She's Crafty- Loft Reveal

All you naysayers thought I had forgotten all about my little loft/craft area. 

But can I get a holla?

I did it!

While I TRIED so hard to do it for under $100-I crapped out and did it for under $150. But hey, do I get a few points for being honest folks?

Let's think about where we began, shall we (pardon me while I cover my eyes).

 

Shake it off, just shake it off.

Here is my "new" craft room/office/loft

I tried painting the armoire blue

but hated it and decided to paint it cream...ahhh so much better!

These lovely little organizers on my reclaimed wood shelves are from my new home away from home, IKEA.

My paper organizers made from used postal boxes are sitting on a shelf I picked up at Goodwill. My printer is hiding under there. I found some cute knobs at Cost Plus World Market and they are holding my cans of buttons and glue sticks.

And some bright and sunny artwork is adorning this shelf!

This table and chairs are still my favorite part of the room! However, one little lady keeps trying to steal "MY" chair!

My "do-dad organizer" looks great and I love having somewhere for all my little teeny tiny junk. 

I painted the bookshelf and the sweet little bread box that is holding my jute and extra ribbon.

I just slopped some watered down paint on that bread box, painted the hinges and added a fun knob from Hob Lob.

And there sits the sewing machine, wonder if I am ever going to learn how to sew more than a straight line? Seriously, just threading that thing is an accomplishment for me! I thought if I have it setting out, it would be more motivation...only time will tell.

This corner with a thrift store find chair holding my fabric, my handmade lamp, and literary artwork is functional and calming...well when I'm not stashing junk over there.

I spruced up a little spice rack to hold the acrylic paint I use all the time.

And under it, an old garden chair is housing my fabric.

I'm still not sure about Big Bertha, but this monster of a desk looks better at least. I have a hard time getting rid of something so wonderfully functional, so it is staying. Maybe I will be struck by a lightning bolt of inspiration someday on how to make it lovely, but for now I am ok with this. 

I just used spray adhesive to adhere the drop cloth and then my glue gun to add the jute rope.

And this new space is WAAAAAYYY better! 

Not bad for $150 and about 3 months. 

Oh come on, I have been working on about 10 projects at once AND it was summer for goodness sakes! I am actually surprised I finished before Christmas!

So now I have a soothing and lovely place to blog, craft, and create where everything I need is right at my fingertips. It is really really nice. And the little minions catch the creative bug about once an hour and we can all cozy up together to get our arts and crafts on.

Let's compare again... 
 

P.S. Come enter the giveaway to win any item from my ETSY Shop!

REVEAL! Vintage Airplane Bedroom

Done! 

Finally!

I am tired!

 

This is the view into the room from the hallway. The map wreath found a home on the door.

This is the long wall across from the door and the closet. I really do love the headboard.

Like the paper airplane I painted on the wall? The trail is electrical tape! Found the idea here in this unbelievable bedroom.

There is the luggage tag lamp, which I decided to paint black,

and my reclaimed fence turned into wall art.

 

 Got the clip boards for $1.99 each at Target. Then, I printed some images from Graphics Fairy and displayed my fun telegram announcing Everett's birth. Buy your own here.

The kids found a big branch on a walk with dad and it was the perfect size to use as a curtain rod.

 

The curtains are cloth drop cloths which I just cut off at the bottom and attached with  shower curtain rings. Total project was $14.99, including the curtains, rings and brackets to hold the stick.

I think the dresser is my favorite piece in the room.

 

I made a copycat Ballard board to display some sentimental items.  The "Happy Journeys" block print was made by the Everett my Everett is named after.

 Here is a ski pass his godfather made for him when he was 1 week old!

I got my big airplane from Hobby Lobby and made little wooden discs with vintage images to hang above the closet.

I am just in love with the room and how it turned out. I spent next to nothing on it....I didn't save receipts or anything, but my guess is under $100.

This was a really big project and now that it is done, I am looking around and wondering, "hmmmm, what next?

P.S. The paint was from WalMart...believe it or not it went on easily and covered great! The color is Cinder Pebble Gray

Play Nice

 When we moved into this house, the basement was a blank canvas.

Well, a blank canvas filled with boxes upon boxes of my teaching stuff, camping equipment, ski gear, and mostly junk. (This is after we cleaned it!)

It got cleaned out and finished by our contractor friend and I spent hours, days, weeks agonizing about how to decorate it for our family. It is for kids and adults to use, so we couldn't go too far in either direction. Now, we have divided it into two distinct areas, 

one for us 

and one for them!

I wanted some whimsy, hence the stripe and clouds, but I wanted it to all coordinate and flow, enter the orange. (The guest bedroom down there has 2 orange walls too).

I love the idea of decorating with the kids art, and these simple curtain rods do it with a bit of style.

As a teacher, reading is my favorite and something I am passionate about. In my classrooms I always had a cozy nook to cuddle up with a good book, so I had to create the same thing for my own kids.

Why, yes! Those book shelves ARE plastic rain gutters!

Here is a tute on how to install them.

Of course, the toys are already overflowing out of this space and in a constant state of disaray.

This is how it usually looks!

But, at least the big mess is confined to the basement and I can close the door and pretend it isn't even there!