Beadboard Wallpaper on the Refrigerator

Yup, I found a new place to use beadboard wallpaper!

While looking at this picture from a recent post, I made a decision about this "temporary" refrigerator: I would wallpaper it! Yes, you heard me right, wallpaper.

First, this was supposed to be a short-term refrigerator, bought when our 20-something one died while we were trying to sell our last house. It was supposed to stay with the house or go to one of the kids who might need it. This was six years ago and it's still with us.

Second, I have put beadboard on a refrigerator before. It was on its last leg, so I figured I had nothing to lose if it didn't work out.

When we made new cupboard doors in the kitchen, I used Liquid Nails to glue a beadboard panel to the front of the refrigerator and it looked great! I wish I had a picture of that refrigerator!

So, I decided it couldn't hurt with this one either and would probably look better than it did now.

I just measured the refrigerator doors and cut the wallpaper to fit. I made a paper template for the door handles and cut them out, making sure to cut along the lines of the wallpaper whenever I could.

When it came to the ice dispenser, I taped the piece of wallpaper to the door and used a pencil to lightly draw the lines I needed to cut out.

I then used some paintable calk around those places just to make sure there were no loose ends.

 It's a HUGE improvement!


 Check out the link party at:
 http://www.commonground-do.com/2013/03/be-inspired-132-simple-joys-of-spring.html

Oregon Street Antique Mall Redo

Last week I expanded my booth at the Oregon Street Antique Mall. I was just too cramped, so when the girl next to me moved to a different location, I immediately snatched it up!

 This is the old side. The door makes a nice focal point, front and center.

New side. Those cute slipcovered chairs are still here.

There are some great new pieces, like this big clock and beautiful old pictures in gorgeous frames.

Here's that really big coffee table!

Cool antique lamp.

Small end table and new cabinet-door sign behind it.

Two benches/tables, one aqua, one grey.

Still lots of chalkboards and pictures and accessories!

Come visit us if you are in the neighborhood!

Redding, California

Furniture Project: Enormous Coffee Table

Many of my friends call me when they have furniture they want to get rid of. They know I rarely turn anything down!

This coffee table was one of those calls.

 It's huge! And heavy! It was an ordeal just getting it into the house!

 But it had some nice features.

I especially liked the legs.

So I started with a couple coats of white paint (my favorite!).

Then I sanded the edges and painted the insets with a soft grey.

Continued with the sanding and grey paint in strategic places.

Finished it off with three coats of wax.

Looks good enough to head up to Oregon Street Antique Mall!

Small Kitchen Re-do

When I finally decided on the color for the kitchen island, it created a dilemma: it didn't go with the rest of the kitchen!

So I repainted the backs of the open cabinets.

Before

After

Before

After

Before

After

This also allowed me to put out some favorite dishes that just would not go with the black and white toile, like the Blue Onion dishes that belonged to my grandmother.

Before

 

 After

 

Before

 

 After

 

I'm not finished yet! Looking at this last picture gives me an idea for the refrigerator, so stay tuned for another small kitchen re-do!

More of That Old House

More walking down memory lane with pictures of the old house and reminding myself that it didn't  look this good when we moved in, so I need to hang in there with this house!

This is the only picture I can find of the living room. It was a really big space, open to the dining room and kitchen. You can't see the alcove with the piano from this angle, it's just around the corner behind the couch.


When my daughter moved out, her room became a guest room. At first all I had was this log bed, the top of a bunkbed, (my kids all take their nice beds with them, leaving me with whatever I can find).  I made new black and white bedding and curtains to freshen it up.


But it wasn't  long before I needed a double bed to accommodate guests. It's hard to see, but all I did was hang two different fabrics for a headboard and hang a wreath over that.


I had a plethora of dressers for some reason, so 2 of them made it in here. I tried to keep the clutter/decor to a minimum.


This must have been a bigger room than I remember, with a double bed, 2 dressers, this table and chairs, and a wing chair! You can see the curtains I made to match the "headboard" on the left.

 

 

Last of all, I had a really big laundry room that was also my craft room. It was filled with quilts and many of my old favorites that didn't fit anywhere else, but made me happy when I was here either doing laundry or sewing!

 

 It's good to be reminded about this last house that started out a lot like this new one, but ended up so cute!

Random Hearts for Valentine's Day

I didn't do any special decorating for Valentine's Day, but here are some shots of random hearts from around the house.

Happy Valentine's Day!