Laundry Room Mostly Done

I won't say the laundry room is finished but the major work is done. Here's the rundown on the last big projects.

The beat-up, plain-jane, hollow core door replaced with an old door with peeling paint and windows:

Frosted windows  to read "Laundry Room" and "Staff Only":

I used etching cream and got so-so results. Too streaky for my liking. Bruce got the Frosted Glass spray paint and went over the windows giving me a nice even finish.... have I mentioned before how awesome my husband is? He's the best!

Replaced the modern door knob with something with more character. I found these on EBay and much to my delight, won the bid.

The white porcelain knobs and plates are just what the door needed to finish its makeover. Now the entry to my laundry room looks like this:

Painted the little dresser and made a window covering. The dresser was pale yellow and smelled. I painted the whole thing inside and out to seal away the odor. Mission accomplished! I wanted a crackle finish on the outside but it was a colossal fail. It looked awful. Too much crackle. I scraped as much of the paint off that I could and put it aside to dry.

Pondered the window....it sits right next to the shelves so I knew fabric wouldn't work well since there was lots of fabric next to it. Wood shutter? Roman shade? Or how about wood and tin? Yes, that's it!...I told Bruce my idea. He said I should be able to do it. I laid it out and ask him to cut my wood. Next thing I know he's building it for me. (I told you, he's awesome!) Now I have this:

Closed

Opened

A few things hung on the wall - glass etched sign and old wash board:

and the change jar and new clothes pin bag:

Back to the dresser - it got painted in Behr's "Red Pepper" and it crackled just enough. Rustic wood back added so I can hang stuff on it like my old funnel to hold string:

Yellow inside!

Old funnel to hold string

For fun lighting - Lantern with twinkle lights:

I am recovering my mom's ironing board my grandfather made her and pulling out some baby clothes to hang on the wall.  I also plan on making a large laundry sign, adding a shelf above the washer, and a screen to place around the water heater. But on the whole, it is done. My laundry room makes me smile now. It is organized and clean but most of all fun!

To read about the whole process, go here, here, and here. To see the final projects,  read about it here.

Party links here:
A Joyful Cottage: Every Room In House Party
DIY Showoff that-diy-party
Life On Lakeshore Drive Bouquet-of-talent-link-party
Farm House Porch Welcome-to-scoop-84
A Stroll Thru Life 179th-inspire-me-tuesday
The Dedicated House Make-it-pretty-monday-week-64
Coastal Charm Nifty-thrifty-tuesday-no177-and-my-four
Kammys Korner trash-2-treasure-tuesday-link-party_26
The Shabby Creek Cottage Transformation-thursday-no-219
French Country Cottage feathered-nest-friday_29
Rooted In Thyme-simple-sweet-fridays-78

The Continuing Laundry Room Make-Over

The make-over continues:

I decided the shelf area needed a curtain, so in keeping with my color scheme, I bought a grey full-sized sheet, cut it in half, hemmed the raw edges, and then stenciled words in yellow:

Sorry about the wrinkles - I still don't have an iron at the farm; after all, who wants to do "real" work?

The broom "closet" also got a curtain. I found the fabric at Wal-Mart - it's really more yellow than it shows in the picture...

I found these great red fabric bins at Garden Ridge; some were even on sale. I added my chalkboard tags, tying them on with twine. I am currently looking for a chalk marker so I can write neater than the chalk stick lets me write. Hobby Lobby carries what I want but they've been out.

I can clip the curtains open with my cute decoupaged clothes pins:

I'm excited how it's coming together. I really like that I can hide the broom, mop and ladder away.

And this finally came in the mail:

I'll be adding it the next time I go. It's going on my "new" door. Here's a sneak peak of it:

Nice chippy paint, frosted windows...


I'm getting down to the fun part of the room makeover. All I can say is I am gathering quite a bit to take up with me the next visit and working like crazy to finish what I can here.

Still more to come!

:o) ,
Cecilia
The Shabby Creek Cottage transformation-thursday-no-218
Posed Perfection All-things-thursday-blog-hop-7
Savvy Southern Style wow-us-wednesdays-132
Life On Lake Shore Drive lets-party-at-bouquet-of-talent

Weekend of Fun Plus Best Pancakes Ever!

I didn't get a whole lot done this weekend. Instead we had friends up for a visit.
We met them in town and checked out the Pop-Up Art Gallery, then we had lunch at a great sandwich shop in downtown Palestine. Later, we headed back to the farm to get ready for an evening of fun:

You see, we are neighbors with a vineyard/bed and breakfast/bistro and they had their very first Grape Stomp!

So of course we went and stomped the grapes ( well, our guys didn't - haha).

Me and Susan stomping the grapes

We also enjoyed good Barbeque and great music in the vineyard. My feet still have purple stains on them but I got a cool t-shirt with my footprints on it. :-)

Grape-stained feet!

We enjoyed the evening - the weather was perfect; not too hot- which is rare for July in Texas!

Scott, Susan, Me, and Bruce

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The next morning, I made pancakes from the best recipe ever. My sister shared it with me when she came up to visit. This will now be my go to recipe for breakfast/brunches with family and friends. They are absolutely yummy! You make up the mix and just use what you need.
I love just putting fresh strawberries on top. My homemade blackberry sauce tasted great on them too. Of course, I didn't get a picture...in too big a hurry to eat them. ha!

Here's the recipe:

Oatmeal Pancake Mix

4 cups old-fashioned oats

2 cups all purpose flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 cup instant dry milk

3 Tbls baking powder

2 Tbls cinnamon 

2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cream of tarter

Mix all ingredients together well and store in a gallon zip-lock bag or airtight container.  Makes 10 cups of pancake mix.

To Make Pancakes:

2 eggs

1/3 cup canola oil 

2 cups mix

1 cup water

Beat eggs in a large bowl then beat in oil. Alternately add pancake mix and water to eggs and oil. Blend well. Cook pancakes on a hot griddle. (350 degrees on electric skillet) Makes about 10 pancakes. Good with chopped pecans added in.

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After our friends left, we did get the laundry ceiling painted and started working on my replacement door. I am trying not to feel like this project needs to get done by a certain time. However, it will be great to have this room bright, fresh, AND organized, so I really want it done! I will definitely paint the walls and hopefully get the accent wall done the next time we go up. I will share some of my projects in the meantime, so stay tuned!

Feeling relaxed and happy,
Cecilia

Juggling Several Projects At Once

I am working on several projects at one time ... Why do I do that to myself? haha. I guess it keeps me from getting bored and I feel like I'm getting more done.

I actually have a list so I can mark them off as I go. My plan is to get as many done as possible before Friday.

I have these that need a new paint job - some will be going on the wall in the guest room:

I plan to paint the covers of these and use them for display. Later, I will repurpose some for the holidays.

This is going to get a label and will be added to the bottles on the bathroom shelf:

This is going in the bathroom to go with my other dog things:

These will also get painted and will hold my travel pictures. It will be easy to switch them out:

This was $2 at the Habitat Restore - I'm thinking chalkboard:

And this could also be a chalkboard message board or maybe a recipe holder. I love its shape:

The clock will get new works and a fresh coat of paint. It is going on the mantel:

These will be made into a garland for the 4th of July and will stay for the summer:

 along with this:

I'm thinking of taking out the candle and placing starfish inside. Nice and summery!

Then there's this chair of my daughter's:

I'm recovering so it will be fresh for her new apartment as she starts her new jobs. She just graduated in December with an Art Degree and has gotten two jobs working in two museums. We are so happy for her!  She picked out this fabric:

It is a chenille type; soft and nubby.

Then there's this:

I can't tell you how excited I was to find this at a local antique store (cheap too!)...it has the windows I was looking for plus peeling paint:

Oh, I have grand plans for it! It will replace my plain, beat up, hollow core laundry room door. I am so EXCITED!!

All of this besides my painting. I am working on a portrait right now plus some just for fun paintings.

Fortunately, most of these are small projects and go quickly. But, yikes! I may need my head examined.

How about you? Do you work on multiple projects too or am I just crazy?

A Productive Week at the Farm

I am feeling very blessed right now...

I got to spend the whole week at the farm last week. Just me and the puppies. It was wonderful. Quiet, peaceful, Springtime loveliness - like these irises that were blooming:

Someone at one time planted a lot of pretty flowers. I just love discovering them as they bloom.

It was a productive week - The front and back doors finally got painted after being primed for a year ( I can procrastinate with the best of them! ) :o)  :

This is the first coat on the backdoor - used Benjamin Moore Wethersfield Moss
Same color on front door; inside is white

The bathroom shelf is in place - here is the before:

Mr. B added the bun feet for me

And after:

Sweet bird figurine, wild flower bouquet, and extra soap

Close up of flowers

I need to get another basket to place on the bottom shelf along with the other one (to use for extra TP), possibly another galvanized bucket, and also I want to find more bottles to add to the red one. I love how it adds to the bathroom. I like using extra mason jars to hold the band-aids, etc.

My burlap eggs are also finished and placed in their basket in the kitchen:

I cut pieces of burlap and used Mod Podge to glue them onto plastic Easter eggs (if you can find white or pastel eggs, I recommend that - had a hard time covering up the color). I numbered them just for fun. The basket I found at Target in the dollar section.

I was also able to finish and place a couple of my Canton treasures. The chickens were too cute to pass up:

They have claimed a spot on the entry table and are quite happy to declare "It's farm time"! Don't you love their long legs? They make me smile!!

I was really excited about finding this:

 Our jackets kept ending up all over the place so I wanted to find a coatrack. And there it was! I liked it's slender profile. It doesn't take up a lot of space in my small farmhouse. The finish was a little rusty but  I really liked the shiny chrome accent pieces:

To preserve them, I taped them off and covered them with foil before spray painting the rack:

I sprayed it a off-white. I left the chrome accents as is which was a little peeling - gives it a rustic feel.

It fits my spot just right!

hurray! A spot for our jackets!

I also found an old spring cot (cheap!) in perfect condition so I snatched that up. It fits nicely in the closet and can be pulled out when an extra bed is needed.

 Of course, what's a trip to Canton without a burlap coffee sack? Yes, I bought another one. LOL. I am going to use that in my laundry room redo. I have a great idea for it.

Canton is addicting...looking forward to going back. I still have things on my list to look for! :o)

One of the last things I worked on last week was a dresser I picked up from GW. We needed a bigger one but I was having trouble finding one that either wasn't too expensive or not overly damaged/cheaply made. I was pretty happy when I found this one:

Oops! I had already taken off one of the doors before I remembered to snap the before picture. There was only slight damage to that side. The drawers are nice and big too!

It's coming along nicely - I will soon be able to show it off!

All in all, a very productive week!

Next on the list? A laundry room redo...got to get Bruce on board as I need his help. He's already rolling his eyes..."It's a utility room! Why does it need to be pretty?"

Um, seriously? He should know me by now. Just because! Trust me....

Smiling,
Cecilia

Linking up here: Transformed-Tuesday-35
Make-it-pretty-monday-week-46