Floored, (finally) and slipcovers

 When we installed the wood floor in the laundry room we had to unhook the washer and dryer.

This gave me a week to paint and finish them, then we would run out of clean clothes!!

I wanted  the floor to resemble one I had seen years ago in a shop, painted and chippy with a waxed finish.

I also liked a similar floor in our local hardware store, about 100 years old with many layers of paint showing thru.

I started with a coat of black, soft and inky.  Day 2 brought a coat of pale aqua. Day 3 a coat of palest pink.

Day 4 a coat of white. Day 5 some self doubt and a lot of hmmmm......

Day 6 brought a lot of  sanding and distressing and looking for clean socks for the hubby!

Day 7 I added a coat of dark ebony stain. This took a good 2 days to dry.

We hooked the washer and dryer back up ( new ones have yet to arrive )  and moved the sink section into place.

The trim needs to go up, as do some of the other cabinets.

This is where we are at today. I'm liking the finish, and it does resemble an old floor and nothing like the pine it actually is.

Meanwhile, we are back in clean clothes and painting again.

I have this old bench my mom gave me that was in a dark wood with a worn tapestry seat.

Sorry I forgot to take the befor pic. I took the worn uphostery off, hubby made a wooden seat and re-tightened the legs.

A new coat of white, light distressing and slipcovered cushion made all the difference.

I had been wanting to try using a dropcloth  and it worked great. I prewashed and bleached it to make it lighter, and has a nice soft feel.

The texture is a bit like linen and it drapes well.

The slip is simply tied on at each corner and the cushion is down filled.  This little bench looks so much better to me now.

I never really liked it much before but I think it will be a good addition in the laundry room.

Of course our week isn't complete without moving something around!!

It was time to move the black hutch back into the main living area. Picture one short mama and hubby muscling this guy up the stairs.

At almost 7 ft tall it is a good thing it comes apart into 2 pieces. I like to keep all the white  dishes in here and currently some of the white jugs are out.

I love white jugs and have some old and some new. Flowers always look good in them as do silverware and many other things.

Next up is the trim in the laundry room and the next section of cabinets. I am still wondering what to select for a countertop.

Any thoughts?

Painted Floors

Today we have been installing the wood floor in the laundry room. I have been pulled in so many directions trying to settle on a finish.

I love a painted floor, and having had them in the past, I know they can be a bit of work to keep up, but so worth it.

My dilema is stripes, diamonds, white or  faded-distressed-chippy-layered-greyed-down-a-bit????

They are all so beautiful, how can a girl choose!!

I love the distressed look that has many layers of faded paint. But, I've done the math....

I won't live that long to see that many times painted over!!!

So I have taken matters into my own hands.

The first layer on the sample board has been done. Hubby has the floor installed, and tomorrow I will add the next layer to the test board.

I can't show you until it is all completed, but so far I love it.

Hubby can't figure it out. I use my Olay faithfully everyday, you know the one that fights 7 signs of aging...

Yet I want an aged, distressed floor!!!

We decided on a six inch wide plank and it came at .48 a foot. Great price and perfect for our purposes.

The laundry room is nine by eleven, and the boards came in fourteen foot lengths. This means minimal waste and fewer cuts.

Enjoy these images and I will post pics of the floor when we are done.

Back to work...........

Abby's Room

A girl can dream....... 

This pic was last spring, a window box waiting to go up on the dining room window.

Oh well, another month and we might be there!!

Meanwhile, indoors where it is nice and warm  it was time to do Abby's room.

I love "interviewing" young clients. They always seem to know exactly what they like.

In this case it was yellow and grey, lots of cushions grandma, and can we please have chippy white furniture?

No problem!! With grandpa's help we built a closet system, mommy painted, grandma painted, mommy painted some more,

grandma sewed, mommy and grandma shopped, mommy painted some more

then we sent the kids skiing for the day with daddy.

Mommy, grandma  and grandpa (me and hubby) spent the day putting the room together for Abby.

This is her first big girl room all to herself, and I think we got all the things she wanted.

A comfy chair to curl up and read in.

Homework and craft area is a must.

A place to do your hair. (bad photography, the mirror really doesn't lean forward!!)

Closets, nightstands and lamps are always handy.

And a comfy bed that is just right. The grey curtains have a blackout liner which helps with room darkening in the summer.

The wall colour I love. It is  Veil, a Behr colour, and all the trim is Simply White.

 Abby loves her new space with lots of room for her stuff.  The funny part is, now that both girls have their own room, they still spend a lot of time "visiting " or having "sleepovers".  I love when sisters do that!

I'm sorry I forgot the before pics.

 Imagine loft bunkbed and shared with her sister.

Now if the weather would only warm up we could get the paint sprayer out and play!!!

Happy Spring!!

Crumbs

By nature I am a spreader. Although I love things organized and labelled and binned I tend to spread things out when I am working on a project.

This means everything from paint swatches to fabric to sandpaper is all over the place!

I like to look things over so to speak.

So while the hubby is working on the laundry room cabinetry I decided to organize the sewing room.

Goodbye rubbermaid bins, hello shelves and drawers!!

The overflowing containers are in the corner and under the table. I should be embarassed, or not even share these pics, but here we go...

The old dresser is painted  and new hardware installed. Now I just have to fill  it with fabric!

The table is tidied up and ready to start new projects-cushions, aprons, and a baby quilt for a new grandchild! (yeah)

I can actually see the ironing board now, all fabric etc will have a home, and the paint swatches will have their own drawer too.

I am hoping to add a paper section in the laundry room, to keep all the gift wrap, glue gun, tape etc that I seem to store in 3 different places around the house.

Meanwhile, I have been framing some awesome watercolours that my talented sil did for a breast cancer fundraiser. These are beautiful pics that I would like to add to the laundry room.

She has done a large assortment of art cards that are suitable for framing. I picked out 6, but I may have to add some more! The colours are varied as are the subject matter and they are all lovely.

 I chose mostly garden-beachy-birdie type pics in aquas and taupes.

More imortantly is that she is donating all the proceeds to breast cancer.

This is my week so far, I just might get this spring cleaning and organizing done after all!!

Please excuse the not-so-great-photography!! But you get the picture!!