Friday, October 21, 2011

Pumpkin Carving Season!

Halloween has never been my most favorite holiday...I'm fairly certain my mother and sister scarred me deeply when I was little with their creepy soundtracks of dragging chains and screaming that started on October 1 and played steadily until November 1.  Our house was known to feature a graveyard of foam headstones with friends' names, skeletons leaping out of closets that literally sent children running into the woods, and ghostly decorations that caused the Jehovah's Witnesses down the road to finally give up on us. 

Maybe because I grew up in such a creepy crawly-obsessed family, I have always been more partial to "cute" Halloween decorations.  Like smiling pumpkin cookies and balloon ghosts rather than blood-stained candlesticks and bowls of eyeballs.

To celebrate my kind of Halloween, I've complied some of my favorite CUTE pumpkin carving ideas from this year.  HAPPY Halloween!!

Source: google.com via Sarah on Pinterest









Source: curbly.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Source: curbly.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Source: curbly.com via Sarah on Pinterest


Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Benjamin Moore Razzle Dazzle

I just love this pink.  Not sure I could handle it in a full room, but in an entry hall I think it is very Razzle Dazzle!

Thursday, October 13, 2011

My salmon pink dining chairs DIY!

I can't really remember the last time I was this excited about a set of dining chairs.  Perhaps never.

I have to say I was pretty nervous about this move...painting my mom's old dining chairs bright salmon pink in extra high gloss was a bold move.  But now that they're finished and amazingly reupholstered by my mom in Ralph Lauren chintz, I don't know if I've ever loved a piece of furniture more.

Pairing with a glass-top table I think helps prevent too much going on in a small space.  I also love the way my grandparents' silver tea set looks, lending some polish without adding any additional color saturation.

Adding some wall decoration is the next step.  Perhaps the cat portrait from my post below...?




The view from my kitchen


And the before...


The chairs were a whitish cream color before.
Here they are set up in my parents' front yard, ready for a good sanding!  Emily is going to help...


Yes, this is the upholstery color from before.  No, it did not ever appear this way in my mother's house.



I ended up doing all the painting with a flat oil paint brush. It allowed me to apply an even layer around some of the trickier turns and corners. Plus, I sometimes like when you can see some brush strokes (as opposed to spray painting) because I think it gives things a handmade quality.

Monday, October 10, 2011

DIY Navy Blue Lattice Dresser

They said it couldn't be done!

My mom tried to convince me to not take her hideous old washstand (her words!) to my house but I was sure I could give it a new life with a coat of paint.  Plus, it had my all-time most favorite attribute - it was free.

I forgot to take a "before" picture so here is a "mid-project" picture:

 You can sort of see evidence on the door of how beaten up it was to start with.

And here is the "after":

The drawers used to have pulls instead of knobs so I hid the extra holes inside a criss-cross...



Yup, it needs a little decor help but, hey, I'm just getting started!



I got some inspiration from these lovely dresser DIYs - so many fun ideas to choose from!


Thursday, October 6, 2011

Green and Burlap Webbing Chair

This chair is just a DIY waiting to be copied!

I love the green on this chair and the burlap webbing for upholstery.  While the burlap weave upholstery may be beyond my skills, I'm definitely wanting to go find something to paint that green color!

Source: lisaroy.ca via Sarah on Pinterest

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Paint By Numbers Kitty!

I recently came across a post on The Ambitious Procrastinator, which I think is a truly amazing DIY!  You could make really fun oversize art to fill up that blank wall for cheap, plus you can embrace your inner cat lady in a very cool, non-cat lady way.



Find all the instructions here on how to turn this:


into this!: