New living room/dining room

Since the day we moved in to our new house, one of the rooms that has really bothered me was the living room. Sure, it was big, but it really lacked any character at all.

It always felt to me like it lacked any definition, and was reaaaaalllly boring. So after 6 longs months and countless hours of convincing Hubs that beige (even Ralph Lauren beige) isn't a real color, we finally decided to tackle the living room.

Like night and day! I was telling Hubs the other day, it feels like someone just turned on a light!

We decided that in order to create character, as well as some architectural interest, we added a chair rail.

We weren't sure what the "official" chair rail height was supposed to be, so we just eyeballed it to the height that looked best (it turned out to be 44 inches). Then we painted the bottom half Valspar's "Ultra White" in a semi-gloss finish, and the top half Martha Stewart's "Heavy Goose" in a flat finish. It was my first time using Martha Stewart paint, and I'm really happy with it. I'll definitely be using it again.


Then we attached 1x4 pine boards to the wall with a nail gun and filled in the nail holes with wood filler and sanded it back to smooth before we painted them white. Originally, we weren't going to use really good wood for the chair rail (we were thinking more along the lines of MDF), and honestly, this was kind of an accident. We went to the lumber yard to try to save some money on the wood, and the guy there assured us that we wanted "clear" wood, which just means is has no knots in it. That sounded good, but we had no idea what he was talking about. He was asking us all kinds of questions and saying all these things that I'd never even heard of. Our response was "uhh, ok. Whatever you think is best..." Seriously, no idea what he was talking about. It looked great on the walls, but not really the way we thought it would, it looked much fancier!

Unfortunately, the walls aren't level and bow in and out in some spots, so putting it up was more difficult than it should've been. Yes, I could've torn down the drywall and fixed it, but we were so close to being done! I couldn't stand the thought of starting over. Between the uneven walls and the great looking wood, we scrapped our original idea of board and batten and just stuck with the chair rail. The wood for the whole room and the hall cost about $50.

I wish these pictures did it justice, but it just FEELS different in the room. It's so much lighter, cleaner...more peaceful.



I really pared down the accessories in the room, I wanted it to feel less cluttered. I only used the items that I absolutely loved, the rest were put away. I got the starfish at one of my favorite antique/cool stuff that you can't find other places store. They were $1 each! The bell is from Marshall's and "Boats" sign is from TJ Maxx. I can't remember exactly how much they were, but they were less than $10 each.

I dry brushed the buffet with Martha Stewart's "Driftwood Gray" (it used to be black). I haven't decided whether or not I'm going to sand the edges, I'm really loving the worn look it has now. I'm also really happy with how the fireplace looks now. I know everyone says to not have a whole bunch of pictures on your mantle, but I don't care. I love my pictures, and I think it looks cool. I think especially since they're all black frames, it really looks de-cluttered. The mirror is the same one that was on the fireplace before, just repainted.

The white chair is the Pottery Barn Charleston chair. Now before you think that Hubs has lost his mind and let me buy a $1000 chair, let me just say that I paid a whopping $30 for it. Yes, you read that right, $30! Craigslist, baby! It's the most comfortable chair on the planet, and probably the best $30 I ever spent.

The other major thing we did was make a dining room area. The living room was certainly big enough, and it was totally unused space before. It also means now I have room in the kitchen for an island/breakfast bar (a project which I haven't tackled yet!).

The "Crab Shack" sign is one of my favorite things, it's from Virginia Beach. We were there 2 years ago for my daughter's cheerleading championship, and I saw in the window at night as we were walking down the street. The store was closed, and it was our last night there, so I sighed and resigned myself to the fact that it wouldn't ever be mine. The next day, Hubs made sure we were waiting outside when the store opened and begged the lady to sell it to him (it was the last one). He's pretty awesome like that. The bench and chairs are both from a consignment store, we paid less than $50 for all 3 of them. All I did was paint them and distress the edges. I can't remember the name of the paint, all I know is it's Glidden. I threw away the can and didn't even write the name down. Sorry :(

The table is is from an antique store.

It's made from an old church pew from Saluda, South Carolina. We love it, it's the perfect size, not only for the space, but also for the four of us. I love how it's so rustic and simple but so pretty all at the same time.

So there you have it. My new living/dining room! I still have some touch-ups to do, and we're still figuring out what to do with the floor molding, but I love it so much. It's so much better than I'd even imagined! I have to say though, there was no way I could've done all this without my husband's help. He was the muscle behind this one, and he's like a surgeon with a nail gun! (except for when he nails it through pipes in the wall!)

Renovations by Luke (and a new coffee table)

A couple of days ago, after a great night out together, we walked into the house to a huge surprise. Our precious baby, Luke, barely 4 months old decided to renovate our living room.

We weren't gone for that long, and he's really not normally this destructive. He's doesn't even chew shoes, I never in a million years thought he's eat my furniture. So how could one tiny little puppy cause so much damage?

Luke is not tiny, he's a 60 pound beast. He apparently just really didn't like our ottoman. So he ate it. Hubs was so not impressed. But, I, trying desperately to smooth the waters, and make sure that we still had a puppy in the morning, had an idea. Why don't we just finish what Luke started and start over with the ottoman? I wanted a new coffee table anyway. Hubs was still not impressed, but he's a good sport, so he played along. He started by getting his frustrations out by ripping the crap out of the rest of the pleather with a knife removing the pleather exterior.

Then we took off the hinges. The ottoman was also my secret hiding spot for dvds and games I hadn't put away when I unpacked boxes. It also hides my secret love of the video game "God of War". I suck at video games, which is why I have a cheater's guide, but there is something about beating the hell out of things that is just so stress-relieving. FYI though, it's NOT a kid's game, when they say "M for Mature", they really mean it. I don't even play it when the kids are awake, it's really, really violent. Anyway, I'm digressing.

Ugh, what a mess! So anyway, we'd removed the exterior, took off the hinges and cleaned out all the crap, we found some boards we'd had left over from the kitchen. Hubs measured and cut them to fit the top.
Then I had him cut them again, some in half, some in thirds, all staggered-like, sort of like a wood floor would look. Then he nailed them in with the air gun nailer thingy. I'm sure there's a technical name for it (which I clearly don't know), but it's really just a nail gun connected to a hose and a large air tank.

It was already looking better, but it wasn't quite right, so I used my Valspar Antiquing Glaze, and just rubbed it on the bare wood. THAT made it look cool. The color was different on every board, some lighter, some darker. We hammered some very large nails in, both for effect and make sure the thin boards didn't lift at all. We did the same thing to the bottom of the ottoman, but ran the boards vertically. Here's what it looks like now.

The metal corner pieces were hidden under the pleather, so we just reattached them. I also used a glue gun to attach some jute to the top edge.

The whole project cost me about $3.99 (for the jute), I had everything else on hand. It took probably 3 hours from start to finish. We're really happy with the finished product, it sort of reminds me of driftwood.

Can you believe something this cute caused all this?

I'm thinking he probably did us a favor.

Windows and oars

A couple of weeks ago, we were doing a walk-through of a rental house that my father-in-law had just finished renovating. When we got to the backyard, I spotted something I HAD to have.

An old nasty window! Isn't she fantastic in all of her chippy glory? You just can't recreate that, I don't care how skilled a faux painter you are. Hubs raised his eyebrows at me when I grabbed it off the garbage pile. I ignored him. I had a plan! He felt obligated to tell me that all the chipped paint was probably lead based paint. I assured him I wouldn't lick it or eat any paint chips that happened to fall off. Anyway, I wanted to hang her on the wall. The problem is, I couldn't find a nail or screw long enough to go through the window frame and still secure it to the wall.

I've used this metal wire in the past to secure flowers to wreaths, so it does work for that, although I don't really know what it's for. I bought it at JoAnn's Fabric. Today, it's going to help me hang up a window on a wall. I cut 5 lengths of wire about as long as the window, then I twisted them all together. Then I screwed a wood screw in the back of the window frame, about half way in, wrapped the wire around the screw threads, and screwed it in the rest of the way, repeated it for the other side and that's it. Just to make sure it would hold, I did hold it up with one finger (it did hold, but I think I sprained my finger. That thing is heavy!).

Then, I took this ugly painted boat oar that I got at Marshall's for $12.99 (because I'm too impatient to wait to find one in an antique store), flipped it over and distressed it with my handy dandy hand sander.

And voila! Aren't they fantastic? They make a great pair over my couch, which I've decided is in desperate need of more pillows. Also, you're getting a little sneak peak of my new (again) living room. Along with my "new" coffee table. I'm hoping that will be finished very soon. I spent all day today redecorating the living room, so hopefully I'll finish up tomorrow morning so I can post some more pictures.

So anyway, don't be afraid to pick up something, even if it's "trash". Even if you can't imagine how on earth it will hang on your wall, if there's a will, there's a way. I've had this window leaning against the living room wall since my birthday, trying to figure out how to use it. Same with the oar. I hated the painted side, but I loved the plain light blue side. You can only see one side anyway, right!

Ultimate mistreatments

I was feeling particularly wealthy a few weeks ago and bought some beautiful Pottery Barn curtains for the living room. They were cardinal red and went floor to ceiling. They were really, really beautiful...on someone else's windows. They looked terrible in my living room. The color was really bad, they blocked out too much light, they made the room look too fussy, it was just all wrong. Which I suppose serves me right for spending $50 a PANEL for curtains. With a heavy heart, I sent them back to Pottery Barn, completely distraught. I mean, if Pottery Barn can't solve my window problem, what can?

I looked into The Nester's window mistreatments, which looked easy enough, were budget friendly, and look great in her house. I hesitated though, I was really put off by the whole Pottery Barn curtain mishap, and I really just don't like curtains all that much. I just needed some time to think about my options, so I did what I do best and went shopping.

We were strolling through the antique mall and these 2 ugly decrepit boards caught my attention. The tag said that they were salvaged from a barn in Kentucky and they were $7 each! They even had caked on mud on them. Hubs thought I was a little nuts when I swooned over them, but I just didn't care. I loved the look, they were so authentic and rustic, I knew I had to have them. Here's where they live now.

I didn't even clean off the mud or try to make them the same size. I really loved the texture of the boards and just thought it was a pretty cool alternative to curtains. Now, I know that I'm breaking all the rules by not putting up curtains, but I don't care. As a general rule I don't really like curtains on my windows. I really like light, and these are the only two windows in this room (and it's a pretty big room). I plan on replacing the yucky little plastic blinds with white wooden blinds, but I just haven't yet. If I could, I'd leave the windows empty, but these face the street, so for privacy, we really need something. The only thing that I don't like about my little boards is that they don't bring the same kind of texture as curtains. I'm hoping to solve this by running tongue and groove boards over the whole wall. It comes in a sheet, kinda like beadboard, only the planks are bigger. Hubs says that's the strangest and most ridiculous thing he's ever heard, "Why would you cover up perfectly good walls?". I think I just haven't convinced him enough yet. Give me time, I will!

So what do you think? Too out there? Do I still need curtains?

Decorating Cents

The other night I was whining about how the living room wasn't "quite right" yet. My husband assured me that this is just nerves, anticipation and gut wrenching fear that I'm feeling. See, my parents (who still live in Maine) are visiting. For the first time. ON APRIL 1! FOR A WEEK. *faints* Ok, sorry. Mini-freak out there. I want desperately for parents to swoon over our little cottage, and to gush over how wonderful everything is. And while I'm sure that they'll be happy for us, the fact is, my mom wasn't really thrilled when we moved, so I'm trying extra hard to impress. They've only seen our house in pictures, so this is a really big deal. There is still a lot to do, and obviously we can't get it all done in a month, but I want as close to done as possible. So anyway, I was sitting on the living room floor whining and carrying on about how "if you'd just let me spend what I needed to, I could finish this right" and "what was I thinking? I can't do this on a nearly zero budget!". Of course the spring Pottery Barn catalog came the day before, so that didn't help with my feelings of inadequacy/feeling like I'll never have enough money to do what I really want. Then my husband suggested we play a game. He called it "Let's see how much you spend on this room to make it look like this". Not really in the mood for games, kind of in the middle of a nervous breakdown, but I figured I'd just play along. I was so glad I did!

These cute little crates, also seen on The Lettered Cottage, were for sale in a set of 4 in Whitewash Sundries' Etsy shop for $45ish. They're not available anymore, so I don't know for sure the price. They're perfect to fill in the dead space between the t.v. and the fireplace. I'd been eyeing them in the Etsy shop, but when I said I was going to buy 4 wooden crates for almost $50, Hubs was less than impressed. I think they were totally worth it, but alas, he was right that we just didn't have the money for them. Mine didn't come in a set of 4, in fact these were the only 3 I could find. I got them at TJ Maxx, $2.99, $3.99 and $4.99, smallest to largest. The mason jars I already had, and I filled one with antique wooden thread spools (10 cents each. I bought way too many, but I have extras for some other project). The tall ones are antique spools also, they were $2 each.

Does this look familiar? It should.

(image courtesy Pottery Barn)

My crate was $10 at a flea market. Same color even. Pottery Barn's version sells for $24. I don't know what to put in yet, I'm looking for the perfect basket, or tray, or something. I don't know, I'll know it when I see it.

I got the keys on the wall are from a flea market, $3 for the set! I was ready to buy Pottery Barn's set of vintage keys for $19. But theirs aren't really vintage, mine are. They're all rusty and awesome. The boxes came from an antique store. They're real handcrafted Shaker boxes, but the guy didn't know that, I didn't feel obligated to tell him when he said I could have all 3 for $10. I've wanted Shaker boxes my whole life, but couldn't afford them because they were so expensive. I felt a tinge of guilt not telling him that he should be charging way more than that, but I got over it.

The lamp was $19 from TJ Maxx, very similar to a Pottery Barn lamp that sells for $179. The sign on the wall is actually a cabinet door from an old apothecary. We got it for $8 at an antique store. The black and white picture is an old picture that I enlarged and framed in a $7 Wal-Mart frame. It's a picture of "Wedding Rock", where my parent's got married. It's in South Bristol, Maine, where my grandparent's owned what we called "The Point", because the property literally goes to a point on a cliff over the ocean. I spent every weekend there all summer long for my whole childhood. It's one of the most beautiful places in the world, and are some of my favorite childhood memories.

This is the mantle. It used to be an ugly brown color that really just blended into the stone. It had no personality at all. I used Valspar Antiquing Glaze on the shelf, which made it a really pretty walnuty color. The bottom was just painted black and roughed up with sandpaper. It gave an otherwise blah mantle a brand new life, and it was free. I already had all the materials. The mirror used to be gold, which was really not pretty, so I painted it black and sanded it a little to make it look old. The clock used to be my mom's alarm clock when she was a girl, the jug was my grandmother's, the picture is an old picture of "The Cottage", which is also at The Point. I already had the faux apples (I got them from Wal-mart about 3 years ago). The bowling pin was $3.50 at an antique store. I do have to confess though, the wreath is from Pottery Barn. It was $49. I know, I know. I'm sorry, I couldn't help it.

The lanterns are both from a flea market. The red one was $10, the silver one was $15. The wooden thing was $5 at a flea market. I have no idea what it is, but I liked it. The clock was $5 at an antique store. The checkerboard rug is actually a checkerboard that I adopted. Ok, it belongs to the kids, and I stole it. It looks better here than in the closet! The lamp was $5 at Wal-Mart. The picture is of my babies' first day home, and my favorite picture in the whole world. If my house was burning--God forbid--it would be the one material thing I would save. The frame was $2.50 at a liquidation center. I painted it white, antique glazed it and sanded it.

The couch I bought from a friend, for a ridiculously low price ($60!), the chairs by the window and the leather recliner (Hubs' chair!) are all from a consignment store. We paid $500 for all three, which in my opinion is a crazy good deal. The blue dresser was my mom's, that she bought at an auction in 1978 for $35. It used to black, but I revived it in blue (more on that later).

So, all in all, not too bad. I still have some things I want to do, and there are definitely some coveted items that I can't do without from Pottery Barn, but I guess I can feel pretty good about where I'm at. I'm still feeling some anxiety, but I do feel better knowing that I can do it, with or without thousands and thousands of dollars. *EDITED (to include dollar amount)* I spent less than $800 on the whole living room, including furniture.

I know I'm a flea market and antique store junkie, but how about you? How have you saved money in decorating?