Tag Archives: renovation

DIY Home Goals 2015

The amount of DIY projects my husband and I did on our house in 2014 was minimal compared to other years. If you’ve read my blog long, you might know that we live in a home built in 1856 that we purchased in a dilapidated state, both inside and out, 20 years ago.

In that amount of time, we have worked and worked…..AND WORKED on making it a place we love. We aren’t finished (you never really are, are you?) but with what I would call 80% completion of the goals we initially had, and feeling beyond burned out with all the remodeling mess over the years as well as physical and mental exhaustion, we took it easy last year and tried to spend more time enjoying what we have.

I don’t have a lot of home improvement goals for 2015, because I’m still in the “enjoying” mode. The horrible laundry room with the falling apart plaster ceiling and walls and seriously inadequate surface and storage area will have to wait. But there are a few things I would like to change this year.

Such as:

**Paint the dining room. I loved the pumpkin walls for a while but I want something lighter. In fact, I would like to lighten the feeling in all my rooms one way or another. I’m looking at Benjamin Moore Tranquility but it might have too much blue, or Benjamin Moore Grey Wisp.

**Make the two guest rooms guest-ready. This will be the most costly, both money-wise and time-wise. It will require fresh paint, new carpet or other flooring and new mattresses. I plan to accesorize mostly with things borrowed from other rooms and things I have stored in cabinets for future use. But almost all of that is vintage and I really want to balance it out with some modern accessories too. I have a small budget to work with, so that means I’ll be doing some thrifting and couponing. Of course I can’t thrift shop for the big ticket items. Have you shopped for mattresses lateley? Sheesh!

**Introduce more natural elements into my decor.

I love nature! By using more of it in my decor I hope to give the entire downstairs a more simplified and unified feel. I’ll have to let go of some of the things I have to make room for the new so it won’t feel cluttered. For me, that’s easier said than done since I have carefully culled and curated each item over years of hunting. I’m hoping that by “donating” some of the things I now have downstairs to the guest room cause, it will all balance out.

So those are my 2015 DIY goals for our home. Can we accomplish all this AND build in some R&R? It seems reasonable. Only time will tell. As we get to each item on the list I’ll show you the “before” pictures and promise to keep you updated with our progress.

Wine Cellar REVEAL ~ Part 2

In a previous post, I showed you the before pictures of our wine cellar as well as some after the renovation. My husband got the idea to have his man cave located in the space a few years ago. But we had way too many other renovation projects to think about so like all good DIYers we kept the idea on the back burner. Well, a whole lot of thrifting and a whole lot of WORK later…

I still want to hang dropcloth curtains at the bottom of the stairs. The space needs that softness and it will also help keep the drafts out. And I can tie them back for a different look.

I showed you the lanterns I bought with the intention of having them electrified. My husband made this one electric but when it came down to it, I decided to keep the other two to use with candles.

For the table above, we married a huge circular grate with a drafting table base. We already had the chair and the stool that weren’t really being used properly, so I pulled them in to “up” the industrial feel of the room.

As with the rest of our house, we stuck to a very minimal budget for the furnishings and décor, using mostly thrifted items from garage sales and flea markets, as well as repurposing items we already had. The circular grate was on our property but wasn’t being used. It made a perfect table top for two.

Fireplace #2

The above vignette from top to bottom including the cart (but not including the wine) comes in at under $100. There’s a lot you can do on a budget! The cart, skull, mirror, and frame were found at the flea market. I picked up the metal screen, wire baskets, glass bowl, ice bucket, and wicker basket for practically pennies at yard sales. The glasses came from the dollar store, the faux flowers are some I’ve had for many years, the tray was a clearance item and guess where the corks came from?

The hanging shelf was inspired by one we had seen at Restoration Hardware. Theirs used heavy rope and slabs of wood. We had the rope and decided to use the shelves from a storage rack we had. But don’t worry, the rack had several shelves so we didn’t rob it completely.

Ping pong storage ~ a must-have for this ping pong loving bunch!

Now we can reap the rewards and enjoy a very cool (temp stays 65-ish in the summer months) place to hang out with friends and family.

I still have some tweaking to do but it will have to wait. I’m tired I tell ya.

1853 Wine Cellar REVEAL

I told you I would show you the “reveal” of our renovated wine cellar many months ago. I try really hard to be a person of my word. Being reliable is a trait that I value in myself and others. So I’m a little mortified to be publishing this post at this time ~ more than a year later than I had originally stated that I would post it. Yikes! While it did take me a long time to compose this post, it did not take me an entire year! I could give you a list of excuses why I didn’t publish it sooner. But I know that’s not really necessary. Suffice it to say, life got really involved, and the best intentions and goals had to take a back seat.

With that being said, I am so so excited to FINALLY present the Wine Cellar Reveal! Oh wait. Since it’s been so long since I first told you about it, I feel like I need to show the before photos again.

Built in 1853, three years before the house, this was the first wine cellar in our town. The land was covered in vineyards and the owner supplied wine to the river boats just a few miles west of our property.

When my husband and I first purchased the house back in 1993, the thought of renovating the wine cellar wasn’t even on my radar. Because there were so many other things that needed done to make our big old fixer upper livable. Now that we have a majority of the house good, hubby decided he needed his own man cave. And since he hasn’t ever requested his way in over 25 years and 3 houses of remodeling/decorating, I agreed to decorate it in more masculine décor.

That big empty space above is usually filled up with a ping pong table. We took it down for dancing on New Year’s Eve and haven’t put it back up yet.

You may remember these chairs. I think they work perfectly in here!

……………….

It’s really difficult to get good photos since there’s no natural lighting, so they’re kind of dark. We left a lot of it rough and rustic, and still have a few more areas to improve on. I have a LOT more to show you ~ the whole other side of the room in fact ~ including close ups of the bar cart, a converted drafting table seating area and an electrified lantern. See you in part 2 of the reveal!

Linking with: Savvy Southern Style,The 36th Avenue, No Minimalist Here, Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson,The Scoop, Mod Vintage Life, Between Naps on the Porch, From My Front Porch to Yours, Cozy Little House, Knick of Time, A Stroll Thru Life, Ivy and Elephants, Shabby Art Boutique, Cheerios and Lattes, Reasons To Skip The Housework, Classy Clutter, French Country Cottage, C.R.A.F.T. Monday Funday , VMG206, Bacon Time with the Hungry Hypo, That DIY Party

Featured at Must Love Junk!

Hi Everyone! I’m over at Must Love Junk today as Susan’s Saturday Spotlight. I hope you’ll pop over and see what I’m up to!

Old Church Bench and a New Pillow

Happy new week! I hope you all had a great weekend! Mine was both productive and relaxing. It got started off on the right track Friday afternoon when I received a package in the mail. Woohoo! It was from Suzan at Hazelnut Deux.

If you’ve been reading my blog long, you may have heard me talk about a new link up called
Swap & Tell. It’s for shop owners to trade products and then post reviews about the product.

Well, today I’m super excited to share my first product review! At our first Swap & Tell, I had the good fortune of swapping with Suzan. I sent her a pair of earrings and she sent me this beautiful burlap pillow cover.

I couldn’t wait to receive it and I knew right away where I would put it. I have an old church bench in the hall at the bottom of the staircase. The hall is one of the areas in our old house that has not been remodeled yet.

The plaster walls and ceiling are in disrepair, with a few chunks missing and the floors and banister have been partially stripped and then put on hold, due to so many other projects going on. For many years I didn’t even attempt to decorate the area, I preferred to ignore it and focus my energy elsewhere. But lateley I have been working with what I have and trying to beautify it as is. I really rather like the end result.

And the pillow from Hazelnut Deux adds so much! The quality is superb! My pictures really aren’t doing it justice. I really love it and I am quite sure I’ll be visiting Suzan’s Etsy shop HazelnutDeux to peruse and pick up more!

If I were you, I would high tail it over there and check it out too!

And I hope you’ll come back Wednesday and link up at Swap & Tell!

Linking with: Savvy Southern Style,The 36th Avenue, No Minimalist Here, Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson,The Scoop, Mod Vintage Life, Between Naps on the Porch, From My Front Porch to Yours, Cozy Little House, Knick of Time, A Stroll Thru Life, Ivy and Elephants, Jennifer Rizzo, Style Elixir, Shabby Art Boutique, Cheerios and Lattes, Reasons To Skip The Housework, Classy Clutter, French Country Cottage, C.R.A.F.T. Monday Funday , VMG206, Bacon Time with the Hungry Hypo, That DIY Party

Thrifted! Leather Chairs for the Wine Cellar

I love yard sale season! I haven’t been to a lot of them this summer ~ why the heck not, I’m not sure! The first one that caught my eye and made me brake was just a block from my house. It was close to the road and my eyes spied something I have been looking for.

A pair of chairs perfect for the wine cellar! We have been working on our wine cellar for several months now. Well, the truth is we worked hard on it for a couple of months, then got distracted and let it sit a while, then worked on it some more. I showed the “before” pictures a long time ago and still have yet to show you the “after”.

Having made a promise to husband that he could consider it his man cave, I agreed to decorate in fairly masculine décor, or at least not ultra feminine. Almost all the furniture is in place, using pieces I already had as far as side tables, bar cart, a few stools, shelves and some artwork. So I wanted to find a pair of comfy chairs and I envisioned leather. I’m doing it all on a “thrift” budget, so I was elated to find this pair. They are faux leather, in super good condition and I only had to pay $50 for the pair!

At the very same sale I found this huge mirror that will be painted and placed in the wine cellar as well ($10!) and the old glass water bottle in the wooden crate for $10! I have the water bottle on top of an armoire in the living room, next to a crock full of cotton branches.

Just a few finishing touches in the wine cellar and it will be ready for the big reveal. I can’t wait to show you!

Talk soon,
Ann

Tarnished Royalty

Design Your Life