CHAOS - or what they don't tell you on DIY shows and a sneak peek!

Well our Kitchen cabinet makeover is drawing near to an end! (yeah!!!) I am thinking maybe 2-3 more nights -whew!! But this project is not our first time down this road but, in between projects you forget the following:

1. It probably will take longer than you originally estimate

2. It is wonderful if you have a date where you are having company over in the near future -wonderful motivator when you get to the half way point in a project.

3. All the stuff that is where you want to work has to go SOMEWHERE!!! (Most likely in your dining room, under chairs in the living room etc..) So the moral of this story is while you or your sweet wonderful hubby are working on a project your home might be best described (borrowing the terminology here from the FLY lady) as C.H.A.O.S. - can't have anyone over syndrome!!!

So it is really best to start a project with all these things in mind!! and if you forget just slap your forehead (like on a V-8 commercial and go "Oh yeah!" and take a deep breath it will all be ok).

Well here is a little "Sneak Peek" :

I am so excited!! I love this new color! It really is a little darker than it appears close up with the flash! I can not wait until the doors are done! We have done the cabinets themselves, as well as all the shelves. It took approx 4 days thus far!

I will hopefully be posting pictures of the completed project this Thurs or Friday!! Fun! Fun! Fun!

Kitchen Cabinets Redo-Part 1

Ok I want to be honest with you - You will have to settle on these close up of my cabinets as my "before" pictures because... I thought me and my honey were talking, debating on whether or not to take off the cabinet doors for this refinishing project, and did not know that we had made a decision on it before I went to take a long hot bubble bath the night before we were supposed to start on the kitchen cabinet redo project.
Well imagine my surprise when I dried off from my long comforting bath and walked out to go get a refreshing drink from my kitchen and every door was off!!! So girls I tell you I did what every good blogger would do - I ran and got my camera as I was giving my hubby the evil eye.
So as you can tell we had a "honey colored" oak cabinets in my kitchen. Brent took the cabinets doors off, and took out all the shelves. We wiped down the cabinets with a damp towel, and then roughed them up with some sand paper (notice the dust in the second picture). Once the cabinets had been sanded lightly we wiped them down with a wet towel to remove all the dust.

All I can say "is stay tuned you will not believe your eyes!! This project has turned out amazing!!! and it was amazingly cheap!!! My favorite words!!!" (and yes, we are still on talking terms!)

New Zebra print dry erase board

Above is the new Zebra Print dry erase board that I made my daughter. (Sorry I took pictures before I hung it on the wall)

The above picture shows how this project all started: with a framed picture that I had grown tired of. So I took the picture out of the frame, cut the picture out leaving the border (My picture and border was one piece)

Once the picture was out of the way, I got busy modge podging my Zebra print to the border, or mat. Once this was done, where the picture was I laid a piece of solid purple fabric behind the mat, and returned the whole thing to the frame. I decided that if my daughter was to use this as a dry erase board - it would need to be solid fabric so that her writing would show up on the board. However plain is so "boring" for a tween so the zebra printed mat would make it fun! I hot glued a zebra ribbon on the top edge of the Zebra Dry erase board and hot glued a dry erase marker to the other end of the ribbon - once it was hung on the wall.

**I did get this cute idea from another blog but for the life of me I can not seem to find which one, the zebra print, and color was my own. I apologize that I have not given someone due credit!!! Leave me a message and I will update my post.

beat up hope chest to zebra coffee table

Hi ya'all! Well you know I have been redoing my tweens bedroom in purple and zebra print. It has been so much fun! I get to do all kind of crazy things and it is ok, because it is for a teens room. Well the first thing my tween said she wanted was a couch, futon, anything really for her friends to sit on and hang out on when they are over watching movies, or listening to movies or face booking whatever the case may be. So I was trying to be frugal (I have 3 girls remember and I got into this mess by allowing them ALL to switch rooms - so yep, this is only the 1st of 3 girls room I will be doing ~ call me crazy! I do! and did I mention I am going to try to have all of it done by the time school starts (yes, that sound you heard was me laughing hysterically)

Well first of all while I was brain storming I thought of an old hope chest I had before my hubby and I got married. It had set at the foot of our bed when we first got married, and over the years had been moved around and lost a sense of purpose ~ that yes, I do believe most furniture needs a purpose. Well, the forgotten (but loved) piece of furniture is pictured below, and yes it really was that scary. Yes, that was exactly what my tween thought at first too! I first brought it outside (for some reason no one likes me to paint inside) and took the lid off, well it was almost falling off.

The second step was I took the fabric off of the top, and painted the whole thing matte black. Top to bottom two coats. Then I painted a clear matte varnish over the whole thing. I let this dry (the paint took 24 hours which surprised me because it was really hot outside!) Then I took the top and replaced the foam padding and covered it with Zebra printed decorator fabric. How fun is that! I stapled gun the fabric to the top of the lid. The very last step was that I scotch guarded the fabric really really well.! I hope approve, my daughter does- she loves it!

Confession time: I think in the past I was too quick to get rid of pieces of furniture before I thought outside the box. Is anyone out there in blog land guilty of similar mistakes? What was your favorite save, or looking back what did you give up on to quick?

Zebra print dresser and mirror

Here is the project that I started on a previous blog: ta da! Finished!!! Yeah!!!

On the previous blog I showed how I modge podged decorative tissue paper on the above mirror - however when I went back to the store they were out!!! Ahhh!!! was my reaction! Then I stopped and thought about it, and scrap book paper for the dresser drawers would really be a better option since the drawers would be handled every day.

The dresser was off white and yellow. That I sanded down, and painted black (matte finish). Once the dresser was painted I removed the drawer handles and modge podged on the zebra print scrap book paper to each drawer front. Then I painted the drawer handles that were white and gold with black with settled into the lower area and made the drawer handles black and white - which I think really looks cool with the zebra paper.

A teenager will be using the dresser drawer every day with flat irons, and curling irons on top. So I put 3 coats of clear matte varnish on top of the dresser and sides that were painted black, as well as the drawer fronts and mirror.

This project is far from "perfect" but it was fun to do, and salvaged a piece of furniture that was to uncool for a teen room for approx $17.00. Yeah!!! I love when I can salvage furniture and make it fit in a room so perfect that someone would assume it was bought for that very room!

Modge Podge mirror for twen's room

All my girls decided the other day to switch bedrooms. I thought - what a great idea all the rooms will get "deep" cleaned without the girls be aware they had to clean-so I said "sure". Well little did I realize that this switching would be a little like the book, if you give a pig a pancake, or if you give a mouse a cookie. One thing lead to another, to another, to another and before you know it I am modge podging furniture and painting walls -ahhh!!

well the above mirror had been painted white and hung in my littlest girls bedroom for the last 3 years, however with the change (my only rule was the beds had to stay put in the room they were currently in) My oldest the tween
inherited the mirror and thought she would enjoy it - if it wasn't so plain. Her bedroom is being done in lavender and Zebra print. So I ran and purchased some Zebra tissue paper from Walmart in the gift wrapping area.

I modge podged the section of the mirror frame I was covering, modge podge the back of the tissue paper I was about to apply (Yes, I am particular, I would try to trace the shape of the mirror and cut the tissue paper to place in certain areas). After the tissue paper had been applied, and a few minutes had gone by where the paper wasn't just soaking wet and easily torn- I applied modge podge over the top of the applied paper to provide a protective coat. The whole project took about 2 1/2 hours to complete. Still trying to decide If I should apply a coat of lacquer over it.

(I started painting the dresser to match and have ran back to Walmart to buy more Zebra paper to modge podge the front of the drawers and ahhh!!! My walmart is out - ahhahhhh!!!!! So I am going paper hunting later today -when that project is completed I will post pic of it - wich me luck!!)