25 September 2013

So Fresh & So Clean Clean

Welcome back to another day in our week on Bathrooms. At least we aren't talking about what happens  in the bathroom. ha! I'll do my best to never let one of those weeks happen. On Monday, I shared our Phase 1 Bathroom Reveal,and i'm here today to show you how I had to get crafty to make a large print in my favorite color trend, gold.




This ended up being easier than getting into Community College. I spent ALL WEEK trying to figure out how I was going to print in Gold, and how I was going to do it on such a large print. Then I read somewhere this genius idea about using newspaper as transfer paper. SCORE! Such a great idea! (PS if it was your idea...let me know so I can give you a high five. and some blog credit). Also, in case you have no idea why i'm saying so Fresh & So Clean Clean, (you've probably be living under a rock)...but i'm just paying my homage to my homies in Outkast. (youtube it, folks!)

Before we jump into "how-to's" let me show you this giganto frame I picked up at a thrift store for only 4 and a half dolla's!


This thing had seen better days. I wish I could show you how truly nasty this frame really was. There was no way I could just windex this puppy. I threw her in the bathtub with some TSP and let her soak for a few hours, in hopes of getting the nasty green film off. 


You can see how murky the water is. PROOF that this thing was g-r-o-s-s. Like Robin Thicke grinding up on Miley Cyrus gross. Okay. I shouldn't of gone there. Are my jokes getting old yet? Probably.

Once it was out and dry, I slapped on 3 coats of high gloss white spray paint to give this gorgeous frame new life.


To make the print part, I went into my favorite program, Microsoft Word, and made a "So Fresh and So Clean Clean" 8x10 print, and just spit it out in regular ol' black ink. 


I flipped over the art that came in the frame, and placed some newspaper under my print, centered on the page. I then traced the letters and magic happened!


Ready for the magic?


Do you see it on there?! Faint little fresh and clean lines. (unlike the water damage on the bottom of this paper).

All I did next is take my gold Sharpee and fill in the letters! It was simple! I did the whole thing in under an hour. Its not as perfect as it would be if it came out of a printer, or if I used vinyl. But I don't have any of those fancy programs...& I didn't want to spend any money! So I got resourceful, and dangit...I love the result just as much. :)



Never let your creativity be stopped by not having fancy programs or tools. You can do just about anything when you get resourceful! 

I'm SO excited because I am headed to my HOME SWEET HOME San Diego tomorrow at 4:00 AM! I won't be back until Tuesday, but I promise I will be going Facebook/Instagram/Pinterest crazy, so make sure you follow along and you won't miss a thing :)

See you Tuesday, my friends!

Xo Kylie









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23 September 2013

Get Painty- with it

Sung to the tune of "get jiggy wit it". (insert crying laughing emoji here).

Yesterday I shared with you our amaze-balls bathroom refresher. Today i'm excited to share with you how we transformed our cabinets with a little paint & a lot of patience!


Lets just jump right in, shall we?

You will need to go to Lowes and pick up the following:

Liquid Deglosser. I raved about it here.
Sanding Blocks (2 worked for us)
TSP (a HEAVY duty cleaner...just ask the Lowes helper...he'll know where its at!)
Your favorite paint
A HIGH quality paint brush
A mini roller
Your favorite Primer

As you can see, there really was nothing wrong with our cabinets as they were. They just are not our style. We plan to paint all of the kitchen cabinets, so I figured if we're going to do that, it's probably best to do a practice run in the bathroom, cause if we royally screwed it up..it wouldn't be over 40 cabinet faces to fix!

Start by removing your cabinet doors, and give everything a good once over with your TSP. This will ensure everything is oil-free, clean and a perfect place to start.

Because I wanted these to turn out perfect, I then took my sanding block, and sanded everything. This took for-reaking-ever. I was covered in dust by the end, seriously. 



And yes, if you must know, I laid out a big sheet and did this on my living room floor. :)

After I sanded everything, I swept up, and took my deglosser to make sure everything was clean as a whistle before I started priming. 

As soon as it was dry to the touch, I started priming. You guys, I was panicked. It looked like hell. Seriously. After 2 coats of primer, I was sure this was going to turn out terrible.



OH NO! Yes, that is what I was saying. I was seriously freaked out that I had just ruined our perfectly good cabinets. I pushed forward, sanding lightly between each coat of primer, and after my first coat of paint, it was clear that we were totally good to go, and that this wouldn't be a horrible fail.




Not that bad, right?! I ended up doing 2 coats of primer, and 2 coats of paint. If you haven't had to pick out white paint before, be warned, it is not as easy as you think it would be! It took me forever to pick out the right color! We ended up going with Marshmallow Fluff by Glidden.

Here are the cabinets 10 days after we painted, reattached


I knew I loved them! The color was perfect, and it really brightened up the room, just as I had hoped. But it was missing something. Don't punch me...but it was almost too white. So I knew we were going to need some hardware. 


I mosied down to Hobby Lobby and picked out some hardware that I loved during a 50 % off week. I had Jake attach it and we were in business!

A few things to note that might help you...

Drips will happen. Catch them! If you catch drips quickly they won't be a problem for you.
Sanding is your frienemy. It takes a ton of time, and it's no fun, but its the best bet for a smooth finish, and a brush stroke free look.
LET THEM CURE! It's important to not reattach them as soon as they dry. Trust me, I wanted to! I left them in a safe, clean space in the garage for almost 2 weeks so that the paint didn't chip or rip off when opening the cabinets.

If you follow those simple steps, you will be in love with the result. I am happy and in love every time I go in there now. :) 


I did this all while Jake was sleeping, and he woke up and was almost upset with how great they looked, cause he couldn't take any of the credit. ;)

Come back tomorrow! I'll show you how I made (this) cool little print for $4.50!

Until Next Time,

Kylie




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Guest Bathroom Phase 1 Reveal!

My blog friends, I sure missed you over the weekend! How was yours? We shopped (I mean SHOPPED, as in boosted the economy big time) and I finally got some Halloween Decor up. It was the most beautiful weather, I could not have asked for a better first Fall weekend!

Today  is as exciting as making out with Justin Timberlake. (not that i'd know. But I imagine that's pretty darn exciting. That lucky Jessica Biel.) We finally finished Phase one of our Guest Bathroom!


YEAH BOY! In case you're new here, and have no idea what it looked like before- lets take a look at some before pictures:

                       
                       
                       

I feel like the place is so much lighter and brighter now. It actually looks more like a refreshing place to (ehem... do you business) rather than a deep dark dungeon you're afraid to enter!


You may remember this insta I posted a few weeks back, when we were Mid-Cabinet Reno. That shiz was WORK! It took so much longer than anticipated but I am so so excited about the results! 


We installed a little shelf above the toilet with some smell-good candles, and some Gold Chevron Art I made in a snap. I still feel like it looks pretty empty, however I haven't decided if I want to add more or not. So I will keep it as is for now. :)




 I made this Outkast inspired print out of a $4.50 thrifted frame, and I love how it turned out! I had to get resourceful as crap to make it happen...I can't wait to share more on that later this week.


This technically isn't totally complete, either...do me a favor and pretend you don't notice that paint on the floor or wall that I haven't cleaned up yet...oooops.




Overall, I am smitten for the progress! Right now we're at about 75% done. (which is why I consider this Phase 1) We still have plans to frame the giant builder grade mirror, add board & batten around the entire room, and dang it...we need a bigger rug. (somethin I am just noticing now that I am over-analyzing these pictures!). Oh, and maybe I should get some matching soap. This green soap is from the last Christmas sale at B&BW. Yikes. 

Come back tomorrow so I can tell you all about the ups and downs of hand painting the cabinets in one weekend. (Warning...it was a crapload of work.)

Can't wait to chat soon!

Until Next Time,

Kylie



Linking up to:
Home Stories A to Z / Uncommon Designs /Sugar and Dots / The Winthrop Chronicles
The Girl Creative / House of Hepworths / The Shabby Creek Cottage
Liz Marie Blog / Tater Tots & Jello / Shabby Nest / Whipper Berry /Funky Junk Interiors / Serenity Now /Classy Clutter / Someday Crafts
Reasons to Skip the Housework / Six Sisters Stuff / Be Different Act NormalLife with the Crust cut offThe Turquoise Home /  Ginger Snap Crafts/ Thrifty Decor Chick





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20 September 2013

The Perfect Match

Happy Friday y’all! Woot woot! Another week down…we made it! This weekend I will be decorating the crap out of this place. It’s been fall in my heart for awhile, but I needed some time to group it all together…and the Halloween decorating is officially underway.



This engagement gift is really darn special to me, mostly because my best friend in the entire world is the one receiving it. J 2 of my very best friends to be exact. Bree is my best friend, Tyler is Jakes best friend. They got engaged last Saturday like I mentioned here and I have never been more happy for 2 people in my life! In fact, Tyler is Jake’s best man, and B is my Maid of Honor. Funny how well things worked out around here J

 Bree and Tyler are our family. The 4 of us make our own little family, and I don’t know what I’d do without them!!





Okay, now that this has turned into a sob-fest…let’s get into their engagement gift. That I have had ready for weeks ready to send! I couldn’t wait for Tyler to just pop the question already so I could send it their way!!



I printed up a sweet little tag using my favorite tag printing method …get it? The perfect Match? Ha ha ha ha! I attached it to a little jar full of matches.


To go with the matches, we included a cigar for Ty, and a candle for Bree. (I went with “flower bouquet” again…get it?!) So clever this brain of mine. (so humble too).

I tossed it all into a cute little box from hobby lobby, tied it with some raffia and sent it on its way. They loved it, and it was a small little token of Congrats from their best friends J



The fun doesn't stop there, friends! Because I love you all SO much...I've included a cute free printable for you to use on a tag of your own!










 Or you can use....











All you need to do is right click, and save your image. Save & use my tag printing method to print one of your own. :)

We love you Bree and Tyler! I’ve never been so happy for any two people in my life!  May God give you the most beautiful life together, with more love than you know what to do with! (and lots of cute nieces and nephews for me to snuggle:) )

Until Next Time,
Kylie




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