Just DIY

It has started to get cold here in Nashville.  Really cold... like 20 degrees cold.  Those of you from colder climates might be chuckling at that right now.  Travis (Northern Ohio native) thinks it is hilarious that we need bread and milk every time it snows.  I can handle snow in February or maybe even January but November?! Give me a break!

With that being said I have had to begin my winter hobby a little earlier than usual.  Each winter I try to learn a new skill.  I've learned cross stitching, knitting, and this year I have decided to give calligraphy a try!  And just in time for Christmas cards.

White on White on White

When we purchased our little gem of a home there was one room that I had no idea what to do with.  It was this very manly cedar room.

Cedar Room of Doom

We took this picture when we did our walk through and I studied it for a long time trying to figure out what to do with it! It was too dark, very dated, and because of its location in the floor plan it became the black hole of our home.  A good friend of mine lives in a home with a room very similar and she painted over the cedar a stormy blue color, genius!  Painting I can do and that idea was much more friendly that my original demolition idea.  After searching around for some ideas on painting cedar I ran across a ton of shabby chic  white on white rooms.  I was sold! The white room would lighten up the room significantly and I have always wanted a white on white room.  Painting cedar paneling was met with resistance by almost everyone on my painting team (my husband, mother, and family friend).  They all cringed when they walked through my painting project.

I started by taping off my ceiling and floors.  Everything had to be painted including the doors and trim.  One thing that I learned very quickly was that covering cedar with white paint was going to be a task...  It took days and a couple gallons of paint to cover the cedar.  After day two of painting the room was deemed the "cedar room of doom."  When it was finally done I loved it!

The Cedar Room of Doom is no more!

 I researched decorating white on white relentlessly.  I love for things to match perfectly, but everything I was reading was suggesting to use different shades and textures of white.  I was hesitant but after making my bedding purchases I was convinced I made the right decision.

If you have an old time pottery in your neighborhood I highly recommend checking out their bedding section for inexpensive pillows.  I really wanted to complete this room on a budget. I searched yard sales and Craiglist for furniture. 

After all of that hard work I finally get to enjoy my white room.  It is my favorite room in the house!  I learned a few lessons from painting cedar and I would not recommend it to those who hate painting with a capital "H" but it was totally worth it to me.

Banquet Seating for a Small Kitchen

When we first started house shopping we were looking for a house with a little bit of character.  What we finally decided on was a home with some character, but then again 75 years is a lot of character. One of the little jewels of our home is the kitchen that hasn't been touched since the house was built.  We have been slowly renovating our kitchen and we finally got to the seating!  I have really been wanting a kitchen nook.  A cozy place to write, read, and drink coffee.  

This is before....

We have been working on the kitchen for months including pulling out the old floor, counter tops and more but the banquet seating is my favorite addition! The corner was already empty dead space so it was simple for me to tape off where I wanted the booth installed.  I had an idea of what the booth would look like but I definitely needed Travis' help and tools. The first big step was going to Home Depot for the materials.  

We saved a lot of time by writing down our measurements and having home depot cut the pieces for us.  The first few cuts are free and after that it was only $0.25 a cut!  Good deal!  Travis built the frame and attached the backer board to the wall for me.  

He started by building a frame out of  2 x 4's and attached backer board to the wall to give the booth more definition.  To seal the cracks in the backer board we used simple painters caulk.

Adding the trim was very time consuming but definitely gave it a completed look.  Next came my part. Painting!  We have a deal he builds I paint! Totally worth it. 

I used Behr paint Aqua Smoke on the backer board and just simple white on the trim.

 I originally wanted to be able to open the top of the booth for storage but that was a little out of the skill set of my carpenter. 

So I decided that a solid top would work just as well and save us some time and trips back to home depot.  After a couple days of staining, painting, and building its done!

I did not want to add cushions but a few pillows made it feel homey and soft.  I am so excited to have it built! I was finally able to move the chandelier over the table and so were all of our visitors over 6 feet tall. 

After all the hard work its great to have the booth ready to use.  I got really lucky and found the table on the side of the road (free!) and painted it with the leftover paint from our kitchen walls.