DIY: 5 Minute Mantel Makeover

I found THIS picture a few weeks ago thanks to some pinterest browsing and instantly decided it was time for our fireplace to have a mini-makeover.  I have been wanting to spruce up this area of our home for awhile now but was not sure what I wanted to do.  I have all sorts of ideas... and have even been thinking about possibly painting it all white (brick included).  But, that seems like such a big move.

So, with some leftover milk paint and a slab-of-wood-posed-as-a-mantel that needed repainted badly, I made one small and subtle move in the right direction.
The beige/tan tone of this milk paint color really seems to make a difference.  I think it helps make this space feel a little warmer, homier.  I am always impressed what five minutes and a little paint can do.

Our next step will be to construct a mantel similar to the one I found on pinterest... which looks to be on the project list for next summer... or at least my list, anyway.  The hubs will get the memo soon.

{DIY Saturday} Progress with Painting

So, this half-green-half-grey wall has been in our home for about two summers now (eh).  Call it the result of a busy schedule... new baby... laziness... or whatever you want, but I finally tackled two of the remaining four walls that are visible from downstairs this weekend.  And I'm pretty proud of it.

You see, the above picture was taken from our living room, looking into our entryway.  When you enter our home, you can turn right and go upstairs (see the black handrail in the distance), walk straight down the hall (under the green wall), or turn left into our living room.  So this awkward half-green-half-grey wall has been featured for all to see for the past two years.  Double eh.

And just so you know, this was no easy feat.  I now know why the hubs so lovingly warned me six years ago that if I ever wanted to repaint our entryway, I would be doing it (and not him).  Luckily, we have a pretty great ladder that got me where I needed to be to easily get the job done... but I'm not going to lie... being up that high was not my favorite thing in the world.

Our entryway ceiling vaults all the way to the second floor ceiling.  So with our ladder extended its full 22-foot length, I was able to stand on the third-rung-from-the-top to carefully edge in two walls.  Then, I rolled each wall with a paint roller on an expandable arm.  Pretty great workout if you ask me.

Why did I paint only two walls this weekend you ask?  Because Kingston and Cole were both home when I worked on this project and it all had to be done during one extra-long nap (thank you, Cole!).  Have no fear... I don't plan on waiting as long to paint the remaining two walls.  I also have plans for our hallway off the entryway and our staircase banister, so no finished photos until that is all done.

Thank goodness it is Fall and the start of our rainy season... looks like I'll be busy for awhile.

DIY: Dining Table Re-Hab

The hubs works with one of the coolest guys you'll ever meet... seriously.  We were lucky to have the hubs help him build our crib before Kingston was born and now we are even luckier to have him restore a dining room table to our liking.  Talk about cool.  

Originally, he agreed to build us one from scratch.  Then, a friend of his offered up a solid oak dining room table in exchange for a fire place mantel.  Score on our part - with the table to use, it will be more solid than if he had built one from his own wood.

But... it was oak.  And of course, it didn't really jive with what I wanted our "forever" dining room table to look like.

So, we dissected my inspiration photo to find what it was that I really liked in a table (i.e. plank-style table top, border around the table top, and some "beefier" legs) and he got to work.

After just one day, I couldn't believe how much he had already changed the look of the table.  Pretty amazing, friends.  By using one of his many workshop tools, he was able to create a plank-style look on the table top, he built some pretty beefy looking legs (pretty much exactly what I had been thinking), and added a border to match.  Beautiful.

The best part about this table?  It comes with two leaves and expands from about five feet to eight feet... which provides for seating of up to eight (maybe even ten), easily.  Bring on Christmas!

This isn't a finished photo of it... and I think it was after only one layer of stain (we applied three), but just an idea of what it will look like.  The table top is stained with a gel stain in Java and the border and legs will be painted with a milk paint in Millstone.

Originally I thought I would add a little wear-and-tear to the table to make it have that vintage or antique style/look, but I've decided against it.

We are going to re-use our current dining room chairs, so I am working on re-painting them in the Millstone too.

Oh, and we may have a new Chandelier and rug in the works... hoping to share soon!

  

My life with Boys.

"Little boys leave smudges on your hearts." - Art Moms

... And on your floors, windows, chairs.  Oh the life with little boys.  I feel so blessed to have such fun, active little guys.  But lets get real for a second - my house feels like it is NEVER clean anymore.  It seems like we are constantly cleaning/organizing our home, only to turn around and find a mess of toys, books, or some other little boy things dumped throughout our living spaces.  And it is not for a lack of teaching our oldest to pick up the toys he has finished playing with before picking out new ones... it just somehow happens.

But, we're learning together... and I have to say, I get a little smile when I see little cars... or army men... or super heroes laying in piles throughout our home.  Especially when I have just seen our oldest sharing his toys with his brother and using his imagination to teach Cole how to play with them.  It makes a momma smile.