From Shabby to Shabby Chic!

I love the Shabby Chic look but to be honest, I would not want it in every room in my house. So I decided what better place to be able to play with this style than in my daughter Grace's room! I started with this old dresser that my parents purchased when they got married in 1956. I'd say this piece owes us nothing!

Before

And transformed it into this...

After

The first step was to sand the whole thing down and then I painted the body white. I removed the old dated drawer pulls, filled in the holes with some wood putty and sanded again. Then I painted the drawers a pale pink color. I wanted to put two glass handles on each of the larger drawers so I had to drill, yes I used a power tool and drilled the new holes in for the new handles!

The next step was to put on a glaze with a touch of color in it. A tiny bit of the color from my living room is what I added to the glaze. After the piece was completely dry, I sanded down the areas that would normally wear to give it a naturally distressed look.

 I also happen to have one of the old matching nightstands!!

And that was it!!! The best part about shabby chic is that the more the furniture wears, the better it looks!

This post is linked to the following...

It's Amazing What a Little Paint Can Do!

This was another freebie my sister stumbled upon so she brought it to me! It was a green color and too dark for my living room. So I removed the top, because I really liked the finish on it, lightly sanded the base down, and then added 3 coats of paint in antique white.

Before...

After...

Can't beat it for the price of two cans of spray paint purchased from Walmart.

Thanks Kim!

Tips on Arranging Your Bookshelves

I love bookcases in almost any space, but sometimes they can end up detracting instead of adding to a room's beauty. One thing to keep in mind when loading up bookshelves is that if the arrangement is not well thought out the bookcase can end up looking cluttered and unbalanced. When my husband built bookcases to flank our fireplace, what he had in mind was to put books on them. I on the other hand, wanted more of a display area for family photos and collectibles. In an effort to make both of us happy, I gave one bookcase a new home library look.

Before...

 The first thing I did was to remove the paper jackets on the books to reveal the lovely linen covers with the gilded titles on the spine. I also decided to edit out many of my family pictures and move them to a new place in our home for display. I kept only a few non-book items on the shelves and grouped books together by size.

After...

I also chose to leave a little negative or open space on my shelves, roughly 10% for this look. These gaps are areas in which books are not placed and the back of the shelves can be seen. Leaving gaps creates rest stops for the eye, so looking at the arrangement does not become overwhelming.

And now I feel that the bookcase on the left appears put together and organized which is much more pleasing to the eye. The bookcases in this room not only serve the obvious function of storing books, but are also used to add visual interest and texture.

More tips for successfully arranging bookshelves!

1. Place larger and heavier books on the bottom and smaller books on the top. This is done so that the bookshelf doesn't become too top heavy.

2. Group books together by size, this gives a more uniformed appearance to the arrangement.

3. Place books in either vertical or horizontal position for a professional touch. If using one or two books as a display piece on the shelf, place the book on a slight angle or in a stand. When doing this, choose books with covers that compliment the room's color scheme. You may even want to leave the book jacket on if it attractive and has colors which coordinate with your room.

4. Allow gaps between books for other objects of interest like collectibles or plants, this breaks up the straight line of the books allowing the eye to rest. If you desire the look of a straight line of books, utilize the bottom shelf for this type of display...again keeping the weight on the bottom of the bookcase.

5. Alternate on each shelf where you add in the non-book items. This will help the eye flow from side to side and not lead it in a straight line from the top to the bottom of the bookcase. Also keep in mind the texture and contrast of the items you choose, this will help to add interest and life to your display. 

6. And the last thing to remember is that many built-in and store bought bookcases have adjustable shelves, so you can move or remove them to accommodate larger items. Here's an example...with the bookcase on the right of our fireplace I removed one shelf and added a lamp for illumination and a wall picture for interest.

Another example is my sister's wall unit which also has adjustable pins. Here I moved a shelf down and placed a wall clock in the middle of the unit's display.

This technique can add an element of surprise to a room and make it feel truly unique.

Lighting and Accessorizing

So how do you get a pulled together look like this?

When you are starting with this!

This room is actually a small space, however there is not enough furniture, lighting or accessories. The chair and the sofa are placed against the walls  providing a conversation area along with an easy pathway through the room, but still it seems off balance. The furniture looks arbitrarily placed and the setting is lacking a coffee table.

The cat house...a must go!!!

As you can see in the photo below, mirrors were placed on the wall and are not centered to anything...they just appear to be floating. Also, when placing mirrors, be mindful of what they are reflecting, in this case the mirrors are reflecting the underside of the stairs.

Here the problem is that the entry way just looks drab, there is nothing on the walls and the space lacks interest and color.

In the below photo you see the awkwardness of the furniture arrangement. Even though this room has great natural light coming in, the one lamp in the room does not provide enough ambient light for when the sun goes down.

So what was done to make this room come to life???

The first thing done was to switch the placement of the sofa and chair so that the sofa is occupying the longer wall. The size of the sofa fits much better on the long wall and the chair compliments the shorter wall. So the tip here when placing furniture on a wall...look at the size of the furniture in relationship to the wall it is placed on. They should almost mirror one another. Long or wide pieces on wide walls and narrow pieces on narrow walls. Fit the shape of the piece to the shape of the wall it is to be placed against for a harmonious feel.

The next thing done was to add a coffee table. This trunk was tucked away in the downstairs storage room. It had some scratches on it but with the application if a little Old English furniture polish, the scratches disappeared. The color of the trunk adds warmth to the room and grounds the seating arrangement. The mirrors were removed and a picture found at the top of the second floor stairway was brought down to add some color to the walls. Also, notice that the picture was placed directly above the chair, thus anchoring it to a piece of furniture for a complete vignette. The small table with lamp was placed on an angle to add some architectural interest to the room.

A floor lamp and plant (right on the above photo) were placed next to the stove to add light and color to the side of the room. Old family portraits (below photo) were hung on the wall next to the front door adding interest and helps to define the entry way. The pictures are placed in an ascending pattern to mimic the angle of the ascending stairs.

The final step in completing the look of this room was accessorizing. Candles and a plant along with some reading material were placed on the new coffee table. The existing accent pillows were flipped to show the floral side and to add contrast to the sofa as well as color to the room. A small bench with another plant was placed next to the chair to help compliment the color of the coffee table to and add weight to the wall with the chair. Here's a tip on lighting...place table and floor lamps around a room in a triangular arrangement...this will help to evenly distribute the light in your room. Same is true for plants, place them around a room in a triangular pattern, and remember, greenery in your living space adds both color and life!  

The homeowners were thrilled with the result of this redesign. They loved the new arrangement and the stylish look. And the best part...nothing new was purchased to achieve this put together living space...it was all done with items the homeowner already had...

another great redesign for sure!!

Painted Kitchen Chairs

Well you know what they say about the best laid plans...my original thought for these chairs was to keep it more in the vein of a country style, utilizing the floral fabric I had purchased. (See link.) I started with one painting technique I had learned using water and water-based paint to give the chair a patina. But after applying this technique, although I did like the look, I did not like it for these chairs.

So instead I ended up giving them a much more sleek and contemporary look. I fell in love with the green, black and white color fabric and ended up putting a glossy paint on them and then I sprayed them with a liguid lacquer to protect the chairs from chipping.

So here's the Before...

And here's the After...

I bought 4 chairs, each for $10...the new material for the chair pads cost a little over $10. Spray paint, I used the Wamart brand, cost $0.96 + tax and I used one can per chair. The lacquer I covered the chairs with cost $7 per can and I used 2 cans.

The total cost for my new chairs plus tax was roughly $70, each chair costing $18.50. Not bad for new chairs!!!

The last thing I plan tp do is to Scotchgard the seat cushions to protect them from food and drink spills.

Linked to

 

Front Porch Before and After...

Our front porch is small and I wanted it to be more bold and welcoming. So I painted the floor in a brick color in a tile pattern and added seating in the way of a wicker rocker I purchased at a yard sale for $5.00. Then I painted black the base of a glass top sofa table I already owned and hung an iron wall decoration that I had lying around. I added a potted flower and a floor plant from my living room and created an entry with lots of warmth and personality!

Before...

 After...

My Inspiration...

From the website Front Porch Ideas and More...

Courtesy of Barb at Gritz and Glamour

Thank you Barb for the inspiration for my front porch!