Jenna Sue

Building Mirror Frames

2012-02-23T16:58:00.002-08:00

This entire process was so not fun, it almost pains me to write about it and relive the horror. To be honest, if I had to do it all over again, I'd probably just go buy some framed mirrors.

But, I owe it to you all to share my experience if anyone would like to tackle this project on their own.

To recap, here are my mirrors now and the frames I built last weekend:

Here are the same mirrors, as I purchased them:

They looked so naked, right? Everyone thought I was crazy and told me to leave them frameless, but I didn't care. It had to be done.

I couldn't do it by myself though.

And that's where Dennis comes in. I met Dennis at a West Elm/Etsy collaboration event a few months ago, where ended up purchasing one of my maps. I later found out he was a master carpenter and invited him over for dinner and crown molding installation. He also offered to help me with this framing project that I had been trying to figure out how to do on my own for months.

You see... you cannot just buy flat pieces of trim or wood and glue them to the mirror. This means they would be floating on top of the mirror, instead of up against the wall as they should. I figured this out right before I was leaving to go to Lowe's to pick up the lumber.

This is what you need your wood to look like:

And to do this you need a router (at least I think that's what it's called, correct me if I'm wrong Dennis).

Anyway, I did not have a router and certainly did not want to buy one for this project. So I consulted my master carpenter friend (that's Dennis), and gave him my drawings:

and he was like "Psh, no problem" and then he did this:

Then I took the freshly routed wood and stained it (using Minwax's Ebony, great stuff)

These are the fronts, the back have the routed edge

So they sat like this in the garage for weeks while I gathered up the courage to try and assemble them without screwing it all up.

On Saturday, I finally went for it. I grabbed my mirrors, measured as best as I could, and very carefully made each cut. It was definitely a long process. A few times I forgot to put the lock down on the saw so the angle shifted and I ended up with some not-45' angle cuts... oops. Luckily, some of my measurements were too long so I was able to go back and re-cut them at the correct angle.

Here's a shot testing the fitment one last time after everything was cut:

Close up of how they fit together:

I really had to get these perfect because there was no room for error. In my previous wood-cutting projects, I could always caulk, spackle and paint over the gaps to hide it, but not this time.

Luckily, my patience paid off and they turned out better than I had thought.

But they weren't 100% perfect. And this is where I messed up. Bad.

What I should have done was place the mirrors in and then secure the frames. But since they seemed to fit perfectly around the frames, I figured it would be easier to assemble them first, and then place the frames in.

Wrong.

But I didn't know, so I began assembly with wood glue and our nail gun to hold them in place before the mirror went in:

Once they were joined together, I touched up the stain in the seams:

And admired my handywork.

The admiration was short lived, however, after I took my liquid nails...

Applied a bead all the way around the routed edge, and attempted to set my mirror in. It was stuck.

Fortunately, it just needed a bit of coercing from the rubber mallet, and it wedged into place. Whew, disaster averted there.

Not so lucky with mirror #2.

After a generous amount of liquid nails, I tried placing this mirror in and one corner would not budge. Not even close. I frantically tried to pull the frame open enough to allow it to slide in, but nope... I had already nailed it together. So I had no choice but to take the mirror out and figure out a plan B.

Also, these mirrors are HEAVY. It was not easy lifting it out carefully, and it made a huge mess:

I had to sand the edge down to allow a big enough opening for the mirror to fit in, so the first thing I grabbed was a metal file. I sanded for about 20 minutes and I still wasn't even close. So I grabbed the electric sander, but only the very edge could fit into the angle of this small routed edge that I was working with. So I grabbed a smaller metal file and began to chisel away. And I'm sitting in this hot garage, all sweaty, sanding for like an hour straight, with globs of liquid nails drying all over my hands and clothes, thinking this is never going to work, all while being attacked by mosquitos.

Finally I busted out a screwdriver and hammer and just started hacking pieces off.

Eventually, I took enough out to where my mirror FINALLY FIT!

Then I sealed it up with more liquid nails.

Those babies aren't going anywhere.

Then I had spend an hour scraping liquid nails off both mirrors (it somehow got all over the second one), and off the wood frames, and resand and stain where it dried onto the wood.

Whew.

But, I suppose it was all worth it.....

Here's a couple tips for those of you who still want to try this at home:
1. You need a router.
2. Make sure your cuts are all at an *exact* 45 degree angle, and lock your saw so it doesn't shift.
3. Assemble your frames *while* your mirrors are in them, not before.
4. Use a *thin* line of glue/liquid nails (it's better if it's clear), because you'll be able to see the excess reflecting back at you from behind the frame.
5. Make sure to stain (or paint) the routed edge on the inside, because you'll see the reflection in the mirror.

I realize the liquid nails I used was not specifically meant for frames, however, these mirrors are hung from brackets on the actual mirrors. This means the frames do not have any weight or load on them at all so the bond doesn't have to be especially strong to the wood. Trust me, those things are in there for the long haul.

That concludes my adventures in mirror frame-building. Hope you enjoyed.

PS—I was planning on making my upholstered headboard this weekend, but it's been rescheduled because I've been working 24/7 on the launch of my new website. I am SO, so excited to share it with you all... it is my greatest project yet.

Here's a sneak preview:

I plan to wrap everything up and go live within the next 2 weeks.... so stay tuned! I'll be giving out some fun bonuses to the first customers :)

Giveaway Winner!

2012-02-20T10:19:00.000-08:00

And the winner of the hand stamped necklace giveaway (chosen by random.org) is.....

Comment #45:

Congrats, Kimmie! Please email your information to jennasuedesignco@gmail.com, and I'll forward it to Nayeli.

Thanks to everyone who participated!

Master Bathroom Reveal!

2012-02-19T15:39:00.003-08:00

It's about time, right? This reno has been 90% complete since, oh, Thanksgiving or so... but I finally finished that last 10% yesterday and now it's ready for the world to see!

As always, I'll start with the befores.

This bathroom was a real piece of work, let me tell you.

It's split into two small rooms: the shower/toilet area, and the vanity/sink area.

Excuse the mess, we had just moved in here

It had the same white washed oak cabinets and beige formica countertops as the kitchen, and the old guest bath... they must have gotten a group discount.

And oh, the almond tile again... why???

Gotta have the matching almond toilet. Oh, same crusty white tile as the old kitchen.

But they opted for carpet in the vanity/sink room.

Make a note of that medicine cabinet for the 'after' pictures.

The view from the closet.

Back in November we decided to get this project started, and I put together a mood board (are they still calling it that?):

The look I was going for was coastal-modern-rustic-spa.

Once that was settled, we began ripping it out and putting it back together the right way:

I'll just skip through all the in between phases and get to the good stuff... I present to you, our completed master bathroom!

Building these frames for the mirrors was the last 10%, by the way. I'll do a quick writeup on that process laster in the week.

These lights are my favorite thing ever.

We converted the medicine cabinet to a recessed box. I built a shelf out of scrap wood and found these perfectly fitting vases (at Michael's) to store our bathroom essentials.

I slipped a couple flat seagrass baskets (also found at Michael's) underneath the floating vanity, and Brad installed LED lighting underneath.

I built this textured wood piece from lumber scraps. It's stained to match the mirror frames and recessed box shelf.

Moving onto the shower room....

To save money, we simply reglazed the tile from almond to a bright white for around $600 (it was $1200 to do both this room and the guest bath).

We found this clean and modern ORB shower set on Ebay for around $130.

Ahh... love me some long rain showers.

I found this shower bench at Macy's for $90. It was a perfect fit.

We swapped out the old beige toilet for a white dual flush version:

Then I installed a couple floating shelves (Lowe's) and topped them with more seagrass baskets (Walmart)

No renovation would be complete without Brad's in ceiling speakers and recessed LED dimmable lighting. There's one speaker in each room. And the crown molding was the final touch.

And there you have it.

I actually tried to keep a list this time to calculate our costs. Some of these are accurate to the cent, some are approximate... and I'm sure I've left some things off. Here goes...

Tile: $927.32 From a local retailer called the Floor Club. Floor tile: Bambu "Grigio", Glass/Marble accent tile: Eclipse "Eternity"
Tile installation: $477
Shower tile reglazing: $600
Vanity/Sinks/Mirrors (without frame): $910 Ebay
Vanity Lights/Bulbs: $152 lightinguniverse.com
Toilet/plumbing: $239
Ceiling & accent lighting: $169
Speakers: $50
Drywall: $145
Paint: $34 Behr's Reflecting Pool
Sink Faucet/Drains: $153.61
Shelves: $53.42 Lowe;s
ORB accessories: $51.29 Ebay
Drawer pulls: $30 Ebay
White square vases: $15 Michaels
Baskets: $30 Michaels
Towels: $10
Wood shelf divider: $10
Shower bench: $90 Macy's
Shower fixtures: $130 Ebay (no longer listed)
Wood art: $30
Crown Molding: $40

Total: $4436-ish... so even with the rough estimates and probability that I'm missing some things, I think it's still safe to say that this is another under 5k reno. Woohoo! I'm actually surprised the number came in so low... probably because this project has just been dragging on for-ever.

Be back tomorrow to announce the hand stamped necklace winner!

Hand Stamped Jewelry Giveaway!

2012-02-15T13:59:00.002-08:00

Remember how I designed a font last year? Well, I receive emails almost daily from people who want to show me their website, tattoo, book, logo, etc that they have created using my font. It's always exciting (and rewarding) to see where something made from my handwriting ends up.

One of my most recent messages came from Nayeli, who wanted to use my font for her hand stamped jewelry. I gave her my blessing, and in return she generously offered to create a custom piece for me using my font. Rather than keep it for myself, I decided to let one of my lovely readers (that's you) have a chance to win.

And now... for the official IntentionallyMe / Jenna Sue Design Co. Giveaway details...

You will win one personalized necklace of your choice (using my font!), from the following options:

1. Love My Hero

2. Key To My Heart v1

3. Key To My Heart v2

HOW TO ENTER:

Choose one or more of the following methods:

Become a fan of Intentionally Me on Facebook

Follow Intentionally Me on Twitter

Follow Intentionally Me on Pinterest

Add Intentionally me to your favorite shops on Etsy

Become a fan of Jenna Sue Design Co. on Facebook

Follow Jenna Sue Design Co. on Twitter

Share a link to this giveaway post on Facebook and/or Twitter

Make sure to leave one comment for each completed method of entry so it will count. Whew, that's a lot of ways to win!

Giveaway ends Sunday, February 19th at midnight. Winner to be announced Monday. Good luck!

The Crown Molding Project & a Backyard Deck

2012-02-11T14:13:00.000-08:00

I'm popping in a day late after a very hectic few days at my shops (thanks to the YHL feature!)

I'm going to make this brief, as I don't want to relive it any longer than I have to.

After painting our master bath (way back when), we decided to install crown molding, partly because we thought it would look nice, and partly because we were too lazy to cut smooth edges and had to cover it somehow.

I picked up some nice chunky crown molding and was all gung ho to get this show on the road, when Brad had to remind me (once again) that our little miter saw wasn't big enough to make the cuts.

So after weeks of putting it off, I met a new blogger friend named Dennis, who kindly offered to stop by with his saw and help us finish this project.

I figured between the three of us, we could slap those babies up and be done in under 20 minutes. Then Dennis pointed out that crown molding is not like the flat molding/trim that you use for baseboard or board/batten projects... oh, no, it's an entirely different beast. It sits on both the ceiling and the wall, at an angle.

Suddenly this project went from simple 45' miter cuts to angles and miters in fractions and you have to turn it sideways and upside down and then backwards and inside out... WTF. It was even more confusing than that sentence. I watched every youtube tutorial I could find and they all had something different to say.

Finally, after about an hour, we had our first board up. We thought we were golden.

But then the next piece we cut did not fit. So we did about 200 more test cuts in every way possible, before realizing there was something wrong with the first board.

Here I am, trying to visualize the cut angle with my hand

Finally.. after over 2 hours... we had the first piece back in correctly, and we somehow managed to figure out the rest from there (after making every wrong cut before we got the right angle on each board).

And this was just a tiny bathroom with 90' walls! I can't believe people actually do this for a living.

Anyway, here's how it looked when we were done. Not perfect... but as good as it was going to get for us. It doesn't help that our walls are not straight.

We installed it in both the vanity area and shower room.

We had to get creative when it came to ending it at the shower

Next came patching and sanding...

Then taping it all off and painting... (pretend there's a picture of this step here)

Finally, caulking it in to hide all of our gaps... caulk is magical.

And now we have shiny new molding!

The last and final element to this bathroom is framing my mirrors. This is another project I'm terrified of. If I make one wrong cut... it's all over.

Dennis cut some wood pieces for me with a notch in them so I can affix them to my mirrors. I stained them and they are all ready to go..

I'm going to try to force myself to do it tomorrow. We'll see how this goes...

On another note, we're in a serious drought here and the backyard lake water level is at an all time low. Brad therefore decided it was the perfect time to build us a little deck over the water.

Here he is setting the posts with neighbor Joe a few nights ago:

In the summer, the lake will fill up to about halfway up the bulkhead.

And here's the status as of a couple hours ago:

He's out there working on a few finishing touches right now, like rope LED lighting:

There was one big issue that had to be taken care of though.

It's the evil serpent plant from hell blocking our deck entrance. Seriously, it will kill your animals. This is what the plant removal guy said when he was over here giving us a quote earlier today. He said this plant will squirt deadly acid at you and stab you with its claws, so he wouldn't remove it for any less than $225.

Brad decided that was too much to pay, so he and the neighbors wrapped the thing in rope and luckily managed to uproot it without a fight. And now we are free of evil plants!

For around $500, we have a new deck to relax on... sip wine, watch the sunset and feed the pond animals...

Or not... haha.

When Brad was shopping for the decking supplies, I grabbed something of my own for my next project:

Any guesses as to what this could be for?

Here's a hint:

That's coming up soon! Along with hopefully the final master bath shots... and another scrap lumber project I've been working on.

Happy Weekend!

DIY Chalkboard

2012-02-08T06:15:00.000-08:00

By now, we've all seen chalkboard paint everywhere. It's all over pinterest and blogland, in our kitchens and offices and even bedrooms and bathrooms. From spray paint to DIY concoctions, in shades of gray, red, pink and blue and everything in between.

But I have never, ever seen one in white. Not that a nice charcoal grey would have bothered me, but I figured if I was making my own and could choose any shade in the world, why not white? If you've been around this blog long enough, you've probably noticed white is my go-to color. It's clean and timeless—you just can't go wrong.

So this was the plan when it came to filling this empty wall:

Old picture... ignore the mid-backsplash installation

I set out to find the perfect size chunky frame for my chalkboard, and Jesus called my name:

Yardsale find, $3.

After removing the contents and prying off each of the 300 staples (someone wanted Jesus to stay there forever) I had myself a blank slate, ready for some paint:

I lightly sanded the frame and dry brushed on a coat of white, leaving some of the wood to show through for a more distressed look:

then a coat of pale turquoise (same shade as the tea time sign and flower bucket), and in a matter of minutes it was good to go.

I apologize for the horribly lit picture. It looks white here, but I assure you it is a very soft turquoise.

Next it was time for the chalkboard.

I picked up a thin piece of plywood at Lowe's and we used a jigsaw to cut it to size (18x24" in this case).

I did a light sanding over the surface to ensure it was smooth and ready, then I applied a coat of primer:

Next, it was time for the chalkboard paint.
I used materials I had on hand: Behr's flat paint (in white) and unsanded grout that we had leftover from our bathroom tile.

After thoroughly mixing, I was ready to apply the mixture to my board.

I wanted to get this right, so I carefully sanded in between coats until it was completely smooth. I ended up using 3 solid coats when it was all said and done.

After the paint is fully dry, you are supposed to "prime" the surface by dragging the flat side of chalk along the surface until it is completely covered, then wiping down with a damp sponge.

This step did not go as planned for me.

I did not have any white chalk on hand, so I grabbed the closest shade: yellow. Instead of simply wiping clean, it stained the surface so I was left with an off-white chalkboard. I ended up having to scrub it down with lysol, and re-prime with white chalk. I'm not sure if darker colored chalkboards run into this problem... but perhaps this is why no one has made a white chalkboard?

Anyway, the chalkboard still "works", but there are still markings and smears of color when I wipe with an eraser. I have to use cleaner to actually remove the pigment from the surface. I imagine this isn't as noticable on a darker surface. Still, it was worth a try. I love the way the white looks in the space!

Here's the formula in picture form:

I cut this formula down to 1/3 for my small surface area

Project Breakdown:
Frame - $3
Plywood - $5
Paint - already had
Grout - already had
Chalk - $1
Total: $9

Can't beat it for under $10! I encourage you all to try your own, and report back to me on how well the formula works for you. I'm interested to know if it's as good as the store bought stuff.

Be back in a few with our bathroom crown molding + a preview of some other projects we've gotten ourselves into around here...

Weathered wooden sign DIY

2012-02-05T10:18:00.000-08:00

Happy Superbowl Sunday! Hope everyone is preparing to partake in excessive amounts of unhealthy food and drink. We're cooking up our famous cajun lime shrimp tacos and red velvet cake martinis—that means it's going to be a good night.

But first, I'm here to share a quick tutorial on how I made my Tea Time sign:

Believe it or not, no fancy machines or tools were used, and the whole thing cost me $0. Here is what you will need:

A 1x5" board, cut to 18" long
A basic inkjet printer and paper
Sandpaper & paint (flat works best)

That's it!

When looking for kitchen sign inspiration online, I found this tutorial (one of the few that didn't require a silhouette machine). I loved the way hers turned out:

So I followed her technique for my own.

I had a random leftover piece of wood from some project sitting in the garage collecting dust, and I thought it would make a perfect plaque for a new kitchen sign.

Next came time for the fun part: designing it.

I chose the words "Tea Time", and drew a little teacup for added interest.

In order to transfer the words onto the wood properly, I had to flip my graphic. Because it was too large to fit on one sheet of 8.5x11" paper, I split them up into three sections and divided them with a cut line so I could realign them correctly on the wood.

Here they are printed out:

Next it was time to prep the wood. This is also a fun part. I wanted a distressed look, so I took a hammer and screwdriver and roughed it up a bit. Then I grabbed some white paint and dry brushed a few coats on.

Once dry, I lightly brushed a coat of light turquoise paint, and sanded everything down. There is no real technique to this... you just distress, paint and sand until you achieve the look you want.

Finally, it was time to apply the letters.

I laid my peices face down on the wood and secured them into place with tape.

Next, I took a brush, dipped it into water, and lightly coated the surface. In order to get the ink to transfer, I used a sharpie cap (any smooth hard surface will do) and burnished over the letters until every spot was covered. I don't have an in progress shot of this, but here is one from the tutorial I followed:

I ran into a few hiccups along the way... my paper had torn in a few spots and it didn't look like the ink was transferring well in others. This may be due to very thin paper? Not really sure. Here's how it looked once the paper was removed:

The darker areas are where the actual paper fibers had been transferred and stuck on... again, it must have been super thin the paper I was using. But I wasn't too worried—texture just makes it even more aged looking, right?

I lightly went over the letters with a coloring pencil to fill it in some, did a final sanding, and it was done and ready to be hung!

Oh, and see that flower bucket?

It used to be this:

I picked it up at Goodwill for 99 cents. Sanded the candy cane striped paint, gave it a coat of white, a coat of turquoise (same shades from the tea time sign), and gave it a final sanding to let bits of metal show through. I like how they kind of coordinate.

If you'd like to make your own tea time sign, I've saved the template for you here (just click Download on the top left menu). It's already sized for your 1x5" board (which techically measures 3/4" x 4.5") and ready to print. The only requirement is that you must show me your completed project pictures!

Alright... we've got some cajun shrimps waiting to be fried up... be back soon with my DIY Chalkboard tutorial!

Friday Favorites: Pillows!

2012-02-03T08:11:00.000-08:00

Pillow shopping is one of my favorite pastimes. But if you love this hobby as much as I do, you know it can be frustrating at times to find that perfect shade or pattern at your typical brick and mortar stores. And specialty online stores can get expensive.

Enter Etsy... pretty much the solution to everything.

Today I'm actually featuring a few shops, because I just couldn't decide. (no, these shops did not pay me. They have no idea who I am.)

I love the selection, price and quality of diypillows.

Last year I picked up a set of two 20x20 covers in a teal lattice for the living room (the one on the right):

It's held up great after several washes, and for $34 shipped for the pair I couldn't be happier!

Here are some of my other favorites:

This next shop I recently discovered: Fabric Junkie. The prices are just as reasonable, and the selection is even larger. I don't even need any more pillows... but I'm eyeing this one for our bedroom (only $12!):

Elemeno Pillows has hundreds of styles in stock... including these beauties:

I love all of the fun colors and patterns they have to offer—you really can't beat the price either!

There you have it. Affordable, cute pillows in any color and style to match your space.

I'll be back soon with a DIY wooden sign tutorial!

The Big Kitchen Reveal

2012-02-01T11:27:00.000-08:00

This day is finally here! Our kitchen is D-O-N-E. It's been many months in the making, so let's do a quick recap...

Here's how it looked when we moved in:

Pink walls...

Beige formica counters...

Outdated chrome and brass fixtures...

Empty, unused walls and lack of counter space...

Whitewashed 90's oak cabinets...

Mismatched fluorescent lighting....

White linoleum floors...

and the list goes on.

Last summer we made a few big updates including recessed lighting, new tile floors, granite counters, stainless steel undermount sink, glass subway tile backsplash, and a built in bar area which nearly doubled our counter space!

Tile: Giotto Grey, from Lowe's

Granite: Kashmir White, from Lowe's

Subway tile: Special order from Lowe's, Emser's Lucente in Morning Fog

We lived with it like this for a while... when last month I finally decided to bite the bullet and paint our cabinets. In addition, we had open shelving installed on the big empty wall. Here's what the kitchen looked like in the midst of all this...

And now, finally, every last detail is in place and our little kitchen is ready for it's big debut:

I was debating between oil rubbed bronze or brushed nickel pulls, and I'm SO glad I went this route. I picked up the entire set of 16 on Ebay for under $80 (after my Ebay bucks)!

We also ditched the old exposed hinges and opted for concealed "soft-close" hinges, which apparently is this new technology that allows you to just gently push the door in and the spring loaded hinge will slowly pull the door closed on its own (they've had this for drawers for a while, but the guy at the cabinet place said this has only been around less than a year for cabinets). The hinges were under $3 a pop each, so for around $100 we were able to do the whole kitchen. SO worth it.

These open shelves... oh my goodness. They must be my favorite thing in the house.

I had so much fun accessorizing them...

DIY wooden sign tutorial coming soon (the flower bucket was a diy makeover as well).

How cute is this lil guy? It's an owl coin bank from ZGallerie. Brad and I always seem to have loose change on the counters, so this was the perfect solution for the kitchen.

Still loving my white canister set I scored at Goodwill for $4!

I did another fun project to fill a wall... a white chalk board using DIY chalkboard paint and an old frame...

The metal bucket holds our colorful chalk

Tutorial on this also coming soon.

I had been searching for the perfect phone charging/organizing station to put on our counter, because this is how it was looking every day:

Not cute.

I had brought home a wire basket from Hobby Lobby (on sale of course) with no idea what I was going to use it for... when suddenly it clicked:

Bingo! This does a good job of not only covering the outlet, but it serves as a perfect place to stash the long charger wires and keep mail/coupons/takeout menus/etc. Problem solved.

And that is our new kitchen! I wish I was better at keeping track of costs.... but the rough estimate in my head tells me everything came in at under 5k (we had a ton of gift cards to Lowe's to put towards our granite install, so that helped a lot).

Stay tuned for DIY wooden sign and chalkboard tutorials :)

Mailbox Makeover

2012-01-30T14:10:00.000-08:00

Behold our white plastic dinosaur mailbox:

We have been living with this rust bucket since day 1 and I finally decided something had to be done. Aside from that, we had removed the outdated house numbers plaque from the top of our garage and never got around to replacing it with something more modern (I wonder if this is why some of our packages never made it to our house... hmmm...)

We were procrastinating because our house is entirely brick and stucco, and there's really no decent spot to drill numbers into. So I figured I'd knock both projects off the list by combining them somehow.

Step #1: Get a new mailbox:

I realized when mailbox shopping that these things are quite costly. I didn't want to use a standard wood post, so I did some bargain hunting and found this nice black post here for around $45 shipped, which I thought was a great deal compared to similar looking products. Then I picked up a matching black mailbox at Lowe's for around $15.

Next it was time for the house numbers.

I didn't want to just slap some vinyl numbers onto the side of the mailbox, so I had to get a litte creative.

I grabbed a leftover piece of trim (from our foyer board & batten) and decided it was the perfect size to make my own plaque.

After trimming the wood to size and painting it a bright white, I carefully chose my font and printed out two copies onto sticky-back paper (one for each side):

Here is where a Silhouette machine would really have come in handy. Unfortunately, I am sans Silhouette, so I grabbed an Xacto knife and got to work the old fashioned way.

All done... wasn't so bad.

Then I carefully applied my template to both sides of the plaque and gave them a few coats of ORB spray paint (sorry, no pics of this step).

Once dry, I peeled back the liner to reveal my numbers.

It worked!

Finally, I gave the plaque a couple good coats of poly to weather seal it.

Once it was dried and cured, I put four screw eye hooks (2 for each side) into both the wood and the bottom of the mailbox. Then I used some simple S hooks to hang them... and voila!

For under $60, our mailbox is no longer the embarassment of the neighborhood. And now the UPS man can't miss our house, which is a good thing because our kitchen cabinet handles are scheduled to arrive any minute. And you know what that means.... kitchen reveal soon!

Friday Favorites

2012-01-27T05:41:00.000-08:00

I'm switching things up again by introducing a new series I call "Friday Favorites". There are so many awesome things I come across on a daily basis (most of my day consists of being at the computer, so I can't help but run into stuff!) and I thought I'd share some of my favorites with you from time to time.

Today's favorite has been something I've almost purchased a few times...

How great are these?! They are the work of Liz and Rick, from OldNewAgain on Etsy.

They have everything from carved state key organizers:

to napkin holders:

and plenty of words and letters...

The best part: you can customize everything!

I want everything in this shop. All over my walls in every room.

I had my eye on this sign for my kitchen, actually...

But at the last minute I changed my mind and made my own sign.

Sneak preview:

That's all you get for now (step by step tutorial coming next week).

Speaking of the kitchen... there was a minor setback. It appears the cabinet handles won't arrive until Monday now, so you should expect the big kitchen reveal on Tuesday. I know, I'm bummed about this too. But the wait will be worth it, I am just loving how everything is coming together.

In the meantime, I have some other fun projects to keep me busy this weekend... like a DIY chalkboard... perhaps some bathroom mirror framing and crown molding? We'll see. I might even have the big kitchen AND master bath reveal next week.

Quick Kitchen update

2012-01-22T13:04:00.000-08:00

First of all, you may notice I've made a few changes to the blog. I figured it was long overdue to switch things up... so I've made navigation a bit easier with a Search function, timeline of posts, and popular posts feature on the right. I've also included a list of some items I love that are in my own house which I'll periodically add to.

Moving along with a quick update on the kitchen: The paint is dry and almost fully cured. Our carpenter is scheduled to come tomorrow and install the hinges. Our door handles are still in transit, so we're hoping for everything to be 100% complete by next weekend. That should mean a full kitchen reveal in next week's post assuming there are no hiccups... fingers crossed!

Here's our kitchen now, awaiting cabinet doors:

My absolute favorite part of this entire project is my new open shelves (x10000). I've been having so much fun finding accessories to display. Next weekend can't come soon enough. Stay tuned!

Well this is exciting.

2012-01-16T15:11:00.000-08:00

The current state of our kitchen:

We are knee deep into our biggest DIY project yet—refinishing the cabinets.

Before I give you the play by play of this weekend, let's get familiar with how the kitchen looked prior to the madness:

First thing on the agenda was building some open shelves on the big empty wall. I considered trying to fabricate my own for half a second, then reality kicked in and we decided to hire a pro (the same guy who built this wine bar cabinet, in fact...)

We paid him $250 which I thought was extremely reasonable. He built everything from scratch, including the corbels (and they came out exactly as I had pictured). He even installed the top shelf for us. The bottom shelf, however, was another issue. The corbels needed to be drilled into the glass tile, which requires a special drill bit—one which he did not have. We picked one up at Lowes for around $8 and (very nervously) gave it our best attempt....

The tile survived, but we drilled too low (oops) and were left with a big gap between the corbel and the shelf:

We shoved some shims (wrapped in paper) to try and fill the gap and thought maybe we could putty it in... but eventually came to our senses and decided we need to drill a new hole.

And so we did.

Then this happened...

Yep, it cracked. Not from drilling... but from tightening the corbel to the tile. It wasn't even that tight... glass tile is just sensitive. Lesson learned. There's around a half inch of crack visible below the corbel, but it's not very noticable unless you're really looking for it.

Mid-installation action:

For extra reinforcement, we drilled the corbels into the bottom of the shelf.

If you're wondering why the corbel is in the corner of the wall up against the microwave, that is (unfortunately) where the stud was so we had no choice. Safety first!

Finally, success:

With the shelf installation out of the way, it was time to prep for sanding.

We removed all of the doors and brought them into the garage where we set up our workstation:

Then we carefully taped around the tile and walls:

To spare you the mundane details of everything, we're following John & Sherry's instructions for this process. Luckily, they've done all the research for us, so all we have to do is go through the steps and hope it works.

Here is a super condensed recap:

We spent the rest of Saturday patching holes and sanding (using 60 grit first, then 220 to smooth). Sunday morning we finished the last bit of sanding and wiped everything down with deglosser.

Then we primed using Zinsser's Cover Stain (oil based in the gold can).

One thin coat of primer on every surface did the trick.

We managed to get all of the priming done on Sunday, so this morning it was straight to painting. I picked up a gallon of Benjamin Moore's Advance line, in off the shelf bright white. For our application, we used a high quality 2" angled brush and a skinny roller (both recommended by the BM paint salesman). Grand total for paint supplies: $62.

Coat #1 is still drying, so I'll have to wait until tomorrow for coat #2 (the paint can says 16 hours between coats). Since each side of the cabinets will need two coats (at least), the paint alone will be a four day long process—not including any touch ups. Then we have to wait 3 days for it to cure.

And then...

New handles!

After going back and forth between oil rubbed bronze and brushed nickel a thousand times, I finally opted for the nickel. This is because a) the sink and faucet are both silver, and b) our hinges will be silver. As much as I die for ORB, it just wasn't in the cards this time.

I also got a killer deal...

That's 16 handles in all, and the grand total came to $78.66 after I used my ebay bucks certificate. Not too shabby! The reason they are all different sizes is because we have 5 different sized doors/drawers, so I figured it would be best if the handles were proportionate to the door size rather than consistent across the board.

As for the hinges, we're ditching the old exposed suckers and going with concealed soft-close babies. We did some research and found that you had to route a hole into the cabinet for the concealed type hinges, which is something we were neither capable of nor comfortable doing, so we called up our handyman (the one who built the bar cabinet and our shelves) and he said he'd take care of all of the hinges and installation for $325. Well worth it to us—I bet you won't be able to tell these cabinets were from 1992 by the time we're done.

So that's about all of the pictures and words I have for tonight. Our hard work and living in this mess has definitely been worth it—I'm loving the results so far.

The primer told me it loved me too.

Pssst....

2012-01-13T14:09:00.000-08:00

Just popping in to give everyone a chance to enter my Valentine's Day Giveaway on facebook!

This week I was also interviewed by Etsy for their Quit Your Day Job series (which was kind of a huge deal for me!) You can read the story here.

I'll be headed to Lowe's this evening to pick up a couple supplies for this weekend... we're about to start our biggest DIY project yet—painting the kitchen cabinets! We're finishing up the open shelving installation tonight (I couldn't be happier with them, btw). I'll have an update in a few days with our progress.

Have a productive holiday weekend!

Wood bathroom art + new lens!

2012-01-07T07:01:00.000-08:00

First of all, can I just show off the best Christmas present I've ever bought myself?

This thing is no joke.

Remember the guest bathroom after picture I attempted to take?

Here's the same POV with the new lens...

And look how gigantic my little office looks...

Before:

After:

New rug via Urban Outfitters

Booya. Peace out 18-55mm... it's been real.

Anyway, I did a little project for the empty bathroom wall.

Flashback to the yellow shower room circa 2011:

I knew I wanted it to be rustic and spa-like... so it had to involve wood. I then did what every other rational human being looking for inspiration does... Pinterest. I searched every combination of "bathroom", "wood", "art", and "wall" possible.

I found some neat things...

Source

I determined I wanted dark stained wood planks, secured together somehow, and some sort of picture or word or something painted on. After days of contemplation, I decided to throw out the idea of involving paint in fear it would look too busy and I'd eventually tire of it. I wanted to keep it simple and textural so it wouldn't compete with the star of the show... the glass tile wall.

So I went to Lowe's with a vague idea of what I wanted and started collecting my wood pieces. I ended up with a stack of pine wood of various thickness (3/8", 1/2" and 3/4").

Total cost: around $30.

I then trimmed them to slightly varying lengths and began to arrange them to my liking. Once I decided on a layout, I took a hammer to each piece and beat them up a little for a distressed look:

Finally, I grabbed my stain of choice: Minwax in Ebony.

I like this color because it gives the wood a cooler gray tone (intead of a typical brown wood) which really goes well with the grey bathroom.

Here they are after the first coat of stain:

After letting them dry most of the day, I went over them with a second coat—some more than others to give them some variation.

The next day they were dried and ready to go. To secure them together, I first applied a bead of liquid nails between each plank and secured them overnight between two heavy paint cans (sorry, no pics of this step, it was a one woman operation).

Once they had time to set, I flipped the piece over and secured two horizontal wood pieces (first with liquid nails, then wood screws for extra reinforcement)

And that's it! All in all, I'd say it took about an hours worth of actual work from start to finish.

Totally worth it... I love the feeling it adds to the bathroom.

Next week our handyman should be coming to build our kitchen shelves (!!) and a few other projects.... finally making some progress! There's a few last details I need to wrap up before I can post the official master bath after pics. Hopefully the long wait is worth it :)

In the works.

2012-01-01T14:37:00.000-08:00

Happy 2012! Here's to a year of happiness, health, success and more house projects!

I know this Etsy business of mine has totally been cramping my d&r style (and therefore this blog), but now that the chaos of the holidays have died down, I'm ready to jump back in.

I've actually been borderline depressed about the lack of weekend house projects lately, and I can't handle it anymore. My New Year's resolution is to get back on the wagon and finish some of those projects I thought would have been done a long time ago.

First thing's first... that master bathroom of ours.

I finally swapped the twine-wrapped handles for some real rope ones. Check out this in-progress comparison shot:

I think I like them better.

Next, I bought this bamboo bench (from Macy's, $80) to put inside the shower:

Very spa-like. I think it will go well in there (and useful for storage!)

Also, I finally pulled the trigger on this wide angle lens I've been craving (Canon 10-22mm)

Which means I can also finally take the official "After" shots of the bathroom... and then retake shots of every other room in the house. Woo!

I did manage to sneak in a quick project yesterday. We stumbled upon the doorbell aisle in Lowe's which reminded me how badly we NEEDed a new one:

Brad did not think we "needed" one but he clearly had forgotten what ours looked like. Once he saw the word "LED" written on the package, however, he changed his mind (I can convince him to do any house project if there are LEDs involved).

Here is our pretty new ORB and LED-lit doorbell now:

Here's something else I bought yesterday (Brad doesn't know yet... surprise!)

How sweet is this aqua chevron rug? It's a 5x7 from Urban Outfitters, and only $73 shipped! I was browsing through pinterest and it caught my eye.... I had to have it. I decided it would be perfect for the office. Last year I spent months searching every corner of the planet for the perfect office rug, and when I finally found "the one" and placed the order, they told me it was out of stock. So I gave up and forgot about it. Now I'm glad that happened, because I like this one so much more.

Because I've been deprived for over a month of making progress on the house, I'm in a bit of project overload mode and trying to do a billion things at once to catch up.

First on my list... building open shelves on this empty wall (on the right):

The weird wall angles in our house usually end up creating challenges, but this one is a blessing in disguise because it's just begging for some good old fashioned open shelving. Talk about untapped potential from the last homeowners. I am so excited for this one.

There will be two shelves, painted white, each held up by two wood brackets like these (also painted white):

It will be a little tricky, however, because we have that weird corner angle where the microwave and cabinet stick out, so we'll have to outsource this one. I'll also feel more comfortable with someone else who can properly drill through the tile and locate the studs so these things are secure. Then I can get some painting tips from them for high-use and durable surfaces, because as soon as those shelves go in it's cabinet painting time! (I'll be doing the work on this project).

A few more things I've been aching to get done include:

Replacing the stained glass front door with modern frosted glass

Making an upholstered headboard and getting some art on those walls

Getting a new mailbox/post (sorry, no pic available... just picture a giant white plastic rust-stained dinosaur box)

Installing a new closet system...

We clearly need this. As heavenly as it would be to have California Closets come in and build the closet of my dreams... I just can't justify the cost. Instead, I'm going to attempt to find a way to plan everything out using pre-made systems... like this allen + roth from Lowe's:

I haven't actually taken any measurements or done any planning yet, so that may all change if those angled walls ruin my plans (see how they are problematic?) but I really hope I can make this work. I can't exist in this disorganized manner much longer.

Then of course there are the other projects nagging at me... like adding stackstone to the fireplace mantle and front of the house, planting some palm trees in the side yard, adding a large mirror and gallery frame wall in the living room, figuring out a better storage solution for all of the supplies for my business, remodeling the entire sunroom, figuring out a garage storage solution........ the list never ends. I really hope we can accomplish it all by the end of this year. I've been trying to convince Brad how amazing our house would look if he would just let me do whatever I wanted. So far it hasn't been working... but I'll keep trying.

Thanks for sticking with me through my extended vacation away from this neglected blog :)

One year.

2011-12-25T11:34:00.000-08:00

It's been exactly one year since that day I started this blog, and here I am in the same house, on the same couch, overlooking the same sky and mountains. I knew this past year would be something worth documenting, but I never could have imagined this. I still feel as if I'm living in a dream each day I wake up, and I just hope that feeling never fades... it's what drives me to work harder and reach even higher.

I've had an amazing week filled with family, food, wine, dance parties, music nights, Yosemite trips, tea parties, goat walks, catching up with friends and new babies, midday bar outings, football games (go niners!) and lots of love.

Tomorrow we spend the day making the 3000 mile trek back home, back to our kitty, back to work. I'm just about ready to pull the trigger on a new wide angle lens so I can get some proper After shots of the bathroom, and with the holiday shopping season over, I'll finally have time to jump back into new house projects. Hopefully 2012 will be just as fulfilling and exciting as this year was... who knows where we'll end up in a years time—I can't wait to begin the next leg of this journey.

Merry Christmas and Cheers to the new year!

Business + Bathrooms.

2011-12-07T18:52:00.000-08:00

I have been such a bad blogger... I know. My life has been nothing but eat, sleep and work since Thanksgiving. Our house has turned into a warehouse, with an endless cycle of boxes in the foyer from FedEx, UPS and USPS. My office has become a shipping and processing facility, with my sweet assistant Brad helping me package orders past our bedtime every night.

But it's been oh so worth it.

My booth inside West Elm, 12/1

My first big show in Gainesville, 12/4

A day's worth of prints

Our house is so overrun by boxes and supplies that we were forced to reassign the hall closet with a new function tonight:

Not that I am complaining, I wouldn't have it any other way.

On to a few bathroom updates.

We got both of our showers refinished.

They are now a nice sparkling white. Goodbye last trace of almond in our house FOREVER!!!!!

We were planning on replacing the outdated chrome fixtures with nice modern ORB, however there was some sort of issue with the valve in the wall not being able to fit anything else, so we were stuck.

Spray paint to the rescue...

Brad lightly sanded the chrome finished to a brushed nickel and applied a few light coats of paint. (sidenote: Rustoleom's verison of ORB is a lot more accurate than Krylon's. It has the gold sheen dimension, whereas Krylon looks flat black indoors).

We're quite pleased with the results. We've used the shower/bath a few times and no issues yet, so fingers crossed!

Quick comparison shot:

And there you have it. The first and only "fully completed" room in the house.

And now for the master bath.....

I feel like I'm in a scrubbing bubbles commercial. This new white tile is ah-mazing. Did you notice the snazzy new ORB fixtures too? Love.

How about this before & after...

We also added some storage above the toilet:

Shelves: Lowes, Baskets: Walmart

And we finally installed our tp holder, robe hooks and towel holders (sorry, forgot to snap a pick of the first two)

And one of my favorite parts... remember these impossibly perfect porcelain containers I scored at Michaels?

This is why they are so perfect:

They were made for this little pocket. We also built this handy shelf out of a piece of leftover wood and some ebony stain. Once I take some official after pics I'll get a better shot. That shelf is my favorite in person.

That about sums it up for now... still working on replacement rope handles for the vanity (if I only had the time)... and getting a nice new wide angle lens so I can take some decent after pictures. I'll do what I can to post updates, but until Christmas is over and the insanity subsides... you'll just have to wait patiently :)

Back to work!

Thanksgiving Love + Wreath

2011-11-24T08:44:00.000-08:00

Today I am thankful.

The windows are open, a cool breeze drifting through the house, cider mulling on the stove, holiday candles burning, sweet kitty in my lap, classic jazz on Pandora. Today is good. Life is good.

I can't put into words how grateful I am to be where I am today. Just a year ago we were still unpacking, and while I'm still 3000 miles away from family and missing them like crazy, today it feels like home.

In the spirit of the season, I've made my first holiday-ish project.

Remember these?

They turned into this:

I spotted this wreath online a couple weeks ago and had to have it. I was aching for a crafty project, and this fit the bill.

It took a few nights to complete, but it was worth it (as long as it doesn't get destroyed by the rain!)

There are lots of blogs with tutorials, but the easiest explanation on how to make the roses was from here.

Once they were made, I needed to find my wreath base.

I ran to Michaels to pick up a foam wreath... but they were all small and squared off, like this:

So I headed to Hobby Lobby... and it was the same thing. Then I spotted this hay wreath in a pile of leftover halloween/fall items...

It was round, larger, and just $5 compared to $12 for the foam one. Score.

I wrapped it in the same old book pages as the roses for my base...

And proceeded to glue all my paper roses... for hours. Sorry, no pics of this process... hard to arrange and snap pics with one hand before the hot glue dries.

In the end, I had this:

I picked up some $3 ribbon to hang the wreath from, and added a bow:

Ta-da! $8 wreath.

Time to tend to some drinks & appetizers... but first, I'm giving some love back to my customers who helped me make it this far. Someone will win a free print by leaving a comment on my facebook page.

Have a warm, happy, thankful day.

Master Bath Reno: Week 4

2011-11-20T17:58:00.000-08:00

This week's reveal isn't going to be nearly as exciting as last week's, I'll spare you the suspense.

However, we finally made the last big decision for the bathroom: we're not ripping out the shower. Instead, we've decided to go ahead and have it reglazed. We figured we'd also reglaze the guest tub/shower while we were at it. It's going to run us around $1200 for both rooms, but that's a whole lot cheaper than demolishing and rebuilding a new fancy shower.

The tile is pretty new and in good condition, so a nice glossy white coat will make us happy.

Of course, we'll be replacing the fixtures with some updated oil rubbed bronze ones so it matches the rest of the bathroom. We've got more important things to save for, so I think it was a decision well made.

Now that that's out of the way... I have a handle update.

We knew we didn't want handles in a finish that didn't match the ORB, but black handles on a black vanity were just too much... so it was time to think outside of the box. Since I wanted to incorporate somewhat of a nautical/oceany feel, I immediately thought of rope. I love those little rope knot pulls that can double as door pulls...

However, our doors have two holes for screws so that wasn't going to work. I had to get creative.

First, I ordered a set of standard stainless steel handles, and spray painted them ORB:

Then, I grabbed some twine and hot glue....

And got to work.

Until I had seven of these:

Here they are installed:

To be honest.. I'm not sure how I feel about them. I like how they match the baskets underneath. But I think they are just a bit... too much. Brad isn't a fan either. I have a Plan B in mind though, which I'll try to get to this week.

Moving along... I had my best Michael's experience ever today.

I was dreaming about what to put in this cubby hole to store necessities (toothbrushes, toothpaste, q-tips, etc)...

After giving it a lot of thought, I decided I needed the perfect size square white ceramic vases. Three of them (two on the bottom, and one on top on a shelf we would build). I spent forever googling to no avail and started thinking of what I'd have to settle for.

And then.... today... I walked into Michaels, and came face to face with these:

The white ceramic Gods have answered my prayers! These could not have been more perfect. They are the *exact* size, down to the millimeter, that I need, there's THREE of them, and they were on sale! $15 for the trio. I've never been so lucky.

Soon we'll install that shelf and the cubby hole will be complete. And so will my life.

Switching gears for a minute....

I have my very first art show on Dec 1st. Then I have 2 more that same week. That means it's time to get down to business and build myself a booth.

I won't go too much into detail, but this setup has required a lot of thought and research. Today we finally started putting it all together. Here's what the skeleton looks like:

Try to ignore all the mess in the background. We secured PVC into cement, built this 9 foot tall contraption from which my prints will hang, and secured it into two 4' tables.

I picked up these crates from Michaels at $13/ea...

Which will store my prints. I'll end up painting them white I'm sure.

I still need to pick out some fun fabric to drape over the table... and then of course finish all the prep work that goes into this. A new and exciting project... can't wait to see how it turns out!

Oh, and while we were in Home Depot picking up the pvc pipe... Brad decided we needed these:

Truthfully... we didn't need them. But they were on sale, and they were shiny, and I guess Brad couldn't resist. They were on sale for $599 each with free delivery, plus we had a 10% off coupon, making our grand total $1100.

Today we sold these guys for $200 for the set:

So we're basically out $900 for a brand new steam washer/dryer set. Not too shabby!

The bathroom refinishers are coming Wednesday, so our bathroom will be 95% done by Thanksgiving (almost made our goal!) Just have to add the finishing touches, and then I'll be back with the full reveal :)

I'm also working on a fun little project in the meantime.... here's a hint:

I'll post as soon as its finished :)

Master Bath Reno: Week 3

2011-11-13T16:58:00.000-08:00

We're back with another installment of the master bath makeover extravaganza! We made some big strides this week.

Quick recap of where we were just 6 days ago... (I actually had to just double check the last time I posted because it felt like way more than 6 days ago!)

And then this happened....

Hold on. Can I just preface any opinions you are forming right now with this: This tile looks WAY louder in pictures. It's not busy or crazy looking in person... it's pretty subtle actually, and honestly I am still quite breathtaken whenever I walk in the room. And you should know by now I am the most un-crazy-risky-loud decor person when it comes to this type of thing, so I speak the truth about this tile.

It makes the room. I'm in love with it.

And again in the shower...

My favorite lights in the whole world happened...

Some oil rubbed bronze faucet and plumbing happened...

Apparently Mercedes makes sinks now

This new *white* toilet happened:

Ignore the gross yellow lighting and SLR kit lens... ugh

It was not all good things happening, however.

I was about to make a Home Depot run for trim to frame in these mirrors, taking the mirror measurements, when I realized something...

Due to the nature of the way these mirrors are hung, they do not sit entirely flat against the wall at the top (they are hung on screws with brackets). So, if I simply glued some pieces of wood on top of the mirror... there would be an even larger gap where it does not sit flush against the wall. And that would look strange.

I did some research and determined we needed wood with a "rabbeted" edge, like so:

Unfortunately, we are not in possession of such tool to create these edges. Ugh. Fail.

I'm unsure if the hardware store would have some pre-rabbet edged wood pieces... anyone know? Guess I'll cross my fingers and check next time I am there.

But until then, the mirrors will remain frameless. Not my favorite look, to be honest.

While we are on the subject of pesky first world problems, as you can tell my vanity is still black. Maybe if I write this smaller no one will read this and notice and this will all just go away. But seriously... I begged Brad to let me try and make it browner but he refused and wouldn't budge and I decided it wasn't worth causing a rift in our marriage. So I will learn to live with it... or just close my eyes everytime I walk in there.

You win some, you lose some.

Back to happy things.

I got some baskets.

Yes, that is a light underneath the vanity. LED rope lighting, or if you prefer,
a blue nightlight with a picture of a galaxy. Brad did it.

I was so excited to have a floating vanity so I could put one of my top favorite 5 things ever underneath them. And fill them with pretty white things, like towels and toilet paper. I also store my hairdryer and curling iron in one (it's hidden towards the back). I'm so excited to organize this bathroom!

I was actually at Target a few hours ago picking out drawer organizers and baskets for the cabinets. As soon as I'm done with this post I'll be transferring all of my junk back over to the new bathroom, and decluttering/reorganizing in the process. Now that is my kind of Sunday night!

Oh... and before you stare at those silver vanity handles in disgust too long... no, they are not staying.

We quickly realized that silver and ORB do not mesh well.

But what were our options? ORB handles? Black on black... meh, no thanks. White handles? Possibly... but that might be a little too much black and white for me. So I'm getting creative.

Not giving it away entirely yet... but here is a hint if you can remember back to a few months ago:

I have no idea how this is going to turn out, but I'll be sure to report back with results!

Here is another issue we are having.... we did this reno completely backwards. I'm not sure how the shower took the backburner, but it is now a huge eyesore in the room.

It's the glowing yellow room of terror! It needs to be addressed. Originally we were thinking we'd just reglaze it, but then we were quoted $600 and maybe that's not the best option afterall. However, we're not exactly looking forward to ripping out that entire room (which means new drywall, having to repaint, possibly rip out the step that is so beautifully tiled now)... and also potentially revealing any hidden issues. Then, of course, there's the cost of everything.

I'm going to get some estimates this week, and we'll weigh our options and make our decision at that point. But either way, SOMEthing has to happen. I cannot live with almond tile any longer!

Lots of goodies coming in this week... the bathroom is far from over. Here's what's left on the list:

1. New vanity handles
2. Accessories (ORB towel and paper towel holders, robe hooks, wastebasket, soap dispensers/jars/visible storage)
3. Shelving above the toilet
4. Wall art(?)
5. Mirror frames (hopefully)
6. Recessed box shelving/storage
7. Recessed lighting in the shower room & closet
8. Figure out the entire shower!

We may or may not make my initial deadline of Thanksgiving... it all depends on if we decide to rip out that shower or not.

Stay tuned... who knows what this place will look like next week :)

Master Bath Reno: Week 2

2011-11-07T15:25:00.000-08:00

We're currently in the middle of night of painting #2, so I'll make this update brief.

When I left off last week, the bathroom had been stripped of carpet and drywall, and left looking like this:

We've been living in complete dust and chaos since the bathroom was cleared out... Exhibit A:

And this was before the vanity sat in the middle of the room for 2 days...

The bathroom also looked like this before the drywall went up:

First thing in was our new tile floor...

I cheated, I actually just took this 20 minutes ago

There's some really awesome glass mosaic along the step of the shower but it's covered in drop cloths and paint tools right now, so you'll have to wait until next week.

Then it was time for new dual sink plumbing.

Next came the drywall and patching. We hired someone to do this to save time, and because we were too scared to finish out our medicine cabinet box without having it look completely amateur.

He only charged $150 for the entire bathroom... WELL worth it.

Then it was time for paint! The winning color was Behr's "Reflecting Pool", which is a very pale gray-blue.

This swatch makes it look really gray, but my neighbor described it as "baby blue" when he saw it. Either way, I heart it.

Brad also installed recessed speakers and dimmable LED lighting. The light color is unlike anything else in the house... it's the color of daylight, so it feels like we're under a skylight when they are on. Pretty cool.

And finally.... the vanity. Ugh. Everything was coming along so well, until we hung the vanity. And I did a big WTF.

If you can remember.... this is what I ordered:

And this is what I got:

Um, hi? Who ordered the black vanity? Not I. I'm pretty sure it was 'espresso', and I'm pretty sure the pictures showed it ranging from a medium to a dark brown. But certainly not black.

The more I look at this the more annoyed I am. Not that there's anything wrong with black vanities.... I just had my heart set on a brown one. The black just makes the space a lot more modern and colder than what I was going for.

Returning it is not an option at this point, and I love everything else about it.... so I think I'm going to have to sand and stain it. I've never dealt with this sort of super smooth veneer wood looking material... but I hope this works. I just cannot live with the black. If you have any pointers, please tell me in the comments! I need all the help I can get.

So, aside from this huge vanity issue, I'm happy with everything else and the progress we've made. Tonight we finish painting the shower room and hang the screws for our mirrors, and tomorrow the glass tile vanity wall goes in.

More updates to come!

The next chapter

2011-11-04T14:38:00.000-07:00

Today was the last day I’ll ever work as an employee. And I want to share my story.

Three years ago, I graduated college with six figures in student loan debt and a wake-up call that maybe I had made the wrong choice. I wasn't doing what I loved. I was in an office all day, generating thoughtless "art" for rude clients and making next to nothing. If this was what I had worked so hard through college for, the next forty years were going to be rough.

After two years of getting nowhere, I jumped at the chance to move across the country and start over. Maybe I'd find my dream job in Florida... maybe I could finally enjoy those eight hours of my day.

I was fortunate enough to find a job right away, but this town isn't exactly an artist’s haven. I had no choice, so I stuck it out. Outside of work, I focused on what I really loved—art and design. While we were living in a hotel waiting to find our new home, I sat at the computer every night, creating the art I would fill my future walls with. And I loved every minute of it.

As my collection grew, I became inspired by others who had become successful at selling their own designs and thought "Wow... I wish I could do that. Must be nice." But as time went on, I had to stop and ask myself Why not? What was holding me back? Sure, it seemed like an unreachable dream and I had no idea where to start, but I'd been on this earth for 25 years with no real accomplishments, and I wanted more for myself. It was time to make my own destiny.

I spent hours, weeks, months creating my art, building my brand, researching logistics, getting my finances in order. This was going to be a real business, and that’s exactly how I treated it.

My preparation paid off—the very first day I opened on Etsy I sold 5 prints. I was over the moon... jumping up and down, thinking "Oh my God, what do I do now!?" I quickly figured it out and fell into a nice routine. This isn't to say that I was busy all of the time—there were plenty of days where I would go without a single sale. But those bad days did more for me than the good days, because they gave me motivation. The frustration and helplessness of a slow day caused me to create more, learn more, make my business even better. If I ever felt comfortable with where I was at, that would be settling—and that word is not in my vocabulary.

Sales slowly picked up over the weeks and months, and I felt hopeful for the future. Maybe there was a light at the end of the tunnel and I could actually do this for the rest of my life. Everything was falling into place. Then, we unexpectedly received some bad news, and I had even more motivation to bring in sales. I was also promoted to a manager at my day job, which meant we would be able to pull through on just my income until Brad was able to secure a steady job.

While I was taking on more responsibility at work, I opened up a second shop on Etsy. My sales practically doubled overnight. This wasn't just for fun anymore, it was becoming a full-time job. I found myself stressing over my business during the day while at work, and glued to the computer all night until I had to force myself to stop and go to sleep. I'd wake up early every morning and work on whatever I could before repeating the cycle. I didn't mind it for a while... after all, I chose to do this. So I sucked it up and continued on, but I knew in the back of my mind that I couldn't do this forever. Brad's reassurance was "Sure, as soon as I find a stable job, you can quit your day job." I held out hope that it would happen, and it never did. I knew the west elm catalog was about to be released, and I was scared for the holiday season. I was slowly breaking down.

On the way home from work one day I had a nervous breakdown. I called my mom, sobbing, and she urged me to just quit my job already. I told her I couldn't because Brad wasn't comfortable with it. Etsy isn't a "real job", he would say, "there's no guarantee." I understood his nervousness with neither of us having a guaranteed bi-weekly paycheck to count on, but I tried desperately to convince him that this was more than a job, it was a career, and failure was not an option. We agreed (sort of) that I would give it until the end of the year and put my notice in at work.

Fast forward to October. The west elm feature had been released, I had booked two craft shows in December, and I was freaking out. I hadn't slept well all week, my eyes were permanently blood shot, and I was mentally drained. Brad was out having fun with his friend Thursday night, while I was stuck home yet again, on my 15th hour straight in front of the computer that day. Annoyed and feeling resentful, I sent him a text message, blaming him for my misery. He jokingly replied with "Just quit your job then, I don't care" I called his bluff and wrote "Okay, I'm quitting tomorrow then." When he replied with a "fine, do it" something clicked inside me. Right then and there I decided, whether he was joking or not, I was going to quit the next day. I had made up my mind. Enough was enough.

I have learned a lot from this experience. Life doesn't require eight hour workdays at the office. If that is not what makes you happy, you don't have to do it. You will never get those hours back. Every minute we have on this earth is a gift, so why spend your days wishing they would be over? It's no way to live. I believe you need to be able to look forward to the future and have hope in order to be truly happy, and you need to be happy to be the best person you can be.

No, I can't predict the future. I'm not saying my life will be rainbows and unicorns from here on out. There will always be good days and bad days, but you celebrate the good and learn from the bad. You will work harder for yourself than for anyone else, so learn to let go and trust yourself. If you really, truly want it, you'll find a way. Of course it's going to take effort, and often times lots of it. But working towards your own goals is always easier than working towards someone else's... and of course, so much more rewarding when you finally get there.

Not only am I able to do something I love now, but I will become a better wife, daughter, friend, person because of it. I'll finally have the time to cook a meal, go for a walk in the middle of the day, play with my kitty, take a bath, learn to play piano again. These are small luxuries but they make all the difference. And just knowing I can finally do them again is what makes me truly happy. I am hopeful for the future because I've proven to myself that I'm the one in control. Now, I don't just wish... I make it happen.

I'm about to close a 26 year chapter of my life and begin a new one. And this time it's going to be good... because now, I'm the one writing it.

Official bathroom befores (+ current progress)

2011-10-30T09:15:00.000-07:00

Master Bathroom demolition has begun!

First order of business was to take as many "Before" pictures as possible (there never seems to be enough of those after the fact). There had to be several shots taken since the room is so small and chopped up, and my lens is not wide angle {insert sad face here}.

So in an effort to make everyone understand the layout... here they are.

The room is comprised of 3 separate spaces: vanity, closet, and shower/toilet room.

Here's the view from the master bedroom, looking in:

Here's the view after scooting to the left, looking at the vanity:

Another of the vanity, for good measure.

Here's the view of the vanity from the closet:

And this would be the view of the closet entrance...

Now for some messy closet shots. Starting from the door, going clockwise:

This closet SO desperately needs a makeover... must start saving.

Anyway, here is the shower/toilet room:

And one more of the vanity from the shower area:

I think that covers every square inch of the bathroom! As you can see it's a fairly small area (although it feels ginormous compared to our one and only teeny tiny bathroom in our LA house). So I can't complain.

This morning, Brad and neighbor Joe did a bit of demo to kick things off. It didn't go exactly as planned at first... one of the water lines under the sink snapped and was gushing water for a good 5 minutes while Brad was running around trying to find the piece to shut the water off. The bathroom flooded but luckily it didn't reach the wood in our bedroom (the carpet helped soak it up—I guess it's good for one thing).

All is well now and ready for tile...

The tile guy starts tomorrow, can't wait! We also finally purchased the vanity:

Grand total came to.... drumroll please.... $910 shipped! A big chunk of change, yes, but a seriously good deal for a large vanity with storage, a top, sinks, mirrors and shelves. It was originally listed for $1010 shipped, but I offered $100 less in exchange for leaving the faucets out since we plan to buy oil rubbed bronze ones. I purchased it here if anyone's interested. I'll be sure to give my review once it's here!

There's a lot left to do in the coming weeks, but now that I'll be working from home after next week it should be much more manageable. Thanksgiving sounds like a reasonable goal to be 100% completed (that also marks one year of living in this house, woo!).

Stay tuned, this is going to be one good before & after.

The Masterbath Plan.

2011-10-23T16:23:00.000-07:00

I last spoke about this back in May, when we were in the middle of what felt like a thousand projects at once. Then the bad news came and we had to put a halt to everything.

Now that we're financially able to continue, we're jumping right back into our master bathroom reno. And I'm excited. Very, very excited for this one.

First of all, let me show you how horrific our bathroom currently is.

This was taken back when we were still moving in... excuse the mess.

It's small, so it's hard to capture all in one picture, but basically it's 3 rooms: a vanity/sink area, a closet, and a toilet/shower room. I'll definitely take some better before's before demo starts.

The color scheme is beige everything. Walls, carpet, vanity, tile, even the toilet! It's not a good situation.

We left off trying to decide which color scheme to go with.... beige/green/blue, or white/grey/blue...

And we've finally decided.... the winner is.... the greys!

This mosaic tile had me at hello.

And here's my vision...

This is the floor tile we chose:

It's part of the Bambu series in Grigio, found here.

We're going to lay the 12x24" tile in a brick pattern on the floor (throughout the whole space, closet included).

We'll be tiling the entire vanity wall with the mosaic marble/glass, up to the ceiling. We're also going to run an accent strip along the floor step into the shower.

This tile can be found here.

The tile is not available for purchase directly though, we went to a wholesale club and purchased through our installer to get the discount (50% off). We ended up getting the floor tile at $3.70/sf and the mosaic for $9.73. Total cost came to $808.40 out the door, which I think was a great deal.

As for the vanity.... it had been a struggle to find something we loved that didn't totally break the bank. Originally we were thinking of using two separate vanities, but I couldn't find any in our style, with enough storage, with drawers (a must!) and in our budget.

So I began looking for single vanities to fill our 60" space. I came across this 59" vanity on ebay and fell in love:

It was the right color, style, price and had everything included. We knew we wanted white vessel sinks, so this was perfect. I also love how it's a floating vanity so it will make the space seem larger. We haven't purchased this yet, but I'm about to make an offer. I'll let you know the price as soon as the deal is done :)

The only thing I don't love about this is the frameless mirrors and chrome faucets. Once I see what I'm working with, I may try to frame the mirrors out with trim myself... or I'll just pick up some new framed ones (you can find them cheap at HD/Lowes, usually under $70).

I also have my eye on some ORB faucets... like these on Amazon:

That will take care of the chrome fixture problem.

For lighting, we'll be installing recessed lights in the ceiling in each area. In ceiling speakers may or may not be added at this time as well (we skipped them when we were installing them in the rooms, but it would be nice to have).

And, maybe my favorite part of this whole room.... we'll be removing the big horizontal bulb bar and installing one of these over each mirror:

I'm so in love with the rustic/nautical feel of these, and I think it will be a great way to incorporate the beachy theme from the rest of the house into this modern space, without being too over the top.

We'll keep the space light and muted by painting the walls a soft grey. Haven't picked out the exact color yet, but it will have to complement the gray tile.

Of course, we'll be ditching the almond toilet and getting a nice white push-button toilet (like we did in our guest bath).

We also plan on ripping out our built-in medicine cabinet (like we did here), but instead of the wainscoting, we want to keep it clean and drywall it in. Not sure how that will go.... but we'll figure it out. And then blog about our attempts, of course.

As for the almond-tiled shower... in a perfect world we'd rip it all out and install some beautiful white marble subway tile. But we're not quite that wealthy at the moment, so I want to try to reglaze it ourselves. In our LA home, we paid someone $350 to reglaze our bathtub and loved the results. I know there are DIY kits though which might be worth checking into, so I'll keep you updated.

I think that about covers it for now. Our tile will be here in a few days, then it's demo time, and tile installation begins in a couple more weeks. In the meantime I need to get everything ordered and ready to go... be back next time with updates!

No-sew cloth napkins

2011-10-16T17:28:00.000-07:00

I wanted to quickly share how I made these cloth napkins for my tablesetting:

These were a quick last minute addition that I thought of to bring a pop of color to the table. I figured it would be a fun experiment to choose my own fabric and DIY them. So I headed to Joann's and came back with my fabric of choice, on sale at under $6/yard (I bought two yards)

I knew the napkins had to be double sided, so that would mean using two pieces back to back and stitching them together somehow. Enter Stitch Witchery...

This stuff is the bomb.

Once I had my fabric laid out, I split it into four equal pieces.

I figured to make this as aesthetically pleasing as possible, I would need to trim the top piece around .5" shorter around the perimeter, fold the bottom piece over, and use the stitch witchery to "hem" them together. Like this...

After my pieces were cut, it was time to iron. I made sure the bottom piece was long enough to fold over and hide the witchery...

Once everything looked good, I folded the piece over, like so...

Then placed a damp cloth over the seam (per the instructions) and pressed the iron on for 10 seconds.

Simply repeat around the perimeter of the napkin, and voila!

A perfectly normal looking hem.

I honestly was surprised at how well these turned out. I was playing it by ear this whole time, as I have never touched a sewing machine in my life so I don't know the proper protocol for hemming... but I have to say... I could totally see these for sale in a Target aisle.

After my creations were complete, I noticed they were the perfect size for a placemat as well.

And that's the story of my $11 custom napkin-placemats.

Master bathroom reno to resume shortly... having fun picking out materials now. I'll be back soon to share the plans!

I quit my job.

2011-10-14T14:42:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I decided to trade a job for a career. I want to share my story... and I will, soon.

For now, I'll be hibernating in my office for the next 48 hours, doing what I love, until I go back to work on Monday and finish my last 15 days of employment.

Also, check out where I was today :)

Big things are coming.

Hanging in there

2011-10-12T17:17:00.000-07:00

I'm still alive... (barely). It's been pretty insanely busy since my last post. But I did have time to squeeze in a quick trip to NYC to visit my cousin...

It was such a blast. Loved every second.

And now it's back to reality. I'm not sure if I'll have time to work on a new project this weekend, but Brad has something up his sleeve, so I'll be documenting that. Should be interesting. I also have some pretty huge news... but you'll have to wait on that :) And I still need to share my no-sew dinner napkin tutorial! It's all coming soon...

It's Here!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-10-04T09:52:00.000-07:00

Guess what I have....

Take a closer look...

Do you see what it says?!

Jenna Sue Design! That's me!

Brad ran down to West Elm today on his lunch break to picked up a copy of the catalog... and get this. He spoke to the manager while he was there and mentioned possibly displaying my art in their store somehow, and the manager suggested scheduling a day to feature me and a few other local business in the store! What a salesman... I knew I married him for a reason ;)

Ok, that is all for now. Just popping in to share the news!

Dining Room Reveal!

2011-10-02T13:25:00.000-07:00

The day is finally here! Our little dining nook is filled and decorated and has a purpose.

Last week I left you in suspense with these bare Ikea chairs that needed a little something to help them fit in with the new table...

My solution? Slipcovers.

I had purchased four natural colored linen covers from Walmart many months ago for just $10/ea. I figured at that price, I couldn't go wrong. I really wanted these Henriksdal chairs from Ikea...

But $90 per chair was out of the budget. And we already had two of the Borje chairs from our old house, so we decided to get 2 more, add some inexpensive slipcovers and call it a day.

Well, after months of sitting in the garage, here's how they looked on a chair...

Yikes. Aside from needing a good wash/ironing, they were slightly too large and dark in color (they were quite a bit darker in person than in this picture).

So I soaked them in bleach and hot water and let them sit in the washing machine for a while. When they came out of the dryer, I let out a sigh of relief.

Much, much better.

But I thought they still needed a little something extra. So I headed to JoAnne's and grabbed some 2" high density foam...

Sidenote: This stuff is expensive! Over $50 for this piece!

I traced the shape of the back...

Cut out four pieces, and viola!

The only problem was, you could see the green coming through the fabric. To fix this (and also help stabilize the foam) I slipped pillowcases over the top...

And we're good to go!

I actually really like how they are loose instead of fitted. It gives the space a softer, more casual feel (and it's so shabby chic, which is my new thing apparently).

And here's how everything looks together! I even set the table for fun.

These woven placemats are from Ikea... love them.

My second weekend project was making these no-sew cloth napkins that double as placemats. I'm running short on time tonight, but I'll pop in mid-week for a quick step by step on those. I'm very pleased with how they turned out!

I saw these gorgeous pinecone salt and pepper shakers on sale at Home Goods months ago and I had to have them!

And that, my friends, is that. I can't wait to have friends over and have our first meal there :)

Quick Computer Organization Tip

2011-09-28T16:01:00.000-07:00

Does your desktop look like this?

I just discovered a new way to organize—wallpaper. No, not the kind you apply to your walls, but the kind that sits on your desktop.

Filing everything away into folders is one way to clear your desktop and keep your computer organized, but that won't always work for everyone. If you like to keep multiple icons on your desktop that you need to access a lot (and don't feel like clicking through 5 subdirectories to reach every time), this may help.

As many of you know by now, I run a business, so that means customer folders constantly being created and shifted around on my desktop. I normally just grouped them into different areas on my screen as they went through the process from purchase to print, so I could always "know" their status, but I wasn't completely satisfied with this method. Then—lightbulb moment—I decided to make my wallpaper useful and split the screen up into color coded areas, each representing a stage in the process.

Step 1 was to find the file size I needed to make, which will be your screen's resolution. In my case, its 1920x1080 pixels.

Then I took to illustrator to create the file. This was a process in trial and error... shifting things around and testing them out on the screen until everything was in a good spot.

That's all it took, and it works like a charm!

Now that the steps are clearly defined, I should feel more confident in my work process and know that everything is in its' place. This idea can be translated in so many different ways to fit everyone's individual needs. The possibilities are endless... really. Hopefully this can inspire someone else out there who is struggling with their desktop organization!

Pssst... I redesigned my "Projects" page to be more user-friendly and easily navigatable. Go check it out and tell me what you think!

Dining Room Table Makeover

2011-09-25T14:32:00.000-07:00

You know how in grade school, you'd have arts and crafts time... and the teacher would play music in the background and just let you go crazy with your paint and glue and scissors and paper? And it was the best thing ever and you never wanted it to end? That's what this weekend was like for me. A good arts & crafts session. I pretty much loved every minute of it. Maybe because it's something I've been waiting so long for.

I've been searching for the perfect pedestal dining table to fill our dining nook for as long as I can remember. And I am thrilled to announce that the day has finally come. Our nook now has a purpose.

Last weekend, I was fortunate enough for someone to not only discover my dream table on Craigslist, but she offered to deliver it too (thanks Sara!). And everything about it was perfect. It was $100, which isn't a steal for Craigslist, but it had everything I was looking for (plus 2 extension leaves) so I couldn't pass it up.

The first step was to decide what color to paint it. The obvious solution for me is usually white, but the table is going against a background of white wainscoting and that is just too much white on white. So my next thought was to bring a little color into the space with turquoise.

I still had some paint leftover from this chest:

Since the dining table would only be a few yards away from it, I thought it would be a good way to tie everything together. I didn't want it to match exactly, so I mixed in some white to give it a barely-there-blue shade.

Now for the transformation.

First, I lightly sanded to remove any surface dirt.

Then I applied a coat of oil based Zinsser primer.

After drying, I applied another coat.

At this point, you could still see some of the wood showing through, but the primer layers were becoming quite thick and I wasn't convinced it was necessary to completely coat the surface before painting (I could have been wrong... but I think I was right). So I moved onto to the next step.

Here's my custom mixed pale blue shade, ready to go.

And here is after one coat...

And after two...

Two coats was all it took, and then it just had to dry.

I had debated on whether or not to distress this piece, but after seeing the quality and texture of it in person, I decided it would be a good fit. There were natural grooves and holes and crevices in the wood, so even if I tried to make it as smooth and polished as possible, it just wouldn't ever have that perfect store-bought modern look. So I went with it.

Finally, I applied a few coats of Minwax's Polycrylic to seal and protect the surface.

And here's the table in its new home:

I just can't get over this shade... I'm in love!

I would have completed the room this weekend with chairs and a table setting, but that's a project all on its own. I've got plans for the accessories that will take a whole weekend to complete, if everything goes right *fingers crossed*

Here's a little preview of what I have to work with....

Yep... good old Ikea chairs. As you can see, they do not match the space at all. But that will change next weekend. See you then :)

DIY Showoff Feature!

2011-09-22T05:40:00.000-07:00

The sweet, talented Roeshel over at the DIY showoff featured me on her blog this morning!

If you haven't seen her blog yet... go check it out! There is always something fun going on over there for everyone to participate in. And every room in her house is amazing... my personal favorite is the kitchen:

How gorgeous is this?!

Thanks again, Roeshel! Your blog is such an inspiraton.

Be back Sunday with a "brand new" dining table reveal!

Foyer Board & Batten Reveal

2011-09-18T13:15:00.000-07:00

Whew, we made it through through another wall treatment project! And this one might be my favorite yet.

Rewind back to last weekend, when we began the project assuming it would be complete the next day (yeah right). This is where we were at on Sunday:

So yesterday we (well, more like just me) got back to work. The final two boards went in and it was time to patch all the holes and seams. This is normally the most annoying part because not everything fits together perfectly because the walls are never straight. So I took my time and did my best, using putty on all the hail holes and wood-to-wood seams, and caulk where the boards met the wall:

Before...

...After

Then it was just hours of sanding and trying to make everything even and seamless.

After the sanding, while I was letting the caulk dry, it was time to paint.

I was forced to repaint the entire top half because there were some imperfections where the wall met the trim from the first time it was painted, and we ran out of the original paint color. So I picked up a quart of Valspar's Magic Spell (the original paint was color matched to this) and crossed my fingers that the paint would be an exact match...

But alas, it was not. The real Magic Spell is the slightly lighter/greyer shade on the right. It didn't take long, however, and pretty soon I was ready to paint the bottom.

After about 10 coats (seriously) of Behr's paint + primer...

It was done!

Oh, and if you were wondering how we solved this PITA situation...

Let's just say it took some sculpting skills, but I think I remedied the situation pretty well (for an amateur)

We still need to add the base shoe and grout the tile area so ignore the gnarliness at the bottom as it will be covered.

Anyway, back to the reveal!

Here's the foyer freshly painted and ready to be re-accessorized:

Before I show the final after... let's take a quick trip down memory lane to the Original Before:

Metallic floral wallpaper... gotta love it.

The interim:

And now, the After:

The wall tiles are from Amazon.

I purchased the light from Overstock, but it's no longer available (see more on that here).

The prints on the right are 11.5x11.5", framed inside Ikea's $20 Virserum frames, found here. Prints can be customized and ordered in any size, here and here.

These are 12x16 prints inside Ikea's $17 Virserum frames, found here. The prints can be customized and purchased in any size, here and here.

The hooks were purchased at either HD or Lowe's (can't remember which, sorry!)

A COMPLETE HOUSE SOURCE LIST (including paint colors) can be found here!

There will still be one more After in this foyer's transformation, when we replace the glass with a solid frosted panel. Not sure when we'll go ahead and pull the trigger on that, but it's in the works.

And that does it for this weekend! I'm quite excited about next weekends project... it's sitting in the garage right now:

Ahhh... it's the pedastal table I've been dreaming about for months and months. We'll finally be able to fill this empty hole in our dining area....

Get excited.

Foyer Board & Batten: Part I

2011-09-11T15:15:00.000-07:00

I was expecting to have a finished, beautiful new foyer to show off tonight.

Instead I have this:

A few boards on the wall and a two part post.

If you can remember earlier this summer, we installed this faux board and batten in our dining area. It was a long process but we learned a lot, and I felt we were ready for the more advanced board and batten.

I'll make this short because I'd rather not relive it again, but I decided Friday afternoon that we might as well just tackle our foyer project since nothing else was lined up. Brad was less than thrilled with the idea of spending yet another weekend on one of my projects, but he complied and off to Lowe's we went.

We picked up several 1x4's (painted MDF) and some chair rail for the long wall. The plan was to remove the old crusty baseboards and use 1x4 boards instead. Sounds simple, right? Well we forgot to take into account that it has to meet up with the old baseboards around the corner and they are nowhere near the same size and/or shape.

So we had this issue:

You can see where we tried to make a bunch of cuts to sort of piece it together and make it work... the other side was the same story:

Anyway, things were going well until this happened and Brad was not in the mood to deal with it so he gave up and spent the rest of the day in the Man Cave. I was over it too so I took the day off.

Today we came back, refreshed and regrouped, and decided to just make it work. I knew I could mold something decent from putty and sort of merge the pieces to the point where nobody would know just by glancing at it. It was either that or no project at all. And so the project continued.

Here's what the seams are looking like after some sanding a first coat of putty:

It's obviously nowhere near perfect, but I'm going to work on it little by little this week until I can make it work.

Iin the meantime.... we had a lot more patching and sanding to do elsewhere...

We're also going to have to repaint the entire top half of the foyer, because we ran out of paint and the paint we used was a Wal-Mart color-match to Valspar. Walmart no longer carries that paint brand, so we are SOL with all of the paint colors in our house. Ugh.. never use Walmart paint. I probably won't ever color match again at all because of this. But anyways....

The lifesaver of this whole project was our metal nail file set we recently purchased. I used it to carve down the baseboards, and also to perform this magic trick on finishing nails that stick out:

Check out what happened to this nail....

Approx 20 seconds later....

Nail? What nail?

Nail files: Highly, highly recommended.

Moving along.

We went ahead and installed the horizontal pieces FIRST after learning our lesson from the first time around.

Early on, we discovered that none of our walls are exactly straight... including the slope of the floors, so one end of the wall could need taller vertical pieces than the other. This foyer wall was no exception.

I had cut all the vertical boards to 48", and the first board fit perfectly, but by the time I got to the end....

It was nearly half an inch too long on the other end. I had to trim each piece down a bit, but this method ensured a perfect fit for each board rather than having to fill the gaps in with putty like last time.

And viola:

Everything has been putty'd and it's ready for sanding & paint. I miscalculated my measurements a bit for the other wall, so I still need to run back to Lowe's this week and get a couple more boards. Then it's smooth sailing from there!

So next week, I promise, there will be a finished foyer reveal. And it should be worth the week long wait :)

Ikea Hemnes dresser hack! (& a Pinterest challenge project)

2011-09-05T14:56:00.000-07:00

Do you remember a month ago when I transformed these black-brown Hemnes nightstands from this:

To this?

Well, this weekend it was finally time for the dresser to face the same fate. It worked out great being a holiday weekend, because I had two days to complete the project and one day for the poly to cure (I only waited a few hours with the nightstands and it did not get along well with the bottoms of the freshly spray painted lamp bases).

So here's what I was working with:

Not a bad looking dresser at all, but way too dark for the room (especially against all the dark wood floors!)

Step #1: Remove the drawers

It might have been a good idea to also bring the dresser into the garage, but I was home alone all weekend and my tiny self was not about to make this happen. I was barely able to take the mirror down by myself.

Step 2: Prep the drawers for paint.

This included the long and tedious process of taping around the perimeter of the dark wood, then retaping paper towels on to be extra safe.

Step 3: Primer everything

I think it looks better already!

I used 4 coats of primer to cover completely. Probably could have gotten away with 3, but I didn't want to take any chances.

Step 4: Apply paint

I did not take pics of this step. Just visualize a white dresser and drawers... much like the primered version. I used 2-3 coats to fully cover.

Step 5: Lightly sand.

I also chose not to take pics of this because you can't really see the detail. I had used a foam roller to apply all of the paint and wasn't entirely happy with the subtle orange-peel texture. I used 220 grit and my electric sander to do the job. This is the first time I've sanded after painting and I think it is the secret to a smooth finish.

Step 6: Distress.

This is always the most exciting part... probably because it's instant results (unlike primer/painting/poly-ing). I just grabbed a square of rough sandpaper and went to work along all the edges and corners.

Step 7: Apply first coat of poly.

Again, no pictures because it's hard to really see. I used Minwax's water-based Polycrylic (same as on the nightstands, it's pretty good stuff).

Step 8: Lightly sand again.

The instructions on the poly say to sand in between coats (which I skipped on the nightstands out of laziness), but this time I did as instructed, but just to the top of the dresser to make sure the finish was as smooth as possible.

Step 9: Apply coat #2 of poly, sand more, and apply last coat of poly.

Ok, so I combined a few steps here but this was getting too long .... so finally,

Step 10: Reattach hardware (I love the knobs the dresser came with, so I kept em)

And here is what my 3 (well, technically 2) days of hard work got me...

What do you think? Better than the black? I feel like a weight has been lifted in the room... it's so much brighter and happier now (or maybe I just am)... either way, well worth it! I think I'll sleep better tonight :)

Moving along... I'm officially hopping on this bandwagon:

This particular pin and caught my eye a while back and I thought it was pretty genius:

Anyway, a little while ago I was strolling through the aisles of Target and noticed this vase on the clearance rack:

Not exactly my style.... but check out this price:

Um.... I don't care how fug this thing is if I'm saving $35. Nicely done, Target.

So I took it home and sat it in the corner, knowing I'd figure out some way to jazz it up. Then I remembered that pinterest project and I did a small happy dance.

Since I was already going to go through the process, I found a couple other items I could use for my project. Like a random aqua vase I've had since highschool and a bottle of wine I polished off the night before.

Sure, these will work.

Next I came up with a plan for the pattern. I didn't trust myself to freehand this, so I made a different look for each and traced some guides with paper and tape:

Actually, I lied. I freehanded this one. Mad skills.

After my templates were drawn, I headed to Michaels to pick up some puffy paint and matte spraypaint ($7 after a 50% off coupon). I came home with the goods and carefully applied the paint... one dot at a time.

For anyone trying this at home... make your dots poofier than you anticipate, because the poofs settle and flatten. I had to re-poof the turquoise vase becuse the dots had settled too much.

And here they are, all dotted up and ready for paint!

Here they are in the spray paint chamber, mid-coverage:

and after several coats:

And here they are, all pretty in the light:

I used flat spray paint, but I'm considering grabbing some satin and going over them once or twice because the texture is a bit chalky and weird up close. But from afar, I heart them. Especially for a total investment of around $12. Thank you pinterest!

That is all for this week. I'm still on the months long, never-ending hunt for a craigslist dining table... cross your fingers it happens this week. If not, I'll find something else to tackle... as always :)

Print Giveaway Winner!

2011-09-04T14:50:00.000-07:00

I'm stopping by quickly today to announce the winner of my 2 Ocean Animal set prints! Drumroll please.....

And the winner is:

Commenter #8, Rachel!

Rachel said...

Love your blog! Hard to say what my favorite project is, you have so many inspirational posts. If I had to name one, it would be the trunk transformed into a coffee table. Speaking as a fellow Floridian, I love the modern day tropical design you incorporate and would adore these two prints! :)

Congrats, Rachel! Please email your shipping address to jennasuedesignco[at]gmail.com and your sea creatures will be on their way ASAP!

I'm hard at work on a project that needed this full 3 day weekend to be completed... here's a hint:

I'll be back tomorrow for the reveal :)

I have an announcement.

2011-08-30T10:16:00.000-07:00

I'm dropping in for a rare mid-week post today because this news is too exciting to hold in until next Sunday:

I'm going to be featured in West Elm!!!! WEST ELM. As in, the West Elm.

Back in May I was contacted by the marketing folks at Etsy who were working with West Elm to find handmade pieces for their 2011 Holiday Catalog. West Elm spotted my shop and asked me to send them some of my items to be photographed. It wasn't guaranteed at that point because anything can happen during the editing process, but they just confirmed to me that my print made the final cut, so now I can finally share the news!

I sent them several of my city maps and I'm not sure exactly which one was featured, but I can't wait to find out! I'll also be featured on their website and in their Etsy profile as a featured seller. The holiday catalog hits stores October 4th... I'll be anxiously/excitedly/impatiently waiting until then to get my copy! And of course, I'll post everything to the blog once it's in my hands.

Ok, back to work! Just had to share :)

Guest Bath Reveal, Old Window Frame & Giveaway

2011-08-28T13:05:00.000-07:00

First order of business: The "final" guest bath reveal!

Last week Brad installed a dimmer switch for some much needed mood lighting control. At that point we were 95% completed last weekend, so this weekend all that needed to be done was hanging art, finishing the recessed cubby, and swapping out the knobs on the vanity.

I knew I wanted to add a shelf to the cubby for extra storage, so we went to Lowe's to get a piece of glass cut to size (FYI, our local Home Depot said they don't cut glass—just a heads up to anyone wondering).

So we came back with our shelf and a few plastic mirror hangers to prop it up. They broke as soon as the screw tightened, so those were out. Brad suggested we just use the bare screws and paint them white.

And so I did. And it worked excellently.

Next up was accessorizing (the funnest part, of course). I went to Hobby Lobby, for the first time in my life, on Friday evening and it was a similar experience to my first time at Garden Ridge.... pretty close to heaven. I don't know how I managed to go 26 years without stepping foot into one, but now that I know I live 5 miles from one, it's going to get dangerous.

Luckily, everything I purchased was 50% off so I scored some amazing deals. Like these mason jars for just 75 cents each!

To help them coordinate better with the rest of the finishes in the bathroom, I whipped out the ORB and gave the lids a new look:

Much better!

I fell in love with these brownish-grey tinted glass knobs, $4 for both (after 50% off)

Finally, I framed a couple of my prints in Ikea frames I had leftover and hung them above the loo:

Prints can be purchased in any size here

A couple more finishing touches and the bathroom is D-O-N-E! (Until we tackle what's behind the shower curtain.... just pretend that part doesn't exist for now)

Let's get a quick before & after shot to make it more official.

Before:

After:

And there you have it! And since I actually remembered to record most of this, here is a rough price breakdown:

Toilet - 125
Vanity/Mirror - 177
Baseboards - 17
Faucet - 55
Vanity light - 110
Dimmer switch - 20
Bead board/trim & supplies - 100
Trash can & paint - 22
Oil rubbed bronze hardware - 37
Recessed cabinet trim, lighting & glass shelf - 30
Accessories (standing mirror, mason jars, knobs, soap dispenser) - 30
Paint - already had
Art - made/already had

The only thing left off this list was tile and installation... because we don't have an exact figure since it was quoted with and installed at the same time as the foyer and kitchen. If I have to guesstimate based on square footage and tile/labor cost... I'll go with $80 for tile (27 sq. ft @ $3/sf tile), and another 150 for labor. That sounds about right. So,

Tile - 230

Grand total: $950, give or take a few. So it's safe to say it cost under a grand for this:

Not too bad, right? Stay tuned for the shower re-do... coming soon. Or maybe not.

In other news, I was browsing Craigslist and found someone selling an old window pane (no glass) near my work and decided to stop by to check it out. He said it was from some 150 year old house in Pennsylvania and belonged to his mother who passed away. I thought it was perfect, and walked away with it for just $12! Happy Dance.

Here it is at home, waiting to be prepped:

It was painted a light beige, but there were layers of paint underneath it from years of use.

I took out our new electric sander and got to work. We picked up this sander a couple weeks ago at a yard sale for just $10.... best $10 EVER, let me tell you. It took about 15 minutes to turn years of paint to this:

Can you imagine if I tried to do that by hand? It would take weeks. Everyone go buy one of these, now.

After it was sanded with heavy grit, I put a finer sheet of sandpaper on to smooth the surface a bit. Then I brushed on a coat of turquoise, let it dry, and then put a coat of white on. Sorry, no pics of this process... I was working on like 5 things at once and had no time!

After both paint colors dried, I went over it with the fine sandpaper to get some of the turquoise, wood, and original paint colors to show through. Here's the final product:

I know, it's hard to see the detail with this crap lens. Working on getting a better one!

To hang it, I picked up a french cleat, which is my absolute favorite way to hang heavier pieces. I used it on my dining room mirror and it was the simplest thing ever. This time was no exception.

And the window now lives happily on this previously empty bedroom wall:

I may dress it up later with hooks or something... but for now it can just sit there and look pretty :)

And finally... I made a small update to our living room. See if you can spot the difference.

Before:

Yes... Mr Octopus and Miss Seahorse are no longer with us. They have been replaced with this:

These are bus rolls I made of all the special places in our lives...places we've lived, visited, special vacations, etc. It was time for a change.

As for these guys....

Well, it's time for them to move on to become part of someone else's family. Therefore, I'm going to give them a second chance at life in one of your homes.

Here's the technical specs: the prints are 11.5x11.5" (shown here in Ikea's Virserum frames, also fits in Ribba).

They are from my Ocean Animal Collection, valued at $20/ea.

All you need to do is leave a comment on the blog if you're interested in adopting them, and next Sunday (9/4) I'll randomly choose a winner and ship the prints right away. Sound good?

To make it interesting... tell me what your favorite project has been so far from this blog. It can be something as big as the bathroom reno we just did, or as small as painting all our handles ORB. I'd love to hear what inspires you most.

And with that, I'm off to get some work done in the shop... be sure to check back Sunday to see if there's an octopus and seahorse with your name on it :)

Guest Bath: Almost there

2011-08-21T16:10:00.000-07:00

I'm back with another installment of the Guest Bath Remodel series... and we're just about there! If you can remember back to a week ago, we left with the bathroom looking like this:

Most of the beardbord was done, the vanity was in place, and the room was repainted.

Brad finished up a lot of it during the week, so by Saturday the room was looking like this:

Here's a couple shots of the installed vanity light (from Home Depot):

I placed an order for this oil rubbed bronze set on Ebay (minus the robe hook)

And I picked up this soap dispenser ($7 at Target)

Everything was coming together nicely... but there was one glaring eyesore. Let me remind you of this picture again... can you see it?

If you guessed the medicine cabinet, you were right!

I've always dreamed of a recessed storage nook... recessed + storage are two of my favorite things. So I convinced Brad to rip it out and see what was underneath.

It was better than I thought...

A nice square box ready to be finished!

I had originally pictured smooth, seamless drywall with a dividing shelf in the middle, but we are nowhere near that skill level to make something like that look acceptable. So we headed to the garage...

The solution was right there in our discarded wood pile.

Leftover beadboard! Love it.

So we headed to Home Depot to get the rest of the supplies. The most important supply was a tool we were missing: a skill saw to make the cuts. So we paid the $40 and got one, finally (it's not like we'll never use it again!)

We also picked up some trim to frame it out, and decided it would be neat to recess a light in the top for extra bathroom luminance...

We got to work right away, starting with the back piece:

We measured perfectly and it went right in on the first try (whew!)

We built the light assembly next (which required some creativity since we drilled the hole too big...)

Brad ran the wiring after the top piece was secured:

Then we secured the side pieces and trim...

And here it is, all nailed and framed...

See those broken pieces of wood sitting on the bottom shelf?

This is why....

This box was seriously crooked.

But after the bottom trim piece went on and provided support, we coated the bottom of a 1x5" board with liquid nails, set it on top and caulked it in. Good to go.

Happy Dance! We are so going to do this in our master bath when the time comes (it has the cabinet). This project cost us under $80 (saw included... so $40, really).

See that new ORB fixture peeking out from underneath it?

Hello, $11 towel holder.

And matching towel rod.

And toilet paper holder.

Here's a shot of the whole corner... cause it's all I could fit in this lens.

Note to persons named Brad reading this... wide angle lens = all I want for Christmas. Start saving.

I still need to hang art on the walls, and we're going to place a glass shelf in the storage cubby and pack it with some bathroom necessities. The "grand finale reveal" will come next week!

I had time to squeeze in one more project... a new trash can. This is normally a boring/easy purchase, but I had an idea in my head and this was the perfect chance to execute it.

Have you seen this cute bucket from Urban Outfitters?

Cute, right? I wanted one. But this one was a bit too big, and I thought I could make my own for a bit less $. So I found this on amazon:

Yep... that will work.

I picked up a $2 paint tester at HD in a muted green:

And got to work designing the perfect "TRASH" sign. The typeface "Clarendon" did the trick.

I printed it out on paper with a sticky back...

and carefully traced the letters with an X-acto knife.

Unfortunately, my blade was on the dull side, and a sharp one would have made the process much easier.

Once it was cut out, I peeled the backing off and applied it to the can:

Then I lightly sponge painted over my stencil.

The paper started bubbling up when I did this... which scared me.

And it was not good.

However, I found that all I needed was the edge of my nail and the excess paint scraped right off. So I took a few minutes to clean up the letters, and it had a much better look:

And here is the trash can in its new home:

I like it! What do you think?

Okay, last but not least... we have a new foyer light!

Remember how I had ordered this last week from Overstock?

It came exactly as described and I love it!

Here is the newest most recent foyer shot (there will be a few more of these before we're completely done)

Lights on:

I like the rustic vibe. Our house needs more of that. One piece at a time...

Alright, there's a bbq burger with my name on it. Time to go... be back next week with the final bathroom reveal and another surprise or two!

Guest Bath: Resumed

2011-08-14T17:18:00.000-07:00

If you came here expecting to see my freshly painted Ikea Hemnes dresser, I apologize. We had a change of plans.

I had a few errands to run Saturday so I had to postpone the painting project, so instead I convinced Brad to finally get our guest bath vanity from Lowe's, so our guests could start washing their hands after they used the restroom.

We began our guest bath transformation in June, but had to bring it to a hault in the middle of demo following our sudden unfortunate news. After our wrong granite install ordeal, Lowe's agreed to make it up to us with a discount of some sort for our next big purchase.

This single purchase project soon turned into a total bath overhaul (or at least picking up from where we left off). While we were measuring for the vanity, we knew we had to find a solution for the messed up drywall where the previous vanity had been:

Old pic, before new floors and toilet

So, I came up with the idea to use the wonderfully simple/cheap and aesthetically pleasing beadboard. Luckily, Brad was down with the plan, so we headed to Lowe's to get the goods.

We ended up finding a vanity that would work perfectly (it was a vanity/counter top/sink combo so we had no choice but to take it all).

And we loved it all. And we also loved that Lowe's paid for $150 of it plus free delivery (yay!)

We also purchased the matching mirror:

For the sink hardware, I found a nice ORB faucet to fit the vanity, on super clearance:

I didn't see any lighting I loved there, so we went to Home Depot and picked up a nice 3-light ORB wall mounted fixture (sorry, no pics just yet.... it will just have to be a surprise)

Back at the house, we were dying to get rid of these old 90's porcelain towel and toilet paper holders (ugh)

After trying to delicately remove them with no luck, it was hammer time.

Which unfortunately left us with these:

The bottom hole would thankfully be covered by beadboard, but the top two were going to be an issue. So we picked up a couple 6" mesh patch kits and hoped for the best...

This was earlier today... and they are still pink as I type.

Our old baseboards were lookin pretty gnarly, so we picked up some fresh replacements:

Susie was double checking our plumbing measurements, just to make sure

We had a fun surprise underneath....

After the new trim piece went in, we were left with gaps in the grout which had to be addressed. Both of us being grout virgins, we were slightly nervous about taking on the project without adult supervision... but it had to be done.

So we dug up the old bag of grout that the tile installer had left in the garage, added some water, and grabbed a dish sponge.

And I am proud to report, I have unlocked my hidden talent.

Skills... right? I had so much fun that I actually went and touched up the kitchen and foyer tile (you know, to fix the "professional's" amateur mistakes). But seriously, grouting is fun and I'm happy to check it off my bucket list.

Back to the bathroom.

We had more patching to do...

While we were waiting for all the pink to turn white, we figured we'd just start painting around the spackled areas since we wanted to be as efficient with our time as possible (and it was Sunday evening so the clock was ticking).

I was getting tired of the pale beige-yellow, and didn't want to splurge for a new gallon of paint, so I used the color that's currently in our hallway and kitchen (Valspar's Tranquil). I love how the color looks different in all 3 spaces because of the lighting. In this bathroom it's a darker and warmer soft grey.

After we got a solid coat on all the walls, we moved to the beadboard. Lucky for us, Home Depot had cut at least most pieces correctly. Enough to get started at least.

We did the "easy wall" first. We simply lined our boards up (this was in 2 pieces since the panels are only 4" wide), put a bit of liquid nails on the back, and nail gun'd the suckers in. The trim required one simple miter cut and we popped that baby with a few nails, and viola! We are getting good at this stuff.

The next wall required a bit more planning to work around the plumbing, like this pipe behind the toilet:

Brad notched a section out with his jigsaw for the sink plumbing (which didn't come out as smooth as expected since we were holding it with our hands trying to calm the violent shaking....), but it's behind the sink so no one will see it.

Here's the other side as of now:

We have one more small piece to put up on that wall, and one more on the side wall (that Home Depot needs to trim a bit more), then the chair rail for that side and our molding is done!

To make sure we had the right measurements, we set the vanity up in the space:

See how it lines up near perfect with the molding? The chair rail will run seamlessly on top of both across that wall. I'm so glad (/surprised) we avoided major disaster with all these measurements... this was definitely a first.

And there you have it, the current state of our bathroom. Brad will be working on it throughout the week, and hopefully this weekend we can finish "most" of it. I'd still love to have the shower/tub reglazed in white, and to knock out the recessed medicine cabinet on the right wall and build a recessed open shelving cubby. That will come soon, but for now I'm so excited we're back into a new (much needed project!)

We've also been keeping busy with other things...

We finally got around to installing this Grundtal rail from Ikea and I'm quite excited about it.

Great storage solution, right?

And finally... something caught my eye on Overstock the other night.

So I bought it. And it's going in the foyer. Finally. After monthssssssss of searching every corner of the internet/world, I found something I love! For a great price, too.

And speaking of our foyer... (quick pic to jog your memory)

Brad and I were talking about all the scuffs and scratches and decaying baseboard and trim that has occured in this area, and by some miracle I got him to agree to a full board & batten makeover {insert huge smiley face here}. Apparently he's forgotten the total pain that was our dining room faux wainscotting adventure... but now I have it in writing so I can hold him to it! This probably won't happen for another several weeks, but it's on the radar!

Now if you'll excuse me... I need to scrub the grout and caulk and paint off myself. Have a happy week everyone!