MASON JAR CHANDELIER

Our project this week was a chandelier made out of mason jars!  Allie - the new manager of The Gingerbread Factory - suggested it.  We've been giving the store a makeover, going for a fresh and fun vintage look for the bakery in preparation for its grand re-opening this May!

The project was pretty easy and didn't take a lot of time.  We spent an afternoon looking for a variety of vintage mason jars at the local antique mall and getting the electrical supplies.  Then it took a couple hours the following morning to install. 

I bought three hanging light kits from Lowes and also a ceiling plate which I drilled holes in to hang the cords through.   I simply used a hammer and nail to make the holes in the tin lids of the mason jars and used a pair of tin snips to clip off any sharp points.  Then it's a just a quick lighting fixture install using the red twist-on connectors that allow you to connect up to 4 wires together (or you could call an electrician!).  Done!

Here is the light before:

 

Here is the light after:

FINISHED THE CONDO FRONT ROOM!

We finished our front room.  The color on the wall is called "Million Dollar Red" and all the black and white photography are pictures that we took ourselves on our trip across the country.

The Before:

 The After:

What do you think?!?

Giant Mario Brothers Glitter Art!

Inspired by an episode of Design by Novogratz on HGTV and knowing that our niece Shayna wanted a Mario Brothers Inspired Wedding...we created this glitter art!

Mario & Luigi Glitter Art

Each character was 6 feet tall.  We made a Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and Toad. We used an overhead projector (bought at a yard sale for $2) to transfer the images to foam core.  Then we painted, cut them out, and applied multiple coats of glitter.

They were the stars of the wedding...after the bride and groom of course! 

Flowers for Rachel's Wedding

For Rachel's wedding, Michael created these stunning arrangements: (Rachel played Maria to my Captain von Trapp in the Sound of Music)

Our FIRST makeover....ahhh, the memories!

I recently discovered pictures of the first makeover Michael and I did together. Oh, the memories! We were hired to prepare a house for sale. This was several years ago.

We did all the usual things. We painted. We staged the house. We put new knobs on the kitchen cabinets. But before we were able to do any of that fun stuff....we had to clean! So much cleaning that it took us 3 months to complete the project. You see, the owners had divorced and just up and walked out of the house more than a year prior. They left everything: furniture, clothes, boxes, tools, and piles of garbage. So much stuff that you couldn't see the floors.

Anyway, over the course of the project we learned a lot: how to refinish a hardwood floor, how to lay laminate flooring, how to restore cabinet hardware, and how to patch drywall among other things. Three months after starting the project, the house sold over one weekend for several thousand above the asking price.

These pictures were taken with a cell phone, so I apologize for the low-resolution. I'm just thrilled I found them!

In the kitchen (above) Michael relaid an entire new laminate floor. We agonizingly scraped layers of paint off the cabinet hinges so they would match the new knobs we bought. We painted the cabinets. And - though you can't see it in this picture - I replaced the heinous fluorescent lighting fixture with a contemporary incandescent one.

In the bedroom (above) Michael built a platform bed out of laminate wood flooring. He is so darn creative, that guy! The bedding I found for a steal at Value Village. And the baskets were free. Michael found them abandoned in an alley.

In the front room (above) I spent 2 days on my hands and knees refinishing this floor.

We're very proud of our first project together!

Contemporary Bathroom

Continuing with our modern, loft-style theme...we have updated our bathroom.

Before:

After:

Oh, and by the way...TWO items in this room are recycled/reclaimed. Can you guess what they are?

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One is the mirror. Michael found it next to a dumpster in Seattle. We cleaned it up and added a fresh coat of paint. The second is the white sculpture on the counter. That was found at a junk store for a couple of dollars and was originally a globe for a very large pendant light. Now it's an interesting sculpture that glows when the candle inside is lit.

Cheers,
Ernest

Modern Guest Bedroom

We finally finished the guest bedroom. I wanted to give it a real modern feeling...and it turned out exactly the way I had hoped. I even tried my hand at creating some art for the wall.




See our post Experiment in FREEDESIGN for the "before" pictures. Thanks!

Jewelry Framed

Michael found this large ornate wood frame at a vintage furniture store and got it for a steal - only $20! And, of course, he had another brilliant idea. He sanded and cleaned it up, giving it a fresh coat of gold paint. We picked out a subtle fabric and covered a layer of cork and a layer of foam board then secured it in the frame. With some fancy boutonniere pins it is now an attractive spot for my mom to keep all her necklaces in an easy to reach and easy to see location. Cost? About $40 total.

Bathroom DO OVER!

Our project this week was a bathroom for one of my favorite babysitters from when I was a kid. Her bathroom was cold and sterile - the trim painted gray and the walls covered with faded and peeling wallpaper. Removing the wallpaper was every bit of fun that people say it is! Ughh! The top layers came off easily, but getting all the layers off (Of course there were multiple layers of wallpaper...silly!) was starting to damage the plaster walls.

Here is where we are lucky to have a general contractor in the family. Michael called his brother Chris who suggested we cover the walls - old wallpaper and all - with a light topping "mud." It worked brilliantly! [Insert: Shameless plug for Chris' company - Chris Murphy Remodeling & Construction Inc. (CMRC Inc.) in Lake Stevens, Washington!] The topping went up and after a light sand we were able to paint and accessorize.

Here is the bathroom before:

And here is the bathroom after:

Visit our other website

This is our TRAVEL ADVENTURE BLOG detailing our fun and crazy adventures as we drove across the country -- twice!! Visit our other website: Nantucket-or-Bust

Country Cottage Guest Room

This one was for my mom. She has taken great care of me and Michael. So when she said she wanted to re-do the guest bedroom, we jumped at the chance. The room had a dropped ceiling and wood paneling as old as me...which makes it thirty-ahem years old! We removed the dropped ceiling and returned it to it's 10-foot-high glory and put a country cottage spin on it.

Before:

After:

Hollywood Regency Guest Bath

This guest bath was an embarrassing Pepto Bismal pink before we got our hands on it. With some paint, a fabulous new mirror, matching light sconces, and some luxury accessories, it is now a fabulous room worthy of spoiling guests in true Hollywood Regency style.

A Fun, Carefree, Beach-inspired Bathroom

We have a client on Nantucket who is obsessed with turquoise. Which is good, because I am too! We had a great time painting and dressing up this fun and carefree bathroom, which was inspired by the beach.

Personalized Photo Wall

A friend let us spend a week at his beach condo. As a gift I took these pictures of his house and the property and created this personalized photo wall for him and his girlfriend. A simple, afternoon project. (Note: Click on the picture to enlarge)

Floral Designs

Michael is also a gifted floral artist. Here are only a few of his creations:

Stumble-in to Walk-in Closet

This walk-in closet was really only a stumble-in closet before we took it on. Now you can easily see and find every article of clothing and pair of shoes.