BEST GOLD SPRAY PAINT...EVER!

I finally found the absolute best gold spray paint...thanks to Brittany...and I am in Love! If you remember I made over my craigslist bar stools and spray painted them with a gold that I thought I was happy with...until I saw Brittany use her favorite on her new headboard. When I saw the after pic of her headboard I thought the frame was metal, low and behold it was actually wood...a spray paint that produced a beautiful gold that I feel like I have been waiting for forever AND it looked like actually metal, I was sold! So it was time to redo my craigslist bar stools redo. I only had time to take a quick horrible iphone pic this morning, but you will get the idea...

Now I am on the hunt for anything to have the excuse to use this spray paint on.

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NEW ETSY ITEMS & A SNEAK PEAK

Wow I am a horrible summer blogger! Once Labor Day passes I will be sure to get my act together. In the meantime I have a few new Etsy items up and a little work at the house for you to check out.

Black and White Stripe
Leaf and Linen (I love this one! It is so beautiful in person and the linen back makes it)
New Colors! Waterproof Mason Jars

As for the house...we are getting our high gloss black on! And I LOVE it (2 more doors to do as well as some sanding, touch ups and window scraping)

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KITCHEN REDO PROGRESS

Progress is coming along with the kitchen, backspash is finished and the late addition of another set of doors have been painted and hung. Catch up on the other kitchen posts here, here, here and here

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KITCHEN REDO - MARBLE BACKSPLASH

The kitchen backsplash is almost done! My cousin is coming back today to do the grout. Our kitchen has been an on going process for what seems awhile now, we've done things here and there as we go and now it seems to be really coming together and it's so exciting! See the kitchen redo from the beginning here and here

But below are a few pics from yesterday of some of the tile up, I might be in love lol

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BYE BYE LAMINATE

KITCHEN COUNTERS

The old kitchen counters are off! New counters are being installed on saturday! Will be back to post some after pics once they are installed. Can't wait!

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DIY IKEA SCONCE HACK

For a long while I have been looking for lighting for the master bedroom. Always planning on using a sconce on either side of the bed, I purchased two Small Architecture Boom Sconces from Restoration Hardware , BUT they were too big for the room. {Sad Face}. Frustrated that I waited too long to return them, I don't want to spend a lot of money right now on new lights, especially since I am trying to save for a new counter top for the kitchen (shhh don't tell Ryan). So long story short, I was at IKEA and on a whim, cause I usually don't bother to go through the lighting section, I did, and came across these...

(OH AND IF ANYONE IS INTERESTED IN PURCHASING THOSE TWO RESTO SCONCES FROM ME, I'LL SELL THEM AT 280.00 FOR THE PAIR, JUST SHOOT ME AN EMAIL)

It's only 15 bucks and even though I don't like the shade its shown with - its just too small (but the shade sells separate anyway) and the finish wasn't what I was looking for, I thought for $15 each it would be worth trying to spray paint them and buying new shades.

HERE ARE MY STEPS:

1.) COVER THE CORD WITH SARAN WRAP (PLASTIC WRAP)

2.) COVER THE LIGHT SOCKET WITH PAINTERS TAPE

3.) SPRAY WITH PRIMER

4.) SPRAY SEVERAL COATS OF DESIRED COLOR (IN MY CASE BRASS/GOLD)

I ended up making another trip to IKEA to check out the lamp shade options, as I did not like the one shown on display with the sconce. I wanted something larger and more of a drum shape. This is what I found...

The JARA lampshade. The best part about it is you can change the position of how it sits on a lamp - see below (sorry for the blurry pics).

BEFORE

AFTER

 I chose to flip the fitting in the shade the other direction so I could place it on the sconce like this...

I decided to hang mine upside down from how they are intended. I like the look better this way and wanted down lighting as opposed to up lighting because they are next to our bed and needed for night reading. I also plan to do something with the cord, as I don't like that its black, so either replace it with a white cord (the sconces are easily removable b/c they just slide into a bracket that's attached to the wall) or get a white wall cord cover. Eventually, maybe I'll even take on the task this weekend, the walls will be painted white, and I will attempt soon to make a tufted headboard.

What do you think? I'm satisfied for now, I think it turned out to be a good solution until I want to spend the $$ on lighting I really want. If the gold isn't for you, I bet Oil Rubbed Bronze would be great too!

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DIY IKEA RAST HACK

Finally! A new DIY project! It's one that I am pretty excited about, not only for its simplicity but for how well it turned out. I have been looking for new nightstands for what seems like forever. I didn't want nightstands that looked too dinky and with no storage so I originally thought I would try and find two dressers on Craigslist and refinish them, but then I was stuck with the dilemma that I wanted them to look the same. Luckily then I came across this blog...aubreyandlindsay.blogspot.com

She took a RAST bookcase from Ikea and made it into this (wish my photos looked as beautiful as hers!)




First thing first, go to Ikea and purchase the nightstand for $34.99 (can't beat that!) and assemble the RAST nightstand...

Mitsy doesn't seem happy with this process!

Next I look the drawers outside and primed them. I like to use a foam roller for both the primer and the paint - it gives it an ultra smooth finish with no brush strokes. 

BM Fresh Start Enamel Underbody in White - I used this on my kitchen cabinets as well - It's oiled based so make sure you are well ventilated

PRIMER

I did one thin coat of primer as you can see above, next time I might do two thin coats instead to cover the wood grain more.

Then I did three thin coats of the same white BM Advantage paint I used for my kitchen cabinets

1ST COAT OF STAIN

Next I moved onto the nightstand itself. I used Minwax dark walnut. Just spread it on with a cloth in the direction of the wood grain. Then go back in about 5 minutes and go over it with a clean cloth to remove any extra that didn't absorb.

2ND COAT OF STAIN

Last step was to use a polyurethane in clear satin over the stain. And after everything dried I had this....

AFTER

I added some Martha Stewart hardware for the time being until I find something better. I still have one more to do for the other side of the bed. I am pretty happy how it turned out! Just wish I could take magazine quality pics haha! Here are some more AFTERs below...

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER

What;s next up for the bedroom you ask?
2nd RAST nightstand
New wall color
New tufted headboard

We be so grateful for some pins!

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KITCHEN REDO

Hi all! So I've been working on redoing our kitchen and had planned to just do one post once I was completely done so you all could see the whole thing in one sitting, but I'm getting excited with the progress, tho its been very slow, the end result is starting to take shape. My desire to have a new kitchen has been my dream for a long while. The one problem was budget. And keep in mind my cabinets were new, actually brand new - installed when the condo was built - but I hated them! Not my style at all, they felt like they should have been in a break room in an office, they didn't feel homey at all. But what I hated the most was actually the doors and draw fronts - they were the problem - the cabinets themselves were fine and in good shape and considering our kitchen is tiny and how the condo is set up there isn't much alternative to the placement of were they currently were. First I checked out how much it would be to replace the doors and draw fronts by the same manufacturer - too much! Then I looked into cabinet refacing - way too much! And finally I looked into just replacing everything - still way too much and I didn't want to go through all that. So what did I finally decide to do?! I contacted my cousin and asked him if he would be able to make me new cabinet doors and draw fronts, which I would then paint! And the new cabinets doors/draws my most talented cousin made, are beautiful!! I'll show you those in a minute. Before I show you some before pics and in progress pics, I'll give you an idea where I am at and where I want the kitchen to be. The cabinets themselves have all been primed and ready for paint. All of the draws and doors have also been primed and some painted. The upper cabinets are going to be white and the lower cabinets black :) and both with brass hardware, which has yet to be selected. Its been a long road and I still feel like I have so much more to do, and can't wait to be able to show you the final product! Enjoy the pics below! The first few a just a bit of inspiration for what I am dreaming of...

 

 

okay enough dreaming...

here are some before pics of our very ugly kitchen

 

Oh how I dislike the hardware!
And now...drum roll...my beautiful new cabinet doors...

unfinished

unfinished

lower cabinet doors/drawers back side primed

upper cabinet doors first coat of paint (backside shown)

cabinet boxes primed and ready for paint!

final layers of paint for cabinet boxes...yay! sorry about the messy kitchen lol

 

close up

final coat on upper cabinet doors

first coat of black paint on lower doors/drawers

first coat close up of bottom cabinet doors

So that's it so far! The white upper cabinets are all done and as we speak the final coats for the bottom cabinet doors and drawers are drying. Stayed tuned for when they are finally hung! Can't wait!!

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