Monthly Archives: April 2016

New house, new sewing room

Posted in Interior Decorating, sewing by

We moved into our new house just before Thanksgiving. Nothing like moving and decorating for Christmas all at the same time, but we did it! In our old house, I operated out of our dining room. The space was plenty big enough, but I hated that everyone who came over walked straight into my “office”. Anyhow, when we found this house, it was decided that the third bedroom would be mine. I love that there is a door that I can close and hide my mess. I also got super excited about shopping for furniture to fill my space, rather than using our dining room table for everything. Like everything in my house, this is a work in progress. I’d love to paint the walls and get some color. I’m still back and forth on whether or not I’ll move the orange chair into Zac’s bedroom, but for today- here’s the tour.

This picture was snapped walking through the door. My favorite thing in this room is the butcher block island (purchased from Ikea) that I use as a cutting table. It’s 35.5″ high, making it perfect for cutting fabric and piecing patterns. 20288_10102614143053491_8697701657143798041_n.jpg

As you walk further into the room, I have two desks (also from Ikea), used for my sewing machine and serger. The picture ledge above the desk is also from Ikea. Can you tell I LOVE Ikea?? On the other side of the room is a futon. While not the most comfortable, it serves as our guest bed when my mom or mother in law come to stay. Zac also spends a great deal of time hanging out, reading books, and currently the sofa is covered in Star Wars action figures and the Millennium Falcon. If the pillows look familiar, they were previously in our guest room. I loved them and had to find a way to repurpose them in our new space. 11694913_10102614143103391_2616826652511001859_n.jpg12798946_10102614143063471_3714177160664656571_n.jpg

Here’s a peek inside the closet. I have fabric stored in the bins at the bottom, although I’d love to come up with a better storage solution. I added shelves to accommodate my silhouette cameo, and beside that is my backup singer sewing machine.12794524_10102614143248101_4834542297622223357_n.jpg

Here’s a better look at the desks. I have patterns stored in hanging files at the bottom of the filing cabinet. The top drawers house scissors, screw drivers, and other tools necessary when making a quick fix to either machine. And, the last picture is looking back towards the door. Under the island are shelves used to house more fabric, and random sewing supplies. On top of the island is a wooden block used to hold my quilting rulers. My embroidery machine is still on the antique singer sewing desk that belonged to Patrick’s great, great grandmother. 12794354_10102614143143311_7824083459947527487_n.jpg12799190_10102614143228141_5035551390596157663_n.jpg

That’s it! Hope you enjoyed it. Next up on my house tour will be Zac’s room.

DIY shelves

Posted in Interior Decorating, Tutorials by

I’m almost complete with my 1 room, 30 days bathroom challenge and I can’t believe the transformation. Today I completed the shelves and couldn’t wait to post about it. I found several posts on Pinterest about DIY shelving, and thought- what the hell!

I bought a board from Lowes (10″ deep x8′ long) for less than $8. I also bought stain, brackets to hang it on, and my favorite antique bronze spraypaint because the brackets were silver. (Also on my cart was my shower rod).  

Over the weekend my husband cut the board to length for me. I decided to make my three shelves 22″, which gave me a slightly longer board left over that I hung in my laundry room for more storage there.   

Yesterday I got to work staining and spray painting. I don’t think I’ve ever stained anything before, but it was pretty easy and I only needed one coat. 

  
  
I let everything dry overnight and got to work hanging them today. I first used the long level to mark a line on one side of the toilet and used that as a guide for one side of brackets. I used drywall anchors rated for 75 pounds, so I feel confident that these shelves are secure.   

Hanging the left side was the tricky part. I needed to make sure the brackets were level horizontally and vertically. An extra pair or hands would have been helpful, but I was able to make it work using the level.    

 

Next up was the fun part. I made sure the shelves lined up and were centered on the brackets, then secured them with a screw from underneath. I am in love with how this turned out. All together, I spent around $45 (3 sets of brackets at $7 each, $8 for the board, $7 for stain, and $6 for spray paint, plus screws). 

  
Lucky me, baskets and home decor was 50% off at Hobby Lobby this week. I have toilet paper in the red bucket and wash clothes in the basket on the middle shelf. The picture frame and anchor artwork are also from Hobby Lobby, and the sailboat is from Target. Next up for my bathroom makeover is towels, but I’m going to take the next couple days and catch up on some sewing. 

   

 

1 room, 30 days- bathroom makeover

Posted in Interior Decorating by

Our house is a ranch, 3 bedrooms, 2 baths. The guest bathroom/Zac’s bathroom was covered in a floral wallpaper that was peeling. It looked OK when the previous owner lived here, but Zac’s bathroom stuff from the old house clashed terribly.  Anybody who visits our house uses this bathroom, so I felt motivated to get the looking nice. 

   
A few weeks ago I decided to see what would happen if I started peeling the paper off. Good news- it literally peeled off in sheets. Bad news- behind the wallpaper was this horrible textured paint…

    

So, fastforward to April. I am taking part is a 1 room, 30 day challenge, and given the state of this bathroom it was a no-brainier as to which room needed the most help in our house. The first thing that needed done was the walls. 

The walls looked worse than they felt, but they were bad. I ventured off to our local Sherwin Williams and asked for guidance. They were super helpful and recommended a matte finish of paint. The guy said any sort of gloss, or even an eggshell finish would highlight the texture. I bought a paint + primer of their top of the line Emerald paint. While searching Pinterest, I decided on Repose Gray for color. This paint was worth the money. It covered fantastic, and while the walls still show a little bit of texture, it’s 100% better, and probably the best it could be without re-drywalling the room.

 Next, I bought a new shower rod. I wanted something to match the rest of the fixtures in the bathroom, so I bought one in antique bronze. I also hung a picture I bought from Target. This week, I’m making shelves to go behind the toilet, and trying to decide what I want to do for towels and find a bath mat. Stay tuned!