Archives for January 2019

$15 Shiplap Fireplace Refresh

Hello lovelies,

My husband was off work for a few days so we took advantage and did this fun little project! I can’t take credit though, it was actually Nate’s idea! He’s the best😉 I don’t know why we waited so long to add shiplap because it makes our living space feel so much brighter. The fireplace is the first thing you see when you open our front door, so its one of my favorite statements in our home.

This fireplace has gotten so much attention since buying our house. Here’s a few photos to show just how far it has come! The first picture is how it looked when we bought the house, the second is after we added the faux beam, and the third is now! I love a good transformation

All we needed for this project was one 4X8 sheet of plywood that cost us $15. Everything else we already had leftover from previous projects. Even if you need to buy all these things, it is still super budget friendly if you want shiplap for way less! Here are the materials and tools we used;

4X8 Plywood

Nail gun and nails

Chop saw

A couple nickels (to space the planks)

Primer

Paint

High density foam rollers (makes paint go on much smoother)

Conveniently, Home depot stripped down the plywood for us into 6″ strips (they charge 25 cents per piece, but for us it was worth it.) All we had to do was cut the strips to the exact length of our fireplace and give them a light sanding before using a nail gun to secure them to the wall. Since we were covering such a small space, we chose not to stagger the boards. After sanding we made sure the plank was completely straight before nailing it on (we didn’t use a level because we have an old home so nothing is level, ha! We just went by eye).

Once you’ve secured the first plank, place the second one directly underneath and separate the two planks by using two nickels (or more if your strips are longer). It helps to have two people for this part, one to do the nailing and one to hold the plank tightly against the nickels.

After all the planks are secured, fill all the nail holes with wood filler. Allow them to dry and then sand everything down so its perfectly smooth. We also added some quarter round that we had from a previous project for a more finished look. Totally optional though!

I would suggest giving the shiplap at least one coat of primer before painting so that your wood doesn’t bleed through.

Once the primer is dry, apply the paint with the foam roller. I used a roller because I didn’t want any brush strokes on my shiplap, but its entirely up to you what you want to use.

After three coats, viola! Add some decor and your good to go!

I am SO pleased with this project. It only took about 45 minutes to do the cutting, sanding and hanging the planks. The painting took a bit longer but you can most certainly finish this project in a day!

I hope this post inspired you!

Happy shiplapping!

Free Watercolor Floral Download and Printable

Do you think if I keep painting flowers, spring will come a little sooner? Yea, probably not but a girl can dream! Hopefully these water color florals will brighten up your day at least! So until spring, these will have to do. Go ahead and use these however you please. They would look great as a phone or computer background or as a printable for party invitations! I left the center blank so you can fill it in with whatever makes your heart happy.  And let me know if you like having the free downloads, if so, I can paint more. The links are below each photo, go ahead and click on it to download or print.IMG_20190125_0001  IMG_20190125_0003_NEW

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Happy Friday! and ENJOY!

Chalk Painted Piano

 

In Summer 2017 while at a yard-sale, someone asked if we could use a free piano. I was thrilled! These people had no idea that I played piano and that I had been wanting one since I got married two years before. The piano was in good condition so we took it home. I always wanted to paint it but was terrified of destroying a nice piano, especially since I wouldn’t get rid of it even if it came out terrible. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it up until now.

Let me tell you, I have no idea WHAT I was so worried about! It was honestly SO easy. I did the whole thing with just one paintbrush and there was no taping necessary, WIN! I knew I wanted to use chalk paint so that I wouldn’t have to sand first. I stumbled across this Behr Chalk Paint at Home Depot and did what any good DIYer would do, I googled reviews! But literally there were two…so I was a bit skeptical about experimenting on my beloved piano. The paint just came out in October so I decided to let the lack of reviews slide and give it a go. You guys, this paint is where its at. Seriously.

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Now I will say I have never tried Annie Sloan chalk paint, only Rustoleum and Waverly, but for the price and quality of this paint, I don’t know that I ever will. This is not to say that Annie Sloan isn’t great quality, but when I can get a professional finish on a $20 chalk paint that has tons of color options, why would I buy something double the price? Not to mention, there are no stores near me that sell Annie Sloan, so I would have to order it online. That definitely doesn’t work for me…When I decide I want to do a project, its getting done. That. Day. Please tell me I’m not alone!
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Before you start painting, you just need to wipe off any dust on your piano. Be sure to get behind the keys as well, I forgot to do this and it was a pain to get all the dust out of my paint brush. After you’ve dusted every nook and cranny you can begin painting! I suggest starting with the piano keys exposed. I didn’t do this and the paint created a seam that I had to sand out. You also risk having your piano get painted shut. Save yourself some time and start with it open. Make sure you do nice thin coats, you do NOT want anything goopy or pooling onto the keys or gumming up your piano.

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I found it was best to work in sections. Before I painted the top of my piano I propped it open so that it didn’t get painted shut as you can see in the photo.

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You can choose to tape off the keys and pedals if that’s how you feel most comfortable, I personally never like to use painters tape while painting but that’s just my preference. Do what you feel most comfortable with. If you don’t use tape, just push the keys down as you paint behind them and make sure you don’t have too much paint on your brush. After you finish the first coat you can sand down with a fine sandpaper, I used 320 grit. Go ahead and repeat the second coat just like the 1st.

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After the second coat is completely dry go ahead and sand it down again, don’t worry about the cloudy look that will likely cover your whole piano, that will disappear as soon as you apply the wax. Whether you choose to distress is entirely up to you, I chose to lightly distress along the edges and on the legs. If you prefer a more aged look Behr also has an antique wax and a white wax, both are beautiful I’m sure. If you use dark or white wax, you should still apply the clear wax at the end. Clear wax protects your furniture and gives it a beautiful professional looking satin sheen. I chose to apply the wax with cheesecloth which you can also purchase at Home Depot. Behr does offer a special brush just for wax, but its $30, I got fabulous results using $4 cheesecloth, so its totally up to you! But if you do apply with the brush, you will still need cheesecloth or some other lint free rag to buff with. I was so shocked at how good the wax made my piano look, you can’t even see brush strokes. After you apply the wax, wait about an hour or so and go back and buff it out, which gives it a lovely shine!

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The whole cost of this piano came out to $35.00 including EVERYTHING. However, it should of cost me more like $50.00. The cover somehow popped open on my paint while they were mixing it and it got paint on the outside of the can and I lost the tiniest bit. they gave it to me for TWO DOLLARS. So it must’ve been meant to be right? But really, Behr is my new favorite chalk paint and I highly recommend it! Hope you enjoyed todays post and as always, thanks for stopping by!

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Cozy Farmhouse Bedroom Neutrals

  Hi, Friends! Happy 2019 to all of you. This is my first post in almost a year, I apologize for that. My family went through many big life changes in 2018. Just to name a few, we welcomed our sweet baby boy, got a puppy (as if a toddler and a newborn weren’t enough work, ha!) and my husband started the DNP program at URI. Needless to say, we have our hands full! Anyways, lets get into todays post!  

  When we first purchased our home almost 3 years ago, there wasn’t a single room that didn’t need work. With the rest of the house requiring so much attention, we didn’t do much to our bedroom beyond a coat of paint. This year I was finally able to add more personal touches and really focus on the overall aesthetics of our room. I wanted it to be a neutral, cozy and inviting retreat. I wanted  a space that I would be happy to spend time in besides just a place to sleep.

   

We started by adding a Shiplap accent wall which my hubby and I did ourselves. Because our bedroom doesn’t get too much natural light and to keep the farmhouse feel, we chose very light color tones for the walls and bedding.

  We used the color Snow Fall by Behr on the shiplap. The rest of the room is Salt Cellar by Behr, it has the tiniest hint of mint to it and I love the way it contrasts with the white shiplap!

 

 We purchased the bed from Wayfair for a great price. It is still available and can be found here.

 

  For the bedding I wanted a simple light neutral that wasn’t completely white so I went for a soft Gray stripe that almost resembles the classic grainsack stripe. I found the bedding at Kohls and it’s actually on MAJOR sale right now! You can find the bedding here.

 

  To add some visual interest I added a pop of color with the toss pillow and some texture with a super soft throw blanket. It’s amazing how some pretty small projects can completely transform a space from dull to totally inviting! (at least I think so)

  I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I have and I look forward to being much more active on the blog and on Instagram in the coming year! If you enjoyed this post please feel free to leave a comment below!