~Tired of Waiting~

I'm tired of waiting for the perfect armoir/cabinet, at the perfect price, at the perfect time.  I've been waiting for eight or nine? years - It's-not-going-to-happen!  This is the current TV situation in our master bedroom.

Even as beautiful as this is (HA!), I'm tired of looking at it.  I was flipping through a magazine (always dangerous) and saw this fabric screen.

I have lots of fabric to use, so I decided to put the TV in the corner and cover it with a screen.

I have one frame done.  Two more to go.  I hope to post the finished screen soon.

Janet

Kitchen Shelving Project - Day 3

The Reveal

If  you've read my previous posts, you know this is the "before" picture of the open shelves in my kitchen.

This is what all the cabinets in my house looked like.  I know, right?

When we moved in, I knew replacing the cabinets would not be in the budget.  So I painted some cabinets and I decided to remove one large cabinet and put in open shelving.  I have really liked the shelves, but I was ready for a change. 

So I emptied the shelves.

Removed the cup hooks.

Filled, sanded, and painted the holes.

And filled the shelves with new and collected items.

I have been collecting for these shelves for at least a year.  The rooster dishes I bought at Home Goods.  The pitchers and platters are a mix of new and antiques.  The pitcher on the left is old ironstone.

The platters and two middle pitchers are collected from antique stores, the bowl was a wedding gift,  and the pitcher on the left is from Target.

The cow creamer is also from Home Goods.

And since I removed the cup hooks, I was able to include the counter as part of the shelves.

The shelves feel fresh and clean.  Speaking of clean, I know a lot of people worry that open shelving will get dirty.  I use these dishes everyday, so they don't have a chance to get dirty.  The pieces that aren't used as often, I just toss in the dishwasher when I have extra room.  Wipe the shelves with a damp cloth occassionally, and everything stays clean.

I am going to join some fun parties this week: 

Tabletop Tuesday

DIY Day

Talented Tuesday

Transformation Thursday

Janet

Kitchen Shelving Project - Day 2

Emptying the Shelves

Not as easy as you might think.  I want to keep a lot of the pieces that I currently have on the shelves.  They will have to be stored elsewhere in the kitchen, however the rest of the kitchen is full.  I once read that if you need more storage, look up.  So that's what I did.  Here are some other examples of "looking up" for storage.

~Marta Stewart~

~Apatrmenttherapy~

In the bathroom

~nataliemeester~

In the kitchen

~apartmenttherapy~

In the living room

~slidersgirl64~

In the office

~sharons scrapbook~

In the laundry room

~hmwrksol~

In the garage

And here's what I decided to do.  I added a second shelf in my laundry room closet.  Not beautiful, but functional.  And it's behind closed doors.  I was able to move some things out of my kitchen cabinets and make room for the shelf items I want to keep.

And finally, empty shelves.

Janet

Kitchen Shelving Project - Day 1

Finding Inspiration

I have open shelving in my kitchen that is in need of a makeover.

This is my "before".

I like to look at magazines and online images for ideas and inspiration. All photos are from Country  Living mgazine.

My shelves have only held dishes, but I like the food storage idea.

A lot of storage on these shelves.  Something I definitely have to take into consideration.  My shelves have to hold my everyday dishes - they cannot be display only.

Love the colors on this one.

Pretty, but too sparse for me.

This is my favorite, but I know mine will have more color and more "stuff".

This is pretty and functional.

And this I just really want.

Janet

~My Favorite Find~

This is my favorite piece of furniture.  It is an 1800's table from a local farm.

See the square nail?

And this is my favorite way to make and keep furniture beautiful.  The Briwax gives the wood a wonderful shine and protective finish, while keeping the integrity of rustic pieces.  It is a bit difficult to find and a little price-y, but totally worth it.  To apply,  you rub the wax on with a cloth, let dry, and buff to a shine.  You can get a workout with the last step.  The more layers you apply, the better it looks.  I wish I had a before picture of my table, but it was purchased ten years ago.  I put in many hours cleaning, sanding, and waxing it.  I put another coat of wax on about every six months.  Can you see how it shines?

The cupboard in my dining room has been bothering me for a while.

It always looks dusty, even though it's not.

So I gave it the Briwax treatment.

Much better.

Janet

P.S.  The wax comes in different colors-mine is dark brown.

P.S.S.  I will be linking this to:

Transformation Thursday

Furniture Feature Friday

~Shabby Pink Bench~

When I saw this picture from Rachel Ashwell's home in Romantic Country magazine I thought, "Ooh! I need a shabby pink bench."

So I decided to make one.

I cut a board for the seat and two for the sides with a 22 1/2 degree angle cut on the ends.

I cut two boards for the legs, drew an inverted "v", and cut out with a jigsaw.  I then glued and nailed it all together. 

At the bottom, I added a small shelf.

Then the fun part.  I distressed the wood by creating "worm holes" with a drill.

And then just beat and scraped and dented with a hammer.

To finish,  I painted a pale pink and antiqued with Ralph Lauren smoke glaze.

And now I have a shabby pink bench of my own.  I'm sending this post to the I made it without my hubby party at Shanty2Chic.  I can't wait to see what everyone else made.  I will also be joining SNS at Funky Junk Interiors.  And since this was my first big project of the New Year, I'm joining the party at Sanctuary Arts at Home.

Janet

~Cafe' au Lait Bowls by Moi~

OK, they're not really cafe' au lait bowls.  More like cereal /ice cream bowls, but cafe' au lait sounds much more romantic, don't ya think?  Anyway, that was the look that I was going for. I found some Cafe' au lait bowls that I liked on line, but they were 14 dollars each plus shipping. These bowls were 2 dollars each at Big Lots, so, you guessed it, I decided to make my own. 

I gathered my supplies-enamel paint from Hobby Lobby, a stencil for the border, and a rooster shape to trace. The alcohol is to clean the bowls before you paint. The paint colors are very limited, so I added some black to the red to get more of a burgandy.  I sprayed my stencil with spray adhesive-so much easier.  Then I just used a stencil brush and pounced on the paint, very light on the paint.  The best part is the paint cleans right off before it dries.

I traced around the rooster on contact paper and cut it out.  Perfect stencil.

You can let air dry for 21 days or bake.  I baked.  Instructions are on the paint bottle.

And they turned out like this.  I can't wait to see them on my kitchen shelves, after I rearrange them.(future post I'm sure)

Janet

P.S.  These are suppose to be top rack dishwasher safe, but I haven't tried it yet.

I'll be joining:

Make it for Monday at Cottage Instincts

Made by You Mondays

The Girl Creative