A Pegboard Named Desire

Think those industrial looking pegboards are just for men who love tools? Think again! With a bit of paint and creativity, you'll end up with an organizational jackpot suitable for anyone!

What you'll need:

• Pegboard(s) and accessories (hooks, baskets, etc)- found at Home Depot and Lowes


• Spray paint


• Accent paint (either craft paint or a different color spray paint)


• Small paint brushes


• Stencil

Start by spray painting your pegboard(s) all over- you can totally stop here, and it would still look great! I used Krylon's "Hyacinth."





After the board(s) dry, grab your stencil (or you could free hand). I found this picture of a flower online that I blew up and printed out. I cut out the large parts to trace, and filled in the rest by hand. I put one flower on each board in the corners.

Now fill in your drawings with an accent color. According to Krylon's website, you can use their paint with a regular brush (who knew??). I chose a pink spray paint called "Raspberry" which I took outside and sprayed into a plastic tub. It's a bit watery, but it worked great!



Once your details dry, you might want to finish with a clear coat of some kind to protect your work-this is definitely a piece that will get a lot of use!

Hang your board(s), put in your pegboard accessories, and organize! Sorry for the quality of the picture, I took it at night and the lighting is bad in the basement (will be fixed soon!).



Wouldn't a smaller version of this look sweet in a girl's room over a desk? Switch up the colors and details for a boy's room! But this purple and pink beauty is for yours truly, to keep all my craft supplies (which I obviously haven't put up yet). He would never admit it, but I think my husband is jealous!



Cost Breakdown:

(2) 2'x4' pegboards- $6.47/ea

(3) cans Krylon spray paint-$2.60ish/ea

Pegboard accessories-some owned, but will need to purchase more

Stencil-free

Paintbrushes-free

Total: $20.74, plus any additional pegboard accessories down the line.

Not too bad for an awesome way to organize your things (and keep them at arm's reach) without taking up desk space, drawers, or shelves!

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Art Galleries Are Posh

So why not have one in your living room? After painting the living room hallway, I hung some frames ready for the pictures of my choosing.



Here is the start of the gallery.



Yes, the frames are empty. My mom is coming in town this week, so I'm hoping to get some great family shots and fill in with older ones. The frames all came from Goodwill, and I spray painted them with Krylon's Oil Rubbed Bronze (as seen here and here also).

I can't wait to get pictures in these frames, and add to this wall over time!

Feeling Bookish?

We are! I think I finally found a permanent home for the bookshelf Mike made. If you recall, it spent a brief amount of time in the office/guestroom, but that just wasn't working out. So I brought it down to the living room to add some height to the space. The only problem?

It was this awesome shade of green-y pine. My husband is a self professed hater of finishing, which left this otherwise handsome bookshelf in need of a serious makeover. It just didn't fit with our other more mahogany colored furniture.



I emptied it off in preparation for the main event: some stain.

I had some leftover Minwax Polyshades Bombay Red Mahogany from when I refinished my dresser, so I whipped it out along with some foam brushes, rags, and fine steel wool. After a single coat to take the edge off the just-been-pressure-treated look, I was happy with the warmer reddish tone.



Now the bookshelf plays nicely with our other furnishings, and I still feel like the handmade character was left in tact. Bonus: Having books in the living room makes us look really smart! :)

Tutorial: No Sew Pillow Sham

Alright, I admit it-I'm a total no sew junkie. The truth is that I can sew, in fact I once made a bridesmaid dress that I actually wore in a wedding. I own a sewing machine (thanks to my super sweet and supportive mother-in-law). So why do I continue to do projects like this (and this, and these) that require zero thread?

YOU!

Yes, you. Because I know that not everyone can sew. Not everyone owns a sewing machine, even if they've sewn in the past. And some of you are probably just as lazy as I am, and don't want to go through the trouble of getting the machine set up and yada yada yada...the iron and Stitch Witchery just call to me, begging for a new project. And I obliged.

Here's the deal, I love multifunctional things. Even when it comes to pillows. The fact is that our house is overrun with them (well, according my my pillow hating husband). So when I needed the perfect accent pillow for the bed in the guest room, I looked no further than my own stash.

I have 2 pale blue 12'' square pillows that hang out in our room, either on the bed or in the chair. So I came up with this idea to make a sham that would hold both of them stuffed together to create a whole new look!

It was really easy to do, most of this should be fairly intuitive. Here's what you'll need:

Materials:

A pillow or two that you want to cover

Stitch Witchery Iron On Tape

Iron on Velcro (found at craft or fabric store)

Iron

Fabric, enough to cover pillow(s)

Pencil

Scissors

After you wash and dry your fabric, lay your pillow(s) down on the fabric, fold over the top (saving one side to "sew") and trim to fit with about 2" to spare around the edges. Next you'll want to hem one side with your tape. I always start by ironing a crease, then tucking the Stitch Witchery in and ironing again.



Now fold the fabric in half, and "sew" the side together with your tape.



Tuck your pillow(s) in the new pocket to ensure fit and mark the corners with pencil.



The tape I used is 5/8", so I hemmed the fabric on both sides to leave about that much BELOW the mark.



Join the sides together down to the end where you've marked your other corner.

Now, for the last side, you'll be using velcro. This was my first time using the iron on velcro, but it worked great! Cut 2 "sets" of strips to space out over the length, or really you can just arrange the velcro any way you want that works for your pillow.







I ironed one side at a time, you want to iron through the fabric, i.e. not directly on the velcro.

Tuck your pillows in, and admire your no sew handy work!



Now my pillows do double duty, and this yellow beauty is a welcome pop of color!

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Burnished Clay Walls

How neat would it be if I actually had clay walls? Unfortunately that's just the name of the color I painted on a few walls in the house. It replaced all the SW "Totally Tan" walls.

The wall that connects the living room and dining room was in terrible shape. Moving furniture up and down had left a nightmare of knicks and gashes which needed to be spackled.



That picture doesn't even show the half of it! When it comes to future touch ups, you can really only do it flawlessly with a flat finish paint. I'm switching from eggshell to flat with this color change. Spackling is pretty easy, you can find supplies near the paint at Home Depot or Lowes. Use a putty knife to spread some compound into the hole, and smooth it out. Scrape off the excess. I let mine dry overnight, but some compounds can be covered with paint fairly quickly after application. After it is dry, I took a very fine sanding block and went over each spot just to make sure I had an even surface.

I applied just one coat, which covered well. Here are the results!



This blank space will soon be the home of a gallery wall (like the one in our bedroom). I've already painted some cheapo Goodwill frames in Krylon's Oil Rubbed Bronze, and I'm just trying to decide on the images themselves.



Here's a little peek at that toilet paper roll wall art I made a awhile ago. Right now it's just hanging out waiting to be painted on some drywall anchors left from those tic-tac-toe shelves we used to have up.



The tea/coffee area in the dining room...I love the color of the wood against the new wall shade!

Overall, I really like it! Depending on the light, it looks more warm and clay-like or cool and gray. Since I love both of those, it's pretty neat if you ask me!

Painting Day!

Tomorrow I will paint the rest of the downstairs. I'm saying it out loud so that I will not put it off for another day. The color choice is Behr's "Burnished Clay."

That is all. For now.

Breakfast Of Champions

The tea and coffee shelves are up and ready for use! Some gourmet German honey and 4 varieties of tea adorn the shelves. I'm still looking for the perfect basket to hold the kcups on the shelf (the one we're using now is too large for the shelf). What do you think?

A Whiter Shade Of Pale

Or in our case, a lighter shade of tan.

Here's the best way to decide between paint colors (and while your house is free of guests).



On the left we have "Sandstone Cove" and on the right "Burnished Clay," both from Behr. I haven't decided yet.

Tea? Coffee? No problem!

Remember awhile back when I posted about this drool worthy tea shelf. I love the idea of having gorgeous tea blends on display. Since we recently became the proud owners of a Keurig machine, I'd really like to turn the tea shelf into a general hot beverage station, if you will. How awesome would it be to have guests over for brunch and offer them several choices of gourmet coffee or tea? You know I love to be the hostest with the mostest. So, I began gathering supplies.



At first I thought that I should make shelves. But, after investigating what's involved in making a floating shelf, I figured that two 24" $9.99 Target shelves would save time and money. Next up, the totally awesome set of mugs I scored at Ross for $4.99. I would need a way to attach them, so I picked up a pack of bronze screw in hooks at Target for around $3 (and there are TONS in there). Also at Target, I saw these cute little containers with airtight closures. Two different sized apothecary jars from Walmart hold some tea I had on hand. I plan to purchase a reusable Kcup for use with loose leaf teas (and coffee if we feel like it).

I can't wait to get these up and styled with some posh blends!

Wrangle Those Curtains!

Curtains add style as well as privacy and shade, but sometimes you just want to let in the light. When I hung curtains in the living room last week, I couldn't wait to add some tie back hooks. Then life got in the way. But here they are, a week later...

An Affair To Remember

As far as appliances go, there are tons of completely unncessary ones on the market. The Keurig machine, however, is not one of them. But you know, I never really drank much coffee.



I do now.



I mean those tiny little cups are just so irresistible. Perfectly portioned and air tight, the way the seal pops in the machine makes me giggle like a small child. Even the gurgling sounds-a-bit-like-bodily-functions stream of caramel colored liquid is mesmerizing enough to make my eyes pop out of my head Bugs Bunny style. Are you feeling the love yet?

If the very thought of owning one of these beauties is making you drool with envy, let me give you a tip. Bed, Bath, and Beyond carries Keurigs and the sweet little cups (which can also be found at your local grocer), and sends out 20% off coupons regularly that never expire (despite the fact that they are dated). So while $139 (for the Special Edition) might sound a bit steep, thinking of the 20% off plus a lifetime of perfect hot beverage goodness will ease the blow. Trust me, once you sip your first cup of liquid gold, you'll forget all about the price tag.

Mail Drop

If your house is anything like mine, the mail gets tossed wherever there is a flat surface. With three mail receiving adults in the house, we needed a place to put it so important letters and bills wouldn't get lost in the shuffle.

Enter this $5 wall mounted letter organizer from Target.



Now, the buck mail stops here!

Drop Cloth Curtains Strike Again

I finally got around to creating another pair of drop cloth curtains for the living room. If you're having a similar love affair with this oh-so-textured linen knock-off, check out your local Home Depot or Lowes for what's called a "bonus" or "contractor pack" of the 6'x9' variety. It's literally 2 for the price of 1.

So for $9.97 in fabric and a $12.99 (86"-120") curtain rod from Ross, we now have a gorgeous, custom pair of curtains dressing our living room picture window.

But, before I reveal the new look, let's check out the totally blah old look.



And now, the dramatic after.

You'll also notice we added a storage ottoman to round out our living room furniture. It's great for keeping those throw blankets or quickly stashing items out of Millie's reach on the way out the door (she loves books).

I just have to add some tie back hooks, and the living room will be done (for now!)

Freebie Winner!

To determine the winner, I entered everyone's name on a spreadsheet in the order the comments appeared. I then used the random number generator on random.org to choose a number.

The lucky winner was in cell number 13, Sandy Walters!

She is also my mother, but I swear this was not rigged. I actually considered doing it again, but given that she has been my first and most active reader, I figured she did actually deserve the win despite how it may look.

However, don't fret! I will be doing more giveaways so stay tuned for your next chance!

Holy Cheeseball, Batman!

I just made the most amazing cheeseball mix and get this-it's FAT FREE.

Now it's not really a ball, but more of a dip. To get a ball you have to use fat. So, too bad.

Get a bag of this from The Biltmore Estate Winery Shop (or online).



Mix it with an 8oz container of fat free cream cheese. Throw the "crunch" packet in there as well. Dip some graham crackers or fruit, and enjoy!

A Tale Of Two Corks

Remember when I posted about that totally awesome cork bath mat I came across? Well I just started mine, except it's going to be closer to a 4x6 area rug for the kitchen. As much as I'd love to wave a magic wand and reveal the finished product, I just can't today. So I figured I'd settle for showing you the start of what will prove to be a long term (but hopefully rewarding!) project.

My materials for a roughly 4x6 rug:

• 2 rolls of 20'' x 72" squishy taupe contact liner ($3.97/ea)


• Hot glue gun and glue sticks (already owned)


• A boatload of corks, cut in half (free, but labor intensive)


• Sheet/drop cloth

First you'll need to cut your corks in half (2 long halves). Do not take this task lightly as I almost amputated the tip of my best middle finger doing this. The corks dull the knife quickly. Hopefully your rug won't be as large as mine, but if it is...well just stay tuned until I discover a better way. If you have a really nice knife and are very careful-you can definitely go this route. I am a little clumsy, so I am halting here until I come up with a new plan.

Once all your corks are cut in half, you can begin laying out your pattern.  I love a nice standard brick, heck you could even try something more advanced like herringbone or zig zag!

Ultimately I decided that a 2x2 alternating pattern would look neat and require less measuring/cutting.



I began applying hot glue to each cork half and laying them in my pattern. You'll want to be sure you lay down an old sheet or drop cloth because some of the glue will seep through the holes (this is the reason I didn't glue them to one of those mats that hold rugs in place-wayyyy too holey). It's pretty easy to peel your rug-in-progess off the sheet after you lay down some corks.



My 32 corks yielded me this:



I guess I have a lot more work to do...but eventually it will be such an awesome conversation piece. Bonus points for the posh use of Biltmore Estate corks (from my brother's job in the wine tasting room). I could run tours through my house and giggle as the out-of-towners squeal with delight when they recognize our city's most famed attraction. Ok maybe I'm getting a bit ahead of myself now, but I can't help it! It will look super cool when it's done, and the cost will likely be under $15 (by the time I use up all my glue sticks and need more...). Plus, it's totally eco and feels like a spa treatment under foot.

Sweet!

Freebie Giveaway: A Custom Knit

Hey all you readers, I want to know who you are! To coax you out of hiding, I'm prepared to offer a free custom handmade knitted item of your choosing (either a neck cowl, pair of handwarmers, or coffee cozy) to a lucky winner!

How to enter?

Comment on this post or any other by midnight tomorrow, be sure to include your email in the form. The winner will be selected at random from all of the entries. Comment as much as you like, but only one entry from each email will count. I will announce the winner on Sunday!

Tea Time

I love the idea of a sweet little tea station, complete with mugs. I think it would be neat to put some of my most used spices on display also (which would also free up cabinet space!). Check out this project on Design*Sponge!



I got this great set of black and white damask mugs at Ross for $4.99 which will be perfect for my shelf. I may even do two shelves since I have a ridiculous amount of spices. I can't wait to try out some loose leaf tea!