Kitchen before and After (at our old house)

I was going through the picture file folders on my computer when I came across my kitchen before and afters. I thought I would share these because



1. Who doesn't love before and after pictures??!!

2. This was a budget redo, maybe 1000 dollars (that is including a couple of new appliances). We have a spanking new kitchen right now...but our old house (pictured above) had been built in 1989 and had never been updated. Brass hardware and oak galore throughout the house. I know there are lots of families who have a small budget for renovating. Maybe this will give them some ideas.

Here is the old kitchen...

And here it is after...

Things we did:
1.New appliances (microwave,stovetop,oven)

2.Painted the walls and the cabinets

3. I had about 30 cabinet handles in this old kitchen. I could not afford all new ones so I took them all off, laid them all out on a big sheet of cardboard and painted them with several coats of black spraypaint. Worked great (saw it on HGTV)!

4. Added under cabinet lighting...I also have this in the new house. I'm addicted!

5. Hung my old potrack light fixture in place of the horrible dated brass one.

6.Replaced the dated sink and faucet with a cream colored sink and antiqued bronze faucet. We also slowly changed out all of the hardware in the house to this as our budget would allow.

I wanted new countertops and wood floors. That would have looked great. But on a strict budget I think I made the most of what I had at my disposal.

So there it is! If you only have a tiny budget you can still redo the kitchen with lots of paint,bargain shopping, and doing lots of the labor yourself.♥


Linking to


http://betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com/2011/10/make-spoon-wind-chime-welcome-to-143rd.html

My Daughter's Room

I like the idea of transitional childrens' rooms. After the nursery years are gone, I like a room that can double as a guest room and grow with a child into the teenage years. It also seems more budget friendly. I can do a lot more, a lot longer, with this old painted full size bed than with a big castle shaped bunk bed. It doesn't hurt that this bed was free. All it took was lots of cleaning and paint to put her back together and give her a fresh new look.: )

This old bed was about to rot out in my Mom's little barn 8 years ago. She had planned to make a porch swing out of it but I convinced her to give it to me for my guest room. We cleaned it up, I painted it, and completely fell in love with it once it was white!

I got the pair of nightstands for $35. I painted them white and added the little glass knobs. My mom painted the lamp white. The little shelf in the corner I got for a few dollars somewhere a few years back. I painted it white too!

This little desk I recently scored at roundtop for $20.

This rocker and stool were a baby gift and matched her nursery when she was a baby. She had the most AMAZING nursery!

Now I need to get my other daughter's room together. For me, decorating is like a fun version of writing a term paper. Starting is the hard part but once I get going I get really into it. Editing at the end is the best part of all...putting in all the details and finishing touches that really make it shine. I love looking at all of your blogs so much for inspiration and ideas. There are some amazingly creative women on my feed. So glad we can all share our homes with like minded vintage lovers. Have a great day!♥

Linking to:

http://fadedcharmcottage.blogspot.com/

Whimsical Wall Art DIY: Book page collage art

One of my favorite catalogs is Ballard Designs. Something that has caught my eye several times is the newsprint dress collage print. I wish I had $300 dollars to spend on wall art, but being an artist with paintings and frames stacked up against the wall in my house, I have no excuse to ever buy artwork I could do myself. Here is the Ballard print:

I decided to do a collage using my old book pages. I think I'll frame it and hang it above Shadow's food bowls and leash hooks in the mudroom. This project would be awesome with kids.
Here is my fun little attempt:

First draw the outline of the shape you want, then fill it up with clippings!

AND BEST OF ALL...IT'S FREE!!!

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WEEKLY MONDAY THRIFT STORE FINDS

I always find a few cute new things at my favorite thrift store on Mondays. My local thrift store employees are beginning to recognize me! I like supporting them because they are church ladies and the entire place is a ministry community outreach organization with a food bank and job placement service. The other day a very young,destitute father came in with a toddler he had just recieved custody of because the mother had been incarcerated. The child was filthy and had no shoes...owned no shoes! He was so embarassed and definitely trying to buy goods for the boy, not beg. The women started giving him stuff for free and fitting the boy for shoes. I tried to secretly give the church ladies some cash to throw in some extra items but the ladies told me to keep my money and that they would take care of him. They were visibly touched and by the gesture and I think all of us just wanted to adopt them both! haha

Anyways, this mirror was $1, and the other two items were $3 each. Isn't that shabby old wall mounted knife holder cool? Great patina and I wouldn't be surprised if it came from an old farmhouse kitchen.

Linking to

Little bitty "toilet" room. I need your input!

You know how, in the master bath, they often deligate a tiny porta-potty size room to the toilet? This is mine. The house is brand new and I compare it to plain oatmeal. Good, but needs some oomph. This was the best place for this shelf in my house and I LOVE THIS SHELF. I don't want it to sit in there and not reach its' full glory just because my hubby and I are the only ones who see it. And honestly I'd like the entire master bath to center around these colors because the colors in this shelf are the colors in my granite countertops (dark and light grays).

I'm completely open to suggestions. My bedroom is not a factor. What color would you do? : D

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Cows,Pears and Cake oh my!

The patina of an old oil painting is so beautiful. I wanted to try to age a few of my oil paintings by glazing them with a tinted varnish I mixed up.
Here they are after one coat:

I have so many cool old frames laying around...but none of them fit my paintings, which bums me out because that's exactly what I think they need. Maybe Hobby lobby has somethng old looking. Have a great Sunday friends!

-Linsey

* My paintings are for sale. Send me a message for more info.


Linking to:

http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/