Refurbished Bar Stools and Another Initial

This past fall when my husband had a roof installed over our deck, he added something else to the railing that was very creative and useful.  He added a small bar shelf that extends all around the deck. 

Now all we needed were a couple of stools.  We already had some that were in pretty bad shape so I got out the old trusty paint brush. 

You can see in these pictures the mold and dirt that was all over them.

The first thing I did was lightly sand them.

Then I gave them 2 coats of a solid stain. The color I used was Drift Gray.  This is the same color we used on the floor of the deck.

 

 

I wanted to add something decorative to the top of each stool and after searching all over Pinterest, I found this!

Now to duplicate it....

I printed a font that I liked from Microsoft Word and taped to the top of each stool.

The next step was to trace and paint it.

I then buffed them with clear paste wax. 

 

The refurbished bar stools.

My breakfast view each morning.

It Begins With the Letter D

 So many DIY things have been going on at our house and since school is out, I finally have time to share them with you.  Those of you who follow Pinterest know that "initials" are really popular right now in decorating.  I love the idea so I made a little trip to Hobby Lobby.   Here are some ways I am incorporating this into my decor. 

Can you see the "D" in the middle of the tablescape?

If you are really observant, you will see a few little owls tucked in.  I just thought they were so cute so I had to add them.

I love this vase!  My future daughter in law gave this to me for Christmas.   She will be my daughter in law June 29th!

My front door.

 Recently my other son and daughter in law purchased a new home in Alabama and it is beautiful! 

Do you see the wreath on the front door?

My son's mother in law made this wreath for them as as house warming gift and she used initials.  It is so cute! Look how she included the initials of the first names of my son, daughter in law, and granddaughter (JLH) .  This was so creative!

So pretty and welcoming!  Have you incorporated initials into your decor?

Made For A Princess

Our granddaughter loves to play with her Disney princess dolls.  When we were at her house this past Christmas we noticed she had no place to display them so my husband did it again.  He made a cute little cabinet for her. 

This is the construction stage.

He added her name to the top.

Made for a princess!

Another Project Completed

Besides my husband building Pottery Barn knockoff tables, he was busy working on another outside project.  This one was a work in progress that started in September and finished just in time for Christmas.  The back of our house has an upstairs deck.  We don't use it very much because it gets the hot sun in the afternoon during the summer.  Home Improvement time again!

We added a roof over the deck.

 My husband tore out all of the old railing and we were going to install black wrought iron but we decided against it.  Instead, we recycled the old railing.  My husband once again put his talents to work.  He redesigned the railing using all of the old wood.  

It looked brand new after a coat of fresh paint.

Now we can use the upstairs deck during the hot summertime.

This is the winter view from the now COVERED upstairs deck.  But wait, there's more.

This pile of wood laying on our garage floor became the ceiling of our covered deck.

I stained all of the wood.  My husband then installed it.  See those boxes stacked in the background, that is another project that I will share next.

I love how it turned out.  It makes the deck seem like a room addition.  Now I can hardly wait till spring so I can do a little decorating on the COVERED deck.

 

The Finished (Knockoff) Pottery Barn Table

It is finished!  I was all ready to do the staining/painting but my husband went ahead and completed it. He first put a coat of dark stain then wiped it off. When it dried, he then brushed a light coat of black paint and wiped it off.  After sanding it again, instead of putting a coat of polyurethane on it, he put a layer of clear paste wax.  When it dried, it buffed out to a nice shine.

 $100 vs $799!    I kind of like my Pottery Barn knockoff!

A Pottery Barn Knockoff

I've been away too long but one reason is that we have been working on so many projects along with going to Tuscaloosa, Alabama every weekend for ballgames. I have so much to share but  I'll start with the one my husband began only 2 days ago.  
I love the Pottery Barn but everything in that store is so expensive. We have been looking for a long table to place behind the sofa in our basement and we found one we liked at the Pottery Barn.  The price we did not like, so the wheels started turning in my husband's head again.  He bought the materials and built one.  I must say that it is going to look just like the Pottery Barn table maybe even better.  

This is the table we found in the store and the cost (drum roll),  $799!

 

 

This is the table that my husband built in one day.  He made it a little longer than the one in the Pottery Barn that is more suitable to the length of our sofa.

He even added the details at the top of each leg.  If you look really close at the magazine picture, you will see them.

Now it is my turn to try and duplicate the finish.  Off to Home Depot again!

Vintage Books

Since school started back I haven't much time to work on any projects.  The first few weeks of school are always very hectic.  Things are calming down now and I have been able to complete a few things.  This is my latest:

I have noticed that vintage book displays are very popular right now.  I have seen them in lots of gift shops and they are kind of pricey for old torn books so I decided to make my own.  

I went to a local thrift shop and bought 3 paperback books.

There were all kinds of books there and I found some that would be perfect. They were priced at $1.50 each and then I got a 50% discount. 

I tore off the book covers.

I left them outside so the sun would fade the pages.  Can you see the raindrops?  Yes, I left them in the rain too.

I actually left them outside for about a week so that the pages would have an aged look.

I added a little raffia and VOILA!

Not bad for a thrift store project.

I bought three books but I just couldn't tear the cover off this one.

I found a place for it in my guest room.  Right next to Tara.

I bought this a long time ago.  You can see the date on it.  Before we moved to our current home, we lived in Jonesboro, Georgia.  The home of Gone With the Wind.  So many things in the town were named after Tara.  My son even went to Lovejoy High School where the real Tara mansion was supposedly located.  Actually there wasn't a real Tara.  The plantation in the book was modeled after a relative's home  and it wasn't a large plantation. I could go on and on with stories about the history of the town.  I'll save that for a later time.

For now, it will stay here.