DIY Sunday Edition

I have a stockpile of DIY projects. I'm not sure what I was doing with my time in Georgia but I didn't get any of them done.  Well, with the exception of my entryway bench.

I just kept adding to my list.

I found the easiest projects to accomplish at home with what I had on hand to start off with.
I had a couple canvases for the kids to paint on {that post coming soon}
Then I had this lovely piece. I found some old spray paint in the basement that survived the move. I had some sandpaper and my task presented itself.
This piece came attached to our TV stand that we got a few years ago. I didn't want to throw it away because I had a vision for it. Time got away from me and I never did it.
After watching several DIY videos on youtube I finally felt motivated.

I waited for a nice sunny warm day and went outside. I removed all the cardboard and huge staples and started sanding away. The paint I had was a primer and paint combo so I didn't have to worry about priming it beforehand. However it did take more paint that anticipated. I had to bring it in for a few of the cold days while I waited for a time to snag a couple more cans from Home depot. Now with everything getting worse and more stores closing and limiting customers I'm glad I did it when I did.


PROJECT:
2 1/4 cans of Rustoleum all surface paint and primer in "Flat Chestnut"
Sandpaper
Flathead screwdriver  with help from the hubby for the difficult ones (to remove staples )







{BEFORE}

Voila! I give you my version of a blanket ladder! Just upcycled some packing material that's it. It can also probably be used for a planter outside. There's tons of different ideas. You just got to use your imagination.

{AFTER}

 Here's a list of my favorite DIY'ers

XO, MaCenna
Liz Fenwick
Lone Fox
Mr Kate
Living to DIY with Rachel Metz




Happy DIY'ing while you are quarantined! I'd love to see your projects too
send them to me via IG or comment below with a link to your project. 

{DIY} Dining Room Hutch

 It's finally done! This was by far my biggest project so far and it was a daunting task indeed!

I knew I wanted a hutch to replace my make-shift dining room hutch that I had previously. Which was really an old entertainment center. I wanted something that would fit the feel of the rest of the furniture in the house. Something older, slightly classic and vintage like. Maybe claw feet or something like that. I kept hanging around my favorite place {The Salvation Army} and I finally eyed his bad boy! I loved the caged doors, it gives it such a unique, shabby chic look to it. I don't see many hutches like this around. 

I knew from the beginning it was going to be red. I wanted something bold and rich. Red is one of my favorite colors. When we finally got it home it sat in the garage for awhile. And of course I let the months go by and let it gather dust. I always have big ideas when it comes to these projects. But sitting down and getting them done is a whole other thing. I was inspired to get it done when my parents said they were coming to visit for Thanksgiving. I wanted my dining room to look nice for the holidays! 

It wasn't easy because it was getting colder. I thought I knew what I was doing this time around. I wanted to spray paint the whole thing. There's a lot of crevices and hard to reach areas. I thought spray painting would be the way to go. 

The problem with that is. It's a HUGE piece of furniture! What was I thinking!? Not to mention spray paint doesn't go very far on something like this. I bought over a dozen cans and it still wasn't enough. Then I ran into another problem. I picked RED! Red and more specifically this shade of red isn't a very popular color choice. Meaning: Stores don't stock very much of it. I cleaned out Ace and Wal-mart and it still wasn't enough. 

There was only one thing left to do. I color matched at Ace hardware as much as I could and ended up going with brush painting. Honestly, I should've just done that in the first place and I would've saved myself a lot of time and money. So if you are going to be painting furniture just use a brush. At least when it's a big piece like this. 

Remember how I said it was getting colder? I wasn't exaggerating! I was out there freezing to death trying to get the job done. Sanding and priming.... it wasn't until I was really close to being done with the paint that we realized we could bring the pieces in and finish it inside in the nice warm house! Serious blonde moment there and I was in fact kicking myself,{once I defrosted that is}.

What I used:

KILZ Primer Spray Paint {4-6 cans}

Reusable sanding pads

{next time I would sand better if I had more time}

A gallon of color matched {Satin Burgundy} to Krylon satin burgundy

I did at least 4-5 coats. I didn't get to do a finish yet. Or get the glass cut for the shelves. 

I will post the completed dining room once everything is all finished. 

I was actually really please with the finished product. I was worried about brush strokes but it doesn't show at all. So you must get a good brush not the cheap ones! It is a must when painting furniture!

 What are some of your furniture redo's?

After  & Before

{DIY} upcycle Chair part 1

It has taken me sooooo long to finish this chair. I think I bought it a year ago maybe ? It's hard when you get picky about how you want it to look. I got it for $10 at the local Salvation Army. I was looking for a new desk chair and I really loved the idea of redoing one myself. That way I could have more control over what it looked like. It would also save me a lot of money too. I searched and searched for the ideal fabric print that I wanted. I kept getting stuck because there wasn't a lot of local options that I could see in person. I finally went took the long trip to Hobby Lobby and found this gorgeous written script fabric. The vision was created in my head so I slowly got to work. I can't even tell you how long it took to get all these steps done. But it was spread out over the entire year so I'm sure you get the idea.

 I slowly accumulated my supplies. I researched everywhere on the best way to do the seat cushion. That was another set back. I want to make sure I am doing it the best and fastest way too. I am not a patient person, not even a little bit. I finally found one blog that just stapled their fabric over the existing. {since it was still in ok condition and didn't smell bad} That was pretty simply actually.t After I unscrewed the bottom of the cushion to separate it from the chair. I just laid the fabric on the floor and placed the cushion over and followed along with the previous fabric and stapled away.

Next I got my tools to give the chair a good sanding. I sat and thought a good long time on if I should just get the primer that you don't need to sand with. Putting yet another halt on the project. There were some scratches and dings so I just went ahead and sanded it down with a medium then a fine grit reusable sanding pad from ACE.
I had leftover gray basic primer from my desk redo so I just went with that. No need to spend more money.

Then came the color choice! I originally wanted to do it black so it would match. But if you know me well. You know everything I have is black. And I didn't like the idea of white with the fabric I chose. It wasn't until my hubby suggested maybe I should go with red that my mind started reeling with the possibilities. I started envisioning a bright red chair. Then I googled it a little bit. Some people went with a bold, bright red. But I wanted a little more subtle..something a little more romantic. So literally yesterday I finally decided on a shade of red to paint the chair! YAY!


Also, I picked up this tool to make it easier to do spray paint. I thought about doing it with a brush but I really didn't want the brush strokes. Also, chairs are kinda hard to paint lots of little crevices, nooks and crannys.. So I decided on spray paint. I went with this burgundy red. In the sun it looks bright but not too bright. Which makes it the perfect shade. It's called Satin Burgundy by KRYLON. It took about 1 1/2 cans of paint to get the desired shade and cover it all.
I still need to put a little finish on it. But I love how it turned out! 

 Before & After

{Things I'm loving} Thrifting and Upcycling

Being a stay at home can probably get boring sometimes. Then add a part time job that's not even part time {photographer}. There are days where I need something to do. I don't like being extremely busy either. I don't like stress. I don't like rushing through everything. I love freedom to enjoy life. Now that it's summer I've thrown myself into projects and thrifting. I've been feeling very inspired in this place and in this house. I'm an old soul and I've always loved vintage things and mixing them together. I just never thought I could do it. That I could accomplish my ideal style of home decor. I feel like I'm finally coming into my own. My house is almost taking a full 180.. maybe like a 120/130. It's full of mix-matched things, different colors and patterns, while still having a theme throughout the house.

So my latest obsession has been craigslisting, and thrifting. There is so much stuff on the east coast that is more my style so I'm taking advantage. I may be going overboard but it's hard to stop with just one thing. I don't want to buy the cheap furniture from Target, or Wal-mart. Every single piece has broken or fallen apart from all the moves. So I'm being smarter this time. I'd say the majority of the pieces in my downstairs is thrifted in one way or another. Once everything is done to my satisfaction I will post a tour.

My latest has been chairs. Accent, desk ...whatever. Buying these kinds of chairs brand new can be in $100's and that's just not in my budget. Even though it would be easier. Thrifting or upcycling it you have the freedom to design it however you want. In the past year I've been collecting them. I'm sure it's been annoying the hubs. But he doesn't see what I see, they are little treasures to me! They also have a dual purpose and I can use it for my Photography

I got this chair back in March or April and I haven't even started on it yet. I got it at the Salvation Army for $10 haven't decided on color or fabric yet. That's why I've been dragging my feet.

This chair I just got recently of of craigslist for $35 it's definitely going to be more of a challenge for me since the upholstery is all ripped up and it might need to be stuffed too. But I have a vision for this one and I'm absolutely in love! It's a gorgeous chair, and so photogenic! :)

What things are you loving these days?