So I believe I mentioned a few weeks ago about wanting to try something different on our living room ceiling. Its vaulted and huge and so bare! I got a huge pile of 100 year-old reclaimed douglas fir.
This wood has so much character! I envisioned a wood that was distressed yet
smoothed over by coastal grays, whites and blues. Im redoing the room in grays witha
charcoal-gray velvet on the couch, silver walls, silver travertine flooring in a Versailles pattern,
touches of yellow, teal, white,,,,,I can see it all in my head. But for now, all I have
is the ceiling. I worked for two solid days. What in the world was I thinking!! Houzz and Pinterest should be removed from the Internet!
***Please click on the individual picture to see the larger format**
I need a wide-angle lens. I just cant get the whole room in the shot!
Heres what I started with:
Over 300 square ft! They were all stained and painted....one by one.....oy! I used a weathered
gray stain, sunbleached stain, and mixtures of white and gray milk paint (REAL MILK PAINT CO. is my fave milk paint!!)
Then each board was stripped of its "tongue"(it was fabricated for flooring) and cut in 3 lengths.
We measured off the center of the ceiling and snapped a chalk line.
From that point we found the 45 degree angle and started the first board.
The boards were secured with Liquid Nails and a pneumatic nailer.
(Lord help me if I ever get tired of this look!)
lovely armpit shot
We would check for our 45 angle to make sure we were on track. It is imperative that every
board is cut identical when doing the herringbone. Make a jig on the table saw before cutting your boards.
randomly picking out "random colored boards
This is the part where the work came in. Thats 14 feet up! Mr Pretty stayed on the ladder, called out the measurement of each board, and I cut them and threw them up to him. Going up and down the ladder for each and every board would have been tortuous! Ditto for the boards that butted up against the boarder. I got really good at the chop saw and making miter cuts!!
(BTW,,,each single row is 39 boards!! Um,,there were like 11 rows! Uh-huh...You can do the math!!
The pics dont do justice to the chandelier!!
Placing the very last piece!!! OMGthankyouJesusImdone!!
These are temporary furnishings!!!
4-2-13Getting ready for some silver travertine flooring!Got the floor finished in the past few days! Versaille pattern. Man oh man, that is some work!Still have to grout.....I hate grouting.
To see what the room finally looks like all done.....see HERE
Linking up at these great parties:
Restore Interiors - Restored it Wednesday
Kammys Korner - Trash to Treasure TuesdaysTuesday....PJH Designs
Domestically Speaking - The Power of Paint Party
The Shabby Creek Cottage - Transformation Thursday
Miss Mustardseed - Furniture Feature Friday
Redoux - Friday Link Up Party
Homespun Happenings - Rustic Restorations Weekend
Funky Junk Interiors - Saturday Night Special
1929 Charmer - Sundays Best Party
Knick of Time Interiors - Knick of Time Tuesday
Elizabeth and Co., My uncommon Slice of Suburbia,
Savvy Southern Style. Weds, Beyond the Picket Fence, PJH Designs
I decided to remove the nasty carpet from our stairs one day on a whim and then let it sit unfinished for a good month or so because I became so busy at work. Then, because it was driving everyone crazy, I set out to get it done, mainly for the purpose of just getting it done.
I didnt love it, but it was done and I could cross it off the To Do list.
But it was always still there.
Staring at me.
Waiting to be transformed into something I DID love.
*sigh*
Fast forward to a few weeks ago.
As you know, we live in a 100 year old home.
They settle.
When there is a year long drought,
they settle even more.
(Okay, it wasnt really that long of a drought but it sure has felt like it.)
One day while walking down the stairs, I noticed a bulge that seemed to be cracking,
so, of course, I started messing with it, thinking I could fix it,
until it turned into this.
Not good.
Or was it??
I called a friend who is knowledgeable about things like this to come check everything out
and he said there was nothing to worry about structurally.
We just need to wait to fix it until the weather changes,
in case the plaster continues to shrink and crack.
Well, the weather changed and the crack/hole hasnt gotten any worse, so its time to fix it.
Since the wall is having to get a face lift, I thought the stairs should have one too.
After all, I just wasnt thrilled with the way I had left them before. And the white paint on the risers was a really bad idea because of my 6 foot tall older boys with big feet going up and down the stairs a lot. That turns into a lot of scuff marks.
So this little wall problem was just the push I needed to transform the stairs
into something we did love.
Although I dont think it is in the cards for our home to have a beautiful grand staircase, like I originally wanted, theres no reason why it still cant look amazing and fit in with the rest of the house and the room that the stairs are currently in.
So, for Part 1 of this project, heres what I came up with for just the stairs.
Chalkboard paint, chalk and handmade stencils I printed from the computer are all it took
for me to do this project. All of which I already had, so, it didnt cost a thing.
I didnt really want to paint the numbers on with paint as I really like the faded chalk look.
I completely LOVE IT and better yet, hubby and kiddos thought it was so cool.
This just works out so much better.
And we are all finally happy with it!
Next up we will be working on the wall around the staircase
and Im looking forward to blogging about that soon!
Hey there! Im back! Thank you so much for all the lovely comments on our FB page. The encouragement you gave me touched my heart. Thank you. I wanted to share with you the new bedding I purchased for our bed. Weve had the same bedding on our bed for about 10 years. It was a duvet cover and shams that I made from two sheets as seen on our previous master bedroom photos. It was perfectly fine, but it was time for something new, you know? I have admired this ruffled, scrunched up bedding for a while and even considered making one myself, but decided against that tedious sewing project. So, I was so excited when I found exactly what I wanted at Target. I purchased the duvet cover and two shams for around $60, which I didnt think was bad at all. It is so feminine and romantic. Heres a look.....
Love!! I wanted to stick with white because I love the contrast between the white bedding and the rustic barn door behind the bed.
Its simple and pretty, exactly the way I like our bedroom to feel. Because of the close proximity to the outside door, we are limited to what we can have on that side of the bed, hence, no second bedside lamp and a tiny rattan storage box for a night stand. We really like to open that door on warm summer evenings and let the breeze blow through.
I cant tell you how excited I was to find this bedding so I didnt have to try sewing it myself. The throw pillow is from West Elm, a gift from several years ago. It had been in storage and I had forgotten about it, found it while looking for something else, and thought it went perfectly with the white bedding. What do you think?
So, I finally finished our stairs. The second part of the project will be figuring out what to do with that awful half wall. I dont mind saying that I hate it. It is a huge eye sore and I want it gone, however, we arent sure if its possible with a light switch right there at the front of it....I dont do electrical and neither does hubby. So, Im trying to figure out what to do, if we can take it down, alter it somehow, or what. Id love to hear some suggestions from you! Heres a look at the stairs before I removed the icky carpet.
And here they are after removing the carpet and 4 billion staples. A project I never want to ever do again.
And after sanding, painting, staining and sealing.
The stairs were covered in lots of paint spills from the painters who painted this house before we moved in so there was a lot of sanding involved. Not fun, especially after suffering a bout with bronchitis and a torn rib muscle. But, the stair portion is done, thank goodness and Im pretty proud of it. I didnt want to do anything fancy or trendy. Just classic and in keeping with the rest of our home. I was thrilled with how the wood looked after removing all of the yuck on it.
I stained it dark walnut and sealed with high gloss Varathane for floors.
Now to start on the half wall redo/demolition/whatever! What do ya think? We originally wanted to use the giant barn beams hubby brought home, however, they are covered in some kind of oil that is nasty and not wanted in our home. Would love to hear your ideas for the wall! Have a great day yall!
Hey there! Did everyone have a nice weekend? Our weather was gorgeous so we worked on outside projects like pulling weeds and gardening. I added some lavender to our herb garden and after pulling weeds, discovered that our asparagus is coming up! This is our first year with asparagus, so we are very excited! Especially my youngest! It is in his garden bed along with strawberries that he picked out.
Ive also started planning how Im going to decorate our side porch this year. Ive ordered some fabrics, added a bistro table and worked on this super fun row of hooks, made from vintage faucets. After seeing a similar version in a gardening catalog, I decided to make my own with things I already had. The only thing I paid for was 4 cans of spray paint and a dowel rod. Heres a peek at it on our side porch.
I thought Id post a tutorial for it in case anyone wanted to try making their own. All you need is a few old faucet handles, spray paint, a piece of rustic wood, screws, rubber gaskets and a 5/8 inch dowel rod.
You can find old faucet handles at flea markets, junk piles, or metal scrap yards. Just give them a good scrub with a wire brush. First thing I did was get all my pieces spray painted. The dowel I painted oil rubbed bronze, because thats what I had on hand. Then I spray painted the faucet handles various colors. After everything dried, I cut the dowel into five 4 inch pieces.
I used a piece of reclaimed walnut for the back. After sanding and sealing, I drilled 5 holes all the way through it, also with a 5/8 inch drill bit.
Next, I hammered the cut pieces of dowel rod into each hole, all the way through until flush with the back.
These are what the faucet handles will attach to. Next, pre-drill a hold for your screw.
Then take your black rubber gasket and slide it over the dowel until it is securely at the base of the dowel. These are purely for decorative purposes.
Take your completely dry faucet handle and thread a 1 1/2 inch screw and washer through the top.
Repeat with your remaining faucet handles. I took a little spray paint and touched up each one of the screw heads so they better blended in with the faucet handle. I also distressed the handles with sandpaper.
I love the letters on a couple of the handles.
I love the way it turned out. It is the perfect thing to hold towels this summer that my kids use for swimming, instead of dropping them on the porch into a pile.
And my gardening tools will also look lovely there. Then I can just grab them on my way out the door to work in the garden.
What do you think? I love the little bit of cheerful color it adds to the side porch. I attached it to the house with a couple of large screws. I hope my instructions arent confusing. As always, if you have questions, please dont hesitate to email me! Stay tuned for the rest of the porch update for Spring/Summer!
