Monday, November 28, 2011

A Punch of Color.

Hey everyone!
I hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving weekend!
I know we sure did, minus the fact we missed our family.
We spent the day with great company though, our good friends have family close by so they had a big thanksgiving dinner up in New Bern and invited us over.
The food was amazing.
I probably gained a bazillion pounds, no biggie.

Recently my friend Brittney got into Pinterest and she stumbled across a pin about a thankful tree,
it was the cutest thing ever:


You wrote down on little pieces of paper what you were thankful for then tied it on the tree for everyone to see, it was a nice homey touch!


All she did was go into her backyard, find some twigs from trees,
cut them up & throw them into a vase, then she cut up pieces of paper, made a hole for the string and viola!

On another note,
As I've hinted at in my past posts we are currently in the process of redoing our master bedroom.
So far it's coming along great!
The first thing to go was the paint, the people that owner our house previous to us were really into the 
"one wall one color and the other wall the other color" fad.
Which is beyond me because I can't stand it. 
Maybe it would be okay if they hadn't done it in every room of our house.....
Well thanks to pinterest all the walls in my house 
minus my bathroom downstairs that I still need to paint, are all grey.
Grey is just so neutral and goes with everything, just like white, so you can't blame me for falling in love :)
When it came time to choosing colors for our room it wasn't much of a decision.
Last Christmas I got the cutest bedding ever from my mom as a present.
It looked great with my red walls there, but I wanted a more calm feel in our room so we painted our walls grey. 
The bedding is black and white, made by the country living brand.
Black, white & Grey. Not the most eye catching color scheme.
So here comes that "Punch of Color".
Naturally we chose red because it looked so good in my room before.
We just wanted it to be less bold as it was in my old room.

Well I didn't know how I wanted to bring in the red, until I stumbled across this beauty on Lejeune Yard sales:


{Close up on the detail }


I personally didn't like the choice of nobs on the vanity, they were really flimsy & just looked cheap.
Even though spray paint is my go to for everything I decided to pick up some new nobs instead.


I've been look for a vanity to put in our room since I had a built in one at my parents house.
I couldn't help myself after I saw this one.
I loved the detail that was put into it.
And I got it for an awesome price! Along with the fact that it had already been sanded and everything.
All it needed was some new nobs & Paint.

There was no doubt in my mind that this lovely piece needed to be red.
And if I do say so myself, it was a great idea.
Take a look for yourself:

After:

I love the different color mirror against the red & black vanity.


The detail in the vanity is so much cuter in person! 
I can't even begin to tell you how much in love with this piece I am 


You can't tell in the picture as much but the nobs have a detail on them that suits the vanity well.
I thought the nobs looked better than those old pulls that were originally on it.

I love my vanity and the color it brings to my room! I can't wait to show you all the finished result of our bedroom, but there is still some work to go. Until then I hope you all have a fantastic day!

Xoxoxo
Jordynluise

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Crackle Paint

Recently I shared with you all my bathroom redo.
Well when it came time to getting a mirror I didn't want just a plain ol' mirror.
First I thought one of those big antique ones would look amazing, until I started researching prices.
So while at the Salvation Army one day I stumbled across this gem:


{sorry about the picture, I had just started painting and remembered I needed a before picture :)}

Wanna guess the price?

They sold this beauty for only......
wait for it...........



3 DOLLARS
Are you as amazed as me?!

Anyways, I decided the white against the white vanity stand in our bathroom was just too basic for the feel I was going for.
So I used a color from a previous project I did for my bathroom.
A few weeks ago my friend Brittney was over and while she was getting supplies at Michael's for her paintings, I decided I would get some Mason Jars and paint them and use them as candle holders for in my lovely new bathroom, I came across this awesome color in the Martha Stewart Craft line, Pearl Aquarium.



So it was just a given that I should use that color as well for my mirror, but again, I wanted something different so I tried crackle paint. And I am just in LOVE with the result. And the color! It matches perfectly with my shower curtain.

After:


The pearl affect that the paint has looks amazing on the mirror,
it really is a statement piece in the bathroom because it just sticks out.


This project was really quick and simple to do!

All you need is:


* Whatever color you desire. I chose to stay with the Martha Stewart craft line since the Crackle Paint was from her line.
As for the black paint, I wasn't sure how much I needed so I bought that kind because it was only 1.99 which is how much the smaller paint pictured (Peal Aquarium) was.

I opted to get three different disposable brushes because the paint drys fast and you need to quickly add coats over the top of it to gain the crackle affect.
On the back of the Crackle paint are instructions for how to do it.
First you need to paint the entire base of the mirror in whatever color you want to bleed through, I chose black.
You want to wait for the paint to be dry, after that you apply the crackle affect you want to wait for the surface to be semi dry, by that I mean you want it tacky, this part was left out on the bottle but it is important to not forget it, once it is tacky then apply the paint you want to be dominant, for instance, the Pearl Aquarium paint. After that you just let it dry completely and there you have it!

A beautiful crackled mirror that looks aged :)
Heres an image of it in my bathroom, see, your eye just goes straight too it. 
I couldn't love my mirror anymore!

Have any of you tried crackle paint? I hope you all have an amazing thanksgiving tomorrow! We will be headed up to NewBern to spend it with our friends family! Can't wait for all the delicious food.
I should probably go workout since I'm going to gain like a bajillion pounds tomorrow ;)
Hopefully the rainy day here today doesn't mess up your plans! Maybe you could spend the day crafting a project you pinned on Pinterest!

Xoxoxo
Jordynluise

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Out with the Old,

In with the new.
That phrase couldn't sound anymore pleasant to my ears then it already does.
A few months back we bought our house,
 it came with probably the worst wall color choices you could ever imagine.
In both bathrooms they chose 2 walls orange, 2 walls cream.
Orange?! like Orange?! Yes people, ORANGE.
As you can imagine it was awful and cringe worthy.
It wasn't even a good paint job.
So, hubby and I decided it needed to go asap.
So we started in the upstairs bathroom.
Mind you the bathrooms were outdated on top of the bad color choice.
I mean, medicine cabinets, orange walls, oak cabinets? No thank :)

Before:

We tried to make it look nice by filling up wall space and making the orange blend in with the art.



But nothing can make that medicine cabinet look good. Not even paint.
And those lights? Don't even get me started..


We had little to none storage so we made a cheap fix and bought one of those 
bathroom stands you put together yourself at Walmart.
Not the most appealing fix but it was cheap until we decided to get the ball rolling with the bathroom redo.


Our Inspiration for the Bathroom was our shower curtain, our whole bathroom set is in this color pattern so it was just a given.


And now for the lovely new bathroom!

After:

We added shelves to give more storange since we took the medicine cabinet out,
Materials:
We bought the baskets at Walmart, 
The shelving brackets were from Lowe's 
& the shelves we already had from an old bookcase.


Taking out the cabinet made such a difference in modernizing the space.
The mirror was a fabulous find for only 3 dollars at the salvation army.
I used crackle paint on the mirror to give it a more distressed look to match with the rest of our home.
I'll post later on how I did that.


The wall color matches perfectly with our shower curtain.
The paint we used was City Smokestack by Color place
{can be found at Walmart}


Another picture of just how lovely the accents match the paint color.


I can't express to you all how much I am in love with our new bathroom.
Waking up every morning and getting ready in that Cream-sickle bathroom was just not cutting it.
Now we have a more modern bathroom with a vintage accent.
What more could a girl ask for?


Here's a close up on our shelving.
As you can see from underneath the shelves aren't that pretty but, 
we spent no money using our old book shelf that fell apart as our shelving.
A few painted mason jars, some baskets, & some candles gave this bathroom just the touch it needed.


This picture isn't the best of our light fixture but you can get an idea.
The silver in the light fixture plays off well with the mirror.
We bought the light at Walmart as well. for only 29 dollars.
Which was a steal after looking at Lowes and Homedepot.


Also at Walmart, {I usually hate that store but I couldn't pass up the prices for this redo}
we found new hardware to match with the existing silver accents.

Total cost for our renovation?
$10 for our shelving brackets {Lowes},
$20 on paint {Walmart},
$4 on hardware {Walmart},
$29 for our light fixture {Walmart},
$3 on our mirror {Salvation Army},
$20 on baskets{Walmart},
&& finally $5 on our candles {TjMaxx}.
All of that for a grand total of 91 dollars!

Best 91 dollars ever spent in my book.

I hope you all had a great weekend! We've been busy around our house. We had the Marine Corps ball in Myrtle Beach on Thursday night. It was a great night, I couldn't be more proud of my lovely man! Being in the company of all of those men who have done so much for our country was an honor. Celebrating the 236th birthday on the Marine Corps made for an amazing time with great company! On top of our trip to Myrtle Beac, I had the honor to help a friend out with her new thrift and consignment store opening in Richland's soon and possibly a few new business opportunities! Stay posted for updates! I look forward to the many balls to come. I can't wait to share with you all pictures and the other projects I have been busily working away on.

xoxo 
Jordynluise


Thursday, November 3, 2011

Progress in the master

So far so good, I can't wait until our master bedroom is done! I have high hopes for how it will turn out. But so far it is looking a bit white washed with all of the white.I'm planning on adding red accents in the room to play off of all of the masculine colors that are already in there (grey, black &white)
I had the pleasure of spending most of my weekend painting my dresser, the one I mentioned in my previous post. It was a complete monster but it was completely worth it. In my opinion it looks twenty million times lovelier white with some distressing! Here are some before and after shots:

Before:


I loved this dresser ever since I first laied eyes on it, 
the only thing was I hate that orange looking wood color.


But now it is a lovely white color that is exactly my taste:

After:


I feel like by making the piece white it highlights all of the detail in the dresser



I can't get over how cute the detail of this dresser is!


The hardware perfectly matches my other dresser that I re did, 
it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside just thinking about it :)


it's love <3

On another note...

While at my friend Brittney's a few weeks ago we decided to get in the spirit of Halloween and explored an abandon house down the road from her place in New Bern.
While we were there we found so many goodies that we plan on going back for this weekend. 
Salvaged wood galore, old windows still intact, old doors that would make a persons heart weep. Or maybe that's just me? Who knows :) 

Here's a few pictures from that night:



the creey staircase...



the detail on the awesome door I'm going back for!


Is it weird to say how much in love I am with this completely ruined house?
From the crackle paint, to all the exposed wood?
It was truly amazing.


So many bricks! My mind was racing with different things I could possibly use them for.
Yet when I got home I couldn't think of one thing I could do.
So I will be turning to Pinterest.


I loved the look of the worn paint on the walls,it makes me want to try crackle paint! 
I think I just might have the perfect piece of furniture to try this on in my near future.
Have any of you used crackle paint? The idea of it has always been intimidating to me.
But I think I've fallen hard for the idea of it.


Oh did I mention we went to a cemetery as well?
Yeah, North Carolina cemetery's trump Seattle's on the spookiness factor.



many of the headstones were chipped and had fallen apart.
us girls were gushing over how beautiful they looked with their mossiness textures,
we wanted to take some pieces home that had broken off but decided that was bad juju.


the details in the cemetery were just gorgeous!



I loved the look of the moss! I think I might need to find a project to do inspired by it.

Well that's it for my picture overload,
I can't wait for all the projects that will come of our findings. 
What did you do to get into the spirit of things for Halloween? 
See any good scary movies? Go to any creepy haunted places? Do any fun activities? Do tell :)
Btw, please check out my Facebook page and show off some of your own projects by posting on the wall!


xoxox Jordynluise

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

A Fresh Look

Recently I found a new love, lejeune yard sales <3
For all my west coasties out there it's basically like craigslist 
but it's generally suppose to be for
military families.

Well recently I was surfing the website for a dresser for the hubbs {since his clothes are all in the guest bedroom... oops :)} && stumbled across this beauty. 
Maybe beauty  isn't quite the right word for it..


{sorry I don't have a better picture, I remembered right as I was painting it}

Not quite what I wanted color wise but it had all the elements in a dresser I wanted.
It slightly resembles the dresser I already have in my room:


The hardware matches my existing one perfectly!
Insert happy music {Here}
I was so stoked to find a matching piece!



It was a steal at only 35 dollars. How could I pass it up?
Not only was I happy but so was the Hubbs.
He was so happy to see he had a dresser in our room when he came home from work that day.



The hardware wasn't quite as bulky as the existing ones on my dresser but they served their purpose.
You can hardly tell that this one is made of partical board and my dresser is made of real wood.


I just love how it turned out! 
The white dresser and black hardware are a great contrast with one another.


Find any good deals lately? I am obsessed with this new website! Oh! As you may see on the right of the blog, I have created a facebook page, please feel free to leave comments, post your own diy projects or ask any questions on there.Well I have some more painting to do! Working on my other dresser now. I hope you all have a good day :)
Xoxox Jordynluise

Sunday, October 16, 2011

A new coffee table

The best part about moving to a new place is designing it && shopping for furniture,
I mean lets face it, who doesn't love shopping?!?!
So Recently when my mom was down here visiting we couldn't wait to go checkout the local shops.
We were so happy to find this amazing little store in Hampstead called the Hooked Fish.
I found such a lovely coffee table to go in our house from there.


It was love at first sight when I found this Shabby Chic table in their store.
I just knew I had to get it.


All the detail of the distressing really makes this piece stand out && brings such a homey feel to our living room.


Little did we know, when we got it back to my place it was a tad bit too tall for its purpose.
Since then I have been craiglisting and finally I stumbled upon this beauty.


Not exactly the color I wanted, but I love love love the look of it!


I mean look at those legs & side pieces. Who wouldn't swoon over them?

So what is a girl to do in such a dilemma? Paint her heart out duh.
Here is some after shots!




love the side of the table even more now!




some distressed detail


I first sanded and cleaned the entire piece. After that I painted the whole table, it took a few coats here and there but it dried pretty even. After I got the whole piece covered the way I wanted it I took some 100 grit sand paper and distressed certain parts of the table. And Viola! It was done :)

I am SO in love with this table. It fits so much better in the room rather than the other one.
Anyone else score some good finds lately? If so link it up! I'd love to see.

Xoxox Jordynluise