Kitchen Tile and some killer finds!!

I bought all the subway tile and all the goodies to put it up.  I'll be getting on that hopefully in the next week or so.  It's not a large space, so it shouldn't take too long to get done.  But, alas I think that about everything.  The kitchen island countertop is thisclose to being done.  I can almost taste it, that would be weird to taste you countertop, but whatever.  Judgy, much?!?

I'm hoping it all looks like this when I'm done:

via

So, I peruse Craigslist to find all kinds of goodies. This weekend I scored big twice.  We nabbed 117-large concrete pavers for $1 each!!  I can't wait until the weather warms up and I can get outside and work on some curba appeal!  On to my next score.....

I saw this pic on cl:

I like the dresser, but not for $125.  Plus, I hoard dressers, chairs, lamps, and rugs.  See that rug in the corner?  It is a vintage oriental rug.  I called about it.  The lady said she'd ask her husband if he wanted to sell it...he said no.  Then she said, I bet if you came in you could talk him into selling it to you.  So, I went in.  He was grumpy.  He said no.  I went in and instead of asking if he'd sell it, I offered him $40 for it.  He just looked at me like I was crazy.  He said, sure but you'll have to come back tomorrow because I can't move all the furniture off it by myself.  So, I did.  It's enormous.  Like 11 feet by 11ft ish.  Freaking huge.  for $40.  I'll post better pics soon, I am cleaning it today!

Kitchen Update: Planked Island, Black Pantry Doors, etc....

So....this is the redo that never ends, it goes on and on my friends, some people started doing it not knowing 'bout the time, and they'll continue doing it FORVER just because, this is the redo that never ends......Is that song stuck in your head now?!? :)  How about this one, it's a small world after all, it's a small world after all....damn now, it's stuck in my head.

PLANKED ISLAND:
So, we planked the back of the island with 1/4 inch plywood ripped down at Lowe's.

need to putty the rest of the nail holes and sand

I freaking love those stools!!  I love them even more because Mr. TSL got them out of the trash and brought them home for me!  I actually have 7, but I think that's overkill for this small island :)

BLACK PANTRY DOORS:
I can't wait to paint this damn island, I am so sick of looking at it like this.....it's been done since December!!!

The doors do not look this shitty in real life.  Apparently the flash catches the mark from where my 9 year old helped me clean and sprayed down the doors and did a crappy job wiping up afterwards.

What's that you notice?  Why yes, I did get a Kitchen Aid mixer for Christmas and I love it....I might go in and stare at it sometimes...okay a lot.  The paint spots on the wall are for a new color, obviously.  I have yet to find the right color.  The lighter tan ones are too pink in the light in there.  I think I need more of a gray.. My mom has the perfect gray in her house.  The sample I had in that color looks really greenish...blah. Paint. Blah.  That black door is the medicine cabinet (at least the tops shelves away from tiny fingers are.  The other shelves house the waffle iron and little toys that get stores in there by the tiny fingers!!)  Yes, I also got one drawer pull on....it took forever and I fucked up the holes on it, luckily the drawer pull covers it.  I quit after that one.  I think I'll make some template or offer dirty favors to my hubby to do it!! ;)

ETC:
Kitchen Globe Light made from fish bowls....yes you read that right!

Thrift Store Score:  Mid Century Mustard Color Chair $5.99 plus 10% off....SOLD.

My Grandma and I made that pillow from a blanket I picked up at the thrift store too!! ;) 

Thrifter for life!

xoxo

Large Red Lantern for $15

Remember when I scored this lantern from a thrift store for $10.  It started out freaking fugly, but it had potential.  It was so damn heavy and I immediately got to work on it.  Yes, I had other crap going on, but come on.  

All the glass was in great shape and was beveled.  It was going to be a total bitch to tape it all off and try to get the spray paint in all the nooks and crannies.  So, with my super arm strength I held it above our dumpster and took a hammer to the glass.  I bet my neighbors think I'm nuts.  I was doing it and my mr. came running out of his garage to see what was wrong.  Nothing just breaking some glass.  He didn't even flinch, just nodded and went back to working.  It's not uncommon for me to do something crazy.

I haven't decided if I love it red or if it will eventually be black, but here she is:

Remember the before:

One more after for you from the other direction:

Yesterday I scrubbed the top cabinets, took the doors off, and taped the cabinets in preparation to paint the top cabinets white!  I also sprayed the hinges white.  Can't wait to show you pictures soon!

So, what do you think black or red lantern.  If I leave the lantern red, do I repaint the back door black?  I am currently painting all the doors black room by room, so it would make sense.  

xoxo

thrift store score: giant lantern

sometimes when you go to a thrift store or the g-dub (goodwill) you find nothing.  other times you score big, like when i scored these chairs.

this is a score story.  i sold some crap off craigslist and was meeting the lady to deliver it and also had 6 trash bags of donate.  yes, i said 6 and no that isn't even half of what needed to go....that's all i had room for in the car.  anywho, the g-dub i usually go to was way across town so i stopped by a salvation army and dumped my stuff there.  i wasn't going to go in, but audrey and oliver were being good, so in we went.  i was walking around, got some random goodies.  i always go through the toys, baby clothes, picture frames and household stuff.

i walk by the furniture, some decent, nothing saying "kari take me home, stick me in your garage and pretend you have the time to redo me!"  then i saw it over by the lamps....a huge freaking lantern.

it's 30 inches tall and 17 inches wide!!  i swear it weighs like 15 pounds!
it's going to be red and hang over my kitchen island.  i hope to have it done in a week or so!

now some inspiring lantern pictures.....

images via pinterest

xoxo

Updated Children's Art Gallery

I rearranged some of the girls art and added some from this school year.  I rehung it at the top of the stairs and up the wall in the stairwell.   I actually had most of the wall done like a week ago, but some of the thrift store frames still had price tags on them and had to be painted black.

Hey, I've been distracted with the bathroom.  :)

Meanwhile in the bathroom:  the floor is being prepped for slate tile!

and my dining room looks like this...........seriously.

well the sink and top are gone now, but I have to refinish the vanity....
maybe I'll start that tonight!  maybe.


-Make your life beautiful!

SUNDAY:

The Girl Creative , The DIY Showoff, Sisters of the Wild West,  The Tattered Tag, Flamingo Toes, Under the Table and Dreaming, I Heart Nap Time

 MONDAY:

Skip To My Lou, Thrifty Decor Chick, C.R.A.F.T., Sew Can Do, Dittle Dattle, Between Naps On the Porch, Homemaker on a Dime, Making the World Cuter

TUESDAY:

Tip Junkie, Type A, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Today's Creative Blog, Funky Polkadot Giraffe,  Strictly Homemade, A Diamond in the Stuff, All Thingz Related, 

Handmade Tuesday

WEDNESDAY:

Blue Cricket Design, Not Just A Housewife, Someday Crafts, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Sew Much Ado, Organize Your Stuff Now, Seven Thirty Three,
Sugar and Dots, The Mommy Club  

THURSDAY:

My Repurposed Life, Paisley Passions, House of Hepworths, Beyond The Picket Fence, Inspired by Charm, The Shabby Chic Cottage,  Somewhat Simple 

FRIDAY:

Whipperberry, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Miss Mustard Seed Remodelaholic, Chic on a Shoestring Shabby Nest Tidy Mom Little Lucy Lu My Simple HomeLife

SATURDAY:

Funky Junk Interiors, Be Different Act Normal,  Tatertots and Jello, Young and Crafty 

& Chair Upholstered!

So, I got this chair a while back for super cheap at a flea market.  I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do with it until I did some pinning.  Then I got to work.....

To make do the chair, I took it apart....lots of staples and nails.

Getting all the broken caning out was a beeotch!

I had these divot holes left from the buttons, my dad (who does upholstery) told me to steam the foam and it would fluff back up...I just filled the holes with cotton balls :)

Then I needed some fabric to cover the chair, I was going to go buy some when it hit me....I have black curtains from a, I-was-in-too-much-of-a-hurry-to-decorate-because-we've-only-lived-here-a-month-and-I-am-hosting-Thanksgiving-after-just-having-had-a-baby, decorating forget it moment.  I just grabbed a curtain and started stapling.  Making sure to pull tight as I stapled.  If you have a border collie or other long haired dog, you will need either a lint roller or a sheet to lay your seat on....mine got REALLY hairy!

After, it was covered I decided to add the & which I totally LOVE!

I just filled it in with some white fabric paint that I had!

Then I sprayed the frame and painted it white.

Tiny helper is optional, she often would retreat for some R&R in the castle behind her!

After it was all said and done, I added some rope trim to the chair and put the done stamp on it!

-Make your life beautiful!

SUNDAY: 
The Girl Creative ,The DIY Showoff ,Sisters of the Wild West ,The Tattered Tag ,Flamingo Toes, Under the Table and Dreaming , I Heart Nap Time 

 MONDAY:

Skip To My Lou, Thrifty Decor Chick, C.R.A.F.T., Sew Can Do, Dittle Dattle, Between Naps On the Porch, Homemaker on a Dime,  Making the World Cuter

TUESDAY:

Tip Junkie, Type A, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Today's Creative Blog, Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Strictly Homemade, A Diamond in the Stuff, All Thingz Related, Handmade Tuesday,
WEDNESDAY:
Blue Cricket Design, Not Just A Housewife, Someday Crafts, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Sew Much Ado, Organize Your Stuff Now, Seven Thirty Three, Sugar and Dots The Mommy Club  

THURSDAY:

My Repurposed Life, Paisley Passions, House of Hepworths, Beyond The Picket Fence, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Somewhat Simple, Inspired by Charm

FRIDAY:
Remodelaholic, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Miss Mustard Seed, Chic on a Shoestring, Shabby Nest, Tidy Mom, Little Lucy Lu, My Simple Home Life

Whipperberry, 

SATURDAY:

Funky Junk Interiors, be Different Act Normal, Tatertots and Jello, Young and Crafty

Nate Berkus Knock Off Rug for CWS

Round one of Crafting with the stars was Knock Off.  The projects were uh-mazing.  As soon as the post went up for voting, I may have been slightly neuroticly worried.....I like a good knock off and I picked Nate Berkus's NY Apartment Rug.  I believe Ikea makes a cheaper version, but I like Nate's space!

My only cost was the painters tape which was $5-ish....I bought a lot of groceries that day and don't remember exactly.

I had the rug from Dollar General that I paid $10 for last year.  I bought it to lay over the NASTY crapet (yep, I meant crapet)  Got it home and of course it was about 1 inch too wide.  Suckola!  I then put it on the porch to catch the sand and dirt from tracking in the house....it still does, but not as much.

The rug when I started was filthy, dirt and sand galore.  I didn't wash it.  I vac'd it like 5 times and it still has sand in it!  Which is fine because it went right back out on the porch.  It's not big enough to warrant keeping it in the house.  Plus, we have very plush/shaggy 80's crapet, so rugs won't lay right.

It's like a light brown color.

Then I started painting and painting.  The paint is just regular house paint.  The white is marshmallow white from glidden and the black is an oops can Mr. TSL picked up for $5 to paint the kitchen cabinets from Lowe's.  Kitchen Cabinet paint no more.  I used it for this project and for next weeks project and I may paint the front door :)  It bubbles anyway, so it wouldn't make good cabinet paint.

After 2 coats of black paint, it was decently covered....remember this is going on the porch and is currently dirty from being there now.

it is actually covered better, but seemed to show brush marks in the crappy pic.

 I measured and divided by 4, so I could make the sections.  Then, I measured and marked it with white chalk...so I wouldn't have to wash it off!

Then I started taping and taping and taping.  After 2 coats of white paint, it looked like this:

• Sherry of Young House Love 
• Ana of Ana-white.com
• Katie of Bower Power
• Erin of House of Earnest 

Now, I need your opinion on something.......

We scored this amazing door at Habitat for Humanity for $10.  Mr. TSL hung it and I love love it! It's like adding another window in a room with little light!

It's wood on the side facing to dining room and white facing the sunporch.

I plan to either paint it candy apple red or black....what to do?

Here are my inspiration pics.:

RED

or

BLACK

Nate's rugs and inspiration doors via my Pinterest

-Make your life beautiful!!

SUNDAY: 
The Girl Creative ,The DIY Showoff ,Sisters of the Wild West ,The Tattered Tag ,Flamingo Toes, Under the Table and Dreaming , I Heart Nap Time 

 MONDAY:

Skip To My Lou, Thrifty Decor Chick, C.R.A.F.T., Sew Can Do, Dittle Dattle, Between Naps On the Porch, Homemaker on a Dime,  Making the World Cuter

TUESDAY:

Tip Junkie, Type A, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Today's Creative Blog, Funky Polkadot Giraffe, Strictly Homemade, A Diamond in the Stuff, All Thingz Related, Handmade Tuesday,
WEDNESDAY:
Blue Cricket Design, Not Just A Housewife, Someday Crafts, Handy Man, Crafty Woman, Sew Much Ado, Organize Your Stuff Now, Seven Thirty Three, Sugar and Dots The Mommy Club  

THURSDAY:

My Repurposed Life, Paisley Passions, House of Hepworths, Beyond The Picket Fence, The Shabby Chic Cottage, Somewhat Simple, 

FRIDAY:
Remodelaholic, Fingerprints on the Fridge, Miss Mustard Seed, Chic on a Shoestring, Shabby Nest, Tidy Mom, Little Lucy Lu, My Simple Home Life

Whipperberry, 

SATURDAY:

Funky Junk Interiors, be Different Act Normal, Tatertots and Jello, Young and Crafty