Sunday, February 26, 2012

Coca-Cola End Table

I threw this together with a few things we had around the house

Isn't she cute?

This project started when I was deciding where to store the metal tub that I'd purchased to put our Christmas Tree in.

I had this piece of glass on an old wobbly table that I put outside on the deck.  The base is garbage but I just couldn't bring myself to throw both the base and glass out.


I cleaned the glass and checked it on the top of the of the tub to see the fit and make sure it wasn't  going to wobble ... I hate glass that wobbles!

Here's the tub prior to adding the logo.

I found a Coco-Cola Logo online and imported into my Silhouette Design software.
Then I cut a stencil with my Silhouette Cameo (I love my Silhouette!).

I just used some white acrylic craft paint to paint out the logo.

The table needed to be higher, we were going to add legs but in my haste to get something finished I started hunting around the house and found an aged metal tray with legs that I could never find a good use for.  I added a cut up 2 x 4 on top of the tray to lift the tub just a hint more.  Done!

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Friday, February 24, 2012

Picture Perfect Room ... The final reveal of our entrance

Yay!  It's done.  Actually it's been done for a couple of weeks but I put up blogging about it so I could reveal over at Funky Junk Interiors SNS 122.

So, here's where we started ...

 Isn't it pretty?  I knew the open hanging rack had to go from the day we moved in.

This is what it looked like once inside the house looking back at the entrance porch.


Original Light.

Ahhhh!  Now this is an entrance I'm proud to come home to.

This image is a little warm, it was taken with the new light on and a little later in the day.
The new blinds and home made valances are so much better then the sheers.


And this is the new light.

I posted previously on the creation of the entrance bench here.
I also posted here about the window coverings and the Beach sign here.


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Saturday, February 11, 2012

Faux Brick ... our journey to the perfect finish

Phew!  What a relief, it feels so great that this project is now complete.

We started this project December 2010, I blogged about the FIRST reveal here.

In March last year I blogged that I was not happy with the original finish, that post is here.

I won't keep you in suspense, here is the final reveal ...




Now, back to November 2010 ...

First we primed the wall with white primer.  After the primer was applied I came across some faux brick wallpaper, we considered just putting up one of these and calling it a day.

 We were back and forth about the wallpaper for a week.  Rather than discussing anymore Frank got to work creating the brick.  He applied drywall compound to the wall and the bulk heads.  As he applied the compound he let it set for a bit then he would carve the brick shape out.  He used a large flat head screwdriver to carve the mortar lines.  We did not want perfect bricks, we wanted it to look old. If you want a more uniform look you can paint your wall the colour that you would like your mortar lines then tape out the brick pattern, then start to apply the compound.  Make sure you remove the tape before the compound dries!
Above is the wall with the drywall mud applied to it.

This is a closer look.

This is the 1st reveal of the wall all painted.
Something wasn't right, I kept playing with the paint but just couldn't get it to where I wanted.

I searched the internet and found this image, this is the beachy brick finish I wanted.


Frank to the rescue again, he painted the whole wall white, then sponged a mixture 
of greys with hints of warm brown paint to the brick.  Sooo much better!
The only thing needed now is some added shape and shadowing.  
The mantle shelf is painted with ASCP Old White here, after this picture was taken I sanded the shelf to distress it then applied clear and dark wax to give it an aged look.


Here is the completed wall!  Yay!  

Update to this post, the cost to complete the final look of this wall was less then $50.  1 pail of drywall compound $12, we already had a gallon of Behr Swiss Coffee paint with primer which was used to seal the compound and as our base colour for the finished wall, the brick colour and shadows were done using small bottles of acrylic craft paint from Michaels.  

We had done this on a smaller scale in the past, we did a back splash in a previous home.  When done as a back splash make sure you protect it with a sealant if water will be splashed on it (can't remember what we used)




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Sunday, February 5, 2012

Coffee Table/Bench Makeover is finally complete!

The end of last year we picked up this coffee table for $16 at our local thrift store.  It's really sturdy, I had a vision of it becoming the perfect entrance bench.   It's so darn pretty I was torn when it came to painting it (not!)


After sanding the top,  the top was painted with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint, Louis Blue then I added this phrase that was cut using my Silhouette Cameo.  The navy blue is vinyl that is being used as a mask that will be peeled off after the next layer of paint...
We also removed the doors.  Relax ... it's going to look great!
Here is it after being completely painted in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint Graphite, then I peeled off the vinyl so the Louis Blue could show through.

Then I distressed the whole table/bench, and waxed it with Annie Sloan Clear wax,  I also used a small amount of dark wax over the exposed wood areas to give them a richer look.


Here she is in her final glory!  As you can see it was made for this area, there isn't an inch to spare.
I added the baskets which we are using for Buddy's leash, our gloves, mitts and other items that used to end up on the shelf above.


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Jennifer Rizzo: Thrift Store Makeover