Friday, May 27, 2022

New House Tour

 Remodel and Redecorate

Hello my friends!
Last fall my family and I moved into a new home.  We've been working endlessly to redecorate and remodel for about 6 months now and are finally starting to feel a bit more settled.  I plan to share the changes room by room, but thought first why not an introductory tour?  Here is how the home looked at the time of purchase:


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Disclosure - This post may contain affiliate links.  If a purchase is made through an affiliate link then (at no additional cost to you) I will receive a commission.  You can read more about affiliate links here



Remodel and Redecorate
Front Hall

My favorite part about the front hall is that it has plenty of storage and gorgeous French doors that can close it off from the front room if we want to.  We kept the floors and repainted.

My bakery closet is connected to this room. 
Here is a post where I show you how I made the wall decor in there.



Remodel and Redecorate
Front Room

How amazing are these vintage wood floors?  
I spent a lot of time scrubbing and polishing to restore them, and also painted the walls.



Remodel and Redecorate
Dining Room

The vintage floors continue into the dining room where I worked to refinish them as well.  The furniture isn't ours - most of today's photos are from the real estate listing - and the walls and brick have been repainted.



Remodel and Redecorate
Kitchen

There is soooo much storage in the kitchen!  
My husband has replaced the floors with gray ceramic tile while I refinished the cabinets in white and painted the walls.  Eventually the appliances will be replaced and we are still deciding on whether or not to keep the counters.



Remodel and Redecorate
Breakfast Room

Right off of the kitchen is the breakfast room where we have a table and chairs as well as a few storage pieces.  We kept the flooring here and I painted the walls white.  In this post about the window coverings, you can see a bit of the decor update.



Remodel and Redecorate
Laundry Room

The ceramic tile from the kitchen now continues into the laundry room.  I've repainted here and we plan to add cabinetry to the walls.



Remodel and Redecorate
Family Room

After painting and replacing the hanging light with a ceiling fan, this room also got new carpeting.



New House Tour
Back Porch

What used to be an enclosed porch is now my very own craft studio!  It took me two full hours to get the windows opened (they were stuck shut) and then several more to get them clean.  The cedar siding was so thirsty that it took three coats of heavy duty paint to freshen them and my husband spent a couple of days refinishing the floor.  I can't wait to show the finished results!

Here you can see how I applied privacy film to the windows, and here is a post where you can see how I've done some organizing.



Remodel and Redecorate
Main Bedroom

The main bedroom has been repainted and the floor scrubbed.



Remodel and Redecorate
Boy Bedroom

My son's room is now has light green walls and a gamer theme.



Remodel and Redecorate
Girl Bedroom

After taking down the shelving and replacing the carpet, my daughter's bedroom is clean and fresh!
She decided to keep the chandelier which I love 😍

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I'll have updated posts for each room as soon as possible but for now,






















Friday, May 20, 2022

Baking Pans Turned Doughnut Wall Decor

Fake Bake Deocr

Who doesn't love doughnuts?

Here is how I used baking pans to create adorable, treat themed wall hangings:


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Disclosure - This post may contain affiliate links.  If a purchase is made through an affiliate link then (at no additional cost to you) I will receive a commission.  You can read more about affiliate links here



Fake Bake Decor

Here are the doughnut pans as I found them - two for a quarter at a yard sale!  
They are about the size of the palm of your hand.



Fake Bake Decor

Half of them I spray painted in a chocolate brown while the rest I coated in white.



Fake Bake Decor

When the spray paint was dry I used a combination of acrylic paint, puffy paint faux sprinkles (made from a seek and find toy) and cinnamon to add toppings.  I used glue to attach the sprinkles and cinnamon and made sure that all of them were coated in Mod Podge once done.

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Here are some close ups:

Fake Bake Decor
Fake Bake Decor
Fake Bake Decor



Fake Bake Decor

The project turned out so well that when I found a large doughnut pan, I decided to add it to the collection!


Fake Bake Decor
Fake Bake Decor

These are great for indoor use, but I wouldn't risk hanging them outside.  I don't think the beads or cinnamon would hold up with the weather, but if you stuck to durable outdoor paint it could work!

I hung my set as a boarder around the top of the wall in my bakery closet.
I'll share a tour of that room soon 😍











Friday, May 13, 2022

DIY Window Privacy Coverings

Window Makeover


Hello everyone!  Last week I shared a post telling you how I used window cling to add privacy to the windows on our back porch.  The project went so well that I wanted to do the same thing in our breakfast room, but had used up all of the vinyl.  I got to thinking about some lace that I had in my craft storage and wondered if that combined with spray paint would do the trick, read on to see how well it turned out:


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Disclosure - This post may contain affiliate links.  If a purchase is made through an affiliate link then (at no additional cost to you) I will receive a commission.  You can read more about affiliate links here


Window Makeover

Here is what the breakfast room looked like at the time of purchase.  It's hard to tell from the photo but each of the windows is fitted with a metal frame and has a plexiglass panel trimmed in magnetic strips.  The panels are not shown in this photo, but each one is able to attach to the window to allow more insulation or come down if you wish to open the windows.

I want to stress that because my windows have these removable panels is the only reason that I decided to experiment with spray paint.  If they had been glass only I probably wouldn't have gone for it!



Window Makeover

So here is one of the panels after I laid it out on the floor.  Making sure that it was placed magnetic strip up, I began attaching the lace.  I just used regular adhesive tape here, nothing fancy.



Window Makeover

Here's a tip- once you have one panel complete, lie the next one next to it.  
It makes lining up the lace super easy!



Window Makeover

Once the lace was in position I used spray paint to lightly coat the entire surface of the panel.



Window Makeover

Here is how it looked when I was finished.  It's important to only lightly coat the panel so that you can still see the pattern of the lace and let as much light as possible through.



Window Makeover

Here are the panels in place before the rest of the room was finished.  For awhile we were using it as a place to hold tools, floor tile and other remodeling materials.  You can tell that lots of light still comes in but the cold winter air was kept out.

At first I kept the lace attached to the frame, but eventually I removed it.  The tape kept coming undone over the winter and I was tired of messing with it.  I didn't want to add any spray adhesive either as I was worried that it would alter the look.



Window Makeover

And here is how it looks now, lace removed.  I like how well the pattern of the lace still shows up.
The hanging light is temporary, we've been starting garden plants in this room and they will be put outside soon.  I'll have a makeover post in the future with pictures of the rest of the space 😍


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Friday, May 6, 2022

How To Apply Window Privacy Film

DIY Window Cling

Have you ever had a window that you loved the light from but maybe not the view?  Here is how you can add privacy with DIY window film:


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Disclosure - This post may contain affiliate links.  If a purchase is made through an affiliate link then (at no additional cost to you) I will receive a commission.  You can read more about affiliate links here



DIY Window Cling

This room is our back porch and here it is when we moved in - before cleaning, painting and refinishing the floor.  One wall is the wall to the house (family room) while the remaining three are all solid windows.  The largest wall of windows faces the back yard and is relatively private.  I wanted to leave those windows unobstructed for the view, but needed to add some sort of privacy covering to the two side walls.  After looking online for ideas I settled on using this DIY window cling:



DIY Window Cling
DIY Window Cling

I picked up my Gila brand window privacy film at Lowes for about $23 per roll.  There are lots of different styles to choose from and I went with the frosted lattice pattern.  They also sell a spray solution for applying the film to the windows, though water works just fine.

What's great about this film is that it's really easy to work with and not permanent.  Because it attached with static cling/ water, you can take it down if you end up changing your mind - just peel it right off.  You can also take it down multiple times and reapply (when you are first starting out and keep making mistakes) without ruining the product.  I know this from experience, just add more water and it goes right back on! 😂



DIY Window Cling

Give your window a good cleaning before you begin.



DIY Window Cling

Measure your window and use those dimensions to cut your vinyl.  I used this large cutting mat as well as my Cricut brand metal cutting ruler and craft knife.  My cutting mat is pretty big - 24"x36" - and that was definitely helpful for cutting large pieces of vinyl.  The ruler and knife don't have to be Cricut brand though, you can find less expensive options at most craft stores.

Tip - If your vinyl has a pattern, then make sure to take note of which way your design is going.  That way you can cut all of your pieces so that they match.  Also, don't be afraid to make your cuts a little bigger than needed.  You can always trim down the excess once the vinyl is on the window 😉



DIY Window Cling

When your sheets are cut, peel the carrier plastic away from the vinyl.  Set your vinyl sheet aside nearby where you can quickly grab it, making sure that it isn't picking up any lint or debris.



DIY Window Cling

Give your window a good spray of water or the application solution.




DIY Window Cling

And then position your vinyl as best as you can.  I found that placing the top of the vinyl sheet at the top of the window first and letting gravity help the rest of the sheet fall into place worked best.  There WILL be bubbles, don't panic!  Even though the sheet is held in place with the water, it is still adjustable.  Just peel away a corner and smooth it down as you go, working outward from the center and back to the corners.  If your window gets dry, spritz a little more water and the vinyl will cling back into place nicely.



DIY Window Cling

You will most likely find that there are still tiny bubbles and imperfections.  I used my Cricut XL scraper to smooth these out, again working from the center outward.

While I love my Cricut tools, they are a bit pricey.  Dollar Tree has begun selling their own version of these scrapers for just $1.25.  You can click here to browse Dollar Tree's online selection of crafting supplies 😎

You can also pick up window film installation kit at Lowes, which contains their version of the scraper tool, a cutting tool and a bottle of spray.



DIY Window Cling

After my cling was smoothed out, I used my scraper and craft knife again to trim off any excess vinyl.



DIY Window Cling

And there you have it, easy to install window privacy!  It's been about 6 months now since I applied the window film and it's held up nicely.  You can even open and close the windows without a problem.



DIY Window Cling

Here is a pic with the painted walls and refinished floor included, I'll give an update in the future so you can see how I've turned this room into my craft studio 😍