4 Men 1 Lady: August 2010

8.30.2010

"Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting..."

Another year older for my two little men meant it was time to party!

What could be better for a herd of rough and tumble boys then a karate party?

Wearing the coveted black belt for a day is pretty darn cool!

This party came complete with obstacles, running, kicking, punching, blocking and lots of yelling.

Apparently the life skill they just learned about "self-control" didn't take.
When in the midst of presents all sense of personal space is obsolete.

Not to worry, we had a little gift of our own to give all our friends.

Happy Birthday N and T!

8.27.2010

A word about our sponsors.

Are you sick of hearing about every single detail of this bathroom makeover yet?
Since I keep getting questions I'm going to keep on addressing them.
Three sponsors gave us some of their products to test out during this makeover.

First up is a very cool company called Ghost Nest.

Reid is the artist behind this genius idea. He can create anything you can dream up and make cabinet hardware out of it. You can also just check out his gallery of ideas. I chose "Bee's Honey Please".

Here are a couple of my favorites:

He can also make knobs out of your own personal pictures...how cool is that?

Next up. Cutting Edge Stencils. My brilliant idea to stencil the ceiling was one of the hardest projects I've taken on yet. I started by trying to stencil the wall. Easy. Ceiling, that's another story. But after all said and done it was worth it.

They have a huge selection of new stencils. I adore this one and almost picked it but in the end I chose the Trellis Stencil and am very happy with it.

This reminds me of the wall in my den.

Last but not least, Dutch Boy Paint. Ugly truth be told, there was an ever so slight odor in my bathroom. All you who have potty training male toddlers know what I'm talking about. Scrubbing and scrubbing and scrubbing...still there. I swear since painting the bathroom with this paint I cannot smell a thing. No lie. This paint is called "Refresh" which has no VOC's (yay) and Arm & Hammer which is supposed to eliminate household odor (and it works...and I'm not being paid to say it).

Do you have a product you'd like to see used in an upcoming project? Let me know!

8.25.2010

Ain't paint great?

When I decorate I always try to work with and use what I already have.
Many times those things don't always go together because they are the wrong finish or color...so...I paint.

Cabinet before:

Cabinet after:

To paint this cabinet here's what I did

(all with a paint brush for all the nooks and a small roller for the larger pieces):

1. Wipe cabinets clean.

2. 2 coats of Zissner's No Sand Primer.

3. 2 coats of basic black in semi-gloss Behr.

4. 2 coats of water based Verathane.

Cast iron bird before:

A new coat of spray paint after.

Estate sale mirror before:

A new coat of spray paint after:

When my husband and I were first married we were living in Hawaii in a converted studio that was once a carport on the beach. We were poor college students. I danced on the canoes at the Polynesian Culture Center and my husband counted coconuts in the back warehouse to sell to tourists. Working for minimum wage we had very little money. Despite that I wanted to spruce our humble adobe up. I found these two prints and figured I had to work 8 hours to be able to afford them but it was worth it. 11 years later I've schleped them around only to collect dust in the closet but they have great sentimental value to me.

Before:

Wood filler in the joints, new piece of glass from ACE Hardware and some black spray paint...

Gold frame before:

Spray paint + DIY art on the computer =

After shot images by: Wondertime Photo.

Item sources here.

8.23.2010

Guest bathrm before & after.

Our guest bathroom is done (for now) so it's time to reveal.

I first have to thank a few people for their contributions to this project.

-Thank you to my wonderful handyman husband for helping me position and reposition the stencil at least 150 times at midnight and helped me with the crown molding. All this without questioning my sanity.

-My sincerest thanks to my dear friend Michelle who is also the genius behind Wondertime Photo and snaps all the "after's" in my home. With no trace of natural light anywhere in the bathroom it was not the most ideal space to photograph. At one point Michelle turned off all the lights, used a long exposure and was able to get great shots. Who woulda thought? Talk about a professional. Thanks for being such a cheerleader.

-Last but not least, thank you to my project sponsors Dutchboy paints, Cutting Edge Stencils and Ghost Nest Hardware for sending me their fabulous products to test. More about their products this week.

Here we are before.

If you remember this house is not even three years old so everything is still in very new condition... just very "builder bland". My challenge was to simply spruce it up.

AFTER.

The first thing I did was paint all the walls in a calm, neutral color called Stonewall Jackson by Dutch Boy. Then I replaced the mirror with this framed mirror. It was once gold and hanging above my piano.
I also painted the cabinet black.

I Stenciled the ceiling with this great trellis pattern and added crown molding. It is one of Cutting Edge Stencil's newest patterns. That was a task! I had silver paint in my hair for days after I finished this because I sponged it rather than rolled it on.

Next, I changed out the existing, generic light for this very affordable and eclectic barn light in red. I once read somewhere (someone help me out here) that a designer said every room is worthy of a bold pop of red. Here's that advice fulfilled.

Couldn't ignore the hardware details. These unique knobs are from Ghost Nest. They are meaningful to me because I grew up in the Beehive State (Utah). More about this cool company this week.

Then I added some art and accessories. I found this bird (cast iron? REALLY HEAVY!) at Tumbling Tumbleweed Antiques. It was all rusted and felt too shabby chic so I modernized it by spraying it yellow. Before I accessorized this room it felt a little monochromatic. It really needed some pops of unifying color so or course I added bold hits of yellow.

This vintage cabinet was my most fun score. I looked for months for something to fill this odd little space with funky dimensions. I found it at the Paris Flea Market here in Tucson for $10.00. I covered the shelves in wrapping paper then took off the door so I could use it as storage and display.

This frame is from HomeGoods and was gold. I diy'ed it up a bit by spray painting it yellow. I then did my own little take on the "Keep Calm and Carry On" print and made my own reminder to my boys with the help of my computer.