Monday, August 15, 2016

A New Look in Our Sunroom ...

Happy Monday!

Have you ever dreamed of a DIY project over and over again, hoping that one day you'd have the confidence to take that task on, even if it meant venturing into unchartered territory?  That was me for quite some time ... until last week, when my husband helped me take on that project in our little sunroom!

*This* is what happens when you play with a compound sliding miter saw, nail gun, a handful of nickels and lots of plywood ... all while saying several DIY prayers ... 


TA DAAAAA ... we now have planked walls!  Yay!

Honestly, it wasn't as intimidating as I thought it would be and, while it's far from perfect, we couldn't be more thrilled with our new *farmhouse-y* spot!


Where "seasoned" DIY-ers could've completed this in a day, it took us a bit longer than that.  It was smooth sailing on my own until it got tricky around the windows ... that's when my hubby stepped in ... he's my hero for making these daunting cuts! 


I was so excited as each board went up that I couldn't even wait for them to all be installed before starting to paint! The room is now Ben Moore's White Dove ... a color chosen to tie in with our neighboring kitchen cabinets that I also painted White Dove some time ago.


When it came time to put the room back together (my favorite part!), I traded out the two Ektorp chairs that were in here for the Ektorp love seat that was in our front sitting room.  I then brought in two smaller slipcovered chairs to complete our little seating arrangement.  Lastly, I decided to take down our bamboo roman shades ... the added light helps to highlight our planked walls even more!


Simple ... clean ... and a whooooole lot of white ... for now, anyway.


I didn't even want to put added nail holes in the planked walls, but I couldn't leave them bare ... so back up went our French prints.


And, to bring in more texture and help with the farmhouse feel, I brought home this cute, wicker trunk from IKEA to serve as the coffee table.  It was then that we "high-fived" and raised a glass here in our *new* room to celebrate our accomplishment!


So, friends, if you've ever thought about doing this project, or one similar, but have been afraid to, don't be ... if "I" can get comfy with a big scary saw and loud pneumatic nail gun, so can you!  You'll be just as thrilled with the results as we are!


I can't wait to add soft Fall colors in here and a big "something" to hang in front of the window in the coming weeks!  What can I say (?), I love our new walls, especially because we tackled this project ourselves ... onto the next project!  


Thanks so much for stopping by!

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I'm partying with:

Thrifty Decor Chick/October Before and After Projects

Tuesday, August 2, 2016

Come on Down to the Basement ...

Greetings, friends!

Can you believe it's already August?  Summer is going by way too fast!

Speaking of going by "way too fast," I can't believe we've already been in our house two years!  We still have a lot of projects on our "to do" list, especially in our basement, which I haven't shared before.  So, come on down .... 


When you get to the base of the stairs, you can either turn left through a door into a nice sized storage room (which is too messy to share right now!) OR you can turn right into our rec room, which is where you can usually find my hubby on the weekends, watching sports (when it's too hot to be in his garage "man cave") or kids having pillow fights.


While we plan on having a comfy sectional down here, for now, we have an Ektorp chair to plop down into, along with the sofa and love seat that were in the great room in our last home.


To fill up this wall, we brought down the bookcase that used to be upstairs in our sitting room (before we added the faux fireplace up there).  I then lined the back of it with a navy blue/white fabric from IKEA to make it a bit more "handsome" (since this is where the fellas usually spend time).


As much as kids (and flying footballs) are down here, I'm surprised (and thankful!) that these glass shelves and breakables are still in tact!  


Across from the sofa and love seat is a console table from IKEA, which only had about 20 million pieces to put together!  Their selection and reasonable prices make the assembly requirements worth it (thank goodness)!


The lamps, gray/white rug and coastal prints are from there, as well ... can you tell I LOVE that place?!


This whimsical nautical print above the sofa was in our son's playroom in our last house ... it gives a nice bit of color to the wall, which is painted Ben Moore's White Dove.  The pillow covers (except for the "HOME" pillow) are all from IKEA, too!


Thankfully, the oversized clock "just" fit in between the two doors ... visually, I wanted a large piece on that wall to balance with the big bookcase across the room from it. 


Behind the door to the left of the clock is a full bath where I continued the nautical theme.  One day I'd like to replace the lighting and frame the mirror ....




Behind the door to the right of the clock is our kiddo's playroom, which we hope to have finished soon.  For now, he doesn't seem to mind the *lovely* white insulated walls and exposed ceiling ... that's probably because he's too focused on the toys or billions of Legos that are normally all over the floor or the video games that take over his TV!  Painting his console and replacing the wing chair with a pair of more suitable, matching comfy kiddo chairs is on my list, too!


Once sheetrock is added, I'd love to add a Murphy bed in here (in between the bookcases) OR we might add more (lower) bookcases OR a bench in between the two taller bookcases ... decisions, decisions!


Jax loves having this space all to himself (and his buddies), especially since he can make a huge mess ... and have a place to create and then "showcase" it all.


In this corner, clear plastic bins house toys and lots of Legos ... board games and costumes live over here, too.  *One* day, this corner will be a closet, hiding it all away!


Thanks for coming on down ... maybe one day I'll show you my messy accessories room behind the door to the left of the faux bamboo tree, along with the other storage room where our Fall and Christmas decorations are waiting to come out and play!


Thanks for stopping by,

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