Makeover Madness!

First let me start by saying I was so very thrilled to be featured on one of my favorite blogs Monday, Shrimp Salad Circus.  They featured our little desk and chair makeover I blogged about several months ago... Everything Old is New Again.  Check out Lindsay's blog, it really is fabulous!                         

And in other makeover news... my floors are finished!  WOO HOO!  As I mentioned in Part One and Two, we decided to trash our 10 year old carpet and replaced some of it with wood and the rest of the house got new SOFT carpet (as my kids call it)...

Dining Room BEFORE... 

Dining Room AFTER!

Living Room Before... 

Living Room AFTER... say Hello to my photo bomber, HOLLISTER

And my absolute most favorite part of the entire project... the spot of many future photos of Dear Daughter in dresses I will probably have spent too much money on... the STAIRCASE.

Staircase BEFORE...

Staircase AFTER!!!

For all the dust (OMIGOSH, the D.U.S.T.), chaos, disorganization and general headache this caused, I am completely in love with these floors.  We recarpeted our upstairs and master bedroom, but pictures of new carpet are just not that exciting.  The outside has been repainted and my front door refinished... it was like getting a new house, except I got to keep the good neighbors and didn't have to deal with packing or any annoying mortgage companies.

Makeover Monday: DIY Fabric Embellished Vintage Shelf

I mentioned a a few posts ago that I have an issue with keeping things my mother (a.k.a. Mimi) gives me to sell.  Some things just never seem to find their way out of my house...  Recently she sent two boxes of goodies over with the intention that they be sold. I really do have intentions of selling MOST of it... but this little vintage shelf/paper towel holder caught my eye and I just decided it was entirely TOO heavy to ship (that's my story, anyway) and it needed to find a new purpose in Dear Daughter's bathroom.

I forgot to snap a pic before Handsome Hubby sanded and wood puttied, but here it is just after he worked his magic...

It was a cute little oak colored shelf like it was (before the sanding, you get the idea)... but I have bigger plans.  Hubs gave it a light sanding to take the finish off and make it easier for the paint to stick, then filled any nail holes or obvious cracks with wood putty.  Now it was my turn to get busy. My vision is for it to match Dear Daughter's fabulous new shower curtain ...

I have quite a bit of the fabric left over, and that VISION in my head... out comes my trusty spray paint.  I painted a couple of coats of this pretty blue, and decided to paint the rod a contrasting green color, just for fun.  

Of course, you know this is likely to involve a little Mod Podge, which I used to apply the fabric.  I use the pastry roller (yeah, Handsome Hubby who is also the household chef was not so happy about that) to smooth down the fabric.  I have looked high and low for a craft brayer for this purpose, to no avail, but the pastry roller seems to do the trick just fine.

After I played around with some fabric combinations, I measured the inside of the shelves and cut the fabric to fit.  I also traced the top and cut a fabric embellishment.  Then I applied one fairly thick coat of Mod Podge, smoothed down the fabric and let dry for 15 minutes.  Finally I went back and applied a nice layer on top to secure the fabric.  

Here's the finished product... 

It makes me so happy when the end result turns out better than my VISION (not always that lucky, but this time VICTORY)... here it is hanging in her bathroom.   Isn't this more fun than a boring old wooden shelf?  It is so easy to make things for your home that are original and can't be found on the pages of the Big Box store catalog... find some ordinary and make it extraordinary.   In the wise words of the good Dr. Seuss, "Why fit in when you were born to stand out?"

More GREAT Mod Podge projects here: