Trash to Treasure, The Patio Edition

Good morning!  Come on in and have a seat, I’ve got some cool stuff to show you. 

Need coffee?  Okay, get that first.

Have you been working on cleaning and sprucing up your outdoor space like I have?   I’d really like to add some color and whimsy to mine, so I’ve been pinning away some great ideas.
Follow my Pinterest board “Patio Possibilities” here.

Since I’m all about repurposing, re-doing, and upcycling, I also have several ideas pinned to my “REINVENTIONS” board.

Projects I’d like to tackle this spring/summer.

Like this stamped silver whirlygig from Finding Home.

Whirlygig is one of my favorite words.

Love love love the Bible verse detail on the silverware.

These garden treasure jars I saw on hometalk are way cool.  All you need are empty glass jars (jelly, spaghetti sauce, whatever), scrap wood,  and clear glass “beads” from the dollar store.  

Upcycling at its finest, and almost free.  My favorite kind of project.

I am DYING over these bike planters.  Wow.  Must find cheap old bikes that wouldn’t mind becoming planters…

 Source

You won’t believe this one.  Patio lights from a tuna can, pvc pipe, a dollar store vase and candle.  Get. out!

Source

Here’s another awesome yard ornament idea, a dragonfly fashioned from an old table leg and ceiling fan blades.

Source

It sounds like a trip to the Restore is in my near future.

Which project is your favorite?

Guest Post—Fun With Fabric

Good morning all!  I have a guest post to share today with some fun options for home décor fabric. You know how I love me some fabric…

Curtain Fabrics Aren’t Just for Making Curtains
The term curtain fabric is a generic name given to material which is suitable for making soft furnishings for your home, namely window dressings such as curtains and drapes. However, curtain fabrics can be used for more than just making curtains. They can be used for all manner of other soft furnishing projects around the home.


With regard to window dressing, fabric can also be used to make roller and Roman blinds, tie-backs for curtains, it can also be used to cover pelmets, often referred to as a lambrequin or catonniere, and make valances.


(Kimm here, sorry to interrupt, but isn’t this carnation fabric SOO PRETTY??)

Move away from the windows and fabric can be used to make cushions and even carry out lightweight domestic upholstery such as foot stools, recovering dining room seat pads, chair slips for both the living and dining room.

(me again, sorry,but this would be fabulous on dining room chairs…)

The trend for bed canopies is another great example of how curtain fabrics can be used in the home. From the simplest form of canopy which is made by draping a lightweight fabric over a basic frame to the more elaborate canopies and curtains for four poster-style beds where curtains and canopies have been used for centuries to provide privacy and warmth in the bed chamber.
Easy home-craft projects can include lining a pretty wicker basket or covering a food tin for storing knick-knacks and jewelry in, to the more complex patchwork designs made into gorgeous bedspreads and quilts. Large scatter cushions and bean bags are easy to make and form informal seating which compliments other fabrics within a room.


(you can just imagine how I feel about this one…)

Curtain fabrics can also be used as a wall covering or hanging. Once again this is not a new interior design concept. Famous designers, such as William Morris, made and used beautiful printed fabrics to cover walls. The process is ideal for DIY buffs and those who love a challenge, but the end result can look and feel fabulous. One great advantage to using fabric to cover walls is that it can be removed far easier than most wallpapers when it's time to redecorate. Fabric starch is used to give the fabric stability or another method is to use a sugar syrup solution.



(cover an unsightly wall in a nursery with this one, or upholster a screen as a room divider, so cute!)



Fabric wall hangings, screens or panels are an effective way for people to hide walls that aren't in perfect condition or for those who are restricted to the amount of alterations and redecoration they are able to make in a rented home.

These are just a few of the uses for curtain material and fabric, the possibilities are only as endless as your imagination and interior design prowess.
Thanks for visiting today!  I’ll be back tomorrow with some awesome Trash to Treasure Finds for your garden and patio!

Five Favorites on Friday—Blogger Homes

Hi everyone!  I’m posting my Friday Favorites a little early, cuz tomorrow I’ll be here

 

With my friend Shannon, from Vintage Restyled, having fun, selling beautiful wares, meeting as many of YOU as we can, and making cool announcements. 

Come see us, we’d really love to meet you!

 

Anyway,  tonight I thought I’d share some of my favorite blogger homes. 

It’s no secret I LOVE home bloggers, and I LOVE their houses…

but these are some of the abodes that I’d live in if I could.

 

And I mean that in a totally noncreepy way.

 

1.  Ashley and Jamin’s house at the Handmade Home.

Why do I love this house?  It’s full of beautiful color and handmade goodness.  And a fantastic collected over time look.  Exactly how I want my house to look.  Only I want it right now.

impatient, much?

 

2.  Lindsey’s house at The Pleated Poppy

 

.

Are you seeing a pattern here?  I see similar colors, and the collected look.  My favorite thing about Lindsey’s house is the sense of whimsy and fun.  She’s not too serious about her house, and I heard once that some people get way too serious about their décor in some crazy quest for perfection.  Ahem.

 

I REALLY like fabric garlands.

 

3.  Edie’s house at Life in Grace.

 

O.M.G., her bedroom.  And her boots.  And those walls.  and the headboard.  The combo of whimsy and sophistication is out. of. this. world. 

 

The kitchen…swoon.

 

4.  Dana’s house at House Tweaking. 

 

 

Dana lives in the Buckeye State with me, so I’m kinda partial to her. 

Well, you know, not exactly with me…

although that would be okay…

 

there I go being creepy again.

 

She has the coolest modern cottage taste, I love everything she chooses.

 

THIS is where she does laundry!

 

5.  Last, but certainly not least, is Kari’s house in Kentucky at Thistlewood Farms.

 

Creepy or not, I would pack my bags tomorrow if Kari invited me to wake up every morning in her delicious home.

 

I would make us granola every day with some beautiful cereal bowls from this butler’s pantry.

And I’m pretty sure my sleeping bag would fit right next to that cute little ottoman.  I’d be real quiet, and not make a sound until the sun beamed through those beautiful windows…

 

Good grief, I’ve GOT. TO. STOP.  

Have a great weekend!  I’m hoping to have great pics to share next week from this weekend’s sale.

 

See you then!

My Weekend

Hi all, Happy Sunday!

What have you been doin’ this weekend?

 

I’ve done a LOT of this

picture source

 

Used a LOT of this (new to me, but I really love it.)

 

source

 

with these

 

from here.

 

Now I realize that NONE of these are totally cool ways to spend a weekend, but when I actually have a weekend free to catch up on chores,  I get a LOT of satisfaction from knowing that my house is reasonably clean.

 

If that means you think I’m weird, then…

 

It’s about time.

 

WANT TO KNOW WHAT I’M DOING NEXT WEEKEND??

 

OMG, this event is way more exciting than Lysol and purple rags.  Even the fly lady’s purple rags.

I’ll be here!  With my friend Shannon from Vintage Restyled.

She’ll be selling her beautifully restyled furniture and decorative items, and I’LL BE HELPING. 

Seriously, that moment needed all caps.

 

Just look at this stuff.

 

 

The hardest part for me will be helping and not buying.

You may have to pry this cabinet and all of the ironstone she plans to put in it from my cold. dead. fingers.

 

Wow.

 

Please please please come and see us! 

Reinventing With White Paint

 

These are my weapons…

 

And I’m not afraid to use them.

 

As you can see, I’d rather paint than clean off the island counter.

 

Do any of you dance around your house with a paint brush and swipe at EVERYTHING standing still? 

 

After living with and LOOVING my reinvented mantle for a week, I decided to keep going.

 

So I painted the wall shelves on either side of the mantle.

 

Here’s how they started.  (not sure why I picked these shelves to begin with, they really aren’t my style, so they must have been cheap)

Here’s how they look now.

 

And a close up of the finish.

I used that term “finish”, loosely, because it’s the same as the mantle, flax as a base coat and then Old White dry brushed on top, nothing artistic or complicated. 

I think it looks kinda beachy, almost like weathered wood, but not really. 

As close as one can get clean lined modern black shelves to look like weathered wood.

 

Next up for my weapons and I?

That black hole under the TV.  The cabinet is going Old White.

See you soon!

Between You and Me, I’m in LOVE with a Sign

OMG (in our house that means “oh my gosh, oh my goodness and oh my golly”)…

 

I received a blessing today.  In a box.  The brown truck guy brought it.

 

You see, I’ve been wishing and wanting and wanting and wishing for a sign from the beautiful and intentional Etsy shop, Between You and Me Signs.

 

I finally saved up enough pennies and placed the order a few weeks ago.

 

 

WOW.  It’s beautifully crafted, delightfully distressed, 2 feet by 4 feet large, and perfect for the massive wall in our stairwell.

 

Where 2 not really young adults, 1 very young adult, 2 teenagers and 1 pre-teen can read it several times a day.

Just the kind of message you want to stick in your mind and heart, huh?

If you’re interested in a piece of intentional, heart-altering art, visit Between You and Me Signs here.

 

P.S. I wasn’t compensated to write this post, I just LOVE sharing small businesses with amazing products.  Do you have a business you’d like to share on REINVENTED?  e-mail me at reinventedkb{at}gmail.com

Have a great Tuesday!

March Madness for Mantles

Hi friends!  I hope that you all enjoyed your weekend.  We had some fantastic spring weather here and it was just what the ‘ole doctor ordered.
I had Friday off and spent part of the day thrift shopping, but struck out at my two favorite Goodwill stores. 
I think I was reluctant to buy any more “projects” because I kinda have a back log at home, if ya know what I mean.

I crossed one of those back logged projects off my list this weekend, by performing a little paint magic on my boring builder mantle.

Here’s a before shot for you.  As much as I like white trim, this mantle just wasn’t making my heart sing.



First, I tried painting it with French Linen from Annie Sloan Chalk Paint.
I figured since everyone loves this color, then I’d love it too, right?


Uhh, wrong.  I do like the color, kind of a muddy gray, but it was all wrong in my family room. 
It made my walls look pink, people.
So I reversed course and painted the mantle the same color as my walls.  Flax, from Valspar. (please ignore the dusty red box, k?)


I know, this is even more boring than white.  Just give me a minute.
My next step was to dry brush a light layer of ASCP in Old White over the Flax.


As you can see in this shot, next I “wallpapered” the flat surface with some paintable wallpaper that I picked up at the Goodwill for $2 ages ago.
I painted the wallpaper Old White, then dry brushed on the Flax.  The opposite effect of the rest of the mantle.

Are you still with me?


And…voila!    What do you think? 


I am really liking the texture, detail,  and cottagey character I see now.
And yes, my heart is singing.
Off key, as usual.


More pics, cuz it’s just so pretty.


What did you do this weekend?

 

Making The World Cuter Monday