I needed a spot to hang towels and robes in my children’s bathroom. I had a perfectly good blank wall, but I knew I wanted to do something prettier than just install hooks on the wall.
I already had some adorable shabby chic hooks from a recent Hobby Lobby sale.
And I found a piece of wood that was the perfect size for the space. It had a beautiful patina but my daughter requested I paint it.
I tried so hard to get her to change her mind but she just wouldn’t budge. I consulted my craft cabinet and found my green chalk paint.
Best. Stuff. Ever.
I then slathered my reclaimed wood plank with two coats of green chalk paint.
Until I ended up with this:
I then screwed my hooks into the now painted plank. I tried to space them equally.
I then attached wall hangers to the back of it and hung it on the wall.
And here it is, holding up those robes just like I wanted it to.
Does anyone else collect wayward, neglected mason jars? Does a box of mason jars on a store shelf speak to you like it’s begging you to buy it? Well, maybe that’s just me.
I’m kidding, of course. Sort of. I have a shelf full of empty mason jars in my pantry. They’re all different brands, sizes and shapes and I love them. I store things in them, give them away filled with goodies for gifts and make things with them. Recently, I combined some mason jars with another favorite of mine.
Chalk paint.
Chalk paint makes the letters and details on a mason jar pop. Chalk paint makes a mason jar more than just a mason jar. It makes it decorative and pretty. Chalk paint also makes you walk, talk and speak foreign languages. Actually I’m just kidding about that last part.
Just apply one layer of paint first. You won’t like it after the first coat dries, but just like a lot of projects, it does have an ugly phase. Give it 12 hours to dry and apply a second coat.
And then you can use your jars for whatever you’d like. We use them to store pencils, markers and crayons.
Or we sometimes use them to show off spring flowers.
Or just put them on your shelf and enjoy them.
The possibilities are pretty endless.
Have a great week! Join us Wednesday for a little room refresher, family style!
Last month, I told you all about how my husband and I purchased and antique fireplace mantle.
We have a long, blank and boring wall in our living room, that unfortunately is our focal wall when you walk in the door. I’ve always wanted a pretty fireplace on that wall but knew we couldn’t afford a real one. A faux one was the next best thing 🙂
Using a plan from Bless’r House as a model, we decided how large the mantle and hearth would need to be and we purchased the wood.
Here is a list of what we used to build the fireplace:
Antique mantle (found through local antiques dealers)
2 plywood sheets
Faux brick panel
11 2Ă—4 boards
2 1X12 boards
1 2×12 board
Finishing nails
Deck screws
Drywall screws
Tape measure and yard stick
Circular saw
Jigsaw
Hammer
Power drill
We began by deciding how large we wanted the hearth to be and we cut two 2X4sat 64 inches long. We chose 64 inches because this made the hearth a tiny bit wider than the mantle itself. The cross pieces and sides are 24 inches.
We then cut a piece of plywood to fit the top of the hearth, but we did not hammer it down yet.
We then carried the hearth into the house, placed it where we wanted it, and attached it to the baseboards. We then attached the plywood to the top of the hearth.
We then attached plywood strips and two by fours to the back of the mantle.
After attaching the two by fours to the side, and the plywood strips, we cut out a surround from one of the plywood sheets. I attached it using small wood screws.
I then attached 2X4s to the wall at the correct height to the wall. Be sure to hang these on studs, but if you can’t, make sure you use drywall anchors that can accommodate heavy weights.
I then attached the 1X12s for the side braces to the 2x4s.
I then put the mantle up beside these braces, and attached the two by fours on the back of the mantle to the braces. I used decking screws to do this.
I then realized we had about an eight inch gap between the mantle and the wall.
Attaching a 2X6 to this space covered the gap and laid flush with the back of the mantle.
We then cut and added faux brick paneling to the wall behind the mantle and on the sides so that the inside of the mantle couldn’t be seen.
We have nearly finished the mantle. We now only have to paint, add the stone, and fill in some nail holes. Our living room looks so much better already! Can’t wait to share the finished product with you all!
Last weekend, I posted this picture on Instagram, leading my followers to wonder what I’m up to.
I’m going to go ahead and tell you that this project will take several posts, and I’ll be talking about it for the next few weeks…but I’m happy to scratch the surface today.
This absolutely lovely antique mantle has been in my garage for almost two years. I knew what I wanted to do with it but just couldn’t find the time. Story of my life. I knew I wanted it done by December so I felt compelled to stop dragging my feet and just do it.
Then, there was a whole lotta strippin’ going on, and not the sexy kind. At least this kind of stripper doesn’t smell bad. Just brush it on with a paintbrush and wait thirty minutes. Then, scrape that paint right off. You may have to repeat the process, if there are several layers of paint to remove. I had to do this three times.
Plus, the stripper gives everything a pinkish hue, which is also lots of fun.
I used low grit sandpaper and a plastic putty knife to scrape away the paint. I’ve almost got all the paint off.
And if you’ll tune in next week, I’ll show you the second installment. Come see us next Tuesday to see what I’m doing with this mantle.
Our kitchen had this awkward window above the sink, which looked into the dining room. It was random and weird, and I couldn’t decide what to do with it. I thought about putting a cafe rod and curtains there, but I really didn’t want to do that.
I wanted something more unique. I spotted some scrap wood in my garage and I had an idea: why not create some simple, rustic shutters? I measured the opening and cut the wood. Then, I bought some cute hinges and handles.
Here they are all laid out but not actually put together.
I constructed four shutters with crossbars like this:
I then painted them white, as you can see.
I attached the hinges on the insides of the shutters so I could accordion close them into the sides of the opening.
I absolutely love how much character these simple, rustic shutters add to our kitchen.
