$3 Bedroom Update {Lamp Shade Project}

My master bedroom often looks more like a hotel room to me and less like a reflection of my personal style. It's almost too staged and too empty, and it just needs some pizazz! The other night, I decided to start the process of making it a little more unique, more me and less cookie cutter.

Since I do generally like the way the space looks, I wanted to ease myself into these changes, so the first one was quick and easy.

You might remember how my sconce shades looked before...

Plain.

I went to Walmart on a hunt for some extra wide bias tape and ended up scoring the perfect shade of blue. I bought two packages {less than $3 total} and went home. Please note: Bias tape is thicker than ribbon, not so slippery and easier to work with for a project like this.

I plugged in my trusty glue gun, unscrewed the shades and took a seat on my living room floor.

First, I put a bit of glue at the bottom of the shade's existing seam {the "back" of the shade that you would face toward the wall} and placed the blue bias tape where I wanted it along the bottom of the shade. I let the glue dry and pulled it snugly around the shade. Making sure it was straight and even was actually pretty easy, because I just followed the existing lines of the shade cover. I pulled it back to the seam, overlapped and secured with another dab of glue and trimmed the excess. I decided not to glue all the way around the shade, so if I ever want to remove the bias tape I can with no visible damage! The only glue spots are on the back.

Lastly, I just repeated at the top of the shade and did it again to the top and bottom of the next shade. The entire project took less than 20 minutes. Seriously. It was super quick and easy!

Here's another look...

Let's see another before and after

The subtle touches of blue really warm up the space. The two blue accent pillows were $4/ea clearance items from Lowe's, and the blue throw blanket was a $19 clearance buy at Target. I like how the new touches of blue on the bed pick up more of the blue from the existing bed skirt and pillow shams. Together they make the bed look more welcoming. I also like how the blue is balanced more evenly throughout the room by pairing it with the blue in the prints hanging near the window. Before there was too much brown and khaki. It made the room feel darker and heavier than I like.

I'll leave you with another pretty Instagram shot. Sweet dreams!

Crystal xoxo

Two More Reveals {The Door is Done}

In all fairness, a lot really has been going on around the bungalow. Sometimes I get down on myself for not being as productive as I think I should be. Then, I remind myself that I'm a working, single parent who happens to also blog and run an Etsy shop. That's a pretty full plate.

After I process all of that, I sit back, put my feet up and remind myself that it's okay that every one of my projects takes double the anticipated time. It's also okay to post unstaged and imperfect pictures from time to time...

One of my most recent projects was a new storm door. You probably remember the original door post where I mention my little cleaning mishap. Anyway, it's been replaced {thanks to my dad}!

First, the broken door had to come down.

Say "hi" to my parents and Preston. It was a family affair that day!

Next, the old door had to go out to the curb. {Someone actually came and took it in the night.}

Then, we were left with a giant hole in the house. This part was a little nerve wracking!

Dad, was then able to jump into the real work!

Hours later {HOURS}, we had a beautiful new storm door installed! This took some figuring out though, and my typically handy dad seemed to struggle a bit. Let's just say that it was a process... 

Let's take a look back at what it looked like before.

Much better! Yes?

Next, was a necessary change for Preston's room. We don't have central air, and my little guy is very warm blooded, so I decided to get him a ceiling fan before summer really sets in. He started with a dreaded "boob light". {It was here when we bought the house.}

Please, ignore the poor picture quality. I'm still relying on my cell phone for all my photo capturing.

Anyway, I decided to go with the same ceiling fan I already have in my bedroom, and I did that for a few reasons.

First of all, I like the simple style of it. I also love the power it gives out and the overall quality of the fan. Our ceilings are pretty tall, and this fan comes with a handy remote that includes a light dimmer too. Basically, it's the perfect fan, in my bronze finish, for a modest budget. You can't go wrong with that. It's also a special order product from Lowe's, and since I work there now, a discount was taken off this time around. Score!

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Disregard the giant toy mess. I've recently taken care of it with a new toy storage option. A post on that will come later.

I'll leave you tonight with one of my most recent favorite shots of Preston. He just came home from nine days away in Florida with my parents visiting my brother and his family. I didn't get to go, because I had to work {insert sad face}.

This was taken on the beach near Palm City. Isn't he precious?!

Crystal xoxo

Before & After: Two Projects Under $20

I've sort of lost steam in the bathroom, but I have been productive in a few other ways. Don't worry. The bathroom will get done...eventually. I can't live in ruins forever!

In the meantime, let's take a look at some of my FINISHED tasks. Shall we?!

First up, if you're a Facebook fan, you may remember this little $5 stool I picked up at a local antique mall.

Half a yard of fabric later {$3.75} and a staple gun, and I had THIS for under $10!

There was the great debate on whether I should paint the legs or not, and you can see that I opted not to. The wood was in almost perfect condition and too beautiful to touch, and I can always do that later, but for now I'm super happy with the outcome! Trust me when I say this project was really easy too. This is only the second time I've ever recovered something, and I was amazed at how quickly it went! I even lined up the Greek key pattern almost perfectly, if I do say so myself.

Onward. Project two is another one with Facebook mention. You might recall that I scored some great tiles for $1.73/sheet. If you're not up on the price of tile, that's an AMAZING price! I ended up buying the store out and only ended up paying around $20 for the loot.

Here's a look at what my fireplace looked like before. It was worn and ugly and still proudly held the bungalow's original 1940's brown squares.

A coworker of mine ended up helping me out in a major way and installed it for FREE on his day off! I am so appreciative of all his hard work and friendly gesture. Thanks for being a good sport Chris and posing for a bloggy pic too!

Drum roll, please....

$20 CAN refinish a fireplace. Who woulda thunk it? Open those eyes ladies and be resourceful bargain shoppers. It pays off in such a major way!

As you can see, I have yet to dress the fireplace. I'm actually working on a little project {with major impact} for the built-ins, and I'm also considering painting the inside brick now.

As with any older home, the floor was anything but level, and there are some areas that had to be heavily caulked in the back, so I think a few coats of paint on the brick will hide that well. It turns out that these smaller mosaic tiles were perfect for a not so perfect area though. Chris says these smaller tiles are more of a pain to deal with, but they are more forgiving with an uneven area.

Please note: This fireplace will be used for decorative purposes only. You should not build a fire over tiles such as these, and our chimney was capped when we bought it.


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Crystal xoxo

And So It Begins {My Bathroom Makeover}

It all started with a leaky toilet...

Well, it REALLY started the day Preston flushed the toilet {while I was in the shower}, and I heard the most awful, indescribable clang and bang I have ever heard. That was followed by a rush of water, a screaming toddler, and a frantic, naked mommy jumping out of the shower pulling at ANY towel and absorbent material I could get my hands on! I don't even remember how I got the water to stop rushing, but I do remember the massive mess. Poor Preston was soaked to his knees and pretty shook up! From that day on, the toilet just did a slow, subtle leak, and we lived with this constantly...

As functional as the towel was, it wasn't practical. Eventually, we were able to buy a new toilet, and my handyman father put it in! I would have never guessed, but it was a pretty exciting day. Yes, girls. I get excited about toilets. Whatever. Don't judge!

Then, the toilet paper holder broke, and I took it all as a sign. It was finally time to redo the bathroom, and it was LONG over due! When we first moved in, almost three years ago, you couldn't even take a shower. We priced claw foot shower surrounds, but they were WAY out of the budget, so we just bent some pipe and made our own!

Other than that, the space hasn't been touched, and we are in desperate need of functional storage! I'll let the pictures do the talking...

As you can see, I stuff toiletries anywhere I can, but that's about to change! I have some storage solution ideas up my sleeve, but first things first. The wallpaper. It's slowly coming down, because my work schedule and a toddler aren't very conducive to that sort of tedious work, but I'll get it done! I've gotten pretty good at being patient, and my New Year's resolution has been to admit, and be alright with, the fact that I am not Super Woman. As a result, I make careful plans and cross them off my list whenever I can! It is what it is, and it's just me now, so I refuse to be a constant stress mess! Blog postings will get done when they get done, and I remind myself to sit down and play with Preston whenever I'm home with him. To be honest, this meticulous, O.C.D., motivated, go-go-go lady is happily embracing this new philosophy! It feels SO good to just let go!

Anyway...back on point! I cannot focus on a color scheme for my new bathroom, but I have decided on TWO pieces...

Eeekk! I LOVE this light fixture from Lowe's. You would pay $118 for it, but I get an emloyee discount. Bonus! Plus, that helps my bottom line. I'd like to stick to a $500, or less, budget for the entire space. I could probably do it for less, but I need a new vanity {my pedistol is cracked and the square footage is a storage oportunity}, and have you priced faucets lately? Those bad boys are NOT cheap!

This is a surface mount medicine cabinet {I like to make things easy}, so it will stick out slightly, but it's another storage option. The finish also matches the fixture, and it's also from Lowe's. I could get a much cheaper mirror, or spray paint the one I have, but we REALLY need the storage. Did I mention we don't currently have any storage?

Stay tuned. Something tells me it's going to be quite the "after"!



Preston's Dress-Up Corner: The Dramatic Before and After

I'm sure you all remember Preston's Dress-Up Corner...

BUT I thought you "might" appreciate this little nook ever more if you knew what it looked like when we bought this house {2009}! Brace yourself....

Then, we painted it and added wood blinds...

Next, I dolled it up for our new baby boy...

Whew! It's already seen A LOT of changes, but I like the current one the very best...

Momma loves you, Preston, and I cannot wait for a zillion lazy afternoons of dress-up fun!

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Preston's Toddler Room: The Saga Continues...

I'm still plugging away at Preston's Toddler Room, but I'm ready to reveal a bit more of it...

Of course, I didn't like the diagonal way I first hung the "GROW" {third picture}, but it was an easy fix! I just included that picture to show you an up close shot of my handiwork. Yep, I painted that Very Hungry Caterpillar on some unfinished Walmart wooden letters. Total cost? $8

This is what that corner looked like BEFORE...

I've also gotten the new crib wall basically done. I might tweek it a bit, but I've stretched the budget as much as I can, and this is what I ended up with...

The only "new" things here are the three vintage books above. They were $1 each, and I love that they all have "boy" in the title. I also got the two white frames at Target for $12 each and put a "happy" and a "sad" picture from his first birthday photo shoot inside them. Each frame is 11x14, but they sort of get dwarfed by the tall ceilings and empty, brown wall. I'll probably play with it some and add a few new things eventually...

I do play with his sheets and swap them out often. He has two sock monkey ones in the same print as the pillow, lamp shade and light switch plate. Although we've had to lower the crib, he does have a red gingham crib skirt that's hard to see! The red blanket gets switched out often too. I also swap out the brown changing pad cover to the same monkey fabric as the lamp shade. That brown changing pad cover matches the brown bumper though. To originally save money, I never bought a crib set. I just got individual pieces from various places to build the look I got.

Here's what that wall looked like before...

As you can see, I've kept all of the basics and obtained a new look with a few new accessories and by simply rearranging the furniture!