Blog Swap with Homemade Ginger

Today I am doing a blog swap with Megan from Homemade Ginger, another fabulous DIY blog. You can find me over at her blog sharing a DIY goody from the hodge:podge vault!


 Megan is sharing her amazing living room transformation that went from blah to WOWZA! 

Take it away Megan....

I'm so exited to be sharing with you all today! Thanks so much to Barbara for having me and doing this little blog swap. She is sharing a super cute project over on my blog, so be sure to head over there to check it out.

 A can of primer and a can of paint...and some leftover blue wall paint from the kitchen, that's all it took to transform our living room.  I absolutely love how it turned out. I've been wanting to paint our fireplace since we moved into our house a little over 1 1/2 years ago.  Get ready for some amazing before and after shots!

To be super dramatic, this is what the living room looked like when we bought the house:

BEFORE

Lovely dark wood paneling everywhere and really nasty carpet.

Then, we painted the walls and wood. The sellers put in hardwood floors...

A huge improvement! This is how it has looked for the past 1 1/2 years.  

Then, after looking for a bigger area rug for that long, I found this one for super cheap:

So, we added the rug which really helped...but I still haven't liked the brick fireplace and ugly brass and black fireplace screen...

It took some convincing, but finally Reid was on board with the idea. Don't get me wrong, I do love exposed brick in some settings...but not here.

I also had the idea of using some leftover soft aqua paint from our kitchen to paint the backs of the shelves. I figured it would make the objects pop...

Ok, get ready...

AFTER

Ta Da!!

It makes the room feel so much brighter, airy and modern!

It really only took one coat of primer and one coat of paint.

And the larger area rug makes a world of difference.

The most annoying part of the process was painting in between each brick with a brush before rolling on the paint.  If you attempt this, use an old brush that you don't care about because it will be destroyed by the end.

 

I had fun rearranging some objects and adding in a lot of white things to showcase them against the now blue backs of the shelves. (recognize that owl?)

I even spray painted some old picture frames white to keep everything bright.

The fireplace screen needed a few more extra coats of paint. It's not as smooth as I'd like it to be, but you don't really notice unless you are up close. Maybe we will eventually get a new one, but this does the trick for now.

We just had to use a razor to scrape the excess paint off the windows.

So, if you have brick you don't like, go paint it! It's a little gutsy, but totally worth it. 

To recap the project...

BEFORE:

AFTER:

* I just used regular latex paint and primer for this project and it has held up perfectly so far!

Next, we will tackle those beams...and hopefully paint the ceiling fan.. But, that will require a very high ladder and some upper body strength. :)

Has anyone else had brick painting success?

Wow! 
The power of paint!


XO Barbara

Black and White Striped Armchair : The Reveal

Remember the sneak peek of my chair I gave you last week? 

It is finished. Yay! 

Took me forever. 

Bought the chair for $50 in November and it is now April. 

Yup, took me forever.

Here is a quick rundown of what was involved. 

Removed the ugly vinyl that was nailed on with a gazillion 1" nails and nail heads. 

That took forever, patience was needed. 

Then removed second layer of dusty fabric that was nailed onto the frame with hand forged nails. Those took forever to remove.

Can I say that again? 

Forever.

Achy hands set in. Took a break. Cursed a bit. 

Found straw stuffing under the upper part of the chair. Sneezed a bit. 

Stapled fabric onto chair. This was by trial and error. Cursed some more. 

Then nailed in 223 nail heads. 

Don't ask me for a tutorial, I might throw the chair at you.

But......

I am happy. The chair is done. 

Want to see?

Before:

After:

Will I ever try something like this again?

 Not sure, after all that work I don't think I would hesitate paying a professional.

But my total cost might make me try again.

Chair: $50

Fabric {from Ikea}: 2 m @ $7.99m = $16

250 nail heads @ $ 0.8 ea = $20

Grand total: $86

 Have a wonderful weekend all my lovely readers!

 I finally finished my painting project that I have given you peeks of on my Facebook page. Hoping to set it up this weekend. 

What are you up to?

XO Barbara


*This chair is visiting:
SNS @ Funky Junk Interiors
Addicted 2 Decorating
Designer Garden
*Oct 29, 2011 visiting
Junkin Junky

The Tale of Two Tables

*This blog post is brought to you buy two thrifting pals, who never leave a thrift shop empty handed! 

If you want to read the other half of the story you can read it here.

Once upon a time in a land far, far away, where the rain falls freely, giant trees tower above, snow covered peaks loom and the ocean waves crash upon the shore...

Two blogging and thrifting pals, Barbara from hodge:podge and Carol from The Design Pages, were on the hunt for an end table for their lovely daughters. While on one of their thriftting excursions they hunted high and low for the perfect table, one that had good "bones".  But alas, they came away without finding that perfect table {but they found other treasures, that is a another story for another day}

Sniff....

The one friend decided to search Craigslist to see what she could find. One stormy evening she stumbled across a bedroom set that had the perfect pair of end tables. She emailed the seller and asked if they would be willing to separate the set. The seller said "yes". Quickly,  the ever-so-excited-friend emailed the other friend a link and asked if she was interested. $50 bucks for the pair! 

"Why yes!!!" she said, "how perfect!"

The thrifty gals took their tables home and worked their magic on them, transforming them from their 70's lacquered horror to glamourous side tables fit for their princesses.

They went from this:

To this:

Carol  painted her table with a glossy black paint and silver leafed the top and handles to create a table fit for a queen.

Want to know her costs? And how she did it? Visit her blog to find out more.

Want to know how I worked my magic? 

My costs:

Table: $25

Paint: 1 quart Behr indoor latex in satin finish, $18

{colour matched to Benjamin Moore's Spectra Blue}

Primer: Benjamin Moore's oil-based primer, already had on hand {cost $18}

Sealant: Diamond Finish Sealant in satin by Varathane, already had on hand {$14}

Handles were left as-is

Total cost: $34

How I did it:

Using a power sander I sanded the surface of the table as the finish was quite damaged. Then I painted on a coat of oil-based primer with a foam roller for a nice smooth finish and using a foam brush for the crevices. Next, I painted the table with 2 coats of the Behr paint, using a foam roller and good quality paint brush.  Finally, using a foam brush I painted on 3 coats of the Varathane sealant.

Screw back on the handles and 

voila!

And this table lived happily ever after.

The End

xo Barbara

Re-vamped Chair

Remember the saga of the one chair I was painting?

First the paint bubbled.

Then the black and white fabric looked "off"

After a few coats of black spray paint, it now looks fabulous!

I managed to get some quick shots on a rare sunny day.

If you were looking forward to the next part in Painting Furniture 101, I hope to have it up towards the end of the week. Mother Nature is not cooperating, we actually had sleet yesterday! Too cold for my latest painting project where I was planning to photograph and share the nitty gritty in painting! 

Thanks for all who stopped by to read my latest "So Canadian, eh?" interview with Margot Austin, it was such a pleasure to get to know the person behind all those amazing design stories at Style at Home. 

I have so many more amazing Canadians lined up in the next coming weeks, some who are very well known, make sure you stop by!

XO Barbara

End Table Reveal

This is the day you have all been waiting for with bated breath, the reveal of my latest painting endeavour.

Da-da-da-da.......

A little leg....

Let's look at the before:

From 25 bucks....

to 

lookin' like a million!

The headboard is the second diamond tufted headboard I made. Want to make one for yourself?

 You can follow the step-by-step here.

The bedding is changing and I am not sure about the shade/lamp combo, it has bothered me for a while. Can't quite put my finger on what is wrong.

Still need to do the final touches on the room 

{and finish the other daughter's room as well , he-he, that one has been taking me - gulp- almost a year}.

One a side note: 

J, who loves her new end table celebrated her 15th birthday yesterday.

Yup, my baby girl is 15!

{yes, that is my son in his plaid shirt- plaid pj combo, such a stylin' guy}

More exciting news: 

I have THREE superstar Canadian designers who have agreed to participate in my "So Canadian, eh?" series!

Stay tuned!

XO Barbara


linking to: The Shabby Nest
Funky Junk Interiors

{i'm featured: censational girl}

My Ikea Rast makeover is being featured at Centsational Girl! 

I am flattered to have my simple yet {in my opinion} stunning dresser makeover to be featured on the Queen of DIY's website!

Check it out {and other FABULOUS ideas/projects/makeover that Kate comes up with}

Thanks so much Kate!

{how-to make a silver leaf dresser: an ikea rast hack}

Do you want to know how to take this:

{Ikea}

To this?

Re-inventing the Ikea rast dresser was VERY easy and relatively inexpensive. It is constructed of solid wood making it a great surface to paint, wallpaper, stain, etc.

Because I am frugal and love to DIY, I decided to silver leaf the drawer fronts of the dresser and change the knobs to give the Ikea Rast dresser the glamour treatment. 

This project was easy, as silver leaf is very easy to work with. Silver leaf is very delicate and light but forgiving, the first few tries will be tricky but you'll get the hang of it quite quickly. It is easy to patch up and cover gaps with bits of silver leaf. I find it amazing how it all blends together. What I found was that silver leafing wood with a grain was a bit more challenging to get a seamless finish than on a smooth surface such as my lamp.

Materials needed:

Rast dresser from Ikea {I paid $29 but it is showing up online as $39 - must of been my lucky day}

Black paint {or colour of your choosing} I used Benjamin Moore's Aura paint in black

Silver leaf  {I used a package of 24 sheets and leftover leaf from my lamp project. I would recommend  2 packages of 24 from Michaels}

Gilding adhesive size

Crystal knobs {or knobs of your choice}
Sanding block

Varathane

Paint brush for the paint and wipe-on poly

Smaller paint brush for the size

Fluffy dry paint brush to smooth and dust off silver leaf

How-to:

Assemble the dresser using the instructions provided, but don't mount the drawers into the dresser {the dresser comes with small plastic pieces to keep the drawers from coming out all the way, don't put those in until the dresser is finished}

Lightly sand the dresser with a sanding block and clean off the dust. 

Paint the outside of the dresser and drawer fronts. It took only 2 coats of paint using the Aura paint. I didn't prime because the paint I used has a "built-in" primer. If you use other paint you will want to prime as the surface is raw wood.

When paint is dry, you can start the gilding process on the drawer fronts. 

You will want to do this in an area that is easy to clean up as you will get silver dust everywhere.

Paint on a good layer of gilding size, following the directions on the bottle. I let the size dry until it was tacky to the touch and turned clear.

{I didn't take any photos of this process as there was silver leaf dust everywhere didn't want it to get into the camera lens and was in a hurry}

But here are photos of a lamp I gilded, the process is the same.

Now adhere the silver leaf using a brush to pick up the leaf, slightly overlapping each piece. Smooth each piece with a brush, brushing away the loose bits.

Silver leaf is very forgiving. If you missed a spot you can take a little piece of leaf and just smooth it in with your fingers.

After all the drawers fronts are done, paint on varathane to seal the silver finish. I painted 3 coats to give it a durable finish. I also gave the top and sides

{Also didn't take photos - was in hurry to get this finished}

Once dry, add knobs of your choice. I used these crystal knobs from Home Depot. At $6 each, they ended up costing more than the dresser itself but so worth it as they add that extra touch of bling!

Voila!

Happy gilding!

If you have any questions, feel free to comment or email me:
barbaras.hodgepodge@yahoo.ca

XOXO Barbara


*Dec 23:linking to: SNS@Funky Junk Interiors