progress in the dining room....

over the last few months we have finally moved forward in the dining room. it's not finished - but we've made huge progress.

today - I reveal that it looks like this....

it used to look like this....(circa 2005)....

 ...and for a little while it looked like this....(much of 2010!)....

 

...yes - a very scrappy mess - piled high with the contents of our study while that room was being painted and upgraded....and no - the study is still not complete either!!!....yes - that's how we roll!!!

we painted - the same as the lounge room (as these rooms are connected) - removing the blue feature wall (yay!) - and we pulled up the carpet (it's currently raw concrete - this will be painted - possibly white) and lay down a rug.

nice change - yes?!?!

I love to walk past this room now (which happens a zillion times a day as it's the main access way between the front door/main bedroom/study to the rest of the house.

the white dots around the edges are putty patches where we pulled up the nail bits that held down the carpet. there was also a lot of glue bits to sand back from the undelay. we'd love to keep it raw concrete - but it's not in great shape - and finishing it by sanding and sealing is just too expenisve and dusty - so we'll paint. (we'd ultimatley love a wood floor - but as finances don't allow for such now - we'll get by how we can - at least the blue carpet has gone - yay!!! - well in half the room at least - you'll see what I mean in the following photos.....!)

here's some more pics.....

and here's the view back to the loungeroom......

and here's the loungeroom today.....(yes I've been playing around with the layout once more - it's an unusual room and difficult to fit it all in with a baby-grand piano - peeking at the left)....

....see - the blue carpet still exists on that side of the room!!!!!

ah - this home reno stuff is mighty slow when you have 3 children, work, uni, sport - life!!!!!

but today - I'm feeling really good at the progress we've made so far.....

hopes and dreams.......white linen slip covers for the dining chairs, new window coverings (perhaps a roman shade), some art and pictures, some kind of pendant light over the table, some larger base boards (they're tiny in the entire house) and of course the painted floor.

love this painted wood floor I found this morning on houzz (and I now have it pinned on pinterest!!)....

we'll see how adventurous I get. perhaps we'll start with white and see how we go from there!!!

will post photos when we tackle some more.

hope all is well in your world.
loads of hugz from here.
cheryl xox.

main bedroom - sneak peek

We spent our first night back in our own bed last night - * bliss * - after bed hopping between the kids beds and the lounges for 3 nights.
We do have a pull out sofa bed in the office, but that was just all too much work!!!

After 3 coats of undercoat and 2 coats of topcoat - here's a little look at how our main bedroom looks this morning.....

ahhhh - so nice!!!
That is just fabric folded over our duna/quilt at the end of the bed. I've had the fabric for a very very long time - waiting for the right moment to come out and show itself!
It will be made into a duna cover sometime this week.
I love how it looks in the room - and thankfully mr w. loves it too. (I was worried he might think it a little too girly - but no - he thinks it all looks great - nice!)

There will also be 2 pillow covers made out of the same fabric - and a long scatter cushion (similar style to the one made for goob here) made out of my huge stash of red fabrics.

On the other side of the room - we have a cabinet that needs painting - and eventually we'll get a comfortable chair.
I need to work on some curtains - and some artwork - painting various picture frames - it's all moving forward slowly but surely.
mr w. is the main room painter (job well done!) - while I work on all the other bits and pieces. Great teamwork really!!
We're absolutely loving the open and airy feel of our new room! (We've been in this house since 2003 - but the room feels bright and new now!)

Ultimately - new carpet would also be our dream - but that's way off the cards for now - so dreary blue it must stay.

Here's a quick before and after -

Posts may be a little slow around here for awhile. I know - sad - I'll miss you all too!!
I have loads of uni work I really need to sink my teeth into - plus I go on 3 weeks prac in a local primary school next week.

Wish me luck.
This time next year I should be all completed and be a real life qualified teacher!

Hugz from here.
cheryl xox.

Linking here.....

WOW US WEDNESDAYS

goob's room - progress report 2

thought it was time to check in on the general overall progress of goob's room makeover.
for those that have been following along - there has been lots of busy-ness - and you're all probably thinking - heck - isn't it all done yet???? (so is goob - trust me!!!) - but it is getting there - and today i'll show you the proof!

here's a couple of photos of where we are today - with a list below stating what's been done and what is to do (i may regret making this list - but it's something i just need to do!).

so - here we go..........the view from her door.......

can i say ahhhhhhh! we have come a long long way.

here's a little before and after as a reminder.....

and the other side of the room.....

and another little reminder of where we've come from .....

and here's some various other pics of bits done around the room thus far.....

goob's room - the list
* bigger bed  - done - thankyou ikea.
* white blind - done - thankyou freedom.
* blue walls gone - done - thanks to 3 coats of undercoat.
* cushions and pillows - done - back european pillows are from ikea (plus the white quilt), white fluffy cushions (made from bathroom mats)  i've moved in from our loungeroom (posted about here) and turquoise long feature cushion i made last week (i'll post about this one soon).
* lamp makeovers (2) - done - one posted about here - the other i'll post about soon.
* pictures above the bed - done - thankyou ikea - although i have been playing with some ripped bits of scrapbooking paper around the inside of that middle picture - but that will come out - and they will be all hung straight soon - i promise!!!!
* bookcase makeover with fabric and paint - done - love it! - posted about here.
* entrance gallery wall - done - posted about here.
* dressing table with loads of storage - done - thankyou again ikea.
* turquoise bunting flags - done - posted about here.
* large wall mirror - done - posted about here.
* hair stuff containment thingy - done - posted about here.
* notice board - done - will post about soon.
* small storage ottoman - done - thankyou office works - posted about here.
* curtain rod - half done - recycled from other parts of the house - just have to stick on some old crystal door knobs to the ends to finish.
* curtains - half done - already owned these - just need to add some more fabric as they don't currently go to the floor.
*  new bedding - half done - the quilt cover shown is actually black and white floral - this is the white underside showing!! i will find a nice white quilt cover at some stage - or make something. this works for now.
* bedside tables with drawer storage - half done - in the process of painting (they're 2nd hand) and changing the knob hardware. these ikea tables (in the photos) are working fine until the new tables are ready.
* turquoise quilt (to fold at the end of bed) - not done - i have the fabric but this project is on the backburner - too many other priorities right now.
* final paint colour picked and painted - not done - most likely very similar to this undercoat - white - but just have to pick the 'right' white!
* window trim painted - not done (dragging my feet on that one really)
* fairy lights around bed wall - not done - will get when we can afford this bit of whimsy - but it will happen. we all need more fairy lights in our lives!!
* chandelier to replace ugly ceiling fixture - not done - had an ikea price gripe about this issue here. for now - it's a 'wait to afford something' deal.
* wardrobe doors taken down and replaced by curtain - not done. (we're thinking of going this way - we'll see how it goes - otherwise the doors and trim need repainting.)
* large g for the door - not done - have supplies but..........
* door and trim painted - not done 
* new carpet - not done - and we just can't afford it now while i'm studying - but it's on the wish list so i'm posting it here.

phew!! - i think that's it.
so we are getting there - slowly but surely. i think you can tell i hate the painting - but love the making!!!
ho hum!!

thanks for stopping by - hope you have a great week.

cheryl xox.

linking up to.....

goob's room - upcycled door to mirror

as mentioned in yesterday's post - i'm back today to reveal some more progress on goob's room makeover.

today's post is about an upcycled cabinet door - which has been turned into a wall mirror.....

it used to look like this.....

fyi - the cabinet this belonged to is in our bedroom. (we got it for free when we did a cabinet swap with our neighbours!!) under the doors lay loads of flush fit big heavy drawers. it was super frustrating to open the doors and then open the drawers to get to things - so one morning i declared that they had to come off!! the whole cabinet will be re-painted when we get a chance to get to our bedroom! and the other door may be upcycled to a chalkboard in the very near future.

no progress photos of the following process (bad blogger i know...) - but here's my method -

- after wiping down (no sanding - i'm too lazy!!) - i painted on 2 coats of zinsser bulls eye 1-2-3 (undercoat/primer-sealer/stain killer) - love this stuff - and 2 coats of dulux aquanamel semi gloss fair bianca half strength. (both were bought from bunnings)

- i then sanded it back heavily in spots with our nifty hand sander - and painted on/wiped off a little glaze i made with jo sonja's clear glaze medium & semco acrylic paint in burnt umber. (both bought from spotlight)

- we left all the hardware on the door - 'cuz it reminds us of it's former use - and it looks kinda funky!!!

- we then measured up and got a mirror cut to size from a local glass merchant (after getting about 5 quotes from various places) - then attached the mirror in with heavy duty double sided tape. (mirror cost $50 - which was a bit of a bugger - but it fits perfectly & is covered in a special film on the back which means it won't shatter in a million sharp bits if something bad were to happen)

- on the back of the frame - we added some heavy duty sawtooth frame hangers (see here for what they look like - these aren't the exact brand we used - but ask for sawtooth frame hangers at bunnings and they'll lead you to them!) - and using a spirit level - hung the whole thing up on some hooks.

note: it's not in the exact right spot on the wall - it's level but we didn't centre it as much as i would have liked - when i get around to it - i might fix it up!!

here's lots of pics.....

tissue paper flowers posted about here

this mirror not only reflects loads of light around the room - it also allows goob to have a place to do her hair and makeup - so that she's not taking over the bathroom. (3 girls must share 1 bathroom - and at times it can get pretty crowded in that space!!!)

here's a before and after pic for one last reminder......

and here's one more last pic - 'cuz i can.....

i'll be back tomorrow to post about that jar hanging thingy up there!!

hope you're having a great weekend.

cheryl xox.