Entryway and Stairwell

This shirt will be in a future post as a costume and then a pair of lounge pants, I do still sew when I can.  But what I am really showing here is the before of the entry way area that leads into the living room.  That's the bathroom door in the back (previous post) and the sewing/laundry room to his left (you'll see it soon enough).  And yes, that is a project pile in the foreground.  The area is often a holding pattern for stuff from the sewing room.  And yes again, that is blah beige on the walls.  

LOOK, finally you see something I bought from the store!  But alas, it was Ollie's so I still got an awesome deal!  I am always needing storage.  I love this red against the blue.  You can see this is one of my favorite colors to use in decor....it is all over my house.  You'll notice it now that I pointed it out.

There's also a peek at that darn carpet remnant I had to put on the bathroom floor.  I said I wasn't going to show you that!

The area didn't really change except for the paint.  A nice dusty blue, really contrasts nicely with the living room tan, which extends up the stairwell since it shares a wall with the living room.  All the art is still the same, just various things I've found that I matted up my self with the remnant matte holes that Michaels used to sell at a discount.  I  haven't seen them lately but then again I haven't needed them so haven't looked.

What you do see new is no more junk piles in the entryway, now a nice ottoman.  The transformation of this piece from a dumpster find to this will be a future post...tease, tease.

The stairwell art was changed out for these plates.  They are thrift store pieces, from Target I believe.  They are actually plastic plates so very light weight.  I just hot-glued a bent paper-clip to the back for hanging instead of spending money on plate hangers.  I might not have done that if they were porcelain.

And at the top of the stairs, overlooking the living room.....a dumpster find!  Yes this was sitting by the garbage cans where we found the flowerpots (mentioned in a previous post).    It even had the glass stones in it with a whole grocery bag full of extras beside it.

All I did was clean it up and add the candles.  Lucky find!  We'll talk about that new black railing in another post.

Bathroom freshen - up

Nothing too miraculous to show on this room but it is amazing how a little paint and a bold print can freshen up a room.  Besides moving these two pictures in from another room, and hubby finally installing the new light fixture, that's all we did.

Isn't that shower curtain awesome?  It is a thriftstore piece I bought to use the fabric on something else.  Then I decided that this was one room where you could put a crazy print because there is nothing else for it to clash with.

The paint color is a mix of two colors from my Oops paints to get a purplish blue.  I am not a real pastel-ly person so the deep eggplant (from the previously posted side table project)  added just enough depth to the light blue to make me happy.

Besides the new light fixture, the paintings got a new life in this room.  They are actually pieces of wallpaper that I pulled from a wallpaper sample book.  I bought a few sample books on ebay years ago and use them for art like this and small craft projects. The mirror is unchanged and is a very heavy (maybe antique) piece from the thriftstore.   I thought hanging it on it's side made it more interesting.  Yes, that is a pocket door leading into the laundry room that you see in the second mirror picture.




This picture shows how the color matches nicely with the little tiles in the shower.  This was a during shot when we were painting.  Yes, I know that you are supposed to cut in first but I got up one morning and my mom said, "I painted the bathroom, you just have to go back and cut it in since you do that better than I can".  Enough said.  I'm snoozing, she's up painting with the roosters.

I am not showing the floor because it is badly damaged laminate flooring.  NEVER let anyone tell you it is okay to but laminate in a bathroom.  It is buckling up like crazy.  I actually have a piece of carpet remnant on the floor now to cover the mess.  Next big house project in replacing that floor - most likely with tile.

It is funny though about the carpet, which I also hate in bathrooms.  I mentioned that I needed a piece of carpet remnant, I found several rolled up beside the garbage cans where someone had just had carpet installed.  New pieces, not used.

I mentioned that I would like some throw pillows for the kids to hang out on the floor when they watch TV, I find those red couch cushions (in a previous post) stacked nicely beside a neighbor's garbage cans.  They were clean and unstained (I cleaned them anyway) and required no repair.

We were trying to figure out more seating and storage for my scrapbooking area in the living room, and that's when I found the buffet/bench by the dumpster. (previous post)

I mentioned that I'd like to put a few houseplants around the house, and we see a stack of flowerpots stacked by the garbage cans where someone cleaned off their back deck (future post).

I am on the look out for a kingsize bed frame and headboard for our new mattress set, which sat on the floor for months.   A co-worker bought a new bed, gave me her bedframe and I found a NICE kingsize headboard propped against the dumpster.  Most likely a mover couldn't fit it in the truck and just left it behind (future post).

It's uncanny what you find when you're not really even looking.

I'll be waiting...I'll be waiting

 I just realized that besides my profile picture, which is years old, some of my readers have probably never seen me.  That's me below (with a little red eye - hey, I am a busy woman).  Yes, I've started to realize that outside of work, I've let my friendships lag, and that I can't wait until retirement to do the things I want to do.  That is part of the reason I started this blog, to pursue some passions while I'm still young but also to network and make some friendships that aren't work related.  Hoping that birds of a feather flock together.

So I joined the American Sewing Guild a while back and immediately started scoping out the neighborhood groups.  I don't want to offend anyone on this blog but I have to say.....I feel like I must be an old soul sometimes.  I see blogs out there where the sewers are young but I swear every sewing class I take, and every time I go to my local sewing store, or the sewing area of Joanne's, I seem to be the youngest person there.  Doesn't bother me a bit in the world but I really want a sewing buddy.  And it's not that I couldn't get to be great friends with one of these older women....but honestly, they are usually already retired, kids have moved out so they have all the time in the world, and are more interested in quilting than anything else.  It just seems that they are in a different life phase than me...maybe I've got it all wrong.

I don't feel like an old soul in this top - sassy!  

I went to one local neighborhood meeting, and the ladies were so nice and it really is going to be great!  But I still was the youngest in the room and I could tell that that half of them hang out and work on projects all day while I am at work......grumble, grumble, yes I am jealous.

I've posted on Craigslist personals, I get folks that want me to help them learn to sew (maybe but I really want a fellow sewer).  Or folks that want me to sew something for them.  I have joined some social sites and a few folks have responded (and may turn out to be great friends) but no contacts with someone who has sewing (and up-cycling) on the brain like I do.

I've commented on some of the blogs I follow (that is where all the younger folks are hiding apparently) and I just know that we'd be the best of friends.... if we lived in the same area.

Then I went to the American Sewing Guild Annual meeting for the Maryland Chapter a while back.  It was great too and I finally was not the youngest in the room, although we made up a small minority.  It was so inspirational to see all the projects that people displayed in the fashion show.  These folks are real professionals!  I am so glad I went and I hope that I'll use these contacts to keep inspired and on task.

I don't even really think the age thing is an issue.....heck I am middle age, I just have young kids because I started later.  I just need someone who is understanding of a full time job, young kids, disorganized mind, poor time management, and more ideas than time.  Who cares about age anyway?

See that mind so disorganized that I forgot to wear leggings and forgot to smile.  No really, these are all photos from where I posted an ad selling clothing lots on ebay.

I just wish I had a buddy to work on projects with....a sewing sister.  A person that would hang out at my place to sew on a Saturday night, or would call to say, "get over here and help me get this darn zipper in straight".  So if you are out there, in the Baltimore area, I'm here.....I'll be waiting.....I'll be waiting....

That was a "Raising Arizona" reference, in case you're wondering.  If you got it right off AND you're local, we most definitely need to meet.

This post was focused on sewing but as you can see from my previous posts, I am into home decor, upcycling, thriftstores and refashioning too.

Perfect Example of Eww to Ahh

This buffet/bench is a perfect example of Eww to Ahh! 

This was sitting by the dumpster in the apartment complex the next block over.  I drive through there once in while, especially at the end of the month, when people are moving out and putting furniture pieces by the dumpsters.  I saw this one in the middle of the night  and could only see it by the lights of my van.  I looked at it, got out and walked around it, tried to determine exactly what it was and  if all that white stuff was paint or dust or what.  Opened the drawers and saw that they still had some garbage shoved in them....not garbage garbage, just the kind of stuff you leave in a dresser when you don't want to move it.  One of the drawers didn't appear to work properly.  The doors had no handles so had to be opened using the tips of your nails.  It looked absolutely filthy with that white hazy stuff all over it.  It was so heavy I could barely lift one end.  I decided it wasn't worth my time.

Look how tired she looks, I was working her hard!  She'd like you think that, but she was actually cracking the whip on me after I worked all day and came home to do projects with her.

I told my mom about it and she wanted to check it out.  So we went back, we pulled the broken drawer out to discover it just had more garbage shoved behind it so it wouldn't close, not broken.  We took a wet napkin and the haze wiped right off.....probably painters dust.  By wiping it, you could see the wood grain color and the basket weave on the doors.  Yes, it was very heavy but that usually means it is a quality piece of furniture.  Okay, she sold me on it!  We had one heck of a time loading it into the van but we got it home and down the stairs.

This thing was a hot mess!  Filthy!

I'd love to say that we did a total workover on the thing, but all we really did was clean it out, clean it like crazy, Pledge it like crazy to get in all the little cracks, put handles on the two doors and touch up the two dings in the veneer with some stain.  It was missing its original legs but I already have a buffet in the room so decided to let it stay low as bench.  I can always add some legs later.

This bad boy looks awesome!  It had a furniture stamp on one of the drawers that shows it to be a Caldwell Furniture piece.  I did some research  and the stuff on their site seems to be some nice furniture.  This one is likely from the 70s or 80s.    This had the dovetail joints, nice smooth movement on the drawers, only a couple of small dings in the venner and absolutely no price tag......what else could you want?  I'll just have to keep dusting it because now that I see the photos, I still see some dust in the cracks.

Plum perfect! Obergine'ly wonderful!

Check out that detailing!  I love ornate details in furniture and decor....not sure if that is in style but it is what I love.  You can tell if from the picture frames that I buy.  This was Craigslist buy, $10 I think.  I caught my mom mid painting and grabbed a quick before shot.

We decided to paint it inside and out.

Notice that peek of orange table, the peeling paint, the ornate detailing that I love?  I mentioned this before as a future project.  I also mentioned trying paper mosaic on a previous project.  My plan is to cover that pitiful edge with a paper mosaic effect.  Just a little tease.  Anyway, off topic....back to this lovely little piece.

It wasn't until after she had completely primed it out that I mentioned that I wanted to try out DIY chalk painting it.....and it doesn't require priming.  Oops!  

This was Oops paint, isn't that an awesome color?  I always check the Oops paint when I hit the hardware store.  $5 for a gallon, $2.50 for a quart, how can you lose?  For the DIY chalk paint, we just added non-sanded grout and a little water.  The table came with those little glass panes to protect the ornate detailing and give a flat surface.  We put a couple coats of poly on it to protect it from the munchkins.

 I'm very happy with it!

Nailhead Trim

This is a nice heavy old buffet that I bought years ago at the thrift store.  I just changed out the handles.  At one point I painted the top flat black and paper mosaic tiled it.  I plan to do that same effect on another project later.  The method has the look and feel of real tile.  Anyway, pulling off the tile basically ruined the top of the buffet.  Oh I'm sure I could strip all the glue and gunk off to try to salvage it but it is easier to just recover it with some faux leather.  I was going to let it overlap the edges and staple it under the lip, but thinking about all that bulk of leather, I decided to go with nailhead trim.  You only tack it down every few inches, so it's not as bad as it might seem.  It also helps to give nice straight lines on nails.  I think it turned out nicely. 

This buffet has had a lot of uses in my house, first in the dining room storing dishes, then storing CDs in the living room, then back in the dining room as a secretary, then back downstairs storing office supplies and exercise gear.  Now it stores scrapbooking supplies.  The thing is SO heavy, I know because it has gone up and down the stairs multiple times.  I had started this project and while back but hadn't finished putting on all the nail head trim.  My mom finished it up for me while I was at work :).  Ain't she great?

It could stand a closer trim on the leather, but I am afraid to mess with it too much.  Sometimes good enough is good enough.  This faux leather was bought from the remnant bin years ago.  I also actually like the way the black paint has rubbed away some and decided to leave that effect.  It is just black craft paint from before that served as the "grout" in the paper mosaic project, so I could likely scrub it right off if I decided to later.  

Happy New Year....where have I been?

Happy New Year all!  Where the heck have I been?  Well, I'll briefly fill you in and then get down to business.  I talked my Mom into coming up to visit and she came at the beginning of December.  She just went back home at the end of January.  I've just been really too busy to post since she left.  She usually stays for long visits when she comes but the last time it was this long, I was on bedrest :).  We have been so busy.  When I asked her to come, I said that she could help with my long list of projects and boy has she!

 I know that I posted a sewing punch list on here and we have done some of that  but the main goal with her visit was to help me pull myself together with some house projects that would get me organized so that I could work the fun sewing punch list without guilt.  Let me just say, MY HOUSE IS LOOKING SO GOOD NOW!  We basically went room by room making a list of what needed to be done.  Some rooms had some major painting, sewing and redecorating and others just had some existing projects that need to be finished.  My house looks so warm and cozy now.  And almost everything we did was with stuff I already had.....remember I am an overplanner, so I had already bought this stuff from various places over time and just never executed the ideas.  We had to buy very little.

So down to business....

I'll start with my living room.  We decided to paint!  Well, I had decided to paint a while back, didn't fully have the hubby's support, talked myself out of it, decided to do it, bought the paint, chickened out, decided to go ahead, talked my self out of it again.....you get the point.  I told my Mom, "I don't think I am going to do it"....she said, "you've bought the paint and I am here."  That is all I needed.  That is why I asked her to come.  I have all these ideas and she is the person that says "grab that end and let's go".

This is one of the only before photos that I could find.....this living room is the far room.  It only shows the top part of the room, view from the dining room.  Doesn't do it any justice but shows the previous curtains and the white wall color.

I tried to find some before photos but I have none that show the full scope of the room so I'll just show the after and will elaborate on the various projects in later posts.  This room is so hard to photograph so please bear with me.  And you'll notice, we got so busy, photos for the blog were an afterthought....sorry.

The big reveal......

Notice the railing is black now....future post on the dining room.  Stay with me now, focus on the living room.

As you can see from the photos, there was good reason for my wishywashiness on painting that room.  It is a beast!  20 ft ceilings.  I started cutting in on the ladder around 5pm and we finished the room at 2 am.    Can I just say, I love this color.  Not beige....tan.  I'll have to look up the actual color but I believe it had Latte in the title.  This was the color I wanted when we first moved in and was talked out of....."it's too dark".  NEVER AGAIN.  These walls are very imperfect and the darker color and flat paint really hide a lot of issues (TONS of drip marks at the top from previous painters, drywall tape lines, etc.)  Before everything was so much more noticeable.    Hubby came in during and was not happy with me....but he did admit later that week that it looked good.  He doesn't deal with change as well as he thinks.

So let's start with that crazy cat walk.  I never really knew what to do with it before and it was totally a dust catcher.  Now it is at least interesting (Are those windows?) and accents the height of the room continuously around the room.

Not sure what this is in the picture on the ceiling but it's not there in real life. Everything you see here is from thrift except the mirror (gift) and flowers (store bought). 

We took two panels of insulation board, around $8 a piece and pinned everything to them.  They are right at 8 ft tall, give or take and that was perfect to be able to just tuck them in floor to ceiling, no cutting, no nailing, no nothing.  They must be a dab over 8ft because they are slightly bowed out at the bottom but that is fine by me since it holds them in tight and the curtains cover it anyway.

The toppers are two embroidered pillow shams wrapped around and pinned to the board with T-pins.  The curtains are retail (but from thrift store of course) but they were too short so I added a piece of fabric at the bottom (thrift again).  Everything else  here was just moved from other areas.

And here is the area under the catwalk.  The red chair was a steal at $35 from a hotel furniture resale store. The round side table was a Craigslist buy that we painted a dark purple (oops paint - made into diy chalk paint.)  I show that project in a later post.  The rug on the floor is a carpet remnant from the hotel furniture resale store - $25! and I actually had to cut it down a little to fit the room.

 

So lets talk about the elephant in the room....check out those curtains!  Yes I am a sewer and I had all intentions of sewing up my own curtains here but then I found these at the hotel store for $20 a panel.  They are pinchpleat, came with the hooks, were already super long and are fully blackout fabric lined.  They even had the sheers included with them but I put those aside for a later project.  And let me tell you, that black out lining is expensive to buy.  It has done wonders for the draftiness of that room!  

The long maroon panels were already in my plans and they are simply scarves...the curtain scarves that you drape across the top of a window. Thrift store of course!  These were brand new in the package from JCPenny, had the $100 price tag (each) still attached, and even included the nice trim.  If you ever see curtain scarves, grab them if only for the fabric....each one is 108 inches long!  The trim alone is very expensive for that kind of yardage.  All I had to do was sew in a curtain pocket at the top.  Big curtain rods were also a thriftstore find.  Those are very expensive to buy too.  That top long one, I had to buy from the store and it was about $25, rod only!  I also had to buy to wooden hoop sliders, expensive.  It killed my because I see those things all the time in the thrift store and pass them up.  So did I see any the entire time my Mom was here?  NO!   The rest of the rods, finials too, were from the thriftstore, thank goodness!  I would have paid hundreds in hardware alone.  The sheers here are thriftstore too.  They were actually tab top curtains and I cut those off and put in a curtain pocket.

The buffet is a thriftstore piece that has a had several lives in my home.  The latest is a new top of faux leather fabric with nailhead trim...another future post.  The double shaded lamps and huge mirror are from the hotel store....what can I say, I racked up in that place.  The lamps were $15 a piece and the mirror was $15....yes, I said $15!  The lamps even have that nice plug in (and phone jack) on the base.  ALL lamps should have that, it's great!

There's a better view of that carpet.  Too loud for some, but I love hotel carpet, the really decorative kind they have in the fancy hotels.  The leather couch, we've had for years but it was a Craigslist buy, almost new for about a third of its original price.  The round orange coffee table is still in progress so I won't say too much about it now.  Just know it was a thriftstore table, butt ugly, I'll show you more about it in a later post.  The low piece with the cushions on it is a post on its on. It was  a dumpster find!  Yes, I drag things home from the dumpster.  More on that later too.  The cushions are recovered from thriftstore, some I've been hoarding away.

I believe I've shown the pictures before, showing how I frame fabric for art, mostly thrift store skirts.  Well here they all are.  Much cheaper than buying huge art pieces.  The frames were won on Ebay years ago.

Notice the bookshelf in the background.  This is the second one in the room.  The other is under the catwalk.  I just moved things around a little.  The covers are shower curtains that I trimmed out.  Covers a ton of clutter!  All the little decor items are thrift finds I've been hoarding away or just moved from another part of the house.

The lovely treadmill sits in the corner as you enter the room.  Notice the blue walls, that is new for the entryway area....you'll see that later too.  Yes, I've sewn a cover for the treadmill before, but it never gets put back on so it is pointless.  I've been thinking about putting the vinyls on there, like I did on my sewing machine (see previous post).  What do you think?  Tacky?  The red cushions were a dumpster find.....they were sitting out beside someone's garbage cans, I didn't actually dig in the dumpster!  We use them to let the kids lounge around.  I did clean them with the carpet cleaner.  They are ultraseude material.

This was a Craiglist buy that has was waiting on paint.  See a post soon that shows that  whole transformation.

More home decor items that I was squirreling away in the attic.  Still on the lookout for round ball candles.

Bad photo but it give a better look at the sheers.  I have to use these because of the glare and the  double paned windows seal has leaked so they are fogged over....not pretty.  

So can you tell I've been busy?  And that is just one room!  I believe I mentioned about 20 future posts in there.....so I need to get busy on those now.  More rooms to come also, we did the entire house!  Signing off now,  it's good to be back!