A Little Painting

Two weeks ago my Monday morning beach volleyball got canceled because we couldn't get a fourth player so I avoided working out all together by painting a wall in my family room/great room.

I had left over paint from Henry's man cave ceiling.

I used Benjamin Moore Chelsea Gray HC 168.

                            Before                                                                      After

 

Before this wall and the rest of the room was painted 

Benjamin Moore 3/4 White Sand HC 170.

Before

My industrial shelves have wheels so it was easy to just roll the whole thing away from the wall to paint.

After

It only took me a couple of hours.  

I was lazy and didn't take the heavy mirror down.  

I used a top of a spray paint can stuck under the bottom half of the mirror to lift it off the wall.  I just quickly slapped some paint under the edge of the mirror with a paint brush.

I decided to not put the artwork and accessories back up on the walls for now.

I like contrast of the gray with the gold frame of the mirror.

Change makes me feel good and this little makeover was free.

Thanks for checking it out.

Thrifty Decor Chick

My Owl

I've been wanting to change up the painting in my niche above my fireplace, but didn't have a permanent solution? 
This is what I came up with.

Here's what it looked like for summer.  Summer is over, it's time for a change.

This solution can easily be changed out for all the seasons.

I tried a mirror, but the niche is very large and the space required a really big mirror to cover the niche painting.  I tried a mirror from another room over the mantle and it over whelmed the space.  Instead I decided to hang a piece of drop cloth canvas above the mantel and paint an owl on it for fall. I used left over finials and curtain rods I already had and hung an inexpensive drop cloth from the rod.  This enabled me to create a custom size canvas.

 I couldn't just go out and buy a pre made canvas to put over the mantle because the niche was so big.  This was a cost effective solution.  I bought the drop cloth at Big Lots for $10.

First I washed and ironed the drop cloth.  Next I cut it to the right size and sewed a pocket for the top and bottom rod.  I put a rod in the bottom to to give the canvas some weight.  I taped off a border to create a painted frame.

I hung it up to see if I liked it?  The curtain rod matches the rest of the ones I used in the room.

These are drop cloth drapes.

At this point I still wasn't sure this was the look I was going for, but I had to follow it through to be sure?

I painted a black border to frame the art work I intended to paint and lived with it for awhile like this.  I didn't have time to complete it.  Coaching two volleyball teams has put a dent in my crafting and blogging time.

In the mean time I started collecting images of owls I liked. 
I like this Barn Owl but decided to paint a Great Horned Owl instead. 
Isn't his heart shaped face so cute?

This Anthropologie owl painting sells for $2000. 

Out of my budget.

I went to the library and checked out some books. 

This one became my main subject. 

I love his hooded golden eyes.

I started by sketching the owl with pencil on the canvas.  If drawing isn't your thing,  you could make an overhead copy and use a projector to trace the image onto the canvas.

Next I started painting in the color.  I used basic acrylic paint.
 I added some fall foliage to mine and a branch to perch on.

I added black with paint and a ball point pen to get the extra fine detail of the feathers.

Here's my owl hung up over the mantle.  Total cost $10.  When I get tired of the owl or want to change it out for the next season, all I have to do is fold it up and paint something new.  I still have left over drop cloth, so the next one will be free.

Now I'm ready to decorate the mantle.  That will have to wait till another day. 

More volleyball coaching and soccer mom duties await my day.

I can't help it, I have jumped in with both feet into the owl trend,  but I like him ...at least until the Christmas season rolls around. 
What will I paint for Christmas?

How do you change out your mantle for fall?
Are you jumping into a trend at the moment?

Thanks for checking it out.

To see how the mantle is decorated for Fall go here.
I'm Linking this up to Censational girl Fall Craft Party.

More projects you might like.

Family Art
My kid's Ocean

Bamboo Chair

I bought this chair and ottoman for $30 on Craig's List using my iPhone App. Craigs Pro.

It's going in my daughter Cami's room.  Cami's room is going through a huge makeover.  I already bought a dresser on Craig's List and painted it.  This is the second project on my to-do list for the makeover.

Cami wasn't too enthusiastic when I brought this home for her.   My husband asked, "why is that disgusting thing in our house?"  Casey said, "it's ugly but I know you will make it look good mom."

It just needs some TLC.

and a little imagination.

I started by recovering the chair and ottoman cushion with some left over fabric I had from a Halloween costume project.  I think I picked up the fabric for around $3 on a remnant table.  I only used a really small piece of it to make a witch costume for Cami a few years back.  It's part of the heart detail.

Bye Bye 80's fabric.

How did we survive before there were staple guns?

Still not there yet but I like the progress.

Time for a good cleaning with some warm soapy water and an old tooth brush.

I let it completely dry out in the sun and then I spray painted it white.

Hey Cami, can I find a different chair for you? 
I think I like this in my family room? 

She said "No Way," she LIKES it now!

Here it is in her freshly painted room. 
I painted it Benjamin Moore Poolside Blue, Cami's pick.
 She has some very strong opinions about what she likes.

The little ottoman has a circle detail that will be repeated in the space. 

The carpet is the next to go. 

Roscoe gives it the bark of approval too.

Thanks for checking it out!

Re-Purposed Japanese Screens

I have had this Japanese screen from my Grandmother for many, many years.  I am lucky to have many family heirlooms.  I also have some of her water colors hanging in my family room.  My Grandmother acquired this screen while living in Japan in the early 1950's.  My brother also has one just like it.  They started out brown.  I painted it black.  I've used them in different rooms in my house, but they never quite worked?  My house has ten foot ceilings and the screens always looked out of scale with the tall ceiling height.  Another problem, (maybe it's just me) I like the top detail of the screen, but not the bottom basket weave portion.  It just seemed too busy together?
   

Here's what they look like now.

Grandma isn't around anymore to ask if she minds me redoing them.  This is how I re-purposed them.  I removed all the hinges and used my dad's table saw to cut the bottom basket weave and the top wood extension of the screen off.

I hope Grandma doesn't mind?  She was a very stylish woman so I'm hoping she would approve. 

At this point of the project I was liking the screens better already!

I primed them and painted them white.  I used wood glue to repair some of the loose wood detail. 
Here they are primed.

I planned on using the screens in my powder room.  I painted the powder room  like a castle ten years ago.  OK, before you start laughing remember it was ten years ago.  I wanted to re-paint it sooner, but my kids didn't want me to.  My tastes have changed so the castle went bye, bye last year.

It was my "Old World Tuscan"  period.

Last year I painted the bathroom black. No, I haven't transitioned into a "Goth" period.  I just have always loved black and white.  Sorry about the bad pictures.  This room is small and VERY difficult to photograph.  Black rooms are hard to photograph.  Did I mention photography isn't one of my strengths to begin with? 

 I added the Upholstery tacks to the ceiling detail and around the Ikea mirror.  The light fixture is from Habitat for Humanity.  I painted it silver and swagged it from the ceiling.  The room needed something else? 

 I just wasn't sure what?  I was looking for artwork and was considering painting something myself or stenciling a pattern on the walls?

How about Grandma's screens? 

 Re-painted and Re-purposed.

I hung four of them horizontally on the empty black wall next to the sink.

One behind the concrete shelf (another Habitat for Humanity find) above the toilet.

 Thanks Grandma!

I'm liking the added architectural detail and the contrast of more white.

Although the room is painted black it looks much bigger then when it was painted like a castle.  The black makes the walls recede.  To see other back rooms in my house click here.

 

 This mirror was free and I painted it white many years ago.  It was in my daughter's room in our old house.  I tried to give it away last year because it was sitting unused in my garage.  I found a home for it on the opposite wall from the screens.  It makes the room look larger (just not in pictures).

        

I would love to hear your thoughts. 
Do you think Grandma might be upset with me redoing her screens? 
Have you been faced with the same dilemma with one of your family heirlooms?

Thanks for checking it out!