Lighten up!

First of all, the winner of the $50 HomeGoods gift card is Cindy from The Flipping Couple! Congrats Cindy! Email me and I’ll get your card sent out to you!

Sooo…this post could also be titled:

“Hello my name is Sarah and I suffer from DOCD (Decorating OCD)”

or

“I am obsessed with the color green.”

or

“Spray paint is ahhhhmazing.”

I couldn’t decide.

I don’t know what’s come over me lately – but I want to paint everything in our house cream. I mean, that’s typically not me. I’m more a warm, cozy, Black Suede paint from Behr kinda girl.

I don’t know if it’s spring or just that my tastes are changing just a bit, but it’s happening and I’m not sure why. I’ve been making minor changes lately to see if I like the lighter colors around here and so far I quite like it!

I’ve shown you the steps of my mini family room redo I’ve been working on over the past couple of months. Last week I was going to do a final post with the changes because I thought I was pretty much done.

Buwahahahaha! Pushaw…that is just something I should never say to myself. Very much like I should never utter the words “This should only take a few minutes.” Because that is the project kiss of death.

I made a few changes to this wall in our family room:

Some of you remember when I moved this Ballard Designs art to this spot last month. I like this so much better because it adds some color to this spot – it was all brown before.

What? What is that you say? It’s STILL ALL BROWN? Ummm…yeah. That was bugging me too. I’ve mentioned lately that I’m obsessed with contrast. I was craving more of it in this space, especially because the brown table, chair and storage ottoman were all melting right into the floor.

My first project was the ottoman – it was a half off purchase at Joann’s a few years ago. I bought it to house diapers and wipes when the Bub was born and it’s turned out to be great extra storage. It now holds toys. (Lots and lots and lots of toys. Help me.):

I got a yard of a patterned fabric at Joann’s for the base and two-thirds yard of a solid fabric for the lid. I took the lid off, then started wrapping the ottoman…

And realized I was inches short – because I am so freaking cheap!! Argh. So what should have been really easy (simple wrapping the fabric all the way around the ottoman and stapling inside) turned into just a project that was (just a little) less easy. I had to cut a piece of fabric for each side:

I just hot glued it down on the sides. Then, to cover up the rough edges, I made a hem using hot glue as well, and just applied each section, covering the rough edges as I went:

Then I stapled the fabric down on the inside and on the bottom and did the same with the lid. You can see how I made the “seam” here:

I cannot even tell you how much I love it now!:

The print is a cotton fabric and was $10 a yard and I used a 40 percent off coupon. The top is a cotton duck and was $8 a yard, then 40 percent off. Not bad for hot glue and a staple gun, eh?

I was so excited at this transformation, I just kept going! Whoohoo! I took a dollar frame from Goodwill and then covered a leftover mat with the same green fabric:

    

The frame has no easel, and the Plexiglas that was inside was a mess, so I propped it up on my own easel and will get a new piece of plexi to go inside soon. The picture is about two years old, but it’s got a cute baby Bub, so I’m OK with it.  ;)

The pull of HomeGoods forced me dragged me lulled me in the other day, and of course I couldn’t walk by the lamps. I fell. in. love. with this glass beauty:

 

It was $30 with the shade – a beautiful luscious creamy drum shade. I walked past it five times and tried so hard to get it out of my head…but I couldn’t. It came home with me. And it is is SO much brighter than my cute button lamp I had there before.

My next project was the Bub’s cutie patootie little rocking chair. I spray painted it brown last year and loved it…but my cream obsession was whispering in my ear…

“Spray paint it Sarah. Do it! And use that Heirloom White color every decorating blogger in America has used but you. Do it. C’mon. You know you want to!”

So I did:

Heirloom White had me hello. I also added a simple initial on the chair, which is one of those little things I have been meaning to do for the past year anyway.

It positively pops now! I adore it!

I rearranged some of the accessories, and found these beautiful chunky candlesticks at Target for less than $10 for both:

The price tag was hung by the jute and I just left that on – I love it! The little birdie was from the Dollar Store and I spray painted it with HW (now that I’m a user, I can make up nicknames for Heirloom White.) I have another project in mind for these cuties – I’ll show you soon. Aren’t they precious?

I added a huge basket from another spot in the house to the bottom of the table and piled it with blankets:

And now this dark spot:

Is now light, bright, creamy, loveliness!:

I know the picture sucks! I was losing natural light, so I had to use a flash. Argh. And YES I KNOW, there is a cord. I’m fixing it! (It was either cover the cord or get a picture before the sun went down. Priorities.) But otherwise, I LURVE. (If the sun is shining tomorrow I’ll take a better pic!)

Many of you will not be surprised to know I have one more idea in mind for this wall – I’m just not digging the candle sconces anymore so I’ve got a project in  my head. Let’s just hope it turns out like it does in my noggin.

You just never know.  ;)