Leftover Lattice turned Hook Storage

Grunt Labor finally finished putting up lattice around the screened in porch to keep the dogs from tearing the screen to shreds. This is the 2nd attempt at keeping the dogs from tearing the screen to shreds. Let's hope it does the trick. Anywho, there was this little piece of lattice left over. Grunt Labor actually suggested we make it into hook storage to replace the shelf he made into our Christmas stocking holder. Y'all, he is on a roll. First, the amazing chair he found for the bedroom, and now this. Watch out, he may have his own blog soon. 

It started out like this:

First, I spray painted it black. 

Then, I forgot to take pictures during the rest of the transformation. Imagine that. I'm sorry, y'all. But this was really simple, so I'll just give ya a quick rundown. After the black, I sprayed it with this blue color I had on the shelf of 100, ok 101, spray paint cans. When it was dry, I took some sandpaper and roughed it up to show some of the black and give it some depth. I had the pack of white knobs in my toolbox. They were an Ikea find I had picked up well over a year ago that were just waiting for the perfect project. This was it. I added the old brass hardware on the ends to give it a bit more character. Those just came from a friend's cabinets that I painted. A hardware close up:

Grunt Labor actually screwed it to the wall first, and then put the old brass hardware on the ends to cover up the screws. Clever, I tell ya. What do ya think?

DIY Chalk Paint Table

If you read the first post in my Master Bedroom Makeover Series, you saw this lovely gray table beside my reading nook chair. 

The table did not start off so lovely. Or gray. In fact, it is still beat up quite a bit, as you can see on the front edge. But that's ok, everything needs a little character, right?. The table started out like this:

Ugh. The top was in pretty bad shape. Remember the Little Dresser that Could? Grunt Labor and I picked up this table for a whopping $5 when we bought that dresser and the other truckload full of furniture for $40. Whoot! Whoot! That was the day Grunt Labor began counting the number and variety of animals he saw in the front yard in the middle of the city where we were. He seriously started making a list, y'all. He saw: 2 pigs, 3 goats, 10 chickens, 1 rooster, 4 dogs, and 3 cats all in one person's front yard. Now, I am from the country, this did not phase me, however, my Grunt Labor City Man was astonished. He was also fearing for our lives that day, wondering where in the hell I was taking him to pick up amazing finds. Never doubt the wisdom of me. Always remember, the man may be the head of the family, but the woman is the neck and the neck turns the head. Am I right or am I right? Ok, honestly, this place was a little sketchy. But, I digress. Again, as usual. 

So, I mixed up some of my home made chalk paint with a sample pint I got for free at Ace Hardware. I used Benjamin Moore's Trout Gray 

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It is a fabulous color! I gave it two coats of the diy chalk paint and then two coats of Minwax Polycrylic Clear Satin Spray. If you haven't used it before, it is great for sealing and protecting painted pieces! There are no brush strokes, just a nice, even, low sheen, durable finish. And Minwax didn't pay me to say that! 

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For a $5 table, I think it turned out alright. Even Grunt Labor said he liked it.

DIY Corbel Shelving

I love corbels. I love old corbels, new corbels, white corbels, red corbels, big corbels, small corbels. Get the point? I really love old corbels with some history, but they have been super expensive when I have found them anywhere. So, alas, I must settle for Home Depot corbels. For our master bedroom makeover, I really wanted a corbel shelf. So, I got one. Grunt Labor and I just had to make it. We all know I'm too cheap to buy a pre-made $50 one.

This was so simple y'all. We started out with an old floating shelf we had laying around like the one below, except ours was black.

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We bought two corbels at Home Depot like this.

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We added trim, like the kind we used on our built in bathroom shelving, to the edges of the floating shelf and attached the corbels to the bottom. I spray painted the whole thing with basic white spray paint. I WAS NOT going to try and coat every nook and cranny of those corbels with a paint brush. Here's a closeup of the underside of the shelf so you can see how it all went together.

Please accept my apologies for no pictures of us actually making this thing. There was a baby to contend with and we just wanted to get it done. But, this is so simple y'all, you really don't need step by step photos. 

Grunt Labor finally hung it on the wall:

Whadda ya think? By the way, that julep cup and lamp are both Goodwill finds! Score!

Master Bedroom Makeover Series: Reading Nook

Y'all, my master bedroom needs a facelift. The poor room has been neglected since Grunt Labor and I bought the foreclosed brick rancher back in June 2011. It did get a paint job (which I vividly remember, because I was so sick of renovating that it required me to start drinking before noon. The construction workers had a big laugh over that one). It also got new carpet with the rest of the bedrooms. I wasn't going to pay Home Depot twice to put in carpet. Anywho, almost everything else has gotten an update in the rancher: the kitchen, the nursery, the man cave, the front porch, my bathroom, even the master bath (which is Grunt Labor's bathroom, husband and wife should never be made to share bathrooms. 'Tis the key to a happy marriage). But, the master bedroom stood neglected. Until now.

Enter master bedroom makeover series that you are reading. The bedroom will be completed.

It will be beautiful.

Here's hoping anyway.

Our master bedroom is not big by any means. I apologize for not having before pictures, but when we bought the house, we were in the full swing mode of "Get this sh*t done. Now." Even though it is not big enough to have a formal sitting area, which is part of the dream house, it is big enough for a reading nook. Or, at least, I made room for a reading nook.

Really, its a little corner, between a window and our dresser.

I sit there and put my shoes on in the morning, I read there. Ok, sometimes I read there.

In reality, I haven't had time for reading in a while.

But, you get the idea.

Isn't that chair amazing?! It was only $150. New! You know who found that? Nope, not me. Nope, not my amazingly stylish friend, Lindsay. Nope, not the friend with the gay style gene. Wait for it...It was GRUNT LABOR. That's right, the hubby found it. And, guess what?! It was at Costco! Who knew Costco could have such stylish furniture. I was speeding right by the furniture section headed straight for the meat department, when he pulled me down an aisle, proudly smiling with his chest puffed out as he showed me the prize he had found. I think his training is finally starting to kick in.

And that table, a Craiglist find. $5.

I'll show you how I made it pretty in another post.

Coming Soon (Hopefully) - Bedding

DIY Valentine Wreath & Art

Just in case you weren't following me last year (my blog has grown! Yay!), here are some Valentine decorations I did in the past:

 DIY Valentine Wreath

 Modge Podged Valentine Art

Genius Award?! Me?!

Hey y'all! Hope you guys are having an awesome weekend! Lyuba over at Will Cook For Smiles gave me a "Genius Award" this week for my Picnic Basket turned Rolling Table!

 

 

 

Yay! I'm pumped! Not sure, I am really "genius" status, but, hey, I'll take what I can get! She also featured some other really cool eats and projects. Head over to Will Cook for Smiles to check out her blog and some of the other awesome features!

 You can read more about my Picnic Basket turned Rolling Table here.

Lazy Girl's Simple Cheap Valentine Banner

Yep. Another "Lazy Girl's" post. Remember the DIY Lazy Girl's Cabinet / Shelf Treatment? This is another super easy, super lazy, DIY. This time, a Valentine's Day banner.

A few nights ago, I pulled out these not-really-vintage-but vintage-looking-valentine-cards I bought from Ross a couple years ago. I punched holes in the top corners of the cards and strung pink ribbon through them.

Let me tell ya, it was painstakingly difficult.

Then, I scotch taped it to my entry table. All in less than 10 minutes!

Voila! Easy, peasy, lazy, Valentine's Day banner.

Maybe next year, I'll find 10 more minutes and glitter it up!

Valentine Themed Chalkboard Wall

You guys remember my chalkboard wall?
The wall with all the cool quotes on it? Yep, that one.
Well, one of my goals this year is to make it more
 "seasonally themed."
I did new quotes and drawings for Christmas that you can see here. I wanted to do some for the new year, but that just didn't happen.
But this girl is on top of her game for Cupid's Day.
Check it out:

 

Nice, simple, and to the point. LOVE! 

I got some inspiration from Pinterest. You can follow me here and check out my Valentine's board to see the chalkboard pictures I pinned to help me out. 
My handwriting is not the best - especially not with chalk, but I think it turned out pretty cute!

DIY: Picnic Basket turned Rolling Table

So, I have this old picnic basket that was my grannie's. 

I love it. 

Its old and special. 

Now, as much as I would like to think that I will load up that picnic basket multiple times and frolic through woods and parks to have a picnic with my man and the Boog Boog, 

I won't. 

So, I made the basket more useful. I turned it into a table. 

A table with wheels. Now, it's a versatile picnic basket.

This is how it started out:

Your average vintage picnic basket. It has a lid, I had just already taken it off. I wanted to elevate it a bit more and make it easily movable, so I added some wheels I had laying around.

The original bottom was not white beadboard. The old one had rotted out. This was its replacement.

And the after:

 

 

The best thing is I can still use it as a picnic basket when we do take a picnic, the wheels won't interfere! In fact, I may just tie a string to it and pull the damn thing. 

Its also great for storage.

It fits snugly between two chairs in the living room. 

It is happy. I am happy. Grannie is happy. 

All is well in the world. 

DIY: Cheap Lazy Girl's Way to add Interest to Cabinets & Book Shelves

Everyone has seen the pins where people add wallpaper, or paint stencils, or simply paint the backs of their cabinets and shelves to add some depth and more interest. Well, I wanted to do something similar, but I didn't have a lot of time to do it (if only I didn't require sleep!) and didn't want to spend a lot of $$ on it either (I'm just plain 'ol cheap). Enter $0.50 a roll Target wrapping paper.

Yes, people. $0.50!!! And its cute wrapping paper!! It was originally just $1, but luckily for my cheap butt, it was half off at the dollar spot after Christmas! Whoo Hoo!!

I have my Great Grandmother's china cabinet which I turned liquor cabinet that I wanted to add something more to (Close your mouth, she would want me to use it, and not just leave it in a corner somewhere, even if it means it is now a liquor cabinet.)

This is the before:

It was cluttered and all black. Not a lot of detail at all. It definitley needed something!

And this is the after:

Y'all, it was SO simple and easy. I was super lazy that day, so it had to be if it was going to get done! I just held the wrapping paper up between the shelves to get a rough estimate of the height I needed to cut. Then, I cut it and put it between each shelf against the back of the cabinet, took a razor blade and cut off the excess. The lines are not perfect, but who can tell?! And all I did to hold it onto the back was scotch tape. Seriously! Just plain, old, some generic brand, tape! And its held up so far for 2 weeks! What do ya'll think?



Y'all, Bear with Me

I'm trying to make the blog prettier and easier to navigate, so bear with me for a little while. I am not a tech savvy person! Thanks, Y'all! -Jenna

DIY Bottle Lamp Re-Visited

I've already done a post on the Top Viewed Posts of 2012, but I thought I would share one of my own favorite things I did from 2012.

My DIY Bottle Lamp! 

Ya'll, it is so easy to turn almost anything into a lamp! This bottle was no exception. All you do is buy a bottle lamp kit from your local hardware store! You can read the full post about the lamp here. 

DIY Metal Basket Shelving

With the new year upon us, it seems that everyone is into organization and storage, myself included. You guys should see the crap I've cleaned out of my closets!

  Since my Coke Crate Tie Organizer was such a big hit (read about it here), I thought I would update an older post, DIY Metal Basket Shelving. 

 

I just mounted (super easy!) old metal baskets to the wall and they became cookbook storage in my kitchen. 

Cheap, easy, functional, and full of character! 

Read all about how to do it here.

I also had another old basket lying around and did the same thing with it in my guest room. 

Read the full post about DIY Metal Basket Shelving here.

I've been featured!

My Coke Crate Tie Holder has been featured at two different blogs today:

The Girl Creative

 

Under the Table and Dreaming

 

There are some great features at both sites, so head over and check them out! 

  

If you want to read more about the Coke Crate Tie Holder, head over here!