Simple Details: August 2017

Wednesday, August 2, 2017

My Five Favorites - Before & Afters You Can Do In A Weekend

Hi friends, my goodness summer is flying by, in our neck of the woods kids head back
to school this month, a sure sign summer is waning. I'm so not ready!
It's time for another round of My Five Favorites and this month's topic is Before & Afters.
I'm sharing my favorites that you can do in a weekend. Although I'm the queen of dragging
a project out forever, every once in awhile I get my act together, knock it out in a weekend,
and relish in the instant gratification! #hellooneroomchallenge
My pals are sharing their favs as well, so be sure to pop over and check out their ideas too.

Kris @ Driven by Decor

Lisa @ Shine Your Light

Jennifer @ Dimples & Tangles

Shelley @ Crazy Wonderful is our guest this month, she's long been a favorite,

she's as sweet and genuine they come, and her DIY projects and eye for decor are always
an inspiration. Just look at this guest room refresh ~ eclectic perfection in my book!
And, I'll definitely be stealing her tip, the basket is for guests' dirty laundry.

Onto my favorites:

#1 Paint your tile

When I did our kitchen makeover I took a deep breath, hoped the vision I had would work, and painted the stone tile. I couldn't be happier with that decision, it took our kitchen from
Tuscan to fresh and current.
The question I get asked most - "How has it held up?"
Perfect! It's been three years and it looks the same as the day I did it. I've always cleaned
any grease, splatters or cooking mess with a sponge, and soap and water at the time, I don't
let anything build up that would need scrubbing.

BEFORE

AFTER

#2 Update your bed

A classic four poster bed will always be timeless, and there was no reason to get rid of
this beautiful piece of furniture. I love injecting new life in traditional pieces by using
high gloss paint like we did for my client's bedroom update.

To accomplish this in a weekend I'd plan on this timeline:

Friday night - Light Sand & Prime
Saturday - First Coat Paint
Sunday - Second Coat Paint

BEFORE

AFTER

Another example - but even less time consuming.

This is the Craigslist headboard I updated for our bedroom refresh. I used Annie Sloan
chalk paint in French Linen, the drying time between coats is minimal, so this one only
took a few hours.

BEFORE

AFTER

#3 Reupholster a Bench or Chairs

This one makes me want to scour Craigslist or the thrift stores because it's super
easy to reupholster this type of seat. If your project gets stalled because you're waffling
on the perfect fabric, I'll help you out - classic black and white for the win every time!

BEFORE

AFTER

#4 Paint your Dining Room

(or any room!)

So you all know my dining room was ~~neon~~ chartreuse green, and we were hosting Easter this
year and although it was fun for awhile, I just couldn't with that paint any longer. The
weekend before I decided to paint it.

BEFORE

AFTER

#5 Refresh a piece of furniture

I love the challenge of finding a high end inspiration piece, then hunting down something
similar at a bargain price to re-create it on a budget. Paint is the biggest bang for the buck!
I'd use the same timeline in #2 above to finish a piece in a weekend.

HIGH END INSPIRATION