Mirror, Mirror

Happy Thanksgiving week all!  I am thankful for each and every one of you who stop by my little corner or the internet and support me and my blog.  I hope everyone gets to enjoy some time with family and loved ones this week. 

But before the cranberry fluff coma I am fully preparing to enter into in a few days, I wanted to share a little project I finished up this week with all of you.  I think it goes without saying that I can get a lil crafty from time to time.  However, my crafty side is typically limited to finding ways to trick my husband into rubbing my feet or watching the latest Twilight movie in theaters. 

This week, however, I pulled out the Martha Stewart in me once again and gave an antique mirror in my garage a little makeover.  About a month ago, husband and I, along with our parents travelled up to a huge antique show near Cincinnati and my mom bought a giant mirror while she was there.  As it turned out, there wasn't enough room for it in her car, so in our truck it went and in my garage it sat. 

After a few weeks of housing it in our garage, I decided the mirror now belonged to me and I got to work on making it a usable piece for our living room.  I painted the frame a blue color that matched fabric in our throw pillows and picked up some stencil letters and frosted glass spray paint and went to town.  A little brown glaze over the bright blue, gave it more of a rustic look I was going for.

The mirror before.

I put painters tape around the edge and then cut open trader joe's paper bags to cover the glass while I spray painted the frame.

We measured and centered the letters and then cut a hole in the paper bags to make room for them.  We had to wait until they dried and then move the duplicate letters.

The finished product with our fall decor up.  I had a different mirror there before but this one looked so much better!

I bit the bullet and put up some of my Christmas decor on Saturday.  I love my new mirror!

So there you have it!  I am getting craftier by the day!  I debated a bit on what words to put on the mirror and thought about doing our last name or monogram, but decided against it.  As the focal point in the room, I wanted the mirror to really say something which is why I felt like "blessed" was the perfect word for the mirror.

I am feeling particularly blessed this holiday season for a wonderful husband, family I adore, and a great career.  What are you feeling blessed for right now?

Our Kitchen...Then & Now

It's amazing what one can accomplish in a year, isn't it?  I've mentioned in several posts over the last year that we've been working on a lot of home improvement projects, and I am finally ready to share some of them with you!  First up is our kitchen. 

A year ago around this time, I was prepping to move in with the boy, and may or may not have uttered the words "Over my dead body will I move in with floors like that and walls that color."  Okay I may not have said those exact words...but I sure was thinking them.  After months of agonizing over paint colors and floor samples, we finally made some decisions and got started on transforming the boy's bachelor pad into an actual home.

Before we did anything...here everything is pushed into the center while we prep for paint.

Old light fixture and all out liquor piled onto the kitchen table...is this a single man's house or what?  Notice the wall is taped off for paint!

 A closer up picture of the counters before...this was for a superbowl party a couple years ago.

 A transitional picture of the kitchen...we got rid of the horrible peel and stick flooring and painted the walls...and obviously changed the decor a bit too :)

Another transition...after our cabinet restoration!  This was a total pain in the ass, but absolutely worth it!!

 During our countertop restoration...the messiest thing ever!

 The final product....for now anyways.  Still hoping to get a window treatment above the sink and new appliances.

 Backsplash completed!  Plus 101 Ways to Cook Southern Cookbook on display.

 We painted and recovered the seats on the old barstools too.  I have a feeling a new fabric and different color on the chairs are in the future once again for these chairs.

 Our bar!  One of my favorite furniture finds! 

 A yard sale find from our neighborhood!  $50 for the table and 4 chairs.  We painted the 4 chairs and table legs along with 2 chairs I already had.  We sanded down the top and re-stained it to a darker, prettier wood.  I love it!

An absolute steal from Craigs List.  Bought the Hutch and Matching table for $500 (brand new) and sold the table for $300.  Probably a $1000 piece at least, and we got it brand new for only $200!

So, what do you think of our progress?  We worked really hard to stay within our budget and be resourceful!  Plus, we know we will only be in this house for a few years.  We would have loved to invest in brand new granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances, but it just didn't make sense for us to put that kind of money into this particular home.  We love what we've done so far. 

 

For anyone who is curious, we used Rustoleum Transformations for the countertop and cabinet renovation.  Our cabinet color is Linen, with the glaze, and our counters are Java Chip!  I highly recommend this project for a complete transformation.  We did the counters and cabinets for less than $500 total. 

 

Happy hump day y'all!