A New Rug for the Family Room

I guess I haven't posted since the One Room Challenge ended.  It was fun, and it seems like the Ikea nightstand hack was a favorite on Pinterest!  I thought I would pop in with some changes I made to the family room since I revealed it last May.  

I was out about a week ago and decided to stop in at Tuesday Morning to look for the mate to a basket that I found at one of their stores.  It turns out I stumbled into a 90% off going out of business sale.  The store was mostly wiped out, but there were a few things on shelves and some baskets loaded with goodies in the middle of the floor, but they belonged to other customers. But out of the corner of my eye, I spotted an 8x10 jute rug pulled right up the edge of the area left open for sales space.  I walked over there so fast, and just asked a few people had it been claimed yet.  The answer was nope.  It was all I could do not to snatch it up and run over to the register!   Well, not wanting to look like a lunatic and the fact that it was super heavy and I didn't have a basket.  

But fear not, I dragged and pushed it over to the checkout line.  Thankfully it was only a few feet from the line since they had cordoned off most of the store since it was the final day before closing.  I told the salesperson that I wanted the rug and asked could I pull the tag off to hold until checkout.  I shopped around and found a few more smaller items.  So the rug was priced at $299, but it rang up $239 and then 90% off of that.  So my final price was $23.90!  I almost couldn't believe it.  I mean, I have found some deals before, but this is the best one I have found in a few years!

I got a chance to put it down this weekend, and it is surprisingly soft.  I have heard that jute can be hit or miss.  It is chunky and sort of nubby, but I have envisioned a jute rug ever since we had our wood floors laid almost four years ago.  And at that price, I don't think it would be possible to come up with a complaint.

Needless to say, I love it.  I think it adds a finishing touch to the space. 

You may also remember that I 'stole' the black dresser that lived behind the couch for use in my Master Bedroom Makeover.  

That left a bare space behind the sofa, and a loss of functioning drop space.  I had been planning on replacing it with the Everett Foyer Table from World Market.  So when it went on sale, I picked one up.  And I think it is a perfect fit.

It doesn't have quite the same amount of storage as the dresser did, but it is very functional.  And the weathered finish is perfection for me.  I also love that it's solid wood.  

I think quite a few stores have marked lots of things on clearance to make room for spring arrivals.  So I was able to pick up that chevron frame for $3 at Marshalls--another score!  I'm sure I will be tweaking the arrangement of the sofa table, but this is the look for today.   Do you have a steal of a deal that you almost couldn't believe?

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One Room Challenge Week 6 - {Master Bedroom Reveal!}

Reveal day is here!  I have followed along in years past with other participants as they made over spaces and have been truly inspired!  So this year when I saw that Linda at Calling it Home had started the fall One Room Challenge and opened it up to guest participants, I had to get in on the action.  Of course, it totally helped that I had already been musing about making over my Master Bedroom.  But without the push of working alongside the other guest participants, I would have never pushed forward to complete it in such a short time.

All of that being said, I can't wait to see what everyone else has done.  I'm already in love with Sherry's makeover over at Design Indulgence. It's full of neutrals and deep charcoals, which always make my heart beat fast!  And did you also see Cassie's high gloss navy blue built-ins over at Hi Sugarplum?!!  I'm in love!  I may have to repaint my dining room shelves, haha!  But I will save that for another time.  If you're here, you probably want to see how my Master Bedroom turned out, and I can't wait to show you!  Come take a peek!

I had forgotten about this little table.  It was covered with a tablecloth, but I think it was the first piece of furniture I ever bought from an antiques store.  I love the little scallop detail around the edges.  It ended up being the perfect height and scale for a lamp and plant, while still leaving room to put down a cup of tea and something to read.

The project evolved from my original design board, but I love the results.  It's been quite a change from six weeks ago.

I'm especially loving that the AV components sort of blend into this new/old dresser, since they're all black.  I still have plans for a built-in, but this is such an improvement! :) 

I also ended up not re-using the seafan art.  They didn't seem to go with the bird motif, for one.  But  also when I originally put them together, I had them 'professionally' framed.   The good news is that Hobby Lobby does a good job because I couldn't get the glass out of the frame!  I didn't want to break the glass, so that project is on a back burner for another room.  

If you would like to see projects from previous weeks, click on the links below.  

Week 1-Design Plans

Week 2- The Bed

Week 3- Nightstands

Nightstand Tutorial

Week 4-A Dresser and Ideas

Week 5-DIY Artwork

I'll be back to share sources and some more of my favorites from the One Room Challenge!

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Week 5-One Room Challenge {DIY Artwork}

Is it Week 5 of the One Room Challenge already?  If you're new here, the ORC is a design challenge to makeover a room in six weeks.  This week I was able to finish one of my DIY art projects.  And again, it's such simple idea that I hate I put it off for nearly two years!

Step 1:  Buy a beautiful Paper Source wall calendar.  Enjoy it for the year.

Step 2: Purchase 3, 6, up to 12 Ikea Ribba Frames.

Step 3: Slice the 'calendar' portion off of the prints you want to use. (Measure first!)

Step 4: Insert prints into frames, then hang.

I selected six prints to go around the TV, and can't wait to show them to you next week.

One small change I made this week was to swap out the white quilt I had with a cream one from my guest room.  The original quilt was more of a pure white, whereas most of Ikea's white fabrics are more of a cream.  I realized it was being very 'bossy'.  If something in a space is clashing visually with everything else, it's being bossy.  And you've got to decide if it deserves to be the boss.  If it does, you work everything else around it.  If it doesn't, it's got to go.  I really liked my bedding.  Both the quilt and duvet are Marshall's/TJ Maxx finds that I had before the challenge began.  The duvet is bossy too, but it deserves to be the boss, ha ha!  

I also made room for the bigger chair and tried out these bird pillows.

I still have to tie up the loose ends and iron out the kinks literally in the drapes and slipcovers.  But looking forward to the final reveal next week! 

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One Room Challenge-Week 4 {4 Ideas and 1 Dresser}

It's Week 4 of the One Room Challenge!  Where has the time gone?  This week I feel like I haven't really gotten a lot done.  I was still adding polyurethane to the chests over the weekend and adding hardware on Monday.  It was more so a week of moving things in and out of the room and testing out ideas.   The only one I feel for sure I am keeping as is would be the new/old dresser.  I originally used it as a sofa table in my family room, but love it in this space.  

I added some frames around the TV to see if they would work.  I LOVE these frames, but definitely feel like black would be more cohesive.  So I will probably swap those out with Ribba frames from Ikea. I have a fun project planned for what I want to use for artwork!

I also moved in this chair from the front playroom to test out seating in the bay window.  It's interesting how much more space I have with the new bed and changing its location.  Now that it's centered on a longer wall, I have more space on the side near the bay window.  Plus, without the sleigh, there's almost a foot more space at the end of the bed.  Loving this chair here, and I probably have room for its big sister-the original Ektorp chair.

Next is the 'new' artwork over the bed.  I like the height and presence they have on this side of the room.  The ceilings go up to 13' tall, so these take advantage of that height.  These were the seafan artwork that I talked about doing a DIY on.  I made them several years ago and they hung for years in the playroom.  I took them down recently to add a gallery wall in the playroom, so they were stashed in the guest room waiting for a place to hang.  I plan to write up DIY instructions.  I was considering keeping them in these dark frames, but now feel like they are too heavy for this side of the room.  I am thinking of painting them gold, and reframing them on a linen mat board with gold frames.  What do you think?

My final 'steal' was taking these drapes out of my dining room to test out.  I am thinking of moving them into the bay and using four panels.  I do like the height they add and how they frame the bay window, but I have become accustomed to having the full view out of these windows, and they block it a bit.

I feel like this has been a 'try it and see if you like' it week.  The final big project is still adding the bookcases.  This is what that fourth wall is looking like. 

Blah.  

The good news is that The Beast has a buyer that should be coming on Saturday, so it will be gone soon!  I took some time to clean up that corner today as well, both of which will make room for the bookcases I want to build.  I still need to flesh out all of the other ideas above too.  Can I do that in two weeks?  I've got a couple of orders in The Shop that I need to get out too. (Forgot about that!)  So we will see!  

{Just a side note, I just heard that the Auvi-Q auto-injectors for severe, life-threatening allergies have been recalled.  So if you happen to carry one, or know someone who does, please pass on the information. We have someone in our family that has a severe food allergy, but happen to carry the EpiPen.   I know we would want to know if we carried that brand.}

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The New Nightstands-An Ikea Tarva Hack

I promised I would come back and share more details about the nightstands.  It has taken me until today to finish getting the hardware on them.  I think that proved to be the most challenging part.  I think I shared last week that I was inspired by the hack done by Dear Lillie.  I loved the trim work, the feet she added, and her hardware.  You can see a few other hacks I was inspired by on my Pinterest Master Bedroom Board.  I picked different finishes and ended up not using any feet so far.  But I did use the same trim and style of hardware.  I wanted to share a few more details about my tweaks and how I hacked the Tarva chest.

You see it starts off with unfinished wood and super-tall legs.  When I put together the first one, I was so anxious to get a look at the scale that I put it partially together before staining and glazing it.  I followed the steps below on the second one, which prevents you having to wipe and tape off the drawer liners and rails for staining and glazing.

After opening the box, and taking out all of the pieces, I started with lattice trim which is about 1/4" thick.  (I tried to use a more decorative trim, but it stuck our further than the top of the cabinet.)  I cut it to the size of the drawer.

I didn't have many clamps, so I used 3/4" brad nails to help secure the boards in place while the glue dried.

Next, I added decorative liner to each drawer base.  I got mine from Lowes, but I liked this option I found on Amazon as well.

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Cut it slightly larger than the drawer bottom, attach it, then flip it over and trim the excess with an exacto knife or box cutter.

 

Next up was the stain coat.  I used Minwax Stain in the Provincial color.

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The glaze was something I already had on hand, and couldn't find for sale anymore.  But it was just a basic cream glaze.  You could mix 1 part cream paint to 4 parts glaze like the one below to create the same effect.

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After glazing the wood, it was time to put it together and conquer the 554 kajillion bits and screws.

Before adding the legs, I marked and cut them down flush to the apron of the chest.  Make sure to stain and glaze these too!

After assembling the chest, I sealed the stain and glaze with a matte polyurethane.  I loved this one because it's water-based!

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Here's where I left off last week:

I was almost in the homestretch, but the hardware I ordered required that you countersink the back of the handle, which would have added a lot more work.  I ended up switching out to this cup pull I have used before from Lowes in a bronze finish.  But then it's screws were too long, so it was back to the store AGAIN for shorter screws.   I finally got them on, and patched up the 2 holes I made for the first set of hardware.  You see?  I'm telling you this, so you don't make these same mistakes!  i;ve linked a similar one below.

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In the end, it was worth all of the headache, because I am loving our new nightstands!

I've been playing musical furniture this week, moving things all around the house.  I can't wait to show you what I've come up with this Thursday for the One Room Challenge!

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