Top Ten Projects From 2010

Ummmmmm, I really should change the title to "Top Ten Posts From Half of 2010." This 'lil here blog is only six months old. It's my baby. It was just this past summer when I discovered all of you lovelies and decided to join in the fun.

I'm going to share my most popular posts as well as a few of my personal favourites. I apologize in advance if you've seen all of these projects a trillion times already. I have this habit of blasting them all over the internet at every single link party that exists.

New Years Resolution #257: Stop crashing ten thousand link parties. No-one wants to see your projects that badly.

Post #1: Teeny Tiny Powder Room Reno {Link here}

Our little half bath got a makeover from top to bottom. Al and I did all the work ourselves. It's the only room in the whole house that is completely finished. I bought three different mirrors before finding the perfect one. It was worth it. 

Post #2: Ugly Pine Side Table Makeover {Link here}

Out of boredom one day I decided to try painting our ugly pine side table. I tried my hand at making a stencil, too. It turned out pretty cute. Buh bye, pine.

Post #3: Green on Green Stripes for Roary's Friend's Bedroom {Link here}

This is one of the first home projects I ever posted. Those stripes took for-e-v-e-r. I loved them then and still love them now. They are in our little Ethiopian baby's room which is pretty much empty except for a matching striped zebra. Come on referral!!!!   

Post #4: DIY Butterfly Collage Wall Art {Link here}

This post is one that still gets so many visits! I borrowed and tweaked the idea from a few other bloggers so I can't take too much credit for this one. 

Post #5: Burlap Stocking Tutorial {Link here and here}



Not saying anything more about these. I don't want you giving me dagger eyes through your computer screen.

Post #6: Homemade Holiday Gift Tags and Wrapping {Link here and here}

Not saying anything more about these, either. Please no dagger eyes, pleeeeeease.

Post #7: Fall Wreath Tutorial {Link here}

This was the first wreath I ever made. In hindsight I wish I used some white. Everything's gotta have white, right???

Post #8: Tie-Up Shade Tutorial {Link here}

This was my attempt to create a Pottery Barn knock-off tie-up shade. I wrote a tutorial. I swore I'd never do another tutorial after that one.

Post #9: Cubby Shelf Makeover {Link here}

We added beadboard to the back of this cubby shelf and gave it some fresh paint and tiny numbers. We still don't have it up anywhere yet. Add that to the list.

Post #10: The Longest Windowbox Ever {Link here}

Alex made this giant windowbox for me for my birthday. It's at the front of the house and it's huge - twelve feet long to be exact! Don't even ask how many annuals I need to buy every spring to fill it up. Ouch. But so worth it.

So, that's a little summary of what I've been working on for the last few months. I really hope I didn't just bore you to death with my slew of old photos. I promise that I'll have some new projects and ramblings for 2011. And maybe, just maybe, you'll stick around to read about those, too. I hope so!! :)

P.S. I had to use some smaller photos since the quality was really poor. Sorry 'bout that.

P.S.S. I put this post together just so I could participate in Rhoda's top projects of 2010 post. I was feeling left out. But not anymore............ weeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Breakfast Room Progress

Amidst the Thanksgiving/Christmas craziness we've found bits of time to work on the breakfast room. I thought I'd share our progress so far.

First, just for fun, I'll show you a few shots of the room the day we moved in. Compared to the rest of the house, this room was the least ugly. But it was still pretty plain. And beige.

Those curtains have been my nemesis since this spring when I finally got to take them down.
I stomped on them.



The previous owners really liked beige. Like, really liked it.



I have no idea why there is a hunter green patio set in the kitchen.
P.S. Our kitchen still looks like that.    :S   Minus the hunter green.

Random shot of Roary.

Here's how the room is looking as of this morning:

We installed a new 5-panel bifold door on the closet.

We primed and painted it Simply White.

We added a sparkly knob.

We patched, primed, and painted the walls Seagrass and the ceiling Simply White.
We also added crown moulding (I knew I would get my way eventually).
We filled the nail holes, caulked, and painted the moulding, too.

We added the extra piece of trim on the baseboards and primed and painted them Simply White.

We painted out all of the window trim in Simply White.

We also installed my favourite roller shades of all time.
We also have these in our living room, dining room, and spare room.
I really do love them.

Had to block the view of Alex's fire-engine red trailer in the backyard.

Here's the other window.

 

This shade blocks the view of the cars in the driveway. Sweet. 



There's still a bit of finishing work to do before we can start on the fun stuff like rugs, light fixtures, table/chair makeover, curtain rods, curtains, and accessories. But we're getting there. :)

Adorable Antique Desk Thingy

Hi. How are you doing today? I'm still doing nothing and I loooooove it. I did attempt to make a turkey pot pie this afternoon in order to feel semi-productive. I'm not really sure if the Canadian Living Test Kitchen really tested their recipe since the filling was waaaaaay runny. The good news is that I have some pastry leftover to make some buttertarts tomorrow. 'Cause my cupboards, fridge, and freezer aren't already filled with Twinkies (Alex), peanut brittle, toffee butter crunch, Lindt chocolates, chocolate covered almonds, shortbread, mint chocolate chip ice-cream, chocolate frozen yogurt, After Eight straws, chocolate covered cherries, and leftover Hazelnut fudge torte.

Note to self: Elliptical.In.Basement.Is.My.Friend.

Anywhooooo, I wanted to show you a little piece of furniture that I am uber excited about. I'll pretend you have all the time in the world to read the non-exciting story behind it, too.

Awhile back on a road trip, I wandered into a consignment shop and found an adorable little table/vanity/desk thing amongst all of the tacky trinkets and eighties furniture. I really, really wanted to buy it. After checking the price tag ($225) and knowing that I had no real spot to put it, I left it behind.

On my next road trip I drove through the same town and checked to see if the table/vanity/desk thing was still there. It was. I even took a picture of it and posted about it here just in case Alex would see the picture, see its potential, and insist that we go back to get it. He didn't.

On my next road trip (okay, I really like road trips) I finally brought Alex to see it. He had the nerve to ask me where it would go and what we would use it for. Um, it's so tiny it could go anywhere and we would use it for looking cute. Hel-lo. He said no.

Fast forward to my last road trip a few weeks before Christmas. Alex was in Toronto to watch a basketball game which meant I was free to buy whatever I wanted.

I brought my mom to see the table/vanity/desk thingy. She said I should get it. I said it was too much. She asked the store owner if she would take $150 for it instead of $225. The lady said yes.

SOLD!!!

(Aren't moms the best?)

The best part about the whole thing is that I found the perfect little spot for it right in our living room. We have this awkward little space on one side of our couch where the wall is slightly wider than on the other side. A regular-sized coffee table looks lost there. This table/vanity/desk thing is the perfect size. It will also give me a little spot to stash my laptop on when I'm not blog stalking using it.

A few of the things I love about it:

It also has a tiny little chair that goes with it (that I forgot to take a photo of). I am so excited to fix it up with a b-e-a-u-tiful coat of white paint and some teeny glass knobs. I was thinking Cloud White by Benjamin Moore.

Any other nice shades of white that you'd recommend? 

P.S. Is it weird that I always get nervous before starting a project?