April 30, 2014

A note on knobs


As part of the dresser update I had fantasies about all the beautiful knob options that are out there. The fact that I needed to purchase 16 of those babies brought me and my budget back to reality. Then I went on a pinning spree about all the cute ways you could paint the plain wooden knobs that the dressers came with.


Never one to be daunted by a craft project, I had my husband help me screw the knobs into a box top for stability and got painting. I went with yellow to match the room's walls. The dresser with pink drawers had knob designs in blue. The dresser with blue drawers had knob designs in pink.

Now that it is over with I am going to say it was not as easy as I had expected. I think I may have been hindered by my lack of artist quality brushes as well. So if you like the look of hand-painted knobs but have any doubt about your ability to paint fine details, I would strongly suggest you support one of the lovely etsy artists who sell these!

April 28, 2014

Dual dresser updates

Part of the pre-baby plan is to move little sister in with big sister. Since big sister's current bed is also her dresser we needed a new dresser for her and then also for little sister. I got obsessed last fall with cruising Craig's List and visiting the Allegan Antique Market. I found two vintage dressers in need of a little love. Then the weather got colder and I got to feeling sicker and all progress stopped. So there the poor dressers sat in the garage all winter long.

Fast forward to spring and here we go!


This is as close as you're going to get to an official "before" photo. The one on the left was from Craig's List and had been painted at least twelve times previous. It did end up being the better functioning piece of furniture in terms of the drawers sliding. 

The one on the right was from the Antique Market and upon closer examination by my husband we've decided it is likely homemade. I did fall in love with its sweet details: the picket fence sides and the sweet little curves along the top and bottom. However, the drawers definitely don't glide as nicely. Ah, well.

My first design idea was white dressers with drawers done ombre style. So the top drawer would be pink at 100%, the next at 80% of the original shade, 60% and 40%. Of course, I was going to do this on the cheap so that meant I would be adding white to the original shade and trying to invent my own lighter shades. This looks very cool but in the end the idea kind of tired me out.

So the modification was to do all the drawers the same shade. The room is already done in pink, yellow, and green and I had in my head I wanted to add some blue to the mix. So one dresser has pink drawers (a wall color choice of the previous owners; yay for leftovers). The other dresser has my beloved blue from painting my kitchen.

The lovely "after" photos:





April 25, 2014

simple treasures

Items discovered on a recent walk that my two-year-old deemed worth of her "treasure bowl:"




April 23, 2014

playing with pink patches!


 Hello, blog friends!

I've been away from the blog for a while. I am proud to say that at least I have been busy crafting in the meantime. My husband has observed that I seem to binge on crafting. Although that sounds terribly unhealthy there is some truth to that! I tend to get kind of obsessed for a while and really go full throttle. Then I report everything on this blog all at once (or at least I write it that way!) and then ignore the blog for a while.

Because my dear husband was off over spring break I was really able to dive into the projects. And once I got in painting mode it seemed like a fine time to continue with painting projects I had thought about but never done. Plus, I've really gotten going on the younger daughter's quilt. So lots of good stuff coming up.

Most of the quilt is going to be made of 8-inch squares but I wanted to toss some patchwork squares into the mix. My older daughter helped me design these. I had a lot of fun with it and was able to use up some smaller scraps.




As you can see, I favored doing two sets of two (so only two fabrics each patch). However, this wacky one did make it into the quilt too:




April 11, 2014

lines and swirls, ripples and repeats



Decorating my mantel from my seashell collection was like discovering them anew on the beach. So so very beautiful!

April 9, 2014

show me some spring…

…on your shelf, that is!


Simple collection of yellow and Easter themed items – saved cards, my silly ceramic chicks, a stuffed bunny, and a bit of a bird's nest.


And of course a whole shelf devoted to my nest collection – hee!

April 7, 2014

my mantel in creams and whites



The old favorite, my bright white milk glass collection. My new favorite, the creamy white angel wings. Brought together with sculptural seashells and textured coral.

These seashells look like angel wings themselves!

Make your own sculpture:
bowl and candle holder (both upside down) + 3 stacked seashells

Candle holder as pedestal for glossy seashell

April 4, 2014

April 2, 2014

What if I added color to my kitchen cabinets?

They need a fresh coat of paint anyway and a recent scrub of the kitchen floors brought me face-to-face with the oh-so-visible grub on their white surface…

This is likely to be a project tackled in, oh, five years or so! Don't hold your breath for before and after photos showing up anytime soon. But for now, let's enjoy all the Photoshopped possibilities!

First, my kitchen as it is now:

And how it would look with black counters (sharp!):

Pinterest inspiration – cabinets match the walls:
Image on left: Pinterest + original source (architectureartdesigns.com)
Image on right: Pinterest + original source (hometalk.com)

Trying it in my kitchen:

Pinterest inspiration – green:
Image on left: Pinterest (original source not known)
Image on right: Pinterest + original source (chateauandbungalow.com)

Trying it in my kitchen:

Pinterest inspiration – red:
Image on left: Pinterest + original source (myhomeideas.com)
Image on right: Pinterest (original source not known)
My favorite inspiration image: Pinterest + original source (thekitchn.com)

Trying it in my kitchen:


I was expecting to love the red, especially the red on the bottom only, but I am not sure I am convinced. I think it looks better in my favorite inspiration photo because of the sleek style of the cabinets. I don't intend to change the cabinets so I really have to look at what I already have. I might just stick with white after all. I do love love love the black counter though. I think it makes a very dramatic impact.

I am very curious to hear any reactions you might have, dear readers. Leave a comment below!