Cold temperatures and early sunsets are creeping in around here. That means spending a lot more time inside. That also means I tend to get into a nesting state and start projects around the house. With two little ones already keeping me busy, starting and competing big projects has been tricky. I have, however, managed to tackle a few over the past week, during those two daily glorious hours of naptime.
For my first project, I dug out an old piece I've been saving. Back when Papa R and I first moved into our current house, we were showing some visitors around and one of them happened to notice something peculiar nailed into the rafters of the basement ceiling. Upon further inspection we found a wooden key holder (it's wood and says "keys"). It was in rough shape, but it was an odd find so I tucked it away in a box for another day.
In the midst of moving and reorganizing for my second project, I stumbled upon the key holder that I'd forgotten about 3 years ago. We were currently hanging our keys on nails by the front door, so anything would be an upgrade, but this little piece was in serious need of a makeover. I wish I'd have remembered to take a picture of the front before I started working, but this is the back, just to give an idea of its condition.
Our home is a mixture of toddler mess and farmhouse decor. A lot of the wood in the house is lighter in color, so the extremely dark stain of the holder wasn't quite what we needed. I decided to try a simple whitewash to lighten the wood but still preserve it's natural characteristics.
Normally the first step is to stain your wood, but as this piece was already very dark, I got to skip the most time consuming part. I mixed a 2 to 1 ratio of white acrylic paint and water then brushed it across the wood. It soaked up a lot of the mixture so I added several coats then lightly rubbed the wood with a lint free towel. This removes a lot of excess paint and helps to work it into the wood. I repeated this process a few times until I reached the desired color. After letting the paint dry, I used a sanding block across the entire piece to bring out the natural grain of the wood. My finished piece, in under the two hour mark!
My second project has taken me a little bit longer than one nap session, but I love the results.
Middle and I do a majority of our crafts and projects in the dining room. It's the one room that not only has extra space but also has large windows for lots of natural light. Before I started really getting into the crafty projects with Middle, most of my supplies were packed away in a couple plastic drawer bins upstairs. I would find and bring down supplies as needed and we'd store them in little colorful bins. Those bins were kept on what was formerly my entertainment stand but now lived a life as an occasional dessert table when we hosted parties and more frequently a catch-all. If you've read any of the previous blogs, it's the messy piece of black furniture in the background of a lot of pictures...
Thanksgiving is coming up and we traditionally have the family over to our home. I was tired of looking at the mess and in need of a solution before having a houseful of people. Our crazy supplies had already outgrown the colorful bins we purchased so we needed more space. I decided to bring my plastic organizers downstairs. All of our supplies fit, but I didn't like the cheap look of the organizers.
I did what I always do in times of need, I went to Pinterest. I searched for 3 drawer cart upcycles. I found a lot of suggestions for adding cardstock to the inside of the drawers to give it a colorful appearance or just simply spray painting them. The results, albeit a step up from the current state, just weren't what I wanted. As I said, the house is a mix of farmhouse decor. I saw some cute results with applying designed contact paper to the outside of the drawers and thought that may be the closest I get to something easy, but good looking.
I searched Amazon for contact paper, hoping to find a design I could live with. I happened upon a peel and stick wallpaper with realistic looking light wood design. At $6 for a roll, it was too good to pass up.
My package arrived early. I eagerly awaited naptime so that I could begin. Once I had both Little and Middle tucked in, I set about my project. First I needed to create a pattern for the shapes I would need to cut in order to cover the drawer faces. The handle is indented and the drawer curves around this area. I decided to divide the drawer into two sections. Using parchment paper, I traced around the top portion of the drawer above the handle and then the lower portion below. After cutting the parchment paper, I taped it down and traced it on cardboard to create a much easier to use pattern. From here it was just a matter of tracing the pattern onto the wallpaper and applying the pieces.
I repeated the process for the sides of each drawer since they are also visible. Overall, the project was relatively and simple to accomplish, but the look is amazing.
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