Sittin' at the Kids Table

Sorry I have been MIA for a week - it wasn't really an intended absence, but between colds, secret projects :), and life in general, I just didn't have time!

I joined Hometalk today, and I have no idea what I am doing there.  Find me and hold my hand, okay?

I did manage to complete a little makeover that I have been wanting to do for about a year now.  I picked up a little table for the boys from Craiglist about a year ago (pretty sure it is by Ikea), and I had grand intentions of painting it to freshen it up a little.  But then all of that fun stuff with Matt losing his job and us moving and yada yada yada happened, and the little table slipped my mind.  It was fine as it was...

...but I wanted to give it a little personality.  I had a coupon for a free sample jar of paint from Valspar, so I picked up a fresh color and gave that bad boy a little love...

I did keep the seats and the table top white because it is a great surface to clean easily.

Now...go find me on Hometalk and tell me what the heck I am supposed to do there!

Suitcase Storage

First - thanks for all of your love for yesterday's post about the floor.  It was nice to have people as excited about it as I was! :)

As anyone who has ever seen a kids room can tell you, toy storage is ALWAYS a necessity.

 We are blessed enough to have a space dedicated to toys and play (that is a whole other post), but even so - we still need toy storage for the little toys that the boys seem to prefer to keep in their room.

This was taken before I hung their pennants. And before I got them a new rug - which I haven't blogged about but you will see it in the pics below. 

I had been on the lookout for cheap toy storage, but even cheap toyboxes really aren't all that cheap - and we already have one toy box in there (that I found on the curb and repainted).  Also, because they share a room, there isn't a whole lot of unused wall space to put any kind of storage.

BUT.  About a week ago the boys and I were shopping a nearby Salvation Army, and I found these two matching suitcases.  Suitcases at a thrift store are a dime a dozen - there are always a TON, but I was happy to find two that matched.

Weirdly, they were priced differently, one at $4 and one at $5, but still, I can't complain about those prices! I lugged them home, gave them a quick clean-up with some orange-oil cleaner, cut out the middle divider and any straps, and told the boys to fill 'em up.

I've found that they both love to lug them around, and I am sure it won't be long until they start to 'pack' their suitcases.  Jack can open them on his own, although Luke cannot (but that also goes for things like the toy box - you just gotta help him a little!). 

The suitcases also fit really well with the whole "Adventure is out there" thing going on in their room! For the safety conscious - I was a little put off by the metal edges - but it is rolled on the edges, so it is pretty dull.  I ran my fingers along all of the edges to check it out - and it isn't any sharper than most of the playground equipment we have come across.

So tell me - what have you found to help you store all the odds and ends that collect around your place?  Any other suitcase users out there? 
 
Wit Wisdom & Food | The HumberHome Project | Corner of Main | Mailbox Journey

A Painted Floor

I am going to go ahead and just get it over with.  You guys?  I painted the floor.  From the first time I saw this room, I had a picture in my head. Granted - it didn't look ANYTHING like what I was imagining...

It took a lot of work, and a lot of time, but finally...

 
Like I said - I KNEW it could happen! Removing the wheelchair ramp and cleaning the space made a huge difference, but I was hoping for just a little bit more.  I cleaned and etched the concrete floors to prep them for paint, and then impatiently waited for them to dry.  Once they were FINALLY dry, I got started with a basecoat of white porch paint from Valspar.

We then let that cure for a few days.  The boys absolutely loved this for some reason, it was SO bright and white in there that we started to refer to it as the swimming pool.

After letting that dry, I got started on drawing in my lines.  I would love to write a detailed how-to for this, but the truth is I totally messed it up, got angry, erased everything to start over and eventually it all worked out.  And then I taped them.

I used a wood chisel to make sure that my corners were nice and straight.  If you are doing this, remember, you can't just tape the diamond shape, you have to tape inside the line so that your blocks are all the same size.  It is considerably tougher than painting stripes, but if I can do it anyone can! I painted my diamonds ('New Concrete' by Valspar), eagerly pulled off the tape, and...

UGH.  Even the Frogtape for delicate surfaces was a little too harsh for this project.  I spent a good portion of that night crawling around touching up the lines, but in the end - it was all worth it.

That door is no longer with us - stay tuned for that update later this week!

Eventually we will fill in the room a little more, and we will probably bring that cool green locker back in for outside toy storage, but for now - I am just loving the transformation of our mudroom!

Our total cost for this project was right around $70, which isn't super cheap - but it is not all that much for such a great change!

What do you think?  Would you ever paint a pattern on the floor?

Linking up: Mad Skills Monday, Metamorphosis Monday, Craft-o-Maniac, Nifty Thrifty Tuesday, Tuesdays Treasures, Thrifty Decor Chick Before and After Party, Southern Lovely Show and Share, House of Hepworths,

Night Tide

So we have these Adirondack chairs, they are just great chairs.  One was a gift from my Aunt, one was a gift I got for Matt, one we literally found at an abandoned lot, and one is a tiny plastic one that we got for Jack two years ago.  The only problem?  None of them match.  I don't really care that they are all different styles, but two of them are red (different reds though), one of them is untreated wood, and one is tan plastic. 

And they are ALL looking a little worse for wear.  I knew I wanted to update these guys, but they were WAY down on the ol' to-do list, so I didn't make any immediate plans to freshen them up.

UNTIL....

We stopped in at Wal-mart to pick up a replacement bulb for my tail light.  Matt says I can find a clearance department anywhere I go - and it is absolutely true.  I stumbled upon a cart chock full of spray paint with a big ol' "SPRAY PAINT BLOWOUT" sign.  What was I supposed to do? Walk away?! Puh-lease. 

I grabbed six cans of Rustoleum Night Tide, in a High Gloss Enamel.  A few days later I found myself impatiently waiting for the mudroom floor to dry, and about an hour of daylight left after the boys went to bed, so I got to sprayin! The color turned out to be a little more teal than the lid, but I love it!

I won't say that the back yard has hit 'oasis' status just yet, but for $6 (actually $5 - I didn't use all of the cans) this has made a big impact!

Have you done any makeovers on the cheap lately?

**And yeah - the retaining wall needs some love.  We will get there! But since we are on the topic anyway, I am thinking of painting it as a temporary solution.  Would gray paint be bonkers? The white in full sunlight can be a little glaring.

Mudroom: Stage 2

Stage 1 can be found here. 

I will be honest guys, I am a little bummed by our progress in here.  I wanted to have more done today, but the weather is not cooperating.  It is just a case of me being impatient, but we have made a LITTLE progress in the mudroom. 

Last time you saw it, it looked like this...

...which was a vast improvement, but there was still a lot that we wanted to do to make this into a more welcoming entry as well as a functioning mudroom.  Last night after the boys went to bed, Matt had practice (he plays bass) so I got to work in the mudroom. 

I swept it all out twice, and then I vacuumed...

...and then I hosed it all down with a garden hose and used this degreaser/etcher by Valspar to prep the concrete. 

I would love to have been able to have pictures of this step, but I was working on my own, so...sorry about that! Basically you put the cleaner in a plastic watering can, and sweep it back and forth to cover small sections of the concrete.  If the cleaner DOES NOT fizz when it hits the floor - it isn't working.  I then scrubbed each section.  Next up, you just hose it all down, and let it dry overnight. I also scrubbed down all the cinderblocks and the window sills. 

And this is where Mother Nature is not working with me.  It rained last night, so the air is super humid here, and it just does not want to dry.  I really wanted to get the first coat on the floor while the boys were napping, but if your concrete is not totally dry, you really cannot paint it and expect your paint to last!

Half painted.

I did manage to get a coat on the half-wall though, and man! It is already so much brighter in there! A coat of paint really can make a huge difference!

So there you go.  Some underwhelming real time progress!

Signed,
     A disappointed DIY-er