Saturday, September 1, 2012

Easy Airplane Art for Little Boys Room

My little guy's room was feeling bare with a big wall of nothingness next to his bed. Like most of my design dilemmas I start by asking myself "what can I buy to fill this space?".  I don't know why it takes me so long to start thinking "what can I MAKE to fill this space?". Once I was in the "making" mindset it didn't take long for me to come up with this



All three canvases were completed start to finish in less than a day and cost next to nothing to make!

First I looked online for airplane silhouettes (although you could do anything, trucks, robots, etc.). when I decided on three I liked I enlarged them to the size I wanted (it doesn't matter if they are blurry or pixelated) and printed them.

The pictures I chose were fairly intricate so scissors would not have worked. Luckily I got a nice set of
 X-acto knives and a cutting mat for mother's day that I love to use any chance I get!


I painted a couple coats of white in the area I was planning on putting the plane then left the canvases to dry. Next, I set the silhouette cutout on the canvas and went over it again with the white paint. This ensures that the colored paint won't bleed underneath the paper stencil. When that was dry I just painted over the entire canvas, one blue, one grey, and one red (2 or 3 coats depending on the paint color).

As soon as I finished the last coat of paint I peeled off the paper airplane stencils. It was a little hard to get off in places and I had to use a knife to cut or scrape it from the canvas.




And that's it! Wasn't it easy? I think I'll try to get white frames for them eventually but I'm not in any rush. I think they look pretty cool, if I do say so myself.





-Chloe If you like my style be sure to check out my etsy shop for handmade decor!

Friday, August 31, 2012

1/2 Bath Makeover

Let me start by just saying that bathroom makeovers are super fun. Not quite as fun as a kitchen makeover, but close.

I think one reason they are so fun is that they can be simple and still have professional looking results. By making just a few changes we now have a bathroom I adore and one I'm not afraid to let gusts use (unless my 3 year old has just been in there, in which case guest may want to just hold it).





 In this post I will go through all the steps we took to get to where we are now. But first we need to start at the beginning, the orangey oak and laminate counter beginning...




















First things first, something needed to be done about that vanity cabinet. Since I am obsessed with white cabinets wherever they may be, you could not convince me that it should be any other color than white.  The handles and pulls are from Target (seriously, Target has the prettiest, cheapest options you'll find) and I LOVE them!


























Next on our list was the walls. A pretty aqua blue and some beadboard wainscoting was exactly what I needed. My husband put up the bead board and moulding and I got to paint.

How about the hand towel and toilet paper holders? Again, Target. Seriously, go to Target for this stuff!










It was about at this point in the reno (with counter ripped out and no lights) that I was 38 weeks pregnant, at my dr. appointment trying to convince my doctor that "I get that I am dilated to a 5 and fully effaced, but I HAVE to have one more week to get my bathroom remodel done before this baby comes!".  Needless to say, I didn't get that extra week. Amelia came and we were so blissfully in love with our tiny girl we didn't care that the house was torn apart. Home from the hospital and it was back to work!

Finally off to Home Depot to get the big stuff. The countertop, faucet, mirror,  and light fixture.

 If your vanity is a standard size (chances are it is) there is no need for a custom (and expensive) vanity top.  Both Home Depot and Lowe's carry them with faucet holes already drilled (you'll need to pay attention to the holes when picking out your faucet) and they come with the sink basin attached. You can choose from granite or solid surface, I'm a solid surface kind of girl. All you need to do is run some caulk along the top of your vanity and set the top in place, easy peasy.


The old countertop came up higher along the wall than the new one and the wall was pretty badly damaged.  It took a lot of spackling and sanding to get it smooth. My husband thought I was crazy for even trying, he thought we needed a pro for sure but he now admits it looks fabulous! well, he doesn't actually say "fabulous" but you get my point.

Just need to hang the mirror and install the light fixture (left that for the hubs to do) and voila! A brand new bathroom!




I forgot to mention hanging the little cabinet. Found it for a few bucks at a yard sale. It was covered in black scuff marks I thought I would never get off but at last I tried a Magic Eraser! Those things really are magic! The cabinet works perfectly in the space and I am just glad I didn't have to repaint it.

Do you have any tips on getting the most bang for your buck when trying to beautify a bathroom? Tell me about it!

-Chloe