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Halloween Home Décor Tour

October 11, 2013 By Linda 7 Comments

In years past, my Halloween decorating started and ended right here …

at the front door.

A front door with bats flying across the door …

For the tale of my DIY burlap wreath, click here. Oh, and there may have been some swearing involved … 😉

But back to the story at hand. A thrilling tale. Okay, not so thrilling …

and not much of a tale.

You see, some blogger friends of mine were all like, hey, let’s show off our Halloween decorations.

And I was all like, sure, sign me up …

and up I was signed.

After which I went, gulp.

Followed by a BIG GULP!

Clearly I couldn’t just show off my front porch bats flying across the door decor.

So the outdoor décor made it’s way indoors to be a part of my Halloween home decor …

Literally.

It’s a bat invasion. They’re in the living room …

scaring my pillows.

They’re over the fantel mantel …

scaring my wood block pumpkins.

And my dryer vent pumpkins.

They’re in my dining room …

Scaring the dining room diners away …

At eye level …

and beyond …

Those darn bats even turned my fake silk flowers black …

Wait, that’s a good thing. I am on a mission to eradicate fake foliage from my home …

Maybe those pesky bats are a good thing …

Oh, remember how this all started with my friends, like, wanting to share Halloween décor? Well, like, they’ve been sharing. And, like, here’s the list of links to find their awesome Halloween decorating ideas …

Please visit the following Blogs on these days:

Wednesday, Oct 9th:

1) Top This, Top That

2) The Everyday Home

3) Atta Girl Says

4) The Creek Line House

Thursday, Oct 10th

1) Inspiration for Moms

Friday, October 11th

1) Crafty Texas Girls

2) Circa-1929

3) My Soulful Home

4) It All Started with Paint

5) House on the Way

6) Restoration Redoux

Be sure to stop by and, like, like them all!

P.S. Here’s a link to the stencil I used to make the bats. Just click here …

P.P.S. I completely forgot to share my Halloween mason jar creations. Here they are …

1. Candy Corn Mason Jars; 2. Mummy Mason Jars; 3. Ghosts in Jars

You might also like …

Burlap Wreath Tutorial (click here)

No Carve Bat Flying Across Pumpkin (click here)

Halloween Front Door Decor

Halloween Craft Ideas

Spider Wreath (click here)

Living Room Reveal … Take 2

September 26, 2013 By Linda Leave a Comment

They say haste makes waste …

and let me tell you, it’s true.

In my haste to share my living room reveal, I completely forgot to share so many, many things.

The details were not detailed …

Starting with the navy paint color. Sure I mentioned it …

but I didn’t include a picture with a cute paint swatch with the name of the amazing navy color (Naval) and the amazing company that made the amazing navy color (Sherwin Williams) and the number of that amazing navy color (6244).

But now I can say I have one …

Phew. Can you see me wiping the sweat off my forehead using the back of my hand?

The there’s the all-important Pinterest pinnable picture with a graphic describing the room …

no, my reveal didn’t include one.

So I’ve rectified that …

Feel free to pin away! 😉

Then there’s this view of the room …

Seriously. How could I have not shown you this view?

Or shared how I found a place for my beloved cow canvas …

Here’s another view I failed to share …

Looking out to the entry.

As well as this one …

Looking in from the entry.

At my fabulous work-of-art ceiling fan the generous folks at Lamps Plus gave me.

And the fabulous nautical prints …

That I purchased at this amazing Etsy store.

Then there’s the fantel mantel …

I decided to treat this space – my radiator cover – as a place to decorate seasonally. Starting with my Halloween fantel.

The centerpiece is the mirror that Lamps Plus so generously gave me …

which, in the end, I spray painted gold. I hope the Lamps Plus folks can understand.

I can only hope part 2 of the living room reveal makes up for the haste …

and the waste.

Part 1 of the Living Room Reveal can be found here …

P.S. Now just remembered that I haven’t shared my thrift store tray makeover …

* Sigh *

P.P.S. A comment left here reminded me that I forgot to mention the table I painted with blue and white stripes …

* Double sigh *

Sharing:

* Savvy Southern Style *

Navy & White Living Room Reveal

September 17, 2013 By Linda 20 Comments

Navy and White Decor: Coastal Living Room Design Ideas.

I had a tough decision to make last night …

words …

or pictures?

And would it be okay to post the pictures without the words?

The whole photographing and editing pictures of my navy and white living room remodel took much longer than I antcipated …

Which led to an internal debate of whether I should just post the pictures with a “here it finally is …”

Or wait and compose words to go with the pictures …

You know, like telling you about how the wall color is Sherwin Williams Naval …

And how the amazing ceiling fan came from Lamps Plus …

Along with the amazing mirror; from Lamps Plus too …

I could also tell you how the rug started it all …

Or how I’m in love with my table that I painted with navy and white stripes …

Or the fabrics …

don’t get me started on the fabrics …

*Sigh*

I even had big plans to give you the whole budget breakdown …

Navy & White Living Room Remodel Budget Breakdown

Pottery Barn sofa – $1,000.00

Rugs USA rug – $220.00

Fabric – $34.00

Pillows Forms (6 from IKEA) – $36.00

Lumber for Board & Batten, etc.(caulk, liquid nails) – $300.00

Paint (Naval Blue & White courtesy of Sherwin Williams – thank you!) – $0

Ceiling Fan (courtesy of Lamps Plus – thank you!) – $0

Mirror (courtesy of Lamps Plus – thank you!) – $0

Storage Ottoman from Target.com (Threshold Nolan) – $160.00

Clearance Lamps from Home Goods – $60.00

Accessories – $150.00

Total: $1,960.00

Hmmm … looks like words won out!

You can find Part 2 of the Living Room reveal by clicking here …

P.S. Just before I hit publish I remembered I should share with you the befores. Now, keep in mind, we liked the before. I just needed a change after a decade of living with the before look. Just click here …

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the screen porch is open

July 1, 2013 By Linda 3 Comments

What makes you smile?

And I’m not talking about the pass-someone-on-the-street-or-in-a-store-smile-and-nod kind of smile.

I’m talking about a smile that really counts. A smile that makes your heart beat a little faster. A smile that fills you with warmth …

A smile that fills you with such joy and excitement that you think you might just burst …

… yeah, that’s the kind of smile I’m talking about.

Now, it may seem silly that my screen porch elicits that kind of reaction from me. But it does. And each time I catch sight of it out our French doors, my heart goes pitter patter. And maybe it’s because we spend so many months inside and bundled up here in Chicago …

But all I know is the screen porch is the reason Mike and I bought this house. The minute we stepped outside, it was like “where do we sign” …

And we tore down that original porch when we added on to the back of our house. But the #1 priority in our plans was to rebuild it. Only this time, a little bit bigger. And a little bit better …

… which makes me smile even a little bit bigger and lot of bit brighter.

P.S. Ernie the beagle is happy the porch is finally set up for Summer. I think I might even see a smile forming at the corner of his mouth …

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dining room reveal … for real

May 23, 2013 By Linda 12 Comments

Yes. I’m finally sharing the dining room remodel …

I’m not sure what took so long. Perhaps because I was futzing with some window panels. Window panels that I finally scrapped …

and that “scrapping” involved hardware removal. And caulking. And sanding. And painting.

Which should’ve been a breeze considering the hard work was already done. The board and batten was installed and caulked and painted months ago …

… in the months before the infamous finger injury. And surgery. And ongoing physical therapy.

Perhaps I was waiting for the living room to be completed too …

Since the board and batten wall treatment and Naval Sherwin Williams paint and awesome navy and white striped rug would be repeated in the living room too …

… just beyond the arch.

I feel like they go together. A mix and match set.

Like Garanimals …

But I can’t wait any longer. So here it is.

For now.

And here it was …

… before.

You can find more before by clicking here.

P.S. That leaded glass window is a fake. You can see how I made it myself clicking here …

P.P.S. I also share an easy fix on how I beefed up the baseboards by clicking here …

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Get it all started with paint delivered to your email inbox:

stick a fork in it.

March 15, 2012 By Linda 143 Comments

I’m done.

D – O – N – E …

… done.

With a capital d. Or is it D?

Either way, it was just about a year ago that I first started plotting my teen son’s room remodel. Pulling inspiration and storing them on my hard drive …

… this was in my pre-Pinterest days.

Somewhere along the way (after two laptop crashes) I’m left with very few ‘before’ pictures of his previously primary colored room …

But I do have a ton of ‘afters’ … and did I just hear cheers? Or maybe jeers?

When I asked my son what he wanted, his only request was orange. Its been his all-time favorite color for as long as he could say the word (and perhaps it’s because I dressed him in orange when we went to the park so I could spot him right away …)

But there was no way I was going 360 floor-to-ceiling orange. That seemed overwhelming. And bright. And not at all restful. And bedrooms should be restful first and foremost …

… and that whole ‘accent wall’ idea of orange seemed so yesterday. At least that’s what Nate says …

So I dreamed a dream that paired orange with gray and black and white.

The middle band is chalkboard paint, framed out with custom moulding that my husband and I attached using my trusty miter box and brad nail gun.

My son and my husband have named the Ikea Malm bed “the Hugh Hefner bed” …

… and not because my 14 year old ‘has game’ – yuck – but because it sits so low on the ground. Almost water-bed-like-ish …

I poured so much of myself into this project. Like these “high/low” drop cloth drapes I made back in August (see how I made them here)…

… they make my heart go pitter patter …

I mean seriously. Seriously? I am pleased as punch with the way they turned out! Exclamation point worthy pleased! Spiked punch worthy punched!

The top band is a yard of pricier home décor fabric trimmed out with orange ribbon attached to less-than-a-dollar-a-yard drop cloth material …

And then there’s the monogrammed “s” pillow I made …

It’s not perfect. The transfer messed up. But I don’t care. It was made with love …

And this comic book page number art? I’m thinking I may just spark a new blogland trend here with this here project ….

… and rest assured (for my male readers), no real comic books were harmed in the making of these – a thought that horrified my son. I just color copied a few Archie pages …

I framed pictures of downtown Chicago that Sam took on the day before his first day of high school …

… and the day before my 14-year-old Sam took the “El” – or is it “L” — to school ALL BY HIMSELF for the very first time …

And, yeah, that was a bit of a harrowing day for mom and dad …

All the frames in the room were 50% off at Michaels; I’m a sucker for a sale sticker …

See those shelves in the next picture with the trophies on them? I purchased them 15 years ago. When I was six months pregnant with the very young man who lives in this room. But we never, ever hung them up …

… they just sat stacked upside down on top of that custom radiator cover and displayed those trophies …

Of course the bottle cap drawer pull dresser I imperfectly refinished here found its way into the room …

I love this poster I picked up at a Chicago craft fair back in the fall …

… it’s cover art of a super underground, super cool, super young and hip Chicago e-zine that I’m too old to read or understand or subscribe to …

And Ernie the Beagle loves that little fuzzy throw rug I found at Ikea …

… it’s exactly his length and sausage-like width.

Oh, and don’t forget to look up. Otherwise you might miss the ceiling fan that I gave a major makeover complete with that washi tape I pinned here and wrote about here …

So stick a fork in it.

Please.

Seriously.

It’s finally done …

… a ‘mere’ 8 months later than originally planned.

Why can’t real life be like a 30-minute HGTV makeover show?

Update: The paint colors are Benjamin Moore Pike’s Peak Gray, Dutch Boy Frivolous Berry, and Rust-oleum Chalkboard Paint in black.

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Ceiling Fan Makeover

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the most visited room in the house …

February 10, 2012 By Linda 91 Comments

Behind this chalkboard door is the most visited room in our house …

Powder Room Makeover After Chalkboard Door

When searching for before shots of this space, I couldn’t find any. Not a single picture. Despite the fact that, when we moved in 17 years ago, I photographed the entire house. Even the basement. But not this room. Nope. Clearly I didn’t know then …

… that one day …

… this would become the most visited room in the house.

The 3 1/2’ x 5’ first floor powder room bathroom …

Powder Room Makeover After door open wide shot

Visitation is not calculated in terms of duration spent …

… hopefully, wishfully, thankfully …

… but more in terms of frequency.

You know, multiple visits per visit …

… dependent on the duration of the visit …

… and the number of beverages consumed during said visit.

And no. I will not venture into the bowels of bad bathroom humor here …

… okay, with the exception of that one joke, I’ll keep my potty mouth in check …

… uh oh, now I’m on a roll. Tee hee.

Clearly I have an abundance of ‘after’ shots …

… but what to do about the before? Well, I’m forced to create a bit of a re-enactment.

You know, a la CSI.

Powder Room Makeover After Hanging Basket

Using some of the ugly that, unfortunately, still exists in the other bathrooms in our home …

Powder Room Makeover After Basket Closeup

… to serve as my powder room “before” body double, if you will …

That floral wallpaper down there on the left – exposed when we removed the ‘lovely’ Hollywood make-up mirror light fixture on the right – at one time covered the entire space. Floor to ceiling …

I ripped that stuff down all by my lonesome about 10 years ago. And let me tell you, that was one messy job.

When I freed that last piece of ugly floral, I proceeded to paint it purple. Just because I could. And that sink. I painted it too. Yup. You read that right. Painted it with a re-glazing medium …

Powder Room Makeover Before Purple Walls

Now, this most recent makeover involved the nail gun, my husband and my favorite: board and batten …

Powder Room Makeover After Board and Batten

… painting above it with leftover BM Yarmouth Blue from the kitchen.

I made a relaxed balloon shade and hung it high to give the illusion that the glass block window is twice as tall …

Powder Room Makeover Relaxed Balloon Shade 1

The vanity was given a coat of leftover BM Bittersweet Chocolate from the kitchen remodel …

… and yes, that is a fuzzy toilet seat cover. Don’t mock. That’s just the way I roll …

And there you have it. My teeny tiny (in size, not effort) powder room makeover. The most visited room in the house …

… well, unless my teen son’s friends are the visitors. That’s when the kitchen gives the powder room a serious run for the money …

Board and Batten Bathroom with Painted Sink

P.S. You can find out how I added moulding to our boring builder grade mirror here …

P.P.S. And get the lowdown on how I painted the sink here …

P.P.P.S. And how we added the board and batten by following the tutorial here …

P.P.P.P.S. And how I made the balloon shade curtain by clicking here …

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front porch makeover: complete with numbered steps and painted on porch rug

January 15, 2012 By Linda 1 Comment

I can’t believe I’m going to air my dirty laundry here …

… out in public for all you readers to see …

But I can’t possibly boast about the “after” of this porch project without sharing the “before” …

So I hold my head in shame as I show you what I started with …

… 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 used caulk and wood filler and paint to try and extend the life of my failing (and ugly) porch. You can read more about the sordid “what I did” details here.

Once … after lots of blood, sweat, and tears … I had the porch looking like this…

… it was time to dress her up.

First came the numbered steps. You see, I’m addicted to numbering things in – and outside of – our home …

I toyed with numbering the stairs in my newly redecorated entry (here) … but was worried it would look too busy.

H o w e v e r . . . the freshly painted front porch was another story …

You can read the thrilling tale here, but …

… spoiler alert …

… in the end I picked up a $5.00 package of vinyl numbers at Menards that are designed for boats …

… figuring these water tight babies could definitely withstand Chicago’s harsh winters.

The best part: this five dollar project took all of fifteen minutes …

The finishing touch … and perhaps my favorite … is the rug I painted directly onto the front porch landing (see the full ‘how to’ tutorial here) …

It makes me me happy every time I walk up the steps.

You can’t really see it from the sidewalk, so it’s like a secret surprise waiting for my guests …

When all was said and done …

… I’m pretty sure I heard my neighbors breathe a collective sigh of relief.

In hindsight, I think I put off this project because I thought it was impossible for me to do anything … that it was either all or nothing … that I needed a carpenter and power tools …

It wasn’t until I was able to “Imagine the Impossibilities” that I realized I could do this on my own. All that was needed was a little hard work … a few easy to get and inexpensive materials … and a lot of sweat equity

Now I’d like to invite all of you amazing Remodelaholics readers to imagine your own “impossibilities” … (click here or on the button for more information) …

It’s the “Imagine the Impossibilities” challenge that culminates in a January 31 multi-blog link party! I’ll be taking on the dreaded vaulted ceiling in my master bedroom …

I’ve been avoiding that particular “impossibility” for 4 years …

home tour: entry before & after

December 6, 2011 By Linda 103 Comments

Imagine you arrive at our home and are greeted with this amazing (if I do say so myself) painted on porch rug …

… and then the door opens to this …

Yeah, that can’t happen.

Truth be told, I finished the entry project last spring before moving outdoors to tackle the disaster that was the front porch (you can follow that story here).

I’m exceptionally proud of this project because it was 99% diy. The missing 1% goes to bringing in an electrician to hang the new chandelier. We learned early on that changing out light fixtures in our 100+ year old house requires the assistance of a licensed professional. There are some scary things going on inside our walls and ceilings …

… though I did play the role of the trusty assistant.

The before was pretty sad stuff. I hung a mirror over the radiator cover, used a cheap laminate left-over chest to catch toys …

… painted a blue ‘accent wall,’ made a faux stained glass window, and added some black & whites of our wedding photos to the wall leading up the stairs …

… and that was that. I’m embarrassed to say that’s how it remained for 15 years …

The entry is the first impression of our home and it certainly wasn’t making an impression that I was proud of …

… and once again I can’t believe I’m airing our dirty laundry here for all to see …

Besides being ugly, the entry wasn’t functional. We have limited storage in our square-foot-challenged city home.

It was in the planning stages for this project that I truly discovered the world of blog diy and became an ardent fan, true believer and an obsessive/compulsive follower. Pass the Kool Aid ladies and gentlemen …

The first major change came in the form of ‘faux’ board and batten …

Mike was quite the trouper and we nailed each and every piece of lumber up by hand. Needless to say it was a long and noisy day. And a day that prompted me to rush out and purchase a nail gun of our own.

It’s all over the blog world and was old news by the time I discovered it … but I can’t get enough. There are big plans in the works to carry it through the entire first floor …
… but I first needed to convince my husband that this was a good idea because I couldn’t hang board & batten on my own …

You can find my board & batten tutorial here …

The mail used to just pile up on the radiator cover, so I added some inexpensive bins from Target to sort it all out. You can read more about it here …

The staircase and wood floors on the first floor (oh, and the foundation and a weird closet in the master bedroom) are the only things original in our house. The molding and trim had to be torn out because it was painted with outdoor paint (most likely to cover up lead paint). Needless to say, I had more than a few trepidations about painting the original, 100+ year old newel and banister posts …

But in the end am confident in my choice. (You can find my tutorial on the staircase here). Oh, and I really do love the closet door painted black (and of course you can read more about that love here …)

Centsational Girl was by far the greatest influence on my entry design … and execution. I followed her instructions about how to B&B and how to strip, stain, poly and paint a staircase to a tee. I even traveled out of the city to Lowes to track down the exact same hooks she used in her project. Centsational Girl’s tutorials can be found here (board & batten) and here (strip, stain, poly, paint).

I just love the final results …

And, yes, that’s the same bench as before. Just primed, painted black, distressed, and dressed up with a custom cushion and pillows …you can read more about that project here

This is the vibe/feel that I plan to bring into the rest of the house …

Links to Entry Projects:

How to Hang Board & Batten

How to Strip, Stain & Paint Staircase

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