Meet Me By The Fireplace?

Those of you who follow me regularly, know that I have been in the throws of passionately renovating and updating the house that I moved into one year ago.  I have been painting and sanding, and building and working my little fingers to the bone for months now…and I am happy to say, that I have finally dealt with two of the ugliest fireplaces in the world.  They are no longer the blaring focal point of the room that scream HELP ME!!!  They are now soft and inviting and much more streamlined…well at least that’s what I think.

Allow me to demonstrate my point:



This was my living room in May of 2012.  The fireplace is just not feeling like it should be a part of this room…there is WAY too much going on with it.

I have since May, removed that piano…it ended up out in the yard as a planter…and I have shuffled a few other things around a bit, but the fact still remains…that fireplace is dated…and tired and needs a little TLC…Tootsie style.



What?  Still not convinced???   Fine!  I will take you closer…are you ready?  Are you sure you can handle this????

Okaaay….here it is!



EEK!
 Now that is U-G-L-Y!
Hurts your eyes doesn’t it???  Ya…I Told Ya!!!
 Don’t you just LOVE the arborite??? (did I even spell that right?)  ha ha ha !   Ya…me too! NOT!  ha ha
 
I tried to deal with it…I tried to ignore it…and I just could not let it be in my house knowing it was that bad…and that I could Tootsie it up with just a little time!

So…I did what I do best…I made a plan…and got some paint!



Say goodbye!  to that old dated look…



 and Hello Gorgeous to the new updated style!



I love this neutral taupe that I used on the whole thing…top to bottom…It sure did bring it into the room in a new and different way!

Now, all this fireplace needs is a good cleaning and I will be able to light it up and enjoy!  Alas, that is a project all in itself...and one I am not going to do alone. Maybe I can get my Cowboy to help me some time!  Hint hint?  ha ha !



I have been updating the whole room this past few weeks…new furniture pieces…and a little change in accessories…I also have been working in the family room downstairs, doing a LOT of fun changes….so stay tuned…when I am finished with the primping…You will be the first to know!



Every now and then I do get a good idea or two!

**  don't forget to keep reading...there are several more posts below of what I have been doing...including some great how-to's!**

Until Next Time…Happy Decorating!

*)*)*)   Always…remember the lesson not the disappointment.

(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´Glenda/Tootsie
¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•.
www.tootsietime.com

Wash Stand Rescue!

A while back I went junkin’ and acquired this little piece of gold!   This old wash stand has been standing in the elements for years just rotting away forgotten and was actually slated to be buried in a garbage pit!  The owner of it had no use for it, and it was considered to be in such a bad state of disrepair that it was garbage! 

I will admit that it was in a bad state when I brought it home…I cleaned her up a lot for the photos…it was disgusting! Those three drawers…were full of mouse nest and other mouse by products….I am not even going to show the photos of that…it is not a pretty sight…trust me.


The door is broken…but I can work with that…there are a couple of handles missing…which isn’t a huge issue…and it smells really bad!

  That is also something I have no problem taking care of!  This little old wash stand has potential~!



Over all it is a solid little piece…so what’s not to love???



A little grime never stopped me before right???

RIGHT!

I got busy and cleaned this baby right up…it took me a long time to get all that ick out of the drawers…they were packed solid with mouse nest grossness…I scraped and scraped and vacuumed and scrubbed…Then I took it and washed it wish bleach and hot water…LOTS of bleach and hot  water…lol

While it dried…I set my mind to the task of deciding exactly what I was going to do to this little old wash stand and where I was going to put it when I was finished with it.

I decided that no matter what I ended up having to do to it to fix it up a bit…I was going to put it in the hallway just outside the bathroom on the main floor.



Right now there is a little table/cabinet type thing sitting in the position where I plan to put the new/old washstand…so I need to move a few things around to make room!
 
Once the little wash stand was dry, I was happy to see that I liked the way it looked just as she was!



All I really needed to do to it was add a little chicken wire to the door, and find a couple of knobs to replace the missing ones!

I thought I had knobs the same as the ones that are on there already, but I don’t, and in a small town there are not a lot of options for shopping for drawer pulls…so I am going to have to make due with a little creative mending today…



…I found two of the old wooden spools I pulled off another project and they fit in just nicely for now…a few staples later…and the door is now finished too!   I think I like it open rather than paned in solid with a piece of wood.



Voila!

  My antique wash stand is now sitting in her new spot in the hallway!   I love it!  I am not sure that I am loving  that mirror with it, and might have to change it out for something else… but for now it will fill the bill until I come up with a better idea.




As for the other cabinet/table thing….I have a plan for that…and even a new home…but that….is another post for another day!   Stay tuned…that make over is almost finished…and the reveal is going to be fun!

Until next time…happy junkin’/decoratin’!

*)*)*) if you live a life of integrity, many things may keep you up at night but your conscience won't be one of them.

(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´Glenda/Tootsie
¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•.
www.tootsietime.com

Seating For 6 Or More…At The Door

Welcome!   I am so glad you popped by today!   I am excited to share one of the projects that I have been working hard to finish around my house the last little bit.
I have been junkin’ just a little bit…ok…I have been junkin’ a lot lately.  A friend and I have had a little luck finding some fabulous things…and we have been playing a little with it all.   I have taken a few pieces to add to my house, and I am going to start the sharing today!

I shared the doors that I picked up a few weeks ago, and today I am going to show you all what I did with one of them!  I began with cleaning it up…a lot.

Once it was cleaned up I brought it into the house and set up a space to do some work on it.  I had to bring it inside as I needed to be able to use my china cabinet as a color reference.  This door is about to become my new dining room table!  
I have a beautiful dining room table…but it is far too large for the space allotted in this house as a dining room.  It fit in…but then there was no room for people!  So…I put the table in storage…and got busy working on a new solution to the dining room problem!

I began by laying down a tarp and protecting the floor below my work area…then I set my sights on paint.

One nice thick coat of a good primer to both sides of the door was in order.  I needed this to be sealed up…It was very dirty when it came to me.  I also didn’t want any of the original blue to leech through and show up.  There is no blue in my dining room!  
If you look closely at the photo above, you can see the original dining room table in the background.  I love it so, but it is just way too large for this space.

With my primer dry…I started to rub the door with a gel stain in Dark Mahogany color. 

I LOVE playing with paint.   I think I might be addicted to the smell of paint too…ha ha!   I am not so crazy about the paint fume hangover I get the next day, but hey…It is worth it!

Dark Mahogany on, I start adding some color!   I don’t wait for the different colors to dry…(who has the patience to wait…right?)  I just start rubbing them on.  The second color after the primer is called Cabernet.  I put it on in small patches all over the door…

Just like this!

The next thing I added was a few little touches of black high gloss paint the same way as I added the cabernet.  please ignore the disaster mess in the background!  ugh.

I then went back over the entire door…colors and all with Dark Mahogany again…it blends the colors together a little…so there are no definite lines of color addition…it just kind of softens the lines out.
After all the colors are added to my preference…I needed to wait for the door to cure.   It was left overnight to do this.

In the morning, I got up bright and early…and started to focus on things such as legs….I was gifted these fantastic legs…but there is just one problem…one was broken a bit…

Have no fear!  It's an easy fix...a pair of wooden blocks glued together for me to put on the top of the short leg.   Yay!!   I love these legs…and I think they will be perfect for this project!

I got a cowboy to help me with putting the legs on…and decided that I didn’t want this table project to look like a door sitting on some legs…I needed to dress it up just a little bit.  So, I went to the storage room downstairs and pulled up three pieces of crown moulding to add as a skirt to the table.

I treated it in pretty much the same way that I did the table top.  There is a little more black involved with the skirt…I needed to make it match the china cabinet after all!

The legs are going to be just perfect…

That cowboy did a fabulous job attaching them to the door…and making a little support for the crown moulding to attach to.  (My next project is going to be that ugly fireplace in the background!  I hate that thing!)

TA-DA!!!

I don’t think i want to paint the legs!  I like them just the way they are!

The skirt looks amazing on there!

I plan to find old wooden chairs to sit around the table on…and I think I will try to distress them to look like the legs ….

It looks wonderful!…but now… need to address that horrible little curtain situation that was on the window in this room…That was a no brainer…

I hung a layer of sheer curtains, and then on another rod over top, I added lace sheers…and tied them back with burlap!   Not bad I think…

I like the mix of the casual and the formal…it suits this space.
Man is it hard to take a good photo of the window when the sun is shining!  ha ha !

My dining room feels good now…lots of room for family and friends to sit around the table…and there are some pretty things in here for us all to enjoy.

I am in love with the black chandelier that we put in.  (except for it shows the dust really bad)  ha ha !

The very first chance I had, I hosted a dinner party for all those who were involved in the making of this room…from my junkin’ partner and her hubby, to the cowboy…in total there were 8 of us all sitting around this table enjoying each other’s company and having a nice meal.
I am so happy that I tried this idea.  I really like this table, and I love the way my dining room is coming together.  Right now, I am just using iron chairs that I have from another set that I have, but eventually you will see this room again, when I have enough old wooden chairs distressed to perfection to match the legs of the door turned dining table in my house!
I hope you have enjoyed your visit today!!!  
Until Next Time…Happy Decorating/ Junkin’!
(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´Glenda/Tootsie
¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•.
www.tootsietime.com

linked to 
 home stories
beyond the picket fence

Tattered and Torn.... Valance / Garland Tutorial

Well Hello There!!!   I’m so glad you dropped by!   I want to thank everyone for all of the kind words about my kitchen renovation.  You are all so very sweet!   There were a lot of questions about the unusual valances that I made to dress the windows in this room... and as promised… today I am sharing the tutorial on how to make them!

  These valances were very simple and super cheap to make…and they added just the right touch to my curtains!

I made them out of paper!  Yep…that’s right…Paper…pages out of old books to be exact.  
All you will need to make these valances/ garlands is:
*one old book.   (you will need to measure your window…it will take one 500 to 600 page book to do about 3 feet of space …depending on how full you want your garland to be)  (mine are full)
*twine. 
* scissors

  Once you have chosen your book…begin tearing out the pages making sure none of the glue or binding is still attached.  Continue removing the pages until your book cover is empty.
~~Remember that the pages of the book you choose will determine the size of the garland you are making…if you want a “fat” one…use a larger page…if you are wanting to make a “skinny” one, perhaps a paperback or cutting the pages down to your preferred size is an option. I used a reader’s digest condensed book for my valance garlands. ~~

Once all the pages are removed from the book binding…fold each page in half loosely …

…and with your scissors make about a 1 inch long cut in the middle of each page.

You will end up with a slit like this when you have made the cut.

Next…take each page one at a time and crumple them up…throw them on the floor and make a great big mess!!!   (The cats at my house were in their glory running and diving in the pile of crumpled pages on the floor…they were EVERYWHERE when they were done playing with them!  ha ha!)

When all the papers are crumpled, you will then need to gently un-crumple them, and lay them on the table.  Do not smooth them out completely…the rumpled look is what we are going for.

With the paper all ready to go…we need to cut ourselves a piece of twine to string it on.  Measure your window and and add about 12 inches or so to the length of your twine.  This will allow a bit of room to work with.

Tie the ends of the twine into a loop knot.

Begin to thread the knot through the slits in each  page, until you have strung the whole lot.

When you are finished it should look something like this!  Now that you have made yourself a nice full garland, you can hang it where ever you like!   Use the loops at the end of the string to attach the piece to the wall.  

This project was so simple that my 7 year old was helping make another garland…  

…we didn’t have a window that needed it left, so we tied it into a circle and hung it on her door.  
Just think of all the places you could use this idea!   Windows…are just the beginning!   If you made them small enough you could have fancy little garlands and decorations for your Christmas tree!  The possibilities are as big as your imagination will allow!
I have enjoyed this little project and was very pleased with the results I got…I do hope you will have as much fun and success as I did!   Where are you going to use your paper garland???  I’d love to hear from you!
Until Next Time…Happy Crafting / Decorating!
*)*)*) Don't point fingers unless you are sure you  have clean hands...just sayin’
  (¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´Glenda/Tootsie
¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•.