Vintage frame made chalkboard

This gold frame is by far my most favorite piece I've ever owned. It's huge and chunky and pretty much amazing.  Even if someone offered me the right amount of money for it I don't think I would sell it. For now anyways.  

When my oldest son was still in preschool,  I drove by this older woman's house everyday while taking him. One day I noticed this frame sitting on her porch and instantly fell in love and needed it.  I figured it was on her porch temporarily and she would be putting it back in her house. A week went by and it was still there. Then another week,  a month, and another month went by. There was a huge nasty storm that came through and it was still on her porch. Anyone that actually wanted this frame definitely would have put it back in the house by now right? .. 

Three months had gone by since I first saw this frame, so I decided I was going to go to her house and offer to buy it. I drove by her house multiple times after that and she was never home. Ugh!. Finally one day someone was there so I pulled in to ask about it.  She was the sweetest little Spanish woman but didn't speak a lick of English.  Luckily she had a nephew there that could translate for me. 

So I told her how much I loved her frame and noticed it had been sitting on her porch for quite some time. Then asked "are you interested in selling it and if so how much are you asking"? She said "make me an offer". So I through out "$15".. She was ecstatic about that! For a second I thought "dang, I probably could of got it for cheaper". Seriously though, $15,  I felt I was practically stealing it for that. But I gratefully gave her the $15 and loaded the frame into my car.

   

Now it's a chalkboard and it hangs in my dining area. Its one of the first things that is seen when coming through my back door and I am constantly admiring it. 

Every change of the season or holiday I draw new chalkboard art on it. Here are a few that I have done recently. 

Bench made from antique day bed

I got this antique daybed from a friend that was just going to throw it away. I loved the curves of it and had to have it. I used it for my daughters room for a while but thought it would make a great bench for my kitchen table. It took me about 3 years to finally do it but I finally got it done!

I measured how deep I wanted the bench and cut the sides of the daybed with a jig saw to that depth. My hub helped me make a base for the seat. We then used big bolts to put it all together. It was a little tricky to put it all back together and it's definitely not perfect but I really like how it turned out.

Industrial metal pipe coffee table

Here's another metal piping project I've done.  An industrial coffee table. I used a spool top for the top and assembled the metal piping and fittings for the bottom then screwed it all together. Took me about 20 min to do. 

At first I had a stained top but later swapped it out for weathered one instead. I also adjusted some of the pipe on the bottom because it is a little smaller than the first top.  I love all the rusty nails and the black letters on it. Here are a few different ways I used it in different rooms. The last one is how it is now and is my absolute favorite! 

Gallery wall

I don't know about you but the easiest way for me to figure out how to put together a gallery wall is to lay it all out on the floor. I measure and arrange it, take pictures,  rearrange it, take pictures, and so on and so on. Then I look through all the pics and decide which layout I like best. 

I had been working on ideas for this wall forever and had been collecting frames to go on it. The metal arrow I found at Hobby Lobby was not apart of the plan but was the final piece that tied it all together.

I love how it turned out! I'm a huge fan of change but this wall is one thing I won't be changing for a long time.

Industrial metal pipe shelving

I am a huge lover of the metal piping used to make furniture and shelving.  I love the industrial feel and have always been a big fan of industrial style. I like to call it industrial chic.. When designing the kitchen I thought the idea of wide open shelving would be so fun in the space and the metal piping shelves would be perfect! I liked the raw wood look at first but the more I live with them I think im going to go ahead and stain them. The hub and I still have one more set to make for another wall in the kitchen. I've had so many people ask how I made them so when we make the next set I'll post a tutorial. 

Tin tile bar

My bar to the kitchen is the first thing you see when you walk through my back door.  When designing the kitchen I wanted the bar to be eye catching and pretty when walking in. I've had these old chippy amazing tin tiles and thought they would be perfect for the bar.

This was probably one of the easiest projects and it couldn't have gone anymore perfect.  I trimmed out the tin in pine. I wanted to paint the trim white but the hubby thought it would look great stained too. I decided to stain it first because it would be so easy to just paint over in case I didn't like it. I liked the stain but didn't love it at first so I thought I would live with it for a few weeks.  Well a few weeks went by and I was still not loving it so I painted white to go with my cabinets.  I love how it how it turned out and feel it's a great compliment to the rest of the kitchen and house. The hub even likes it too! So it's a win win.

Diy cement countertops

When my hub and I were redoing our kitchen we were torn between concrete counters or a nicer laminate.  Let me just add that we were on a very tight budget so any other countertop options were just out of the question.  These options were pretty much the only thing in our price range but Ive always loved the look of concrete counters and there are really pretty laminate counters.  Our cabinets are the Home Depot cabinets you can buy off the shelf, and honestly we were a little nervous they wouldn't be able to hold the heavy concrete counter.  So that wasn't going to work.  We then were going to go with laminate, but when we went to order them it was going to be 5-6 weeks out before they could install.  We had already been living in the house for a week or two with out counters, doing dishes in the bathtub, etc.. So waiting that long was not going to work.  Plan B!.. or C.  I started looking online for cheap but pretty counter tops that we could do ourselves.  That's when I came across this cement mix called Ardex Feather Finish. The perfect solution for out counters. 

 

The Ardex mix is just a dry cement mix you mix in a bucket with water. It can be applied to virtually any surface including old ugly laminate counters.  I found many tutorials on how to do it.  It is key to read the directions on the bag completely though.  We tend to always learn the hard way by trial and error. Don't try to mix the whole bag.  Mix small amounts at a time when applying. 

 

 Since we had nothing for counters we put down 1 inch plywood and then applied the cement mix to the wood.  Our first go around, we mixed the entire bag and the mix dried incredibly fast which lead to a big lump of cement that was not pretty.  So we had to sand A LOT to get it not so mounded.

 Once we read the instructions, we got things down packed.  We used drywall knives to apply the cement and spread the mix very thin across the counter.

 We had to make a little go along way because every time we mixed a new batch it was slighty a different shade of gray.  We mixed the same amount every time but it still had a slight different tent.  Other tutorials I read said the same thing.  So we tried to make one batch cover the entire counter so it was all the same color.

 We applied about 4 coats and then let it dry for 24 hours.  I then went over it all with a sander to smooth out all the edges and rough spots. 

 I love the patina the sanding gave the counters.  All the layers of different  shades were coming through and I loved it.

And this is after I sealed it.  I love them and highly recommend them if you are looking for a cheap solution for counters.  This whole project cost me under $100.  Not to shabby!