Numbered Steps

November 3, 2011 By Linda 24 Comments

Numbered Steps – Easy Way to Add Number to Stairs.

I’m addicted to numbering things in my house. There are numbers in my powder room …

… and on my back porch …

… and I toyed with numbering the stairs in my newly redecorated entryway

… but was worried it would look too busy.

H o w e v e r . . . the freshly painted front porch steps offered the perfect canvas or numbered steps. Hmmm …

Numbered Steps How To

I scoured multiple craft stores in search of a stencil, but couldn’t find a font I liked in the size I wanted. That may have turned out for the best because I’m not a “stenciler” and there was a good chance it would have turned out sloppy.

Then it dawned on me that vinyl house numbers could work. They’re made to withstand the outdoor elements, right? And if the harsh Chicago winter gets the best of one (or more) of them, they’re cheap and easy to replace. The package of 3” Hillman vinyl letters & numbers — I picked mine up at Menard’s — contained multiples of each letter/number for just under $5.00.

The best part: this project is quick and easy. All I did was find the center point of each step, peeled off the number, affixed lightly at first so I could re-adjust as needed, and then firmly pressed into place. Five dollars and fifteen minutes later: Voila!

Pin It!

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tweaking the teak [front porch rocker redo]

November 2, 2011 By Linda 3 Comments

For as long as we’ve lived here, this rocking chair has been sitting on our front porch. I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve actually sat there.

This was taken before the front porch was transformed with paint & caulk

When we first moved in, I worked full-time and long hours. Then the kids came along and sitting in one place was put on hold. Now that they’re older and (for the most part) self-sufficient, I actually have the time to sit on the porch with a glass of wine, a good book, and watch as the neighborhood goes about its business. The only problem: my rocker is no longer an inviting place to sit.

In the pre-Google days, I attempted to re-stain it to revive that rich teak color. I know, I know. Not a good idea to stain and poly teak. It just ended up looking splotchy and dirty.

When I painted and repaired the porch a few weeks ago, I tried again to recapture that great teak look – only this time I used teak oil, not stain.

The end result is not perfect …

(i’ll share with you how I made the monogrammed rosette pillow using painter’s drop cloth in a future post)

Now I just need a good book to read. Any suggestions?

I’m linking up with:

Remodelaholic
Chic on a Shoestring

front porch facelift (finally) …

November 1, 2011 By Linda 12 Comments

I can’t believe I’m going to air my dirty laundry here — but up until a few weeks ago my front porch looked like this …

I know, it was pretty embarrassing.
A well-traveled path to the front door had splintered the wood …

Even Ernie the beagle looks embarrassed

… columns were missing end caps …

… and the bottom post bases were riddled with rot …

In my own defense, I planned to rebuild. That was three years and two estimates ago. Life — and some big ticket expenses that go along with life — kept getting in the way. All the while the porch fell into even greater disrepair.

With limited resources (read: cash) I decided to use caulk and wood filler and paint to try and extend the life of my failing (and ugly) porch.

On day one, I picked up $50 in paint from Home Depot. Then I scraped and sanded the chipped, peeling paint. Using leftover MDF and trim from another project, I fashioned new end caps for the bottom posts with my miter box …

… and attached with Gorilla glue, using painter’s tape to hold it all together while it dried:

I found some cheap laminate trim at the local hardware store to use to cover up the rotting bottom posts. I cut with my miter box, affixed with Gorilla glue, and slathered with spackle …

I finished the day with caulk, caulk, and more caulk.On day two, I sanded the caulked areas, wiped clean, and then primed with Zinsser 1-2-3 …

Days three and four involved lots of painter’s tape, patience, and a not so steady hand (hence the need for the painter’s tape) …

At the end of the day four, the tape was pulled and I no longer had to hold my head in shame …

Look closely and you’ll see that even Ernie now holds his head high with pride

… and here’s the porch all dressed up for fall …

When all was said and done, I’m pretty sure I heard my neighbors breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Update:If you want to see how I put those numbers on the steps, click here ...

… and to find out more about the rug I painted directly onto the front porch landing, click here ...

And now I’ll be spreading my dirty laundry across the blogosphere by linking up to …

Remodelaholic Link Party

halloween in the hood

October 31, 2011 By Linda Leave a Comment

Happy Halloween!

terracotta-pumpkin-halloween-decorations

One of the many things I love about my neighborhood is the number of kids who show up to trick-or-treat at our house. I also love that my neighbors embrace Halloween and get creative with their decorations.

Ernie the beagle and I took a walk around the ‘hood’ and snapped pics of some of our favorites . . .

I love this webbed fence that our contractor neighbor constructed. Very original.

This neighbor always displays picture-perfect outdoor decor.


Ernie growled at this in full daylight. I can only imagine the scare factor at night.

This was definitely a two-person job …

… and I’m “digging” this skeleton vignette out front.

I want that giant spiderweb and spiders.

This thing is like a train wreck — weird and creepy and I can’t stop staring.

This house was the first to get all decked out.

I’m loving these spider pumpkins.

My neighbor next door always jump starts my decorating …

… and the neighbor across the street ups the ante …

… she’s definitely going for that spooky vibe …

… and seems to add more layers and details every year.

I’ll bring this post to a close with some shots of my Halloween house:


I snapped this before adding the bats around the door …

I added some dollar store skeletons to my DIY drop cloth wreath.

The mums no longer look so healthy … I definitely have a black thumb.

And yes, the witch is “out” — and about — snapping pics for the blog …

going batty on all hallows eve …

October 30, 2011 By Linda 12 Comments

Seems like each year at Halloween I add a few more elements to my house décor. This year I came across this fun door decorated with bats …

Country Living

… and thought I’d add it around my front door.

I started with a bat stencil I found here on marthastewart.com. I wanted the bat dimensions to be varied, so I made two additional sizes of the stencil.

On black poster board I used chalk to trace and then cut out six large bats, 18 medium and 10 small:

Using Command damage-free poster strips …

… I arranged the bats so they appeared to be flying across the front door.

Then I stepped back and admired my handiwork.

My next door neighbor actually called me from her cell phone as she was pulling away from the house to comment on my door! She said it was worthy of immediate recognition.

chalkboard door: from builder grade to a+

October 29, 2011 By Linda 27 Comments

Chalkboard Door DIY: From Builder Grade to Fabulous for $30.

Chalkboard Door DIY From Foam Core Board and Chalkboard Paint

I don’t know about you, but my home is littered with these cheap, hollow, faux wood manufactured doors – including the basement access door in our kitchen.

What I really coveted in the kitchen was this:

Country Living

Domino

Chalkboard doors!

These chalkboard doors can range anywhere from $400 to upwards of a few thousand. Way beyond my budget. Not to mention the additional costs for hardware and installation (hanging a new door is not an easy DIY, especially when your home’s foundation was constructed in the late 19^th century).

So I put on my thinking cap and came up with an idea to turn our builder grade door into a chalkboard door – for a mere $30.00.

How To Turn Builder Grade Door Into A Chalkboard Door

I started by gathering my supplies:

I had most of these on-hand. I only needed to purchase the chalkboard paint (from JoAnn’s for $5.00); the black foam core (from Office Depot for $10.00 for a two 30” x 40” boards); and the 1 3/8” x 3/8” trim (from the Home Depot for $.79/foot). Total: $30.00.

The foam core worked perfectly as the blackboard base because it’s substantial … yet lightweight … yet not too thick … that when framed out with trim would make the panels look recessed.

Step 1: Use the X-Acto knife to cut your foam core to size. I used a yardstick to keep the line straight.

Step 2: Apply two coats of the chalkboard paint to the foam core panels. (Unfortunately, since they’re porous, the foam core started to curve upwards at the edges. I needed a perfectly flat surface so I let the paint dry completely for a full day, turned over the panels and put a coat of chalkboard paint on the back side. By the next day, the panels were perfectly flat).

Step 3: Use the miter box to cut the trim pieces. I used simple joint corners:

Step 4: Give the trim two coats of paint that matches your door. (I used Benjamin Moore white semi-gloss)

Step 5: Apply the power grip to the back of the foam core chalkboards and attach to the door. Use your level to make sure they are, well, level. Hold in place for 3-to-5 minutes to make sure contact is made. If you use painter’s tape to hold the foam core chalkboard in place it may damage your chalkboard like this:

Step 5: Apply the Power Grip to your trim pieces and affix to the door. Use painter’s tape to hold in place while it dries. Just be sure not to attach the painters tape to the foam core board.

Step 6: Caulk along the outside edge and corners and touch up with the semi-gloss

In the end you’ll turn a previously boring door into something both beautiful and functional: An easy DIY chalkboard door!

I loved my new DIY chalkboard door so much that I re-created it on the powder room door too …

🙂

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welcome to my blog!

October 29, 2011 By Linda Leave a Comment

This is my inaugural post and it only seems fitting to begin with the DIY chalkboard door project (pictured below) that tipped the scale of “should I or shouldn’t I” write a do-it-yourself home décor blog.

This past spring – I know, I’m a late to this party — I discovered these amazing, handy, crafty women with their Heirloom White spray paint, Mod Podge, glue guns, power tools, and magazine picture-perfect blogs. Even more exciting: They didn’t just show you their beautifully decorated homes and envy-inducing DIY projects — but gave step-by-step tutorials of how to do it yourself. Yep, complete with pictures of the exact products used and the exact (or close to) prices of said products.

Wow! Pass the Kool-Aid. I’m hooked.

The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. In the fall of 2010 I embarked on a “Honey, I’m going to repaint the kitchen walls” idea that turned into a much, much more involved on-a-budget (really?) kitchen re-do (click here for that story). Once the kitchen was shiny and (kinda) new, everything else started looking old and dusty and in need of a refresh – myself included.

Then, out of the blue, I decided to quit smoking. After 25 years. On Valentine’s Day, of all days. Here in Chicago, I spent close to $10 a pack. I smoked a pack (and sometimes more) a day. Yea, it wasn’t pretty. I’ll let you do the math …

So I thought I could use the savings to “spruce up” our home. Room-by-room. Month-by-month. On a pack a day budget …

And check out my next post where I give step-by-step instructions on how you can turn your cheap, hollow builder’s grade interior doors into beautiful and practical chalkboard doors like the one pictured above.

we’ve been ghosted!

October 19, 2011 By Linda 1 Comment

Woke up the other morning and found this on our front porch:

Turns out we’ve been “ghosted.”

This is a Halloween tradition that started on our block about five years ago or so. (Mike and I are 99% sure we know who starts it each year – but I won’t “out” her on the blog). It’s fun to watch as it spreads around the neighborhood.

As the instructions state, it’s our turn to “ghost” two others so I hit the dollar section at Target to pick up supplies.

The kids and I will make our “ghost” deliveries under the cover of dark.

I think I need one of those $1 “BOO” signs for myself. There’s an orange version that will look festive hanging under my wreath.

If you want to start your own “ghosted” tradition, here’s all you need:

Now go forth and spread the ghostly spirit!