Over the past three months since we moved in, I've been able to get a few do-it-yourself projects done around the house. I'm not the best at documenting before photos, but oh well! DIY projects are pretty tough with little ones at home, but I'm sure that every stage of life has interferences of it's own.
I bought a kitchen table and six chairs from a local antique shop before we moved. I really only wanted the chairs, but they wouldn't break up the set so we took the table since we paid for it anyway. For the price it was worth it and I decided to go ahead and paint the table, use it and beat it up while our kids are young, and probably replace it in the future. This was my first project with Annie Sloan chalk paint and I LOVED it. The only downside I found is that it can take up to a month for the wax to fully cure. We definitely didn't wait that long since it was our kitchen table. And it shows. Oh well. It's a good thing I wasn't in love with the table to start with. I could repaint and rewax the top, but eh. No matter what I do it will probably get messed up by my little crazies anyway. I recovered the chairs {too bad I don't have a picture of the lovely before fabric} and the fabric definitely tied the room together.
I love, love, love the softness of this paint and the way it distresses!
Next on my list was to paint the furniture in the guest room. I kept putting it off, but decided on a whim one weekend to go ahead with it. My dad and step-mom were in town and she offered to help me paint while my dad watched the kids {which he's all about anyway}. I couldn't pass up an offer like that! We used Annie Sloan chalk paint again. This time we used Cocoa and Old White. We played around with it when our first "method" didn't work and definitely learned a lot. I really like the way it turned out, even if it wasn't what we planned!
Here's the before...
And after...
The next weekend my mom and step-dad were in town. Notice a trend?? My mom helped me make pillows for the guest room. I made the upholstered headboard and bedskirt a few weeks ago.
Gran hard at work!
The guest room still has a long way to go, but it's a big improvement from what it was before. The checklist for that room includes: painting the standing mirror that's in there, getting a mirror for over the dresser, window treatments, throw pillows for the bed, moving our bedside tables in there {whenever we get new ones for our room}, lamps, getting a chair that is currently in our family room recovered {whenever our new sofas arrive}, and then accessorizing/decorating with smaller things. The list is long, but at least a guest can sleep in there for now!
Our master bedroom is close to complete. On the list for that room: bigger bedside tables {I'd love some small chests with drawers}, a lamp for Bryant's side to match mine, an upholstered bench at the end of our bed {probably a DIY version}, and deciding where to hang a few other things.
Lastly, well this isn't exactly a DIY project, but I wanted to share it nonetheless. On our recent women's retreat a woman shared how she had a prayer journal for each of her children that she jotted down prayers and memories for as they grew up. I felt like this would be an awesome treasure for them someday and really wanted to start one for each of my boys. {Even though I must confess that I wonder if as "boys" they'll even care about this stuff.}. I just hope I can keep up with them! I figure even if I only write in them a few times a year, which of course I'm hoping for more, it will still be awesome for them to have one day. I pray for them every day, but I don't often write those prayers down. I want for them to see the specific ways they've been prayed over and how the Lord has answered those prayers. I also thought it would be a great place to keep funny, little things they say and do. So... be sure to remind me in a few months to write in them!
I love all that you have done! Looks great!
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