The Retail DIYet was featured!

Thank you to Stacey @ Embracing Change for featuring my yellow desk on her Creative Inspirations Linky Party.

Hop on over to Embracing Changeand see all the other amazing features!




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Evolution of a Desk

I found this desk a while back for only $25.00!  It's solid mahogany and I love it.  I originally painted it in Provence by Annie Sloan.  You can see that post HERE.  Since then we have been working on our living room and Provence just does not match anymore so I opted to repaint this beauty with another Annie Sloan Chalk Paint color-Arles.  It's a nice mellow yellow and it goes great with our gray/yellow/white/black living room.

 I picked up this chair a while back for only $2.50.  You can read that blog post HERE.  I just recovered them in fabric to match and I am so happy with them. 

I used the same fabric to recover the lamp.  Yes, recover the lamp!  We purchased this lamp at IKEA like 5 or 6 yrs ago.  Here is what it looked like before...

It had a burned spot and it was just getting icky, so I just removed the fabric and used spray adhesive to attach the new fabric.  Super easy!

So here is the before and after--all it cost was a jar of paint!

What have you recycled in your house to work with your newest decor?

Linking up to:
Chalk Paint Link Party @ Shades of Amber
POWW @ Primative & Proper
WOW Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style
Under $100 Link Party @ Beyond the Picket Fence
Creative Inspirations Linky Party @ Embracing Change

How to give your Foyer a Facelift on the Cheap

We've needed to add some color and functionality to our foyer for some time now.  When we decided to make a new stand for our TV out of a Vintage Remington Typewriter Crate (coming soon!) I knew exactly how I wanted to recycle the old entertainment center.  We bought this from IKEA about 5 years ago.  I believe its the BESTA TV unit and we added a door to one side to hide all of our DVD's, etc.  This piece has definitely given us our money's worth.  It's been moved cross country and is still in tact.  In these pics it looks dusty (my bad) but in tact!

I just gave it a few coats of flat white interior paint from Glidden.  EM helped as well!  She sure is here Mama's girl!

I figured we could use this as a bench/storage for putting on shoes and storing them away instead of them being strewn all over the foyer hallway.

We had an existing mirror in the hallway that was so lonely and blah.  I decided to give her a few coats of spray paint in Rustoleum's Meadow Green.

We also picked up an antler coat rack at Hobby Lobby for cheap--like $10 dollars.  I can't find a picture of the before but it was ugly!!  A few coats of Rustoleum spray paint in a White Semi Gloss and they are much better.  Here is the finished product.

 I added the pillows I made out of left over fabric and old pillow inserts, a few bins from TJ Maxx that cost me less than $20 for all 3 of them and a cute rug that is also from TJ Maxx that I scooped up for $7.99.

 My favorite pictures of our space have actual people walking into the frame and living in the space.  Our foyer doesn't get much good natural light but you get the idea. 

Not bad for under $40!

xo,
Danielle

Linking up to :
Be Inspired @ Elizabeth & Co.
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm
WOW Us Wednesday @ Savvy Southern Style
Under $100 Link Party @ Beyond the Picket Fence
Creative Inspirations Linky Party @ Embracing Change

Old Navy Cardi Party!

My lovely friend, Christy, who happens to blog over at Beyond the Fried invited me and 2 other lovely ladies to an Old Navy Cardi Party she was asked to host!  I was super excited and couldn't wait to go.  Here is a picture of us loving ourselves some Old Navy.

Christy, Me, Mandy & Rebekah excited to be at Old Navy!

Hop on over and visit her at Beyond the Fried for the entire post!

xo,
Danielle

Quick & Easy Pillow Tutorial

Later on this week I'll show you our Foyer reveal, but for now, here is a quick tutorial on how to make really quick pillow covers.

I had this fabric left over from my recovering my dining room chairs (which I still have yet to show you!) and I've had the pillow inserts since we purchased our first house almost 10 years ago.  Steve kept asking me when I was going to throw them out and I kept saying I know I'll have a use for them and guess what?  I do!  So I spent no money on this since I already had the materials left over.  I love when that happens.

This is the reverse side of the fabric

I am no seamstress so I just went into this like I do most things--winging it!  I used an old pillow cover as a template (notice the awesome hole?  I guess that's why S wanted to know why I was saving these, but inside that torn cover is a down pillow insert!) and just cut out my fabric allowing about 1/2 an inch or so around the edges so I could sew them.

 I then sewed it up on 2.5 sides--I used one long piece and folded it in half so I only had to sew 3 sides. 

 Because I'm not cool like that, and I don't know how to put a zipper in, I first pinned the small opening that I left open to squeeze the pillow in and then hand sewed it together.  This fabric itself is laminated so its super easy to wash off with a rag so I don't anticipate needing to take the insert out.  It's especially awesome in places like dining room chairs (stay tuned for that reveal soon..I promise) and in places like the foyer where no doubt dirty/muddy shoes will end up. 

Here they are all finished. 

I think they will make a great addition to our foyer.  In this little room spruce up I took our old entertainment center and made a bench.  I made these nifty pillows and we spray painted an old mirror and a cool coat rack.  Stay tuned!

xo,

Danielle

Linking up to Saturday Night Special @ Funky Junk

So glad to be back!!

I've been beating myself up about my lack of posts.  I feel like I have 39 projects in the works and none are finished.  I will give myself a small break since...well...this has been in the works as well...

Our little peanut is scheduled to arrive on 12.01.12.  We couldn't be more excited, although this time around has been a little different.  I think keeping up with an almost 3 year old and feeling the drain of pregnancy has gotten in the way of my DIY and blogging, but alas the third trimester is upon us and I'm feeling great!  Here are a few pics that my awesome sister and partner in our photo business, Kelly, took for us.  

 I can't believe this little love of mine is going to be 3 in just a few weeks!  Time is going so fast!

I will be back this week with lots of new content, pictures and tutorials!