Doesn't your dining room look like this?

In the great room reshuffle of 2011 my old dining room became my craftroom and my living room became my dining room.  Now that I am broke from the kitchen reno I am trying to make the rest of the house liveable for very little re: no moolah.  So here is the current dining room

It's pretty from this angle, but prepare to be horrified!

Here it is from my front door

What?  You don't have a huge garage storage shelf in the middle of your old diningroom?  And piles and piles of crud?  Well honestly it's been this way for over a month.  My craft room used to be upstairs and my sweet husband decided that I would be happier with it downstairs.  I hate to go upstairs, (pure laziness)  plus it's too easy to let it stay a dumping ground, which it did.  So for very little money I plan on taking this room from this to downstairs cute and tidy.

The first step is to cover over the shelves.

If you need a crafting. material cutting island this is a great idea for a cheap but sturdy one.  This half a garage shelf is  from lowes or home depot.  My huge cutting mat fits on it and it's the perfect height for working or sitting with a barstool.  Plus I really like to be able to get to whatever I am working on from all angles.  Like a kitchen island but minus the money.  I ultimately plan on buying this beauty from ikea, but until I can save my pennies this needs to become workable.

 

It's a varde counter storage system from ikea.  The drawers will fit 12 x 12 papers and all kinds of other crafty wonderfulness, but the glass fronts are frosted, so you can't really see, and if it is too clear, I will line them.  

But until then here is my solution.  I took a painting canvas and made a cut where I needed it and then just tore it across.  Because it's a natural fiber it stayed straight. No need to cut perfectly, spending time agonizing over it.  Then I folded over the edge, leaving the already done hem at the bottom and staple it into the wood panel that sits on top, with a regular paper staple, not even using a staple gun!  How easy is that, the whole thing took 30 seconds.  Then I stapled some pom pom fringe around the top.  

After that I arranged my ikea paper cutter ($10)  I use the paper across the top of the craft table and cutting mat when I'm not cutting material so it stays clean and then just throw the paper away.  I add baskets of all my pretty pencils and pens and brushes and it looks so much better.  It needs to dewrinkle, but hopefully you can see past that.

In the next few days  I will show a super cheap, but cute sewing table redo.

Plus the ugly laminate cabinets are going to be shabby chic afied and beautiful.

linking to
craftomaniac
making the world cuter

kitchen bookcase tutorial

Once I renovated the kitchen, the previous colors weren't working very well.  The red in this cute little bookcase, just was not working.  With it red I felt like I needed to change the island color and the possibly change or darken the butcher block.  I'm married to the aqua island, I mean commited!  Never changing it, hope it stays the same forever, I am writing Mrs. Lisa aqua island over all writing surfaces.  I think you understand.  The red was good while it lasted, but I've moved on and it's better for everyone.  But what color should I change it to?

Here is the before:

And now the new color:

It's love, love, love, love, love!

Here is the paint recipe.  I've had this bookcase for about 12 years and it's gone through alot of transitions.  I can't give exact colors for all the layers, but I can for the yellow and aqua.

It was painted white first.  The second layer is a pepto pink.  Think little girl room.  Then it was the burgundy red (at the top of this page).  From there I painted it with primer.  Did 2 coats of valspar "hail a cab" yellow.  It was in a semigloss.  I then sanded it with my orbital sander.  I sanded it alot.  It took 30 minutes with an electric sander.  Plus I changed out the sanding pads about 4 times.  Alot of layers.  Some I just went a few and in some places down to the bare wood.  When I got it as distressed as I wanted I dry brushed ceramcoat craft paint in caribbean blue very lightly and randomly.  After very lightly drybrushing, I hand sanded over the aqua blue.  I haven't sealed it yet.  I want to live with it.  I usually would do a stain and then seal, but I really want the yellow bright and don't want to muddy the color at all.  Feel free to ask any questions.  I try to answer within a day.

linking to:
missmustardseed
whipperberry 
french country cottage 
commonground 
my romantic home 
at the picket fence 
504 main 
tatertots and jello 
funky junk interiors 
be different act normal 
saturday social

little red bookcase

Do you remember my former red cottage bookcase?

Well with all the changes we've made in the kitchen it just wasn't working anymore  The wood stains didn't work with it, and I just didn't love it.  So Yesterday I painted it and sanded it and dry brushed it and this is what it looks like now.

, 

It's amazing what paint can do.  My daughter just walked in and said, "it looks like this has been sitting in an old barn for 10 years, is that what you were going for?"  Yes ma'am.  Smart girl!  I will post a complete tutorial soon.  Didn't have time right now.

Hooray for school!

My dog tally is so happy that school is finally starting.  She has time to do those forgotten beauty treatments and catch up on her stories! :)

I know, I might have a problem. 

a new kitchen? 98% !

Here are the before pictures

Now for the after.  We added a new travertine floor, a new farm sink, new granite countertops, a new backslplash, a new cooktop, a new stainless vent and new paint on the cabinets and wall.

The 2% left to do is paint all the remaining wood exposed when we put the sink in and took out the cabinet to set in the vent.  I am planning on painting the red cabinet a mustard yellow and shabby chicing it up.  Plus adding chandeliers for new lighting.  Right now I am just tired and enjoying what we have accomplished.

linking to
making the world cuter
craftomaniac
tuesday timeout 
running with glitter 
nothing but country
just a girl 
share the wealth wednesday 
someday crafts
free pretty things 
sugar and dots 
the tootsie wootsie 
primitive and proper 
sew woodsy

kitchen renovation update

Okay I am doing this post simply to show an update.

It's not pretty, it's very dusty and I am sick of people in my house!  But it's almost done.  It's beautiful and just what I hoped for at the same time.  Plus you get to see what a lazy painter I am, that beige patch in the middle of the new grey is behind a big hutch.  Oops!

  I now know why people say they will only do a kitchen redo once.  Grouting is being done tomorrow.  I think I can put everything back in place the next day.  Unfortunately I have family coming for a visit also.  It should be interesting.  Fortunately they are great visitors. 

Kitchen is in process

They came yesterday and put in the granite countertops and the new farm sink.  Faucet to go in today and backsplash.  I think Monday will be the floors.  It's very exciting and I love it. 

Here is where we started.

and here is the latest

Ill keep showing pics with updates, until we are done.  Woohoo!

linking to missmustardseed

a new pillow

Now that I have my new ektorp corner sofa I am wanting to make a few pillows.  I love to sew but I have to say I don't enjoy making pillows.  I just can't seem to make them ever fit properly.  While I was at ikea I found a yellow pillow that I liked.  The pillow with cording and feather pillow insert was only about 10 bucks!  I thought that was alot of quality for a little bit of money.

It was a very easy project.

I used a star template and traced it lightly with a pencil.  I opened up the pillow and put a ziploc bag in the center to prevent the paint from seeping through the bottom.  I then used my favorite fabric paint.

Lots of children's painted clothes later, I feel this is the best paint to use on fabric.  It dries nicely and the best part is that after you wash it, it truely is soft.  It feels just like the fabric it is painted on.

I'm not sure if  I like the shimmer, I'm getting used to it, I might have to get a blue without shimmer and paint over it.  Still deciding.

Update on the kitchen, granite is being put in tomorrow with new backsplash and tile floor to follow, hopefully I will have updated pictures this weekend.

lisa

linking to

bows and more
someday crafts 
free pretty things 
sew woodsy
tootsiewootsie 

my new couch is here!

You know how you start renovating one room and then the ones next to it start to look exceptionally shabby?  Yep, my husband realized maybe it was time to have a new couch.  Our last one was bought 5 years ago at a garage sale, denim.  It was actually an awesome couch from calico corners.  It was 200 bucks and in great shape, but soon the leg broke and one end was propped up with  a brick, then my normally outstanding dog ate a bleach pen and threw up bleach on the couch arm.  Not good.  When I told him I wanted a white couch, it took some convincing, but here she is!

 

It is the corner ektorp couch from ikea with a white slipcover.  I bought two.  They are only 100 bucks each, the slipcover, not the couch.  But I figure I will just bleach the you know what out of it, and if I can't I have an extra.  I will probably buy a red cover for Christmas.  The green rug is from ikea also, it was 49.99 and I bought two.  They are on top of carpet and seem to stay in place fairly well, but if I need to I'll buy carpet tape to keep them together.   I already had the cowhide and the coffee table was one I painted and restained the top.  I love how this room is coming together.

The kitchen is still on going.  We have done everything we can and are waiting for the contractors to begin.  So hopefully I will have some progress to show there very quickly.  

linking to

tatertots and jello

funkyjunk 

show and tell saturday 

social salutations 

flamingotoes 

lollyjane 

making the world cuter 

be colorful 

mod vintage life 

running with glitter

This is how hot in texas it is......

Even the mermaids are coming out of the water.........

 

Bwahahaha!

I do these pictures for my family all the time on facebook.  I thought I would let you see this one.  Don't worry she is not being hurt in anyway.  Her eyes look like that because where she is looking is a treat that she gets once I take the picture.  Anyways her name is tally and she is a beautifully trained hunting dog, that morphs into my puppy supermodel when the mood hits.  I wonder how many followers I'll lose from this post.  Hopefully none, I love you all, we are sick of the heat and bored waiting for the kitchen to begin.

lisa

linking to 

katiesnestingplace

shabbychiccottage 

craftomaniac 

reasons to skip housework

A new great nephew and antiques

We are still in the middle of our kitchen renovation, with nothing to show.  The process is alot of hurry up and wait.  I think the countertops and backspash will be done end of next week, so I will be sure and take pictures once the work is started.

In the meantime we went on vacation to see the first baby born in to our family in quite awhile.  The kids generation is starting to add to the family.  Very exciting stuff.  My niece had her first child, Truett.  She is 5'2" and very petite and he was 9lbs, 11oz and 22 inches long.  It  was an exhausting labor but she did it.  This is a picture of me holding him.  We had travelled for 14 hrs, so I'm not looking my best.  But I love how he and I are looking at each other.

While we were visiting I did my most favorite thing, antique  This is what I found.

 

I think I am going to lightly dry brush it with green and then sand and seal.  It is perfect for silverware, plates and napkins.  I will show this project sometime this week.

Next I went to a thrift store and found all of this milk glass for 50 cents

In the midwest milk glass is everywhere and no one loves it, but in texas it is about 10 bucks a piece in antique stores.  So this was amazing!  I have to be honest though.  I bought 2 pieces for .50 cents.  When my aunt saw what I had she said she had a box of it in her garage that I could have.  There is really about 10 more pieces.  What a day.  I've set aside the other 10 pieces for my friends to pick from.

Last but my fave is this blue canning jar with zinc lid.  $4, not sure if it's a bargain or not but I wanted it.

So the vacation was a nice distraction from the 110 heat we have in texas and the kitchen renovation, which is expanding to the family room now :)  You know how that goes.  Here is a sneek peak of my new carpet.

I would like to show you my new couch but unfortunately it's on back order and won't be here for about a week more. 

       

 

We've gone 3 x to order it and 3x have returned empty handed.  I love ikea, but you really have to work to buy from them.  I finally ordered it online.   

linked to 

missmustardseed