Diving Into Blue

After I added my blue octopus over our family room fireplace and summerized the mantle I thought I was "done" with this room until fall.  

 While my family thinks the octopus is pretty cool, their one critique is that I needed to add more blue around the rest of the room. 
Even my husband, who doesn't like change and always thinks our house is "fine" they way it is, (he doesn't get my need for constant change) commented the room needed more blue. 
Off to the fabric store and Home Goods for a blue makeover.
I'm diving in head first.

Here's what I did.

 



 

I made some pillows. 
The fabric feels almost like a beach blanket.  It's thick, textured, and sturdy.
Don't notice the brown couch the pillows are sitting on. 
I don't like it, but it's comfy, in great shape, and paid for, so it's staying for now. 
I have steered away from the Tuscan look, but some furniture pieces like this one still haunt my house.

 

 

I slip covered my ottomans with coordinating fabric. 

I sewed the seams inside out for a more casual, beachy look. 

I picked fabric that is very durable because my kids like to throw the pillows on the floor to watch TV and my husband likes to ball them up to stick under his legs when he stretches out on the couch. 

 I took the gray velvet slip cover off my other couch for now.

I don't think I showed you this Ralph Lauren jute rug I picked up at Home Goods for a steal a few months back. 

It's very soft and comfortable for bare feet and floor lounging kids.

I like the texture it adds to the room. 

Since the room has a very neutral color scheme,

I can change out the accessories whenever I get bored.
Pretty much any color works in this room.

 

 

My mom gave me a blue and white dog bed for Piper.  

I think she likes it.

 

I picked up the blue glass float from Home Goods.

I found the Cabinet of Natural Curiosities book on clearance years ago at Anthropologie for $25.

I added my new pillows to my $10 Craig's List wicker chairs.

 

 

To see how I made my vertical succulent wall go here.

 

I changed out my glass bubbles with sand, coral, and shells.

No blue, more beach.

 

 

Piper follows me around where ever the photo shoot is happening. 

Her brother and sister are grand champions.

 Maybe she wants to be a supermodel  too.

 

 

 

 More seashells and blue watering orbs were added to my candelier.

 



 

I used the left over pillow fabric and jute webbing to make a runner for the dresser behind my couch. 

This dresser stores all my craft supplies.

I took the leftover glass from my DIY Restoration Hardware Rope Planetarium Chandelier and re purposed it as a mini green house.

I added blue ribbon to my DIY glass lamp shades.

 

 I added some blue accessories to my DIY industrial shelves on the other side of the room.  

 

The candles are from Home Goods. I already had the Fleur Di Ly's plaque and I just gave it a quick spray with blue paint. 

The boxes were found in the clearance bins at Michael's.

 

 

 

 

 

Have you been diving into any new decor for your home?

 

Enjoy the rest of your summer.

Thanks for checking it out.

 

 

 

DIY Designer Glass Lamps

I know, I'm posting another lighting project.  But it's one of the quickest ways to update a home and I really needed a lot of updating. 

I have been on a lighting DIY marathon lately.
Have you seen these beauties showing up in pictures on the internet?  I saw this glass light in a store and thought it was pretty cool. This one is $600.  Not that cool, even if it was on sale for 50% off,  it would still be out of my budget.

I like that the center of the glass base is completely empty. 
The cord runs off the top down the back of the lamp.  The bottom is open.

Here is another picture of a similar lamp. 

Somersetbay

  This isn't my first attempt at making a lighting fixture myself. 

Like I said earlier, I've been a little cuckoo for lighting.

After closer inspection, I made this one for $37.

I wanted to make two of these glass lamps and I wanted them to be tall.  I already had vases that would work for this project but not a pair.  I ended up buying two identical vases from Home Goods.

They are 27 and a half inches tall, but any size will do. 

 I picked a vase with a mouth(the opening) that was wider than the bottom to insure sturdiness when I flip it over to make the lamp.  If the mouth is smaller then the bottom your lamp might tip over.

They were $9.99 each

I used some Goo Gone to get all the sticker residue off. 

Clean the vases well before you start gluing. 
You will still need to clean any leftover finger prints after assembly.

I bought lamp parts at Home Depot.  I ended up not needing the lamp harps.  The shades I used did not require them.  You can't add the harps later so use them if your not sure of the type of lamp shade you will end up using.  You can buy everything you see here in one kit, but I wanted silver cord so I had to buy the pieces separately.

Start by drilling a hole in the side of the bottom of the 3 way socket.  It's very thin metal and easy to drill.  The hole needs to be big enough to feed the cord wire through.  This step needs to be done because you can't run the wire through the bottom of the socket and glue it to the bottom of the vase.

Feed the wire through the newly drilled hole and follow the package directions on how to assemble the socket.

It should look like this assembled.

I removed the small screw (the washers won't fit over it) from the bottom neck of the socket and glued three washers with the Gorilla Glue. 

Stack the washers on top of each other with glue in between each one.  This will create a wider surface area to glue the socket to the bottom of the vase.

Now glue the harp to the bottom of the vase.  Once the harp glue is semi dry, glue the socket with the three washers to the harp.  You might need to add some tape over the top to secure it while it dries.

It should look like this.

The first lamp shades I used were ones I already had and they required a harp.  I thought they looked to small for the base so I had to purchase two lamp shades.

I found these at Target for $19.99 a piece.  This is included in my total lamp cost.  They are made by Thomas O'Brien and they are a light silver color.

I put them on my Craig's List buffet that separates our eating area from the family room.

The kids aren't allowed to eat on the couch so they like to have a snack at the table and catch some TV.  These taller clear lamps make TV watching easier now.

I like the airiness these lamps bring to the room.  They also provide great reading light at night for the couch.  I like the clean lines of the new lamps with the curvy details of the refurbished buffet.  Another benefit is they are hollow.  If I get tired of the clear glass I can easily fill them.

Lighting is an easy way to update any space.

I'm linking this up to a Knock Off Party over at Homebody.

I would love to see your lighting makeovers.

Thanks for checking it out.

I'm linking this to Remodelaholic.

And Thrifty Decor Chick

Fireplace Makeover #2 It's Finally Finished

I FINALLY finished the fireplace.  This is the second part of the fireplace makeover.  To see the tile removal and drywall repair click here.  This was part of a larger project, my family room makeover.

Here is the Before.

No mantle and the builder put the floor tile around the fireplace.  See how the larger tile at the top makes the fireplace look like it's falling forward?  I've never liked my fireplace.  I painted the picture above it when we first moved in ten years ago to draw the eye away from the black hole below.

Here is the After.

 I removed the old tile, repaired the drywall, painted the walls and the concrete floor, made a new mantle, and added a new tile surround.



My dad was the Foreman on the mantle making part of the project.  I'm lucky to have my parents live about ten minutes from my house.  My dad has all the cool tools, saws, and expertise for woodworking like this. 

We started with the table saw.  We used this to make the MDF boxes for the mantle and legs.

We used this 12" compound miter saw to cut the molding.  I made the cuts, but there is no way I could have figured this out without my dad showing me what to do.  I just haven't done it enough yet, but I'm learning.

I glued all the joints with wood glue.

I used a staple gun to make the boxes and attach the molding.  More cool dad tools.

My mom brought us lunch.  Cutting wood makes me hungry. Yum! 

Thanks Mom.

We made these guide boxes to cut the big molding.  It makes cutting the angles much easier.  Make them the width of your largest piece of molding.

Here is the box with the the first piece of molding attached.

We attached the horizontal mantle to a 2x4 attached to the wall.  I diagrammed where the studs were when I was repairing the drywall.  This made it easier to secure the 2x4 soundly to the wall.

The 2x4 was a hair too long and I had to hammer the left side of the mantle down on to get it level.  The fit was a little too snug, but I fixed it.  Here it is before leveling.

Next we added the legs.  I used liquid nails to secure the legs to the wall.



Here is a detailed picture of the molding I used to create the mantle.  It's hard to see where the molding begins and ends once it's painted out.  It looks like all one piece.  This was a work in progress.  I didn't add the last the bottom piece of chair rail until after the mantle and legs were attached to the wall. 

All these moldings were under $2 a foot so everything was very economical.  They were all purchased at Home Depot. 

Once the mantle was attached I filled all the staple gun holes with wood filler and sanded it smooth.  I had to repeat this step several times to get the flawless finish I wanted. 

I wish this technique worked on my wrinkles.

I added some skinny picture rail molding to the legs.  I just glued it on with Liquid Nails.  Then I primed it with Zinnser water base primer.

I painted it with two coats of Frazee, White Shadow.  All the trim, doors, molding, and base boards in my house are painted this color.

Close up of the molding detail.

On to tile.  I borrowed a wet tile saw from my cousin Margaret's husband Andy.  He's an amazing contractor.  To see some of his work click here. 

 

I was a little intimidated to use one of these.  BUT IT IS SO EASY!  Really,  it's easier than operating a sewing machine.  My daughter Casey took to it right away and wanted to help.  Wear ear protection, it's very loud. 

I set it up in the SCARY, MESSY garage.  We don't have basements in San Diego.  Basements don't hold up to well in earthquakes.  We have earthquakes. 

 

Here's the first cut.

It took me a Sunday afternoon to complete the tiling.  Just apply Thin Set to the wall with a notched trowel and set the cut tile.  

I haven't been in a tile store in a while.  It's pretty incredible the choices and options out there.  I chose a natural stone mosaic rhomboid tile because it's timeless, classic, neutral, in-stock, and under $10 a square foot.  The lady that helped me at Encinita's Tile gave me the contractors discount for being nice.  Well I am the contractor at this job site.  I guess some of the people that she works with are not nice?  I don't know, but it made my day!

Here's where I started.

Here it is ready to grout. 

I used sanded grout and the color I used was Haystack.  Mix it with water and follow the box directions.

Use a rubber trowel to grout and mush it between the tiles.

Wear gloves, it's messy, but fun.

Sponge off all the excess grout.  Rinse and squeeze out your sponge often.  Change your bucket water often.  Make sure your sponge isn't to wet.  You don't want to clean your new grout out from between the tiles.

After two hours wipe your tile down again to remove any grout residue

I added a small quarter round piece of molding to the inside edge of the mantle.  The tile grout wasn't as clean as I wanted it to look on the edges.  I painted the molding to coordinate with the tile with the same paint I used to create the concrete floor stripes.

I still need to seal the grout.  I also need to figure out how to decorate a mantel?  I haven't had a mantle in my house since I lived with my parents back in 1989. 

I'll wait to build a fire until after I seal the tile or the smoke might stain the grout.

I'll put candles in it for the summer.

Thanks for checking it out.