Bedroom LOVE

I came across a picture of thenester's  (nester.com)  bedroom that she has recently redone.
It is so pretty!

The wooden floors add so much!

I love the fact that I have this very same sleigh bed purchased from Big Lots!  I have thought of painting it.....the white is so pretty!  By the way....
we will be switching our bedroom with the boys bedroom this week.  They get a bigger place to play and another set of bunk beds.  We get a smaller room, but hopefully less clutter from the boys having a bigger room.  Can't wait to show you once it's put together!

Obviously that will have to wait since I am organizing the work room AND being inspired with the kitchen!  Only 2 projects at a time...only two.  I'm trying to make that my mantra.

What do you think of all the white in this room?

My Work Room Inspiration With Window Mistreatment Tutorial and Decorative Bulletin Boards

 One of my New Years Goals for 2011 is to only have two projects going at the same time.  For me it is easier when I get stumped on the one project to go the other project until I am stumped there.

   ....Make sense?  Or is it justification?

Does ANYONE ELSE share the same point of view?

Before you see the following picture I'll warn you that it is graphic and EMBARRASSING!
So if you don't want to feel embarrassed for me then go now!
I'm a VERY straightforward person and show it like it is!

So my question for you is....
   do you have a room that always becomes the very last thing on your list?  This was mine a couple of days ago.  Still a work in progress.

My work room became this way during the holidays with bits and pieces of projects all over the place.

I knew that it would be impossible to come and work in here so I had to do something.  Don't laugh.....I went to the DI for inspiration.  I found this package of SIX bulletin boards for $3.00! They has some sort of glue on them, but I was going to cover them anyway.   I have been wanting some bulletin boards up in there to hang sketches and fabrics together so I could put things together in my mind with some new designs

This dresser was originally brown and I did it in bright turquoise with a glaze....I love how it turned out!  I painted the room orange and wanted to do turqoise and brown accessories with owls for my boys.  But then my work started taking over the house and driving ALL of us nuts!  That is how my work room came about.  So I will be decorating the room in those kid colors!
Our four boys now share a room and all they do is sleep there...so it works.  

I took this yucky window and wanted to do a window treatment to add some flair to this room.

I ripped down the heinous, breaking aluminum and started doing a window mistreatment.
Yes you heard right.  Not treatment, mistreatment.  Because it's actually cheating
I got the idea from thenester.com
She uses upholstery tacks, but nails were what I had on hand.

I started by taking some random curtains I had made a while back that were too wide, but just the right length.
Next I nailed the sides of the curtains to meet the edges of the window.  Then I found the middle and nailed that in place.
Then just add your box pleats until the fabric fits all the way across your window.

Your finished project should look something like this.  If you want to cover the nails then you could add pretty ribbon bows...OR just use upholstery tacks like thenester does.

To cover my bulletin boards I used Elmer's craft bond spray.
Make sure the surface you are using is wipeable because it really is sticky!
You will also need a glue gun and fabric scissors.

After spraying the back of the fabric I centered the bulletin board in place.
I also turned it around and pulled an smoothed the fabric so it wouldn't be too wrinkly looking.

Turn the sides in.  Don't worry if it isn't pretty because no-one will see the back when it's on the wall.

Pull the corners in so you have somewhat of a sharp corner when you are finished.

Now use your glue gun to secure any spots that won't stay.  I use low temp for the reason that I have children and the tendency to burn my self with any glue gun.  Immiediately after plugging it in my 3.5 year old decided to touch it....luckily all I had to do was wipe it off his finger real quick and he was fine.

After you have done all six boards in the package, arrange them the way you want them to look on your wall.  These are perfect here above my desk!

Excuse the bad hair day!  Using a level to make sure your first row of bulletin boards are straight, nail them in with a single nail.  I nailed mine in the center top section.

Now I have a focal paint when I come into my work room!  By making the window and desk area more beautiful I am determined to get every box in this room sorted!  I've already started!

This and......

This already look much better!

I will do a final post when it looks all put together in a couple of days!
It is Monday so I am off to deep clean my house and get some work done on my new dresses!
Stay Tuned!

Progress on Kitchen- Part 3

I wanted to show you the progress on my kitchen so far even though I haven't gotten as far as I would like. Progress is progress right?

Of course I had to decorate it while I'm transitioning!

I rolled two coats of off white paint in a nice gloss so it will be scrubbable.
I also did not use a drop cloth because I can just peel the paint off the linoleum.
.....drop cloths have never worked for me....especially cheap, plastic ones because they stick to my feet.

Doesn't it look so much brighter already!!?  It already feels like a new space with the white.
.....now to find the saw that goes to my miter box to finish this.
Ah, life with four kids.....sometimes I wonder if I know where my brain is! Hee hee!

Here is what I did to get this far.

I took a regular paint brush and did the edges.  If you do this be quick about it so that you don't get paint lines because it dried before you got to it with the roller.  Having two people to do it at once would be awesome!  You don't even need to go all the way up to the line because that line will be covered by the wide board that goes on top of board and batten.

I had to show you where I had to just paint around the already painted over outlet.  I got my screwdrivers out and tried to get it out to no avail.   The screw was WAY too stripped to get out because it's so old!  I'll let my husband take care of this one :)
I don't know who in their right mind decides to paint over a piece of plastic thinking it will look good!?

The gloss that I used is by Olympia and is waterbased.  I wouldn't have used this brand normally because it is $28.00 a gallon, but the paint guy who mixed it chose the brand of paint.....be sure to watch those paint guys to make sure your supposed thrifty project doesn't become expensive.  I'll be using this paint for all of my trim now....every drop!!

I painted this problem area under the window just in case you can see under the board at certain angles....since you cannot get it completely flat.

This will end up looking smooth when it's done....especially if I use some wall putty and sandpaper.

Old houses are interesting how they crack all over the place.

My attempt to cover the heinous air conditioner....that we should probably remove since it is 8 degrees outside.

B decided he must be in the picture.  I feel like this is looking much brighter after two coats of paint.  I can hardly wait to add the boards!

Until next time......

Progress on Kitchen- Part 2

Nasty Wall before everything started.  That air conditioner is coming out and the blinds are coming down!!
This wall is going to be brightened up!  On with it!

My kitchen inspiration for the cabinets

My walls will look similar to this as the paint in my kitchen is dark like this.  It is called Warm Caramel.
Love how the white brightens up the space!!!

If you missed my first post a while back on what I have done so far go here
http://abeautifulcottagehome.blogspot.com/2010/09/sneak-peakcabinet-redo.html

I was wondering how I might decide on how high I wanted the board and batten to come in my kitchen
I think I have the magic number figured out......50 3/4" from the ground.
......odd but there is a reason.


I KNOW that I want to extend the board and batten into the family room adjoining the kitchen because it would look better to have it continue into other parts of the house.....I'd be insane to not to continue the
sophistication into the next room!

TANGENT... so back to the reason I chose that random number.  I went into the family room and found any light outlets or funny things that would get in the way of the board and batten.  Since our house was built in 1912, something has been added by every.single.owner. just to add to the charm that our house is.

One of those charms are oh.....a nice, UGLY door to the circuit breaker that can't be covered even by paint......and......wait for it
......on the wall behind the entertainment center!   FABULOUS HUH?

This will look great when it's done after the kitchen :)  Don't mind the mismatched touch up paint around the light switch.....lesson learned- don't ever do touch up paint when you are tired...sometimes you put the wrong color on...haha

So to help cover that up I brought the board and batten measurement all the way underneath it so that I can set a little picture on the shelf of the board and batten AND COVER UP THE MONSTROSITY that is the circuit breaker door.

This was before I started painting the outside of the drawer.....I have two more coats to go and contact paper to put in the bottom.  I want my cabinets to be pretty inside and out!

So far I have pulled out two drawers and started to paint the inside of them, gone and bought a ton of supplies and am waiting for the energy to ATTACK this project.
.........I think I have a holiday hangover....even though I don't drink:)

I put two coats of thin white paint on the drawers and FINALLY found white contact paper for the inside of the drawers because BOY ARE THEY U.G.L.Y.

We will be putting an extra board along the bottom of the window to make it more even because the plaster is cracking under the window seal.  Then we'll build around it with the board and batten.

All that junk in the open shelf is supplies for this project.  I already started putting the beadboard wallpaper up.

This side of the kitchen I am not quite sure what to do with the upper cabinets because they are so unattractive.  In the spring this flooring is going....so excited!  Think knotty laminate :)

We don't really use the fan much and I am craving some real shelfs or a pan rack above the stove.....any ideas?

I will be adding beadboard wallpaper to the sides of the cabinets for some added flair.

A better picture of the crack and groove under the window seal that will be hidden.

Pretty plain huh?  It will be stinkin' cute when I get done with it....in a month!

On the up side the worse the before the better the after right??

Have you painted your kitchen cabinets?  How long did it take you?

I think I might have to recruit a couple of friends to have a painting party to get this done!!
The Nester (thenester.com) recruited some lovely ladies to slip cover her entire sectional for her.....I think my odds might be pretty good :)

This year's Christmas Reality

My Smith Clan

I have to say Christmas this year didn't turn out the way I had envisioned in my mind.

I planned on having home made Christmas pajamas for all six of us this year....didn't get very far.  Too many sewing machine issues :)

I didn't host a Christmas tour of my home....
   because I barely got around to putting up the tree and a few lights around the house...sigh

We had frozen pizza for dinner on Christmas Eve.......there goes a nice "traditional" dinner :)
I didn't even get around to making a nice dinner for Christmas Day.....but that's okay.

My kids spent WAY to many hours in their comfortable PURCHASED pajamas......and we played with every toy ten million times....watched movies.....and visited family.

I am starting to realize that the best things in life are SIMPLE....

One of my main goals for 2011 is to SIMPLIFY life.
This is very hard for me since I have so many interests.....but I know in the end it will be worth it!

Here are my goals so that I have someone to answer to and I have someone to check in to :)

Take more time to pamper myself.
Smile more....because a bad attitude melts away quickly if I can just smile.
Never have more than two projects going at once :)   I NEED HELP ON THIS ONE!
Delegate ALL sewing responsibilities for my business!!
Do what I love!....blog more, create more, laugh more, spend more time with my kids and husband because they are what matters.
Serve others without a second glance.
Dare to dream and do what we want to do!
ALWAYS have a prayer in my heart......everything falls into place when we truly trust who is really in charge :)

What are your goals for 2011?

Top Ten Color Trends for Spring 2011

Peter Som

As a self proclaimed fashion designer one of my jobs is to find out what the colors and trends for the new year are going to be.

If you are not familiar with Pantone Colors, it is a color forecasting company that does important research to predict and create the top colors for the year.
These colors apply to fashion as well has home decor.

Marc Jacobs

 Honeysuckle
Color of the Year!

I can definitely see this in a girls room, but not my family room.
Here are the other color trends for interior design for 2011.

Courtesy of Trendland.net.

Going from left to right they are:
Honeysuckle
Regatta
Coral Rose
Beeswax
Peapod
Blue Curacao
Russet
Silver Peony
Lavender
Silver Cloud

If you are thinking of re-doing a room keep these up-to-date colors in mind!
I am celebrating by changing the color of my blog :)
Have a Merry Christmas!

Kitchen Wall Sneak Peak

I love this look!

I have been dying to get going on the kitchen re-do!
 I was trying to wait until after Christmas to start the chaos of redoing a kitchen, and trying to LIVE normally.

If you are new here and don't know how small my kitchen is, then you should know that it is a very LONG AND NARROW kitchen with very little cabinet or counter space.

On the other hand....that factor alone might motivate me to hurry up and get this project done!
....There are always scads of half-done projects waiting for me :)

Here is a picture of the kitchen wall right now.......

I will add a better photo once my camera is charged.  This is from photo booth on my mac....not a very wide scope of things.

It looks just like this on both sides of the window.
 This area was used as our eating area, but didn't allow all of us to sit together around the table.

  Pretty boring.  I am patching holes in the wall from some shelves that I had up at one point.   This is more of a walk way from the front eating area to the family room so I wanted some interest, but not much sticking out.  Better pictures to come!

Here is what I want it to look more like.
I ADORE board and batten!

http://www.thenester.com/2010/05/board-and-batten.html

Here is a post from the nester when she did her board and batten on her wall.  It instantly transforms a plain looking wall into something with character and dimension....the best part....it is one of the least expensive updates you can do to a home!
http://www.thenester.com/2010/05/board-and-batten.html

Here are some more of my favorites!

http://tancamjenksfam.blogspot.com/2010/03/recap-of-redo.html

http://fromhousetocozyhome.blogspot.com/2009/02/everything-room-revealfinally-done.html

This is genius for the entryway!
http://www.frugalhomedesigns.com/2010/01/board-and-batten-entrywaycoat-rack.html

Have you ever done board and batten?  Any ideas for making it easier?

Happy Holidays!