Project 1 - Art for the Living Room
When we were getting ready to move back into the house, our main goal was to have our art picked out before we stepped in the house. The idea was the art would be the focus and we would build from there. So for WEEKS, Kelly paroosed Etsy trying to find the perfect piece, she was practically obsessed. But geez did she work hard! Well, anytime she came across one that we both genuinely liked, it would be like $300-400. That seemed so obscene! And some of them, we were like, really that much money for something that seems so simple. So, that is where the DIY bug was born; we were going to paint our own art.
Kelly came across this and showed it to me. We were both sold. Thank you Better Home and Garden website for the inspiration.
To be honest, I really shouldn't take much credit for the following paintings to come. Kelly really took the reigns on this project, I don't have much finesse with a paint brush.
This painting was made by using celery and bok choy as stamps. You cut both of them off at the stalk and dip them in two different color paints. A few pictures down, you will be able to see it finished, framed, and hung on the wall.
For this map art, Kelly introduced me to the fine art of decoupage. I now understand why she said she used to decoupage anything that would stand still... It is pretty cool. We used an old atlas of my parents (thanks mom and dad because we certainly did tear it to shreds). The map of the USA was our favorite, but there was a green line headed from Phoenix to Detroit. I am still curious who in our family drew it because we don't know anyone from Detroit. But any-who, the decoupage really enhanced that green line and we had to figure out something to slightly cover it up, so we could salvage this idea. We reverted back to the day of cutting out words from magazines and decoupaged the saying "Home is where the heart is" over the line. Thought it worked out nicely. Then we focused in on both our home towns, Missoula and Phoenix.
Here is a raw ladder and shelves, to be pictured later. And the three paint swatches. We used painters tape to line the canvas to separate the colors. Then, we started with a dark color and added white to slowly lighten it up for a nice, little color family. I really, really wanted to write color names on them but I was too afraid to mess up what I thought was a masterpiece.
Here is the final product for the living room art!
Project 2 - Ladder Bookcase for the Office
And the picture I promised earlier, again Kelly found this gem of an idea thanks to Pinterest.
We found the ladder on craigslist for $20. The guy we picked it up from looked at us like we were from the moon. Two girls showed up looking for it, for one. Two, he set it up, so we could step on it and make sure it was sturdy. We kindly declined and said it was perfect. And three, we showed up in a little hybrid that just barely fit the ladder, half more inch and we were coming back in the SUV. Then, cheap raw shelves from Ikea, some stain, and some screws and we were done.
The ladder after staining and screwing it down...well and adding a few office items. Pretty simple project I suggest to all. Hardest part was watching Kelly stress about how and where to place all the items...
Project 3 - Pallet Coffee Table
Another Pinterest item found by Kelly, the pallet coffee table. There are all sorts of ways to use pallets. Depending on the type of pallet you can get your hands on, really defines what you are going to be able to make. Well, I guess I should say it did for us. There are pallets of all different designs. We happened across a stack of pallets that had separated planks, some equal, some not, but definitely usable. We found them thanks to a great friend that really deserves a big credit for making this actually happen. Enough said!
Once we had the pallets in our hot little hands, we removed the boards from one side of two pallets. Then, we painted them. Next, a trip to home depot to get some advise on how to screw them together. Some great advise, 4 metal plates, 8 screws, 4 wheels, 4 blocks, a piece of plexiglass and we were on our way home to finish the project.
Used the metal plates on all four sides to fasten the pallets together. Screwed the wheels to some blocks (to give it a little more height). Oh the toughest step, I placed the plexiglass on top. And here she is...
Project 4 - Galvanized Pipe Bookcase
When you were a kid, did you love erector sets or tinker toys? Pipe furniture is the adult version! Have I mentioned Pinterest yet? Yep... That's where Kelly found this, too. She kept trying to explain it to me and I could never conceptualize it. She probably talked about it for a whole month and I just let her talk and thought to myself, it's never going to happen... Sorry Kell. But, then we went to Lowe's and just stared at the piping, finally an amazing Lowe's dude came to the rescue. We showed him some pictures and got him interested.
Finally, I started being able to picture it and we picked our pieces.
Here is our recipe:
3 - 12" x 48" wood planks
1 - Golden Oak stain
8 - 1/2" flanges
2 - 1/2" elbows
6 - 1/2" T joints
14 - 12" pipes
2 - 24" pipes
We would have saved a bunch of money if we had not bought the pre cut pipes and used the long ones that they have to cut for you, a lesson for later. but neither of us wanted to wait any longer to make this happen.
This erector set went up one night after work, it is that easy. Just had to find some studs to screw it into. I guess I should also mention the staining was done the night before. And voila...
Again, I should say the hardest part was watching Kelly agonize about the precise location of each item;)
Project 5 - I Want Galvanized Pipe Everything!
When I was reading about the pipe furniture idea, I came across a picture that had the caption, "now I just want to throw away all my furniture and build pipe EVERYTHING!" I now, totally understand and agree with this fellow DIYer. It is quite addicting. In fact, so addicting, we built a floating entertainment center.
My physics was so off when I planned this one that I had to do a second trip to Home Depot. Because of this, it took me a lot longer to do a shelf that looks so much simpler than the other one.
Final recipe for this one:
1 - 12" x 72" wood plank
Same stain as above - golden oak
5 - flanges
3 - elbows
2 - T joints
2 - caps
3 - 12" pipes
2 - 6" pipes
Most of it is self-explanatory I think, but the middle pipe that looks like it holds the TV, it is just for show. One of the flanges is screwed to the board, then an elbow, and then a pipe up to the TV. I wanted something to wrap one of the cords around to hide it a little.
It took a whole Sunday and my brain hurt when it was done, but we are pretty happy with the final product...
Project 6 - Chalkboard with Crown Moulding Frame
Kelly came up with this idea after we painted one whole wall of the office with chalkboard paint (looks pretty fun, the only thing that kind of bothers me is that the walls are a little bumpy). She started thinking that it would be cool to have one in the dining room, so that we could write a dinner party menu on it or a grocery list perhaps.
And so the story starts, we debated whether to just paint the wall or to get a board. Settled on getting a board, so that it would be smoother and so that we could relocate it if the time came. This project came together a lot quicker than expected, too. First, we used painters tape on the wall to decide how big we wanted it (this handy trick thanks to the DIY great Mandy Edin).
Then, another trip to Lowe's to get the materials:
1 - 2' x 4' plywood
1 - 12' crown moulding Lowe's was nice enough to cut for us into 4 pieces
2 - 23" height
2 - 47" length
4 - crown moulding corners
The corners were the reason the boards were cut just short of the height and length of the board. The one inch difference gave just enough room to glue and nail the board to the crown moulding.
It went up just in time for Sunday Movie Day with Erika and Jamie.
- A View of the Whole Living Room
We are very happy with the way things have come together, our budget really came in handy this time. Who would think that being low on funds to decorate could be a good thing, makes you be creative!
It is still missing a few finishing touches, so don't be surprised if there are more posts. Posts, possibly, about how we fashion chair cushion covers or most likely another pipe item (like a sofa table). I'm just saying... Don't be surprised.
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Location:Gilbert, AZ
