Decor Timing With A Lease!

I've been putting off really decorating my apartment for the past nine months as I knew I wanted to eventually move.  Well, things didn't turn out as planned and my lease was up!  Since I didn't find another place, I'm thus at the same residence for another year. *_*  It's just another challenge of living in a rental, timing!  If you plan on staying in one place for more than a year, it's worth the investment to make it your own space with paint and minor wall damage such as hanging shelves and pictures.  If you're renting on a short month to month basis, less than year, it would be more frugal to keep your decor simple with maybe a few large pictures (less holes in the walls); colorful accessories, and textures.  Though I have been here for 2 1/2yrs, this is the route I've taken in my kitchen; especially on the back wall.  It went from nothing on the wall but this empty mini curio cabinet.  I know, really dull huh.  But now it looks like this . . .

                                     

  

Shades of Blue Antique Dresser

I love this little dresser which was given to me about 10yrs ago by a neighbor who was moving.  Below is the first makeover (this was with a very old camera, sorry so blurry).   I started by applying a Minwax white stain.  Then I stenciled it with floral vines and roses with a country blue creme stencil paint.

The knobs are blue resin hearts with a raised vine pattern on them that I ordered from a catalog.

Frugal Treasures Tuesday #23

I took a road trip up the coast with some girlfriends this weekend so no projects to share, . . . yet!  But the scenery was awesome!
Its party time again!  I'm so looking forward to seeing what you've been working on or what great frugal thrifty score you've found!  My plans for this week is to makeover my antique dresser and mirror so keep  your eyes open.  I'm so excited I've found an Annie Sloan distributor here locally.  Though I like my diy chalk paint, at times I just don't feel like mixing it up.  This will be my first time using ASCP so eager to see if all the hype is true; truly hope so!  I may also have a final reveal on my bathroom!!!

Now on to:


Here are the rules:

1. Link up your projects, recipes, makeovers, thrifty finds, recycles, etc!
2. Link to your actual post and not your blogs home page.
3. Please be courteous and add a link ( my button or text) to your post so others can see it and find the party.  The more the merrier and it will help our party grow.  Necessary to be featured!
4. If you haven't already, I'd appreciate if you'd become a follower.  Leave a comment and I'll follow back.
5. Feel free to add up to 3 links.
6. Let's remember this is a party, so do some mingling and visit at least 2 of the links.  If you leave a comment, they may become your new follower. -_^

Have a wonderful week and remember to show your family and friends love; tomorrow is not promised! : ) ~Barbe~

Decoupage Teapots Surprise!

Happy Weekend!
I've been sluggish on getting any of my projects completed. Today was actually a great day for it weather-wise as our temps dropped a good 10 degrees! But I just couldn't get the energy up to take the furniture outside. This is definitely one of the challenges of living in an apt with no outside area. At least with a patio, I could leave it outside until finished during this time of the year. Oh well, maybe whenever I finally find a new place . . . : -(

On the positive side, I did finish this small project that I had started about 5 months ago!  Crazy huh . . . but I'm sure you've also been there before. -_^   This post is heavy with pics so get the coffee going before you start. : )

Surprise Gifts of Love and Frugal Treasures #17

Hello everyone! ^ _ ^  It's that time of the week again!  First I'd like to welcome to our new party people and thanks for joining us!  If you'd like to see the FEATURES just click on the link.
I didn't get around to any of my big projects this past week or weekend.  But here are some pics of my activities this past week.  First I received an unexpected gift, don't you just love surprise gifts.  My lovely niece was strolling through the thrift store and when she saw this she said it made her think of me!  Awww *blushing*  She's got good taste, huh!

Doilies - Not Just 4 Grandmas!

Happy Monday everyone.  Boy do I have a treat for you.  I can imagine the title of this post already brought a question mark to your thoughts.  Is the pic below what came to your mind when you thought of doilies; don't think so.    Isn't this lovely?  Well get ready to be blown away (in a pleasant way) as you go on a tour in the world of  Doily Dea's, Handmade Doilies and Crochet Jewelry!

Doily Art

Vanity Reveal!

I've finally finished the vanity!  Whew . . . lol!  How did such a small project turn into such a big job, I still wonder. LOL!!!    But I'm quite happy with how she came out!  NOTE:  Heavy photo loaded post. : )

Rose Garden Stroll!

Happy Tuesday everyone.  I'm still here in Oregon enjoying my vacation and grand-daughters!  I will have the Frugal Treasures party back up next week.  In the mean time I thought I'd share my visit to one one of the beautiful rose gardens here in Portland, Oregon.. . Peninsula Park Rose Garden. *Note- this post is heavy with photos, so grab your coffee or tea and snacks and enjoy the scenery.  For some history of this park, as well as, other rose gardens just visit Portland's Rose Gardens & Garden Store.
   
This was our entrance into the park; it was actually the side of the park.  The house in the background is where we decided to park.   It wasn't very picturesque, but easier getting out with 2 little ones and a 9 month prego mommy! : -)

We start the walk to your right where the path goes behind the large tree.

Frugal Treasures Features!

Hello! Hope everyone had a great weekend.  I'm enjoying my vacation in Portland,OR and spending time with my family and friends.  We're still awaiting the arrival of the new grandbaby; any day now!   Let you know when she gets here. : -)

Of course I've already done some shopping.  But in my defense, I didn't bring warm enough clothes thus I had to do some local frugal shopping! -_^  LOL!  That's my story and I'm sticking to it. : )
These finds are from 2 different stores, a thrift and Ross!

Pretty good haul, don't you think?  I fell in love with the texture and colors of the little purse.

Frugal Treasures Tuesday #11

Happy Monday one and all.  It's been a long week and busy, enjoyable, and refreshing weekend.  As I said before I had to take a break on my projects, but did manage to start my makeover of this cabinet.

Frugal Treasures Tuesday #10

Okay Lady's is party time again.  Once again, there were some amazing projects out there and great frugal finds.  So lets get on to our features from last week.
Your most popular choice with the most clicks was from Biljana @ Biljana Shabby for her beautiful
romantic cabinet.  You must see the before on this cabinet, you will truly be surprised!

Shelf Decor

I've had guests all this week so, haven't did any projects.  But thought I'd show you a shelf I put together in my bedroom.

Peek at Bedroom Update!

Well, I'm 3/4 finished with my bedroom makeover! Yippeeeee!  I can see the glow of the rainbow through the clouds!  So I thought I'd show you a peek of where I am.  Lets start with the fact that my bed is off the floor!  Yep, that's right, I found the rails to fit and for just $25!  So here is your peek . . . :

I'm finally happy with where its going.  As you can see from the drill sitting on my nightstand, I'm still working! lol   I got a few more of the smaller projects completed since I took this pic but they will have to wait for the final reveal. -_^
I still have two large paint projects to finish, but I want to wait until after I get my Annie Sloan chalk paint to do those.  Yes, I'm finally biting the bullet and will see how far that quart can really go. : )  I've been busy moving furniture around.  I don't know if I shared this corner amoire from my livingroom in another post, but I put it in my bedroom.  This was not easy, its soooo heavy!  *Whew*

    

Now it sits in the corner in my bedroom and will hold my sweaters and linens.  I bought this  at a yard sale for $50.00 a year ago.

The table to the right is what's left of the former desk turned nightstand; have plans for it also.  : )

I'm thinking of painting the inside and maybe adding a stencil to the walls so its pretty when its open.  Or maybe I'll cover the inside with a colorful fabric as I'm not so keen on the paint fumes being in there closed up with my sweaters.  It takes so long for the fumes to totally evaporate from the surface and yes, I'm impatient! lol
The other big project is this antique dresser I bought at a yard sale about 10yrs ago for $30.  The knobs are ceramic hearts painted white.  One was broken in my last move, but I still have an extra one.  I'm actually thinking of changing the knobs to handles as the original holes are still there but I've never used them.  It came with no knobs or handles.

Well, that's all for now . . ., the next time you see the room it will be completed.  I'll show the furniture makeovers in separate posts.  So look forward to a lot of photos with the reveal post.  I will try and do some of the photos in collages so you can see the whole story unfolding without it becoming too long.

Next week, I'll reveal the completed bathroom makeover.  But first I need to revamp this little cutie that was given to me by a dear friend.  Isn't it just adorable!  And it fits in the bathroom without making it look smaller or taking up any walking space.

Hope your week has gone well.  Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit.  I'll end this post with a bouquet of flowers I picked the other morning!

~BEE~

I'm linking to these parties:
Make the Scene Monday @ Alderberry Hill

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm

Power of Paint Tuesday @ Domestically Speaking
Tuesdays Treasures @ My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Show Me What You Got Tuesday @ Our Delightful Home
Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts
Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style
Whats It Wednesday @ Ivy and Elephants
White Wednesday @ Faded Charm
Thrifty Thursday @ Thrifty Decorating
Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage
Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home
Inspiration Friday@ At the Picket Fence
Strut Your Stuff Saturday @ Six Sisters Stuff
Spotlight Saturday @ Classy Clutter
Saturday Night Special @ Funky Junk Interiors
Overflowing With Creativity @ Its Overflowing

Bathroom Cabinet Update!

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Well, the weather's been wet and my energy level has been low.   So I didn't get around to starting the Frugal Treasures party this week.  But I did want to give mention to the link which got the most links.  Last weeks most clicked link goes to:

Caps Creations for her great thrifty finds!  She really scored on these jars, as well as, some cast iron skeleton keys!

I would have to say my favorite was when Sherry @ Decorating With Cents took an ordinary glass vase and created art!  Awesome job!

So that's it for this week.  Sorry for not having the party link but my health tends to ride with the weather.  And right now, it's damp and blue just like me. : )  I hope you'll come back next Tuesday for the party!
But, on the days we had some sun, I did manage to finally makeover my Tri-mirror medicine cabinet for my bathroom.   If you missed that post you can find it here.   It's not anything special, particle board covered in a wood look laminate.

But it provided much needed storage, so I figured I'd give it a facelift!  So I taped off the mirrors and got it ready for priming.

After the primer dried I painted the cabinet box a sage green.  I then painted the mirror frame one coat of black and went back over it with Valspar oops can from Lowe's in a dark raspberry color.

I think it came out pretty nice.  What do you think?   It became too cloudy to take pics of it on the wall so will save it for the reveal of the completed room, which by the way is almost completed.  Have you noticed from my post that I'm doing 2 rooms at the same time? lol  The bathroom should be done by the weekend.  But I've come to a stand still with my bedroom until I get a working sewing machine and the correct size bed rails.  I should have the desk turned nightstand finished by this weekend also.  Here is where I am so far.

Well, thank you so much for visiting again.  We have sunny days coming this week, so maybe I can get some things done; if I get my energy level back up.  Hope your week is going well! : )
~Barbe~

I'm linked to these parties:
Furniture Friday @ Decorating Insanity
Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage
Thrifty Love Friday @ Cap Creations
Center of Attention Sunday @ Center of Attention Deficit Disorder
Sleepy Sunday Party @ Randee's Organized Chaos
Nifty Thrifty Sunday @ Nifty Thrifty Things

Bedroom Makeover Updates

Hello and happy Sunday!  I hope you all had a great weekend!  My weekend was pretty productive and I finally got started on my bedroom makeover.  First I painted the main wall a beautiful robins egg bluish color (Valspar - Lake Country).

After that I painted my bedframe, this is only the first phase of it.  Here is the before pic:

Here is the after pic of my bed and below it the inspiration I found for it.

This pic shows the wall color more true!

I found this inspirational french armoire on Pinterest from Paint Me White

I love the dark undertone in this paint technique! 

Frugal Treasure Tuesday #2 Is Here!

Update:  Yippee!!!  Frugal Treasures is up and running!  Whew!  That took longer than I thought.  Thanks for your patience and support!

Barbe 3/7/2012

 Do you ever just have one of those days  . . . 

sure you have; we all do.   Well, this is definitely one of mine!  I ask for your patience as I explain.  Yes, . . . you read it right, the party will be delayed. *_*   There were some glitches on my blog with comments and links.  Then I didn't realize my subscription was expiring for Linky Tool! *blush*   Sheeeesh*  But the good news is all will be fixed by tomorrow so be sure to come back on Wednesday and we'll be able to party to our hearts content!
Unfortunately, things continued to go wrong . . .  I thought I'd be sharing the completion of this little table I showed as my next project at the end of the 'Rainy Day' post.  But after sanding and priming the top dried and left me with this you see in the bottom photo:

 You'll notice a slight raised areas and bubbling.  This was the beginning of the problems.

What To Do When It Rains

Good Morning All!

Well, we've had a couple of days of much needed rain here in Central California so that put a pause to my painting projects.  Since my apt doesn't have a garage, I had to otherwise occupy myself.  So . . . I thought I'd share with you some of my other crafty endeavors I've worked on of late.  I bet you didn't know I also played with and was as addicted to textiles as much as I am paint! lol  I have so much yarn and fabric that I need another armoire just to store them. -_^   I recently started crocheting more often after I discovered the tutorial videos on YouTube!  Bazinga!  I was off and running again.  I've learned so many new stitches and have even started developing my own patterns!    I made these hats and hair scrunchies for my granddaughters who live in 2 different states.

Are You Living in the Meantime or Making it Homey?

 You may be surprised how many times I've been told, "Why are you doing all that extra work on someone elses property?  Its not like you own the place; what if they decide to sell?"  My answer is always, "Because I refuse to live in a temporary state as if in a nice hotel room; nice but none of my personality!"  I believe the personal touches are what make it homey and gives it your personality!  Funny how those same people are the ones who walk in my home and say, "Your home is so 'homey' and comfortable."  LOL!!!  Well, in my daily blog hopping I have found many of you who feel as I do; renters and homeowners.  This week I'm featuring one of them.
I'm am so happy to introduce to you a couple of decorating divas, identical twins, Milla and Kahli,  from  Design Par Deux!  First of all, I'd like you to know that they are renters!  But their home doesn't look temporary in the least.  With there many talents, creativity, and tenacity, they tackle their projects in an inspiring way.  At only 25yrs young, these ladies don't let challenges daunt their efforts and move forward with a great sense of humor and a lovely cat, Breeze, to keep them motivated! LOL!  I love how they show details and tutorials with their projects.  Their taste, I think would be considered a bit shabby chic, contemporary, with a vintage flair!  One of my favorites is these curtains that they stenciled!  Yes, you heard me . . . they stenciled these curtains themselves.

 You can see the entire project here.