A Diamond in the Stuff

Salvaged Door Entry Table

Courtney Carmean — Fri, 10 Mar 2017 14:00:37 +0000

Our family is gearing up for a big move this spring. We’re headed to Albuquerque for a year. In preparation for listing our home for sale and moving, I am working on some stash busting projects! As some of you know, I like to sell many of my creations in local handmade shows (if anyone knows of good ones in the Albuquerque area, shoot me the info!), so I’ve been working on what I have lying around so that I can hopefully get the projects done and sold! I had a stack of old doors in my garage, I decided to pull one out and transform it.

It’s no secret I love salvaged goodies like windows, doors, and architectural accents. I’ve been wanting to make an entry table out of an old door for sometime now. I finally got the motivation and just happened to have everything I needed to get it done!

Supplies I used:

-Old door

-2 spindles for legs

-Salvaged wood for table top

-1×4 for table apron

-a little paint

-clear coat

I cleaned up the door, scrubbed and sanded. Then I added a clear coat to protect it and to seal in any possible lead paint.

Once that was done, it was time to build the table part. We built a simple box out of the 1×4’s, added the wood spindles to two of the corners, and then added the salvage wood top. To attach everything, we used a nail gun (which I highly recommend if you’re going to be doing a fair amount of DIY projects).

I painted the apron and the legs white with chalk paint. I clear coated the whole thing (table top, legs, and all) with polycrylic. Then we attached the table to the door. We drilled through the apron and the door, using bolts to attach them both.

Overall it was a pretty simple project, I should of done it sooner!

The little table makes it perfect for an entryway or a hall table! It provides the perfect spot to toss your keys, purse, and (if you’re like me) every single thing your child has ever picked up. Ever. I could see a cute little mirror added to the top part of the door, or maybe some hooks!?

The bottom part of the entry table is the perfect spot for a cute basket or bin. I’m a bit obsessed with baskets and bins, I have one in almost every room. It’s a great place to store extra blankets and other unsightly items. A little organizational tip I use: hide some of those ugly but necessary items at the bottom of a cute basket with a pretty throw blanket on top! You will have the items easily accessible but not in plain sight.

My Salvaged Door Entry Table sold after it’s debut appearance at a show I did. It’s not hard to see why, she’s a beaut! Isn’t she? I’ve got another door and I’m thinking another table is in order!!!

Thank y’all for visiting today!!!

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Here is another fun project made some some salvaged shutters……

DIY Wooden Triangle Christmas Trees

Courtney Carmean — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 14:00:30 +0000

I wanted to change up my Christmas mantle a bit this year, but I didn’t really want to spend any money. Well I didn’t want to have to go out and spend anything, so I only used resources that I had in my garage and craft room! I decided to create a DIY framed sign and these DIY Wooden Triangle Christmas Trees.

My trees started with some 2×8’s and 2×10’s that I had on hand.

The hardest part of this project was getting the triangles cut, these thick boards are not the easiest to cut so precisely. First I drew out the triangle by finding the middle of what would be the base and then measuring up how tall I wanted the trees to be. I put a dot in the middle of the board and used a ruler to connect the middle dot to the corners of the base of the trees. Then we used a miter saw to cut the trees out.

I didn’t get an action shot of the staining process….but I used Minwax wood stain I had on hand. I grabbed three different colors and mixed and matched sizes and colors. I gave each tree a bit of sanding when the stain was dry. You can clear coat them as well, I like to use wipe on poly or just a clear spray for these kinds of projects!

Then you have these adorable wood Christmas trees. Although, my husband says they look more like mountain peaks. Which I’m not hating either, but to me they are whimsical rustic trees.

What do you see? Trees or Mountains? Either way, I love them! They were just the right bit of rustic and neutrals I was needing this year. I whipped up the Christmas tree sign and the DIY Wooden Triangle Christmas Trees all with supplies that I had on hand, not an extra dime spent. Now that’s a Christmas miracle!!!

Hope you have a great weekend, thanks for stopping by!!!

I may be linking up to party with these great blogs!!!

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While you’re visiting, why not pop over and check out another great Christmas idea?

Vintage Ornament Garland

Courtney Carmean — Wed, 30 Nov 2016 14:00:34 +0000

How was your Thanksgiving? Ours was simple and satisfying. We stayed home this year which meant I got to spend the following days decorating for Christmas! I love getting the house decorated as soon and as quickly as I can so that I can enjoy it all for as long as possible. For one reason or another (mostly because I can never leave well enough alone) I end up changing some things around every year which extends the decorating process. What can ya do? You can’t fight city hall!

I have had a bunch of vintage ball ornaments for several years now and they usually just end up sitting in some sort of container at Christmas. A tiered stand or a glass jar. This year I wanted more for these beautiful baubles. I had some pom pom fringe that I thought would make a great garland, so my Vintage Ornament Garland was born.

It was actually quite easy to assemble. I popped the top and hanger out of the ornament, slipped the hanger around the pom pom fringe, and reassembled the ornament. Then I alternated colors, large, and small ornaments.

Once I had reached the proper length, I cut the fringe. I used some small command hooks on my living room shelves and just looped the fringe onto them. Pretty easy right? Easy and beautiful!

The garland offers a great pop of color, but in a perfectly vintage way! I like to keep my Christmas decor to a specific color theme, which has evolved over time. However I think I am digging this pop of color assortment!

Look at all that glitter and shine! Love love it! Now back to getting this place’s halls decked!

What do you think of my “new” Vintage Ornament Garland???

I just may be partying with these great blogs!!!

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Looking for more Christmas inspiration? Look no further than my Aqua and Red Christmas Mantel……

Laundry Room Board and Batten

Courtney Carmean — Fri, 28 Oct 2016 13:00:35 +0000

I have shared glimpses of my laundry room on the blog several times. You can see posts HERE, HERE, and HERE. I was wanting to upgrade the laundry room a bit and maybe even provide some more organizational options. I wanted to efficiently store laundry essentials such as laundry detergent, washing machine cleaner packs, and more. Also, I was wanting to tackle something new. For some time I had kept my eye on DIY board and batten projects and really loved the look. This was the time to take the plunge and give it a try.

My supplies were:

6in x 1in pine board/s

3in x 1in pine boards

White caulking

Nails/nail gun

Paint

Hooks (optional)

To an extent, the amount of supplies you will need will depend on how big of an area you will be putting up your board and batten. The wall that I was putting mine on was a fairly small area so I didn’t need a lot of lumber, paint, etc. Also, some of the decisions we made were purely opinion on our part. We decided to have the whole thing stand 55in from the ground. This is just what looked good to us, I’ve seen them taller and shorter. This also applies to how far apart we decided to put the vertical boards. Our wall studs were 16in apart so we made our lives easier and nailed a 3×1 board on every stud, making sure that they were evenly spaced. We have a nail gun so that was our best option to attach the boards to the walls. If you don’t have a nail gun, a good ole hammer and nails or glue would work as well.

Once all the boards were attached to the walls, it was time to tackle the imperfections. We didn’t choose the highest quality boards (nor did we pick the roughest either) and no matter what there will be gaps and holes. I wanted the end result to look polished and professional. I grabbed some white EASY CAULKING and following the directions, I applied it to any gaps and holes I saw. Where the boards come together and where the boards attach to the wall there may be gaps. Where the nail gun shot nails into the wood there are holes. Things like wood filler work too, but I can say that this stuff was so so easy to work with and it did a great job!!! {not a paid advertisement, just my personal experience}

Once I was happy with my caulking job and it had dried, it was time to paint. We had some paint left over from a home improvement project that matched our trim, so I decided to use that. This way it would match with the baseboards underneath the board and batten. I did a few coats of it for good coverage and went back and did some touch ups when needed. I had really wanted to create more organization with this project, not just have it look pretty. So I bought some black hooks that just so happen to match the hooks on the other side of our laundry room! How that happened, I’ll never know!

*side not: forgive me, these are not the best photos as there is absolutely no natural light in this room. Unless I open the garage and the connecting door. But y’all get the point.*

So here it is all done! I absolutely love it and it has even brightened up the room, which it needed. The board and batten really upgrade the room and add something special.

To add even more organizational power, I added some nice hooks behind the door into the laundry room. When we moved in the previous owners had a simple nondescript broom holder, which served it’s purpose fine but I wanted something that looked nicer. I don’t have a closet to stuff all my brooms and such away, so behind the door it is. At least now it looks tidier and cleaner.

Here’s a shot from our garage. My sweet little puppy decided to make an appearance in this shot! I’m still loving my Crib Spring Drying Rack and my Washer and Dryer Pedestal! All this organization in one room makes my heart flutter! And for any issues with the washing machine, https://appliancehunter.co.uk/washing-machine-support/beko-washing-machine-not-draining/ is a huge help.

It’s so pretty!

If you’re wanting to try a big project or a new idea, a small room like a laundry room or bathroom might just be the perfect place to start! Also, doing big eye catching features come across great in smaller rooms so that they are not overwhelming in scale! I think this Laundry Room Board and Batten turned out just perfectly for my room! What do you think?

Linking up with THESE great parties!!!

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Here are some Laundry Room Organizing Ideas to get that crazy room whipped into shape…..

Witch’s Scroll and Spooky Porch

Courtney Carmean — Mon, 03 Oct 2016 13:00:33 +0000

October is officially upon us. The past couple years I haven’t been in a “decorate for Halloween” kind of mood, much to my son’s dismay. So this year I PROMISED that we would SPOOKify our front porch. Shortly after said promise I got an email from the good people at PRO WORLD INC asking if I would like to give their HTV (heat transfer vinyl) a try! Well yes I would and I know JUST how I will put it to use! Enter the Witch’s Scroll and Spook Porch!

First of all, they sent me some gorgeous black glitter HTV. Yay. However, I have actually never cut glitter HTV before so I decided right then and there that this was my time to try! For those like me, fairly inexperienced to the HTV world, I broke it down into a few steps:

1: First I cut out some fabric I had lying around. It was a thick cotton canvas, I knew it would hang just how I wanted it to and it was readily available!

2: Then I designed and cut out my “image”, which just so happened to be words. Can anyone place where this quote comes from?

3: Once I had the HTV cut and weeded (might I had, it was a DREAM to weed. A DREAM!) I positioned it onto my cut out fabric.

4: Then I tore off a piece of parchment paper and laid it on top of the HTV and clear carrier sheet.

5: I cranked up my iron as hot as it would go and I pressed each section for 15 seconds each. Once all the HTV had adhered to the fabric, I removed the carrier sheet and did another press just using the parchment paper.

6: To finish it up, I grabbed a small stick and glued it to the top of the fabric. You’re probably asking yourself right about now if this lady has lost her mind. Most definitely. But we’re not getting into that now.

Ah, it’s all coming together now! Pretty fabulous right? Have you guessed the quote by now? It’s from Macbeth, you know with the three witches standing over their cauldron reciting this spell.

I picked a font that I thought looked hand written (shorelines script) like one of the witches scrawled it out. It looks so good with the glitter vinyl too. Well I was absolutely in love with my new Witch’s Scroll at this point, however my porch was certainly not living up to it’s fabulousness and I DID promise the boy that we would have an awesome Halloween porch this year.

So I got busy on creating a porch that was special enough for my new door-hanger! A trip to the local park got me some fabulous dead branches (and free I might add!). The hubby loaded the back of the truck with a bed full of these huge suckers. I also picked up these incredible pumpkins, which just so happen to be called fairytale pumpkins!

Threw a few bats up on the branches and called it FABULOUS! I mean it’s probably not everyone’s cup of tea but I’m just not into the gory, scary, morbid side of Halloween. But this, this I like!

It’s not jump-out-and-make-someone-need-a-fresh-pair-of-undies scary, but it definitely has a spooky feel too it. I’ve already successfully creeped a couple neighbor kids out so I’ve got that going for me!

Alright, so tell me what you think? Are you dying for a Witch’s Scroll for your door and a super Spooky Porch now? I thought you might! Thanks everyone for stopping by and have a great week!!!

I just may be partying with some people this week!

this post contains some paid product, but all thoughts and opinions are my own

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Want more ideas to get your Halloween into gear? How about my Halloween Mantel?

Upcycled Footboard Coat Rack

Courtney Carmean — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 13:00:13 +0000

Part of me feels like apologies are in order, I’ve basically been MIA on the ole blog here. However, the truth is we had a completely crazy busy fun family filled summer and I wouldn’t of traded a second of it. In the past months we have been to the National Archery Tournament (NASP) in Louisville, the World Archery Tournament (NASP) Mrytle Beach, Disney World, Illinois, and we’ve driven to each of the places. I think my car has about 8,000 more miles on it and we’re one windshield down. Sigh.

Now the kids are back in school, if you can believe that, and I am itching to get back to my projects. I have a MAJOR to-do list going on right now. So for today, I am sharing the other side of the very last project I shared before my summer of craziness! Here is my Upcycled Footboard Coat Rack……….

A while ago I scored this awesome headboard and footboard. Earlier this summer I shared what I did with the headboard in my Farmhouse Headboard Bench post.

I absolutely love how the headboard bench turned out, so much so I want to keep it for myself and not sell it. However I have no place whatsoever for it. This is the pain of loving what you do! After that project was complete I needed to come up with a project for the footboard. It was shorter and that posed some problems. I considered a child sized bench, but I wasn’t in love with that idea.

I’m not really sure what finally inspired me but suddenly I knew that this footboard HAD to become an awesome coat rack.

I used some Country Chic chalk paint in Vanilla Frosting. This chalk paint is quickly becoming some of my favorite chalk paint to use and no that is not a paid opinion! But hey Country Chic if you’re reading this, hey lets chat! ; )

I picked out these really beautiful iron hooks from Hobby Lobby and secured them to the footboard with screws.

I did some distressing on the new coat rack just like I did on the bench. I wanted to see some of the dark wood from beneath, I used a sanding block and hit random high points.

There you have it! So if you have an old footboard, or headboard, or hey anything really (get creative) it can easily be turned into a stunning coat rack that is sure to make a big statement! Afterall, why hang your coat on a boring ole store bought coat rack when you could have something unique and one of a kind like this Upcycled Footboard Coat Rack!

Thanks guys for reading today and I’m going to try and get back on the horse! The project horse that is!!!

Linking up to these link parties.