DIY Board & Batten Entry Wall.

I'm finally getting around to sharing some projects that we have finished recently in our home.

Today I am sharing one of my very favorites... and perhaps the easiest with the greatest amount of impact.

We recently added a board & batten wall treatment on the entry way wall of our little abode. I have to admit that I put off this project over and over because I was afraid of the cost + time commitment of it all, but it really cost us under $50 and took one afternoon.

Not kidding.

I had a hard time finding a suitable tutorial to do it the way I envisioned it working + turning out, so I plan to share the way we went about this wall so inexpensively and how we problem solved our way into making this such a breeze project. 

For now, here are a bunch of pretty pictures... because that's what we're here for! I think the decor on this wall has been ever changing since it was completed, but here is how it currently looks.

The bench is from Downeast Home.

Mirror & rosette pillow is Threshold for Target. 

Gingham Pillow Ikea.

Stool is vintage.

Baskets & pot are Homegoods.

Cheery lemon wreath is Threshold for Target.

Bag is Target.

Monogram is from Etsy.

Hooks are from Home Depot.

I relocated our family gallery wall to the photo ledge we added. I love the homey touch of having them all lined up as guests enter our home. I've collected the frames from Target & Ikea over the years. 

Also, that snake plant is a sur-viv-or. It has been amazing me with its will to live spite my negligence.  Plus, it's cool to look at so win win. 

This wall is not only beautiful but it adds a LOT of function not to mention impact to our little home. The bang for your buck is definitely worth it! Stay tuned for the details.

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DIY: Natural Weathered Wood Stain

On our dining nook reveal post I mentioned that I  made a natural wood stain to age the top of the table. I thought I would share the deets today &my honest opinion on the process with the results. 

I got the idea from my friend who did this to her farmhouse console that we built for her. I was so intrigued I had to do it on something of my own. What is a better guinea pig than a free table?

So here is the mix after it has set. Basically I  mixed 1 cup vinegar and a couple pieces of steel wool in a jar. You have to let it set for 24 hours before you can use it. The longer you let it set the darker your wood will get. 

This mix does this weird thing to the wood, it oxidizes and changes the feel COMPLETELY into reclaimed barn wood feel.

It's a little crazy. 

Before I added Polycrylic on top my table was a really pretty light grey, the poly darkened the finish which I was a little bummed about but its totally necessary for a dining table situation to seal the wood. 

I tried it on a new piece of plywood & the results were iffy so I think it's a little unpredictable but totally cool when it does work.

Here is one last shot of the finish on our table. I kinda like that it didn't take to the whole top making it unique and much more vintage looking than it actually is.

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Our home: Dining nook

I finished this space a while ago, but I have been so busy project deep I haven't had a chance to show you all the new pretty things happening!

Here is our new dining nook that looks especially pretty in front of our DIY planked wall.. (more on that later)

This whole makeover was inspired by a free farmhouse style table my Mom brought to me. She knew I could do something with it. It had an ugly yellow oak top before.

So I quickly stripped the existing finish, and used a stain made out of vinegar + steel wool for the top.

The top is aged and inconsistent grey... much like old barn wood. I kinda love it. 

I sealed it with a polycrylic + wha-la.

I left the legs as they were white, chippy, a little dirty... ya know adds character.

I paired it with some Target industrial style chairs that I found on a local yardsale page (lucky day!!) and a thrifted bench I quickly painted white. 

So pretty much, this entire area is second hand. How awesome is that?! 

Chairs similar here

Vase from Downeast Home

Dishes from Walmart

Curtains & Placemats from Target

Silk flowers Hobby Lobby

Table + Bench Thrifted

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DIY Blanket Ladder.

I thought I would share my quick DIY blanket ladder that I quickly built a little while back.

This was seriously SO easy.

Isn't it funny that the simplest DIY projects tend to be your favorite? 

Honestly, this cost like $4 and took me about 15 minutes to build. 

All I did was buy inexpensive 1x2 stripes of pine from Lowes. 

I totally eyeballed the height...  mine ended up being about 6' tall and each horizontal strip is about 20". 

I simply measured, and screwed the pieces together with long wood screws. 

Stained it Dark Walnut by Minwax & wha-la.

Seriously, anyone can do it.

You can even have Lowes cut the wood to size if you aren't so sure about using a saw. 

I love having our pretty throw blankets on display and it adds a little bit of cozy to our family room. 

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Farmhouse Console with Classic Grey stain.

You might remember a couple months ago I showed you the awesome DIY Farmhouse console that my husband built for us. 

I loved it, but I quickly started thinking that the wood tones made the space feel a lot darker & smaller than I liked.

I ran across Minwax Classic Grey stain at Home Depot and knew it would have been a better choice than the Dark Walnut we had.

So... we sold that console. And my husband made me a fresh new one. 

Doesn't he rock? Ohh, the things he puts up with. 

Here is the new & improved Farmhouse Console in Classic Grey by Minwax.

I really love how the wood grain shows through.

You might notice that our TV is miniature right now... that would be because there may have been an unfortunate event involving water, a paintbrush, and an artistic 3 yr old. 

Insert angry and laughing emoticon. 

Haha. 

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Gallery wall + DIY industrial coffee table.

The formal living room at our house is the poor neglected room while the other spaces evolve. I've finally been giving it a little attention. There are big plans on the horizon, like board and batten, built ins, new window treatments, and a sofa. 

Until those magical mystical things happen I didn't want it to be an eye sore since it is what people see when they walk into my house. yaknowwhatimean? 

I started this gallery wall a few months ago and it has been evolving ever since. Ya know, I walk by something in another room, grab it, and relocate it because clearly it was meant to live on this wall instead. It's really just a bunch of things I had hastily put together & all my other walls might be bare now but... I'll just make some more stuff for them, right?
 Some things I made, some things I bought, and filled in the rest with pictures of cute kids and that darling husband of mine. 

Not too shabby though.

The coffee table started off as just a base that I found on a local yardsale page. It had a weird silvery finish. So I picked up some Rustoleum Oil-Rubbed-Bronze spray paint and gave it a little makeover.

My husband whipped up the top for it out of some pine boards from Lowes, and it is stained Dark Walnut by Minwax. 

The chairs I picked up from Downeast Home, which is a total secret weapon for locals. They sell discounted name brand furniture. These chairs happen to be Pottery Barn originally, but I picked them up for a much smaller price tag from Downeast Home.

The rug is actually from Hobby Lobby. Insane huh?

The pretty linen pillows are from Ikea.

Here is the coffee table before. 

And after

What do you think? 

Linked to Jennifer Rizzo 

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The story of a toy box.

I recently redid a toy box that has been around since my birth or before I'm pretty sure. It was my toy box when I was a kid, and I have many fond memories of my brothers putting me inside and sitting on the top so I couldn't get out. 

The life of the only girl and 3 brothers. 

Enchanting I know. 

It's gone through many face lifts throughout the years, at one point, during the height of the decoupaging rage of the 90's my Mom and I painted it white, and decoupaged some rose tissue paper on it. Anddd it looked a little like this

 What a quality job I know, this might also be from my mom's "shabby chic" + chartreuse phase she went through for a while, but promptly gave up because... well I'm glad she's over that. 

Inspired by all the fabulous ideas on Pinterest a couple months ago I gave it a makeover. 

Now it fits perfectly with my taste + in  my house. 

& it's purpose is to stash my kids toys in our family rooming. 

That is the circle of life come to fruition. 

I love it. 

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Tufted ottoman before & after

I've  been wanting to tuft something for a long time. Isn't that everyone's desire? I know you all walk around thinking that every day... you could hash tag that DIY'er problems. 

Anyways I ran across this coffee table that had pretty legs andddd that was about the extent of the good about it. Oh, it wasn't in pieces... so I guess it had 2 positive attributes but good bones will get you everywhere in life. 

I'll just go ahead and spoil it, here is the after

And here is the sad before

All it took was a couple inches of foam

Upholstery buttons

Upholstery thread

Home decor fabric

A drill

And a mathematician husband

I spent a couple extra bucks having a local upholstery shop make the buttons for me so they would be sturdy and done well. Totally worth it. 

You can buy your own button cover maker machine and do them yourself.... but

 I say spend the few bucks extra and save yourself the headache and time.

Doesn't even look like the same table right? I love how it turned out. Bad news is I want to tuft all the things now. 

I might need to look into DIY'er therapy. 

Linked to Jennifer Rizzo

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DIY farmhouse console &a peek into our family room.

Lately I've been making some huge dents into our never ending list of projects for our house.

Such a huge dent that I haven't even taken time to blog about the finished projects. 

I don't really know where to start because SO much has changed. 

Today I thought I would share the console that my husband recently built for me, and show you a little peek into what our family room is looking like today. 

The biggest change we've made is paint our walls Edgecomb Grey by Benjamin Moore. It is the softest shade of grey and works really well with warm woods as well as cool colors. I can't even tell you how much painting all the common areas has changed the entire feel of our home. 

Our family room is rather shallow and shares a great space with the kitchen and eat in breakfast nook. This is the spot where we spend all our time as a family. 

I had a dresser as a media console for a long time, but wanted something that would fit the space better. We decided to DIY this project after gaining inspiration from the wonderful Liz Marie. Her husband so kindly provided the building plans on his blog here. 

We altered the length and height of the console to fit our space a little better. But that's the beauty of DIY, you can make anything you want however you want, right? 

We chose dark walnut by Minwax to finish the console in. My husband is still in shock that I didn't paint it white. Smh. 

I love this corner with a comfy reupholstered vintage chair, wall art that I made with some favorite lyrics, and my childhood toy box that I gave a little makeover to (the decoupaged rose wrapping paper just HAD to go... sorry mom!)

We are so thrilled with how it turned out!

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