What lovely pallets you have

One of my favorite things to check out on Pinterest is all of the creative ways that people use pallets. I think it fantastic that you can take scrap/throw away wood (which is what most people do) and make something really extraordinary.

My company receives items on pallets quite often and we usually have a few lying around. Once I started to develop my pallet fetish I quickly told everyone I work with NOT to throw them out (oh how my hubby likes this, not)!

Now to just figure out some creative ways to use these awesome little trasures around my home. The tricky thing is that pallet wood is rarely a uniform size (length and/or width) but I am sure I can improvise.

Wash the boring away

I hate, hate, HATE doing laundry. Mainly because of all the folding, hanging,, ironing and putting away once it is done. But I also get that laundry is a necessary evil, blah, blah, blah! So if I have to spend time in the laundry room, and because our laundry room is a pass through space from the house to the garage I want a pretty room. Despite the size I knew I could make it pretty and pleasant.

Our new washer /dryer was on the way so we had to rush and get the riser built and painted, as well as the shelf (this could have waited but it was much easier to do without the big monsters in the way). So while hubby and his buddy were cutting wood and framing the riser in the garage I got busy painting. I know its not ideal but we literally had one day (the washer/dryer purchase was kind of a spur of the moment "our set is about dead and this is a fantastic can miss it price" kind of deal).

The starting room was creme walls, creme vinyl flooring and a single wire shelf above where the washer and dryer sit. 

Pre-paint, building the riser. 

Painted room with anchor boards for shelf in place. 

Riser in place...and a big paint spill (the cost of doing rushed work in a small room with 3 people),
and check out that oh-so pretty creme vinyl flooring...ick! I opted for a fairly short riser (it is only about 6 inches tall). We wanted height but still wanted to be able to reach the items on the shelf and use the top of the w/d to fold, etc.

The riser is a simple design of a frame (around the walls) and 4 brace boards (1 every 2 ft or so) covered with thick plywood. We put more braces than we might use in other projects simply because of the weight of the w/d. Before I painted to riser I primed it with a water resistant sealer. This was also the second paint, I was not a huge fan of the first color I chose once it was on the wall, it made the room feel even smaller than it is. So had to make a flying trip to Lowe's to get another color. This one is much better and I even painted the ceiling.

As you can see we didn't manage to get the shelf up before they were delivered but we managed to work around them :)

Shelf in place. Basic shelf with box frame with several braces (to accommodate the weight of laundry soap, etc). We used a piece of the baseboard that we purchased for this room for the shelf face (just turned it upside down). Thought this looked better, more finished than no frilly face.

We thought about installing the shelf lower in the beginning but wanted to keep it up a bit since it was built in and we need to be able to hook up (and possibly unhook) the machines.

I had the black baskets that are each end of the shelf. I keep smaller items in these baskets, such as extra boxes of dryer sheets, woolite bottles, stain remover, small sewing kit, etc.

Linen/cleaning storage

I purchased this armoire (on craigslist for $75) to provide a central location for the kids to do their homework and use the computer...but it didn't really work out after awhile since we replaced their old desktop with a laptop.

Now that sucker (the laptop) spends more time in the rest of the house than where it belongs.

Don't be afraid to ask- framed posters

While crusing around on ebay for some wall art for my rustic/southwest/cotton room I came across these great prints ($6/each):

But of course I needed frames. After noting the size of the prints I searched tirelessly through the ebay listing for barn wood frames that were a match to the size...no luck :(

Plant ledge redo

Of course I have no before picture, but I can best describe the before as a hodge podge of various things I have collected over the years.

This ledge is in my rustic/southwest/cotton room so it needed to go with that vibe. 

• Before the "makeover" the large grapevine wreath on the left had fall leaves on it
• The details of this change can be found in a previous post on this blog (Cotton Wreath)

Ahh new floors!!

We always knew flooring was pricey but WOW!! Unfortunately our budget didn't allow for wood laminate in the entire house, so we opted for all common rooms (minus the water rooms) so we covered the living, family room, and 2 hallways...the bedrooms will have to wait their turn. I have to admit now that we have been living with the new floors for a bit love not having carpet, but we are HATING this product. Takes some getting used to, we even had to learn to walk a bit different on them (slippery).

Before the wood laminate decision was made I had resigned myself to changing the ugly flooring in the front entry and all of the water rooms. The existing flooring was basic ugly cream that was probably original to our pre-owned home, so it was stained and dingy. SO off to Lowe's to spend a little money (about $90) to buy a few boxes of peel and stick tile. I know, I know, but most people don't even notice (swear!!). It was super easy to install, and it only took me a few hours, and the best part...it looks really great (this stuff has come a long way)!

The not-so-wonderfully wet Christmas of 2011

All the stockings were hung...well um, laying pretty around the tree since there is no fireplace (who needs it when the average winter temps in southern AZ are around 56.) Any-who what a surprise we received that year, as we noticed a box in the garage that showed signs of water damage. GREAT!! Just what everyone wants this time of year. So after weeks of remediation, dry time, insurance squabbling and bare concrete...oh and let's not forget the field mouse that made it into the house, then the repairs...ah finally we could get back to normal. I have to admit it was odd to me that the whole thing seemed to take so incredibly long. 

Here was the big trouble maker

(I guess we should have paid attention to that, you can bet it won't ever happen again!)

No rest for the restroom!

Our small little hall bathroom is definitely one of the biggest work horses in the house, two teenage daughters will destroy any 5x8 space with a mirror in .6 seconds.Not only does this poor little guy get over used he is a bit blah (despite the cherry bright color). I have realized that I think it is was to severe in color and doesn't really fit with the rest of the house (except maybe Hannah's room which is hot pink/light pink and black. But I have to be patient, I am notorious for starting new projects before I finish the current one(s).

But I can start planning, no harm in that!

Current, non-conforming workhorse bathroom (image this colors 10 times brighter- the flash and the light took away a lot of the intensity of this color- a very vibrant aqua marine-ish color)

From the hallway

Cotton Wreath

A few weeks ago I stopped in to one of my towns fabulous flower shops to get some Scentsy bulbs from my Scentsy lady Courtney (LOVE her), and I saw an awesome cotton boll wreath. I HAD to have it, not only is cotton huge here but my grandpa was a cotton farmer.

The wreath was rather small (about 12 in diameter), wish I had taken a "before" pic, but I decided to deconstruct the wreath and use the cotton bolls on a large (3 ft diameter) grapevine wreath that I had on my over head ledge. I attached the individual cotton bolls (they already had floral wire), then attached my grandpa's old farming hat.

Love how it turned out, it goes perfectly in my, "rustic, western" living room.

Giani granite counter tops

So sick of my ugly creme colored kitchen counter tops...so I have been eyeing a kit at Lowe's that has everything needed to paint the counter tops. I just don't like the price ($299), so I was so excited when I found Giani!
It is reasonably priced ($69.95 for a kit that covers counters in a typical sized kitchen) so I bought it.

The goods arrived on Friday and I started my project today (Saturday). Sooooo easy to do. Now I am just waiting the 4 hours I need to so that I can do the light sanding and top coat. Only down side is the top coat has to cure for 14 days, but totally worth it to have a more attractive counter top.

*Ugly counter tops

*Step 1- Primer- already looks better

* Step 2- Beginning painting

* Island finished

*Another view of the island

*View of the rest of the counters finished painting

* Now just waiting for it to dry so I can top coat...only 2 more hours to wait, blah!
**YAY!! 1st layer of top coat applied, just have to wait 4 more hours for the 2nd.

So many changes, so little money

When we moved into our house it was a Plain Jane spec house. And by plain...I mean P.L.A.I.N. Creme colored walls (albeit freshly painted), beige carpet (albeit new), creme/yellow vinyl in the water room and honey oak cabinets in the kitchen and baths. Don't get me wrong I know I loved that the carpet was brand new and the house still have a slit aroma of paint, and I know many would LOVE that so clean and fresh, but me...no way! I LOVE color! I, for some unknown reason have crazy strong aversion to white and/or tan walls. I want COLOR! Maybe it is some weird thing I have or maybe it stems from years and years of living in apartments with plain white walls. 

I love experimenting with different colors, I would definitely say I am NOT scared of color. Unfortunately this can also be my downfall, because I so quick to buy the paint and not test it first. Nope I wait until the room is complete and then I realized, ugh...hate this color.

Anyhow, two years later and every room (except the garage) has had a color makeover.

Paint is not the only change we have made. Throughout our 2 years in this house we have had our financial ups and downs (like most people in today's economy) so I had to get creative! I try to get creative with decorating for a few reason: (1) lack of budget and (2) lack of desire to tie up a great deal of money in things that serve no other purpose than to sit there and look pretty.

Don't get me wrong, I am happy to pay for things when warranted, but I don't see the point in spending $100 for something that I can create myself for a fraction of that price.

There are a few changes that we have made that cost quite a bit (like the flooring) but most of what has been done has been on a small budget.

Here are some changes we have made a long the way:

*This is the view from our front door (left is the day we moved in). This is still a work in progress as our electronics are to vast for my cutesy table under the tv.

* Same room just looking more to the left.

This house was designed with the concept of living/dining room in the front room. I HATE that! I hate seeing my dining table the minute you walk in the door and this room is far to small for a living space (you will see the intended living space in the next picture). So I changed it up by removing the chandelier and putting up a ceiling fan (I know most designers hate them, but I think they are a must- especially in AZ). I was lucky to have the opportunity to get some hand-me-down items, umm actually all the furniture in this view. Then I purchased the posters over the love seat and found some barnwood frames on ebay.

*This is the living area as seen from the arch in the previous pictures. This small area in front of the window was intended for the living space. Instead I opted for 2 great reading chairs (also hand-me-down, but I LOVE them). Total out of pocket = $550 (not counting tv or flooring) 

* Back to the arch, the room ahead is my family (I gave my husband this room to do with what he wanted, except I picked the colors, and I basically veto anything crazy he wants to do).

*Family room from sliding door in back. The china cabinet/dining table set was another hand-me-down that was very dated. So I removed the"dated" finishes (hardware, etc). Sanded it down and painted it. All the brass hardware was replaced with with brushed nickel contemporary pieces. The couch and love seat I found on craiglist for less than $300. Total for this room= $650 (not counting tv and flooring)

*This is a view from the back door into my kitchen. One of the first things that we did in the house (besides paint) is the arch on the half wall.

We hated the half wall before, it seemed like an after thought. So it was tear it out or build it to make it look like it had a purpose (even if the purpose was just to look pretty). We were lucky enough to have a friend staying with us that is a framer by trade so he jumped at the challenge to build this arch for us. I let him pretty much have free reign, my only stipulation is that the arch had to be shallow like the one between the kitchen and living room. He was happy to do it (since we were letting him stay with us) all we had to do was buy the supplies. Another thing he helped with was the kitchen cabinets. These cabinets, as you can see, are basic builder grade and there was no way we were going to be able to replace them. So I painted them and took a trick from the decorators on all the shows on tv, and added moulding to the top of the cabinets.

The black cabinet in front of the half wall was something that from this angle doesn't look so great, but my hubby built for me. My idea was to have a cabinet that house our DVD books, board games, video games, etc.

As for appliances, we started with basic junk and a hand-me-down fridge from my in-laws. The dishwasher didn't work and the oven only worked the first year we were in the house.

Thank goodness for Black Friday, we were able to pick up the OTR microwave and new stove for super cheap. And thankfully a few months ago, thanks to all the sales, we were able get the fridge we had been eyeing and a new dishwasher.

The flooring in the kitchen was cheap, ugly, cream colored vinyl and was blah. So, I went to Lowe's and purchased 4 boxes of peal and stick floor tiles (which are much better than they used to be) and I was able to do the entire kitchen, laundry and both bathrooms with just 4 boxes at about $30/box. Total for this area= $ 750 (not counting appliances).

* And our hallway. Only changes to this area are the paint, flooring, the wall sconce, picture frames and the foo-foo stuff on top of the armoire (which I purchased on craigslist for $100). Total this room= $150

*Laundry room (in case you were wondering). No before pic, it was just your basic box laundry room with white wire shelf and nothing more. So when we were waiting for the new washer/dryer to be delivered we prepared our room.

Of course the first thing was paint (I know designers sometimes say pick the paint last but I ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS pic the paint first). This was actually the second color, I painted my first choice and hated it, this is much better.

We also didn't want to purchase the expensive pedestals that go with the W/D so my hubby and his buddy built this riser for me once I decided how high I wanted the units to sit and they built the shelf above as well (super easy). To make it look nicer they used the baseboard (extra from replacing the baseboards in the rest of the laundry room), flipped it upside down and attached it to the front of the shelf. Total for this room= $200 (peel and stick tile, riser build, shelf build, baseboards, decorative hooks, funny signs, paint, ironing board hanger).

There is still so much to be done, or at least that I want to do. Thank goodness that we don't mind doing some things ourselves :)