Wintry Decor On My Pine Table for Blahuary

If you are anything like me, January can be Blahuary.  The holidays are over and the festive decorations are pack away.  The weather outside isn't the cheeriest.   In many places, it's downright cold and miserable.  But, ya can't give in.  Ya gotta get up and take the best part of this month and embrace it.   You gotta jazz things up a bit!

My sister and I started an tradition of thinking ahead for January.  I try to give her a Christmas gift that is home decor related, but is suited for after the holidays.  I gave her this neat silver and white throw pillow from Pier One.  She put it on her bed.  We both try to make an effort to pick up a little something new just so we have a few fresh accents to bring out and spruce things up a bit.  It keeps the winter blues away.  

 

This year my friend Danielle, whom I like to call Dani, gave me this snowy owl.  She knows how much I love owls and of course I loved it!  It hung near a lamp in my living room for most of the holidays, but I don't consider it a "holiday exclusive" item.  I knew I had bigger and better plans for him.  So when the holidays ended, I got to work.  Dani's gift has a second life to live.

You might remember my blog post about the Homemade Mercury Glass Ornaments.  If you miss it and want to see how I created them using mirror paint, click HERE.  I place the completed balls into a primitive dough bowl that I have with a few other natural elements like pine cones and fresh holiday greens.













Now that the holidays are over, I removed the greens and added a few little spheres from a White and Silver Sphere Mix I bought after Christmas from Pier One for a song.  I placed my little Snowy Owl into the mix. 

I love the little, crinkled wire balls.

I wanted to add a simple white table runner, but since we are 'recovering' from the holiday spending spree, I decided to make do with what I already had.  Remember the blog post from my 25 Days Series showing how to make Festive, Funky Doily Christmas Trees?  Well, if you recall, I bought a huge supply of assorted doilies from a yard sale for about 8 bucks.  Having plenty leftover from the project,  I got them out and fashioned a 'table runner' of sorts using varying sizes of doilies to create it.

I took bright white candles and placed them on two Dollar Store candle stick holders that I sprayed down with leftover Valspars Metallic Silver Spray Paint from the Metallic Ornament Wreath that got so much attention last month.  

Ugly, with a capital U.

Ooh la la!

Simple, clean and quick.  I have something fresh for my Pine Table without spending a dime. 

Is this the greatest table scape I have ever created? Absolutely not.  But I don't believe that every single thing I do has to be over the top and neither should you.  After all, we are all recovering from the holidays. 

Do you have a few little 'somethings' leftover from the holidays that could be used to create wintry jazzy pizazz on your table, mantel or sideboard? You don't have to completely leave behind the sparkle and glamour of the holidays!  You certainly don't want to leave it all bare and blah either.  After all, there is no reason to have a Blahuary when you can have Jazzuary!  So much more fun that way...

-The End-
Linking this post:

         

               

       

Cabinet Knobs Using Stones and Jute

 

A few days ago, I revealed Master Bathroom Cabinet Makeover.  I promised you that I would come back with information regarding the knobs that I fashioned for the cabinets using the existing hardware with the addition of stones and jute.  Many of you know that I ordered knobs from Hobby Lobby and when they arrived, they were defective.  No worries, Hobby Lobby took a full refund without question.  But it left me with a dilemma.  What to do? 

emoderndecor.com

I went on a few trips and brought back a few sample knobs.  I just wasn't happy.  I wanted something different.  I wanted a stone look.  After all, the floors are a speckled granite, the counter tops and tile a black granite.  I wanted something that tied them together.  Then it hit me.  Stones.  It was that simple.  I went to my stash of stones, shells, mancala beads...You know, the stuff we put in plates with candles and such that the stores sell in clear plastic drawstring bags.  Here is what I did.

Materials:

Assorted polished stones

Existing knobs for the base

Liquid Nails Clear Adhesive

Jute

Hot Glue and scissors

I set out the knobs and chose stones in groupings according to the cabinet on which they would be attached. On the four drawers I did a 'little something extra' by attaching a few small stones atop the first stone.  The bottom drawer got a stone with a message.

I attached them to the old knobs, which now are operating as my shank.  I let these sit up for two straight days before attaching them to the doors and drawers so that the adhesive would be strong. 




After waiting a few days more for the adhesive to completely cure, I took a roll of jute and hot glue and attached the jute to the neck of the knobs where the stone meets the shank.  I wanted to give them a more finished look and make the stone look like it belong there. 

I am super please with this upgrade at basically no cost since I already had the stones.  They give a spa-like feel to the cabinets and nicely tie the natural materials in the bath and the cabinets together.  They are not your standard knobs for sure.  But nothing has ever been very standard about me. So why not fun hardware?!! 

If you didn't get to see the full cabinet review before seeing this post and you want to quickly take a look, click HERE.  There will be a back link to this post, so no worries.  Hope you enjoyed this little tutorial on a funky approach on bath cabinet knobs.

Hey, and remember...You only have one life.  It's yours to live, for YOU.  If you want stones and jute for cabinet knobs...what's stopping you?!!  Enjoy the day.

-The End-

Crafty Restyle Frame That Has Me Saying, "There you are sitting right there making me happy."

I gave this card to my hubby several years back.  There was something about the simplicity of the message and the characters in the image that caught both of us and caused him to keep the card.  These two little papillons are the animal version of him and I, right down to the 'expressions' on their faces. He's the sucker with the rose in his mouth and I am the wise gal next to him letting him work to get my attention. (wink) Inside it reads: "There you are, sitting right there, making me happy."  Does it have to be anymore complicated really? 

He has kept this card at his sink for years.  He says that it makes him happy to see it there.  Of course it has started to show the wear of being in a place where water is splashed around. With the Master Bathroom Makeover in progress, I wanted to get it up off the counter top and give it a more special place.  I still wanted him to be able to open it and read the message, so thought an open window box type framing might be in order. I have two boxes filled with old frames that we no longer use, so I dug around in that box and found this frame. 

New pale yellow walls, white
bead board cabinet refacing,
white shutter treatment on windows,
 updated flooring

The Master Bathroom Makeover project has involved a restyle of a contemporary bath to a more traditional country style bath with whites and pale yellows.  I am currently working on a few beachy accents, so naturally that is the direction I wanted to take this project.  I quickly painted the frame with Vaspar's Satin White spray paint.  While it was drying, I headed out the door hunting for some natural materials for my neighborhood.

If you have been following my blog, you know that I live in a coastal city in South Florida.  We have several parks, two of which are on the Intracoastal Waterway.  I combed the beach in this park for driftwood and such.  I found all sorts of items, including old palm fronds, a broken open coconut and a few pieces of driftwood.  With my loot in hand, I headed back home.

I decided to restyle the frame with these natural elements.  Using nothing more than a glue gun, I loosely covered the frame.  You can also see from the image below that I covered the surface of the glass with a piece of burlap.  I wanted the burlap to act as a backdrop or mat for the card.

I also allowed the materials to fall outside the confines on the frame.  I liked the non constructed feel of it.  I also tucked a few pieces of coconut 'hair' in crevices around the frame, covering up some of the gloppy hot glue that was needed to securely affix the frond pieces.  Now it was time for the accents.  I went into my stash of shells and corals that I have collected on weekend trips to The Keys and used a few items as accents on the corners.

Using velcro, I attached the card to the burlap surface which will allow the card to be removed at anytime.  I hung it next to his sink in our bathroom. 

If you look just above the card, I placed a little piece of driftwood and added a simple word using mismatched letters from the newspaper.  I did this project while he was away for work and surprised him on the return.  He can still have this little card as a reminder each morning and evening.  But now it has a special place.   

 -The End-

Linking to:

Unconventional Approach at Making Over Cabinetry Is A Success!

Many of you know that I have been working on my master bath since Spring.  I was unhappy with the overall contemporary style of the room and wanted it to flow with my master bedroom.  I revealed my master bedroom makeover a few months back.  This is what it looks like.

You can see, the bedroom is light, bright and airy.  We installed the bead board to the chair rail to finish off the room with a traditional, country flair.  I wanted this for the bathroom as well.  I have run into snag after snag, mainly due to my inability to make a decision.  Bathrooms are expensive to makeover and once you make a decision, you are pretty much financially stuck with it.  So I hired a designer because I was feeling like a needed an outside source for assistance. 

She came up with very beautiful drawings, but just the cabinetry bid came in close to $10,000!  Talk about shock.  Understand something....there is nothing wrong with the present cabinetry.  All they really needed was a re-style, but you are hard pressed to find anyone who is willing to just switch out the cabinet doors and such.  I figured that I was back out on my own.  I spent a month beating myself up for having spent the money and searching for ideas that were more affordable.

I considered buying special order, unfinished raised panel doors at a cost of 50 dollars a door.  After all, I could refinish them myself.  Then, I came up with a crazy plan and put it into action.  You know what?  It worked!  It worked so well, I wish I could post this everywhere so that all DIYers out there can see this. 

First, I had my helper Ed decoratively router out the center of the melamine doors.  He then routed the inside of the door in order to lay in bead board.  We weren't sure if it was going to work with this material. The surface of these doors are engineered...kinda like a mica product.  We thought that they might chip or lift.  But guess what? Nothing chipped, spilt or anything!  It worked!

Here is what it looked like sitting getting ready for refinishing.

Ready for refinishing

Backside of cabinet with bead board set in.

I was so excited at this point because the melamine had completely held up to the routing.  Now I had to see what was going to happen to the freshly cut open materials when paint came into play.  I was wondering if the exposed material would warp or flake.  I wondered if the engineered surface would take the paint.  Guess what?  It didn't warp or flake. I sanded the engineered door surface to prepare it to take the primer.   Then came two sprayed on coats of  Zinsser 123 Bulls Eye Primer.  The doors took the primer like white on rice! I then finished it off with several coats of Sherwin Williams Duration Paint in a Satin Alabaster White making sure to gently sanding between coats.  Take a look at this!

Look at the routed decorative edge! The white paint just brought it right out!

Oh....how I love that fresh white surface...and that bead board! To die for I tell ya!  I hand painted the other areas of the cabinetry in the bath by hand alternating brushing on layers of paint with rolling on layers with a small foam high density roller.  I like the surface I get interchanging the two techniques.  Smooth, but not too slick and contemporary. 

We installed the doors this past week and here is what they look like now.

I am so excited about the results of this project.  Instead of $10,000, the project came in at about $250. (I paid Ed to do the router and bead board work, plus materials)  Not bad, I'd say.  If you notice, I changed out the knobs too.  I will talk about the knob project sometime in the next few days and show you how I made them. 

For those of you who haven't seen the before images, I put together these two collages. 

I hope this project inspires you.  Do you have cabinetry somewhere in your house that you just don't love the appearance, but feel like it isn't up to the rigors of a re-surface?  Well, I am here to tell you that you just may be able to pull something off for very few dollars!  I'm am not going to sit here and tell you that this was the easiest project ever.  It took a lot of diligence and patience.  In the end, it paid off.

*****UPDATED TO THIS POST!  If you want to hop over and see the cabinet knob tutorial post  Cabinet Knobs Using Stones and Jute there will be a back link to this post.*******

-The End-

Featured!! Yeah!!!

Linking to: