Tag Archives: 2013

Favorite DIY Projects of 2013

Posted on December 29, 2013 by Julie

Christmas is over and I’m itching to get started on some new projects. But, first, I wanted to go back to see a little of what I accomplished in 2013.

Here’s a quick re-cap of some of my favorite makeovers and projects this past year:

1. Tween Girl’s Room Makeover:

My daughter and I worked on this room together — she had a lot of ideas and her own, unique style. We took our time getting this room together and we both love the results.

We painted the walls a pale lavender, made a lot of the wall art and other details ourselves and decorated a lamp shade with ribbon. We had a lot of fun!

I have to confess, we have updated her room slightly since this reveal — we got her a new twin bed with a trundle this fall and she added a couple of posters of the band, One Direction. As with the initial makeover, we have worked together to make it all fit and work together. It’s so cute! I haven’t shared the updates yet on the blog but I will soon!

2. Dining Room Re-do

Without question, this room is my favorite in our whole house! And, like most of my room re-do’s, my dining room came together slowly with a lot of DIY projects — the chairs, the china hutch and the grandfather clock.

The time and effort was totally worth it. The room reflects so much of my personality without leaving out my husband’s taste and I love that about it!

3. Library Chair Makeover

Who knew such a small and impromptu project would make me so happy?!

This chair was sitting in my attic getting dry and dusty. On a whim, I decided to bring it in to my foyer to change things up a little. With a little Annie Sloan Chalk Paint and a new cushion and pillow I made myself, it turned into a cute little piece that is pretty and functional!

4. Master Bedroom Update

I didn’t do a lot to update our master bedroom this year…just a two new pillow shams and a couple of little decorative pieces to freshen it up a little. It’s amazing how just a few simple touches can make a space feel new, isn’t it?!

5. Organizing My Master Closet

Even more than a well-decorated space, I love an organized space.

Embarrassingly, I had really let my master closet get out of control. One of the pitfalls of having a large space (and not a lot of storage space) is that it becomes a dropping zone and a great place to hide things when company comes.

I purged and cleaned and got my space looking and feeling great. And, even if you have a small closet that isn’t a walk-in, you can still use my organizing principles to create a great, clutter-free space of your own!

*****

As usual, I’ve got a long list of organizing, DIY and makeover projects on my list for this year and I’ll be sharing it with you soon.

Thank you so much for reading this blog, taking the time to comment and for allowing me to get to know you. This blog has been such a blessing to me in so many ways and I am grateful to be able to come here each week and share my love of all things home!

Happy New Year!

Julie

Link up to:

Southern Hospitality

Savvy Southern Style

Decor Adventures

Between Naps on the Porch

8 Comments
POSTED IN: 2013, Annie Sloan, Bedrooms, Chalk Paint, Dining Room, Kids Room, Master Bedroom

Share on facebook | Share on Twitter | Pin on Pinterest

15+ Fabulous Furniture Projects

Posted on December 28, 2013 by Julie

I hope you are having a wonderful holiday season!

I had all of these grand plans to blog over the holiday, but it has been so busy! I’ve been relaxing, planning projects and trying to get organized.

My Christmas decor is still up and it will be until the New Year. I might even share a few more pictures of it because I got some fun new photography gadgets for Christmas that I’m dying to try out. Plus, if you follow me on Instagram, you know the lights on our pre-lit, fake tree died a few days before Christmas and we replaced it with a gorgeous real tree. I am in love with it!! I could keep it up forever!

That said, I really am excited for the new year and beginning new projects at home.

Today, I’m teaming up with a few blogger friends to bring you some great past projects — my favorite kind — the ones that pack a big punch for a little effort and a few bucks.

Painting furniture and accessories is such a wonderful way to give new life to items that you are maybe not so excited about anymore or something you found at a yard sale for a smoking price.

Enjoy and be inspired by 15+ Awesome Furniture Painting Projects You Can Do!

Here are 15+ Amazing Furniture Painting Projects!

First up, I’m showing you my little blue china hutch. If you’ve been here before, you may be tired of seeing it, but it is my favorite painting project to date. And, I love it even more after adding bun feet to give it some height.

Next up, Christy from Our Southern Home…

Her mom bought her this antique desk in really bad shape at a yard sale for $15. She used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint to revive it for her teen son’s room. You can find the complete how-to HERE from Our Southern Home.

Emperor’s Silk Dresser with dark wax by Sonya from At Home with the Barkers creates a striking piece!

I know we are all interested in Dria’s post on How To Achieve a Brush Strokes Free Finish from Dio Home Improvements. Thanks, Dria!

Lani from Simply Fresh Vintage has a tip involving White-Out that she used on this dresser! Why didn’t I think of it?!

Paint and Mod-Podge rescue this Goodwill table from Jeanette over at Snazzy Little Things.

Yes, you can paint laminate! Megan from Rappsody in Rooms shares the how to! Her entire porch is full of thrifty do it yourself ideas!

Gorgeous redo from Beth over at Farm Fresh Vintage Finds! You won’t believe the before! Removing a few lower panels and replacing with bead board really updates this stunner!

Beautiful piece from Petticoat Junktion. Kathy is fearless in her creativity! She is always generous in sharing her techniques with readers.

Chateau Grey is my absolute favorite Annie Sloan Chalk paint color. Sharon from Mrs. Hines Class painted this old dresser, and it is now used as a media cabinet! Where is the “Love” button?

Check out this whimsical beauty by Amanda from Mommy is Coo Coo. The fabric and color choice are such fun!!! I have a major crush on this chair!

Nancy from Artsy Chicks Rule is such a talented furniture painter and artist. She makes adding topography to furniture look so easy. Guess what…it really is! Visit Nancy for all the details!

Beautifully painted furniture doesn’t have to just be painted in chalky paint brands. This is lovely finished in gloss from Lowe’s! Visit Paula from Sweet Pea for the color and details!

Loving this retro table. Jen from Girl in the Garage has awesome tips for painting geometric designs on furniture! She does lots of furniture so be sure to click around on her blog!

This piece by Pamela From My Front Porch To Yours shows that you shouldn’t look over a badly damaged piece. This water damaged secretary is painted with not one, but two chalk paint colors. The inside is left stained!

Serena from Thrift Diving has an amazing twofer (is that a real word?) for you! Not only will she share with you the paint project, but shares how to reupholster this chair in detail!

Are you sitting down? This dining set was $85! Visit Christy from Confessions of a Serial Do It Yourselfer for the details! The transformation is amazing!

You can even update a piece with just stripes from Just a Girl and Her Blog! Abby adds grain sack stripes to an already painted chest for a quick update! Stripes are hot right now!

I encourage you to look around your home. Is there something that you are just bored with? Why not try your hand at paint! Scared or nervous? Practice on a yard sale or thrift store find first. You can even practice on scrap wood!

I’d love for you to pin the individual projects…just visit the individual blogs from the links and pin directly from their project. It will make it much easier for you and others to find it down the road.

Have a great day and thanks for reading!

1 Comment
POSTED IN: 2013, Annie Sloan, Chalk Paint, Furniture, paint, Painting

Share on facebook | Share on Twitter | Pin on Pinterest

2013 Dreams

Posted on December 31, 2012 by Julie

I’m not one to make New Year’s resolutions but I definitely come up with a list of projects for my home each year. And, much to my husband’s dismay, I never have a shortage of projects! Lucky for him, I only recruit his muscle once in awhile. (Smile.)

Here’s a quick run-down of what’s on my radar in 2013:

Figure out a solution for my back entry/laundry area. Problem: no place to put keys, purses, sunglasses, the usual stuff that we bring in the door and set on the kitchen counter or island. I’m tired of the clutter in my kitchen!
Updates to my kitchen. This one gets a little expensive. We need new double ovens and we’re talking about replacing our cooktop and microwave as well. I also want to paint my kitchen cabinets (still working on hubby on that one…he likes the stained oak). So a mini-makeover is definitely on my radar!
Add beadboard to bathroom off my kitchen. This bathroom is a “pool bath.” Translation: a bathroom with a door to the outside. It gets a lot of use in the summer with wet kiddos and grown-ups coming in and out from our pool. I want to add long row of hooks on wainscoting to one wall for wet bathing suits and towels.
Remove wallpaper in kids Jack and Jill bathroom. The wallpaper in the kids bathroom has never been my favorite (it was there when we moved in) and it is starting to peel and is faded near the window. It’s time to take it off and do something different up there!
Finish updating the dining room. I posted about my dining room table that I found on Craig’s list and I talked about making slipcovers for the upholstered chairs. With the hustle and bustle of the holidays I never got the slipcovers done but they are definitely still on my radar. I also want to add curtains, tweak my china hutch (that I re-did with Annie Sloan chalk paint) by adding legs to add height and maybe paint the insets on the doors for added interest. I also want to replace the existing chandelier. I go back and forth on this one…I either want a big lantern or a pretty iron chandelier…I can’t decide! I created a dining room idea board and posted about it, but I have since updated it and am still tweaking. Here is one of my recent versions:

This is definitely subject to change and I will absolutely be posting about it!

Finish the update on my daughter’s bedroom that I started last year. My 7-year-old was tired of “pink princess” as she called it. I painted her room a light lavender and we bought some fun bedding. We still have some space on the walls that need to be filled and I want to replace her bed that belonged to my husband in his bachelor days with something more girly. Here’s what her room looked like before we painted:

Update my son’s bedroom. A few years ago, I bought a bedroom set for my son’s room on Craig’s list. It’s an old Cargo Kids set (raw wood, very sturdy furniture if you’re not familiar). It was well used and I sanded it and re-oiled the wood to make it look better, but there are a few pieces I want to paint and just give his room a general refresher. Mostly, we just need a good case of purging and organizing. This kid likes to collect stuff! Main problem: Legos!
Organizing and purging. I guess there’s a reason why all the stores start putting bins and organizers on sale right after Christmas. All the new gifts coming in to the home start making me itch to purge and put everything in a neat and organized place. I love an organized space!

So, those are the biggies. Of course, I always have a lot of smaller projects that I do each year…painting furniture, making crafts, etc. And, I’m always on the lookout for new recipes for my family. And, with each project, I hunt for bargains and try to keep everyone’s tastes and styles in mind. It can be challenging but that’s part of the fun! I am anxious to get started!

Happy New Year to you all!

2 Comments
POSTED IN: 2013, New Year

Share on facebook | Share on Twitter | Pin on Pinterest