adapting a sconce

in my effort to draw out the makeover of the boys'

rooms i accomplished only one more tiny thing this week.

you may remember the wall treatment i finished up

several weeks ago behind bean's bed.

it's a dark little recessed area but a perfect nook

for his bed.

the outlet on that wall is wired to the light switch for the room

so i wanted to put up a plug in sconce.

then i started pricing them. good grief!

since that wasn't in the budget i found an inexpensive

candlelight sconce from lowes that i thought would be

perfect for the space.

only problem, not a plug in.

so, i did what any self respecting diy'er would do.

i adapted it.

all that was needed was a lamp cord set, some

wood screws and a cord mate.



all you do is take the two wires from the light,

that would normally be tied

into the wires from the wall box, and tie them

into the plug. the ground

wire can either be left alone or wrapped around

the screw on the mounting bar.

i picked up some wood screws because the screws

that came with the light

were not meant for wood. and because i was using

metal against wood i grabbed some washers.

the mounting bars would normally screw into the box in the wall or ceiling but

in this case i secured it directly to the wall.

and then i attached the fixture. easy peasy.

sorry, no styling photos around here! what you see is

what you get. :) who spots my nail gun waiting patiently for step 84 of boy room reno?

i have since gone back and put the cord mate on so the

cord is nice and tucked in behind a strip that adheres to the wall.

i spray painted it orb so that it will blend a little better. 

now, everyone keep your fingers crossed that bean doesn't

pull it off the wall!

~ stacy ~

sick day equals progress upstairs

i had other plans today.

plans to hang out with a friend

and help her with a project.

but when tank wandered into my room at 4.30am

with a high fever i knew plans were a changin'.

after dropping spinner and bean at school and getting tank settled on the sofa with some blankets and cartoons

i decided to knock out one

of the 150 things on my to-do list.

the boys' room's have been under a slow over-haul

for a good month or more.

so far i have painted various walls in both rooms

and planked the hall landing at the

top of the stairs that connects their rooms.

today was all about planking a small bit of wall behind

bean's bed.



there is so little light upstairs (as it is nestled in the trees) so pics

are nearly impossible to take. what i'm saying is, forgive the grain!

before i started i realized i needed to slap some

dark paint on that wall because i wanted the

gaps between my wood to be large and

haphazard (and i didn't want butter yellow showing through).

i used 1 x 4's and 1 x 6's cut at varying lengths.

i layed it out on the patio as i cut so that

the seams were where i wanted them.

the rest was pretty easy. i just used my nail gun to put the

cut wood up, starting on the right side to make

sure the wood was flush with the wall's edge.

i did have to extend the outlet.



i use these little plastic doohickeys. they work

great and are super easy.

once extended i finished up and put on the new outlet cover.

like i said, i wanted it to look haphazard and piecemeal with

random gaps and spacing. this picture really shows the gray

wall  through the cracks put in the room the spaces just

look dark, which is what i was hoping for.



i'm pretty pleased with it. i love the natural color

and will just top it off with a coat or two of

wipe-on polyurethane.

now i need to find a swing arm, plug in, wall lamp to put

in the upper right quarter so my little guy can

read in bed.

next step for their rooms is beadboard for the rest of the half-walls.

fingers crossed i have this all done before thanksgiving.

and when i do, i'll give you the full reveal.

~ stacy ~

project updates: whitewash and boy rooms!

i did it.

i made a decision on the brick fireplace treatment.

it's not done yet but i have had a few people ask to see what i'd done so far,

so here ya go.

i used a 50/50 ratio of primer to water, grabbed a brush

and started applying.

the whitewash is on. it took about 1.5 hours and dried super

fast.

next step is to take a wire brush to it to rough it up just a bit and

expose a little more of the brick.

we love it! even without the roughing up.

pastor j has been wanting me to paint

it for a while so he is especially pleased with it which

makes me happy.

we also have a few things going on upstairs in the boys'

quarters. it involved this. . .

and some of this. . . 

and now we are here. . .

this is luke's corner. he styled the shelves himself. :)

next week beadboard will go up on the side walls, beneath

the pitched ceiling.

wil's corner is gonna be sweet, too.

and timmy? he's getting a splash of green in his room!



to paint or not to paint?

* paint brick fireplace!

that's on my project to-do list.

it should have been checked off by now so that

it would be ready for use this winter.

it's not.

i'm generally not one to shy away from slapping

paint on anything but for some reason

i feel tentative about painting the brick.

does that mean i shouldn't do it?

after we moved in i immediately painted the shiny brass

fireplace insert black.

that was easy and greatly improved things.

but in the back of my mind i knew i'd eventually paint the brick.

in anticipation of painting it this summer i cleaned her

out really well in the spring and removed the big

honking insert.

this is how it sits now.

when i took the insert out i realized i'd done a rotten

prep job before painting it. note the black rim around the opening.

so, now, i have to paint the brick.

right?

i do like the warmth of brick. i think i'm afraid i'm going to want

it back and this is one paint job you just can't undo.

however, every time i see a painted brick fireplace, like this one from

younghouselove,

 i'm ready to pull out my brush!

i also love the brick treatment in this kitchen.

and this whitewash treatment is great.

source

what to do, what to do?

i'm leaning toward a whitewash so that some of the warmth

of the brick will come through.

any opinions? i'm wide open.

~stacy~

bringing in some color

i've been a bit sick lately. mostly with migraines. i have them

often. really often. last week i had one that

just about did me in and lasted almost a full five days.

my meds weren't touching it.

it's over now. normally i would just

move on and take advantage of the feel good days

before the next one hits but this one

kicked me in the tail in a good way.

in an effort to (possibly) help with my migraines

 and just feel better, more energetic, in general (which would in turn

help my mirgaines) i have given up caffeine and sugar. and more than

that am shifting my family toward a more

"whole foods" diet.

i know this isn't a food blog but i have decided that from

time to time i will document how i'm doing with this

lifestyle change, for my own sake.



i have been off caffiene and sugar for several days now

and today i woke up migraine free and feeling great!

so, after being nearly non-functional for the last week i was

ready to clean and spruce and brighten up the place.

i had some fabric i was going to use to make lamp shades

but decided it was just what i needed in the kitchen to replace my old

meshy, neutral curtains.

i liked how the above curtains let light in and felt very airy

but they were just a little to beige for our fairly neutral kitchen.

this floral fabric was just right. it was a quick transformation thanks to

stitch witchery!



I'm linking up with Donna and Funky Junk Interiors.

master makeover in progress

i was a little caught off gaurd by the calender today.

january has really gotten away from me! 

we've had snow days, scheduled days off, and sick kids.

the only thing all this means is that my project list is

getting restructured.

but that's life right?

if having kids has taught me anything it's that

flexibility makes life a lot easier.

a lesson that has not come easy for this highly structured gal!

today, because bean was home and passed out on the sofa

i decided to get started on our master bedroom which

is within earshot of the sofa.

it's a project i wasn't going to hit until spring,

but, i had the paint so i figured why not!

i have done absolutely nothing to our master since

we moved in last september other than our bathroom

and my closet.

below is a very before picture. it's actually an mls pic and what we saw

when we first looked at the home. so, none of it is our stuff.

their bedframe, while very nice, really overwhelmed this room so we sold our

bedframe before we moved

with plans to do something a little different for a headboard.

it's impossible to see the wall color with the lighting in this photo.

it's a fleshy pink color. i have previously described

it as resembling the underbelly of a pig. not a great color.

this looked a lot better on my camera than it does here.

the left side is the new color, rice grain by sherwin williams, mixed

by home depot. love behr's paint and primer in one.

the right side is the old pinkish wall.

rice grain. it only took one coat of behr p and p. awesome!

the trim and molding, currently a creamy white, will

be painted a bright white.



all walls were painted today except this one. it's going to be an accent

wall and will receive a treatment of horizontal

planks, painted white.

source

i'm hoping to land somewhere between these two looks.

the above pic is clean and fresh and below is

rustic and fresh, and a little less perfect which suits

us better.

source

it will be my first project using my new nail gun and compressor so

join me in praying that i don't land in the hospital with a nail driven through

my hand. just kidding, mom! i'll be fine.

snow, botched plans, and a closet re-do

my plans for last week did not go quite as expected.

i was going to start working on the boys' rooms and bathroom.

and then this happened. . .

we live in south carolina. which means that this kind of snowfall

shuts us down. the snow fell on a monday which meant no school.

it also meant no school for. . . tuesday. or wednesday. and late starts

on thursday and friday. no, it did not continue to snow on those days but it was

cold and there was ice. and apparently the powers that be are

afraid to allow south carolinians to drive on icy roads.
apparently there is good reason for that.

what this meant is that my plans for the boys' space was put on hold.

next week i'll take you on a tour of their awkward space but for today you get to see

my new and improved closet.

i had no plans to re-do my closet at this time but it was an easy project to 

tackle while the boys were at home.

can you say blah! our twin closets. pastor j's on the left, mine on the right.

have i ever mentioned that when we bought this house

all the walls were a fleshy color with pink undertones. like the underbelly

of a pig. not the prettiest color i've ever seen.

our bedroom is still this color. it's on the makeover list for this year.

because i tackled my closet makeover on a whim i didn't get

a before picture. i know, blogger fail.

but, i have the next best thing. pastor j's closet. which pretty much mirrors mine.



except his is neater than my before was. please note the light. every closet in this house

lacks a fixture. is this normal? i'm on a mission to change this.

here's my after.

the lighting is horrible. sorry about that. i painted the top blue hubbard
 (had it on hand from our bathroom and den) and the bottom

white (also on hand).

i put some floral craft paper on the backs of the cubbies 

using spray adhesive. chances are i'll

change this out when i find a paper i like better but

this will do just fine for now.

i started collecting velvet covered hangers in our old house, in preparation

of our move and the reality of smaller closets. these are much less bulky

and keep things feeling so much neater.

i scaled my purses down to one for each season plus a few

clutches for special occasions and threw them all in this galvanized

bucket.

apparently i cut off my light fixture. just noticed this. if someone is dying to

see it i'll snap another photo, otherwise just trust me that it

is tons better. baskets hold shorts and t-shirts.

 

since i took this photo i have put a rug in here and it warms it

up all the more.



so there you have it. my quickie closet makeover.

this is part of a larger plan for our bedroom. last weekend i sold

our dressers and plan to use my closet for all my clothes. so,

it was necessary for it to be more functional.

now i'm ready to get busy on the rest of our room.
and our closet doors?

i'm thinking this would look great.

kevin and layla nailed it again!




i'm linking up with beneath my heart and funky junk interiors.