Curtain Rod Cookie Sheets

 Remember this idea from my One Hit Wonderful series last October?

My friend Erin used it in her new kitchen.

Yup.  

Wonderful!

Dumpster Dive

It's amazing what gets thrown out!  

Look what I found in a dumpster on the weekend.

Both frames and the chair are definite "project" material but hey, they were free.  

I think there's the potential for a cute outcome.

And in case you're rolling your eyes and thinking, only Shannon would take garbage from the dumpster...not so.

In fact all 6 of my fellow retreaters at the Silence and Solitude Retreat I attended on the weekend rifled through the dumpster with me.  And 6/7 of us took something home.

Ha.

Free is free my friend.

Painting the Desk

So I wanted to try a new paint product called Fusion.

http://fusionmineralpaint.com/products/

It's supposed to be this really easy to use paint that requires minimal prep and gives you a pretty matte finish similar to chalk paint.

I decided to try it out on the desk.

Minimal prep very much appeals to me because I'm a lazy painter.  However, the saleslady at the store actually made it sound like there was quite a bit of prep.  She still wanted me to sand, then TSP, then she said I needed a bottom coat so the paint would stick.  Then a colour blocking primer, then the colour.  Oh, and a $35 brush and some beeswax to finish it off.

Hmmmm.  

That sounded a smidgy more like maximum prep.  

So I agreed to the primer,

and the colour.

I chose Heirloom from the Michael Penny collection.

But it was much too blue.  You can't tell in this photo but it was not close to the colour of the wardrobe which was my hope.

Crumb.

So I did a second coat with my plain old BM Mill Springs Blue that I'd used on the wardrobe.

So much for trying new paint.

I can tell you that I did love the matte finish of the fusion product but I'll have to try it again on another project to really know how well it covered.

Once I was done painting, I replaced the old pulls.

With adorable little deer!

Happy working Dino.

The Finished Bedroom

It's finished! 

Have a look.

The bed stayed put and I was bummed for awhile.  

It is so fun to put your bed in a new spot!

 However, on the upside, I still get my bedside table.

And I love how the wardrobe looks on Dino's side.

I'm pretty happy about this new green lamp, which I got at Salvation Army for $5.

I found out after that it had been my friend Kristin's!  

Hilarious.

The t.v. got a major upgrade and my dresser replaced the vanity.

I'm pretty thrilled with the t.v.!  

We were able to use the shelf I'd bought for above Dino's desk as our media center.  It's really great having everything floating...no wires on the floor.

The dresser fit nicely where the vanity was.  

I just needed to add a couple of frames to fill in the space.

The vanity moved into our closet area which makes for a cozy dressing room feel.

My scarves were getting too crowded so I added some baskets for off season storage.

In the bathroom I added a bright floor mat.

And, of course, there's the new work space!

Since I couldn't hang the wall shelf, I just piled the books up here.

The desk got a new paint job which I'll tell you about another day.

So here we are. 

Part of the joy of rearranging a space is the purging and cleaning that goes along with it.

It feels great to have a fresh new look!

Straightening Your Photo Collage

 I created some photo collages at a clients this week.

(Sorry for the glare and missing photo)

Collages are fun and pretty but can be a huge pain if the pictures swing a little and cause crookedness.

That could cause a girl to go bonkers.

I have used Command Strips before either to hang the whole collage or to stick in a corner to keep the photo straight.

Well, I've also used sticky tack to be honest.

Awhile back I saw these advertised in House and Home.

Another great product to keep you sane!

Pocket Doors

I'm supposed to show you a big reveal of my great new bedroom set up but boo hoo hoo it's all stalled out and stinky annoying.

I was adjusting to having moved my bed back to where it was because I couldn't deal with the air conditioning blowing on me in the new spot.

I was even getting to be okay with the desk here...

when Dino reminded me that there is a pocket door right there behind that wall which means that the new shelf I bought for above the desk cannot be hung there.

H.M.F.

Soooo, rather than curse pocket doors, I will show you my friend Erin's newly painted number and I will figure out a new spot for the desk and maybe I'll even throw some paint on my pocket door while I'm at it.

Fabby!  

Have you got a pocket door to paint?

Rearrange

My first job in setting up a work space for Dino was to find a desk.  I very happily lucked into one at the Salvation Army.  It was exactly what I wanted and was only $40.  It'll need a paint job and new pulls at some point but for now, here it is.

The next step was to rearrange our room to figure out the best placement of the desk.

So let's talk about rearranging.  

It's not a quick process.  

You have to move things around and move them again and then, move them some more.

Here is where we were after our first round of moving.

Before

During

Before

During

Before

During

Before

During

The wardrobe has tried 5 different spots, the dresser, 4.  It takes time to figure out where everything fits best.  You have to be ready for some chaos and you have to give yourself time to sit with things.  Since these photos were taken nearly everything has moved several more times.  

And now I'll sit with it again and see. 

You also have to decide what's important for you.  In my case for example, am I willing to sacrifice having my bed in a bit of an odd spot in order to create significant floor space? 

Rearranging is fun (granted Dino may disagree) and easy and free!  

Give it a try and see if you can create a fresh new look that you love in one of your spaces.

I hope to return next week with a new set up!