Craigs list Hutch: The After

I have a huge empty wall in my family room that needed a substantial piece of furniture. It was a huge wall of waynes coating and looked like a sea of white. I have this painting in my eating area that I thought I could incorporate the green color on the hutch.


I just love green and knew it was just the right color for the hutch. I also saw a beautiful hutch at Urban Farmhouse that I have been drooling over for months but just couldn't afford the price tag. Enter Craiglist:




I found this hutch for $100 on craiglist!! I was just so excited to finally find the piece I had been looking for. However, I was overly optimistic about this piece. It is ginormous!! I did not realize all the work it would take to remove all eight doors, 20 hinges, 14 knobs, not to mention all the taping it took for covering the glass before spraying.
When we finally finished I had do a bit of rearranging. I was going to put it behind my slipper chairs. I liked the hutch there but the chairs had to be moved to our library/ music room. The room that houses my Ikea cabinet.



Here she is all fancied up!



Please pay no attention to the hinges that don't match up. Like I said it was a huge task. I was so excited to start that I didn't think to make a note of which hinges went to which door. I am not a photographer by any means. I wish I could get a good picture of the actual color of the hutch. All the pictures I take make it look pastel and dull. Trust me, though....it is bright and just the punch of color the room needed.

Remember this picture?

The hutch is now where the black dresser and round mirror used to be.


>
I moved the black dresser across the room under my favorite old window.


It's amazing what a little paint and some rearranging can do for a room.




I also made a couple faux grain sack pillows for the room using drop cloths and a bit of left over paint from the hutch.

Procrastinator's Party Round 2: The Boy's Room and a Sneak Peek

Sorry it has taken so long to share the boy's new room. We tend to start new projects when we still have several others waiting to be finished.
This was the new project that put off the finishing of the other projects: Landscaping



So the boys room. I don't think I took a before picture. Here are a few of the afters.

I made the window valances from Ikea fabric. I ran out of money so I used upholstery tacks to attach them to the wall.


This light is my favorite part of the room. I found it at Pottery Barn Outlet.


This bookshelf used to be ugly and dirty. I painted it red....didn't like it....now it is black. I still need to add a bit of bead board to the back. The picture above the shelf is also from Pottery Barn. The rug is from Crate and Barrel.


I got the boy's bedding from Pottery Barn and Target. Their bunk bed used to be their Grandpa's. My husband and his brother shared it when they were kids.


i used regular unfinished shelves from Hobby Lobby for the bookshelves. I painted them black, turned them upside down and added a rod to hold the books in.


Here is a sneak peek at the cabinet. I still need to attach the doors...and by "I" I mean my husband:)

Procrastinator's Party round 1: School Room Makeover

Today is reveal day for the procrastinator's party over at the Inspired Room. I took on three projects for this reveal. Yes, three....spoken like a true procrastinator with unrealalistic expectations....right?
My reveal is going to take three days.....or more....because I have three different projects to show you. It wouldn't be right to show you everything at once.

I am starting with my school room first because it has been the one that I have put off the longest.....5 months I think.
Remember this picture?




After



This shot doesn't really look like a school room. This is my work area. The teacher needs a well organized inspiring space, right?
I wanted to use a bright color in here. I couldn't paint the walls so I had to add color with accessories.

These are my favorite little frames. I know the pictures are missing. At least they are on the wall. I want to fill them with silhouettes of my children....


Please ignore the hole in the wall and the ugly cover that my husband says hides something important. It's a work in progress.

I added a bit of spray paint and a bit of cork to a few old frames I had. They are cute and functional. It is difficult to see in the picture, I do not have a good camera, but I made cute little magnets for my homemade chalkboard and pins for the cork frames.





Did I ever mention that I have a small obsession with jars? I had to add some to the school room.




I also like small shelves.



I took the drawer out of the little cabinet and placed it on the opposite side to house my collection of blank cards. I love my wire bin for storing paper.



I finally bought desks for each of the kids. They are so excited to have their own space for all of their school books.



This is the storage area. All of our school supplies, curriculum and preschool manipulatives are stored here. I love that everything is in one area all nice and organized. The pictures hanging above the shelf are from a store similar to Goodwill. They are vintage school posters that have cute little character building sayings on them. Please pay no attention to the drawer pull that is just hanging there. Just keeping it real. My one year completely broke the drawer pull before I took the picture. Oh yes, a day in the life of me...he he.



I have tons of paper that needs to be filed....but I don't have a file cabinet in here. I bought this great wall organizer from discount school supplies to hold all my files.
I also display a few of our art projects throughout the year on this wall as well as our weekly bible verse on the dry erase board.



This is my homemade chalkboard. I made it from the top of an old table. I just taped off the edges and went to town with my chalkboard spray paint. I love the way it turned out.



The alphabet above the chalkboard was made by my sister-in-laws brother. He cut out each letter. At some point I want to have a rod of some kind below the letters to display more art work.




Come back this week to see the reveal of the boys room and this cabinet all fixed up!




I am also linking up to A Soft Place to Land for her DIY day.

I finally made my drop cloth slip cover!!!!

I have been busy busy the last month or so. School started, life groups, housekeeping, wife hood and motherhood......I could go on and on. I have neglected my poor little blog for far too long! I am back and ready to share some of my projects that I have been wanting to do, but have been putting off. One being a slip cover for this sad little ottoman.


This ottoman used to be ginormous. About the size of a twin bed. We cut it down to a smaller rectangle, recovered it, and cut it down again to its current state. It is wobbly and the fabric is worn and pitiful.

BUT NOT ANY MORE!!

This was my first attempt at cording. It is a bit uneven so don't look too close.


Can you see the big void place on the back wall behind the slipper chairs?


Here is a sneak peek at what will be living behind those chairs!


I am not sure of the color yet. The lovely owner of Urban farmhouse gave a sample off of one of her old pieces a few weeks ago. Hopefully Home Depot can match it for me. Stay tuned. Didn't I say "stay tuned" about four or five months ago when I was working on the boys room and the school room? I am a total procrastinator which is why I am joining the procrastinator party over at the Inspired Room.


Join me in two weeks when I reveal my totally finished boys room

And hopefully completely finished school room!

And this cabinet will be painted beautifully.....I can't wait!!

Embarrassing moments with kids

Kids are so honest. Most of the time they will say exactly how they feel and what they are thinking
This is my little man.

You always know how he feels. He doesn't hide his emotions.

I love this about him. I love that he feels safe to tell me when I have hurt him or said or acted in a way that has made him sad. I love that he is observant and reminds me when I am doing well with something that I have been struggling with. I love that he has a huge heart that is full of forgiveness and love. I love that at 5 years of age he still loves to hold my hand and give me hugs. I love that I can always know how he is feeling and what he is thinking.
And I love that his honesty, at times, leads to embarrassing yet funny moments!!!

The other day we were at Meijer making a made dash to get a cart. We make made dashes to get these two seated cart things because our Meijer decided to only have two for all the frazzled Moms to fight over. Anyhow, as we were claiming our cart a very out of shape, sweaty man wearing no shirt and cut off jeans walks out of the store......right next to little Darren. Oh, I wish I could have had a camera. His face was completely shocked!!! He stopped in his tracks and looked at me. I just knew he was going to say exactly what was on his mind. So what did he say in his loudest voice possible? "Wow mom, it must be really embarrassing to be naked at the grocery store." This was said in a voice that I am sure was heard by the "naked" guys ears. I could have died!!!