Before and After: Kitchen Flat Roman Shade

This year I resolved to add some final touches to our kitchen.  One of the things I wanted to do was to add a flat roman shade to our kitchen window.  Not for privacy -  I just wanted to add a dose of color and pattern.  Here is my kitchen now with my new flat roman shade:

Don't you love it?  I bought the fabric at an awesome price from LGN and was contemplating doing the shade myself.  Even though I got the fabric for a great price, it was still more than I would usually pay and I didn't want to risk messing up the fabric.  So, I opted to have the roman shade done by Windows by Melissa (found via 6th Street Design). Melissa does custom window treatments.  Here is another shot:

Melissa did an amazing job and the shade was super affordable compared to how much custom shades run.  I am extremely happy.  Just so you can get the real effect, here is the before shot:

And, another before shot:

A big difference, huh?  I think the shade makes the kitchen and now every time I walk into my kitchen I smile!  Thank you, Melissa!!  It was great working with you!

Sidenote: I made my post column wider and so now I can post larger pictures.  I think it looks a lot better.  Here is a great tutorial if you need one!

Southern Exposure's Amazing 'Before & After'

If you haven't been introduced to Rachel's blog, Southern Exposure, you're missing out!  This is not the first time I've posted about her work.  I am consistently impressed by her talent and the level of difficulty of her DIYs.  This most recent one had me saying, 'Wowsers!'  Check it out:
She scored a dining room cabinet from a local shop in her home town.  She was intrigued by the cabinet because it was well made and had good bones.  'Before':

The upper cabinets (there are two of them) sit upon the base.  Not really into the greek gods pictured on the cabinet panels, she knew she had her work cut out for her.  Now, let's see the 'After': 

Can you believe it?  Is that even the same cabinet?  She replaced the greek god, glass panels with mirrors.   Her husband made the moldings on top of the mirrors.  I make it sound so easy!

One of the upper cabinets folds down like a secretary which she lined with imperial trellis and made into a bar!  Brilliant!

Amazing, if you ask me!  Please check out the rest of her DIY project here (I really don't do it justice).  And, if you're interested in more 'Before & Afters', check out Design Refuge's September challenge!  

Happy Weekend, All!  Anyone working on some 'Before & Afters" this weekend??  I am.....

Before & After: Bedroom Dresser

Another corner in our master bedroom is almost finished.  I need to work a bit on the styling, but I mainly wanted to show you the dresser and mirror.  I found the dresser at a tag sale for $20.  Here is the before...

I always forget to take before pictures, so this is after we took off the hardware.  We (my husband) painted it MS 'Gravel'.  It was from Martha Stewart's old paint line and I love this color of gray.  We used the existing hardware, but my husband spruced up the hardware (it actually took a lot of elbow and grease) by using Brasso and paper towels.  Here is the after:

I found the sunburst mirror from Pier1 for $12.  It was originally red, but I painted it a metallic silver.  Here is another picture of the dresser and how it looks today in our bedroom.

Not too bad for a total cost $32 (dresser, mirror and paint).  I know, I need to work on the styling, but don't you love before and afters?

Quick & Easy DIY

This week I was inspired by two posts (in no particular order): Karen's from Strictly Simple Style and Casey's from Loft and Cottage.  Both posts talked about easy DIY projects that you can complete in a day (or less) and that have a big WOW factor.  I tend to get lost (and overwhelmed) at times in the 'big scheme' of my projects that I forget about the little 'DIYs'.  And, because my 'room' is not complete, I don't share or post about my smaller DIYs.  After reading their posts, I decided to post about a small bench that got a makeover earlier this year.   

I found this small bench at the goodwill store for $8.  I liked it but I wanted to update it a bit.  So, I unscrewed the seat and sanded the wood.  

I bought some spray paint - Krylon High Gloss in White ($5). 

I bought some new foam for the cushion ($6) and a 1/4 yard of fabric I liked ($4).   I ripped off the old fabric by removing the staples and re-upholstered it with the foam and new fabric.  I secured the foam and fabric by using a staple gun.  And, here is the finished bench.

It now sits at the end of our bed in the master bedroom.  I really like how the fabric on the bench complements the bolster on our bed.

Total cost for this quick and easy DIY: $18!   Sometimes, it is all about the little things!

Sneak Peek: Big boy's room

Finally, I am ready to show you a corner of my son's new big boy room.  But, only a corner!  The rest of the room is still in progress.  So far, I am really happy with how it is turning out.  Here it is (after):

The walls are painted Benjamin Moore White Dove.  I found the vintage '3' number sign at Anthropologie for 50% off - so appropriate since my son just turned three.  I framed three vintage Guinness post cards that my husband bought in Ireland and hung them in a frame above the built in drawers (My husband is Irish, need I say more?).  

Remember, I was trying to find inexpensive bookracks?  Well, one night I was complaining to my husband that I couldn't find anything inexpensive that I liked.  He, then asked me, "How about I try and build you one?"  And, I was like, "Are you serious?"  And, being the wonderful husband that he is, he said, "Yes."  And, that was music to my ears!
We spent the next half hour or so drawing a sketch (based on a picture I showed him) - him asking me questions here and there.  He did all the math and figured out all the measurements.  And, then he proceeded to take the next couple of nights (after the son was in bed) to build it using all scrap wood we had leftover in our basement.

He used dowel rods (cylinder rods) to keep the books from falling out.  He painted it white and I cannot believe how awesome of a job he did.  It turned out better than I imagined and literally we paid nothing for it.  $0!! He did such a great job.  He used toggle bolts to secure it to the wall and viola, it was ready for all of Luke's books.

Prior to the big boy room transformation, this is a snapshot of the same corner before we painted it (before).

It's come a long way.  I still have a lot of work to do, but I'm really happy with how things are progressing.  Below is a snapshot of some (not all! elements I plan on using in his new room.  I'm not revealing everything,  because I definitely want there to be some surprises!

If you remember, I found the spindle head and foot board for $35 at an antique store.  I picked out a warm brown color, Benjamin Moore's Natura (zero VOC) Maryville Brown and my husband painted it.  The duvet cover is from Ikea.  I plan on doing a framed series above his bed of cut out pages from his favorite book, 'Caps for Sale' in natural Ribba frames .  I found the map at a consignment store and it is perfect because it reflects the colors of his room (yellowish green, warm brown with hints of turquoise and red).  
So, that is it for now.  What do you think?  Stay tuned for more.....hopefully, soon!

Bookcase Styling

I am more a 'big picture' kind of gal, then a gal that is obsessed with the 'details'.  So it comes as no surprise to me, that I lack patience when it comes to styling.  The irony is that I love interior design and a lot of design is about the details.  With that said, I'm in the process of learning and I have to say I am appreciating the 'details' much more.  For example, eating my salad yesterday, I noticed the color of my tomato was more a persimmon red than a hot tomoto red.  Mind you, this was more a passing thought, but nevertheless, I noticed that detail.  And, that was kind of exciting for me.  Now, if you're still reading, I'm impressed because you probably thinking, "Get a life!".  So, when Emily from Emily A. Clark blog asked readers to volunteer pictures of their bookcases, I immediately thought, "Awesome!".  So, here is the 'before' picture of my bookcase.

BEFORE

While I love the bookcase (I scored it from Lillian August at 70% off), the styling is a sparse.  Not much pizzaz.  So, while playing fire truck with my son, I did a little of re-styling.  Here is the 'after'.  

AFTER

So, what do you think?  The back of the bookcase is bothering me and I feel like it's missing something.  Maybe I need some more art learning against the back inside wall of the bookcase.  Or, I could paint the inside of the bookcase like this one - to give it more depth and pop!

Martha Stewart 

Don't forget to stop by Emily's blog to view all the bookcases submitted by her readers!  Enjoy and Happy Weekend!