Board and Batten Reveal

I am so proud to finally show off my living room wall. We started the project last year and finally got the last coat of paint on the walls last month. We always seem to be working on a couple projects at a time. Does anybody else take on two or three projects at once?  I have really been trying to be more diligent about getting current projects done before starting new ones. I blame my short attention span on Pinterest.

I am really trying to add a cottagey (is that even a word?) charm to our home and trying to make it feel less builder grade.

We found several tutorials on how to do board and batten. I really liked the look that Emily from Decor Chick used in her living room.

My living room is set up a little funny, it is really long and narrow and it's hard to get furniture to look right. I think the board and batten wall makes the living room look a little wider.

We painted the wall (above the board and batten) Antique Silver by Glidden and the board and batten was painted white using Ace Wall and Trim paint.

Here is what we used to create the board and batten look. 

Board: 1/4" Birch plywood - 4' x 8' sheets (we chose the plywood to create a smooth texture). You can also just paint the wall white and add the batten. 

Batten: 1/2" MDF - 4' x 8' sheets 

Ledge: pine trim 1" x 2"

Trim under Ledge: cove moulding 3/4"

We cut the birch plywood down to fit the wall, primed the board and used liquid nails to attach the board to the wall. Next we cut the MDF, primed and painted and nailed it to the wall using a nail gun. We then added the pine trim and the cove moulding under the ledge. To finish off the look we used paintable caulk and nail filler to cover up any nail holes and gave the wall a few more coats of white paint.

Ok, now here is the big moment the true reason why you had never seen this wall before now. The ugly BEFORE and I mean this is like, "Hello 2005... Maroon paint what were you thinking?" I lived with this ugly wall for seven years. I have pictures of me with my little girl as a newborn in front of this ugly wall. I remember when I painted this wall and I just loved the dark color. YIKES!

It's an amazing before and after in my opinion. I love the board and batten! Actually, I want to add it to every wall in the house. I can see my husband rolling his eyes now! It just makes such a huge impact on a room. This space now has a cozy feel to it and it's hard not to just sit and stare at this wall all day. :)


I am linking to:
House of Hepworths
Tatertots and Jello
DIY Showoff
Coastal Charm
Savvy Southern Style
Under the Table and Dreaming
Home Stories A to Z
Thrifty Decor Chick
Beneath My Heart
Serenity Now

A Backyard Makeover

Wow! It seems like forever since I have posted any projects that I have been working on. I apologize for taking so long, I have been feeling a bit under the weather lately.  I want to say thank you to all of my new followers and dedicated readers.  Now for the good stuff!  I will start with some before pictures. I am a little embarrassed on how bad our yard looked but that's what makes it a good before and after.

 BEFORE

This was our sad, little fire pit. It seemed like a good idea five years ago, but as you can see it is pitiful pit. LOL!

DURING

We decided that this sad fire pit needed beefed up and it needed to be well round.  We priced out fire rings and mobile fire pits but the quality just wasn't there and some of them were too much money. So, we decided to make our own.  Lowe's has a pretty good tutorial we didn't use as many pavers/stones as Lowes did, but you get the idea. 

AFTER

Aww, much better! Now, that looks like a real fire pit. We got the adirondack chairs for $25.00 a piece unfinished. I stained them with dark stain. I sewed the pillows and used fabric from a yellow table cloth that I had bought from a thrift store. 

The picnic table was white and I painted the top of table and seats brown. I think the brown gives it a little character and goes better with the chairs. 

Now, we can spend these crisp fall nights by our new fire pit. I love looking into my backyard now!

I am linking to:

http://thediyshowoff.blogspot.com/

Loving My New Patio Table!

Thank you for all of your wonderful comments! I really do read each and every comment. I am so fortunate to have such a great group of new friends. I am approaching my 3 month blogaversary and can't believe all of the wonderful comments and people that I have met.  I would have never of dreamed that I would have 97 followers! 

Ok, now on to the fun stuff! I have been waiting to share my new patio table with everybody.  This table had some major transformations done to it. I am so happy with how it turned out.  I have seen several websites and blogs that have made tables like this.  I don't know if you remember back in June when I bought this table for $5.00 at a yard sale?

I didn't like the legs on the table. I really wanted farm-style table legs. I was very patient and determined to find table legs. I found these table legs for $10.00 at a garage sale later on. 

I had my very sweet husband detach the old legs from the table and attach the farm-style legs. He had to screw in the legs from the top of the table.  You can hide the screws with wood filler.  We also added some gorilla glue in-between the legs and the table for some extra support.

I sanded and primed the table to make it easier to paint.

Now, on for the paint transformation.  I decided to paint the top of the table brown to make it look like it was stained.  I used flat, brown exterior paint for the top and painted the legs with the chowder color paint that I had left over from my patio.  The brown paint is the Color Place brand (from Wal-Mart) and cost aboout $7.00. 

Here is a picture of the table with the umbrella and place settings. 

Almost everything on this table came from a garage sale or the Dollar Store.  The bamboo placemats are from the Dollar Tree. There was a fabric border around them that did not match my color scheme.  I took a seam ripper and took the fabric off of the placemats.  Aww, I think it looks much better now!

Do you remember my whale napkin holders?  The napkins are really kitchen towels from the Dollar Tree. I think they look like the real thing! I am going to have to go back and buy some white kitchen towels, too. I can't wait until we have our next barbeque so I can show off my new table!  I hope you have enjoyed this transformation as much as I have. 

I am linking to:

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http://thriftydecorchick.blogspot.com/

Wicker Chair and Table Makeover

Do you remember this wicker chair and table from one of my garage sale finds?

I am sure you guessed it by now that this baby got spray painted! The white looked O.K. but I think this wicker set needed some sprucing up.  I painted both the table and chair with Krylon's, Gloss Leather Brown spray paint. It took about 4 coats and 4 cans of paint to cover the wicker. 

I bought the chair pad on Ebay for $22.00. I love all of the different colors that has in it.

And here is she is in all of her glory!  I was a little scared painting wicker but I think it looks pretty good. 

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