Easy Patio Table Makeover

When we moved into this house there were a few items the previous tenant left behind. Most items were junk that he just didn't feel like disposing of but he did leave behind one thing that was awesome: a patio table.

Now, mind you, it was in rough shape. The glass had been broken out, it was wobbly and really dirty, but still, these sets go for hundreds of dollars so we were happy to have it for free even if it meant we had another project to tackle, and honestly this one was so easy, anyone could do it. The first thing we did was purchase 5.5" x 6' pieces of fencing from Lowes. Why fencing? Because its already made for being outside so there's no added sealant needed. Then, we laid the pieces down and flipped the table over and laid it on top of the boards. From there, we measured the width of all the boards and cut two pieces to fit snugly inside the lip of the table, like so.

We screwed each board into this bracket from the top, then added two pieces on either end and screwed those in for added stability. [sorry no pic of this but it would look like this]

After that, we tightened all the bolts, sanded the top, [first with 80 grit then 120 to smooth it all out] then I stained it with Winwax English Chestnut and that was it.

Its definitely one of the fastest and easiest project we have done in this house and yet its been one of the most useful already! Just goes to show it doesn't have to be a big fancy makeover to make a huge impact.

xoxo,
Jackie

Kitchen changes

We are planning to have an end of summer BBQ this weekend for my co-workers but there were 3 things we needed to address before then: the lighting, paint and door knobs. Now, so far we have changed 2 of the lights in here, painted the doors and painted SOME of the walls, but one major eye sore was the fluorescent light fixture that had a huge hole in the lens and several burnt bulbs.

 Originally we planned to just get a new lens and bulbs but once I saw this photo, I knew I wanted track lighting.

pin from original source here 

We went to Lowes with the plan to buy one already put together but once we got there, we realized all the styles we liked were way out of budget and we could "build" our own for much cheaper. So, we picked up a track, the power source, and 3 spotlights, total came to around $50. Zack ended up installing it that night and I am totally in love!

The other major issue in here was the fact that I had half painted the kitchen and then left it.. for 9 months. I knew it had to be addressed sooner rather than later so I thought this would be as good a time as any. We used our leftover paint, Valspar Frappe and finished up the kitchen.

The last item on the to-do list was the knobs. Oh the knobs. The ugly, brass knobs. We just picked up the most affordable brushed nickle ones at Walmart and installed them. I was so glad to be rid of them, but now I have all the ones upstairs I need to do. Ugh, the work never ends does it?

you can purchase the same ones here 

xoxo,
Jackie

Living Room Reveal

I promised that Id give a proper tour of the living room once we found the perfect rug and I finally have so now I can make good on my promise! I actually didn't end up choosing any of the rugs I was considering at all! I happened to be walking through Ross one day and saw this rug for just $59.99 for a 6x9 so I snagged it up and it really works much better than any of the other choices would have.

Before I show the afters lets go back to the beginning when we first moved in....

and once we painted and added our furniture  ....

And now the afters....

A million times better right? I am so in love with it! Of course we don't really hang out in here much since we have the nice, fancy TV in the man cave but its so nice to come home and walk through this space everyday!

We also made a small change in the master, I know, I said I was done but I cant help myself!

Once we added the Vittsjo bookcase in the man cave I sorta fell in love so I knew I wanted one in the corner of the master. I have not been super happy with the hanging baskets as the handles started to wear really bad so we grabbed another bookcase and its way more practical AND beautiful!

Well, just a couple more weeks till I'm changing the whole house to fall so stay tuned!

xoxo,
Jackie

man cave light change

The man cave is in an upstairs bedroom and its one of the only rooms that the AC just doesn't cool. I'm not sure what exactly is up with that but it was so hot in this room it wasn't enjoyable. We talked about adding a window AC but decided that was more expensive in the long run so we started looking at ceiling fans. At first I was really afraid to do it since neither of us is an electrician and currently there was just a light with one switch there.

 I had no idea what all we had to change or move to make it a ceiling fan/light combo. After some research [Youtube search] Zack felt confident that he could do it and after a little [a LOT] of convincing I was on board. We picked up this one from Walmart of all places.

 It took him maybe an hour and now we have a beautiful and functional way of cooling this room without much cost.

So much better and so worth the time/money. Sometimes its the simplest changes that reap the biggest reward!

xoxo,
Jackie

53 days till fall

I love fall. Like Looooovveee it. I might be a bit biased but Colorado is the most beautiful place ever in the fall and I love to decorate for it so even though technically fall is 53 days I consider September 1 to be the first day of fall so I really have 30 days until I get to decorate for my favorite season ever and I am so excited! If you remember last year I stepped out of my comfort zone and went with a lot of color for the season and to be quite honest I ended up hating it completely after a couple weeks.

I am just not a fan of color in my home, [or my clothes but that's another story in its self] so I decided that this year I'm going to keep it simple and true to my style by going with a very neutral farmhouse style. Here's what I'm thinking.

I already have pretty much everything I just need to make the plaid pillows and I actually found a really adorable plaid tablecloth at Ross for just $12.99. I can make 3 pillows out of it so that's a pretty awesome deal.

Also, I have to make the Welcome sign for the front porch but that'll be super easy as I already have some scrap wood to do it with and then Ill just pickup some white pumpkins and that's it. Should be simple so stay tuned!

xoxo,
Jackie

Living room re-do

Finally we have fixed the couch situation and boy is it a nice change!

We didn't change much in here, there was no painting or anything at all. All we did was replace the couches, a couple throw pillows and the table and floor lamp. Here's some before and afters ...

All we need now is a rug and I cant decide which one I want! these are the options I'm contemplating....

The options are
1. white and grey moroccan trellis rug
2. black and white faux cowhide
3. beige/brown faux cowhide
4. something else

As soon as I decide I'll do a proper photoshoot and show you how great it actually looks!

xoxo,
Jackie

Man Cave Reveal

You guys! We finished the man cave! We literally finished 2 whole rooms within a month of each other. How exciting is that? I feel so accomplished! Now, in my last post I talked all about how I design a room from start to finish and I touched on mood boards. This is honestly how I start every single project so I wanted to take you back to our original plan for this room first before we make our way to the after photos.

Here is our first rough design of the room,

And if you remember I talked in this post about how we decided to change things up and re-use our existing furniture and this was the new plan we came up with....

and this is how the room looked when we started....

SOME progress....

Final reveal...

Sources:

Couches -American Furniture Warehouse 

Tv- Best Buy

TV stand- American Furniture Warehouse 

Bookcase - Ikea Vittsjo

Shadow boxes - Michaels

Side table -Hobby Lobby
Rug-American furniture Warehouse
Ottomans-Target

Since we are on a roll with finishing rooms I decided to start on the living room ASAP. We already purchased the sofa, we ended up going with this beauty.
Those rolled arms! I cant wait to get it all installed and since we don't actually need to do any painting or major work in here we just need to throw in the furniture and accessories so this will be a quick makeover with major results! 

xoxo,

Jackie