Grand Design

The Glitter Academy

2012-02-22T10:51:00.000-08:00

I'm going to a fun blogger craft night in Chandler on March 1st. It's going to be so much fun to get away from the kiddos and chat with fellow crafty bloggers.

If you live in the greater Phoenix area, you should come. If the fun night isn't enough to convince you maybe this will...

I'm giving away one of my chevron frames that night. I painted it the same turquoise color as my new shutters and I kind of love it.

In other news, I've been working on all the orders for these frames I got from etsy. So much in fact, that my normal life has come to a screeching halt and I decided I won't be making any more. Sorry if you wanted one, you'll just have to brave your own rendition. For those who did order, I'm FINISHED! WAHOO! I'll be shipping them all today so hopefully you'll get them soon. If you didn't order one and are in deep remorse, I guess you'll have to come to the glitter academy event and get this one!

A few changes and an upcoming project

2012-02-19T11:28:00.000-08:00

I've been crazy busy around here. My sweet husband turned 30 and we had a fun stache bash for him. I went to see the Broadway show Wicked for the first time and will hopefully see it every year for the rest of my life.

My husband bought me some new chairs for my Valentines day present. I'll do a post on them soon. But I thought I'd post a quick picture to keep you entertained until my life slows down.

My kids played with the boxes they came in for 2 days. It was pure entertainment. I'm also working on a fun project for my craft/ guest/ office that involves a hammer, some nail head trim, and zig zags. Of course.

Spring cleaning sale

2012-02-13T10:34:00.000-08:00

I'm doing some spring cleaning today and thought I might offer the items here on my blog to local readers. Sorry, no shipping!

Ruffled Ottoman $100

Slip covered ektorp chair from Ikea $75

Two light pink chipping window panes $80 for the pair

E-mail me at nikki_grandy@yahoo.com if you're interested!

Exterior Shutters and an injury

2012-02-05T10:09:00.000-08:00

I started this project last Thursday and was two boards short of finishing. I planned on going to Lowes and getting the boards on Friday. Then Thursday night my husband and I went to our weekly soccer game at an indoor arena here in Queen Creek. The game was going well until....

Some chick apparently thought we were playing for the world cup and took me out at the ankle.

So I've been hobbling around for the past 3 days. And can I just say that crutches are for the birds? My husband stayed home on Friday to take me to the doctor and has been running around after the kids for me. He even finished my last shutter and laid them out for me to paint. He's a keeper.

I painted it "Tropical Oasis" from Valspar and stained over the top of it with "Dark Walnut" from Provincial. The stain makes the blue paint color more green.

I did four of them for my two windows up front. If my HOA fines me for having too bright of a color will you all send them some hate mail for me?

I also planted tulips in a little red wagon but they're not doing too hot. I think because it's too hot!

Then I painted a mat at my front door. It doesn't function as an actual mud remover. I guess it doesn't really matter because my front yard is all hideous rock. That will all change over spring break. Anyways, the first time I tried it out it went horribly wrong...

FAIL. I figured I could paint it with regular paint and then seal it quickly but it bubbled and peeled before I could even finish painting. So I decided to use spray paint and it worked much better. They have a bigger selection of colors at Lowes and Walmart than at Home Depot. I used the same stencil on my pantry from Jones Design Co on the mat. You can download it here.

I may have gotten a little loopy using the spray paint because I got it all over the wall. I'll need to touch up that some day. It's the same size as other front door mats so if I need to change the color for a season I can just put another one right on top. I still need to apply an outdoor waterproof sealant on it. Hopefully it won't rain until I do.

And lastly, I changed out my wreath for this ruffled one my friend Jenna and I made. I got the idea off pinterest. It was really easy! That's all the outdoor projects for now. I think adding color will relieve my summer itch for a while. I can't wait for swimsuits and otter pops!

A quick craft

2012-02-01T07:31:00.000-08:00

I did a super easy and quick craft the other day using things from around my house. I'd been needing a place to store my jewelry away from sly 2 year old fingers for a while and came up with a mathematical solution to my problem.

Old window + Burlap + Antique knobs + Chicken wire + Drywall tub = Really cute and functional.

I should have done this before. It's like inventing a casserole. Throw in all your favorite things and bake. I threw in all my favorite things and drilled.

It would be really great for a mail/ office organizer too. I wonder if you backed it with a piece of metal and covered it in burlap, if it would still be magnetic enough to hang papers and stuff up. Any of you tried that before?

* I just put a piece of burlap with a paper over the top of it on my fridge with a magnet and it worked. To quote Sid the Science Kid, "My hypothesis was correct".*

Man, I need to get out more.

Gallery wall

2012-01-30T14:31:00.000-08:00

I know it's not spring yet in most of the U.S. but it sure feels that way here. In fact, it was a very sunny 76 degrees the other day and my kids were BEGGING me to go swimming. We didn't go swimming, but I did hose one of my kids down because he spilled ice cream down his shorts. He tried to run all serpentine style away from me but my back yard is little enough for the hose to reach ALL corners. Ha. I win.

Because it feels like spring to me, I felt the need for a little color in my life. After seeing multiple ideas on pinterest of how to frame out a flat screen, I decided to go with the trend and try it on my own. I used egg and dart molding from Home depot and some 1 x 6's.

Please excuse my reflection in the glass. good thing you can't see my pj's! My tv isn't as flat as I would like but I don't mind it being a little farther away from the wall.

My letter G in chevron paper. I'm a little obsessed right now with chevron. The paper is from ETC on Lindsay and University in Mesa.

My wooden crate houses remotes, wii paraphernalia (thank goodness for spell check :) and games.

The rest of the wall were things I had all over the house and stored in my craft closet. I still need to get my hunky electrician to pull all the wires for the speakers and tv through the wall so they're not showing but other than that, I'm all done!

Hope you like it. Now I'm on to sprucing up my front door with a painted door mat, new wreath, tulips and shutters. Happy almost spring!

Valentine Mantle and a new project

2012-01-25T08:06:00.000-08:00

I wasn't ready to redecorate my Christmas mantle yet. I really loved how it turned out regardless of how much of a fire hazard it was with my boys running around.

So I just took off the garland, added a new pennant banner I copied off pinterest and threw some tulips up there from Joanns and left the rest. Now that I see it in pictures though, I have to do something about the green bases on the tulips. Yikes.

I had some left over upholstery webbing from the garland (I purchased it at Hobby Lobby in the fabric section) so I made a few "red cross" pillows for my couch out of linen look fabric from Joanns.

I've also been working on a fun gallery wall around my t.v. I saw a bunch of people frame out their flat screens with molding on pinterest and wanted to try it out. I love love love the way it's turning out. I'll post pictures soon.

Linking up to Dear Lillie

Chevron picture frames

2012-01-19T10:03:00.000-08:00

I've received a huge number of e-mails in the last week or so regarding the zig zag picture frames I made for the barn sale. So I decided to open an etsy shop and make them available to ship!

I'm only making a limited number of them so if you need one in your life, I suggest you order fast!

*You have to search under SHOPS with the keyword granddesignco to find this listing.*

Thanks to all my readers for making my job fun!

Donnas Dining

2012-01-17T18:30:00.000-08:00

Remember how I said I'd show you pictures of my client Donna's kitchen? Well, here it is. I don't have a before picture of her kitchen, but it was pretty boring. All the wood was the same orange color and blended in with her wall color and flooring.

I love it now! We painted the cabinets a creamy white and glazed them. It brightened up the space so much. I can't wait to do it to my own ;)

My favorite thing about this kitchen now has to be the bar stools. I had a really hard time buying these for my client and not keeping them. How freaking amazing are they? I'e never seen this many in such amazing chippy condition. I sewed linen ruffle slipcovers for them to dress them up a little.

I bought the light fixtures at World Market. I love the industrial feel they brought to the room. And talk about inexpensive! I'll stop talking now and let you look...

We're all finished with the kitchen now except a few odds and ends. Donna is one of the most easy going people to work with. I hope all of my future clients are just like her!

Bunk Beds

2012-01-04T15:31:00.000-08:00

I fell in love with this image of bunk beds from pinterest...

So a couple days after Christmas my husband and I decided to try it out.

I'll take you through our 3 days of construction with these impressive iphone pictures.

I know, great quality right? Anyways, here's the after.

The kids have the perfect place behind the stairs to hide. It's not huge, so it makes for an interesting family sardines game. I still have to put up some trim to cover up where the bead board meets but other than that, it's all done. The two hinged boards on the bottom come up and we can pull out two trundle beds. So that makes a total of SIX twin beds in here.

I bought the light fixtures from Home Depot for $12.00 a piece. I drilled holes in the bottom and wired them to a lamp cord. The kids love it and have already figured out how to hang barbies from the fan. And I love it because when my sisters come to visit, we can chuck all 9 kids in there and watch a movie in peace.

Donnas living and dining room

2012-01-02T21:14:00.000-08:00

Sorry I've been gone so long, but I have a good excuse! My client Donna contacted me around Thanksgiving to redo her living and dining room. Unfortunately this was the only before picture I had.

You get it though. Kinda mismatched, a little dorm room feeling. We liked the wall color but that was about it.

This was the first item I found for the room. It was my foundation for the rest of the room and helped me find my gorgeous window treatments. We needed something large in scale and this did the trick.

The room wasn't lacking natural light. In fact, it needed some nice thick, lined curtains so you can actually watch t.v. in the afternoon and I found them at Pottery Barn. They had all the colors I wanted to bring into the room and I love the floral for the lead fabric in the space. Since the rooms are so open I brought the window treatments into the dining and kitchen as well, but used mostly the blue and cream in the living room, and the yellow and green from them in the dining room.

Here's the cute little doggie bed fashioned from an old suitcase I made. I'm not sure if her dog even likes it but I sure do.

And a few of the pillows for the sofa. The union jack one is my favorite, but you probably guessed that.

I still need to decorate the wall with the flat screen tv, so that picture will have to wait for a later date...

The coffee table was purchased at a local favorite of mine, The Potato Barn. I love me some chipping paint.

On to the dining area.

The dining space is small and joined with the kitchen. We couldn't fit a very large table in there and with all the raging parties she throws, we decided benches would be the best fit for her and all her company.

Lucky for me, World Market had the best French farmhouse table that came with benches. I love the distressed wood and it fit perfectly in her tiny space. The twelve pane window is from one of my favorite vendors from the barn sale. She is my source for all kinds of architectural salvage.

Most of the accessories and dishes are from World Market. I pulled the amazing vintage yellow color from the curtains for the upholstered chairs at the heads of the table. I also purchased those from World Market.

I am almost finished with the kitchen. It got the biggest face lift of the two rooms with creamy paint and glaze, new lighting, bar stools and accessories. Stay tuned for those pics!

Pennant banner garland

2011-12-23T09:23:00.000-08:00

I had the best intentions this year of decorating my house like Christmas spirit threw up all over the place. But it pretty much ended with a couple wreaths, and mantle and my Christmas tree. Baby steps I guess.

I did make this pennant banner for my Christmas tree though. I absolutely love how it turned out. And it took about an hour.

I used double fold bias tape from Hobby Lobby, cut out the triangles, and hot glued them into the binding. Easy peasy.

Sorry it's been a while since I posted. Between my clients, kids, cooking and cleaning I haven't had much time for my own projects. I'm almost finished with one clients kitchen and dining room though so I'll have pictures for you after Christmas!

Thanks for not giving up on me!

Sweater wreath

2011-12-13T10:27:00.000-08:00

This is the post I said I would do. On Sunday. Unfortunately fate has brought me a wicked cold so I've been meeting my kids basic survival needs the past couple of days and that's pretty much it.

I still don't know how I feel about it. I love the sweater base. I love the burlap ribbon. I love the berries. All together though, I'm not sure.

Oh well, I'll want to change it out in January again anyways.

Feature and Katie

2011-12-10T18:46:00.001-08:00

I was featured at Knock off Decor today for some Christmas pillows I made a couple years ago. You can check it out here. Thanks for the feature!

I finished my textile class this past Friday. Here's a pic of my final project. I was assigned a "coastal bungalow". I really enjoyed everything about the class except staying up till 3am finishing huge notebooks full of fabric samples and images.

I can't for the freaking life of me turn this picture around. And now I want to karate chop my computer so I'm just going to move on. Turn your head to the right. It'll help stretch your neck. Very ergonomical and stuff.

I've also been working on a new project. I was contacted by a client a couple of weeks ago to redesign her kitchen, dining, and living room. I'm almost finished with it, the cabinets are being refinished as we speak! I can't wait to show you all next week!

Katie is gone :(. We did one last horrah project that I'll show you tomorrow. Here's a before picture...

Check out that sexy sweater! She tried to class it up as much as she could but it looks way better as a wreath on my front door. Also, come back Katie. I miss you. Oregon is cold and full of vampires, Arizona is the place to be!

A few Christmasish pics

2011-12-04T13:42:00.001-08:00

I've been getting in the Holiday spirit lately. I'm usually kind of a grinch about Christmas decorating. In fact, this is the first year I haven't complained about putting up a tree. Here are some shots of the minimal Holiday decorating I've done.

I'm planning on making some mercury glass ornaments to add to my tree. The tree is a pencil tree my friend Jamie let me use. She moved into a house that had a lower ceiling so she traded me for my short fat one. Little did she know, only half my lights worked. I'm real sorry Jamie. Sucker.

I picked up this door at the last barn sale. It used to be in an old school house and is a beautiful gray color. I wanted to use this gear wreath on my front door but it sounds like a freaking car accident every time my kids open and shut the door. So here it will sit until I install a doggie door for my kids. Just kidding. Or am I...

3 Christmas mantles

2011-12-01T10:26:00.001-08:00

Katie and I were playing around with my mantles this week. We came up with 3 different mantles that I liked for different reasons.

The first had a simple, fun, vintage and COLORFUL theme.

I used some letters I bought at the last barn sale to spell noel, and used vintage Christmas lights I found at Goodwill in Mesa. It was a little too colorful for me though.

The second was all white and green.

I ran by Home Depot last week and picked up some Christmas tree clippings from the garden section (they give them away for free) and stacked some white frames in the back to give it a little depth. Still wasn't really feeling it...

The third hit the spot for me. It's more romantic/ antique.

I had a beautiful antique ceiling tin I was trying to find the perfect spot for. I got the garland from Hobby Lobby and found some other goodies from around the house to put on it.

I made the stockings out of rugs from Ikea. They're $3.99 per rug and got 3 peices (1 1/2 stockings) out of each. I used burlap ribbon for the top. I have to warn you though, if you decide to do this, the rug frays like crazy so either use no fray, surge the edges, or zig zag like crazy when you sew them. Or a combination of all of those just to be safe. It's a great inexpensive way to get nice thick stockings though. They had them in multiple colors and stripes as well.

New paint and chandeliers

2011-11-30T08:36:00.001-08:00

Thanksgiving weekend was a productive one here. My lover hung a couple chandeliers over my dining table, we finished painting the great room and we only had one casualty! My four year old fell off the 3rd step of the ladder and broke his arm. I am, as we speak, trying desperately to keep him off the trampoline until we can at least get the hard cast put on. I'm sure it's just the first of many broken bones with 3 rowdy boys.

Here's a picture of the new color in our great room and the chandeliers. I absolutely love how much light it brings into the room. The paint color is a perfect grayish tan. It's called wheat bread from Behr.

My bestie Katie is here for a couple weeks. We've been busy breaking up fights between our kids and crafting. Her visits always go by way too fast. Today we're working on a fun Christmas mantle posting for later this week today and heading out to Ikea for a client. Should be a good day!

How to get that vintage look with fabric

2011-11-21T09:17:00.001-08:00

I've been wanting some red cross pillows for the boys room. I thought a pop of red would look great in their room. My sister pinned these a couple days ago and I decided to go for it and make them.

Here's the link if you want to just buy them

I bought 3 oatmeal colored linen look pillows that Ikea just came out with. They were $13 a piece. (They also have them in white :) They're 24'' x 24'' which was just the size I needed. I wanted my pillows to look like I actually used vintage fabric, instead of sewing on a felt cross so I decided to paint the crosses on.

I experimented a little this time though. I taped off the crosses onto the front of the pillows and stuck a piece of cardboard behind them (so the paint wouldn't bleed through). Then I mixed paint medium into 3 different containers, 3 different ways.

This is the first pillow. I added the least amount of paint medium into the paint for this one, a 2 part paint, 1 part medium, or 2:1. (this is what the bottle tells you to do) And I let it dry the longest before I washed it. I washed all three at the same time so the one I finished with first had the longest to dry. The color was more vibrant and didn't wash out as much in the wash.

This is the second. I added 1 part paint, 1 part medium, or 1:1. When I washed it out, more of the paint came off but it still had a lot of the vibrancy left.

The third pillow was 1 part paint, 2 parts medium, or 1:2. It had the least amount of time to dry and the most amount of medium. It came out of the dryer with the most amazing complete vintage look that I didn't think could be replicated.

So, in conclusion my dear friends, my hypothesis was correct. (that's a direct quote from my 6 year old) The more medium you use, the more your paint will come out. Adding the medium also softens the paint and makes it appear printed on the fabric. You could never tell that I used simple craft paint. I love them.

Great buy

2011-11-20T11:44:00.000-08:00

I went into Anthropologie the other night. This is absolutely one of my favorite stores. But on a realistic budget, I can only shop there for ideas.

I love love love the bedding there too. Well, it must have been my luck night. Because I found this king sized duvet...

On clearance for this much...

I also got 3 euro shams for $11.95 each. It's EXACTLY the same color as my walls. Lucky me! I loved my all white bedding, but I love it mixed in with the white too. SCORE!!! I took a quick pic of it on my bed. It's a little too much gray now though, I'm thinking of doing some paint treatment on the headboard wall. Any ideas would be appreciated! I loved the stripes in my old master, I'll probably do something like that.

Painting chippy furniture

2011-11-12T11:41:00.001-08:00

I got a crazy hair the other day and decided to paint the light pink hutch that used to be in Paysens room white. It was a hard decision because it had original chipping paint. How do you feel about painting furniture with great patina? I used to not be able to tell the difference, but now I can spot a fake from a mile away.

I didn't want to take that great patina away, but I'm glad I did. It just wasn't the right color. I like it WAY better white. I should kick myself for waiting so long to do it. I painted the back a light grey color. I also knew I wanted to hang a couple wreaths on the doors but when I went to Hobby Lobby, they were huge and way to expensive. So I ended up getting 3 sprigs (I think that's what they're called) and wiring them together into a circle. Each sprig was $2, so each wreath ended up being $6 total.

Check out my new dining table. I got it and two chairs at the barn sale for a whopping $40. I refinished the top immediately so I could use it but I still need to paint the base the same white as the hutch and reupholster the two chairs that came with it. The color on the walls will also soon be painted a lighter, grayer tan. That's why I haven't hung anything on the wall yet.

I also decided to move around some light fixtures in the house. I'm getting not one, but TWO chandeliers above my dining table. Then I can really smack around some friends when we sit down to play monopoly deal. Have you ever played that? I highly recommend it.

Lastly, I don't know if you noticed, but I added some features to my blog on the right. You can now subscribe to be notified via e-mail when I update, search my blog for key words, and view my most popular postings! All so I can make looking at my blog user friendly enough for my mom. Just kiddin. I love you mom.

Winner winner chicken dinner.

2011-11-10T21:13:00.001-08:00

So I have a winner. I realize this giveaway is open for another hour but I figured if you procrastinated this much, you're probably not going to find out until like next month even if you do win.

Onto the winner. I used my best friend in Texas as a number generator. Don't worry, I already made her two of them. She has no interest in cheating so she would win. Anyways, she said..... 18. I almost made her pick a different number because I got this e-mail from the winner and I didn't know if I wanted to break her losing streak.

"Ok, I NEVER win anything, I'm a total loser. Seriously, we used to have drawings at my work for Christmas, and they would have 152 tickets and 150 prizes and I wouldn't win. I'm not kidding."

It made me laugh. There you have it Shireen Olsen. I broke your crappy curse. I'll e-mail you with more info.

And thanks to all who participated in the giveaway! I'm thinking you all deserve a super easy tutorial on how to make one yourselves!

Veterans Day

2011-11-09T10:21:00.000-08:00

I don't talk here very often about my real life. But since veterans day is coming up, I thought I'd share with you a little of why it means something more to me now.

I always thought of a veteran as someone all old with a leather vest that has lots of patches. But turns out, a veteran is anyone who's gone to war. Which means I have my very own veteran now. My husband flies Blackhawk helicopters for the army and he deployed to Iraq for a year. Here's a picture of him in his tiny room.

This is how I spoke to my husband for an entire year. I would like to personally kiss the person who invented webcam.

There were so many times during my husbands deployment that I questioned why he was gone. Why did he leave me, pregnant with our 4th child, to go to some base out in the middle of nowhere for an entire year? What was he fighting a war for? Was it all worth it?

I'm sure that for my husband, he had known those answers for a while. I honestly believe he has always had a deep pride for our country and he is the perfect man to lead our soldiers in war. But it wasn't until he got home that those questions were answered for me.

It wasn't until I saw this.

My husband, the love of my life, marching in formation home to me. I knew that no matter how many sleepless nights I had, no matter how often I cried from missing him so much, it was all worth it. I felt my heart swell with pride for my country, my great state of Arizona, and my family.

This is what I remember every veterans day now. I remember the hardest year of my life and the sacrifices that so many amazing men and women make to fight for our freedom. I hope on veterans day you can take the time to think about a young soldier in his little metal box in the middle of nowhere who is there to fight for you.

Chevron Frame Give Away!

2011-11-07T21:11:00.000-08:00

I had so much interest in the chevron frames I made for the barn sale this weekend that I decided to give one away on my blog! All you have to do is become a follower if you're not already, and leave a comment with your preferred color (black, pink, yellow, light gray, red... heck, it can be pretty much any color).

If you post about the giveaway on facebook or your blog, it'll give you extra entries, just make sure you let me know in your comments.

P.S. the frames are 24" x 24". They're HUGE! Good luck, I'll pick the winner on Friday!

* I've gotten a few e-mails saying they can't make a comment on this posting. If you can't, just shoot me an e-mail at nikki_grandy@yahoo.com with your entry*

Barn sale pics

2011-11-06T08:30:00.001-08:00

Well, another barn sale has come and gone. I unfortunately came home with more than I went with because I kept buying other peoples stuff! That was hard to explain to my husband ;) It was a huge success, thanks to all that came. Thanks, most of all, for braving the giant Haboob that came through Friday afternoon. Curse that mother nature for sending us a storm!

The next sale will be the first weekend in March. The historical district in Mesa puts on a weekend event called Lehi days complete with a carnival, great food, a rodeo and other activities and we're having it the same weekend! It should be great fun! And more importantly, the weather should be B-E-A utiful!

Here are some pictures of my favorite booths from the sale. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves!

Barn sale inventory

2011-11-02T14:28:00.002-07:00

Here is the last sneak peak pictures I'll show you guys before the sale this weekend. But I will tell you I have an antique mantle, huge antique map of Arizona, two coffee tables, an old red door, and more! You'll have to come early Friday to see it all!

Apothecary style dresser. Great for a boys room.

Chevron picture frames in distressed black, light gray, and vintage yellow. Limited number available.

It's a keeper.

2011-10-31T10:36:00.001-07:00

So, I went to this cute sale here in Queen Creek the other day put on by the girls over at the me and jilly blog. If you guys haven't read them before, hop on over, they've got some great stuff. I only bought one thing, but it was one AWESOME thing. They had a fun little galvanized bucket that I wanted to turn into a foot rest and sell at the barn sale this weekend.

The only problem is, now I don't want to sell it. So I'm not. Sorry guys, this baby's staying at my house. I guess you guys will just have to find some old buckets and do it yourselves!

Barn sale inventory

2011-10-27T08:56:00.000-07:00

Since there was so much interest in the coffee table I made for Sara's apartment project, I decided to make another and sell it at the barn sale.

Hope you guys can make it to the sale. I'll be there all day on Friday. Here's the info again.

Same frame, two ways

2011-10-24T15:21:00.000-07:00

I cut out some frames out of scrap wood in my garage the other day. They both started out with a plain square piece of wood with a square hole cut out of the middle like this...

For one of them, I covered the wood with cut out strips of galvanized metal found in the roofing section at Home Depot. I just measured, cut the metal with heavy duty scissors also found at home depot, and then nailed it on.

I left it outside and sprayed a little water on it for a couple days so it would rust up a bit. It was kind of hard to cut out the metal straight but I figured it out in the end.

The second one, I just added some extra molding I had to the middle and painted a chevron print on it in black and white paint.

I sanded the crap out of it and wiped it down with my favorite stain, Provincial from Minwax.

I'm still getting ready for the barn sale and am getting super excited. I have tons of furniture, accessories, and a bed. I'll post pics in a couple days of some of the inventory.

New Camera!

2011-10-23T19:09:00.000-07:00

Guess what?!? I got a new camera. I'm not going to name drop, but it's a canon rebel. Oh yeah! I'm super excited, but I have no idea how to use it.

Good thing Chris at Christopher Leigh Studios is doing a workshop. It's on November 15th in Gilbert. And I am so going to be there. Here are the reasons...

1. I think the location, Shenandoah Mill, is really super awesome.

2. It's easily the least expensive workshop I've seen in a long time.

3. He works well with complete idiots like me. (I literally just figured out how to insert the memory card)

4. It's during school so I'd only have to find a sitter for 2 of my offspring.

5. I really need to exercise my brain before it turns to mush.

All my friends in the area who are reading this... assuming any of my friends actually read my blog... come with me. It'll be rad. Here's the link. Use the coupon code CLSTUDIOS at checkout to get it for $59!

Barn sale info and inventory

2011-10-18T08:28:00.000-07:00

I've had quite a few questions about the barn sale lately. Here's the info again!

I'm really excited for this sale, I have a TON of stuff to put in it. Starting with Paysen's bed from the 1800's. I need to put a full size in her room, so this one will be up for grabs at the sale!

Changes...

2011-10-15T21:37:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about revamping my blog for a while. I want to make it into a .com instead of .blogspot.com and change around the layout a little. My question to readers is this...

Is there anything that you would like to see on my blog? Do you want to be able to get e-mail notifications if I update? Does anyone even read this old thing? I would like to get input before I redesign the whole thing to make is as reader friendly as possible.

I know that my pictures could be better (send the hubs hints for Christmas, I could really use a nice camera instead of my point and shoot) and I'm also planning on tagging all my posts so you can just click on "kitchens" or "furniture" or whatever on the side bar. Anything else you think would be better? Are there any postings you would like to see more of?

Please be gentle ;)

I have tried to keep my blog very simple. I hate going to one of my favorite blogs and seeing they have switched to type pad (yes, I'm too lazy to click on the "read more" if the intro doesn't catch my eye). I hate reading an amazing post that's smaller than half the page because of all the sponsors and advertisements. And I'm getting super tired of pop up ads. Am I the only one who feels this way?

And lastly, does anyone know of a good web designer? I've been searching online but I would prefer to work with someone local that I can sit down with and handle this instead of doing everything via e-mail.

Thanks in advance for the help! And thanks for reading. Over and out.

Slip covered Ottoman

2011-10-15T13:17:00.001-07:00

Remember my old ottoman? I bought it off craigslist and reupholstered it to resemble the Pottery Barn one.

I loved it but after a year or so, it was a little booger-fied by the kiddos. So I ripped off the upholstery and sewed a slip cover for it.

I lined the whole thing in a white cotton. Which turns out is actually like making two entire slip covers. It was a huge pain and didn't make enough of a difference for me to want to line anything. Ever again. Except maybe a see through dress so I don't scare the horses.

I love the concept of decorating ottomans with books and other things but as soon as I finished taking this picture, my one year old ran up and shoved them onto the ground. So up on the shelf they go until my kids move out of the house. Or until shock collars become legal to use on kids. Whichever comes first. I hope no one from CPA reads my blog...

And in case you were wondering, my husband's home. He told me he wasn't going to be back until next week and he snuck into the house with a bouquet of flowers and surprised me yesterday. Little stink had been lying to me all week! I quickly forgave him though. Here's what he was doing during my little photo shoot.

Teaching one of the young men from our church how to clean a gun. And by "teaching" I mean getting the boys to do his dirty work. It's good to have him home though.

Babies are everywhere

2011-10-08T15:28:00.001-07:00

I have so many friends who either just did, or are about to have babies. Must be something in the water. I think I'll drink Pepsi from now on...

Anywhooskis, I saw a small chalkboard at a gorgeous designer store in Mesa and decided it would make a fantastic baby shower gift.

I whipped this one out of some old molding and beadboard laying around in my garage. I thought that if I gave them a rocking gift that they would forgive me for not going to their actual shower.

I HATE baby showers. With the fire of a thousand suns. I don't want to guess the candy bar melted in a diaper that's supposed to look like poop. I don't want to drop potatoes from between my legs in bowls. Like that has ANYTHING to do with actual labor. I wish it were that easy.

Boys room chalk and bead

2011-10-04T19:30:00.000-07:00

I've been debating about what kind of wall treatment I wanted to do in the boys room for a while now. I loved the look of the bead board in their old room. Here's a pic in case you missed it.

I never wanted to change it so I knew I could live with it in the new space. But I also really love the idea of an entire chalk board wall like this pic.

If I did that, I wanted to draw shelves on the wall with books and stuffed animals, and frames. I also loved the idea of drawing on their night stands too. The possibilities really are endless.

The problem is that in that huge room, there is one tiny window. I love things light and airy and I thought a huge black wall would make me feel a little gloomy. So I decided to incorporate both things. Here's their room now...

Since my husband is still at Fort Rucker for training I decided to make the project as easy for me as possible and have Home Depot make all the cuts for me with the exception of the molding.

I had them cut up the 4'x 8' sheets of bead board in half, making them 4'x 4'. Then I had them rip a 4'x 8' sheet of masonite into 10" x 8' strips to use for the chalk board part.

I added the trim after finish nailing the bead board and masonite up and then caulked it. After some touch up paint and new lighter tan on the top, I let the kids in. They literally spent 2 hours playing in there, giving me some uninterrupted skype time with the hubs.

I love that I can showcase the kids art without having a gajillion pieces of paper on my fridge. And it's a great way to teach them what is and is NOT acceptable to draw on. Yes on chalk board. No on bedding. Yes with chalk. No with permanent marker. Kills two birds with one stone (which I'm fairly certain my 4 year old could probably do).

Why I do what I do

2011-10-03T19:37:00.000-07:00

There are a few reasons why I DIY. I'm sure a therapist could analyze me for hours but here's what I came up with

Cost. I save WAY more money doing it myself. If you can get something that looks almost exactly the same as buying it new, or hiring a contractor at more than half the cost in most cases, would you?

I am the baby of my family. I have 4 older brothers and sisters and I'm sure they can vouch that I want to do things myself. I didn't need help getting to the top of the tree when I was younger and now I can certainly hang a sheet of bead board by myself.

Every time I work on a project involving power tools some guy I know (and some I don't) asks me if I need help. By "need help" they mean I'm a chick and shouldn't be using tools. I can read between the lines. The simple fact of the matter is I'm completely capable of using dangerous tools. In fact, I'm probably more careful than most men because I actually read the owners manuals. I don't want some gallant man to come to my aid in the garage and rescue me from a table saw. My husband rescues me by bringing me flowers and taking me antiquing. He doesn't ask me to put down the drill before I hurt someone.

I love trying new things. Sometimes it would be easier to buy something. But if I always did that how would I know how to use power tools? How would I know that muriatic acid makes metal rust? How would I know to turn the light switch off before hanging a light if I didn't electrocute the pee waddle out of myself once? Knowledge is power and I can't take over the world if I don't have any knowledge!!!

I love creating beautiful things. I love the satisfaction or recycling a pile of garbage into something cool. I love working with my hands and feel accomplished when I put in a hard day of renovating or cleaning or landscaping. And I love having my kids along side me in the garage or back yard working on projects. I'm kinda sad for the day all of them will be in school and I won't hear "Why are you banging that?" or "I wanna bang that!" all day long.

That's all I got for now. I'll let you know if I come up with any other reason why I'm as crazy as I am. Feel free to add to it!

Bring on the fall!

2011-10-02T18:09:00.000-07:00

I've been feeling the need to fall up my house lately. I'm hoping that if I insert a few touches of cooler weather, cooler weather might come to me. And then I burned my feet walking on the road today so yeah... it's going good.

I had a plan. New pillows, a few flowers, some wheat and old tractor gears. And I had a budget. Cheap. Real cheap. So I went to the only place that never fails me. Goodwill. This time I was intent on finding some cable knit sweaters to make into pillows like these beauts from Pottery Barn...

I don't even know how much these are because they're not available anymore. I'm guessing a lot. Well, I found exactly what I was looking for AND another great find. These two leather arm chairs.

And guess how much they were....

Heck yes! And I found the perfect way to incorporate them into my new fall living room.

The only thing that bugs me is we NEVER use that room. It's basically a glorified hallway from the front door to the great room. In fact, I don't think I've ever even shared pictures of it until my union jack rug post. Here's the room now all fallish.

See that "The Vintage Bus Co." pillow? A while back my sister and I went to a home decor shop in Phoenix called the willows. I saw this pillow and fell in love.

But the price was CR-A-ZY so I vowed to replicate it. I know what you're thinking. "This girl is the cheapest person I know". And you might be right. But price is not the only reason I copy from designers and stores I love. In this case it was because who the heck would buy a $300 throw pillow, but most of the time its a different reason. I'll post more on that later in the week.

Here's my version of the pillow and the pillows I made from cable knit sweaters from Goodwill.

Here's a close up of the bus pillow. The cream part is duck cloth, the grey is vinyl and the words are also vinyl. I used my friends cricut cutter to cut out the letters. I have really got to get me one of those! I have since secured the letters in place with a matte Modge Podge. If anyone knows of a better product for fabric, let me know!

And one of the other sweater pillows...

I also got this amazing bench from the ranch last weekend. It once belonged to Tara and I think my mom won it in a hand of cards or something. So I traded it for a framed picture and now I have it! It's how we roll.

The last thing I did to the room to make it feel more fall was something I saw on pinterest. The first thing I thought was how STUPID and completely impractical it was. But it worked. I turned my books on my bookcase around so the pages are showing instead of the spines. And I like the bookcase so much more now!

Did you even notice? I'm hoping my husband won't either when he gets home. I can't imagine he's going to let me keep it this way for long. I already know what he's going to say "I know they say not to judge a book by it's cover but geeze!"

p.s. Only two more weeks till my lover face comes home to me! Wahoooo!

BARN SALE!

2011-09-25T13:26:00.000-07:00

We have info on the next barn sale! I've been working on some great projects for the sale and can't wait to give you guys some sneak peeks of my inventory!

go to www.junkrestore.com for more information or if you would like to be a vendor.

My union jack rug

2011-09-13T08:48:00.000-07:00

I debated about how I was going to do my rug for a while. Should I buy a nice plain rug from ikea and paint it? Should I try and find it used and get it for cheaper than the site? Should I just man up and buy it new from Z Gallerie?

So instead I decided to go to Home Depot and practice my painting skills on something a little cheaper than a rug from ikea. A $10 drop cloth. I've seen people painting drop cloths all over blog land. I even painted a pillow myself a while back here. But I never got up the nerve to do an entire rug.

The day finally came and I actually really love it. So much, in fact, that I don't think I'm going to do it on a rug, I'll just use this drop cloth.

I used the lines that were already in the cloth from the folds to guide me. It was a really easy project and it'll be even easier for you if you learn from my mistakes which are...

1. Don't use a paint brush to paint it on. A roller covered it 10 times faster but I didn't realize this until I was half way done.

2. Makes sure your tape is on really good or it will bleed through the tape lines.

3. It WILL go through the fabric. I have a beautiful new union jack flag painted on my garage floor courtesy of my stupidity.

I wanted the paint colors to be similar but still contrasting. I got a paint sample called porpoise and used the driftwood gray color from my bedroom.

It took about a day to dry all the way. I'll let you know how it holds up to crayons, crackers, and cooties.

For sale

2011-09-11T19:31:00.000-07:00

I'm selling my designer crib. Pick up/ cash only. $350. E-mail me at nikki_grandy@yahoo.com if interested.
Thanks~!

Master bedroom

2011-09-08T14:12:00.001-07:00

Well, I finished painting my master bedroom a couple months ago and it took me this long to take pictures. Then problem is, I can't ever seem to find my camera the one day a week that there isn't laundry vomit all over the floor.

I used the Martha Stewart paint color "Driftwood Gray". I had them color match it to Glidden paint though because in my experience, Martha Stewart paint is really thin and takes way more coats to cover than Glidden.

Here's a bunch of pictures so you don't have to hear me (read me? whatever.) talk anymore...

I'm still looking for a bench, rug and table and chair to go in the bedroom. I also plan on framing out the gigantic mirror in my bathroom and replacing the flooring in both rooms with wood look tile. And of course installing thick crown molding and base boards. Some day...

Paint colors...

2011-08-30T14:54:00.001-07:00

I've been getting tons of e-mails and comments lately about which paint colors I use for my furniture and rooms. Here's a breakdown.

Probably the most popular project was this headboard:

I used "Norway Aqua" from Walmart with the minwax "provincial" stain over the top. The stain makes the blue more green (as it does with most blues or greens).

One more furniture piece, this armoire:

"contemplation" from Home Depot.

My daughters room:

"anonymous" from Home Depot on the top (gray color) and the color "swiss coffee" from Home Depot on the bottom.

My laundry room:

"Sea Salt" from Home Depot.

My pantry and pantry doors:

"contemplation" from Home Depot for the doors and "Gobi Desert" for the tan on the walls and "Swiss coffee" for the white design.

My bathroom pallet wall:

I have no idea. It was seriously just a mixture of tons of colors I had until I got the ones I liked. I added whites to grays and blues to whites. It was madness really.

My old living room:

"Gobi Desert" from Home Depot.

My old boys room:

"swiss coffee" on the bead board on the bottom and "Gobi Desert" on top

My old bedroom:

"Gobi desert" and "Swiss coffee" for the stripes.

My old bathroom:

"contemplation" from Home Depot.

My old kitchen:

"Swiss coffee" and minwax's "Provincial" stain over the top.

I obviously use a lot of the same colors in most of my rooms. I like to paint the walls mostly neutral so I can change the feel with accent colors and I don't have to repaint everything. Plus, I don't want my house to feel like a cheap Vegas hotel where every room has a different theme. That's why I like to stay in the same color palate through most of my house.

I buy all of my paint at Home Depot (excluding the aqua headboard). I usually find the color that I like and have them paint match it to the Glidden paint. It's cheaper than Behr and covers just as good. When I paint cabinets I buy Behr paint with primer in it to avoid peeling.

Let me know if you have any questions, I hope this helped!

12 days down

2011-08-29T18:44:00.000-07:00

My husband has been gone for almost two weeks. And I'm already sick of it. I want my popcorn maker/ lawn mower/ trash taker outer back. On the bright side, I bought a plane ticket to see him. I will be spending my labor day weekend on the sandy beaches of Florida with the hubs. It's a much needed getaway. I'm starting to get my kids mixed up. It was really awkward when I tried to put a diaper on my 5 year old.

Anywhooskis while I'm relaxing on the beach, I'm going to figure out how to bring this baby into my life...

However, I refuse to spend $400 on this 5x8 rug and robbing Z Gallerie is morally questionable... to some. But mark my words. A reasonable facsimile will be mine very very soon. Muwah ha ha.

Sara's apartment

2011-08-27T18:13:00.001-07:00

I was contacted a couple of weeks ago for a partial room redo. My client moved into a tiny one bedroom apartment while she's getting her masters from ASU. She had so many great accessories I used. I especially loved her collection of vintage suitcases and couldn't wait to start on the project. Here are a few before pictures...

The challenges in this space were obviously the lack of storage space for her extra things she doesn't regularly use, and the bland foundation. Apartments here in Arizona typically have white walls you can't paint, some sort of light colored tile flooring and plastic blinds. They are basically stucco conex boxes. I tried to make it a little more comfortable and relaxing. Here it is after...

My goal was to give her a neutral color palette with the bigger items so she could take them with her to her next destination and easily change the scheme by adding different accent colors. I obviously reused her couch, a lot of accessories, and the t.v. stand. She sold her desk to make way for the slimmer, cuter version I made out of an old door. Under the skirt houses a small dresser on one side and a bookcase with her giant collection of dvd's on the other.

I wasn't planning on redoing her bedroom but I immediately saw a cool, feminine pallet headboard in the space. And because it didn't take any of our small budget to do it I figured, why not? I especially loved the idea of taking something so rugged and masculine like a pallet, and cutting a girly, sophisticated shape to it. The blueish gray color I painted it went so well with the bedding she already had too.

That's pretty much it. Here's a list of where I acquired some of the things in the space.

Pillows for couch: I made them (except the clock pillow, my client already had that)
Jute Rug: Cost plus World Market ($40 cheaper than IKEA with a coupon)
Clock above couch: Cost Plus World Market
Coffee table: I made it (but you can get one that looks exactly like it for $250 at
World Market)
Flowers on coffee table: Hobby Lobby
Wire baskets under coffee table: Home Goods (the store also had them in yellow)
Beige curtains: IKEA
Door desk: I made it using a door, dresser, and bookcase
Suitcase shelf: I made it from one of her old suitcases (the Flea Market Style magazine has a great tutorial on how to do this at the end of their newest issue)
Accessories on shelf: My client had them
Headboard: I made it from a pallet
Screen: Yard sale
Bed skirt: Simply Shabby Chic line (Target)

That about wraps it up. I'll be doing posts in the next few weeks about how I did the coffee table and headboard. If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me and I'll try and get back to you as soon as I can.

YEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSS!

2011-08-25T18:32:00.000-07:00

Today I was driving home from Home Depot. I was somewhat stressed out because I had 4 kids under the age of 4 with me and I needed lumber. Which is not easy to move around. The boards were sliding out of the cart, the kids were crazy. It was frustrating.

I took a picture for my husband (did I mention he is away for EIGHT weeks of training) to show him how ridiculous it was. Him being gone was probably another reason I am more agitated than normal. Little did I know my spirits were about to get difibrillated. Ok, so that's not a word, but you get my point. Because when I came home this was waiting for me.

Wondering why I care so much? Not only is Flea Market Style Magazine my FAVORITE, I also happen to be mentioned in it! I'VE BEEN PUBLISHED! BY MY FAVORITE MAGAZINE!

I'm not sure if it's on stands yet because I don't have to go to 3 different drug stores and a couple Barnes and Nobles to find it. I WAS MAILED A COPY!

Thank you Christine and the rest of the team for the magazine. You literally made my dreams come true today.

Pallet bookcase

2011-08-24T09:48:00.000-07:00

I've done a couple of new projects using pallets this week. The first, which I'm showing you today, was one I saw on pinterest. I don't know who originally did it but it's been done quite a few times.

I literally made 5 cuts to make this book rack. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story. It took 5 minutes from start to finish.

I cut the boards to plug the bottom so they fit really tight in the hole. Then I finish nailed them into place.

I'll show you the other project after this weekend. I made a headboard for a client I'm doing a redesign for and I don't want to waste the surprise!

Lightin up...

2011-08-17T15:08:00.000-07:00

The house. Not a dooby. Just thought I'd be specific.

So I decided what I wanted and there was no talking me out of it. I wanted this beauty from Barn Light Electric.

$138 a piece, not including shipping. Boo. I almost bought two of them about 5 times. But the DIYer in me thought there had to be a cheaper way.

Turns out there is. I found these lights for $30 a piece at Lowes (they have the same ones at Home Depot).

I just spray painted them the red color I wanted. They look exactly like the ones I wanted but $63.00 instead of $276.00 not including shipping. I almost painted them yellow but thought I might get sick of that quickly.

I taped off the inside so I'd have a straight line. It took about 30 minutes to dry and they were ready to hang.

Imagine the possibilities! Buy this light (which is white on the inside by the way) and it can be whatever color you want if you paint it yourself. And cheap too!

As you can see, I decided to put the picket fences above the cabinets and I LOVE it. I just need to find more chippy ones for the front of my house.

And one last close up...

Kitchen island

2011-08-12T08:31:00.002-07:00

Well, I finished my kitchen island. Almost. I have to get an over sized outlet cover from Home Depot because I got a little crasy with the saw on one side. But that IS the power of Home Depot right?

I really love the corbels on the island. I think they really make the space. I used 3 different ones because they didn't have any that were the same in our free pile. But I actually ended up liking it more.

I know, the lighting blows, but until I get up some light fixtures over the island, they'll have to do. Speaking of, which do you guys like better? I'm planning on hanging two. This oh so popular in blog land from ikea...

Or this one from Lowes?

The cheapo in me says the one from Ikea, but I already used it in a bathroom. I feel a little unoriginal. I kind of like the idea of having a white pendant light in there to keep the white thing going. What do you think? I would actually love to use one from barn light electric but I definitely don't see myself spending over $200 on two lights. If you've never been to their site, go. I love their lighting.

Laundry room

2011-08-10T14:21:00.000-07:00

So... remember my laundry room?

I determined that the amount of time I spend in this room directly correlates to the number of children I have. For example, I used to do a couple loads of laundry a week when I only had one kid. Now that I have 4, I do a brazillion loads a week. And my laundry room was less than inspiring.

It's a lot better now! I wanted a work space for folding clothes so I don't have to drag them through the house and pile them onto the floor in my bedroom just for me to avoid anyways.

I haven't really done any laundry since I built it so we'll see if I actually utilize the space. The nice thing is I just used supplies from my garage. The top is actually plywood but with the really dark stain, I don't think you can tell. I got the wooden leg from a wood working shop in Mesa. One of the bloggers my sister and I follow, Dorie, from Tuesdays with Dorie called us and said someone was giving away a bunch of wooden things like corbels and legs and things. So Tara drove into town and picked them up. I used 3 of the corbels in my island project that I almost finished. I'll post pics soon!

I'm thinking about hanging a bunch of windows from the ceiling with hinges to hit right at the shelf on the top half of the room. I just need to find a bunch of old windows!

*Edited*
I realized after I wrote this post that I had an idea in my head of exactly what I wanted it to look like but I couldn't remember where I'd seen it. I was looking on pinterest and I found it again. But I don't know where it's from because I got it off another blog who had borrowed the image. So if you know where it's from, please tell me so I can give them proper credit.

Did I mention?

2011-08-09T14:06:00.000-07:00

Hubs and I installed interior plantation shutters a couple weeks ago. And that's when I decided that I needed to become a shutter installer. It took about 15 minutes to do ALL of them. And I'm in love. I just wish I felt the same about my flooring.

I'm also working on my island this week. I decided to put the picket fence panels above the cabinets and do bead board on the island. Thanks for all the suggestions!

The one that got away

2011-08-07T13:51:00.000-07:00

A couple years ago I went to the flea market in Canton Texas. I saw a beautiful rusted iron road sign that I wanted SO bad but had no idea how to get it home. And it was a little pricey at $125. So I passed on it.

It was one of those things I regretted and thought about all the time. I almost bought another one off ebay over Christmas but again passed.

So then I went shopping a couple weeks ago at the most ridiculously expensive antique/ home decorating store in Scottsdale. I like to go places like that occasionally to make myself feel better about having the same look without spending an entire pay check for one pillow.

I had about enough when I walked into this circular part of the store that was outside. They had really cool vintage industrial things there. And that was when I saw it.

It was basically the same sign as "the one that got away". I walked over to it, took a breath, and glanced at the price tag. $65!!!! WAHOOOOOO! This baby was mine!

I may have even put a seat belt on it on the way home. I know, I'm weird. Now it sits atop my t.v. armoire in my great room.

If you're interested, they had two more!

Personalized address signs

2011-07-29T18:58:00.000-07:00

I've had a lot of interest in the address sign I made a month or so ago. I made another one for my friend Jen and I think it turned out pretty cute.

So I'm doing a promotion on personalized address signs. I'll take orders for the next 3 days and you can have a custom, personalized address sign.

The large address sign (probably only for people who live in Castlegate and have that weird alcove thing above their doors) are $65. If you have an interesting place you'd like to put the sign and have exact dimensions, you can let me know and I can do the sign to size. Here's a picture of the large one...

The small address sign with the Monogram, est. in, and address is $45. Here's a picture of the small one...

I can do a small version of the large sign (just with No. and address) for $45 as well.

They are available in black, brown, red, gray, or a custom color of your choice. I can do the writing in black or white.

Like I said earlier, I'm only taking orders this weekend and all signs will be completed early next week. LIMITED TIME!

E-mail me at nikki_grandy@yahoo.com for orders or questions.

Advice....

2011-07-27T09:48:00.000-07:00

I hate my kitchen island. Flat paint + messy kids = me scrubbing my island nearly every day. So I figured I may as well put up some sort of bead board or paneling to give it a little more personality while I'm at it. The whole thing is going to be white, but I was thinking of something that looks like this...

Or this wainscoting...

The problem is, I'm considering putting bead board on top of my kitchen cabinets all the way to the ceiling. The little pop out pantry would stay painted drywall.

So will the bead board be too much? It is a lot to have it as the island, back splash, and above the cabinets. Should I not do it above the cabinets and just have it on the island and backsplash? I was thinking I could put my chipping picket fences above the cabinets instead of bead board. OR should I do a combination of the paneling and bead board like this...

So here's an easier way to vote

1. Bead board above the cabinets
2. Picket fence above the cabinets

A. All bead board (first picture)
B. Wainscot paneling (second picture)
c. Combination of bead board and wainscoting (last picture)

Just choose 1-A or 2-C... you get my drift. Help me! I can't make a decision!

*All images are via pinterest*

DIY skeleton key art

2011-07-18T14:25:00.000-07:00

I did a mini project on Saturday morning while I was waiting for my husband to get home from playing with his friends. I had some extra zig zag fabric from my couch pillows and hot glued it onto the cardboard backing that was already in the frames. Then I hot glued some old skeleton keys to the fabric. If you like the fabric, you can get some here.

I also bought this great bar stool at the barn sale back in March. I love her cheery yellow paint!

Rest of the great room

2011-07-15T14:58:00.000-07:00

Back splash and pantry project

2011-07-13T14:09:00.000-07:00

I decided since the kitchen in my new house is smack dab in the middle of the floor plan, it needs to be done soon. And since it's in the center, it doesn't have a single window to it's name. It makes me sad, actually. Although this house is twice as big, it just doesn't have the same light feel as my old home and I miss that. Here's before we moved in...

The cabinets really are beautiful but they're just SO dark. I told my husband that I would wait at least a year before I painted them. The paint on the walls throughout the house is also a darker neutral so once we paint over it all, I think it will help brighten the space. In the mean time, I put up a white bead board back splash and it did help. I want to install bead board on top of the cabinets too, all the way to the ceiling. I think that will help too.

I used thicker molding to finish the edges and I love the chunkier look of it. The whole project took me about 6 hours because I had to wait for paint to dry. I used the new miter saw we got from my husbands grandpa and it cut my molding like butter. I'm spoiled I tell ya.

Here's my new pantry doors. I got them at Merchant Square Antique Mall in Chandler during one of their flea market sales. I actually met a reader while I was loading them up. It was funny to meet someone who reads my blog.

And here's the inside of my pantry before. It's kind of embarrassing to tell you the truth.

I used the template from Jones Design Company (one of my favorite's by the way) found here for the painted wall paper. If you remember, I did it on some pillows a while back and couldn't get it out of my head. I debated about doing a chevron print but I felt that was something I'm probably going to be over in a little while.

And here it is pre-food with all my clearance Hobby Lobby baskets and some others I had laying around.

And finally with all my food in it. I don't know how, but I guess I've been collecting cans of vegetables. Specifically creamed corn. I have 11 cans of creamed corn. I've never even eaten it! Maybe my husband bought it for fishing or something.

One last picture of the whole kitchen. I'll show some of the rest of the great room next.

Clearance alert

2011-07-12T13:32:00.001-07:00

I was browsing Hobby Lobby for some baskets for my pantry but they were all around $30-$40. Who would pay that for a basket I ask? Not me. So I walked down the clearance aisle and found these babies.

I thought they were 66% off so I was pretty happy. Then when they checked me out, she said they were NINETY PERCENT OFF! The most I paid for one was $4.00 and it was the biggest one. I went to the Hobby Lobby on Signal Butte and the 60 if you're in the east valley. They had a ton of baskets left! I'm sure the one on Greenfield has their clearance on clearance too!

New blogger.

2011-07-12T10:11:00.000-07:00

Well, not new, but new to me. I was browsing pinterest and chucking goldfish crackers at my kids to keep them content, and I found this new blog.

Her husband is in the military too, she's also from Arizona, and we have pretty much the same taste as far as color scheme goes. I love the pantry door she just repainted.

Speaking of pantry doors, I recently installed my new ones. "One's" being plural. They're french doors and I can't WAIT to show you a pic. Head on over to Katie's blog and give her some love!

Paysens room

2011-07-11T11:37:00.000-07:00

Remember that inspiration room I shared with you a while back of what I was thinking of doing to Paysens room? Here it is again if you missed it...

I set out to achieve the look of this room but the guts of an actual bedroom instead of play room. I loved the colors and the board and batten and that chalk board. I tweaked a few things but I still think it's pretty spot on as far as the over all look. This is what her room looked like when we moved in.

And this is what it looks like now.

Paysen has one puny window in her room and one ceiling fan light. I originally went with the light pink on top like the inspiration picture but with very little natural lighting, I decided the colors were too close and wanted more of a contrast. So I went with a dark gray Behr color called anonymous. The board and batten is painted my go to white color, swiss coffee. Every piece of furniture that is white in my house is painted swiss coffee.

I searched the internet for tutorials on board and batten. I already had the basic plan in my mind. If you don't think you could ever do this yourself, think again. It was the easiest project I've done. I even had the boards cut for me at Lowes (Home Depot said they wouldn't do it) so all I had to do was measure, make sure the boards are level and finish nail them to the wall with an air compressor. If you want a tutorial, go here. The only difference was I ripped out my old baseboards and used more mdf.

For the bedding, I used Paysens old white comforter, her pink sheets, and the dust ruffle (two layered on top of each other) which were all from the Simply Shabby Chic line at Target. I made the gray duvet and pillow using a sheet set from Ikea.

Her dresser is one of my favorite things in her room. I swiped it from my sister Tara and repainted the stripes the same gray color as the top of the room.

It has antique door nobs for pulls. I set her pink chippy windows on top of the dresser because I literally can't put them anywhere else in the room due to the board and batten.

I still need to make the chalk board and find a cute lamp for the dresser but I think that's about it and her room will be done. Thank goodness because I've been dying to finish my master bedroom!

Linking up to

And Jennifer Rizzo here

2011-07-08T10:29:00.000-07:00

Thank you guys. I really appreciate your kind words. It's nice to know I have people thinking of me, even though I've never even met most of you. I was up and running a couple days later and feel part of it was because your encouragement.

My husband's been gone at scout camp ALL week. And you know how that goes, I can't sleep without an hairy Caleb sized elbow in my neck. So bed time came a little later than usual for me. I .did get a lot of projects done though

I decided that I was going to spruce up my front door since I despise the landscaping. Having an all rock yard is like providing a limitless supply of ammunition to my 4 year old. Grass and flowers will come in time I suppose...

In the meantime I had a strange space on top of my front door that I wanted to do something with. Here's a before picture even though you can't really tell how boring it was.

And here's the sign I made for it at 2 am. Yes, the 0 is crooked. I painted it by hand and it was realllly late. I didn't notice until it was already screwed up there. Oh well, no one's perfect.

I painted the door and trim black, added a nickle kick plate from lowes, and wired a new light (also from Lowes). I still need to cut out new seats for the chairs and then the flower bowls will fit right into the seat. I may have broken my scroll saw when I was cutting out the sign so it'll have to wait till the hubs can fix it.

My favorite part of the door is my new wreath holder. You may remember me using it as a towel holder in my old house. It's a vintage paper hole punch.

And one last picture. My husband took my camera CANOEING this week. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be using my iphone for pictures for a while...

Crappy grown up stuff...

2011-06-28T22:06:00.001-07:00

Welp. Go figure that the first pregnancy I announced at such an early stage would be the one that I miscarried. I just figured that I was so proficient at having kids that the chances I would have problems with my 5th kid were really small.

If you're a dude, you should probably just stop reading. Or if you don't care to know the gruesome details, just go make yourself a bowl of ice cream and sit down to a nice rerun of the office. Because you'll never look at an ice cream scooper the same after this...

Just kidding. But not really.

I started to spot bleed around 8 weeks. We went in for an ultrasound the next day and the baby was measuring pretty much on track. I had a small amount of clotting in the uterus around the placenta but it looked small enough that my body might have been able to re-absorb it. He gave me a 50% chance of miscarriage.

The next week looked good, I hadn't bled any more and we went in for another ultrasound about a week after the first one. The baby had decreased in size to about 5 weeks and 6 days and there was no heart beat. There was also quite a bit more blood in my uterus. My doctor was certain that I miscarried but wanted to get my blood count just to be sure. It came back a few days later at about 28,000 which is common for someone around 10 weeks.

I had miscarried.

So he gave me the option of doing a D&C. I immediately told him no, that I would do it on my own. And then a week later I still hadn't miscarried. After some great advice from family and friends everyone had told me the same thing. GET A D&C. If you don't have to experience the pain, DON'T.

Today was the D&C. And they were completely correct. I didn't feel the pain. I didn't contract and bleed like a stuck hog. It was immediately over and I could mourn and get it over with. I'm not even bleeding now. My doctor said it will be easier and faster to try and get pregnant again. All around it was a really great experience.

I have to say the Lord has really blessed us. When my husband deployed I spent the first couple months acting all woe is me. And then I realized. There really is no use crying over spilled milk. Deployments happen and there's nothing you can do about it. Miscarriages happen and there's nothing you can do about it. I can kick and scream and throw a giant fit worthy of an Oscar but the reality is this happened for a reason. And I truly believe that I'll be able to raise this child in the next life. The only question is...

Were you a boy or a girl. Because I've got TONS of ideas on what your nursery is going to be like in heaven.

Mirror mirror on the wall

2011-06-22T20:08:00.000-07:00

I have this long hallway wall in my house. I knew what I wanted to do with it before I even moved in. I have seen images of beautiful mirrored walls and fell in love. Lucky for me, I was also subconsciously hoarding mirrors so I had a good start. I put all of them up on the wall and they looked great except one spot.

I needed a smaller mirror and I wanted something completely different from the other ones I already had up. I spied this beauty on www.furnituredomain.com.

It's from a company called Bailey Street Trading.They have some really cute furniture too. It got to my house in like 2 days. Which is great because I would walk by that spot a couple times a day and stare at it because it offended me.

Not any more! I have to say, it's the perfect mirror to pull together them all. I think it goes great with my antique mirrors, the more traditional new ones, or I could really see it in a modern room right above a cute night stand. Here's the link to the mirror. And here is a picture of the whole wall.

Sorry for the somewhat blurry, dark pictures. I wanted to get this up before I left for the weekend to my family reunion. Yes, 200 Finches together... in the mountains... with guns. Someone's bound to lose an eye.

Master night stand

2011-06-08T13:15:00.000-07:00

I can't decide on a dang paint color but I found a night stand! It was sitting in my sisters garage forever when I swiped it and then it sat in my garage for a couple months. Since the black industrial table on the other side is a little taller, I needed this to be taller as well. It fits perfectly. Now about half of the room is furnished.

Two antique chandeliers hang on either side of the bed now. It makes the room look so much more romantic. Which is probably why I'm pregnant again. Just kiddin.

Leather couch and chair

2011-06-08T09:35:00.001-07:00

I'm getting rid of my leather couch and chair. $300 or best offer. I bought a sectional so I need to make room! Pick up only. Located in San Tan Valley

Chalkboard globe

2011-06-06T14:00:00.000-07:00

Before...

And after...

Want a tutorial? Here goes nothing. Paint with black paint. Draw on a pathetic attempt at continents with chalk. Erase. Retry. Erase. Retry. Figure that my 3 year old won't be able to tell the difference between Africa and the blob I drew. Trace over with white paint. Wipe off chalk. The end.

Restoration Hardware pillows

2011-06-05T13:38:00.000-07:00

I was browsing the Restoration Hardware website and found some pillows that I love and wanted for my boys room. You can guess what happened next. I made my own version because I can't fork over $45 dollars a piece for these babies...

If you can't either, you're in luck. Because now that I made them myself they're on clearance at the website for $21.99. Figures. I still saved about $60.00 by making them though because I made 4. Here's my version...

I used 3 in my boys room and one in my master.

And here's how I did it.

1. Type up a font that you like and print it out. I used Agency FB in word.

2. Trace it onto a blank stencil with a pen.

3. Cut it out with an exact-o knife.

4. Trace it out onto the fabric with a pen.

5. Mix craft paint and fabric medium according to directions.

6. Paint in the lines. Let it dry and wash. Then it'll be ready to sew!

Man I love fabric medium. I use it all the time. I should buy it by the gallon.

Linking up to

FREE that spells free

2011-06-03T13:49:00.000-07:00

I know it's been forever since I've been on here. My laptop had been warning me for a while that it was about to die. Which I thought was pretty considerate. And then it went through with it. It will be missed. So I'm on the hubbies puter and it doesn't have any photo editing software. Go figure.

But I have a couple of images for you of my kids bathroom wall I just finished. I wanted a beachy vibe and loved the look of this wallpaper...

Here's a link to their website. Who is "they" you ask? I have no idea. Because I don't speak dutch. But I'm assuming since it's available in a completely different country it would take a decade to get here and is probably WAY more than I would ever spend. So that's where my mothers favorite quote comes in.

"Necessity is the mother of invention."

What I came up with has kind of the same look as the wall paper with an infinitely cheaper price tag. Like so cheap it was FREE. In fact, people were thanking me for getting the supplies I needed off their hands.

Wooden pallets.

Has anyone else noticed a massive amount of orphaned wood pallets in the world? Well, in my neck of the woods there is a ton of them. And no one wants them. Apparently cracked, old, hard as heck wood isn't considered useful. But I love the character of old wood. It would have been way easier to buy 1x4's and paint them but I wanted it to really look like it's been around the block. Here's what a little TLC can do with wooden pallets...

I had to use a saw with a metal blade to get them off the pallet because they were just cracking at the nail holes. Once I figured that out, I just cut them to various lengths painted them 4 different colors I already had and starting nailing them up.

Here's the towel rack on the opposite wall. To hold all the towels. And stuff.

I used a finish nail gun so it would be really easy to take them down again if I wanted to change things up.

Overall I spent a total of $3.16 on this project. And that was just because I got hungry and went to taco bell. So really I guess it didn't cost anything.

I still want to paint the dark tan a lighter color but I'm kind of avoiding painting for some reason. Maybe because the thought of repainting 3,000 sq feet sounds exhausting to me.

Gender prediction

2011-05-31T10:46:00.000-07:00

Well, according to the Chinese gender predictor, I should be having a girl around the beginning of next year. Do those things even work? Apparently not since it predicted wrong for 3 out of the 4 I've already had. Here's to hoping though. It'll be our 5th and final kid and I'm SO glad I'll be done with this pregnancy thing soon.

Because you know what being done having children at the ripe old age of 26 means? It means when I'm 46, it'll be time to party, and I won't have to bring my depends!

For sale

2011-05-26T20:01:00.000-07:00

I'm selling my antique wood chandelier. Works great. Chippy off white paint. $150.00 Pick up only.

For rent

2011-05-22T21:52:00.000-07:00

Well, we still haven't rented our house. We had someone lined up but didn't close on time so we're on the hunt for someone else. If you or anyone you know are looking for a place in San Tan Valley, please pass the word on.

Here's a link to the home tour to see pictures of the property.

Thanks for reading

Foodie blog

2011-05-21T17:23:00.000-07:00

I was deciding what to make for dinner the next week and called my friend Jen for some inspiration. I don't know if you guys get sick of the same stuff but I am in a cooking rut. She told me to go to her in laws blog, they have a lot of simple (I'm all about the 5 ingredient dinners) recipes. And I found exactly what I was looking for.

If you want to try some new recipes, head on over to Becoming Betty. Look at this delicious treat!

A peek

2011-05-17T11:28:00.000-07:00

So if you've been reading my blog, you know I just moved into a house and have been debating about linens for my master bedroom. I ended up making a ruffled bed skirt and loved it so I decided to buy a plain white duvet from ikea so the main focus would be on the dust ruffle. It doesn't hang over as much as I like but it'll do for now. Especially with a $19.99 price tag. I also bought twin sized flat white sheets there for $1.99 and made my ruffled king sized pillows out of that. I took pictures when I made the pillows so I'll do a tutorial a little later on that.

As soon as I paint the awful camel tan a beautiful bluish gray from Behr called pensive sky (the ENTIRE house is painted that color, by the way). I'll post picture of the whole room. For now, I thought you'd like a shot of the progress.

A-1 Auction

2011-05-10T07:41:00.000-07:00

The day before we moved in I was browsing the pictures from A-1 auction in Phoenix. If you've never heard of them, I'm not particularly surprised. It's kind of in the ghetto and a huge pain to get a trailer in and out of. But they had something last week that caught my eye. So me and my sister Tara, from junkrestore took a trip in and gave it a go. Here's their website if you're curious. They usually update pictures on Tuesday night for a Wednesday auction.

You pay $100 as a deposit and whatever you buy comes out of that. It's actually really fun but the competitive side of me gets a little crazy at auctions. I just set myself up with a limit and say I WILL NOT bid more than this. I walked away with 3 things, two that I specifically went to get, so I consider it a success. Here they are in all their glory.

I got this amazing farmhouse table. Which is why I'm getting rid of my old table! It's a little rough on top, but that's the way I like it. I'm going to have to do something with the top though because I know I won't like cleaning ramen out of those grooves.

An antique shoe rack. This baby now resides at my new front door. To house all my mismatched flip flops.

The third thing was this huge vintage map of Arizona. Caleb likes this one because he can actually use it to scout out new landing zones. I couldn't fit it into my pathfinder on the way home so we tied it to the top. I swear we were actually getting some lift from it driving down the freeway. I told my husband we'd be landing a little later than usual. I don't think he got the joke :)

We also stopped by a great store in Phoenix called Modern Manor. I'd been wanting some old giant letters and knew from a previous trip that they had a bunch of them. So these were my mothers day present I bought myself from my husband. Thanks Caleb, how'd you know just what I wanted?

Change of plans

2011-05-09T07:20:00.000-07:00

So are you wondering what happened to the 8 projects in 8 weeks idea? Turns out things don't always happen according to plan. But in a good way. I was going to do 8 projects in 8 weeks to keep me sane while my husband was away for military training. Turns out he's not going. Not yet anyways. He can't leave for training until the next "fiscal" year because Arizona doesn't have any more money. I know, blows your mind that the government doesn't know how to budget huh?

But you won't find me crying. I am happy to have him around for at least a little longer. And he was here to move us into our new house! I'd also like to give a big shout out to everyone that helped us move. My husband was cracking up when some of the younger boys asked if a rusted piece of metal or old beat up wood went into the trash. He looked at me and just said to them "run for your lives!"

I'll still be doing tons around the house. I hate the paint on the walls so that'll be the first to go. But with the hubs still here, I'll just have to postpone the 8 projects until he has to leave again.

I'll leave you with a picture of the "poor man's sprinkler". My 3 year old rigged this up while we were bored waiting for the new house to close. Genius I tell ya.

For Sale

2011-05-06T18:25:00.001-07:00

I have this curvy french dining table for sale. Chairs not included. $150.00 Please e-mail me at nikki_grandy@yahoo.com. Local only, no shipping.

Also, I slashed the gray ruffled headboard to $100. I just want it out of my life.

All white bedding

2011-05-03T21:22:00.000-07:00

My husband and I need a new mattress. So I'm doing all the necessary research to buy a bed and my bedding for the master bedroom. If you've read any of my previous postings, you know I want all white bedding. Here's my predicament...

I heard that a lot of king sized bedding you get runs a little smaller. And I like my bedding big. Like if my husband rolls himself into a giant burrito in the night, I'm still covered, BIG. I usually buy the next size up from whatever bed I have, so for a twin, I buy a full, etc. Well, what's one up from a king? And if most bedding is shorter, I know it won't be what I'm dreaming of. Which is this image (from Pottery Barn)...

And a whole lot of this (from apartment therapy)...

And can any of you guess how much bedding like this would cost me if I just bought it from Pottery Barn? $624.00 not including shipping.

Being the cheap-o that I am, I've decided to buy inexpensive bedding from Ikea and add the ruffle detail to make it my kind of romantic. To make my ruffled duvet and 2 king shams, I'm looking at spending a grand total of $28.00. And that's even the nice, 310 thread count sheets. I haven't priced out a quilt in any of my usual discounted places but I'm hoping to find a king sized one at Homegoods that I like for under $40. So total I would probably still come in under $100.00 The only problem is making it out of the king sheets won't allow for that nice big overhang on a king sized bed.

So I'm considering buying a queen sized bed. Is that stupid? To get a smaller bed for the sole purpose of making the bedding look amazing? I just feel like this fluffy goodness would be so much easier to achieve with a smaller bed. Plus, finding bedding for a queen is so much easier, cheaper, and it allows me to snuggle a little more with the hubs.

What would you do? Splurge and get the pottery barn bedding and king bed, or go with the queen and make your own bedding?

Also, do any of you have all white bedding? If so, I would LOVE to see it in real life instead of "glamor shot" catalogs. E-mail me at nikki_grandy@yahoo.com and I'll spread your love!

Waiting...

2011-04-26T20:07:00.000-07:00

We're still waiting on the closing of our new home. STILL. So I decided to show you my boys room again and link up to Jennifer Rizzo's boys room party here.

So here's what the room looked like before the 3rd boy came along and kicked #2 out of his own room.

And here's what it looks like with 2 boys in the room.

There isn't room for anything else besides a tall dresser, the toy box and two twin beds. In our new house their room will be big enough for all THREE antique hospital beds that I have. But baby number 4 won't be out of a crib for another year so we'll cross that bridge when we get there. I can't wait to have them all lined up, vintage military style.

If you have a great boys room to link up, please stop by Jennifers site,

Antique chippy door

2011-04-25T16:17:00.000-07:00

I'm cleaning house and have this antique white door for sale for $100. It would make a beautiful headboard or attach shelves for a unique bookcase. Let me know if you're interested!
nikki_grandy@yahoo.com

King sized headboard

2011-04-18T09:56:00.000-07:00

You know that headboard I'm planning on doing week 1 of my project lineup? Well, I got tired of packing and did it Saturday. I'll still post the tutorial with step by step pictures of how I did it during week 1 but I thought I'd post a picture of it. Here's the before.

It's not what I thought it was going to be. I mean, I guess I knew it would be really feminine. It has carved flowers for Pete's sake and adding ruffles wasn't exactly going to "man it up". Don't get me wrong, I really like it. It's just not the look I'm going for in my master bedroom. After the floral headboard I wanted something a little more masculine and industrial. So I'm selling it. Here's the after.

It's KING sized. Upholstered in a charcoal gray linen. E-mail me if you're interested at nikki_grandy@yahoo.com. $180. I'll deliver to the east valley for an extra $20.

Giveaway

2011-04-16T21:02:00.000-07:00

My older sister from Junkrestore, or Tara-tomatumor as I so lovingly call her, is doing a giveaway on her blog. She is shipping a brand new gravity feed paint sprayer to one lucky winner!

And I want to be that winner. Because I'm lazy and tired of painting everything by hand. So this is my entry in her giveaway.

Go here if you want to enter. Or not, so my chances to win myself are higher.

Project line up

2011-04-14T13:58:00.000-07:00

Well, we're counting down the days till the move. Looks like it'll be next weekend. Which means I need to get my butt in gear and pack. So I'll be taking a break from blogging for the next couple of weeks.

Don't cry, I promise when I get back I'll be doing some awesome stuff! Since my husband will be gone to Rucker for 8 weeks, I've lined up 8 projects to keep me kicking while he's gone. Here's what I plan on doing with tons of tutorials...

Week 1: Upholstered headboard with, of course, ruffles!!

Week 2: Barn like shutters for the outside of the house, new galvanized lights, and some chairs turned into flower holders.

Week 3: Kitchen backsplash and wall treatment. I'll give you a hint. It's getting beadboard and a LOT of it.

Week 4: Laundry room work surface and washer and dryer hider (I hate looking at those things!)

Week 5: Paneling and paint in Paysen's room. I'm SO excited to be doing this project.

Week 6: New ruffled bedskirt and other bedding in my room. ALL WHITE.

Week 7: Kids bathroom redo. New paint, salvaged wood on the walls, lighting and a mirror.

Week 8: Old mirror project. I have a little collection of antique mirrors but I need a ton for this project so I'll be making new ones look old with chemicals.

It's quite the line up but I'm trying to keep myself busy! I'll leave you with one of Caleb's favorite quotes...

"Don't tell my mother I fly blackhawks. She thinks I play piano in a whore house."

Over and out.

New house!

2011-04-12T12:49:00.000-07:00

Are you one of those people who won't post pictures of their new house before it closes because they don't want to jinx themselves?

Well, I'm not. Here's a bunch of pictures of the new place. I can't wait to Dick Cheney those walls!

Since the sweet love of my life is going to Rucker for 8 weeks, he'll miss the move. Isn't that the pits? He always "gets put on orders" right when we have to move and usually gets me pregnant before too! Don't get any ideas Caleb...

Anyways, here's the front of the house. I have some fun plans for shutter and galvanized barn-esque light fixtures on the front of the house. And oh yeah... the landscaping in the front has GOT TO GO. Baby steps, baby steps. I'll let Caleb tackle that project on his own.

Here's the front room. Half of my house right now could fit into this room. Which seems to be a blessing and a curse. I want to do built in bookcases with a gliding ladder in here but that's pretty much all I have planned. Maybe a homework area, desk and sectional for reading.

To the left before the great room is the hallway to the guest/office/nursery, bathroom, and entry into the 3rd car garage.

Here's the great room. It's pretty self explanatory. I'm adding thicker molding to the cabinets and doing a phenomenal backsplash and other goodies. You'll have to wait and see!

To the right of that room is the master bedroom and bath. I still have no idea what to paint the walls in here or what I want to do. All I know is I'm doing all white bedding. Maybe a huge architectural piece.

My husband and I just stared at our closet for a while. It's literally bigger that the room he shared with his 4 other brothers growing up.

And then to the left of the kitchen is two more bedrooms, a bath, the laundry room and entry into the garage.

And here's the back yard.

Pretty much everything about the property needs work, but it's all superficial. And it's move in ready. I hate the paint and we're going to put in new flooring as well, but not until the carpet we have gets bad. I'm itching to get in and start some projects!

Home tour!

2011-04-09T05:48:00.000-07:00

I'm editing this post to join the home tour from A bowl full of lemons. I don't know about you guys but I LOVED all the home tours brought to us from Poppies at Play. I had so much fun seeing those amazing women's homes without dragging my 4 kids with me and inevitably breaking some of their prized posessions. Because kids don't go for the dollar store decor. They go for the heirlooms, ya know?

Anyways, Andy is having a linky party for home tours and this is my contribution. This is kind of a last tribute for me as well because we will be moving into a bigger home at the end of the month.

So here's a picture of us. In all our glory. One kid crying the next hiding from the camera. That's the way it goes...

Here we go. This is our front door from the street. I feel a little rebellious because I didn't get the door approved by the HOA before I put it up. And if they ask me to take it down I'll tell 'em where to go.

And here's my living room. It's the first room you walk into and the place where we spend the most time (besides the back yard)

Right around the corner, we have the kitchen, dining and sitting area or "great room". I recently refinished the cabinets and LOVE how it really brightened up the space. My husband and I also installed wood flooring about 2 months ago. It hurts my heart to leave it and go back to carpet and tile but maybe someday I'll have it in my new house too.

Down the hallway and on the right is the master bedroom and bath.

Do you love my barn door on my closet? Here's a tutorial. Straight across from my room is a bathroom and a nursery

And then at the end of the hallway is my 2 boys and daughter's rooms. Here's the boys room. It's 10'x10' so I couldn't fit much in there.

Here's a tutorial on how I did the duvets at the end of their beds. And lastly my daughters room. I'm afraid she's constantly surrounded by swords and soldiers so I designed her room as girly as I could manage without puking.

As I look at these pictures I'm actually tearing up. This house means so much to me and not just because it's our first home we've owned. We bought it a month before my husband deployed for a year to Iraq. This house was my saving grace. Every time I felt sad or alone I came up with another project to do to the house. It distracted me from thinking about the war and how it separated the ones I love. It was a place for me to release my frustrations through paint and wood and fabric. But it's time to move on to a bigger house and a happier time!

p.s. I bet my neighbors will be glad when I'm gone! They won't hear my air compressor turn on in the middle of the night anymore.

Paysen's room inspiration

2011-04-07T19:41:00.001-07:00

I've been combing through my favorite files looking for ideas for our new house. I am in love with this play room from Restoration Hardware. I think the colors and paneling on the wall will be perfect for my daughter Paysen's room.

What do you guys think? I'm thinking about painting her bed a cool pewter/gray rubbed with black. This is what it looks like now.

This is what I want it to look like.

What do you guys think? Should I do it?

Barn sale

2011-04-03T12:18:00.000-07:00

The barn sale is over and it was a HUGE success! We had so many shoppers Thursday, Friday and Saturday. We even had a significant amount of men shopping on Saturday! And not even sitting at the front waiting for the girls to finish! I mean actually walking around looking at all our cool junk.

Here are a few images from the sale...

This is the checkout counter

Here's my booth. Sadly (well, I'm not too sad about it), I sold the majority of my items the first day so there wasn't a lot for the next two days. Don't worry, next barn sale I'll be prepared and replenish every night for the next day.

Here's some of the booths that I really liked. I can't believe how many people were there! It was awesome!

And here's what I came home with. I'm stoked to move into this new house. I'm trying to go with a more industrial that shabby look. We'll see how it goes!

My sister Tara from junkrestore is the one who organizes it. If you want to be a vendor or want to join the mailing list to receive information about the next sale, e-mail junkrestore@yahoo.com. The next sale will be in June, but at an indoor area because it's too dang hot in Arizona to have it in the summer!

For Rent

2011-04-02T09:50:00.000-07:00

My husband and I bought another house in our neighborhood and are looking to rent out ours.

4 bedroom, 2 bath, 1650 sq feet. We just put in really nice dark brown laminate wood flooring in the living, great room, and hallway. Tile in the bath, carpet in bedrooms. It has a huge yard with grass in the front and back. Garden boxes in the back with a drip line for easy watering. The kitchen cabinets have been refinished to a clean cottage white. Absolutely NO pets inside or out (unless it's a fish), HOA included in the $950 a month rent. All utilities are the renters responsibility.

Please e-mail me if you're interested. nikki_grandy@yahoo.com It will be available May 1 or 15th (depending on when our new house closes, yahooo!)

I'm surprisingly sad about leaving this house even though the new one is a much better fit for us. I LOVE my flooring though and will be so sad to leave. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to save my pennies to put it in the new house!

BARN SALE INFO

2011-03-29T20:54:00.000-07:00

I'm SO excited for the barn sale this weekend. There aren't very many barn style weekend sales in Arizona, if any at all. I'm always so jealous of the amazing flea markets in California or Wisconsin and found myself always hoping for one to come to my area. Well, it's here. And in the greater Phoenix area to boot! There are going to be over 35 vendors selling items from Antique furniture and home decor to jewelery and accessories.

Please stop by and introduce yourself if you're one of my readers! I would LOVE to meet you! I'll be there all day Thursday checking out at the counter. Hope to see you then!

Barn sale

2011-03-27T16:38:00.000-07:00

Another barn sale item...

Barn sale

2011-03-25T16:25:00.000-07:00

I'm selling both pieces of furniture in this picture. The vintage lockers and the red dresser.

Barn sale item

2011-03-24T16:19:00.000-07:00

I'm selling my king sized headboard. It will be at the barn sale next weekend.

Light fixture

2011-03-24T12:50:00.000-07:00

My husband wired me a new light for my kitchen sink. It is the infamous Ottava pendant lamp from Ikea. It's been used by so many great people including Layla from The Lettered Cottage and Linda at Restyled Home. But I know why so many designers use it. It's cheap at a whopping $29.99 AND has character. Here's the link.

And doesn't my husband look ever so happy to install it for me?

Ha ha. Well, it gave him some much needed brownie points. He got home from his long trip away and went camping with a bunch of young men from our church the very next weekend. But I appreciate it love. If you ever even read my blog. Anyways, here it is in my space. Sorry for the crappy pictures. My editing program is having technical difficulties. Or maybe it's user error.

Wood chandelier

2011-03-22T14:19:00.000-07:00

Beautiful chippy WOOD chandelier will also be at the barn sale. It's a sturdy, hand carved gorgeous piece.

Barn sale

2011-03-21T23:07:00.000-07:00

I'll be posting pictures of items for sale throughout the next few weeks leading up to the big barn sale. For more information about the barn sale, visit Junkrestore and click on the barn sales tab at the top of the page.

I found this vintage table and chair set on craigslist. It's looks just like the ones used in a 50's diner. The fabric on it was cracking and faded. I decided it needed blue and cream polka dotted oil cloth to keep the vintage vibe. It's waterproof and insanely durable. I LOVE how it turned out and will be sad to see it go.

Tripod floor lamp

2011-03-21T14:28:00.000-07:00

Have you seen this tripod floor lamp from Restoration Hardware?

Guess what? It's on sale right now! It's only $1,145! What a steal right? Wrong-o. Maybe if my husband was a doctor or something. I guess even if he was, I still won't pay over a grand for a lamp. The cheapness instilled in me since birth just wouldn't allow it.

So instead, when my sister and I were at the flea market in Chandler on Saturday, we came across an antique tripod. She graciously (we always like the same things and I KNOW she would have loved to buy it) pointed it out to me and I swiped it up for a mere $20.

It already had a hole in the top making the installation of my lamp a breeze. I purchased a nestinghouse lamp kit at Home Depot for $9.95 and followed the directions on the back of the box. The kit had everything I needed for the project.

Well, here's my rendition. I actually prefer it to the Restoration Hardware version because it's so beautifully industrial with it's levers and bolts.

I definitely want a bigger lamp shade but until I can get myself to Goodwill and find one, this will have to do.

They have a small tripod similar to mine on ebay for pretty cheap. I'm thinking matching table lamp? Found here.

New springy mantle

2011-03-16T11:14:00.001-07:00

It's been spring around these parts for a while now so I'm surprised it took me this long to change up my mantle. I wanted something pretty neutral and here's what I ended up with.

I grabbed these items from Goodwill along with a cute green wreath. Me and everyone else in the greater Phoenix area made a trip there on 1/2 off day a while back. Frankly, I'm surprised there was anything left to buy.

Here's what they look like after some paint and hot glue.

I really love apothecary jars. I have quite an assortment but I never really know what to put in them. Does anyone else have that problem?

My new wreath. My 3 year old used it as a shield during a sword fight in the back seat on the way home. It looked like someone spilled green and white nerds all over the place until I could vacuum it up. It didn't do too much damage though.

I printed out some fun spring sayings and put them in frames I got on clearance at Home Goods.

And one more just because.

Linking up to

GIVEAWAY!

2011-03-15T21:39:00.000-07:00

I'm doing a giveaway to commemorate my almost hitting 200 followers. Leave a comment here and you'll get...

It's a surprise duh! Mostly because whoever wins will get a custom gift bought by yours truly. When I did a giveaway on the blog I had with my sisters, I picked the person before I went on my trip to the Canton flea market. I read their blog, and bought them a gift I thought they'd really like. I felt like reading their blog helped me get to know them a little better and it felt like shopping for a friend.

So here we go again! You have until Friday, the 18th of March!

Jones Design Company copied pillow tutorial

2011-03-12T15:17:00.000-08:00

I've been following a blog, Jones Design Company pretty religiously for a while now. She did this amazing painted wallpaper tutorial a while back and I'd been wanting to try it. I want to paint it onto a thick drop cloth and use it as a rug. But to test my theory first, I tried it for a pillow. I'm VERY happy with the results and can't thank Emily enough for doing the hard part for me.

Here's a run down of how I did my project. First off, go here and at the end of the posting Emily has a free template you can download. I shrunk it to the size I thought would look good on the pillow and cut it out. Then I stenciled it onto the fabric just like she did on her wall. After that I mixed textile medium and white paint and started painting it on. Just follow the directions on the bottle. It's 2:1 but I don't remember which part is the 2.

It went on relatively easy. I didn't even have to do two coats.

One Jackie Chan movie and 2 episodes of Yo Gabba Gabba later and I had finished.

Then I washed the fabric and put them facing each other and sewed along the outside leaving a small gap (but big enough to stick the pillow back through).

Flip it right side in and pin the edge not sewn.

Sew the edge and you're all finished!

When the cats away.....

2011-03-11T12:36:00.001-08:00

The mice will do tons of projects around the house. My husband's been gone for training for the past two weeks and I had a to do list the length of my last grocery list. I loathe grocery shopping in case you don't know me. Usually because I end up taking all 4 of my kids and I get all sorts of comments like "Wow, you're brave" and "Are they all yours? You must be glutton for punishment". Anyways, one of the major things I vowed to do while he was gone was refinish the kitchen cabinets.
Here's the before.

And here's a ton of after shots. I used the color "Swiss coffee" paint with primer from Behr, distressed them, applied a light coat of stain called "Provincial" over the top, then a poly top coat to finish it off. I got the pulls at this tiny thrift store near Fort Hood, Tx for $1.50 and the knobs are from Home Depot. I didn't know how I would feel about the tin back splash being the same color as the cabinets but I really like it. I considered painting the bottom a different color than the uppers but when I looked for kitchen images online I noticed that there are NO kitchens with a darker color on the top than the bottom. Only darker on the bottom. Why is that and have any of my readers (like I have any of those) seen it that way? Let me know if you have, I'd like to see it

Edited to link up to Jennifer Rizzo linky party here

Barn Door Tutorial

2011-03-02T14:41:00.000-08:00

*Disclaimer* My husband wrote this posting so if you don't speak engineer fluently, try printing this off and taking it to the local University. Or just look at the pictures like I always do.

The Door
You need to ensure that all lumber is as straight as possible when selecting it. Make sure all edges are clean before gluing them.

Take three of the 8’ 1X6 boards and lay them side by side on a flat surface. A large table or other elevated surface works best. Apply wood glue to the inside of the first two boards, ensure the ends are flush and then glue them together. Put wood clamps in at least three places on the boards and tighten them down until there is no visible gap between the boards (Note: Do not put the wood clams directly on the boards. Place small pieces of scrap between the jaws of the clamp and the boards). Do not over tighten or the boards will warp, you want to make sure they lay flat on the table or work surface.

Repeat this process with the other three 8’ 1X6 boards. Allow the boards to sit for a minimum of 3 hours. Overnight is better. Use a large square and a skill saw to trim the sections to the desired length based on the height of the doorway you are filling. If you are filling a standard doorway with existing trim measure from the bottom of the door to the top of the trim (make sure there will be a ¾” - 1” gap below the door when you are done) and cut the door to match.

You should now have two different sections of three 1X6s glued together. When gluing these two larger sections together you must be careful not to allow them to bow up in the middle. Glue between the two sections and clamp them like before, leaving at least 10” of board exposed at the top and bottom.

Measure the exact width of the combined 1X6s (you should come up with something close to 33”) and trim the 1X10 to fit across the top and bottom. Use a square on all of your cuts. Immediately glue the 1X10 across the top and bottom of the 1X6s and use C-Clamps to hold them in place. This will help hold your door flat, preventing bowing. Ensure that the 1X10 remains flush with the top and bottom edges of the door.

Allow all boards to dry. Remove all clamps and sand away excess glue. Ensure the surface is clean and smooth.

Measure 1X4 and cut the 1X4. The best way to do this is to put the board in place across the door use the square to mark it before trimming it. Glue the 1X4, put it in place and then nail it down with the finish nail gun. Nail the 1X10 at the top and bottom. Put at least two nails through the 1X10 and into each 1X6.Sand the entire door.

Your door is finished!

The Track

Use the chop saw to cut a piece of metal strap 51 ½” long. Place the last 1” securely in the vice. Use a square to make sure the strap is squared up in the vice. Carefully bend the strap using the sledge hammer to keep the radius of the bend tight. The tab you have bent into the strap should be displaced 90 degrees. Repeat on the other end of the strap.

The unbent portion of the rail should be 49 ½” long.

Drill 4 holes through the strap using the drill press. The outside holes should be 4” from the ends and the inside holes should be approx. 18” from each end. Holes should be large enough to allow ¼” bolts to pass through them.
Cut the six foot long 1X6 down to 66” (twice the width of the door). Measure 8 ¼” in from the end of the 1X6 and mark using the square. Measure ¼” from the long edge of the board and mark in at three places. Hold the strap firmly along the lines scribed on the board and use a hand drill and the same drill bit used before and begin holes into the board using the strap as a template. Once you have the holes started in the board, put the bit back in the drill press and drill the holes all the way through the board. Using the drill press will keep the holes straight.

Put carriage bolts through each of the new holes. Place a washer on the thread side of each bolt and then tighten down a nut over each of them. Place another nut over the first and tighten it until it is snug. Put the strap over the bolt and then place a third nut on the outside of the plate and tighten it down. The first two nuts act as spacers for the wheels to slide down.

You are done with the Track!

The Hard Part
You are almost done! This last step is the most difficult. If you happen to have a finger break (a tool used to bend sheet metal) then this part is a cinch. If you don’t then at the very least you will need a hefty vice, a good 2lb sledge and some ingenuity. Even with instruction you are going to have to think your way through this. The end result will look like this….

Cut two 16” pieces of strap.

Bend a 1 ½” Flange into the strap.

Insert a strong steel spacer into the vice with the strap. The spacer should be approximately the same width as the pulley wheel. Use the hammer and push down on the remaining strap to bend it as much as possible.

Open the jaws of the vice and put the strap between them then tighten the vice. This may require repositioning the piece several times. The piece should look like the image to the right when this step is done.

Mark the strap 2” from the top and then bend it 45 degrees.

Turn the piece over, reinsert it into the vice and bend it at 45 degrees a second time. There should be 2 1/8” OUTSIDE TO OUTSIDE when this is done. This measurement is based on a ¾” pulley wheel. If your pulley wheel is not ¾” wide then adjust the measurement such that the center of the wheel will end up directly above the 2X6 section of the door. This will be a space of 1 ¼” from the outside face of the part of the strap that will bolt to the door and the center of the pulley….

Repeat for the second strap.

Drill holes in each strap for the pulley wheels. Center it in the C-Channel you have created in the strap. Drill two holes in the face of the straps and then through the door. Take special care to ensure that the center of both pulleys are the same distance from the top of the door and that the door will swing with a ½” – 1” gap at the floor. Bolt the straps to the door. Bolt on the pulley wheels and you are ready to hang your door!

For sale

2011-03-02T10:36:00.000-08:00

I'm selling this antique dresser for $50

And this desk for $40.

Let me know if you're interested. Pick up only.