This old chair....

Happy Saturday, I thought this day would NEVER come! Among my usual weekend cleaning, grocery shopping, etc. today I've set my eyes on deciding on what I'll be doing with a spare chair that I found a few weekends ago.....

I bought this baby for five bucks and had no idea what I was going to do with it when I purchased. It had been sitting in the corner of my kitchen for a few days, then I moved it to the living room....

Well folks, I am happy to report that I think I've finally decided what I'll be doing with my amazing find....

Behold the "chair back coat rack" by FaceLift Furniture:

http://dishfunctionaldesigns.blogspot.com/2012/01/upcycled-new-uses-for-old-chairs.html

I am ALWAYS looking for my keys, so I'm thinking about modifying this slightly (fewer hooks) to be more of a key holder/dog leash thingy. I've even set my eyes on a little spot for it, above a radiator in the breakfast room. I've got the vision, now I need some supplies and the hubby (I'll admit it - for NOW he is better with power tools).

I plan on making a trip to Lowe's for the hooks and some paint(I'm starting to form relationships with certain employees, true sign that you've become a full-fledged DIYer) later this afternoon.

I've got to decide on a color first. Part of me feels like I should paint it to match the chairs (yellow) but another part of me thinks perhaps I should  play off of the whole statement aspect and make it some crazy color so it stands out - thoughts?

I'm really looking forward to turning this great piece into something that is refreshed, unique and useful!
Pictures of the finished product to follow.....

Good 'ol before:

FHL, kitchen style!

Our kitchen renovation is nearly complete. We've got 7 (count 'em, 7!) pulls to install, some random quarter round, and wee bit of painting and we'll be D-O-N-E.

I'll be honest, compiling the "before" and "after" photos tonight felt DAMN good. Almost every little bit of work was done entirely with by US!

We called in a professional for a few little things:

• Installing the dishwasher due to the old ass plumbing - Thanks Doug!
• An extra hand with installing the hardwood in the breakfast room - Dan you rock!
• Carrying appliances from the front yard to the kitchen - Mad love Gio, mad love :)
• Counter tops installed by Lowe's 
• Microwave install - Joint effort by Craig and Andrew. You rock Craig!

......We did the majority of the work including:

• Cabinet refinishing
• Tile removal and re install
• Back splash
• Changed placement of fridge
• Built over-the-fridge wine rack (I can't take any credit for this one, all the fab hubby)
• Installed beadboard in breakfast room and kitchen
• Took ugly bar thing and made it into an awesome kitchen island
• Painted
• Changed two lighting fixtures
• Baseboard/quarter round
• Installed cabinet hardware
• Refinished 4 vintage chairs for dinning table

Check out a preview of the almost finished product below!

BEFORE:

AFTER: 

BEFORE:

AFTER:

More pictures coming soon, happy Friday!

Crock Pot = Busy Gal's BFF

Alas, the time has come for a non renovation related post. Andrew and I have decided to take a month or so off before we get started on the second floor; however, I'd like to continue to blog so I'll be branching out a tad :)

Aside from home renovation and design, I also really enjoy cooking. I am certainly not a master chef, but I have been working on honing my culinary skills.

To avoid spending a ton of money eating out (isn't good for the wallet, nor the waist line!) I've been planning out all of my meals a week in advance, as well as preparing a "bulk" set of meals on Sunday. I try to make at least one of those meals in the crock pot so I'm not driving myself into a culinary coma (4-5 meals in one afternoon is lofty task!).

http://www.eatingwell.com/  is by far one of my favorite websites for meal ideas. Tonight, I put a quick meal in the crock so Andrew and I would have something yummy for lunch tomorrow.

Eating Well's Wine & Tomato Braised Chicken is quick, easy and extremely tasty. It is also a recipe that calls for several ingredients that I tend to keep on hand (canned tomatoes, garlic, white wine and various spices). Check it out below, happy crock pot cooking!

 http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/wine_tomato_braised_chicken.html

Gettin' all the necessary ingredients assembled.....

 

Looking delicious!

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Accessories, they matter!

Now that we are finishing up the first floor of the house, I've started to focus on adding some personal touches...

In my former decorating life I kept everything very simple, sparse even; because I have an EXTREME aversion to clutter. I've been known to hang wet towels on hooks inside my closet, purely because hanging them on the back of the bathroom door drives me batty. Not normal, I know.

Towels aside, I'm actually starting to enjoy having a few "things" out here and there.

This morning, I took a few pictures of some of the accessorizing that I've done as of late.

Hope you enjoy! PS - Small, adorable pup not included!

Happy Sunday!


Remy loves the new rug, funky chars and place mats!

Dining table, almost all ready for a dinner party!

Usually I don't love word signs, however this one was so fitting I had to buy it. I also love the vase I found on sale at House 15143 :)

A quick, simple wreath that I made yesterday. The horseshoe door knocker is original to the house, and I've found that it is pretty easy to hang my wreaths from it.....

YES DYLEWSKI crew, that is a "D" ;)

Another fab antique find. It actually works! I think it looks very elegant in our DR. 

I love these. Andrew and I have a soft spot for copper. We really wanted a copper sink but everyone kept steering us away (they aren't easy to care for!). These lanterns are next to our front door, I think they're a nice blend of rustic and classic.... 

This old stool was used to train dogs in the circus! I think it makes a lovely plant stand. RE PURPOSE people, it's fun!

A truly amazing find, a Brunswick Phonograph (c. 1923) that Angie and I picked up on a weekend antique store trip. She was kind enough to help me lug it from the store (twice), load it into a trunk, drive it to my house, and then help me carry it inside. Mad thanks lady, I could not have done it without you!

Pet Friendly Rugs?!?!

The time has come to to rid my house of one of my favorite rugs. As most of you know, Andrew and I are the proud parents of three four-legged children: Marv, Jarka and Remy.

As most of you also know, Jarka is a 3lb rescue with extreme scoliosis and the inability to tinkle outside on a regular basis. Needless to say, against my better judgement, I bought two cream damask rugs with the best intentions of keeping watch on them at all times. As of yesterday, it seems as though my master plan has gone to the dogs. Or should I say, has gone to dog pee....

Yesterday, I happened to notice a "Jarka puddle" in the dinning room that was partially on the rug and partially on the NEW wood floor. I lifted up the rug to further explore the situation at hand, and BANG - I was hit with the extremely potent odor of stale dog pee. FAB.

Andrew and I rolled the rug up tonight, and thankfully, the floors under the rug seem fine.

What isn't so fine is my RUG. It is a wool/poly blend and completely ruined :(

As I started looking at replacement options, I couldn't help but think "there must be a better way!". I can't imagine that there isn't a "pet friendly" rug out there....

The more I searched, the more I came across two options:

1. A chic indoor/outdoor that could be rinsed off outside with soap and water
2. FLOR carpet tiles

The FLOR tiles seem pretty nice, but I wasn't sure if they'd have options that would work with my decor. BOY was I wrong! They've got TONS of options: traditional, modern, transitional - they even have an entire line of textural patterns.  

The prices are decent, ranging from $8 - $28 per tile. For a 5x7 rug they say you'll need 12 tiles...

Plus, I like the idea of being able to customize my rug, as well as the ability to switch out a square in the event of a potty accident.

After shopping around, I've picked a few favorites. The first one is my top pick, followed by the second. I don't think the third one would work in our house; however, I do think it is a nice option for a more modern home.

http://www.flor.com/interlaced-pearl.html

http://www.flor.com/pretty-promise-palm.html

http://www.flor.com/lasting-grateness-titanium.html

Would you use FLOR carpet tiles in your home??!?!?

Some light reading on how to make your home a bit more pet friendly:

http://www.hgtv.com/decorating-basics/9-tips-for-a-chic-pet-friendly-home/index.html

Our counter tops were installed last Wednesday and I'm just getting around to posting about them. Thus far, we are in love! As I stated in an earlier post, we decided to go with quartz vs. granite so we wouldn't have to worry about maintenance. 

Post order, I worried that perhaps I'd miss the larger scale grain pattern that granite offers; however, I think the quartz really looks nice with our cabinet and flooring selection.

The quartz is also extremely durable, and very easy to clean. All you need is a paper towel and some Windex :)

Below you can check out a few pictures of the install process. The counters look a bit gray in the second photo, but they are actually a really a nice medium taupe.

The old kitchen had a very "rustic" looking bar. To be frank, the thing was hideous. Andrew used some of the former base to create an extremely large counter height island. 

This picture  makes the counters look gray, the color of the island is a better representation of what they truly look like in person.

Here is a picture of the swatch from LG's website, it provides an even better idea of the color:

http://www.lgviaterausa.com/products/16/168

In conclusion, I sure am happy to be rid of the blue counters - below is a photo of the old bar and those sweet blue countertops!

The bar was WAY too rustic for our taste, it also blocked the sight lines:

Blue is a lovely color, on anything but counters:

Until next time!

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Happy Sunday!

It's been a while since I've had the chance to post. Things have been crazy between our kitchen project, and being out of town last weekend.

Today Andrew and I took a set of chairs purchased for the bargain basement price of $35.00 (TOTAL!) from Craig's List and gave them an extreme face lift :)

The entire project cost $85.00 or $21.25 per chair. Can't beat that with a stick!

We decided to go BOLD as almost everything else in our house is very muted.

This was my very first "upcycle" project, and I'm happy to report that it really wasn't all that hard. We used Valspar Color Radiance spray paint in flat caramel honey to transform the chairs from their dingy 'ol wood color to something a bit more fresh a modern.

http://www.valsparpaint.com/en/find-the-right-product/interior/spray-paint/radiance.html

The fabric and cushion batting was purchased at Joann's. The fabric is a Waverly print that is both traditional and modern at the same time ( it sorta reminded me of a damask, but in fun color palette). The fabric was on sale for $11.99 a yard. I purchased two yards in the event that I encountered a MAJOR mishap...

http://www.joann.com/fabric/home-decor-fabric/price_$10-$25/color_purples%7Cmulti/?page=3

We took the chairs out to the barn to spray paint (thank god we had some air circulation - this stuff would've killed us in a closed room!) and then allowed them to dry for about 3 hours. The bottle says it should be "dry to the touch" in 30 minutes. Yeah, um. THAT IS A LIE!

Check out the afternoon captured in photos below. I'll also include a photo of the back splash being installed in the kitchen. Today at Lowe's I noticed that they charge $400.00 to install 20 sq/ft of back splash in a diamond pattern. Stuff it Lowe's, we'd rather gain ourselves some sweat equity ;)

Until next time,

x0x0x0x

Sarah

Our supplies for the afternoon........

A 'lil spray paint action in the barn. For those of you with eagle eyes, please disregard the bumper sticker on ANDREW's tractor. I begged him not to purchase.....clearly...I did not win this battle...

Close up of the seat cushion -

FINISHED PRODUCT! 

Kitchen update - Only the back splash install and crown remain ;) Andrew started the back splash, preview below!