Step by Step {day by day}

 As soon as I wrote the title, the theme song from the show Step by Step popped into my head, so naturally I had to add the {day by day} part in there. Did you watch that show? I loved it. 
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I've finally made some progress in the Master bedroom. Now, I'm two steps closer to finishing!

Remember those doors I picked up off the side of the road?

With a fresh coat of paint {and a little distressing}, they now reside at the head of our bed.
(Side-note: the turquoise pillows are on their way out, I just haven't gotten to that on my list yet)

I tried to get a close up shot so you could see the distressing, but it just wasn't showing up in the picture the way it looks in person.

So, ummm, ya wanna come over and see it?

I also picked up a new sheet set from Target - grey and white print. The print is a swirly square thing - I like it, Hubs not so much {but he's just being difficult. he likes to disagree for fun}.

My dream is to have bamboo sheets {not these particular ones, but you get the idea}, but they are way more than I am willing to spend right now {not so budget friendly}; and my new sheets were on sale {super budget friendly}.


I'm still kicking myself for not acting faster and buying them on My Habit when I saw them on sale. I'm referring to the bamboo sheets, if I lost you.

I also made another this chalkboard, so Hubs and I can write sweet messages to each other.  He laughed at me. But I know deep down he thinks it's cute. He just has a manly image to uphold.  


It doesn't have a home in the room yet, hence the reason for being photographed on a chair. I have an idea of where it will go, but I need to gather a few more things for the wall before I decide on final placement. 


(If you are ever wondering what to do with an ugly old framed print/photo - now you know.)


My Master Bedroom Makeover list is slowly getting shorter! 


Yay!

Chalkboard Storage Boxes

You may have figured out by now that I am mildly obsessed with turning anything and everything into a chalkboard [here, here, and here].

So what is going to stop me from taking my empty food boxes and turning them into chalkboards?

Absolutely nothing.

I saw this in Family Fun magazine a few months ago, and thought it was a fabulous idea.

All you need:

Small Cardboard Boxes {such as a cereal box, milk carton, cracker box}

Exacto Knife

Chalkboard Spray Paint

Chalk

Cut off the flaps of the boxes with the exacto knife. Or if you use a milk or heavy cream carton, like me, carefully cut off the top.

Make sure to clean your dairy cartons very well. 

Spoiled milk residue is not a lovely smell.Spray the boxes with the chalkboard paint. I stuck a piece of packing paper in the box {with a bit sticking out of the top} to prevent the paint from getting on the inside of the box. I figured this out after I began painting the first one when the paint was spewing little bits on the inside.

Draw pretty designs, or let your little ones draw on them. 

Enjoy your new stylish {and inexpensive} storage solution.

Office Space

Our master bedroom makeover has come to a halt while I am searching for good deals on curtain rods, and figuring out what pattern to paint on the rug and curtains. So I decided to start working on the spare bedroom/office over the weekend.

I began with this empty wall, that really needed some filling in. I didn't think I needed to include a picture of a bare wall - I'm sure you know what that looks like. I had it all laid out with the paper, but silly me forgot to take a picture.

 

I still want to add one more fabric hoop, something in that empty space above the chalkboard contact paper {any ideas?}, and something above the shelves and frame. 

See the frame note board tutorial.

I used chalkboard contact paper to create a weekly schedule center. I am obsessed right now with turning anything, and everything, into a chalkboard. 

 If I haven't said it enough, chalkboard contact paper is awesome sauce. You can cut it into any shape you want, stick it on, and BAM! instant chalkboard. Really? How much easier can it get?

I used regular chalk to write, but I really want to get a chalk marker. 

I used pieces of a pallet that Hubby cut to make a stool awhile ago. Needless to say, the stools were never made {because I found a couple stools at a yard sale and painted them - much faster than waiting for him to make one. Love you, honey!} 

Anyway, for the shelf, all I had to do was drill 2 holes for the screws to go through to hang it up. For the ribbon hanger, I drilled 4 holes on either side for the dowels to go through; and 2 holes on the top and bottom for the screws. 

I may have had to buy 3 different sized dowels to figure out which one would fit the holes I drilled. So, make sure you get the right size the first time. I even brought the drill bit with me to Lowe's the second time to find the exact size, and ended up needing something smaller. I was smart the second time though, and I went ahead and bought the smaller size just in case. 

I really love them; and I'm so glad that I left them unpainted. Sometimes, I tend to want to paint everything in site, but I'm happy that I left these shelves alone. 

Happy decorating!

DIY Chalkboards

I stumbled upon this amazing website, Fellow Creatives, and found this great idea to turn old picture frames - or, really anything with a flat surface - into a chalkboard. A friend of mine has a chalkboard made out of a silver platter, and I have always thought that was such a great idea; but it never dawned on me to use an old picture frame. I totally had one of those "why the heck didn't I think of this before" moments.

I picked up this picture at a rummage sale for $2 about 6 months ago. 

If you haven't already figured it out, I have a bad habit of buying things with good intentions of turning them into something spectacular, and taking my sweet time to follow through. I did the same thing to what are now our dining room chairs - it only took me about 8 months to finish them (to be fair, they were in need of a lot of work, and there were other extenuating circumstances). 

At the time I bought it, I thought it was a neat picture, and planned on hanging it up somewhere. Then, buyer's remorse set in, and for months I would look at this and say "What was I thinking? I have no use for this." 

Anywho, I taped it off and put paper around the edges to protect the wood. Picked up a bottle of Chalkboard Spray Paint, and finally turned it into something useful.

Ta Da! 

I decided to paint/de-stress the wood so it would match my dining room chairs (I'll have to post a picture of those - I love how they turned out), since it will be hanging near them. 

A couple tips:

1) Paint the frame first, then spray on the chalkboard paint.

Fellow Creatives suggests doing this the other way around, and I found it to be more difficult to paint the frame. I ended up having to add a second coat of chalkboard paint, and that didn't work out too well. Which leads too....

2) If you have to add a second coat of chalkboard paint, make sure the surface is completely clean of any small pieces. 

You would think this goes without saying, but I thought my surface was "clean enough," and ended up messing up 3 sides of the outer portion of the glass. You can't tell by this picture, or if you are standing far away; but if you get up close you can tell where I had to wipe the paint away and start over. 

P.S. The bench that the chalkboard is sitting on, is also a rummage sale find. Picked it up for $10, and just reupholstered it with some fabric I found on clearance at Calico Corners.