Guest Bathroom Makeover - ORC: Week 2

Well, after much pondering, I decided to join with the group of participants in the ever so famous One Room Challenge. It is now in its 10th season, and involves a group of designers and guests who make over a room/space in just 6 short weeks. The excitement comes from watching each of us push ourselves to the limit while working within time constraints; and might I add, the end results are always amazing! 

For this challenge, I will be making over my guest bathroom which unfortunately, is quite a mess in its current state. No worries, I created a design board to take my mind away from all the ugliness that surrounds me :).

Design Board

The floor tile I chose, is temporarily out of stock, so I am keeping my fingers crossed it will be restocked in time for me to complete the work. If not, I will need to go searching for something else. 

Land of the Free! Home of the Brave!

Happy Independence my friends! It is the best feeling in the world to have the reassurance that you are free - free from oppression; free from pain, free from bondage and chains. Just possessing basic knowledge of the fact that we can move about expressly as we so desire, brings total peace of mind. 

I am thankful for this God-given freedom and for the men and women who fought valiantly so that we could attain this right. 

Yesterday, I celebrated with my family in the simplest of fashion. Despite the simplicity, we bonded over food :), and all plans for dieting went out the window. 

Reviving an Old Love Seat

Hello everyone! Today is the first day of summer and I hope you are hydrating to stay cool. I am sharing with you my very first attempt at reupholstery. A few years ago I received this old, beaten down sofa and did not want to part with it because of its good bones. Despite its unappealing nature it is extremely comfy and firm. The first thing I did was remove the seat covers to get an accurate measurement for the replacements.

Now, this is what the sofa looks like now...

and here is the sad state it was in before 

Afterwards, I got rid of the skirt to expose some beautiful wooden legs underneath, which I proceeded to paint white. I pretty much winged the rest of it, tugging and stapling until I was done. I am sorry to say I do not have progressive photos because I got extremely caught up trying to finish. I must also add that I used a manual stapler to do the job, which was a big no, no. (Please never try that at home- I beg of you). My fingers really suffered as a result :).

Now, here is the end product; a beautiful lounger that my kids can enjoy. Thanks for reading and have a great day/summer!

Mini Mudroom Reveal! - One Room Challenge

Welcome to the final reveal of my mini mudroom. As part of the ORC more than 200 linking participants accepted the challenge to decorate a space in just 6 short weeks. Funnily, I considered this space a "no-brainer" because of it's tiny size, but little did I know how much mental planning it would require.
 I further maintained a sort of laid back attitude, until time; Father time, nearly caught up with me (ha!). Eventually, towards the end, I developed some serious momentum :).

So, let's take a look at the space before the makeover, (useful but lacking total functionality and accessibility). 

Now, let's see the transformation that occurred after the necessary changes...

BEFORE                                        AFTER

The wallpaper is my favorite part of the room. I purchased it at Target on clearance, and it was well worth it because it totally transformed the small area. The mudroom went from blah to ah with the mere addition of it. Never in a million years would I have considered installing wallpaper but this one makes it all the worthwhile because of its peel and stick capability. It was super-easy to put up, and will be even easier to take down should the need arise.





I purchased these beautiful canvas art more than a year ago to use in my master closet but never got to hanging them.

Can you believe both phrases are printed in two separate languages? 

1. Haute Couture is French for High Fashion and

2. Alta Moda is Italian, also for High Fashion

Presumably, it all worked together for good because these high fashion ladies walked right into my tiny little mudroom having no qualms about it 😉.

I think this other piece goes without saying...

AGREED

Wall Hanging Unit - for schoolwork and library books.

These woven bins make me very excited because they are very sturdy, and mimic the look of straw/wicker. Even a close-up view does not giveaway the fact they are faux. The bins are constructed of a material called polypropylene rope. The texture is similar to that of an electrical or cable wire. They will be used to store winter accessories for the kids (hats, gloves etc.). 

The cute little magnetic animals will help them personally identify their bin. I attached metal labels to the bins to mount the magnets on.

Coat hooks, yay! Now the kids can hang their coats with ease; no more coat hangers. 

Dual-purpose furniture (bench and shoe stand). 

You are currently looking at the ceiling (painted black). The white strip in the center is 1 of 2 sensor-operated lights added to the mudroom. The other was placed directly under the shelving unit that is mounted on the back wall.
The lights really superceded my expectations as they are extremely bright and function as they should. I figured that was the best direction to take for such a small room. As you may notice, the rest of the ceiling is sloped so I painted it white to create the illusion of a bigger space.  





And...how can I forget the first thing you see before entering the room - our lovely door.  It chimed in on the makeover and received a fresh coat of paint, along with spray-painted oil rubbed bronze accessories. All the knobs, hinges, and strike plates in the house are brass. So now I need to upgrade them all to match this one. To see how I achieved the look, go HERE.




I. LOVE. IT!

I must admit how much my heart pined (still does) for this room to use as my sewing space, and seeing it in its improved state makes it even more difficult (sigh).

Another room conquered and I'm pleased. I look back and reminisce on the day I relayed plans of redoing the mudroom to a friend. The reaction was that of laughter followed by, "All you need to do is just straighten up the shelves," implying it was ok as-is. In a sense that was true, if you look back at the before, but I needed to get more out of the space.

Well, today I am the one laughing and by golly, I think I do it best 😃. 

My Current Mood - Happy

Huge thanks to Linda for the effort she puts into ensuring the ORC stays afloat. Also, to you my readers, thanks for stopping by. I wish for you a very warm and peaceful weekend! Check out the other spaces here. 



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Linking to DIY Show-off

A Stunning Thrifted Mirror Make-Over

Today I would like to share with you one of my most treasured thrift finds - this beautiful oval-shaped wall mirror. I stumbled upon this beauty after perusing the aisles at a Goodwill location a few years ago. It grabbed my attention for 2 reasons:

1. It was white, and 2. I loved its shape. I figured I could use it in my daughter's bedroom so I quickly snagged it up.

A tag on the back revealed this mirror was custom designed at a company that manufactures furniture. In other words, I got it for a steal.

As proof of my great deal, check out the price on the back of the mirror.

I first used it in my daughter's bedroom after which I decided to get her a bigger mirror and move this one to her and her brother's bathroom.

I proceeded to give it a lovely coat of Rust-Oleum American Accents Ultra Cover 2x in Satin Rustic Orange. 

A Touch of Metallic - How to Spray Paint Brass Knobs - ORC: Week 5

Week 5 has arrived and oh how quickly it came!

As of yesterday, this was the situation regarding the door knobs - Old, dated shiny brass. 

Fast-forward to today -I removed the knobs, hinges, and strike plates from the door and gave them quick coats of 

Universal Spray Paint in Metallic Paint and Primer in one Oil Rubbed Bronze 

*Edited* - Note: Should you decide to take on this project, you need to pay close attention to how the plates are installed (or, you could just check the other doors in the house). This is important when putting the door back up.

Just lay out all the pieces on an impermeable surface to protect your paint area. In this case I used a huge piece of cardboard.

I inserted the screws into a piece of cardboard to get to paint the tips (Foam would have worked as well). I needed them to have the same color as the plates. I also used a light sander to scuff up the knobs to make the paint adhere to them.  

The spray paint was so easy to work with, and having a newly designed nozzle, made the job less tedious. After 3 full coats, they were ready. However, I thought it best to wait a few days for the paint to cure. Of course that's a personal preference.

The results yielded a very beautiful shade of bronze. I like it  A  LOT! It reads grey on screen but it is actually a metallic bronze. If you look closely you will see the tiny specks of metallic. Believe me when I say the result is amazing.

Here's a before and after so you can see the difference.

There is not much to show for this week because I am saving it all for the grand reveal next Thursday. Please return to see the completed space all decked out :)

Thanks for stopping by and have an enjoyable weekend!

Go here to see more than 100 rooms in the making.