Hi Friends!

Oh my, this week has literally blazed right by and I cannot believe that it's already Thursday.

How has your week been? With Veteran's Day this past Monday, we have had non-stop LIFE over here! Ha!

 

I've got projects out the wazoo that I need to complete, some for myself and some for friends and my list of wants just seems to keep growing and growing.

 

One thing I did have time for was adding a little something to our entry. Now, the foyer of our rental home is pretty small and can sometimes feel a bit cluttered and overwhelming at times but what better way to make it feel fresh and new than to add a little texture and greenery?

 

 

 

 

I picked up these two hanging baskets from Williams-Sonoma a little over a month ago and originally they were on our mantel just because I wasn't really sure about their placement. I knew that I would use them in some way though.

 

 

 

 

After the original ferns I'd placed inside eh, hm...died. I purchased some single stem greenery from a local grocer for $3.99 and the hanging baskets only cost me $10.00. So, with tax, this little refresh was less than $15.00.

 

I am thinking of just about any way I can to add a little personality to this rental of ours and who doesn't love fresh greenery especially when it has berries.

 

Um, yes please.

 

 

 

You will have to forgive me for so many pics. My hubby traveled to China for business last week and brought a sweet little gift back for me in the form of a new lens. This is my chance to play around with it a little bit. I have SO much to learn!

 

I thought I would also share a few inspirational photos and a few tips for all of you out there with small entryways like ours. I didn't share the entire view {mostly cause ours is a mess right now} but trust me when I say it's teeny tiny. I will share more photos of this space along with an update of how things are going with the living space in the next Rental Redo post.

 



 

TIP #1 | PAINT A WALL...OR TWO.

In this case, a chalkboard one. Isn't this just too cute and at an entry, it would be a great space to leave notes for the kids or for a spouse or even to make lists and special guest messages. I LOVE this!  

 



 

 

TIP #2 | ADD A MIRROR.

And not just any old mirror, make it a good one and be sure it's just the right size for the space. We all know that mirrors can make a small space look much larger by reflecting parts a room. Another great idea is to not just add one mirror but a collection of vintage ones, some of all shapes and sizes, etc. can add just the right touch to a small entry.

 

 

 

TIP #3 | STRIPES, STRIPES and MORE STRIPES.

Of course these are oh so trendy right now but they aren't just trendy, they are functional. Adding simple lines to a short wall can give the illusion of length hence tricking the eye into thinking that the given space is much larger and longer than it actually is.

 

 

TIP #4 | ORGANIZE  IT.

THIS is my next step in ours. If it's not organized but the rest of your home is put together, it can definitely give the wrong vibes to guests entering the home. Free the space of clutter and create a space that is not only pretty but functional.

 

 

 

 TIP #5 | WHEN IN DOUBT, PUT A FRAME ON IT.

This one is surely my opinion but you just can't go wrong with a gallery wall. The one below is more symmetrical but you could add just about any type of frame or wall décor to fit your home's style or your own personality.

All images can be found here.

 

 

I also just wanted to take a sec to say thanks to you guys for following along and for commenting, giving advice, opinions and thoughts along the way on this rental refresh. It's been so much fun to add a little bit of me to this place we are temporarily calling home all while sticking to a pretty tight budget.

 

I absolutely love sharing this adventure with all of you!

 

Linking up with:

Savvy Southern Style

DIY Showoff

City Farmhouse

Rain on a Tin Roof

 

 

  XO,

It's kind of funny that I'm adding art before major elements like, say, flooring, but that's how it goes sometimes. When we added the Ikea bench to the entry (which I love and would highly recommend, by the way), the wall above it suddenly looked naked. Luckily, my mom had just gifted me two gorgeous prints.

They're actually greeting cards, each with a print of a watercolour by Vermont artist Annelein Beukenkamp (you can view more of her beautiful work on her website). On Sunday, Adam stayed home with Hannah so I could make a solo trip to Value Village (it's the little things) to look for a couple of frames. I found a pair of frames...along with a bunch of uber cute baby clothes, a few toys and the cutest tea cup I'd ever laid eyes on (this may be why I don't make solo trips to VV often).

As occasionally happens after a VV trip, on the drive home I started worrying that the frames weren't going to work. Should I paint one? Both? What colour? I started browsing through Lonny's photo archives for inspiration, when I saw this and remembered that I had some leftover black matting board. Isn't it funny how inspiration strikes? It turns out I had just enough matting board to fit both frames, so I did some measuring and broke out my mat cutter. I also gave the frames a good scrubbing.

Please excuse the reflection of me awkwardly learning back in my pjs. A photographer, I am not.

The black mats completely transform the look of the frames, I think. That tiny line of gold with the black is what really makes this work for me. So glad I didn't paint them.

Did I mention that the frames were $3.99 each and I think my mom paid $3.50 for each of the cards/art? I only wish I knew how to take a better picture of frames with glass - they're so lovely in person.

It was a beautiful day here yesterday, so I took advantage of the opportunity to leave the front door open and gave our entryway light a little update. It was so easy. I took the old shade off, taped cardboard to the ceiling and a sandwich bag over the light, then broke out the spray paint (Rustoleum's Metallic spray paint in ORB). 

Hannah and I went for a long walk while it dried (Adam stayed home with the open door) and then we hit up Home Depot for a new shade. I ended up choosing the 2013 version of the fixture's original globe shade.

Since I already owned the spray paint, I only spent $7.99 on the update (the cost of the new shade). I thought about buying a new light fixture altogether and did a lot of searching, but I kept coming back to this cute little globe. I think it suits our entryway - it just needed an update for 2013.

Here's the After & Before:

Not the best pictures, but you get the idea. So, what are you spray-painting these days?

I hope you had a lovely weekend. I started running again, after more than a year-long break. It went pretty well and I'm determined to keep it going (time to update my running playlist). I have that half-marathon to run after all...

If you follow me on Twitter, you may have already seen this picture of the striped rug from Hannah's room in a new location. That's because I found a much larger, plusher rug for her room over the weekend.

Now I can worry less about Hannah falling and bumping her head or the rocker scuffing up the hardwood floor. And Hannah has lots of room to throw toys around and practice her crawling.

On Friday I told you that I finished installing the hardware in the kitchen. Here's a little peek at how it turned out:

I used Katie's painter's tape trick to figure out the handle placement and it worked like a charm (the doors aren't fully closed in the photo above so that the paint has time to completely cure).

Did I mention that we have the sweetest friends? Two of them picked up some Ikea goodies for us on a recent trip to Montreal and we dropped by their place to get them on Saturday. The SIGURD bench was on our list and now it's in our entryway. With the bench in place, the wall above it is looking pretty empty. I'm pretty sure I know what I want to hang there, I just need frames (should have put them on my Ikea list!).

I don't know what's harder to believe: that I'm sharing these embarrassing pictures of our entryway on the internet, or that I've waited two years to start fixing up this space. Better not to dwell, right?

{the blurry before}

{still lots to do, but...doors!}

The 'before' picture was taken after we painted the walls (Sico's 'Clouds of Volcanic Ash') and trim (Sico's 'Cotton Rag Paper') and removed the beat-up looking slab doors. They looked like this:

Well, I added the wood filler.

I gave both doors a quick once-over with a sanding block and applied a coat of Kilz Premium primer with a mini foam roller. After the primer was dry, I applied two light coats of Sico's furniture and cabinet paint in 'Grand Piano'. I also bought a new track and hardware set for less than $40, which was quick and easy to install (the hardest part was trimming the metal track to size with a hacksaw).

Once the doors were up, I set about cleaning the paint off the door pulls (the track and hardware set came with new pulls, but I preferred the shape of the old pulls). I should have tackled this step in my prep phase, but...um...oops. A little baking soda and hot water worked wonders. It took some scrubbing with a Q-tip, but if you soaked your hardware in baking soda and boiling water, I think you could cut out that step.

I'm waiting for new floors to add the floor guide for the doors. We've done some tile shopping (just looking) and I'm sure we'll pick something out soon; now that the doors are done, we're both motivated to finish fixing up this space.

{next up: new floors!}

Inside the closet, I did some de-cluttering and organizing. I bagged up the coats we don't wear to donate and relocated all the odds and ends that had been stuffed into the closet at one point or another (full disclosure: some of them just got stuffed into the basement storage room). I also added a wooden shoe rack, which may be the best $5 I've spent in awhile.

And for a little bit of pretty, I bought these cute chevron bins to store our hats, mitts and scarves. We each have our own bin, plus one for dog toys. They make me smile every time I open the closet doors.

You can check out my mood board for the entryway here and here's what's left on my to do list for the space:

-Paint and install hooks near the door.
-Caulk and paint the trim around the door (not sure why we didn't do this when we moved in).
-Paint and re-hang the closet doors (they're just sitting in our garage right now). I'm thinking black.
-Clean and organize the closet.
-Replace the light fixture.
-Buy or build a bench that I can sit on while putting on shoes, especially boots
-Buy a colourful rug. 

-Tile the floor and buy a new cover for the heating vent.

We started sleep training and Adam got hit with a flu-like cold this weekend, so we're all a little worse for wear today. The good news is that we seem to be turning the corner: the sleep training is working (!!) and Adam's on his third cup of coffee, so he must be feeling better (for some, that much coffee might be a bad sign; he just really likes his coffee).

In between all that, I checked a few projects off my list:

Top left: I hung a small picture to help fill out my side of the bed and finally got around to touching up the wall paint in our bedroom. It feels so good to walk into the room and not see spackle.
Top right: I found a rug for Hannah's room on one of those quick HomeSense trips. I love the bold orange stripes and it was only $12.99!
Bottom left: I painted and hung the doors in our entryway closet. I used baking soda and hot water to clean layers of brown paint off the hardware (is there anything that stuff can't do?).
Bottom right: Another entryway update: I replaced the mishmash of baskets in the closet with these cute chevron bins from Superstore.

I'll share more details (and better pictures) of the entryway updates this week. Just waiting for the sun to come out!

I've been dragging my feet getting started on our entryway makeover, so I thought I'd put together a mood board for the space. Seeing all the elements of your finished space together is one way to get inspired to get moving that usually works for me, so here goes!

1 - I basically want this exact floor from Carolyn Gavin's entryway. As much as I love the idea of slate, I'm not sure we want to make that kind of investment in a house we only plan to be in for a few more years. I'm drawn to porcelain for its durability and this tile would give me the look of slate for a much lower price (of course I need to see it in person first to be sure).

2 - This is the wall colour we used throughout the downstairs - Sico's 'Clouds of Volcanic Ashes'.

3 - I'd like to add some colour and texture to the entryway with a small area rug. I think this rug would be perfect, even though the size I need is on backorder right now. Our entryway is laid out almost exactly like the one in my inspiration image - except we have a closet opposite the wall hooks - so the rug would be on the future hardwood/currently laminate flooring just past the tile.

4 - I've already done some work to organize the closet, including adding a new shoe rack (I picked up one of those wooden slat versions during Zellers' closing sale for $5). I also organized all our hats, mitts and scarves into separate baskets for each member of the family (plus one for dog toys), but I'd like to switch out the baskets we're currently using for matching ones. I love the texture of these baskets - and they're on sale! 

5 - Our entryway desperately needs seating. I'm getting tired of almost falling over every time I try to put my boots on. I love this bright red bench from Ikea and it would fit perfectly against the wall next to our wall hooks (I'd love to put it under the wall hooks, but it would interfere with the front door).

6 - Our entryway closet had a pair of sliding slab doors when we moved in, which we took down and replaced with curtains. The curtains have held up surprisingly well, but I'm ready for a more "finished" look. I'm planning to paint the existing slab doors black and install a new track (image from here).

7 - I've already added these DIY painted wall hooks to our entryway. They're great for Adam's students and guests, and even we like not having to mess with hangers.

I didn't include it here, but I also have a plan to makeover the light fixture in our entryway on the cheap. More on that later! 

Update: You can check out a "before" shot of our entryway here.

One of the items on my 30 Before Thirty list is tiling the entry-way floor. I included it partly because I've never tiled anything before and I wanted to push myself to learn a new skill (much like installing hardwood upstairs), but also because our entry-way is one sad-looking spot. I want the first space I see when I walk in the door to be a pleasant one, not to mention the terrible first impression we're currently making with visitors. We're not at the tiling stage yet, but these sunny yellow hooks are at least a start to prettying up the space.

You might recognize them from this project. They work better for us this way, so I painted them with some leftover Martha Stewart craft paint and attached them to the wall using screws and drywall anchors. It took about a billion thin coats, so I would HIGHLY recommend spray paint if you're thinking about doing something similar (it's too cold to spray paint here, but painting was tedious enough that I almost wish I'd waited until spring).

Pre-hooks, Adam insisted on flinging his jacket over one of our dining room chairs instead of hanging it in the entryway closet. It drove me crazy. Now, he uses the hooks (he says they're convenient) and I'm a happy lady. Plus, I like their bright and cheery colour. Unfortunately the rest of our entryway still looks like this:

Opposite this wall, there's a decent-size closet with a set of curtains as temporary doors. They're hiding a chaotic mess of coats, shoes, hats, mitts, scarves, dog toys, a space heater (I could go on, people). When I need to go somewhere, I pull back the curtains and literally dig through a pile of shoes until I find two that match. #keepingitreal

So, here's my to do list for this space:

-Paint and install hooks near the door.
-Caulk and paint the trim around the door (not sure why we didn't do this when we moved in).
-Paint and re-hang the closet doors (they're just sitting in our garage right now). I'm thinking black.
-Clean and organize the closet.
-Replace the light fixture.
-Buy or build a bench that I can sit on while putting on shoes, especially boots
-Tile the floor and buy a new cover for the heating vent.

We don't have time for much beyond eating, sleeping and changing diapers these days, but that hasn't stopped me from daydreaming about projects I'd like to take on once we've settled into some sort of a routine (that will happen, right?). Now that we've installed hardwood flooring upstairs, the next flooring project we want to tackle is tiling our kitchen and entry-way (eventually we'll install hardwood flooring in our living room/dining room, too). So when RONA contacted me to check out their online selection of ceramic tiles, I jumped at the chance.

I've long been obsessed with large, rectangular tiles and I immediately fell for these "Bamboo Graffi" floor tiles. They come in either a light or a dark finish, and while I'm drawn to the light version, I think a dark tile would work better in our home.

source: houzz.com

Here's a similar-looking tile used in a bathroom. I love the texture and the staggered brick pattern.

Another possibility is this ceramic floor tile in either tabaco or basalto, though I'm drawn to the darker grey tone of the basalto. Here are two examples of similar-looking tile; it's amazing how much a seemingly small detail like grout colour changes the overall look.

source: houzz.com

source: pinterest via

Finally, I like the way this honey ceramic tile mimics the look of natural stone.

I could definitely see us using something like this in our kitchen and entryway.

source: design sponge

source: remodelista

Have you worked with tile before? Any tips for us?

This post was sponsored by Rona.ca, but all thoughts and opinions are my own.

While walking the beach this weekend, I found an old plank of wood that was perfect for an entry-way project I'd been dreaming about lately. So when we got home, I turned it into this:

This project couldn't be easier - I bought some hooks at Home Depot for ~$4 a piece and attached them to my board, then attached the board to the wall (there are lots of hangers to choose from, but I recommend using flush mount hangers, like the ones in this post).

Although we have an entryway closet, it's nice to be able to keep some things - like the dog's leash and my bag - out in the open and off the floor/countertop/dining room table. I'm on the lookout for a basket that will sit on the floor (the vent doesn't actually work) to store umbrellas, rain boots, etc. Love turning a previously unused space into a functional storage spot!

This is quite the post for me since I'll be combining a tutorial, a simple story and more details on my new love affair with Annie Sloan Paints and products. 

Please be patient with me as I attempt to take you all through this process with me. 

I bought this buffet and hutch on CL a few weeks ago from an awesome lady on Mercer Island. Since I don't have a trailer or an open bed truck (our Tahoe has hauled just about everything!), she was sweet enough to borrow a truck from a friend and bring the top of this piece to me. Really sweet lady! 

Anyhow, in all of my excitement, AGAIN, I forgot to snap some nice BEFORE shots but I did manage to get some with my camera phone. 

BEFORE-ish
As u can see, I didn't get to take a pic of the raw piece but you get the idea.

BEFORE
Bottom of Piece

So, this piece was in great condition. Solid. Pine. But just needed some RHI love! And that I was surely ready and willing to provide! 

Of course, since I was using AS, there was no need to prime or paint. However, using this paint wasn't the original plan but it soon changed after my idea evolved and I realized I didn't have a ton of time to wait for paint to dry or sand and prime. 

For those of you who use AS on a regular basis or who have used it, you know exactly what I mean...this paint is a lifesaver! But enough about that for now...we'll take about "Annie" later! 

Here's what I am using  to refinish this piece (present tense, you will see why):

ASCP in Paris Grey

AS Dark Wax

Minwax Paste Finishing Wax

Hand brush

2 Foam Sanding Pads

Wax Brush (Just use a regular paint brush that's now only used for applying dark wax)

3 Soft Cloths 

SUPPLIES and WAX APPLICATION

As you can see from my list above, my supplies may be a bit different. Everyone has their own way of doing things. I'm still learning and part of that learning is discovering what I like and don't like to use to achieve certain finishes. Keep in mind, my supplies and tips are always suggestions...do what works best for you.

I use THREE, yes THREE different cloths for polishing my waxes. One for the Minwax Paste application, one for the dark wax and the last for bringing it all together. I have found that it works best for me that way. 

You will also notice that I am using Minwax Paste Wax for the base of my dark wax. That is because I had an entire can of it and I'm not into wasting money or making unnecessary purchases sooooo, I will use it until I run out and then purchase the AS Clear Wax. 

The pic below is an attempt to show you the difference in AS Dark Wax, Paste Wax and no wax. If you look closely, will see three different shades with the AS Dark Wax at the top, Minwax in middle and chalk paint only on the end. The pic's a little fuzzy but hopefully you can see the differences. 

I used my handy, dandy foam sanding pad before applying the wax just to make the surface a little more smooth.

And here she is in all her glory...well, part of her glory anyhow! I have completed the top and the drawers and am currently still distressing a bit and need to wax the body.

But, isn't she coming along nicely? 

So after beginning to finish this part of the piece, I started thinking that maybe instead of placing this in our dining area which was the original plan, I would use it at our entry way as a buffet alone but then I thought...what do I do with the top.







 I really don't want a hutch in our entryway although I am sure that some wouldn't mind...just not what I want. Oh, decisions, decisions...either way, I will finish both pieces and then decide where to place it. Phew! Was that last part overwhelming for you? It was for me! :)

Hopefully I will have this completed and ready to share in a couple of days.

I would love to know your thoughts...

Until then,

Partying it up with...

          

At the Picket Fence