Lucy

On a side note, my cat is really flippin' cute. She is my decorating side kick. I love this little fur baby more than I do my pink tool belt. Ok, who am I kidding? It's a tie.

Crafting seat covers out of table cloths

I can't remember if I talked about this in a prior blog entry or not, but if you need to recover something or you need a sizeable amount of fabric, do NOT go to the fabric store and pay $$ per yard. The easiest, most cost effective, way to go about this is to purchase either a fabric shower curtain or a table cloth and use that. This works because there are so many different styles and designs to choose between and a shower curtain, for instance, gives you over 60" of fabric for less than $25. Target has a great selection of both shower curtains and table cloths.

I had purchased this table cloth from Crate and Barrel's store because I loved the design. I have been using it as a table cloth for a few months but I have found I'm not a table cloth kinda girl. Since I needed to recover the dining room chair seats, I decided to use the table cloth. At least it's not going to waste, right? And I get to use my new staple gun.





Before and after:

Black and white preview

My black and white guest room is still a major work in progress but here is a sneak preview.

I love power tools

So the old staple gun I was given by my father finally kicked the bucket. The stupid thing is jammed and I can't figure out what the issue is. Not to mention it was so loud that every time I shot a staple my cat thought a gun shot was going off and bolted under the bed.

Last night I said enough is enough and went to Lowe's and purchased the Arrow Heavy Duty Electric Staple/Nail Gun for $29.95. It's wonderful! And quiet! And electric!



There was a project I was itching to do and I needed a staple gun in order to do it. It also is a brad nailer but only 5/8" nails so I don't know how often that will come in handy as I would use the air compressor nailer to do any type of crown molding/baseboard installing.

Anyways - my project. I have learned two things that are the simplest ways to get more bang for your buck.

1) The first is if you need a large amount of fabric, buy a SHOWER CURTAIN. It's cheap, you get a lot of fabric, and you can find a multitude of different designs. Shower curtains are perfect to recover those old dining room chairs you have (new blog entry maybe)?

2) Buy canvas boards at your local craft store and cover them with fabric. It's cheap AND you have art for your walls. This is where the staple gun comes into play.

I had these canvas prints I knew I wanted to hang on the wall only I didn't know what fabric I wanted to use. When I created the black and white damask table (see prior blog entry) I had a lot of left over fabric so I thought, ok, I'll cover the canvas with the damask fabric and hang that on the walls in the b&w guest bedroom.

The canvas:



The canvas with the new fabric. Very simple to do, line up your fabric so it's even, staple gun it on:



Voila!





Sneak peak - The b&w room is coming along. I just purchased these sheets to go with the decor. To be continued.....

Flip Kitchen Part 2

I wasn't very specific with photos and what the process was like renovating an entire kitchen in under $1,000.00. So here we go:

The kitchen before was a nightmare. The house was originally built in 1905 but the kitchen was last updated in the 70's. There were no appliances, vintage steel cabinets and orange walls. Here are the befores:





First thing to do was hang the new upper cabinets I purchased from Habitat and painted white:





Then we removed the lower cabinet that was already there so that we could lay the luan needed in order to tile. In order to get the new dishwasher to work, half of the wall had to be removed on one side of the room so that the electrical work could be done.





Next we tiled and painted the room:







Months later, it was time to install the lower cabinets:





Finally, during the home stretch came the countertop, sink, appliances, basically putting humpty dumpty back together again.

Here she blows - an entire kitchen from top to bottom for under $1,000.







If you want to know where something was purchased, let me know.

Houzz.com

I am in LOVE with www.houzz.com. I live on this website; constantly looking at new design ideas. I definitely need to upgrade houses soon because I have ran out of rooms to decorate and I can't afford to redecorate the same ones over and over again.

Anywho, below are some of my favorite designs I've found on that website. One day they will be in my 10 bedroom, 10 bathroom, house. With a pool.

bathroom design by toronto interior designer BiglarKinyan Design

traditional bedroom design

traditional spaces design by san francisco interior designer Fiorella Design

traditional bedroom design

I love this grey color for the walls. And I love the use of artwork to decorate the hallway. Love love love.

contemporary staircase design by san francisco architect Dumican Mosey Architects

These moroccan lights are beautiful!

mediterranean powder room design by phoenix architect Carson Poetzl, Inc.

traditional powder room design by new york interior designer Olga Adler

Chic Wine Rack

I'm not a wine drinker but I like cool and interesting accents to my walls. I saw this in the Lowe's Creative Ideas magazine and have added it to my to do list.





Assemble the Shelf

•From a 1"×8", cut to length the back A; from a 1"×4", cut shelves B and the top shelf C to length (Cutting Diagram, Cutting List).
•Drill ¼" holes 1/2" deep in the shelves for the retainer pins (Wine Rack). Sand the parts with 220-grit sandpaper.
•To locate the repetitive pin holes in the shelves, make a pin-hole drilling jig. Use a scrap from the 1"×4" and a piece of ½"×1½"×24" poplar. Cut the ½" poplar to fit the edge and end of the 1"×4" to make positioning cleats and nail them in place. The cleats locate the jig in the same position on each shelf.

Tip:Drilling holes of equal depth is easy if you use a piece of painter’s tape as a flag on the drill bit to indicate the hole depth. Place tape 11⁄4" from the end of the bit, allowing for the thickness of the jig and the hole depth into the shelf.

•Attach the bottom shelf by drilling countersunk pilot holes on the back for the bottom shelf. Apply glue, clamp the shelf, let the glue set for 15 minutes, and then drive the screws.
•To ensure even spacing, cut two 4"- long scrap spacers and place them on the bottom shelf. Set the next shelf in position and secure it with screws. Repeat for the remaining shelves.
•For an even tone on a soft, light-colored wood like poplar, apply 3 coats of gel stain, allowing the stain to dry for 2 hours between coats. Then apply a clear protective finish according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
•To make the retainer pins, cut ¼" aluminum rod into 1" lengths with a hacksaw. Clean the cut ends of the pins with a mill file. Then use an abrasive pad to give the remainder of the exposed pin a nice sheen.
•Add the Hangman picture-hanging system using the screws supplied. Center the hanger on the back 3" from the top. Secure the corresponding bracket to your wall, driving the center screw into a stud or using a hollow wall anchor. (The hanger includes a handy built-in level.)
•Add two rubber bumper pads to the lower back and hang the rack on your wall. Now fill it with bottles of your favorite vintages.

New Armoire - Check!

I spent this past Saturday doing what I normally do which is take a trip to the Chantilly Habitat for Humanity Re-Store to see what goodies they have. I was looking through the 50% off furniture section when I saw this:



I just had to have it! It may not look too good in the picture but trust me when I say it's a sturdy, 6 foot tall, armoire that would have cost around $200 new. So, I bought it for $35.00, took it apart in the store, crammed half of it in my new Versa (I need a bigger car already) and then had Habitat deliver the other half.

I decided I wanted it to go in my master bedroom so that I've have a place for the TV aside from on my dresser which blocks the nice, pretty, rather large framed picture I have above it. Since I have the Hemnes bedroom set from Ikea in dark brown/black, I knew I'd have to spray paint this nice armoire.



So, I started taking it apart and spray painting it on my now black patio. I will definitely be posting a "how did I resurface my patio" blog entry here soon.



I used Krylon Satin Black and it took 2 cans to paint just the doors and another 5 cans to paint the actual armoire. But I think it turned out rather nicely, huh?





Next I will create a new backing for the armoire as there is a giant hole that someone put in the back to fit the tv they had. I will be purchasing what is called a Homasote board, which doubles as a cork board, and will be covering it with fabric that matches the decor of my bedoom. I will be purchasing clips to hold the fabric covered board in place.

Soon, I have a very cool, chic, back to my armoire. Not only that but since it doubles as a cork board, if I ever upgrade bedroom sets, which I plan on one day, then it will double as a computer work station. And the cork board backing will be perfect to pin all your notes on.

It's a black and white thing

My guest room in my condo has a black, white and grey theme. It really doesn't match a single other room in the house but I've always wanted a black and white room so the rest of the rooms in my condo will just have to deal with the outcast.

It's a work in progress but on my to do list to find were a black and white duvet cover and a black and white chair for the corner. I nixed the idea of a black and white duvet after I found the Fieldcrest Luxury Hotel duvet in white with tailored seams. I love it! I need to buy the matching shams but I haven't seen them for sale on eBay recently.

The other day I went to my most favorite thrift store in Northern Virginia called Sisters' Thrift. They have the most amazing furniture selection and I've had my eye on a vintage chair/side table combo for the past two months. This past weekend I went there to check out the new selection of furniture and lo and behold, the chair/side table was still there and I snagged it for $30!

Here are the before and afters and the "how did I do it" explanation.

1) First I removed the chair back and seat cushions by popping them out of place.



2) Then I spray painted the chair/table a glossy black. I used Krylon Indoor/Outdoor Gloss Black.



3) Next I went to Joann's Fabrics and purchased a black and white damask print upholstery fabric for $7.00 a yard. I purchased 2 yards so that I would have left overs to make two small pillows.

First I laid the cushions on top of the fabric and cut the templates. Then I used the handy dandy nail gun air compressor (courtesy of my Pops) (i.e. one of the best inventions in the world) to nail the fabric onto the cushion.









Voila!



4) After the paint dried on the chair/table, I reassembled the cushions. Here is the final product:





The black and white room so far. I have a LOT of work to do but it's coming along nicely.

First Flip...or Flop.....

In December of 2010 I bought my first investment property...in the middle of no where.

Middle of no where = 2.5 hours away.

Normally middle of no where is ok....unless you work a full time 40 hour a week job and then "middle of no where" quickly turns into "pain in the ass." But, in order to make money you need to spend money (and time). Along with everyone elses time since my parents put a LOT of time into helping me out. (Shout out goes to my mother for repainting the back porch steps 5 times because once wasn't enough and for spending countless hours removing all that wallpaper and to my father for spending multiple weekends trying to get the water to work.)

7 months later the house has been finished and is on the market. Hopefully it sells soon as I have my eye on two other investment properties. And I need to pay off my credit cards before Mr. Emily kills me.

Here are some before and afters along with what I did and where I bought it from.

Kitchen Before:

Kitchen After:



Sorry for the low picture quality. All photos can be found on my Flickr account. The link is at the bottom of my blog.

Team Emily (aka, boyfriend, parents and anyone else who will work for free) completely renovated two rooms in the house. The kitchen was one, the bathroom was the other. First came removing the old counters and the old laminate flooring. Since I was on a budget, everything you see in this kitchen aside from the floor and countertops are used.

The cabinets came from Habitat for Humanity, easily one of the greatest stores around. All the cabinets were from different years/designers and if you look close enough, some of the doors do not exactly match. But paint everything white with a glossy white spray paint and then topped with glossy white paint in a can from Walmart and you have yourself custom cabinets that cost $180.00.

The countertop is from Lowes. Milano Quartz. Approximately $200.

The appliances were used from my parents, thanks Mom and Dad!

The tile floor is from Lowes and are size 18x18 at .68 a square foot.

The table and chairs I found in the garbage that someone wanted to throw out. Stupid people.

The paint color is a color match. My friend's house is wonderfully decorated and I loved the paint color in her bathroom, so I took a sample to Home Depot and had it color matched. The bathroom was painted the same color.

All accessories came from Ikea and Walmart.

Now, for room no. 2 - The Bathroom

Before:



Can we say UGH. The only saving grace in this whole entire bathroom was the vintage claw foot tub that I eventually resurfaced using the Rust-Oleum White Tub and Tile Resurfacing Kit. Oh and don't listen to the reviews that say it's hard and you should pay a professional. Hands down this was the easiest thing I did during the whole renovation project.

After (I will re post the cleaner pictures later):

Look at that tub! Hire a professional? Pfft. I AM the professional. Professional at being awesome that is.

This bathroom was gutted. Walls, flooring, etc. Looking through the before pictures I can't believe how well it turned out. This bathroom was the location for numerous fights between Mr. Emily and I and multiple water explosions. It was also the location for every single headache I had during the renovation process.

For a few months we had to stay at a hotel due to the plumbing needing to be replaced. Then when we finally put the toilet in we found it was cracked. Another toilet had to be purchased. The water lines for the tub didn't fit.... nor did the new shower surround.

But it all worked out in the end.

Shower curtains - Walmart

Vanity - Lowes

Toilet - Tru Value

Paint color - Color match. Also seen in Kitchen. For the color code, just ask.

Shower surround - Ebay

Decorations - Target and Walmart