cheap and easy room shelving for some sprucing up

I’ve been meaning to put this post together for days and possibly a couple weeks. But we are still recovering in this house from life. No illnesses thank goodness. But I had gum surgery on Thursday and it’s not fun let me tell you. But I won’t sicken you with my gum surgery tale, I saved that for my Instagram followers.

On to Greta’s little wall makeover! I have been trying to talk her into letting go of her play kitchen for awhile now. The height of her kitchen food making playfulness was about 3 years old. So from 2-4 years of age it got some nice play time. But since then it has become more of a toy for other children when they come to visit. And it takes up a whole lot of space in her already packed room. Between her doll house, doll cradle, doll stroller, barbie collection, lalaloopsy collection, book case, nightstands, jewelry collection, dress up baskets. There’s a lot going on in this room of hers. So she gave me the okay a few weeks ago and while she was at a movie with her daddy I went right to work and moved the kitchen out. She didn’t blink an eye when she returned and we started plans of what would adorn the wall instead. She was on board.

I knew I wanted to spend close to no money on this since I feel like every few years we rearrange the kids room and change the room to fit their needs. I love love love me some pinterest so I went to my boards for inspiration. I kept coming back to shelving. Shelving out of common items you wouldn’t normally think to use.

I picked up this half hanging planter from my local nursery for around $12, and I knew I wanted to spray paint it with a green color, so I picked up a can in the right color for $5.

Next we had some of these wooden wine crates. Aaron has been saving them for me to use as a future planter project I have in mind for the backyard. But we can always get more, so he was fine with me taking two. We get them from our local wine/grocery store, for free. Yep, there’s always a few laying around where they are trying to get rid of them, so we happily take them off their hands. I had some white spray paint and then purchased a fun yellow can as well. Here’s the shelf before and then after a coat of white for the inside. (btw I use rustoleum for all my spray paint)

I’m going to try my best to explain how I did the spray paint different colors for the interior and exterior of the boxes. First I decided on my colors. I knew I wanted one box to be white on the inside with yellow on the outside, and then the other box I wanted opposite (yellow-inside, white-outside). Then I went to work on the inside, I made sure to do all the interior sides and the little lip on the exterior. I used maybe 1-2 coats and I wanted it a little rustic looking so I wasn’t very careful about coverage. Then I flipped the box over so it was laying face down, that way when I sprayed all the exterior sides it didn’t touch the interior color at all. Does this make sense? This was the easiest way for me to avoid using tape or having to go back to touch up the interior.

I also used a wire basket we already owned for the wall in addition to the planter and two wine boxes. So at this point we are at $12- planter, $5-spray paint can yellow, $5-spray paint can green, for a grand total of $22 plus tax. Everything on the inside we had or made ourselves, so this little wall was only $22.

Now for some details. The interior of the yellow crate has my most favorite item. I purchased a Time atlas book at a thrift store in Palm Springs last year and I was so happy to get to use one of the pages from it. I cut out the state of California because we all know how great this state is, and I traced the shape onto another sheet of paper. I handed that sheet to Gunnar and told him to please cut me a piece of wood to fit it. He has a little jigsaw that Aaron has taught him how to use. So he and Aaron got to work and a few minutes later voila, I had my wood piece. Next we just glued the map onto the wood for a perfect fit and then I used one of those picture hanging tabs to place it in the crate.

I also placed a pair of my baby shoes into this box and an Ikea vase with some fresh flowers, and this wooden bird that was residing in my room before, along with a gold spray painted wooden puzzle animal we bought at the hardware store. My kids go crazy for these wooden puzzles and they are like $2. I thought hey, let’s spray paint it gold since that’s another can I had lying around, and all of a sudden it got fancy!

The little green hanging planter was a piece of cake to spray paint and then I thought it would be a good place to hang her more special dolls, Eloise and Madeline.

The interior of the white box is so special too. Okay, I lie, the whole thing is just special special special and sentimental. I shared about the Ikea vase that I bought for $7 awhile back and then taped and spray painted the stripes a few weeks ago. I also bought this Princess and the Pea set from Etsy when Greta was only a few months old. She has played and loved this set so much through the years. In fact the set is often not in the crate because she plays with it almost daily. Fortunately the lower shelf Greta can reach herself so she often takes it down herself. The little Matryoska doll set was a present from Aaron to her, and the little piggie Greta takes a lot of pride in since she painted it herself. I placed a little nail in the top corner so I could hang her first pair of ballet slippers.

The yarn garland I saw on Pinterest and followed this tutorial. Super easy. I had all the yarn already so I decided to try it out and somehow I can’t figure why I don’t have yarn garlands strewn about the entire house, I love it that much! I used embroidery floss to hang them instead of yarn however.

Sitting on top of the white crate is another Etsy find that my mom bought when Greta was too small to walk, a little handpainted doll cottage. And I also placed part of a special antique tea set that my Aunt Tracie gifted to Greta as the next little girl in the family. The deal is it stays in the family with the girls, so we’ll see who gets it next, Gunnar’s daughter? Romeo’s? Oy vey, I am having heart palpitations thinking about it. Also, another spray painted little wooden puzzle dolphin Greta made herself. And then the basket we already owned with sock monkey in it that Nanni bought Greta. As you can see a whole lot of love went into not only creating this wall, but all the items that reside here.

So there you have our very inexpensive wall shelving for now. I still would like to add some framed prints or photos to the wall, but I think that will just take time. With everything for our house, I have to love it, and sometimes that takes awhile to find the right piece.

catching up through instagrams

at least I document my life somewhere right? even if instagrams is all it is. here’s the last few weeks in review. no pressure for you to actually read through these, it’s more for my documentation than anything else.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.library volunteer time 2.this is kim sober?RHBH 3.most uncomfortable waiting room bench ever 4.need this paper cutter in my house 5.crazy driver 6.skylander 7.focus group view 8.choosing books over tv 9.latte 10.bestie breakfast 11.zara kids 12.romeo on the kinder yard 13.first fire station field trip for the little man 14.listening, sort of 15.with zia 16.love me some spray paint 17. orthodontist 18.yogurtland for first time 18.still in bed 19.these two love each other 20.reading 21.facetime before romeo’s bedtime 22.reading ramona the pest 23.peek into greta’s new shelving 24.and another 25.garden prep work 26.work as a team 27.house chore 28.haircut 29.a little boy’s present to me 30.a yellow school bus 31.she has skillzzz 32.red 33.some peeks of our family photo shoot 34.fire pit 35.craft bookmarks at the book swap thanks to tanya 36.the most delicious caramel sauce

quick color diy

I have been working on some colorful pieces for Greta’s room, one of her walls is getting a mini makeover. Nothing dramatic, but she’s outgrown some of her toys like her kitchen, and so we thought it was time to spruce up that area. One of the pieces was a simple Ikea vase. It was just plain white, but I plan to place it in something that is all white as well, so then you wouldn’t see it at all. So I just quickly put on some blue painter’s tape, got out a spray paint bottle we already had in Rustoleum’s Colonial Red (I use Rustoleum for all my spray painting) and voila. Simple. Nothing too fancy and the lines aren’t perfect, but it’ll be just the pop of color for the space.

love links

Here’s some things around the web I have found inspiring:

-Cakies-Aaron just made this oven baked fried chicken and it was delicious. And of course so much healthier than actually frying chicken in any oils. Highly recommend, and super easy ingredients, we didn’t even have to make a trip to the store for a single ingredient.

-A Beautiful Mess-Elsie shared such a simple tutorial for a simple cotton top that is inspiring to give my sewing machine a go again. I really really REALLY need to take a class, but until I find the time for that I still would love to experiment with easy and beginner things. This looks just up my alley.

-All for the Boys-such a great and easy idea for mini tents/forts for Lego guys. Which we have a ton of this house, lego guys every.where.

Other inspiration I’m finding at the moment?

-The need for green. Aaron and I have been having green smoothies for dinner a few nights each week, and we both are feeling great. Tonight he paired it with quinoa with almonds, pomegranate seeds, green bell pepper, and green onions. delish

-Sore muscles. Yes, the soreness is inspiring for me. I’m back to regular exercising and I love that stiff feeling in the morning til I stretch and get going.

-Caffeine. Back on caffeine a little. A few lattes a week is all I’m allowing myself, but it’s oh so good.

pinterest love

you still aren’t on pinterest? here’s some reasons you should be.

you all know my love for ombre, and ombre balloons + ikat tablecloth + dinner party = love

rock + felt= diy hot pad

embroider a trip on a map and frame

wrap bricks with scrapbook paper and you have diy bookends

straws + paint + crumpled leaves = next art lesson for the kids

wordless wednesday- our backyard fire pit- ta da!

House Project- Backyard Fort

This project was started back in late June, but saw it’s completion last weekend. My mother and father in law were here in June and the hunt for wood and brainstorming of plans began. Originally I had envisioned an on the ground fort. But my husband and father in law and two sons disagreed. We came to a compromise where the entrance would not be from the roof (lord have mercy!), but it would be off the ground. The base was completed in one weekend, but then it took a little different path than we imagined and so we had to wait until we had the time and energy to finish it. Aaron has been doing a lot of envisioning and research when it came to railings and rope ladders. I absolutely love the finished product and the kids are beyond thrilled. They have eaten dinner up there once, and have spent countless hours playing up there.

The kids also finally agreed on a name. I told them each to pick one word and then we would combine them. Gunnar somehow talked Greta into teaming up together for their two words and chose “all stars” and Sawyer’s contribution was “cheesy”. Thus Fort Cheesy All Stars came to be. In this first photo you can see our fire pit area in the background, I’ll share a post later this week with the finished product of that. We absolutely love our little backyard and it’s so nice spending time out there together.

I had some leftover paint I found in an obnoxious green color, apparently this paint was a contender when we redid the kids’ art closet, glad we went with something less bright. But it made for some fun signs.

House Project- Boys’ Room Completion

As you can tell from the recent posts, a whole bunch of house projects saw their completion this summer. Next on the list was the completion of the boys’ room. You can see their big overhaul here. But the last piece I had been waiting on was a dresser. For about 9 months I have been on the lookout for the perfect mid century piece. Since this is their primary means of clothing storage (other than their hanging clothes in their closet) it needed to be long. They had outgrown their previous Pottery Barn dresser, and I was tired of looking at it for so many years. I listed it on Craigslist for $125 and it was sold the next day.

Flea markets and craigslist are where I searched for the right dresser. It had to be over 50 inches long, preferably 60 inches, and no more than 20 inches deep because of their beds. Finally I hit the jackpot and one Wednesday evening Aaron joined me as we headed down to Hawthorne, or someplace nearby. It was pretty sketchy of an area, but that’s where the best deals are found I tell you! So worth the effort. This beautiful mid century piece was in perfect condition. I scored it for $300 which is right where I wanted to be. I found a ton of pieces around $400, but $350 was my limit. And I’m proud that I stuck to it, because it paid off.

Lastly, I added the antlers from West Elm for a grown up and masculine feel, and we are finito!

 

House Project- DIY Firepit

I spent many a nights researching fire pits this summer, and finally after reading all 366 reviews, we went with this one, which is on sale at the moment. It was the right dimensions, claims not to rust, which was my beef with the cheap Target/Ikea fire pits, and came with a rain cover. Not that we really get a whole lotta rain over here, but still. With the chairs complete and the fire pit put together, all that remained was getting together what was going to sit beneath the fire pit.

We looked and looked, we searched Pinterest, and finally we had an idea of what we wanted. But of course walking around Home Depot together, we came up with a different plan. We found bricks that were not as tall and your typical brick, and since we decided to use the brick as the border, the taller the brick meant the more gravel needed to fill it in. Beneath the brick Aaron used some sheet concrete, I think that’s what it’s called. At Home Depot you can find it right outside in long sheets that are 4×8 feet. He sliced one sheet in half and doubled it up for extra protection. All this is so no embers fall down under the fire pit and do damage to the ground. He used concrete adhesive for the bricks and then we bought 4 bags of river rocks and poured them in. The bricks were I believe $0.39 a piece, maybe $0.35, the bags of rocks were about $4 a bag, the sheet of concrete was $18 approximately, and the adhesive $8.

Here’s an iphone pic of the loot.

It was completed within an hour or so after we figured out the exact location where we wanted the fire pit and chairs to be. The glue dried that day and it’s ready to go. I will take another photo soon of all the chairs set up, with the stacked wood, I was waiting for my outdoor pillows to arrive from overstock and the delivery came yesterday. Yippee!

Our backyard is kind of a never ending project, but one day I hope it ends. I still have some planters I’d love to plant but will probably save that for spring time. Also I have a vision of stringed lights but I have to wait for the money to be in the bank before I can purchase those babies. Until then we will be roasting some smores and enjoying just a little more outside time during these warm evenings.

House Project- Adirondack Chairs Partial DIY

I finally got around to my summer backyard project of painting all the adirondack chairs. You can see the color inspiration here, where I did an ombre slatted table to match. We purchased them at Home Depot for $29 a piece, the table I believe was $12. The only thing was that they were unfinished. The greens I chose came out great and I am so happy with the result. I still had to use two different primers, one for the 2 lighter greens, and a darker one for the 2 darker greens. For the darkest chair I ended up having to paint 3 coats for good coverage. I did a chair a day, and only 2 chairs per week. I spread it out since they were time consuming and I didn’t want to get carpal tunnel from holding that paint brush for days on end.

Here’s the before.

And the after. Sorry for the sunlight peeking through in some spots, it’s all one color in real life.

A closeup of colors 1 and 2, the two lightest.

Here’s all 4 graduating colors.

Next up I will share our DIY fire pit, well partial once again. We purchased the pit itself and made our own floor protection beneath it. It’s really inexpensive and easy to do.