"Hutch- Bookshelf Project" was a success!

Now that I am getting back into my little "blogging world" I have been looking around for new inspiration for DIY home projects... While searching around one day I stumbled upon these blogs "Posh Pieces" and "Ucreate". .. Such great blogs! It has triggered my new interest of buying old furniture and sprucing it up a bit to make it look like new again.


My Inspiration:

I LOVED that you could turn that old hutch (above) into something so cool (below)!

My Process:
I went to the GoodWill where I found this old hutch for $30.00.. I was really back and forth on whether I should get it, but I thought "why not".... I got the idea to turn it upside down and board up the top to turn it into a book shelf with toy storage on the bottom...

After of about a week of working on the "hutch-bookshelf project" I finally finished!! I am extremely happy with myself for actually accomplishing something so great for about $50.00. There are a few things that I will do differently next time, like not paint 80% humidity, but overall I must say I am satisfied with how my new hutch-into-bookshelf project turned out. (pictures coming soon!), but until then here are a few pictures of the process...

The first obstacle that I came across while making my bookshelf was that I bought nails that were too long, so as I was nailing them in they would bend up... Next time I'll get some half the size.

With some wood filler I patched up the areas where  the nails went in on top and other areas that needed to be smoothed out  a bit.  I finished it off by smoothing out the areas with some 300ct sand paper. 

I ended up not replacing the back panel.  I figured if I ever wanted to plug anything in I'd have those holes to run the electrical cord through.  Now that it's painted black those holes are not as noticeable. 

And here it is.... All finished!!

The Next Step:  Make bins to fit inside

I saw this project while browsing through the blog "Make it and Love It".  I really liked the idea of making my own bins out of cardboard.  I have tons of boxes from our semi-recent move...and cute material from some old sewing projects.. This looks like a cinch and they are super cute!

Here are the steps featured on her blog:

First, gather some old cardboard boxes.

(Try to collect some sturdier boxes so that you don't have to glue many layers together to make your storage boxes sturdier.)

Decide how many boxes you want and cut enough for all of the sides of your boxes. I am giving directions for boxes that are 10 inches tall by 10 inches wide and 11 inches deep. These are perfect for my shelves.....but adjust for your own shelves.

Here are the pieces for one box.

The bottom piece is 10 x 9 inches, the two side pieces are 11 x 10 inches, and the front and back pieces are 10 x 9 inches.....with a 1.5 x 3 inch opening on the front piece. Each piece is 1/2 inch thick and are two pieces of cardboard thick......for added strength.

To assemble, I glued (with the hottest setting on my glue gun) the bottom piece to the inside bottoms of the front and back piece.

See from the bottom how the bottom piece is glued to the inside of the front and back piece?

Then glue that section to the inside of the side pieces.......so the side pieces cover everything and all of the raw edges. You will be surprised at how study this new little box is.

Next, I spray painted the sides and upper edges white. You can leave your boxes brown or alter them with spray paint if you'd like. You can also spray paint the inside/back/bottom but I didn't bother.....because they aren't really seen.

Then I applied a moderate layer or Mod Podge to the front section of the box...

And then placed a slightly bigger piece of fabric over top...and smoothed it all out.

Then I made slits in the fabric, where the opening is on the front of the box.
Then I folded those pieces over while applying more Mod Podge.


After the Mod Podge underneath was dry, I trimmed off the edges.....

.......and then applied another layer (pretty thick) of Mod Podge over the top.....making sure to Mod Podge all of the raw edges of fabric and pressing them firmly against the box.

Allow to dry completely......

And that's it.

Your boxes are ready to be filled.....

...and the clutter organized.

Living Room Ideas

For some reason I have had a hard time coming up with something to do to my living room.. You'd think the one room that matters most in the house I would have focused all my time and energy into, but that's not the case.  I think because it is the room that everyone sees, I can't make my mind up as to what I want to do.. there are so many ideas, so many color schemes, that I know once I choose one I am bound to change my mind..

Here is a quick sketch as to what I would like to do to the living room.. the walls next to the fireplace seem so empty.  I would ultimately love to build some bookselves on either side, but for economic reasons I think shelves would be the way to go. What do you guys think?  Any other ideas?

This is the "look" I am going for... I know I'm far from it, but slowly getting there... Next would have to be color on the walls.

Start Your Own Organic Garden

Here is a link to a site I came across while looking for information on  starting your own organic Garden.. I found it to be pretty helpful and there was some other interesting information on there...

Start Your Own Organic Garden


 I hope that in the spring I can pull this off... at least i'm doing the research now ;)  wish me luck!

Organic Garden...

I really really really want to build and plant an organic garden in my back yard this spring.  It is something that I have been wanting to do for a long time, but just never got around to it.  At one point I actually built my own compost, but had nothing to put my fresh organic soil into. It was a waste.  But now that I know how to do the compost portion of it, I thought that I would at least try to see if I can maintain my own little garden... I love the idea of going out into my back yard and picking fresh herbs and veggies to feed my family.

There are so many health benefits to veggies in general, but making sure that I'm not consuming pesticides, or other harmful products makes growing an organic garden so appealing to me.  Take a look at this website which talks about health benefits of organic foods... yummmy!

I recently came across this video on building your own raised garden bed , and it actually looks like something that I can do...

To Feng Shui or not to Feng Shui?...

So not sure why, but recently I have been turned on to the idea of fueng shui-ing my home.... I think it might be brought on by the idea of a new year, a new me, new ideas, new house etc ... I thought it be worth putting some things in place especially since I am currently in the process of totally decorating our new home... How do you all feel about this concept?   Do you think it works? I am hoping that it will be able to balance out the energy in my life a little more especially since lately it has been a little crazy around here. ;)

This is what I've learned about Fueng-Shui so far...

Feng Shui is an ancient art and science developed over 3,000 years ago in China that reveals how to balance the energies of any given space to assure the health and good fortune for people inhabiting it.

"Feng" means wind and "Shui" means water. In Chinese culture wind and water are associated with good health, thus good feng shui came to mean good fortune, while bad feng shui means bad luck, or misfortune.

There is a lot that has to do with Fuen- Shui.  You first must determine the Bagua, which is used to analyze the energy in any given space... From there you can start "Fueng-Shuing" your home to promote only good energies....
 
Whew... that was a lot to take in, but Fueng-Shui really has a lot to do with interrior decorating and what colors should be placed in each room in order to promote good energies.
 

Gotta love these colors

As I do on a regular basis, I was browsing through some photos online and I came across yet another set of gorgeous ideas that I loved for my house.  I liked the neutrals that were used in this house, and wish that my house could look something like this...

I love the simple photos that were used here.  I love this idea for my stair case.

Simply beautiful...but not kid-friendly ;(

I had to share this....

This is the site of one of my favorite blogspots that I had to share with everyone.  It has given me so many ideas for decorating my children's rooms, and I think that every mom out there will love it as well.  Check it out...This really had my immagination going...  Enjoy! 

Below is one of my favorite rooms, and I used the color scheme for my daughter's own room.  I love the muted pinks and greens together...so beautiful and delicate.

I love the details on the walls that make it look so girly. Not sure If I could pull this off in my little girls room because I know that she would not leave them haninging on the wall. 

What a beautiful Chandelier!  Really adds so much to the room to swap out an old light fixture with a different one.

Valentine's day gift dilema

We are a little over a week away from Valentine's Day, and like every other year I have no idea what to get my husband.  He is the hardest person to shop for, only because he literally does not like receiving gift.  He is the type of person who would rather give a gift than to recieve one. I can think of several things that he needs, but what will he really really like to receive? I have come across some really cool gift ideas, but all cost over $100.00, and I'm really trying to keep it within the $50-$100 range. Hmmmm..... What to do?

Decorating is always a work in progress.

Since moving into our new home in October, I have been consumed with decorating ideas.  I am always looking for new and unique ways to decorate, and also ones that will  not cost us an arm and a leg.  I am a HUGE fan of old mismatched pieces of furniture, and simple designs. Unfortunately I change my mind on a day-to-day basis, so a lot of the projects that I would have liked to have completed by now have remained untouched. 

I love how one color can do so much to any room. I am not a huge fan of how open and cold this living room looks, but I love how one color is incorporated with neutral furniture....  This is the style that I like especially because if I eventually get sick of the color, I can just switch it off to another.  So simple!

 

I LOVE this color scheme and design of this living room/ kitchen area. Everything is kept very neutral and simple making it look clean and inviting.  I think I've finally found what I want my living room and kitchen to look like.

Purpose of my blog.

Everyone daydreams.  Whether it be about where they would like to be in the current moment or what they wish they had, everyone lets their mind wander from time to time.  As a "newbie" stay-at-home mom I have had a lot of time to let my mind wander (especially during moments of chaos and melt-downs.)  I constantly find myelf thinking about what I would do differently with the decor and organization of my house, or what I could hand-craft  for my children using things laying around the house.  These ideas always result in me getting online and "cutting" and "pasting" several photos, which I love, and storing them away into a folder that is never opened again.
 I have decided to create this blog not only as a way for me to keep track of the ideas that I daydream about, but also to hopefully help inspire myslef and others to make our daydreams into realities.