Happy House and Home: Top DIY Projects (now that the kids are back to school)

Hello there! How has your week been? If you are at home and have kids that went off to school, are you missing them, or basking in the solitude? Mine went back Wednesday - kindergarten, 7th and 10th. I'm a little sad, cuz I miss their antics.

But since I have a little free time, I decided I'd look on the bright side and get busy!

But first, let me make a sandwich...

All summer I've been posting on my Pinterest boards. Every single time I pin something, I have every intention of creating that project or craft. Immediately. But you know - kids go with sunshine, the lake, and ice cream... However, kids, power tools, staple guns, and paint - don't mix. Now that they're all back to school, I have every intention of tackling all of the projects I've been putting off this summer.

Although I miss the kids being here with me, I am a tiny bit happy at having a little time for DIY (and maybe even dusting).

So, while trying to blow the cobwebs from my brain, and from the corners of my living room, I made a list of my favorite Pins that I promised myself I will do. None of them cost a lot more than a little time and effort, so I'm determined to get to one a week. Do you believe me? Let's just see how it goes, shall we?

The first one is at the top of my list. It's a fur covered chair. I'll be honest - I don't have a spare chair. I'll have to buy one at the Thrift Store or a garage sale. To add insult to injury, I don't have a place in mind for this chair. But I don't care. I want one.

Following the tutorial from The Nesting Place I don't see why I can't have one. And soon. Isn't it adorable?

Next in importance is a headboard. Can you believe we don't have a headboard? Just a big, blank wall. I've thought about headboards a lot - I've pinned, and I've read blogs, and browsed roundups. I've come to the conclusion that the following headboard I saw on
Campclem would look perfect in our room.

A piece of fencing, stain, and some twinkle lights. Do-able! And really gorgeous!

05 DIY headboard

Speaking of wall space, we have plenty of it in our (somewhat) new home. I'm always looking for ideas for wall art. Without breaking my piggy bank to smithereens.

The New England Southerner has the perfect idea for large walls. Even for small walls. Fabric covered foam board is genius.

The chairs below are from Ethan Allen. When I originally pinned the pic of these chairs, I posted "That's It! I'm painting my kitchen chairs black"! Uh, that was a year ago so I can't even blame the kids! The black just makes the simple chairs look more interesting.
That's it....I'm painting my kitchen chairs black.

The other day I wrote a post about trying to update boring lampshades. (In fact, I had a little issue). Time and again, I've seen tutorials on covering lampshades with twine. The Complete Guide to Imperfect Homemaking shares her lampshade makeover, making it impossible for me to procrastinate any longer. I even have the exact lampshade!

This next little project is the cutest thing I think I've ever seen. We have a large family, and we like to have everyone over for dinner and SNACKS. Ms. Smartie Pants had the best idea! The thrift stores are full of old cutting boards - why not put legs on them and turn them into serving trays. These would look awesome on the kitchen island full of yummy appetizers.

Deep in the fog of my brain, I remembered something - we have a stack of leftover wood floor planks that I do think about from time to time. I'd forgotten about them over the summer, because they're stored very carefully in the bottom of our closet, under a pile of old flip flops and winter boots. In the past I've had ideas for these babies - a headboard, a coffee table top, some sort of sign for the front porch... (and then they became a boot holder). But thankfully, I saw recently that 4 Men, 1 Lady used their floor planks for some awesome wall art - and it doesn't look too difficult to figure out!

Next, well, this is embarrassing - every single window in our house needs a valance. Oh, believe me, I've thought of making them out of foam board, or getting Big A to help with making them out of wood, and covering with batting and fabric... And then I saw the garland from Carissamiss. And I thought, "THAT would be a great idea for a valance". Doesn't even require power tools! Yes. Please.

(I don't think I'd use this for more than one window, but still, it's a start!)

That's a pretty good start. I think I'll leave this here and see how the next few weeks go.

So tell me! What's on your to-do list? How are you getting along without your kiddos? I'd love to hear from you!

Julia

LINK PARTIES for each day of the week. I can't say I make it to every one of these, but I'd like to!

If you have a link party I haven't listed, please email me or comment below!

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Thursday, September 5, 2013

Top DIY Projects (now that the kids are back to school)

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