2012 September

n Progress: French Doors for the Living Room/Office

September 28, 2012

Warning: These pictures are not “styled” or “pretty.” This is to document my progress on our office and the doors. If you happen to follow me on Instagram and/or facebook then you were able to see the newest project we’ve started here at Hydrangea Home.

For those of you that don’t know, when we moved last year, my hubby kept his job and now works from home. He first started out in the ~~dungeon~~ basement, in a small 5×7 room that was actually located inside of a larger storage area. He put his desk on the wall where the wood board is and this was his office space. This picture is from move in day.

I eventually convinced him to move to the main floor where there was natural sunlight and no spiders. First we tried moving the dining room into the formal living room and put his office in the old dining room. Here he is working hard in the dining room/office.

When the kids were home it would get kind of loud in there as it was right next to the kitchen so then I suggested he move into the formal living room. Of course he didn’t want to because the room is really big. Here is what it looked like when we moved in with our Ektorp furniture.

This is the bare and empty room he works in. Can you tell we’re getting ready to install the doors and I didn’t really take a stellar photo? We were in a hurry! We also have that really awesome light fixture hanging in the middle of the room. I hope this picture doesn’t get pinned a lot for all its awesomeness, I didn’t even watermark it. ;)

After a few hours of hard work by my awesome hubby, we have doors! No trim, non painted doors but doors none the less! How embarassing, our shims are showing! In case you need help figuring it out, this is from the entryway looking into his office/the old living room.

From the dining room side looking into the office:

Hoping to paint the doors next week. Let me add some pretty images to this post before I lose all my readers. I’m thinking of painting the french doors black, I love the look, what do you think?

I’m taking off today for some girl time and a great conference. Really looking forward to getting away, getting refreshed and having lots of fun too. Have a great weekend friends!!!

By ange 9 Comments Filed Under: Living room NP, office

Our Master Bathroom Needs Help!

September 23, 2012

This week we are going to talk about the Master Bathroom because I need your help and it’s time to get this thing done. Last fall I painted our master bedroom Hale Navy by Benjamin Moore, then I stenciled a wall and added some stripes to our closet. I love our bedroom, it is something different than the usual calm and serene bedrooms, which I love too but this has some personality and spunk, like me, it seems fitting. I plan on updating the pics in this room very very soon. I just need a bed skirt of all things.

All is right in the world, that is until I lay in my bed and look directly into the master bathroom.

WARNING: These photos are crappy, I have a hard time photographing a room with no natural light.

I painted the oak vanity white last fall, after a paint failure with a dark brown that looked like purple poop.

The walls are still beige just like about 1/2 of the entire house that needs to be painted. I am on a mission to eradicate the beige, no offense to you lovers of beige (which includes my mom), I am more of a gray and blue kind of girl. I was going to crop out the vent hanging down from the ceiling but I kept my photo somewhat real for you. I did clean the bathroom before taking pictures, I have to draw a line somewhere. Look, we even put the lid down for you.

My shower curtain is from Target and I like it but it just doesn’t flow with the bedroom. It was a we just moved in and need a shower curtain so we can shower type purchase, it was cute, it matched the room at the time, it worked.

Last week I thought I’d try out some rub n buff on my mirror which already has some white paint on it. Oops, I’m not the most careful painter out there. I like where it’s going but it needs a lot more work. I try to rub n buff while brushing my teeth but it doesn’t work very well. At least the professional painter was messy too, it looks like he didn’t tape the counter before painting. I feel better now, at least we didn’t pay to get paint on the mirror.

I think I’ve had a hard time moving forward on this bathroom because I don’t know what color to paint it. Navy seems like an obvious choice, right? (Click on the picture to be taken to the source page for pinning please, thank you!)

I also considered coral which I love, these bathrooms sure are gorgeous! I could not find the original source for this first picture, if you know where it’s from I’d love to re-pin it and credit the original source.

I also think plank walls would look fabulous in there as well. Again the first image does not have an original source.

Colored vanities are cool, something other than the traditional white, brown or black. I’m also loving the wallpaper and stencil look, I think these pics are my most favorite bathrooms pictures which are all different styles of course. I like to keep it interesting and I have Design Style ADD.

Do you love your master bathroom? Have you painted your vanity lately? Do you have Style ADD? Any ideas for my bathroom?

I’d love to hear from you!

By ange 13 Comments Filed Under: bathroom

I love my kitchen!

September 18, 2012

Last time I left off with my kitchen cabinets was in June, we were heading off for our vacation and I had just finished painting the last coat on the cabinets after my Rustoleum Cabinet Transformations failure. After working on my pantry last week,

and finishing up some other things in the kitchen, like a valance, curtains by the patio and hardware on the doors, I thought maybe I should share the updated photos. I scored my hardware on clearance last week and the hubby was kind enough to put it on right away. Here’s my hardware up close and personal, I’m in love! It’s the the Martha Stewart Bedford Brass collection at Home Depot. They are $1.98 online right now but in the store mine were only $1.50 each. A nice savings as they were originally $4.00 each when I first lusted after them.

I am doing a little before and after so you can appreciate how far this kitchen has come. We are not done in here but it will be a while before the backsplash, countertop, lighting and faucet are done. I left a few cabinet doors off to try out open cabinetry and I like it. I think we may even fill in the holes for the hinges we like it so much.

The fabric for the valance over the sink is Java Ikat Pewter by Magnolia Home Fashions, you can find it on fabric.com here.

The rug by the patio door is from Shaw Flooring, Kashmir Beige. This rug is awesome, it feels so plush and wonderful, I would definitely purchase a rug from their collection.

Wall color is Gray Owl by Benjamin Moore. Lower cabinets are Desert Twilight by Benjamin Moore in Ace Cabinet and Trim Paint. Upper Cabinets are High Hiding White in Ace Cabinet and Trim Paint.

I LOVE my kitchen, it’s so calm and pretty, light and bright. Have you painted your cabinets? Do you love your kitchen as much as I love mine?

Linking up here:

By ange 28 Comments Filed Under: kitchen, Uncategorized

DIY Entertainment Center Into a Play Kitchen

September 15, 2012

UPDATE: This kitchen has been pinned a lot. I have since reshot pics of the play kitchen with better lighting and a better camera. The pictures towards the bottom of the post are the original but if you want to pin this, I suggest using the newer pics which are now first.

Thanks to Pinterest and the lady who listed her entertainment center for free on Craigslist, my husband and I were able to make our kids a play kitchen for Christmas. This was even on the list of my almost 11 year old daughter for Christmas, she said they missed our old kitchen we made last year together with what we had laying around our home.

Although our last kitchen was fun and easy to make, the kids were hoping for something a little bigger this time. There is some great inspiration and creativity out there in blogland which helped my hubby visualize what I was hoping to do. Check out some of these great kitchens and please, please, please head over to the original blogger if you are going to pin these next three kitchen pics, they would like the credit just as I would want credit for my work! Under the photo you will find the link directly to the blog post for pinning.

Source: http://kellyandherboys.blogspot.com/2010/06/prepare-to-be-wowed.html

Source: http://doubletakedecor.blogspot.com/2011/09/play-kitchen-that-will-last.html

Source: http://mcbabybump.blogspot.com/2011/03/diy-manly-play-kitchen.html

The debate we started with was the glass doors, to remove them or keep them on. We thought it would be a nice “fridge” so I spray painted the inside of the glass doors for the fridge with the aluminum spray paint. Next I smoothed out clear contact paper over the doors so the paint wouldn’t scratch off, the contact paper side is also on the inside of the doors. If it was a fail we would resort to plan B, which we didn’t really have in place. After 9 months the glass and contact paper are still holding up perfectly!

The countertop was made using Contact Paper from Target for $5 a roll with plenty left over for other projects or maybe more play kitchens. I had so much fun making this one that I would love to do some more. If you live near me and want to place an order, let me know!

For the sink we used a stainless steel bowl we found at Savers for $3 and we purchased the faucet from Wal-Mart for $11. Hubby cut out a hole and then just placed the bowl in there and used some liquid nails around the edge to keep it secure. For the faucet he drilled the holes and screwed it in.

To make the cooktop we purchased a piece of 11×14 clear acrylic from Home Depot for $2. I spray painted the back of it with black spray paint so that it wouldn’t scratch off when the kids were playing with it. The spray paint also gave the cooktop a speckled look that you can see in the picture with it on top of the white paper. I then spray painted some blank cd-r discs black as well and used some acrylic paint I had on hand to paint the outer edge gray and a few of the inner edges with a circle as well to resemble a cooktop burner. The cd’s were then covered with the clear contact paper so once again, the paint wouldn’t scratch off from being played with. The knobs for the cooktop were free from a local Appliance Store. I called and asked if they sold oven knobs and I was told I could order some. When I explained I was looking for some for a play kitchen for my kids, the man told me to come down and I could dig through a box of miscellaneous knobs they had. I love free stuff! Liquid Nails was our best friend and what we used to glue down the cd’s to the cooktop and then the cooktop to the countertop. For the oven knobs the hubby drilled holes through the plexiglass and then pounded a picture nail partway through but sticking up enough so that the knobs stick on there.

The back of the entertainment center was open so we used some beadboard that was leftover scraps from our friends’ dining room project , so it was free which is always nice. The light above the sink is a push button light from the dollar store that is battery operated, we originally purchased a similar light at Home Depot for $6 but returned it after we found the same thing for a dollar. The light is attached with velcro squares to the ceiling, so when we need to change the batteries we can just pull down the light, change them out and then velcro it back up there. My husband thinks of all these things, that’s why we work so well together!

For the oven door, my hubby used his jig saw and cut the square shape out and attached a piece of clear plexiglass ($2) to the inside of the oven door with screws. The plexiglass did end up breaking a bit near the top so he was very careful putting in the last screw the second time around.

For the wire shelf in the oven, we purchased a piece of shelving from Home Depot for $5 and used a hack saw to cut off the appropriate width. He cut it a little too tight but that worked in our favor and then he used two screws on each side to hold the front of the rack in place. It was already gray so we didn’t need to spray paint it.

The handles for the stove and the pantry were a bit pricey, the oven handle was $9 and the pantry was $6, the handle for the small door under the sink was only $3 . I spray painted the hinges on the doors with a $3 can of Rustoleum Alumninum spray paint which we also used for the oven door, fridge door handles and the fridge doors as well.

The kitchen is done for now but as the kids play with it, we may turn the cupboard under the sink into a dishwasher and possibly add a microwave too. For now it’s getting played with and the kids love it!

Rough estimate for the total cost of this project is $100 including the picture frame, the hand towel, oven mitt and washcloths all which came from the dollar store. If you have any questions about this, I’d love to answer them! I hope this will inspire you to turn a piece of furniture into something fun for you children or grandchildren.

I’m linking up here:

By ange 28 Comments Filed Under: Before and After, projects

My Pretty Pantry

September 11, 2012

Fall is in there air and apparently it makes me want to nest. I have been finishing up projects and starting a few new ones the past week since the kids started school. On a whim the other day I decided to paint the pantry which led to also painting the mudroom. Don’t ask. I don’t really know how these things happen either. Let’s look back at how our pantry looked a few days after moving in, that might explain why we have a screwdriver and a door handle with drinking glasses on the counter top.

Since last July, I’ve painted the walls (Gray Owl), painted the cabinets, painted the trim and hubby changed out the door. There has been definite progress made in this house.

I’m really loving where this room is headed but the pantry was looking a little unorganized and vanilla. No pop, no cuteness, just some shelving and a mish mash of stuff.

I cleared out the pantry, painted with some Gray Owl, ran out, bought some slightly darker colored paint, painted some more, painted the wood slats on the sides white and then sat back and admired my work.

After admiring the pretty color, I decided that a stencil would make the pantry walls even lovelier. I don’t hoard much but apparently I do hoard stencils as I had one from Hobby Lobby I that purchased last year sometime just laying around in the basement. Not sure how many rooms I need to stencil before I qualify as a crazy stencil but this is my third. The hubby was a great help in getting my stencil started for me, I always struggle placing it on the wall the first time. He’s much more precise and patient than I am so we make a good team. With the boards for the shelving on the sides, it was extremely difficult to stencil the outer edges. As you can see, they were looking a little rough. I also was growing tired of stenciling and maybe wasn’t as careful lining up as I should have been towards the bottom where it’s a bit gappy, oops!

How to fix the corners? My new plan was to draw a border around the edges and paint it in, so it looks like frame. Hubby to the rescue again, he knows how to use a straight edge if you know what I mean. He drew a nice straight line so I had a guide for taping.

I taped the wall with my favoritest of all favorite tapes, Scotch Blue with Edge-Lock, and no they didn’t pay me to say that, they have no clue who I am, I just happen to love their tape. This stuff is the bomb diggity people, it is magical. I fell in love with it while painting stripes in the master bedroom closet.

All that’s left is for me to paint the border and voila, it’s done!

Well ok smarties, I had to then remove the tape and after that I was done. No more rough edges in this house!

My hubby purchased two eight foot boards of melamine shelving from Menards for $12 each or $24 total. He cut the two pieces to make four shelves that look beautiful and fit perfectly! Look at that hottie hard at work in the pantry and what nice buns too. He’s working so fast I can’t even catch a good photo of him without blurring. That’s my man ladies, I’m one lucky girl!

Finally, the fun part! I rearranged my pantry and my cupboards, it’s hard to know where to put things in the kitchen sometimes. My baking supplies went back into the pantry, the canned goods moved out. The kitchen makes more sense functionally now, hopefully I can remember where everything goes. The details on storage and such are at the end of the post. Enjoy the pics!

The large and small clear storage containers are from a mid-west grocery store from a few years ago and a few are from Shopko. I made the labels for the containers using Avery clear shipping labels from Wal-Mart, a package was around $7. The labels are not water proof so you must be very careful washing the containers or grabbing them with wet hands. The white plastic baskets are Sterilite brand from Target and I can not find the large size ones in stores or online right now, it says they are sold out. I hope they continue to carry this type which are more sturdy and square shaped than some other Sterilite containers I have seen in the stores. These particular ones also stack which is a nice feature. The medium and small ones are still sold at Target and also come in black, they are located in the storage section near the garbage cans. FYI, I am on the lookout for some nice clear cereal containers that are cheap but sturdy, if you know of some that meet my ~~ridiculous~~ criteria, I’d love to know where I can purchase some. The wall color is Benjamin Moore Sea Haze and the stencil is found at Hobby Lobby, it’s the Moroccan Wall Stencil. Don’t forget to use a 40% off coupon if it’s not on sale.

A few days ago I posted a pic of my cabinets without the doors and the kitchen looked so pretty.

Well after redoing a pantry, working on a valance in the window above the sink, starting to install hardware on the cabinets and other general mayhem, here’s the reality of behind the camera in my kitchen the past few days.

I just can’t leave off with that last picture, so here’s my favorite pantry picture featuring Heidi Schnauzer.

I’m linking up here:

By ange 29 Comments Filed Under: Uncategorized

My Fall Mantel

September 6, 2012

The kids are back to school, the pool is being drained, leaves are starting to turn, the temperature is a cool 95 degrees, ok ignore that last part but everything else points to falls arrival. My friend Erin at How to Nest for Less posted a pic of her beautiful fall mantel and I was feeling inspired to change mine up after seeing hers. If you want to pin this image, please head over to this post and pin directly from her blog.

It was also probably the feeling of sweet freedom as all 4 children were in school and I had ~~laundry and dishes~~ nothing to do. The bub’s started pre-school yesterday, this momma did not cry, ok well maybe I shed a tear of happiness as I have 7.5 hours to myself each week but who’s counting. He needs to get out and play with some peeps his age and I need some time alone so I can do important things, like ~~cleaning and organizing~~ playing with fall flowers in the dollar store for 45 minutes.

Here was mantel from sometime this spring/summer. I love my Martha Stewart Sunburst mirror but I have really had a hard time finding stuff that fit around it. By the way, I have a love hate relationship with mantel decorating. I see cute mantels like Erin’s and get all inspired and then I end up getting frustrated after two hours and just throw something up there. Something like the picture below.

Today after hauling up many different accessories from my storage area, trying things, taking pictures, posting to fb for feedback and tpssing goldfish at the bub’s while he sat on the couch, I came up with this. The right side I love, the left side is ok. I’m open to suggestions so please feel free to help a sister out. Part of my problem is that I am not a hoarder and I”m actually the opposite which I guess would be a minimalist. I don’t have a lot of “stuff” to work with for the mantel. I need to hit up some garage sales for books and maybe a few picture frames.

Just for fun, this is the mantel from last fall. Granted we had only been living in this house for about four months and I was still trying to figure out what furniture for which room, where to place the tv, etc.

The family room has come a long way in the past year, the painted trim and walls certainly lightened up the space. I think even in my photography there has been some improvement, thanks in part to a better camera but also trying to shoot in manual mode and learning some skills.

I’ve also realized while talking with my friend Jen that I don’t even own a pumpkin for fall! Can you believe it? Not a ceramic one, plastic one, wooden one, raffia one, crocheted one, fabric one, nothing. Hobby Lobby might be a good place to start, I have a birthday soon, maybe I should ask for pumpkins for my gifts. Maybe I will become a pumpkin hoarder. Do you own a pumpkin? Do you decorate your mantel for the seasons?

By ange 12 Comments Filed Under: family room, Uncategorized

Our Entryway Updated & Exciting News

September 1, 2012

I have some exciting news to share with you today, I’ve been selected as a finalist in the 30 days 30 bloggers Shaw Flooring Contest! For the entire month of September, so starting tomorrow, I am asking you to pretty please with a cherry on top and lots of whipped cream, to take a minute and vote for my entryway. The winner will receive a room of flooring from Shaw. Let me tell you, my bedroom carpet could really use some replacing and I’d love to try out some awesome hardwood type flooring in there! Just click on this link and you will be taken to the contest. Find my entryway, thie picture looks like this first one below and vote, easy peasy! They will also be featuring my blog one day during the month of September on their Shaw Floors facebook page, so head over and like them if you don’t already. There is also a contest for you, my readers, you can register to win in the Floor-A-Day Giveaway. Each day throughout September, they will be selecting a winner of a new floor from HGTV HOME Flooring by Shaw. How awesome is that! So spread the word, vote and register, who knows, maybe we both will win a new floor! Thanks guys!

I figured while we are talking about the entryway I’d update my post from last fall with some pictures, I painted the beige and made a few other changes as well.

Last year, while making a cloffice in our new home, we added a coat rack and shelving to the entryway for guests. It has been a great addition to our home and one of my favorite projects we’ve done so far. This is also when the trim painting started and what really encouraged me to do the whole house!

Here are some before shots, kind of blurry, I obviously didn’t know how to use the camera. Oh wait, I still don’t but I think my shots have improved some since last year.

Last fall we added the shelf, hooks and cloffice area to the front entryway.

While the beige wasn’t bad, I think it feels so much lighter and brighter after a fresh coat of BM Gray Owl and some other minor changes, including a dog that wants to be in the photos.