Houzz: In Praise of Silliness

There was a great Houzz article published today, In Praise of Silliness.  Take a look -- there are some seriously fun home ideas.  Fun paint, a slide or displaying a funky collection? How far would you go?

Camouflage an "oops" or Upcycling your Shirts!

While working on the "mud wall" I was waylaid by a small problem...

My first grader came home from school with a "mysterious" hole in his shirt.  He didn't know how it got there.  And didn't notice it until I mentioned it.  It was about the size of a quarter.

Well, this was a nice long-sleeve Life Is Good woven shirt.  Perfect color for fall, and plenty bit to last through the year.

What to do....

What to do....

How to save the shirt?

Look at Pinterest and Etsy.  Two great sources for ideas.  I decided to put an applique on top of the hole.

Much to my surprise, when the shirt was washed, the hole shrunk drastically.  It was obvious that it was made by poking the shirt with a pencil. Hmmmm.... <sigh>

Anyway, there are lots and lots of cute ideas out there!  Numbers (for birthday shirts); animals, footballs, basically anything you can think of.  I was inspired by a deer shape -- we happen to have a significant amount in our neighborhood and their antlers are now visible.  So, I used my 7th grade art skills to draw a shape proportionate to the shirt and a large enough to cover the area where the hole was.  I also printed off a picture I found online (silhouette of a deer head).  It wasn't the right size, but made creating the new shape much easier.

For the fabric, I wanted to try something boy-ish and it needed to match the shirt.  So, I dug around in my giant space bag full of "baby clothes that are too cute for me to let go of".  I was initially thinking something camo or striped would be cute; but found a really cute 3 month size plaid button down.  So cute!!  It also had an orange/rust color in it that looked great with the shirt. (winner!)

Here's a close up of the fabric, simply hand stitched on top of the shirt.  Yes, a machine would have been A LOT faster...but I don't have a machine that is easy to access.  A contrasting thread would also be sharp; but this one blends so you won't see any huge discrepancies in the stitching.

Here's the finished product:

It looks even better on!!  So good, that my other one asked me to make him a "special shirt" too......:)

Completed "Mud Wall"

It's finished
and has even survived a gathering that included 14 kids...

Actually, it is such a clean look that the comments about it as people walked in the door were basically limited to, "this looks nice!".

I'll take it!

whimsical hooks and all :)

My kids love it.  There backpacks are actually up off the floor again...and the entire space looks larger and cleaner. Ahhhhh.....

(in case you're wondering, I did play around with different paneling looks; like adding more vertical dividers.  but, the space is so small that it just looked too busy.  so, we just went with a horizontal frame.  It keeps a clean edge.)

Today's the day!!!

I PROMISE I will get the hooks up today...after school..:)
Pictures coming soon!!

OH....I've got another project up my sleeve.  The Cement Counter.  It's real.  It's happening....It's heavy. :)

"Mud Wall" progress!

It's a little slow going...ok that's not completely true. Progress was speeding along; but we welcomed a quick visit with relatives, and then hit a literal speed bump. (Two different events...sigh).  Actually, I was able to do everything here in just two days.  My husband was actually laughing and at one point said -- "the paint has to dry, that will slow you down a bit"!!

So, the progress is: First, I painted the wall...yes, I am cheating. I'm not about to rip down the wallpaper, so I'm priming it to make the painting easier after the trim is on.

I was toying around with just doing the small wall and leaving the wall next to the front door alone.  But decided it would have a more cohesive look (and be brighter and larger looking) if I wrapped the finish around the corner.

I cut and nailed the trim work to the wall, caulked the seams, filled the nail holes, and put two coats of paint on everything!

For now I'm leaving all the sections white.  But, don't you think the top area (between the trim pieces) would be fun in a contrasting color?  Any suggestions?

Now I need to install the working parts and interesting thing...hooks and art!  My boys have been hounding me...they actually WANT to hang their backpacks up!!  Maybe I'll have time to surprise them with it when they get home from school....or maybe I should figure out what to make for dinner.  Hmmmm....

Remember what it looked like before?  A serious improvement.  PS:  Free: small wall-mount hook board with trucks and trains. :)

Coat Wall (aka: the smallest mudroom ever!)

I may have mentioned before, but my kids come and go through the front door.  It's the closest door towards the bus!

So, I've started working on converting the wall behind the door into a "coat wall". Or, as may be more appropriate...the smallest mudroom ever!

The only restriction is the depth of the area.  The door swings open towards the wall, so I need to keep thing slim along the wall....both for ascetics and to get the door opened!

If anyone has any great ideas or pictures they've seen elsewhere, let me know!

jh

Kroehler buffet table...salvaged and beautified!

I was at a Church Rummage sale and spotted a Kroehler Buffet Table.  If you're not familiar with  Kroehler, they are a furniture making company started in Chicago in 1902.  Their peak in popularity was from the 1940's through the 1960's.  They produced high quality, solid wood furniture, with definite flair.  It's very mid-century modern and the original pieces would be very comfortable on the Mad Men set!

So, when I saw it, I thought, "ooooh how fun!". (That thought occurs to me a lot when looking at furniture).  However, this piece looked like it had been sitting in a basement for awhile.  It had the usual mid-west basement furniture problems: chipped legs, gouged top, possible remains of water damage...

But, undaunted, I spent the $25 and bought the piece.  (Yes, $25.)

It is a sleek piece with flush drawers and pulls only on the top row.

So, I decided to put this in the entry way, but it HAD to be painted before that happened.  I've refinished and repaired wood before, but this was too bad to repair.  However, paint can camouflage anything!

Next, pull the drawers out, removed the hardware, and get ready for to repair and sand.  I did all this in the front yard because that was the closest spot to its final resting place.  However, I would definitely recommend doing any sanding and/or painting outside or in a garage if possible.

Then I started sanding the existing finish so the paint would stick.  Apparently, I have some sort of masochistic tenancy, because I ALWAYS do it by hand, even though I have a sander.

After sanding, get out either wood putty or "Durham's Water Putty".

Yes, the stuff is real!  And looks like it could be a product developed right around the time the buffet was made!

Fill your gouges, or missing areas and let dry.  You may need more than one application depending on the depth or extent of the gouge or damage.  After it's at the level you want, sand it smooth. Really take your time here because this work will show when your project is finished.  If you're really particular, sand with a couple different grades of sandpaper and/or finish with steel wool. (I'm really particular...)

Next, wipe off the dust from the repair work and other sanding and ready the paint supplies!
For painting, you'll have to decide what kind of finish you're looking for and then how to do it.  For this project, I wanted a BRIGHT, SUPER GLOSSY finish.  So I chose an enamel.  And, man, is it potent! whew! Even though I was outside, it was really, really stinky.

I also spray painted the brass handles black.  They have a really great shape, so I wanted to keep them.  But brass and yellow don't work together.  at. all.

Here are some pictures:

You might be able to make out the damage on the closest foot.  The top of one drawer had a hunk chipped out of it and the top was gouged significantly.  But now....all you see is sunshine!! ;)


PS: That mirror isn't yellow...it's a green/sage color.  It was a Habitat Reuse-It store purchase that was painted and hung sideways.  I think it was $40...so the mirror is more expensive than the buffet!! The color of it in this picture is horrible!!

It just started raining...and it's dark!!  Especially for noon.  Anyway, here's the entryway...now you can see why I need help with that wall!!  Yuck. Seriously UGLY.