150 dollar family room makeover

I decided our family room rug needed an update about 10 months ago which pushed over the first domino.

Remember {this}? 

After I figured out the rug dilemma, I decided the room needed a few more changes.  I wanted to work in some grays and I wanted to make the room feel lighter, brighter, and bigger.

Unfortunately I did not have the same budget I had the first go around so it was time to do what I do best.  Feed the kids Ramen Noodles for 2 months and stash the extra grocery money.

It did cross my mind.

BEFORE

Old rug- Sold on CL for $300.00.
New rug-  Remember the 10x13 from IKEA I made out of two Tarnby rugs for $300.00 {here}?

I layered the jute with an authentic cow hide, a gift from my friend {Blake} after helping him and Angela with their nuptials.

My boys are still in mourning over the old rug.  I know what it's like to have no closure but I still think I did the right thing.

We've had the rug for almost a year and it still looks amazing!  I've had to glue down a few loose ends and it still sheds a little, but it's the nature of the fiber and I'd purchase it again in a nano second.

This make over also included a chair up date.  I used the reverse side of a linen like, zebra print I found on clearance for $4.00/yd (SAS) and had it re-upholstered for $90.00

Tufted chair BEFORE

I found these pieces of tin at a flea market about 8 years ago and had them welded together to fit a mirror.  I finally decided I needed something a little less busy and distressed so I sold it to my good friend Cara for $75

and replaced it with the Songe mirror from IKEA for $99.00.  It's beveled with a 4 inch, matte, silver frame and I love the arched top.

BEFORE

I sold our existing chandelier for $50 and bought a new one at {Stardust} in Tempe for $65.  If you're a local girl, this place is hit and miss but it's a must if you don't mind gettin' dirty for a good deal.


I also updated all the window treatments.  I sold our old ones for more than I bought fabric and rods for the new ones.  The no-sew shades were painstakingly made on my kitchen island.  When you have to make the same window treatment times six, it becomes a totally worth it, chore.  I found the fabric at SAS (Tempe AZ) for three dollars a yard and taped two and a quarter inch, pewter, ribbon on the outside edges. 

My dear friend Cindy Bluth (who happens to own a work room) helped me sew the new vertical striped, off white woven, panels.  I lined them in solid gray polyester, also purchased at SAS for three dollars a yard. 

Howard, down at our local welding shop, made the custom rods and rings. We hung them just below the crown molding to give the illusion that the windows appear much taller than they really are.  


So here's the reveal after I changed 5 things in our family room.

AFTER

Total cost of makeover- $150.00

rug- traded straight across
window treatments including rods - traded straight across (actually made a few bucks)
reupholstered chair- $110.00
new mirror- $25.00
new chandelier- $15.00

Are you in the process of a room makeover?  Don't forget to look at my six design tips to optimize  success {here}.

And here's the 7th tip.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE neutrals but sometimes when creams, tans, and grays take over, your room can become predictable and a bit boring.  If you want to add depth and character, your bff is TEXTURE.  To create lots of interest in my family room I used several different materials including velvet, wood, chrome, marble, burlap, knit, glass, and jute.  These elements all work together to create an original and comfortable space for my family and our friends.

my weekend window drama

Since I sold my window treatments in an attempt to lighten the living room, and since I had new ones that were ready to hang, I desperately wanted to give our front window a bit more drama.  We live in a home where the builder cut some corners which left us with lots of little windows about 24 inches in between the top of them and the ceiling.  Unfortunate yes, hopeless, no.

I just wanted to take the window from this...

to something more like this...

No big deal. 

So last weekend my husband asked me if I wanted to go on a date.  While I'm sure he had something more relaxing and romantic in mind, I quickly replied, "Yeeeesss! To The Home Depot."  Don't you think trimming out the living room window together sounds lovely? 

My man is a roll-with-it kinda guy, so off we skipped to the HD, holding hands, lovingly gazing into each others eyes.  Kidding, but for me we might as well have been. 

When we got to HD, we met a lovely couple at the wood cutting saw with gaggles of MDF for their garage cabinet project.  I quickly asked if they might have a 9" piece they'd be willing to part with.  Instead of having to buy an entire sheet for one window, I gave them a few bucks and a high five.

We also came home with a stick of shelf edging (approx 3/4 inch) and a stick of 3" crown molding. 

My man got busy right away chiseling off the existing mirrors I had liquid nails'd to the wall.  Yes, I know it was a bad idea but six years ago it felt like the right thing to do.

We nailed the 3/4" by 9" piece of MDF right onto the drywall above the existing molding. 

Then we needed to hide the seam so we cut a piece of shelf edging the same length as the MDF and wrapped the corners using a miter saw.  We were still in love.

Next was the crown molding.  Todd and I had never attempted crown together. 

NOW I KNOW WHY. 

We went out to the garage and screwed up 5 or 6 cuts, came in and tried to find a you tube video, went back out to the garage to give it another try (where it was at least 120 degrees), messed up some more molding, cut Todd's hand, busted the miter saw, called our friend Melanie to borrow her saw and help us figure out how to cut it, went back to Home Depot for another stick of crown, and called our marriage counselor for her next available appointment.

Don't worry though, we got it.

And after all was said and done (trust me, a lot was said) I'm happy to report our marriage is stronger than ever.  Todd is so patient with me when my project OCD rears it's ugly head.  I am sad to report however, this was the moment I realized our dream of re-habing a house together will never come to fruition.  Boo.

After caulk and paint, which I went ahead and did myself, here's the finished project. 

It cost $16.00 (excluding the extra molding we had to buy, which I've already let go)

Then I hung our new window treatments. 

Did you know that just like our sweet husbands, window treatments need to be trained?  Yep, fabric actually has memory, and if you fold your panels and tie them up for a few days, they'll cooperate much better in keeping their shape.  Now, we all know that some husbands are easier to train than others, and it's no different with fabric.  If you're working with a heavier or synthetic fabric, you might need to keep them tied longer. 

If you run your hands all the way down the fabric while pinching the creases a few times a day, it helps the process along.

As soon as I've got em trained (the curtains), I'll show you my up-dated living room.  And if you live in the east valley of AZ and want the name of the cute lady who sewed these panels for a very reasonable price, email meandjilly@gmail.com. 

Oh, and WHO will be the next five followers that will take me and jilly to 1,000?  This is seriously exciting!!!

mia's kitchen paint colors

Last time I climbed to the top of my hall closet to get a gallon of paint, I took down an entire shelf of glass jars full of bottled peaches and tomatoes painstakingly canned last summer.  I said a bad word and then spent the next hour cleaning up broken glass and tomato juice.  It got all over backpacks, photos, computer paper, homework, and into the nooks and crannies of my storage closet.  Bitter.
Let's just say by the time it was all cleaned up, I was no longer in the mood to paint.

When a reader requested the paint colors from my {kitchen makeover} I was very hesitant to go back to the paint closet, but several more of you inquired so I said a prayer and went in, this time with a ladder. 

Remember this before and after?

Upper cabinets- Cincinnatian Hotel Hannaford by Valspar
The lower cabinets- Black Walnut by Dunn Edwards
Island- Serpentine by Dunn Edwards

After I painted all 55 cabinets, I realized the bad oak veneer grain showed through.  Bleh.  The solution was to cut a piece of thin luan board (Home Depot) and caulk it inside the molding on each door front.  Time consuming? YES.  But at this point, who's counting? 

I rubbed Ralph Lauren Tobacco glaze on the uppers for a richer finish.

The upper cabinet hardware and lower drawer pulls are both from {Van Dyke's Restorers}.
The lower door hardware from Anthropologie

It's been five years since this makeover and I still love my kitchen.  The lower cabinets are a bit of a pain to keep wiped down (which means they're usually not), but If I had the chance to do it over, I would paint them dark again. 

This weekend my boys will be in Utah for their annual father's and son's basketball camp, so I'll have a glorious 4 days to myself.  What to do???

I'm going to start sewing new window treatments.  I've been lightening things up in my house for the past year and it's time to replace the panels.   

I'm selling my existing treatments at a great price to make room for the new ones.  Here are a few pictures if you're interested in purchasing.  I'm happy to ship them anywhere in the US. 

Living Room-

Family Room-

Kitchen-

All panels are clean, in excellent condition, ready to hang. 
Please email meandjilly@gmail.com or make a comment with your email address if you'd like more information including a detailed description, price list, dimensions, and shipping costs. 

a simple pallet bed

This is my boy.   

 It hasn't been easy to convince him I could pull off a masculine, teenage bedroom.  In his defense, there are a lot of naked cherubs, velvets, and decorative trims in our home, but I was up for the task and I think somewhere in his cute, narrow mind, he knew it. 

I set out to the fabric store and brought back a few swatches for him to choose from. He liked this fabric for the window treatments and my friend Cindy helped me sew them in her work room.  I knew I'd win him over with the extra thick black out lining on these shades.  This boy likes his sleep. 

We picked out a steel blue paint color and I started bookmarking other ideas for beds, rugs, and artwork. 

I snagged this old telescope at a flea market in Long Beach for $30.  I found a big, framed map junkin' in Phoenix and texted Brody in the middle of class to see if he liked it as much as I did.  He gave me the thumbs up so I bought it for $50.  In an attempt to find a unique storage solution, we bought these lockers for $90 from the old GM proving ground offices. 

Last week {Blake} came over to help me make this pallet bed for Brody's room.

Brody has a full sized bed and we used three, 75 inch 1.5 x 3.5's boards and twenty, 54 inch .5 x 2.5" boards.
 
Blake laid them out on the driveway, cut them to length, and screwed the top boards into place.

When the top was secure, he turned it over and did the same thing on the bottom. 

We used two boards at both ends to allow reinforcements for the heavy casters. 

The casters came from {Material Flow}.  The price of steel has gone up a little since I bought them, but I still think they're worth the money. 

My friend Melanie ran across someone in blog land who created a weathered, barn wood look on raw wood with apple cider vinegar and steel wool, so we decided to give it a try.  We rubbed on two coats and waited for it to dry. 

The instructions said to wait a few hours and the finish would show up.  So we waited all day with no results.  I got side tract for the next three days so I left it out on my driveway until I could decide how to finish it. On my way to church Sunday morning, I noticed the wood had a darker and more weathered look.  Awesome!  I have no idea if the sun had anything to do with it or if it just had to dry really well, but I don't care, it looked good!

Here's a before and after on a scrap of wood to give you an idea of the contrast. 

I gave it one more coat of "stain" and let it dry for another day.  It turned out perfect.

Brody and I dismantled his old his bed and did a thorough dusting and vacuum.  He gained a two pairs of jeans, some church socks and a toothbrush. I reclaimed 4 cereal bowls.

I found sheets at Target and Jilly helped me sew the duvet for his new bed.  I found the fabric at SAS in Tempe for $4 a yard and the trim tape for 25 cents.  Oh how I LOVE that place. 

Remember this small chest we refinished for the {Nate Berkus Show}?  It sits proudly in the corner as a night stand/anything a teenager can shove in the drawers and still close.  I hung these two pictures we bought on a family trip to NYC for his 12th birthday.

Brody and I both love this black cow hide, so we put it on the existing dark wood floor to add texture and softness.  

We still have a few finishing touches, like figuring out how to accessorize this built in bookcase,

and clean this closet.

but we're getting there!  I did the math and so far we've spent under $350.00

On my way out of his room I couldn't resist this note the Nino taped on Brody's door for helping him with after school homework.  I'm in love with these two crazy, adorable boys!