Twenty Five Dollar Powder Room Reveal

Gosh, when I promised to redo my powder room for twenty five bucks, I didn't think it would take TWENTY FIVE YEARS to get it done.

I'm exaggerating, of course, but this was a SLOW project.

That's why PATIENCE is surely a virtue when decorating on a budget. If you're in a hurry, you'll spend more money.

I know, 'cuz I've decorated in a hurry before. I've stood in a department store and talked my hurried self into a purchase I later regretted.

Not this time. I started with primer and paint that I had leftover from other projects.

The shelf in this picture was a $5 garage sale purchase over the summer. It was white originally, and good quality, so I spray painted it to fit the cream and black color scheme.

The towel I already had. Love me some scrolly designs.

These adorable little birdie tealight holders were from the Dollar Tree. The apothecary jar I already had, and the shells came from North Carolina. The miniature fishing basket was a quarter at a garage sale. The tile my son made in art class, I like the little punch of blue and green.

So...now we're up to $7.75.

The window mistreatment was already there from the "Cherry Cobbler" wall days. These little plaques I found at the Goodwill for 59 cents a piece. I used a 50 cent piece of polka dotted scrapbook paper and two more shells for one dollar art.

Since I can't cut a circle to save my life, I hot glued some jute string around the edges That was free.

Now we're at $8.84.

I shopped the house for this wall pocket, the color was perfect. Remember the switchplates? That fancy paper was $1.59, but I used less than half, so let's go with 80 cents, okay?


One half off canvas and a half yard of burlap = $17. I haven't decided what to put on the canvas yet. Maybe beachy postcards or photos?

Or maybe I'll stencil it.

I used existly nail holes to hang the canvas (secret amateur designer trick, you don't have to fill the holes if you're going to reuse them!).

Then I decided that it was hung too high, so I added a piece of scrap molding underneath, painted with chalkboard paint. This wall is opposite the toilet, so we can leave each other loving messages.

TOTAL = $26.64. Oops. So I was over a little, please don't scold me.

I'm linking this post to Sarah's Before and After Party, at Thrifty Decor Chick, Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch AND Kimba's DIY day. Be there or Be square! If you want to see my BEFORE picture of the powder room, click here.

Also linking to Frugalicious Friday. Check out Jane's fabulous Pottery Barn find!

Trash To Treasure Tuesday--Switchplate Switch-up

Today's project appeared to me in a vision.

Naw, just kidding. But I WAS wandering around in JoAnn's when I had an epiphany.

An angel of the Lord appeared...sorry.

Anyway...I had these plain white plastic switchplates in our powder room. You know the ones, functional in their own sweet way, but FAR from decorative. Powder rooms are SO small, you've got to take any opportunity to transform the functional into decorative, you know?

First I spray painted them Heirloom White. I know, you could've guessed that step. I promise it gets more creative.

During my trip to JoAnn's, I discovered a beautiful piece of scrolly paper. It was $1.59, so I took it home, sure I could use it for SOMETHING.

Then it hit me! (warning, poor photo quality ahead)

I laid the painted switchplates upside down on the paper and cut around them with my craft knife. Lots of trimming followed while I tried to get the perfect fit. I attached the paper with glossy Mod Podge, then added two coats on top to seal it. I'll have to get back to ya on the durability of these, but I'm pretty sure then won't show finger prints!

Me likey. You likey?

Link up those TRASH TO TREASURE projects!

I'm linking up to Kimba's DIY day, one of my favorite parties!

Big Girl Room, Small Budget

Hi everyone. I hope that you had a fabulous weekend. Today I'm featuring a room makeover from last week's Trash to Treasure Tuesday linky party. This room is so FABULOUS, I just had to.

Rachel, my friend from Memories and Mayhem, decorated her daughter's room with creativity and love. On a very small budget.

Just look at this colorful bed, and that WALL DECAL! I just love how the decal adds to the headboard and really makes a focal point of the bed.


This desk is positively swooooon worthy. Rachel used leftover pieces from the wall decal to decorate the desk, repeating the beautiful leaf and flower motif on the other side of the room.


Rachel has implemented one of my favorite budget decorating tips. Find an inspiration piece, a piece of fabric, a piece of scrapbook paper, a piece of art, a rug, a quilt or bedspread, or in this case, a colorful wall decal; then decorate your room around it, repeating the pattern throughout the room and pulling the color palette from your inspiration piece.


If you'd like more information about this fabulous girls' room, and you KNOW that you do, then head over to Memories and Mayhem for all of the details!

Fall House Tour

Good Friday morning! Today I'm participating in the Fall House Tour at Hooked on Houses. If you're new here at REINVENTED, visiting from the party, then WELCOME!

AND, I'm announcing the winner of our Totally Terrific Tassel giveaway from Tassel Castle! (see ad to the right)

I've shared most of these pictures before, but just got my mantle finished for fall, so it's up first. If you've already seen the others, please accept my apologies for the repeats.

My big beautiful "B" monogram rarely leaves the mantle, but for fall there are some leaves blowing in the wind, winding through the B. I loved using my $1 old wooden spools for pedestals for candles and a gleaming white pumpkin. I like to keep my mantle fairly simple.

Want to make a fall centerpiece for five bucks? Try painting a thrift store frame, lining it with fabric, then adding a grocery store bag of mini pumpkins with assorted thrift store candlesticks and candles. Easy AND cheap!

This "art" (and I use that term loosely!) is just a canvas drop cloth cut up and stenciled with black craft paint. Again, easy holiday decor that doesn't compete with your color scheme.

Lastly, here's what greets our guests. My front door, again with a big "B" monogram, and "fake" pumpkin topiaries. If you'd like to know how I made these, click here.

A close up.

So...did you scroll down to the bottom to see if you won a tassel first? It's okay, I understand if you did, those tassels are fabulous.

The winner is commentor number 27! The Plumber's Wife!! If you are the Plumber's Wife (and if you are, I'm jealous, 'cuz I bet your drains are NEVER clogged), the YOU won! I'll be in touch to hook you up with Carol from the Tassel Castle!

Have a great day everyone, and be sure to check out the Fall House Tour!

Trash to Treasure Tuesday--Baby Bathroom Steps

Hi y'all. I have finally painted my powder room.

As part of my quest to lighten up and neutralize our decor, I wanted to change the walls from "Cherry Cobbler" red, to "China Doll" cream.

And now, for a reluctant admission: Primer is my friend. I have always known in my head that priming is the "RIGHT THING TO DO", but, you see...

There is NO instant gratification in a can of primer. Even after two coats it looks awful.

Instant gratification is ALWAYS my goal, so in the past I've usually skipped the priming step.

NOT. THIS. TIME.

Two coats of primer and two coats of China Doll, and these walls are beautifully cream colored, with no hint of cherry cobbler in sight.

I know that you all won't laugh at me for looooving "off-white." My husband laughed, but this is a man that can't tell the difference betweeen "China Doll" and "Sundew". Geeez. EVERYONE knows that Sundew is a more yellow off-white, and China Doll is a browner off-white. Right?

I'm still working on accessories, but I'm planning on using the black and cream combo, with some beachy accents. Like this framed shell.

And these shells. Stay tuned, there's a painted shelf for this bathroom drying in my garage right now! And I've got an idea for those boring white switchplates...

How much have I spent so far? Nothing. I already had the primer and paint leftover from other projects. Cool.

Link up those Trash to Treasure Projects everyone! Please please please remember to add a link to REINVENTED in your posts so that everyone can party!

Have you checked out the Totally Terrific Tassel Giveaway below? Check it out!

I'm linking up too, to Kimba's DIY Party, and to Jen's Before and After bash!

Totally Terrific Tassel Giveaway

Happy beautiful fall Monday everyone! I hope the view out your window is as fabulous as mine is. Blue skies, and vibrant fall color. Ahhh, my favorite season.

Now for MORE fabulous views. Our little community of REINVENTORS has a new sponsor, Carol from Tassel Castle.

I am thrilled to introduce you to Carol, her Etsy shop the Tassel Castle, and her BEEEAAAUUUTIFUL tassels.

Check out this adorable rooster tassel. Black, white and a touch of red, WOW. I have 1,185 places I could enjoy this tassel at my house.


Carol also makes table top tassels, and I think this is a fantastic idea. This pear tassel would be a beautiful addition to your buffet or china cabinet display. Oh my. (Note to self: must quit drooling on laptop, girl, you can't afford a new one.)

If you read the title, then you're probably EXPECTING a giveaway, right? Well...

Carol did not disappoint. Just LOOK what you can win!

Holy cow, a monogram tassel. This. has. got. to. be. the. best. thing. ever. EVER.

Want one? Don't worry, you don't have to change your last name to one that starts with an "H", Carol will make one JUST FOR YOU!

To win:

1. Enter a comment on this post, and tell me where you'd put your custom tassel.
2. Visit Carol's shop, then leave me another comment telling me what your favorite item is.
3. Tweet about this giveaway, then return here and let me know that you did!

Help Carol get as many shoppers as possible, and you might win something! How cool is that?

The winner will be announced on Friday, October 23rd.

The Reinvention Convention

Oh my, how I love feeding off of the creativity of others. That's why I love blogging so much. It's like we're all just hanging out together exchanging ideas!

Have you seen this fabulous fridge makeover at Flax and Spindle?

This is such a genius "use what you have" idea. Who needs a new fridge when you can make your old one look so cool?

Are you looking for Halloween filler for your apothecary jars? Check out these creepy orbs at Joys of Home.
Don't they look cool in the jar?
I can think of lots of adaptations for other holidays. You could paint the balls any color and add "JOY, PEACE, LOVE" for Christmas; GIVE, THANKS for Thanksgiving, and then there's Valentine's Day and Easter. Oooh, the possibilities. Thanks, Joy for the idea!

If WINNING is your thing, run right over to Censational Girl and check out her fabulous giveaway from Cabinetknob.com!

Censational Girl

Going Neutral Or Going Nutty

My favorite decorating philosophy, if you can call it that, is to keep walls, furniture and flooring neutral, while adding "pops" of color. I have always loved red, and have a new crush on that fabulous aqua blue that everyone is using.

Somewhere along the line, while adding pops of color, my house starting looking like one of those popcorn machines, the ones with the see through dome, where you can see the popped kernels flying everywhere. My "pops" had become out of control. As Vern Yip would say "it looks like a rainbow threw up in there."

Actually, he'd probably say something MUCH worse, but we'll just go with that for now, okay?

Here's an example.

In this picture, you can tell that I threw the whole "neutral" idea out the window with my dining room walls. They are painted "apple green", an Eddie Bauer color from Lowe's. I looooooove this color, and have kept all of the accessories in that room black and cream, to keep the color from overpowering. The artwork is hanging in the foyer, a great example of "pops" gone wrong. It's a small space, and I've added WAY too much color over time.

It's almost like that fashion rule. You know the one, some famous fashion designer said to look in the mirror after you've finished getting ready to go out, and take one accessory off. That's how you know you haven't gone overboard.

That's kind of what I'm doing now. Taking a step back, checking out the room as a whole and "taking stuff off."

You know, all in my bid to be CALMING and SOPHISTICATED. ( I can finally spell that word all by myself!)

So, anyway...I decided to change out that artwork. Swap the colorful accessory for something more understated. I took my 6x9 canvas dropcloth and cut out two rectangles to match those frames. Using my trusty Canyon Black craft paint, I stenciled a word in each frame. The kids wanted to go with something seasonal. Since I reluctantly agree that this is their house too, that's exactly what I did.

This is not nearly as crooked in real life as it looks in these pictures, I just REALLY need to work on my photography skills. I stuck with the pumpkins for seasonal color, but everything else is black and cream. I'm still using lots of pattern with the stencils, the polka dot paper on the candle sconces and the ruffly edge of the plate. I'm going for neutral, but not boring.

Here's a closer look at my marginal stenciling talent.

That's all I got for today. The longer I look at these pictures, the more I think I might change them a little. Does anyone else have that problem? I think Wendy, at The Shabby Nest calls it

OCD (obsessively consumed with decorating). Yeah, I've got that, so bad that I'm linking up to Wendy's Frugal Friday party.

Edited to Add:

There, that's better. Have a great weekend!
This post is linked up to Kimba's DIY Day. Enjoy!

Learn From A Master

Just in case you hadn't noticed, REINVENTED has a new sponsor, Jen at Sanctuary Arts. Jen is a brilliant, talented lady and you just MUST read her blog.

See that chair up there? Today's post is a tutorial on stenciling and stamping on burlap! Fabulous. I bet you'll be seeing painted burlap around here again soon. I get ALL my good ideas from smart people like Jen.

Have a fabulous Wednesday!

Just A Little Black

Have you ever heard that saying "Every room needs a little black?" I don't know who said it, but it must have been a VERY wise person. 'Cuz I agree. If I agree with you, then you must be wise. Whateva.

So anyway, for today's Trash to Treasure Tuesday Linky Party (say THAT three times fast), I got out my little jar of American Accents Craft and Hobby Enamel in Canyon Black, and my matching can of Canyon Black spray paint and updated a few items.

Why, you ask?

Why do you ask so many questions?

Well...I'll have more to say about this later in the week (just warning you), but my whole "neutral with a pop of color" home decor philosophy has slowly but surely morphed into a classic "it looks like a rainbow threw up in here" look. (Remember when Vern Yip uttered this instant classic on Design Star?)

I'm actually trying to REMOVE some color and go for a more calming and sophisticated look. I'm thinking this MAY not work, because I just had to look up "sophisticated" in the dictionary, and I'm pretty sure that if I WAS sophisticated, I'd know how to SPELL sophisticated.

I started with this tray I made from a thrift store frame.

Now it looks like this. I actually cut this piece of fabric from my garage sale fabric window mistreatments in the dining room. Seriously, you can't even tell I cut out a chunk.
I added back in my five dollar centerpiece, and now I'm lovin' this look more than the original. The table top you see is my dining room table, and the legs and chair backs are painted black and distressed. The black frame looks so much better. It also adds some visual weight to the arrangement.

How is it that black pants are supposed to be SLIMMING, but black accessories ADD weight?

Next up are these clearance white plates. They are a little too white, so first I spray painted them Heirloom White.

Then I added black numbers. EVERYONE has numbers, so I needed some too. Not sure yet where I'm going to put them, but they'll probably replace some rainbow vomit.

Yep, calm and sophisticated, that's me.


You KNEW I had to do this one.

Two tips:

1. Don't ever think you can cut a cellulose sponge into a perfect circle, you can't. If you want nice polka dots, go buy a round stencil sponge.
2. It doesn't have to be perfect to be beautiful. Thank God for the Nester.

Link up those FABULOUS projects everyone! I am amazed every week by your creativity.

I'm linking up too, to Kimba's DIY Day.

More Pumpkin Topiaries

Happy Saturday, y'all! Thanks for all of your sweet comments about my pumpkin topiaries. I keep going outside just to gaze lovingly at them.



Several of you asked me how I secured them to the polka dot pots. I actually cut off all of the side braches from my beautiful but dead coleus plants and used the thick woody stem as a support. I cut a small hole in the bottom of the largest pumpkins and slid them over the stem. You could also push a wooden dowel down in to a pot still full of soil, or floral foam, and use that dowel as a support. Make sense?



SO not surprisingly, there are LOTS of fabulous stacked pumpkin ideas here in blog land. So, if you like the idea of stacking your pumpkins, but would like more options, I've found some for you!



I'm nice like that.




You know I'm a sucker for some polka dots. I am in love with this idea from Amanda at
Imperfectly Beautiful. I'm pretty sure polka dotted pumpkins in my polka dotted pots would be a LITTLE too much. But in this urn of Amanda's? Fabulous.

If you prefer to carve your pumpkins and light them from within, check out this idea from Frugal Fine Living. Just remember these fake pumpkins are flammable, so don't use real candles.

How about using stencils or stickers to add your house number? Too bad my address has four digits... this idea is from Creative Home Expressions.

Happy Pumpkin Stacking! Have a fabulous weekend. I'll see y'all back here on Monday.

Fall On My Porch

Remember my fresh spring pink and green front porch?



Well...it's been lookin' kinda tired. The coleus were beautiful this summer, they grew to be HUGE and bushy and so colorful and easy to grow.

Then they died.


It MIGHT have been from neglect, but I'm not admitting to anything.

It was time for FALL decor anyway, right?

I have been dreaming of trying pumpkin topiaries on my front porch for YEARS, and today I decided to GO. FOR. IT.

Michael's has their fake pumpkins on sale this week for 50% off, so if you're gonna get some, NOW'S the time, girls.

Even at half off, six pumpkins cost me $34.00. For a Goodwill Guru like me, that was HARD. I convinced myself that it was WORTH IT, because they'll last, like, forever.

Just so ya know, that's the story I'm goin' with when the husband gets home. Back me up, okay?

I bought two large white gourds. I bought two medium-sized classic orange pumpkins. I bought two white mini pumpkins.

I used my craft knife to cut off the stem of the large white ones, and the medium orange ones.

Here's what my headless pumpkin looked like. Fortunately, there's no "guts" in a fake pumpkin. I love that.


With my trusty hot glue gun, I attached the pumpkins in a stack.

I also used a dry brush and some burnt umber paint to give the color a little softness and depth. I got out my stencils and added some letters.

I am so pleased. Almost giddy.

I painted the flip side of my "B" monogram navajo white and left the apple green on the reverse, so I can change it on a whim!

I MIGHT add some black polka dots to the pots with mums. Do you think that would be too much? (geez, since when have I cared about too many polka dots? )

Five Dollar Fall Centerpiece

As much as I like to change up my decor for EVERY holiday, and, well, for every other reason I can think of, I am a "use what you have" kind of girl. Until money really does grow on trees, my home decor budget will stay limited.





Luckily, I've convinced myself that I enjoy the challenge.





Still, I LOOOOVE a beautiful centerpiece.





On my kitchen table, I limit the decor to a bowl of fruit. I figure my kids are gonna grab and eat whatever is there, so I better make sure it's not poisonous.





The dining room table is another story. We seldom actually DINE in there, but people do walk by it a lot on their way to the kitchen, so I want the table to look pretty. I found these adorable tiny white "pumpkins" at the grocery for $4.99. Everything else you see here I already had, hence the "five dollar" title.

Remember this tray made from an old frame? I pulled out my trusty leaf garland, now five or six years old, added some spray painted Goodwill candlesticks and some apple green candles that were already in the dining room. Voila! I love the simple color palate, my dining room walls are the same color as the candles, so I like to keep the accessories rather neutral. Learn more about the wall color here.

Now, for some inspiration. Scroll down at your own risk, I can no longer guarantee the $5 price tag.

This is a Martha centerpiece, but I spotted the picture at Forever Wherever. If I had a garden like Martha's, I'd SO fill a white pumpkin with roses.

This one you could do for five bucks. These little cheese domes are easy to find at thrift stores. A row of three on a burlap table runner, with just apples and flowers...swoon...

If you're not planning to roast the Thanksgiving turkey, then display the pan full of seasonal greenery and fruit. Just use whatever you can find in your yard. Unless all you've got are dead petunias, like me.





Here are some more ideas.

Beautiful. simple. colorful. Just don't let the kids eat them.

Pictures from MyHomeIdeas.com