Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Summer Updates in the Livingroom and Kitchen.

Not much has changed really in our home, we did upgrade the free sofa to a Craigslist IKEA sectional. I have re-arranged some of the wall decor and chairs. Added some beachy/summer stuff to the mantel.

 


 My slipcover does fit better on the sofa it was meant for. It came with the ottoman, and I haven't decided to keep the black, or buy a different cover.

 Mantel is filled with rocks, shells, drift wood and sea glass my boys found on the beach, along with a couple of large shells from my childhood in Mexico.



 Changes to the dining room include the chairs I bought off craigslist for $50. I painted them with Duck Egg blue AS Chalk Paint. They are a smaller scale and I can fit two on one side without table leaves. I think they are cute, but I have kept the originals, I'm not sure these will be kept if we move the table later.



Touches of fresh flowers from the yard. I put them all over the house to enjoy.

4th of July Front Porch: 2015

Posting an update of what the house is looking like this summer. We had family visit for the 4th so I actually did some porch decorating for the holiday.

 A couple of big changes to the front. We have started painting the trim and doors. The garage doors were teal/french blue. As is the window trim. We plan to change all this to just the crisp white. I think I will keep the nautical navy on the door. The other change is the new garden fence and gate you can see to the left of this photo. It still needs stain and the tops finished, but it looks great and keeps the deer from eating our garden.


For the first time I actually have a large "old fashoned" coverd porch. I decided that some classic buntings would be the perfect touch for an island style 4th.

 Simple red flowers next to the blue of the door, and moving a metal star to the door looks patriotic without spending much money. Everything here I already had.. just added the fresh flowers.

 My pots are not looking super lush this year.. probably because it's abnormally hot and dry this summer. I'm going to have to break down and buy drippers and install them all over the yard.

 Of course by the end of the week the porch was covered with sand, wet swim suits, towels and coolers... but that is summer life.

Thursday, April 16, 2015

White Wash Brick Fireplace Makeover

Decided to breakdown and try a paint wash on the fireplace brick. The brick has a vintage/rustic feel to it.. like the used reclaimed brick, and the mantel was bespoke made local. Here is a "before" photo, it shows the fireplace insert before I gave it a paint makeover. You can see that HERE.

The orange finish on the fur mantel combined with the dirty brownness of the brick was not doing much for me. I had to think long and hard about putting paint on the brick, as you really can't go back once it is done. I decided to use some of my Country Chic chalk paint in "French Linen" It's a very light gray.. I diluted it to about 40/60 paint and water. Chalk paint dries fast, and I wanted it to go on light.

I painted the wash on with a regular paint brush, then used  an old damp towel to blot the excess off. Work in sections and if you take too much off, just put more on and dab again.


Now you can really see some progress.. all that is left is the right side, and the bottom hearth. It really brightend up the brick, but it still looks like brick.


The last step was to put on a few coats of glossy trim paint on the mantel.. and it sure looks like a different fireplace. The gray cast to the brick has more of a "stone" look. You can still see some of the rustic tones of the brick though it.

The room feels lighter and brighter already with just this small change.