Picture Frame Wainscotting in Dining Room

Decorating, for me, is a long process. I always have to live in a space and see how it works and find things slowly, and keep adding layers to my decorating. Nothing is done like those TV shows that have it done in 2 days (or so we are led to believe...). That would be nice sometimes, but then it would not reflect me and my family. Afterall, it is our home and should reflect the personalities of those who live here.

The before picture was taken the day we moved in over 8 years ago. The only thing that has not changed is the wall paint and the chair rail/baseboard. Here it is below.



What an awful, boring photo. Sorry about that! Here is a breakdown of what we I did!

1. Paint decorative treatment around step up tray ceiling (is that what you call it?) You can see it in the photos below.

2. Replace light fixture. I don't think I realized the power of spray paint back then and could have sprayed this awful gold chandelier. However, it would not have stayed in the dining room. The scale of it was all wrong. See how small it is? It is not a large space but has tall ceilings and the light was just swallowed up in the room.

3. Replace window covering. While I did like the texture of the one left behind it covered up the curve at the top of the window. I love this little detail and did not want a shade/blind and/or drapes to cover it up.

4. Make some drapes. I made these almost 8 years ago and still love them. They have a lining which has saved them from the beating of the western sun that comes in these windows every afternoon.

5. We replaced the peel and stick parquet floor you see in the before pictures. We lived with it for 5 years before we replaced it (and a lot of carpet) with engineered wood floors. We did hire this out as it was not a job I had any interest in doing. That decision alone changed the look of our home and we love how they look and feel.

6. The last project done over a year ago, was to add the wainscotting to the walls. It did not look bad without it, but once it was done it looked so much better!

The photo below shows before I caulked. See, how it does not totally line up? Well, a little sanding and a little caulk hide everything! I did paint one coat on all the wainscott pieces before I cut and installed.



This is a corner shot before caulk and final paint coat.


Before starting I had to decide the spacing of my "frames". I decided that I wanted 3" all around my frames. I had several walls to contend with and based on that and the number of frames I wanted on that wall, the actual frame sizes would be different, but the constant would be 3" of space all around.

I did break this rule on one wall where the wall had a bend (not a corner). I thought it would look funny with the 3" of space there and chose to do 6" on either end. That photo is below.




Did you catch a glimpse of the kitchen through the opening? Those oak cabinets are no more! They are glorious white cabinets now! I don't know why I waited so long, I should have done it LONG ago. You can also see a tiny sliver of the island that is off white. That got a facelift with new moulding all around and a new paint job.




Thank you so much for visiting. Have a great day!


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Guest Cottage Sign

We have rearranged our rooms many times, and now that we have 2 children our 4th bedroom is no longer a dedicated guest bedroom. That square footage is too valuable to leave it unused for most of the year, so it is now our guest bedroom and office. Even so, I do like it to look pretty and be inviting for our guests who do visit and spend the night.

I came across a post a while back on Knock off Decor. It was a copy of a sign from Pottery Barn which was my inspiration for my sign. I changed the font a little to my liking, but overall it has the same feel.



I found a piece of wood in my garage. Painted it off white and printed out my words. I showed photos of how I transfer the words to the sign on my Tooth Fairy sign here. Then I used a small brush and painted with a brown paint that I mixed. I needed 2 coats on the brown. This is a close up of after 1 coat.



This is after 2 coats and before wax. I usually do 2 coats on letters, even if it looks good after 1 coat. I think the coverage is more even after 2 coats. But it depends on the look you are going for. If you plan to sand and distress 1 coat may be fine. I was planning on sanding this sign, but ended up liking it so much that I did not sand or distress it.







Thanks for stopping by!


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Evolution of a Bathroom

We have one guest bath in our home that is nothing special, just an ordinary bath. When we moved in 8 years ago it had toothpaste mint green walls, dark green faux marble counters, an ugly wallpaper border and a vinyl floor. Not at all to my liking.
See for yourself......



In our first redo, we installed a floating engineered hardwood floor. This was one of the first projects my husband and I did together and we had a great time (could it be related to the fact that it was before kids so we did not have any interruptions!?).. maybe.. I pulled the wallpaper border off, removed the vanity and the awful countertop, removed the huge mirror (and reused it to make a large mirror in my foyer seen here). I painted the walls and ceiling (gasp) yellow, put up a pretty shower curtain I had made the year before. We put in a nice pedestal sink which freed up a LOT of space. The linen closet is deep so I do have lots of storage space. I found a great cabinet at Costco and hung it on the wall over the toilet and found a very discounted mirror from Home Depot for over the sink. We also changed out the lighting...aren't those hollywood lights that the contractors LOVE just the pits?





I liked it for quite a while, and then got sick of the yellow......AND wanted to try beadboard wallpaper.... So I painted the top part of the walls a nice aqua/teal/blue color called Dolphin's Cove by Benjamin Moore. I used beadboard wallpaper on the lower part of the walls (I used the brand that Rhoda from Southern Hospitality sells and recommends). I was planning to plank the ceilings but never.got.to.it. That's my life.... I painted the little table grey since it was white and now the lower parts of the walls would be white too.








It is hard to take good pictures in this bathroom because it has no window (who builds a house knowingly without any windows in the bathroom?) I LOVE natural light and my house does not have enough of it!



Below is a close up of the burlap table runner on my grey table. I had this pretty fabric in my oversized large stash that I made a little ruffle with.



I have to say the wallpaper has held it's own with the 2 boys that use this bathroom. There was a small tear in it when my little one decided to use his (plastic) handsaw on the walls. I just pushed it back in place and put a dab of glue behind it and it is not that noticeable. I did paint with a gloss paint, so it is easy to wipe down the wallpaper.



This photo below makes me laugh. I was trying to get a close up of the cute hooks I have. One for each child in their first initial that I found at Anthropologie about 3 years apart. Anyways, when I removed the towel, that is what I found!



Now the bathroom evolution continues. An unfortunate accident occurred when a glass fell in the sink which resulted in a small hole in the bowl and a rather large crack. BOO! I was very sad, but realized that I could make some changes now out of necessity!

I will post about my new vanity when it is done. It involves a roadside vanity rescue and leftover beadboard. I am undecided about the countertop. I have a piece of butcher block that I could use, but this bathroom gets daily use with boys that aren't necessarily wiping up after themselves.... I could go to the granite place looking for a scrap since the size is small. I have been checking my Habitat ReStore and have not found anything yet. I have also been checking Craigslist without success. I plan to reuse my 8" spread faucet. I will just need to purchase a sink. Any suggestions or experience with butcher block in a high traffic bath?

Thanks for stopping by! Have a great day!




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Board and Batten in entry

Like a lot of bloggers I got the board and batten bug and found a good spot to install it in my home; my entry way.


It is open to the dining room, which I installed picture frame molding in, so it blends nicely, while allowing it to be a separate space with the visual difference. The trim in both rooms is the same color, as is the wall color above the wainscoting. I installed it on the wall to the right as you enter my home. It is just over 10ft long and has a small jut out for a column that was the perfect ending point.

The vertical pieces are 3" wide and the top horizontal board is 4 1/2" wide (I used MDF). I capped it with a 1x2 (which is actually 3/4" x 1 1/2") and used a cove moulding piece where the intersect.

The blue painters tape mark my studs for nailing into the proper spot on the horizontal piece.

I cut a scrap piece to 13" to be the spacer for my vertical boards. Once I figured out the layout, I just used this to space them out. I still used a level to make certain the entire board was level vertically. TIP: Pay attention to things like light switches, alarm boxes or outlets. You don't want to start and then have a vertical slat land smack in the middle of one of those......that may or may not have happened to me......


I used finish nails and HAND hammered each and every one, then went back with a counter sink. The only problem I had was some "puffing up" of the MDF around the nail. I don't know how else to describe it. I filled the holes and sanded A LOT, but a few of the boards are not totally smooth. It really is only noticeable when the sun is shining in the front door. I don't know if anyone else has had this experience with MDF, or if I could have done something different. I do own a nail gun and compressor, so this may not be a problem in the future. Of course hubby got me the compressor for my nail gun 2 weeks AFTER this project. I'm thankful for the gift, but could have used it earlier!!

Here it is before adding the top cap and cove molding. You can just barely see the seam on the horizontal piece. I had 8 foot lengths and needed 10 feet of coverage. I actually planned ahead and strategically placed this seam behind where the mirror would hang.



The image below shows details of all the mouldings that I cut around the ginormous mirror. I only did this with the top cap and the cove. This was so the mirror would be flat on the wall and not have a funny angle to it. I made this frame about 8 years ago when we first moved in and I used the mirror that was the entire wall (builders grade) of the guest bath - I just cut it down some. I loved it then and I still love it.

One last image of the finished product. Our home faces West so we get really bright sun in the afternoon and evenings but it is dark during the morning. The white on the board and batten really brightened the space up. My motto is the more light the better. I like to add mirrors because they are cheaper than putting windows in!




Hope you enjoyed this post and good luck on your project!




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LL Bean knockoff Longitude/Latitide sign

Happy Sunday! I am enjoying a quiet day with my boys gone for a long weekend with family. I have a long list of things to get done but want to share one of my favorite signs. I have yet to make one for my home, but think that will be coming soon.

I found a sign that I loved in the LL Bean Catalog. When you order it you have it customized to where you live. I decided to make a couple as gifts for friends and family. I found a few pieces of wood that were the right size. I have a bunch of scrap wood - so no cost to buy any.
These pics are just 2......I have wood in every corner of the garage and even stacked up in the middle of the garage where little boy likes to "build" towers with left over wood!

I looked up the Longitude and Latitude of Plymouth MA on the internet. Then I found a font that I liked on Word and printed out the words Plymouth MA and lat. 41.958 and long.-70.667. Then I transferred them to my board that I had painted with some left over white paint. I used the transfer method that I have been using since I was in elementary school, so simple.
I mixed my own custom blue from several blue paints I had. I mixed a pretty slate blue color which I thought would look nice with the decor of the couple I was making this sign for. Then I painted with a small brush over the faint pencil lines made from my transfer. I needed to do 2 coats of the blue. When it had dried I did a coat of wax over the entire sign to protect it.


I added a hanging bracket to the back of the sign. This sign was very light so not a lot of support was needed. It was also light enough that I could ship it easily and without too much cost.

See you next time!
Linking up at Skip to My Lou and to Home Stories A to Z and to Petals to Picots.

Painted Lion Bag: Boy Gift

This little bag is a perfect size for a 3-6 year old. I have bought bags from both JoAnns and Hobby Lobby and the quality and thickness of the Hobby Lobby bags is far superior. They are also cheaper, and always always use a 40% coupon (unless they are on sale of course!) For this project I decided on a Lion as my picture. I googled images on my computer and found an image that I freehand copied to a piece of paper and sized it the way I wanted for my bag.


My little one just loves scissors and got to this before I could stop him!

When ever I transfer images I do what I have done since I was in middle school. You need a pencil to do this. I hold the paper up on a window (or light source) and trace the image on the BACK side of the paper. Then lay it down and line it up with the correct side (original side) face up. Trace, or rub, over the original lines and you will transfer the image (that you traced) that is on the back of the paper to your fabric (or wood or whatever...). The photo of the lion I drew is actually the back side that I traced while holding it up on a window. The front side you can't see the image anymore since I rubbed all over the lines to transfer it. See, the tail is reverse of the tail on the bag....
Once this is done, I paint. I have lots of colors and if I don't have fabric paint, I use fabric medium. I bought mine at Hobby Lobby for 40% off and it will take me years to go through it.

In this photo you can see I used a freezer paper method for painting the name. I will sometimes use an exacto knife to cut it out. Other times I put the freezer paper in the Cricut. Just make sure you get the paper ironed down really well.

When you are done and the paint has dried I peel it off and this is what you get.

Isn't it cute? I heard he loves it.

Personalized Burp Cloth Baby Gift & Card

The first time I sewed personalized burp cloths was when my oldest was born, and he is now 7! I have made so many styles; adding fabric, adding ribbon, adding ruffles, adding bows and any combo of the previous. I loved these when my boys were infants, and they make the best, most used baby gifts!

I recently saw a great tutorial on That's My Letter for adding a letter to the burp cloth. Jaime has such a great tutorial (all her tutorials are fantastic) for this that I won't do one. This is not difficult and is quick to do. You just need to go slowly to get around all those small areas on some letters.

Today I made 3 burp cloths (just purchase the thick cloth diapers - I like Gerber brand); one with fabric, one with ribbon and one with the letter "S" for a new baby named Sophia.
This picture shows how I line the needle on the outside of thin pieces when I want the stitch to be right at the edge of fabric, or in this case, ribbon. This allows the foot to be more centered and hold the material down more securely.

Sorry about the picture quality. I have an old camera that was nice when it was purchased for taking photos on our honeymoon - 10 years ago! I also don't know how to work it very well but am anxious to learn to shoot better pics.

I also had 2 coordinating washcloths to add to the gift. These are simply white terry cloth towel that I cut to size. Then I cut fabric out about 1/4" bigger all around, ironed the edges all in 1/4", pinned right side out to the terry cloth and stitched close to the edge.
Always remember to pre-wash all your fabric before doing any project. When making infant gifts I always wash everything in either Dreft or Woolight.

I also made a card to go along with the gift. I have been making cards for at least 15 years. I have a large stamp collection and 'some' other supplies to go along with it. I do have a Cricut but rarely use it for making my cards. Hard to teach an old dog new tricks!

These are the supplies I used for making this card. I did use double sided tape, a heat tool for the embossing powder and a ruler which are not pictured. I just love the colors on this card.
Have a great day and thanks for reading!


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