Monday, July 16, 2012

My Husband to the Rescue

Sometimes it only takes a little pressure washing and paint to bring a piece of furniture back to life.  My mother in law had this cute child's bench in her back yard but over the years it had weathered.  Each time my grand daughter sat in it, dirt and grime would get all over her clothes.  (Drum Roll)..... My husband to the rescue!  After one of our visits, we hauled it back to our house for a makeover.  

This is a BEFORE Picture.  Would you want to sit on that?


It has cute little frogs and flowers but the colors are all faded. 
RD to the rescue! Bring on the pressure washer.
Look at the difference.

Which color should we paint the flowers to keep the whimsical look?








The Finished Bench.  It is so cute that I wanted to keep it for my porch but we took it back to Alabama to MeeMaw's house.
Now all the great grand kids can enjoy it.
Nap time!  (Sorry the pictures are blurry)

Friday, July 13, 2012

The Finished Door (Almost)

In one of my previous posts, I mentioned that we were starting a new project that had something to do with a door, actually two doors.  Well, it is finished, or almost finished.  


This is one of the doors that we removed from the hallway in our basement.
These are the two french doors we installed.  The doors were custom cut but I had to paint them. 

I used an oil based high gloss paint.  Oil based high gloss gives a brighter sheen than latex high gloss but it takes a longer time to dry between coats.  

 Here's a little trick I learned from HGTV.  Between coats, I wrapped the paint brush and stirring stick with plastic and placed in the refrigerator to keep the brush from drying out so I could continue to use it.  It worked! Since brushes used with oil based paints can't be cleaned with soap and water, this saved me from wasting several paint brushes.  It took about three days for the door to really dry before installing it.  

Here is one of the doors.  It really opens things up into the hallway so it doesn't seem like a basement. 
Look really close and you can see the other door at the end of the hallway. 
It's not so claustrophobic in the hallway now as you enter our home theatre ( or known in the US as theater).  I can't tell you the last time we actually went to a movie.  We just wait till it comes out on DVD or pay per view. 
My husband did all the arranging of his Alabama memorabilia.  He did it very tastefully.  I'll show you another time the spotlights he added that are aimed right on the pictures. 
Now come on in to the theater and see what else my husband made!   See those movie posters on the wall.  Look very close at the frames.  HE BUILT THOSE TOO!
He used simple molding from Home Depot.
He has become quite handy at building things.
Now, it's time to watch a movie.
Oh, want to know what he did with the doors that he took down?  It is not quite finished yet but he got a start on it. 

He turned it  into a storage shelf in the garage for some of our tailgate stuff.
He still has some bracing and trim work to do but you get the general idea. 

I think this was one of his most creative ideas.  Stay turned for the finished project after it is trimmed out.  I might need to pin this idea on pinterest.

Today I'm linking to the following blog parties:
Addicted 2 Decorating
My Romantic Home