for years and could never really decide what to do with them. I have always used them for decorating outside because I felt like the floral design just lent itself to be outdoors. But they never had a specific purpose. I don’t know why this took so long to figure out, but an idea finally came to mind-at least for one of them.

I dug through some letters I have had for awhile and found enough to sort of make the word ‘garden.’ I had to add the leg for the ‘R’ and an extra line for the ‘E’, but I managed to make it work. I planned on doing the word ‘summer’ on the other one, but I didn’t have enough letters.

Now that I have my letters, I put a little glue on the back of each one and placed them on the tray. Probably a spray adhesive would have worked better, but I didn’t have any, so I went with what I could.

For the other tray, I tried covering the design with burlap and spraying around it.

With the letters attached on the first tray and lined up, I started spraying lightly over the top with white spray paint. I always use the Rustoleum 2X paint. Love this stuff!

Once I knew the letters would stick, I sprayed more layers of paint. It’s best to spray several light layers and let the paint dry in between. Once the paint was dry, I removed the letters.

I didn’t like how the second tray turned out, so I tried something different. I printed out 3 large flowers, laid them on top and sprayed around them. I didn’t like this either, so I am going to have to come up with a whole new plan. I will probably spray the whole thing white and then stencil something on top.

On the first tray, I sanded a little around the edges and over the top. I still wanted it to look like it belonged outside. After the sanding, I sprayed a clear sealer over the top to add some protection for the outdoors. I also added drawer pulls to the edges so it could be used as a tray for serving. At least one out of two turned out good!

I love how a little bit of the floral peeks through.

I wish it was warm enough to actually use this right now!

Hopefully it won’t be too long before we can enjoy a nice glass of tea out in the garden. Are you ready for spring? Have you started any spring projects yet? I would love to hear about it!

New Life for Old Chairs

February 5, 2016February 4, 20166 Comments

Good morning everyone! Welcome to another post about furniture that we have no idea what to do with. We always seem to acquire this furniture and have no idea how to use it or how to change it.

So, here we go!

Mom found someone who was selling chairs online for $10 a chair. They are from a hotel, so pretty normal looking chairs, and in great condition.

Well, when mom got there, someone had brought the seller more furniture, so now the chairs were $5 a piece. What a deal!

So here’s what the look like.

They aren’t the most beautiful chairs, but they are functional and somewhat comfortable. They work well for kitchen chairs and a computer chair, and for a great price.

So now comes the hard part…what do we do to fix them up? If you have any suggestions for what to do with our chairs, please leave us a comment!