Buh-Bye Orange MiniBar!

Remember back when I showed you my Gallery Wall?  I absolutely adore that gallery wall, but the back of this hallway was really bumming me out.  I hated it.  In fact, I gagged every time I walked in my door (okay that's a little bit of stretch, but I probably could have!)

Here is what the bar looked like when we first moved in.  Please be sure to notice the wine bottle border, chipping orange laminate countertop, and weird smell of mildew and old alcohol. Oh wait, you can't smell that... guess you'll have to take my word for it!

And after some pretty extensive (yet still completely FREE) work, I was able to turn it into something I am actually proud of!!

I started by painting the rest of the hallway the same color as my gallery wall. 

Then I got to work on the countertops.  While I had all the pictures to walk you through how I did it, Boog fed my SD card (with 1200+ pictures on it) to the dog.  So you can follow this tutorial... it's probably better than mine anyway if I am being honest with myself :o)

The counter turned out AWESOME.  I used lots of coats of Poly so it's really durable, but I was never brave enough to try it in my kitchen when we had laminate.  Creative Kristi said hers has held up perfectly though!

I knew I wanted a lamp on the bar, but I hated the stretch of cord that had to run across the countertop.  I made a no sew cord cover and I am currently working on about 4 more to cover some other ugly cords in the house :o)  It also covered up the ugly alarm system plug that is hanging out of the wall :o)

You can find a good tutorial for that here.

BEFORE

AFTER

No, I still haven't gotten around to painting my record cabinet.  I can't figure what to do about the fabric in front of the blasted speakers.  So here it sits in it's oak-y goodness.

BEFORE

AFTER

What was once a thorn in my side is now such a calm and peaceful space to walk into.   Too bad all it holds is all of my cleaning supplies :o) 

 I also want to note that this is still a temporary fix. When we begin homeschooling we are converting this area to a built-in desk.  HOPEFULLY similar to this one!

via

I know, I know... now all you care about is that picture.  Gorgeous huh?!  Maybe one day....

Katie

Linky Parties

Tatertots and Jello

Monday

Lines Across My Face, Dittle Dattle, C.R.A.F.T., Sumo's Sweet Stuff, Keeping it Simple, Singing Three Little Birds,

Embellishing Life Everyday, Pinkkopotamus, Around Tuit, Craft-O-Maniac, Life Made Lovely, The Girl Creative, Skip to my Lou,  Between Naps on the Porch

Tuesday

Home Stories A to Z,Not Just a Housewife ,DIY by Design,Project Queen

Wednesday

Ginger Snap Crafts,Night Owl Crafting,Blue Cricket Design,Someday Crafts,My Girlish Whims,seven thirty three

Polka Dots on Parade,Creations by Kara,Sew Woodsy,Goodbye City, Hello Suburbs,Sew Much Ado,

Saved by Suzy,Primitive and Proper, Sweet Peas and Bumblebees, Lil Luna, Fireflies and Jellybeans

Thursday

The Shabby Creek Cottage, Saved by Love Creations, The 36th Avenue, A Glimpse Inside, House of Hepworths

Somewhat Simple, Frugalicious Me, Making it with Allie, The Idea Room, Saved by Suzy, No Minimalist Here, From my Front Porch to Yours, Bear Rabbit Bear, A Creative Princess

A DOUBLE WHAMMY and a Giveaway!

Day 1.... 5 posts down and a bazillion and one to go! An Introduction, a List, 2 tutorials, and an introspective memoir :) But what kickoff day would be complete without a room reveal and a GIVEAWAY!! (Not to mention TWO room reveals and a giveaway!)

WARNING: This is seriously the longest post ever, but hopefully it's worth it!

I have been waiting and planning for this day for awhile and I am SO excited to show off the first two "COMPLETE" rooms in our new house!! (I say that, but don't be surprised if in 3 months I do another room reveal and it looks totally different... I do that a lot :-)


May I present to you...drumroll, please... Boog's Purple Room!

AND Bear's Vintage Eclectic Pink Room!

TOTAL COST FOR BOTH.....keep that drum rollin.... $72! But I'll break that down in a later post :-)


When we moved in 3 months ago, Boog's room was in fact purple, but Bear's was a different story. (Hide your eyes or prepare to be nauseated)

I apologize for the downright hideous picture, but how am I supposed to take a good one in a room that is high gloss hot pink on two walls and high gloss dark purple on two walls? And a fan that is the size of my head and has 6 different color blades NONE of which are on the walls!?!? NOT HAPPENIN. While I'm sure this fit well with the previous owners decor, it was a little too dark for my taste :-)

After 2 coats of primer... I went with a "dusty pink" (I've learned if I put the word dusty in front of every color I love... I don't have to dust as often because it just adds to the color :-) I found the color on the oops shelf at Lowes for $5!! Woot, woot! I'm pretty much in love.

As seen here I created a vintage gallery wall from all the pictures I found in a recent shopping spree at my favorite store (more on that later!) The thing I spent the most on is that hamper down on the right, a splurge at $8... but you gotta hide dirty clothes in something pretty!

Below is a great view of the plant stand hanging on the wall of our garage when we moved in... do you see it? Flip it upside down and you have a beautiful hanging canopy. (It was a toss up between this and a pot rack)

Boog's room is the only color in the whole house that I liked when we moved in. But it has still been a work in progress.

Since we have lived here, my baby has given up her paci and her "rocky rocky" which is now in Bears room (sniff, sniff) but it made room for her new desk ($20) at goodwill.  
Oh how I love this window... you might see more of this window soon, I love it that much!

I am super excited about these rooms and I hope you enjoyed looking at them. I will go more in depth about a lot of these elements in the future, but if you have any questions... just ask!

And now for the FuN pArT (wasn't that fun, hehe) I am giving away these potholders from the incredible Erin Duke at The Life & Craft of Erin Leigh Duke.  This is one talented woman!  She makes some absolutely beautiful things so check out her Etsy shop as well! I will also include two "S" hooks so that you can hang them on your stove in your kitchen if you so desire!

All you have to do is read my last 5 blog posts and comment below on which one you liked best and why. I'm not going to kick you out if you tell me you hated them all, but that would just be mean :-) I'm also not going to beg you to follow, but it would make me happy if a few people did! Especially if you actually took the time to read 6 blog posts!

The winner will be randomly selected and announced September 9, 2011. 


My goal for the first 30 days is to post 5 times a week, so check back often! I have a lot of fun projects ahead including this....

Have a happy Friday!


Check out what else you could win!