Tile Goods: One project I am glad I didn't DIY!

We have a friend that just happens to be a very talented craftsmen when it comes to all things renovation related. A while back we hired him to transform our dull kitchen to something a bit more interesting and custom. We needed to get a lot of bang for our buck and Chad was able to help us do that with his crazy tile skills. It was his idea to lay the floor tile on a diagonal brick pattern and I couldn't be happier with the results. I was also very impressed with the amount of brain power it took for him to lay out this pattern. My brain hurt watching him do it....but he did it perfectly and the end result takes our "affordable" tile to a whole new custom level. We also had him add a white subway tile back splash.  We used very very very affordable tile from Lowe's. (I had considered tackling this project on my own but after watching Chad painstakingly and efficiently make sure everything was level, lined up, flat, straight, etc....I  am so glad I left this project to him!)

{VIA}

If you live in the Low-country and have a renovation project that needs a professional, we 100% recommend Chad and his team. Click on the link to go to his blog, or call the number on the photos. You can also find Absolute Renovations (his company) on Facebook.

XO,

Elisabeth

garage goods: $100 corner re-do details

Our garage is a total basement wannabe. (We don't have a basement....it pains me.)

We HAVE to store lots of things in here and i am on a mission to make every corner work efficiently.

It's the first space we see when we come home and it's just stressful to walk into this mess every day.

After Jen revealed her garage a few months ago, I was really inspired,

especially by this little corner in her garage:

 {image via i heart organizing}

I bet that little corner is the most underutilized space in every garage in America.

It certainly was underutilized in my garage!

See those big huge slabs of counter top? Yeeeahhh......i may have been hording those...

...for eight a few years which may or may not have included two moves and three houses. It was time for them to GO!

Off to the Habitat ReStore!

I was also inspired by this photo from BHG. I love the use of pegboard and i have been dying to use it in a project.

 {image via bhg}

Ok here we go. 

I started with this table that my husband made long long ago. It was the desk he built for himself when we were in college.

I primed it with my favorite oil based Zinsser Cover Stain. I used a sponge brush and tossed the brush the trash for easy clean up!

Then I painted the table with two coats of a sample paint from Sherwin-Williams. (Note: sample paint is not durable. You will want to use a durable clear coat on top if you use it on something that will get a lot of use.)

I bought a peg board at Lowes. It comes in a few different sizes. This size is 4ft X 2ft.  Perfect for my space.

Enter my best friend spray paint!!!  This peg board really soaks up the paint, so I primed first. I think rolling the paint on would be a more efficient method, but I already had yellow spray paint.

I added a little strip of wood (on the right side) so that the peg board would fit nicely. See how that works? The board is screwed into the wood pieces on the right and left to allow space behind the board.

I also left a space of about an inch at the bottom of the board. (Unfortunately, we share our garage with gross little critters that like to crawl along that ledge. ewww...) The last thing I wanted was for one of our "friends" to get stuck behind the board. That would certainly not end well for anyone involved.

Next I hung the support strips for the shelves.

This required using power tools, a level, and some math. Impressive, aren't I?

These are the shelf brackets. They go into the white support strip things.

and there you have it!

Here is a break down of what I bought and how much it cost. (Store prices vs. online prices do vary. I find that things are usually cheaper in the store.)

FREE     table, already had

FREE     paint for table- Sherwin Williams sample paint, already had

FREE     spray paint and Zinsser primer, already had

$12.00  Real Organized 43 piece pegboard organizer kit (buy here)

$6.00    24"X48" pegboard  (buy similar here)

$28.00  2 rectangular galvanized bins bought at Lowes (similar here)

$12.00  6 single track shelf brackets (buy similar here)

$6.00    2 single track shelf tracks (buy here)

$30.00  3 melamine white shelves (similar here)

$8.00    4 yellow storage bins (similar here)

_______

$102.00 Total

*The cute little galvanized bin under the table is also from Lowes. I ended up returning it, as I didn't really need it. I think it was about $15-$20. It has a lid and would be perfect in the garage for dog food, potting soil, etc. 

**These specialty galvanized bins can be found in a few different departments at Lowes. Check the trash can isle or the closet and storage isle. There is also an area at Lowes near the paint brushes that has empty paint cans, buckets and other galvanized items. Check all three of these locations for handy storage.

***Other ways to save money would be to cut your own shelves...if you already have the wood on hand. I priced out whole pieces of plywood and also pre-cut wood boards. The price wouldn't have been much cheaper, and I would've had to take the time to prime and paint the boards.

I know in most of the country now is not a good time to be reorganizing the garage, given the weather. So, pin this bad boy and tuck it away for the spring! Your spring self will thank you.

xoxo,

Elisabeth

playroom goods: $25 restore bookshelf

you know how i love my local habitat for humanity restore...

...huge solid wood book shelf,

$25.00. 

yes please!

this is the first time i have used zinsser primer. i did not want to have to sand this beast!

i loved the zinsser! 

to read more about zinsser, check out paige's project, here.

one coat of primer and two coats of paint.

i applied the paint with a small foam roller. it was so much faster than a brush. i still had to use a brush for the nooks and crannies, but overall this project went pretty fast.

about 6 hours.

here are the results:

this bookshelf offers tons of storage for $25.

it's always nice to have a little help filling the bins and organizing everything.

it's amazing what a coat of white paint will do, isn't it?

to see the rest of the playroom go here.

monday i will show you how i made the 3D wood numbers that are on the bins.

have a safe and fun halloween weekend everyone!

xoxo,

elisabeth

before and after goods: $7 chandelier

hello!

first off, i want to assure you that as you read this i am more than likely in my master bathroom....purging and cleansing!  (no, not the usual purging and cleansing that happens in a bathroom.)  this kind of purging and cleansing. i wonder how many trash bags will come out of that room?  i'll be sure to come back and tell you all about it. until then....

i'm going to show you the before and after of the chandelier in my dining room. we had a wonderful chandelier in here before. it was perfectly fine and i loved it. i just didn't love it in my dining room any more.

here's why:
1. i hated the black next to the gray/brown walls.
2. the shades were all wrong in here and new shades are really really really expensive.
3. it was too big with the green table.
4. it was too heavy in the room.
5. i wanted the painting to be the first thing you notice in the room. that big black chandi was just getting in the way!

(different paintings are pictured below. those are apples- also original watercolors by my brother.)

i had no intentions of replacing the old chandelier as we didn't have a budget for it at all. but then, my good luck charm came into town. my mom!  when my mom comes for a visit we love to go to the habitat for humanity restore. this time, we went to a new one. good decision! 

it was $7. no joke.  i have proof.

it was missing a couple of crystals.
it was a hideous brass color.

the glass was splattered with plaster.
it was really dirty.

but we knew.....

so it came home with us.

i took it completely apart.

my mom washed all of it's girlie parts.

i taped it up and took it outside...

...for a little date with mr. rust-oleum.

i couldn't be more pleased with the results.

for the amount of money i spent, i am thrilled beyond belief.

if you have never tried installing a light in the ceiling...go ahead and do it.

there's nothing to be afraid of. i was scared too, but i did my research, made sure i was attaching the wires correctly and had the breaker turned off. (please make sure you have help!)

and it was fine! and actually quite easy!  nothing a little youtube.com "how to install a chandelier" can't handle.

(i am no way qualified to give advice on how to install anything requiring electricity. do so at your own risk.)

did i scare you off? hope not. i just felt like i needed to say that. you never know.

it's exactly what the room needed.

so, again, here is the chandelier before:

and here is the after:

and here is the room before:

and the room after:

ahhhhh......much better!

next week i'll show you more on the china cabinet and the drapes.

i hope you are having a great ash wednesday. i am headed to church and then home to start bag #1.

blessings,
~elisabeth

before and after goods: vanity bench

hello everyone!

i want to say a quick welcome to my new readers. my feature on i heart organizing brought tons of new traffic to my little blog and i am so excited and thankful. (thanks again, jen!) there are lots of new followers around here and people loving the goods. welcome to you all!

today i'm going to show you a simple vanity bench make-over i did for our dining room.

i bought this vanity bench at an antique store in my town for $15.

it was covered in gross yellow fabric.

with even more gross clear plastic vinyl on top.

here is the bottom.

see the screw? there is one in each corner.

that's how it comes apart.

i used a flat head screw driver, some pliers...

...and a 7 year old...

to take out all of the staples.
there were a lot.

but she was diligent and loved every minute of it.

next, i cleaned off the dirt and cobwebs.
and sprayed a coat of primer and then two coats of white spray paint.
i can't remember if i sanded or not.
sometimes i do. sometimes i don't.

then, i gathered up this stuff,

traced around the bottom piece on some foam that i had in my stash and cut it out. (the old foam from the bench was gross and crumbly and unusable.)

next, i used a bit of spray adhesive to attach the foam to the board so that it doesn't slip out of place.

i made sure to iron my fabric well, so that there aren't any wrinkles on the finished product.

then i laid out the fabric to get the orientation that i liked. i wanted to get as many of the colors on the seat as possible.

i cut out the fabric.

stapled it around the foam to the board.

the corners were the hardest. i'm sure there is an appropriate technique to use here...

 ...i just fold and staple, fold and staple.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

i  now interrupt this regularly scheduled bovagood for a bova~uh~oh!

see this vanity bench below? looks a whole lot like the one i bought for $15, doesn't it?  i spotted this one at an antique store in atlanta.

let's compare the two shall we? (i repeated the pictures twice for dramatic flair.)

mine

theirs

mine

theirs

see?

now for the real drama.....

check out the price. uh. umm. yeah,  uh oh........you're reading it right. $145.00 Firm! who knew?  i sure wouldn't have minded making a $130.00 profit.  ebay anyone? maybe spray painting it wasn't the best idea. oh, and i love that it says, "Firm". salt in the wound. nice.

i now take you back to your regularly scheduled bovagood.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

my $15 version is now painted white and looks like this:

i like it.

it works.

it's better than it was.

it went from this:

to this:

would i rather have $130 in my pocket?

umm. heck yeah!

but it was a fun and easy project and this little bench will surely come in handy as additional seating when needed. as a matter-of-fact, i have already pulled this bad boy up to a card table for a highly competitive game of bunco with some of my favorite moms.

and that, my friends is good! 

~elisabeth