From Pallet to Book display {my first attempt at white wash, and lovin' it!}.

We have been in desperate need of some book shelves for my kiddies! They have SO many books, and one basket does NOT cut it anymore. So the first time I saw this idea I was inthralled! Bookshelves out of a Pallet?!?! I couldn't believe how cool they looked, and I was so ready to make some! BUT I was totally intimidated because it involved some real "labor" aka. using a saw & nails. {I felt the same way I painted a piece of furniture for the first time too}. So since we have these laying around our place from time to time I was determined to make some. All by myself. Its funny because when I told my hubby about the idea, he was like "uhhh...what"? And that gave me even more determination to do it without his help. So off I started! 

Here is the 

BEFORE:

For detailed instrutions check out this tutorial here

http://www.littlelucylu.com/2011/05/from-pallet-to-bookshelves.html

you know, I cant take all the credit for this one! lol

Here is where I placed it once all done. IN the hall. This hallway is used as my kiddies "playroom". Both  of their rooms meet up to it, so it is the PERFECT place for all their extra stuff. Plus it is completely out of the way from any of the other rooms upstairs.{We are pretty limited with space, so every empty space counts!} p.s I am working on decorating that big empty wall, still gathering inspiration for that one.:-)

And here is what they looked like after sawing, hammering and sanding all the "ouwies" down. Before they were all done, my hubby saw what I was working on. {I still needed to hammer the bottom in plus pry the middle boards out at the time.} He thought they were so COOL that he went ahead and finished them for me, without me even asking! He's the BEST!

Than after that, I tried to "white wash them". All I did was take some acrylic white paint, watered it down, and slapped it on until I got the desired amount of "white wash". I love it! Took sandpaper to them too for a bit distressing too.

 I kind of went back and forth with the thought of spray painting them solid white and than distressing them...what do YOU All think? Should I do that? Or do you like the weathered "white wash beachy" look? 

A close up. I simply adore all the texture the white wash gives them. The pallet wood was so cool looking before...it really works for this. 

I left them on the floor for now. Not sure if I want to hang them on the wall right now. I will do that once we have a bigger place for sure. {I think}.

LOve all these "rusty" details!

Oh how my kids L.O.V.E books! But even more now they are

 are playing "Library" 24-7! ANd since they can see all the covers they are now putting the books AWAY! Hallelujah!! :-)

OH And I TOTALLY forgot to tell you all, that the total cost for this project was...drum roll please.....

ZERO $!

{just had all this stuff kickin' around here}

oxoxox CAT

Scandinavian Antique Bed revamp {Im in heaven}!

Finally! This project has been sitting in my garage for well over 3 yrs! This beauty is a bed that my mother brought from Denmark when we moved here 14 yrs ago. She bought it when I was just a little girl. It is over 100yrs old and used to be in a castle we are told. I have always loved it, and when my mother offered me and my sister one bed each {it used to be part of once large bed, that can be made into two}, I couldnt WAIT to paint it, and let my little Princess have it for her bedroom. {Now I can say that her PBkids Brook Bedroom "knock off" is done! At least for now....lol} p.s. scroll down to the bottom of this post for old links so you can see her bedroom transformation.

Well, the bed was first given to me when my daughter was still in a crib, and it seems like whenever I wanted to start working on it, it either was too hot, too cold or I was too pregnant to take on this task. 

And now....FINALLY I got it done! :-) And I am ecstatic! Here is what went down....

Here is the BEFORE. I think it is made out of Pine. Either way its made from the trees from "my DANMARK". And I LOVE that about it:-)

I started by wiping it down, getting all the dust off of it. Than it was off to Priming it. Kilz definitely is my favorite! It goes on real well, and this one was a Odorless paint too. Made a big difference. 

Here she is all Primed and ready to go!

I used Rust_Oleums Painters Touch Heirloom White {as suggested by my sister in law @Countrygirlhome.blogspot.com. And I L.O.V.E the color! It is a nice creamy white, not too stark, not too yellow. YUM!

A special paint can attachment made it less painful for my fingers. thanks for the tip Linds!

Here she is all done!

So pretty dont ya think?:-)

I just LOVE the hand carved flowers  at the top. 

Forgot to mention, I took a bit of sandpaper to her, to distress it....makes the detail stand out.

OK..

Eeeeeeee!!!!

 I simply LOOOoooOOOooOOOVE how it turned out!!

 Wish I was sleeping in THAT bed!

lol

GOODNESS girl! You are a spoiled child, you Red Headed Beauty,YOU! 

{Sigh}.... your Mama sure does love u!

NOW, once my boy grows out of HIS crib...what type of bed will HE get? 

Hmmmmmm.....

TO SEE OLD POSTS ON HOW I STARTED HER ROOM GO HERE:

http://catherinascreativecorner.blogspot.com/2010/08/isabellas-big-girl-room.html

&

http://catherinascreativecorner.blogspot.com/2011/06/ruffle-curtain-pillow-diy.html

&

http://catherinascreativecorner.blogspot.com/2010/08/more-sillouettes.html

Shared today with:
http://www.domestically-speaking.com/2011/08/86th-power-of-paint-party-sunbursting.html

The Laundry...a Prettier Place Now!

I have been working on my laundry room for some time now, and I finally got around to taking pictures of it. These pictures have been filed away on my Mac since April folks! Needless to say I have a lot of catching up to do! lol. Well all in all I like how it turned out. I am still working on a solution for my open shelves I have going on {they are in the corner, and I will not post any pix because frankly it is a mess!}. But here is the rest of it. Laundry room is TINY, so whatever goes in needs to be functional....I added a bit of pretty to it too now.
Finally it is a place that I "Like" to be....hehehe. 

Here are the shelves I redid a while ago. The "Laundry" room sign used to be Red. Spraypaint silver! LOVE:-)

I actually used my old kitchen no sew curtain to the room. I thought that yellow is such a happy color to place in a laundry room. What do u think? {The basket on the left is full of fabric softener sheets}.

Here is my view as I do the laundry.....Had to add a bit of pretty to it!:-) The silver mini picture  and white vase are both vintage finds at the thrift store....0.50$ a pop! 

And now for my LOVE. I bought this lovely 4 years ago, on a whim. The whim being I was 9 months preggo, and had just been to the doc. Baby was overdue, so I ran to the store walk her OUT of there!lol. Insted I found this Mirror for $15. It was SO heavy. My plan failed because baby didn't come till 3 days later! But...now I have this cool mirror. I painted it white to brighten up the space. Spray Paint...again,Yum!

So...if you dislike the time you spend in your laundry room like I do, go ahead and make it pretty...its such a fun incentive to be in a "cute" space. And its motivation to keep it "Pretty".

~Cat