interiorsalvage

The Great Mantel Cover-up

2012-03-08T04:17:00.001-08:00

Wow, what an undertaking that was! I finally installed the mantel yesterday and I was relieved to be done with it...

It started out like this, with a simple idea to just cover up the existing concrete slabs poor excuse for a mantel!

It would have been a piece of cake if it wasn't for these weird corbel brick thingys

I had to do several trips back and forth to do fittings of the bottom piece that had to be notched around the corbels. In addition the depth of the right side was a half inch different than the left side, yippee, $%^&

you can see the cutouts for the corbels

Here it is all put together and on my dining room table

The crazy thing is 12 feet wide!

Here it is all glazed up. The base color is Martha Stewart Brown Alpaca with a thin choc glaze over top.

Sorry for the fuzzy pic, my finger must've slipped. I had to put a few pieces of 1 x 5 on the top as spacers for the mantel to lay on. The whole thing was mounted using two wood blocks that are screwed into the wall on either side of the existing mantel. Of course there were no studs anywhere to be found so I had to use giant butterfly toggle bolts.

All I did was slide the whole thing over the top and screw the new mantel to the wood blocks from the side.

The room will be painted in the same Brown Alpaca color next week. The pictures are not really reading true with the color. In person it blends perfectly with the fireplace. For some reason it looks different on film.

It really turned out great. I added a little extra glaze on the mouldings after it was up so those areas are still wet and look a little shiny. I'll post some more pictures after the room is painted.

Phew! I'm glad to be done with that!

Big things, small things...

2012-02-23T06:32:00.000-08:00

Well, the great mantel project of 2012 has begun! I'm plunking along and need to do some fittings. I'll post the progress soon.

In the meantime, I've been struck by spring! My fingers are twitching for some paint and I've been having great fun playing around.

Amazing what a frame will do

Grab a brush and play

This needs work but I think I know where to go ....

The Springtime of my Discontent!

Coming soon....

The art with this...

and ruffles...

miles redd

A compass on the stock!

2012-02-14T16:59:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentines Day!

Porter Cable Router = Girl's best friend!

Mantel Facelift

2012-02-10T05:53:00.000-08:00

I promised my friend Lisa I'd give her mantel a facelift. All of the houses in our development have these weird gigantic fireplaces with tiny little concrete mantels. Yuk!

This is my original mantel before I hit it with the sledgehammer
What a great day that was! Love those plastic ivy plants.

Here it is right after I finished the new mantel

and Here it is now

I'd still like to add to it but haven't quite decided how. It was an involved process. There were stepped brick corbels that supported the original concrete mantel

I had to chisel them away to install the fascia piece directly to the brick. As I said it was quite involved.

Here's Lisa's mantel

With the same weird stepped brick support.

We're going to try to keep this face lift simple and avoid the whole demolition stage.

You can see where I'm going with this! I hope it works. I'm going to do an overlay and not even remove the old concrete mantel. Wish me luck. I think the biggest challenge is going to be getting the 12 foot boards home!

Farmhouse Floor Recipe

2012-02-07T17:22:00.000-08:00

mmmm, sounds like some kind of recipe for muffins, drop em on the floor, scoop em up... yumm

Farmhouse Floor Recipe

prime your plywood subfloor with Kilz primer or any good primer

sand any sharp, scary sections with your little hand sander

paint with base color (powell buff/dark beige)

paint wood grain details like streaks and knots

Glaze with Faux Finish glaze tinted with Behr Revival Mahogany

Step back and do your happy dance!

The secret to that warm farmhouse wood is the base color

I used a combination of benjamin moore powell buff and benjamin moore dark beige 2165-40. I wanted to use just the dark beige but didn't have enough so I just dumped it into the powell buff to extend it a bit. It was about 1 qt dark beige to 2 qts powell buff. Any nice golden neutral would probably be fine.

The area in the closet had a lot of knots in the wood already which really added a lot of character. In the picture above I drew lines for 6" planks with a brown colored pencil. Those were not dark enough and didn't really show up. All of the darker streaks I made with the paint brush came to life when the glaze was applied.

and all of the original knots helped

The Glaze was made my slap dash measuring system...

I dumped about 2 cups of glaze into the plastic container and threw in about 1-2 Tablespoons of the Golden Fluid Acrylics in Burnt Umber Light. Then I threw in about 1 cup of Behr Revival Mahogany 2608-7 (The date on my can is 2006!) They can probably still mix the color. The finish was flat but I'm sure satin or eggshell would be fine. Don't know about semi-gloss.

So really it's about 2:1 ratio of glaze to paint. I needed to mix more to do the rest of the area. I'd mix it all at once if you need to do a larger area. Just stick to your ratio if you need more, it's very forgiving.

That's the burnt umber...

I don't think you really need it. The burnt umber added a reddish tint to the mix. Here are the numbers on the Revival Mahogany can.

Colorant OZ 48 96

C Yellow Oxid 0 21 0

D Thalo Green 1 24 0

F Red Oxide 1 10 0

I think the Sherwin Williams color Cardboard and the next darker shade on the same card would work really well too.

After mixing the glaze I brushed it on following my plank lines which you can no longer see. I did two planks at a time, coating well with glaze. If it seemed a little dark I stretched and pulled the glaze along with the big brush.

I'd wipe off any excess glaze on the brush with a paper towel. To get the hang of it do a sample on a 1 x 6 piece of pine. You can play with your technique a bit. It just takes a bit of letting go and playing with it as you go. The sloppier the better.

As you can see I didn't bother taping. I taped the second area but all of the brushing just pulled it off. You do have to work a bit fast so the glaze doesn't dry, don't dawdle. Also, don't overwork/rework the same area of the glaze as it's starting to dry. This can cause it to become very splotchy in spots. I did that in some areas although it didn't hurt the overall effect much.

It really does look like an old floor with lots of character and charm!

I intended to put a coat of polyurethane on top but haven't yet. The glaze is still curing and I'm not so sure I even need it. This really exceeded my expectations. My original plan was to just paint it white but I was really pining away (no pun intended:) for wood floors. My wheels starting turning and I'm so glad they did!

I can't wait to finish decorating the rest of the room!

Antrho Inspired painted floor

2012-02-05T08:32:00.000-08:00

I just love how my floor turned out. It's definitely got a funky Anthro vibe and I'm so psyched. I'd live in Anthro if I could. It's my go to place when I need a little retail therapy and creative goodness. That's the look I'm gonna carry through my dressing area into the bedroom. (ssshh, the rest of the rug has got to go!)

I'm not going to give you all the details right now because I'm passed exhaustion and have superbowl company coming!! So here's the quick lowdown, I'll give paint colors, etc. soon.

First I primed and then painted a light golden color

Then we (your some help buddy) got out our little artist brushes and painted all kinds of streaks and knots

Then we mixed our glaze (details to follow)

(sorry for the poor quality iphone shot) I just brushed on the glaze with the giant brush until I liked the depth of color and dragged the brush from the outside edges in to minimize the brush marks.

How great is that???? Like a funky old farmhouse great!! Patting myself on back and jumping up and down great!!

It's funny but the inside of the closet turned out a bit better. I think I was soooo tired by the time I got out here. I was going to wipe the glaze off and start over but decided against. I'm going to put a rug here anyway.

As you can see I still have a lot of work to do but I'm ecstatic with the results!!!

Just noticed I misspelled Anthro. Guess I was tired!!

I'm soooo excited!!!! I was featured on the DIY Showoff!!!!

also linked up.....

Touchdown Dance!!!

2012-02-04T06:12:00.000-08:00

I am over the moon! It worked!

and it looks like old knotty pine flooring. These pictures were taken on my iphone, so sorry for the poor quality...

I was so discouraged last night and felt like I'd really done it this time. But, I got up at 6:30 and got crackin'. It's only 9:15 and I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Off to build my table, full speed ahead!

1 Day left!

Lucy....What have you got yourself into?

2012-02-03T08:32:00.000-08:00

My helper, what would I do without you, my comic relief.

I must say this is not a project for the weak of heart. I'm feeling pretty tired after ripping up the rug, the padding, the staples, the nails &^*(%

The subfloor is in pretty rough shape, but alas, I persevere!

I'm not going to waste time getting in sanded smooth. I intend to put a jute rug here anyway.

ugh, gettin' sloppy

voila!

I fell asleep dreaming of buying peel and stick wood....

2 days left...

and I'm free to do what I want...any old time!!!!!

2012-02-02T06:38:00.000-08:00

Let the wild rumpus begin! My guys are going away to do this....

I don't normally start a demo when the troops are still home but couldn't help myself this time.

Our Master has one of those hotel style alcoves outside of the bathroom. Nice Fixture, huh

We still have the old ugly carpet, and look at those panels hanging so limply! I know I can do better with a little elbow grease

I do have some idea where I want to go with this room, but it's been such a low priority

I think I can get away with inexpensive draperies hung like this...

Brook Giannetti's Master Bathroom

And I think I'll add a shelf/table like this shelf from the old painted cottage

but first I'm starting with the floors!


From Fieldstone Hill Design

These are actually painted plywood! Wish me luck!

I've got Three Days...

Thrift Store Score

2012-01-29T07:55:00.000-08:00

I can't believe the things people get rid of...

They were probably from someone's Estate

I wonder who they belonged to?

All professionally framed, a trip to Malaysia recorded, a memory treasured...

All for sale $6, $6, and $8 at your local thrift store.

Retro Camp Sconce

2012-01-27T09:07:00.000-08:00

I really needed some light in this corner

but didn't want the expense of wiring

It all started when I saw the Portfolio Outdoor Wall Lantern at Lowes

It's got a kind of old campground charm to it!

I took some scrap plywood and trimmed it out with some moulding.

I used liquid nails and tiny finishing nails to attach the moulding.

Then I painted the whole thing with home made chalk paint, and traced and painted my printed letters, then waxed with minwax

finishing paste.

After that, I cut and attached the wall wiring to an

extra

extension cord

All I had to do was drill a hole for the wire to exit out of the back..

I didn't use the plates for attaching to the wall.

The whole thing is just screwed to the sign with

black sheetrock screws

I had most everything on hand except the sconce and only spent $25 on the light

Someday I may get something like this...

but for now we're campin' out!

I'm linking up with....

Sneak Peek Thursday

2012-01-26T05:37:00.000-08:00

This is not just a sign...

Wait till you see what it will be...

Tomorrow the coolness will be revealed!

Mock Roman Shade Tutorial

2012-01-23T16:39:00.000-08:00

My shade started like this

As an unlined panel with side hems and a bottom hem. First thing I did was cut off one of the side hems.

Now it's time to figure out your measurements.

Step 1: I wanted my finished shade to be 28 w X 46 h

Step 2: add 6" to your width measurement for the side hems.

Step 3: add a few inches to the top for stapling to the board and to give yourself some wiggle room for adjustments.

Step 4: The bottom of this panel had a 4" hem already in place that I knew I would just fold up once for the bottom of the shade. If you don't have a ready made panel to use and are using fabric just add 8" to the bottom measurement. This will be your double 4" hem. It could even be 6" for a 3" hem if you want to keep your yardage low.

Step 5: Add some length to create the folds at the bottom. I added 25 inches. If you want more folds add more to the length.

To recap: I have 28" + 6" for a cut width of 34".

I have 46" + 5" (top board) + 25" for creating the folds + 4" to fold up for hem (yours may be 8") = 80. My cut size is 34"W x 80" H.

Now you have your cut measurement. It's easier to see this on the finished shade.

Now that you've determined your cut size of fabric, go ahead and cut it!

Now you're ready to cut your lining. Lay out a piece of lining that's bigger than your piece of fabric. Put the fabric on top of it and cut the lining to the same size as your face fabric.

Now it's time to sandwich in your lining. Put your face fabric down with the good side face down on the table. Lay your lining on top. I put my lining on the inside of the existing hem line. I knew I was going to fold this up over the lining after the side hems were glued.

Now you're ready to iron over your side hems 3" on each side. Tuck in again and iron again ending up with 1 1/2" side hems. Now you can glue or fuse side hems down. (if gluing let dry overnight)

Fold up your bottom hem over where the weight bar will be.
Stitch bottom hem. Slide the weight bar in last. I ironed brown grosgrain ribbon to the front. If the weight bar was in place it would have made that difficult.

If you've made this mock roman you're just a bit away from completing a working roman shade! There are only a few more steps.

Here's the very dated Before

and the much improved After!

I'm going to slip two more dowels into the folds so I don't get that puckering.

In addition to your fabric, ribbon, fabric glue or fusible tape, you'll need a piece of 1 X 2 and a stapler. You can find a manual Stanley Stapler for about $20.

I made this shade the same way. I wanted the tack stitches to show so it would have a homespun kind of look.

p.s. not really styled but you get the idea....

Good luck!

Snow Day - Sew Day

2012-01-22T10:00:00.000-08:00

What a beautiful snowy day we had yesterday in the Northeast

I had hoped to move this old piano into the garage before it hit.

First we had some fun in the woods. Bandit could have gone on like this all day!

But I had other plans.

I scored this panel at pottery barn for $14.97 (to be exact!) in the sale pile. I knew the green canvas would be perfect for my powder room.

Here's how it started...

Here's the during

and, Here's the finished shade

I'll post the complete instructions tomorrow!

It's not difficult and looks great.

What a great day I had, hubby even cooked dinner while I gazed out at this!

Hope you enjoyed your Snow Day!

Hitting the ground running...2012!

2012-01-17T10:39:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited to be starting a new blog with this great furniture makeover! This dresser has been catching dust in my garage for about 2 years now.

I knew it had potential and couldn't let it go....

My mother-in-law gave us this dresser when we got our first house. It was from Levitz....remember Levitz? pre-Raymour... It's not great quality but it's not bad either. The legs are solid wood. The sides are particle with veneer on top but it's got good bones.

I didn't like the idea of keeping it as a dresser mostly because of the shell motif on one of the drawers.

I got to thinking it could be turned into this great piece from Nadeau Furniture....hmmmm

It took some work, I had to rip out the insides where the drawers rested.

The jig saw sure helped!

I removed everything from the inside until I had just a shell.

I also got rid of those 1 x 2 pieces along the back.

It was such fun!

Here's the after...

Ain't she sweet! I just love it.

I added some plywood to the bottom and sides.

I didn't keep the divider in the middle and ended up supporting the shelf with 1 x 2's screwed into the sides. Then I attached some 1 x 2 trim to the front to hide the raw sides of the plywood.

I originally planned on attaching a piece along the back but decided to just keep the open shelf.

I used this chalk paint recipe I found on pinterest.

I've used this recipe a couple of times with all kinds of leftover paint....eggshell, flat, semi... they all worked fine!

The outside color is a combination of Ben Moore Sandy hook Grey and Coastal Fog. The inside is Stone House. First I painted it with the chalk paint, then sanded it down to show some of the wood underneath.

After that I waxed the whole thing and let it dry for a few hours. Miss Mustard Seed has great instructions on wax finishes - She's the best! I bow to the queen of painted furniture and so much more.

Here are a few more pics -

Look what Bandit found inside...

Could've been my ship come in!

I'm linking up with...