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1 In Decorating/ Make Something/ Makeover

Netflix Inspired Painting

It isn’t very often that I can say that Netflix inspired me to do a DIY.  Usually Netflix inspires me to continually watch a show while neglecting all other duties….I know I’m not alone in that one!  Sometimes a design show will make me want to pick up a paint brush or shuffle around some furniture, as I’m sure they inspire lots of others, too.

But the show that struck the creative urge this time was Restaurants on the Edge.  If you haven’t watched it, I highly recommend it.  It’s the perfect mix of design, cooking, marketing and story telling.  The episode that I’m drawing inspiration from is Austria….and it’s not even anything that I recall them focusing heavily on, just a little bit of a panning of the camera across some wall decor.  But for me that was all it took.  { I tried to screen shot an inspiration picture but I had no idea that you couldn’t screen shot Netflix…who knew!! So then I tried to Google an image of it, but no luck there either! }  Just go watch it for yourself!!

Then add into the mix my blogging/design friend, Krystal messaged me about some things she was purging and wondered if I was interested in them.  And what she was offering was perfect for this idea.  I briefly explained to her what I was planning and if she was ok with it….and she was totally game.  So we met up one morning at her house in the midst of the pandemic and ‘socially distanced’ a pick up of two paintings….prime for a bit of a makeover…

So – let’s get started!   Supplies are pretty basic – a painting, painters tape, a brush and some paint.  I’m using Fusion’s colour Twilight Geranium from the Lisa Marie Holmes Collection that I bought from my favourite paint store – Phillips and Chestnut!  I would recommend pulling a colour out of the painting itself for the solid portion it.

See? Nothing too crazy for this project.  The next step is to tape off your painting from corner to corner.  { I forgot to photograph this step…the pictures went from completely naked to fully finished…I got distracted by a yummy chicken supper at the neighbours…oops!! }  When deciding what corner to cover, you could use a yard stick to go corner to corner so you can visualize what the finished product would look like.  I knew in my case, either corner would cover the artist’s signature and the vase so it really didn’t matter.  Here’s the before:

Once you decide your corner, tape it off and do a few coats of paint, enough to cover it completely, letting it dry in between coats as per your paint’s instructions.  Then peel off the painters tape and voila!!

I loved how this turned out!  It takes an ordinary painting and gives it a modern spin!

While I was staging this, I discovered that I think I like it even better in a vertical orientation instead of the landscape way it was originally!

So what do you think? Are you a fan of the vertical or horizontal orientation?  I’m staying on team vertical….

If you decide to do this to any of your paintings, please share the before and after with me!!

Warmly,

Lori

August 2, 2020 By
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2 In Blogging/ Life/ Make Something/ Makeover

Called to be Creative

Creativity runs in my blood. My grandmothers were both makers, my Opa was as well. All in very different ways but in their own right. My mom is creative, too, although she’s probably deny it. My Dad claims that he doesn’t have a creative bone in his body regardless of the fact his mother was an incredible artist.

I mentioned in THIS POST that I had made myself a cuff with the saying on it – ‘called to be creative’.  It was a hashtag that I found and starting using some on Instagram.  But then the more I used it, the more it resonated with me.  I added up putting it on a cuff as a reminder to me to use my gifts.

I grew up being given free rein to a drawer of craft supplies. Later with fabric scraps and mom’s sewing machine. And the scrap wood in the machine shed was fair game, too. I made everything from clothes to forts to wild stories and poems. My access to materials was never denied.

But it was never a conscience thing. It was just how it was at home. All of us kids were always dreaming up something. And I know for my best friend growing up, it was the same. It was nothing for her to sew something up, or make something or other. I never thought a thing of it. It was perfectly normal. The fact that I was one of the very few in my Home Ec class that knew how to thread a sewing machine never occurred to me.

Fast forward to adulthood.  I spend my days creating comfy, inviting homes for my clients.  I love playing with colour.  I geek out over fabric samples.  I dream up combinations of flooring, backsplashes and furniture.  I think in Benjamin Moore colours for walls and Miss Mustard Seed paint colours for furniture.  I love taking something cast-off and turning it into something fabulous.  It’s just how I’m wired, how I am.  I think nothing of it.  It’s my normal.

But.  There’s always a but, right? It took me a long time to see that this is a form of creativity.  I don’t call myself an artist.  I don’t do oil paintings, I can’t whip up a landscape watercolour and I’ve only played with pottery a bit { but I’m aching to get back at it…. } I’m not an artist in the way that society thinks of an artist.  But it doesn’t mean I’m not creative.

These gifts I use in my day-to-day life, pairing colours, fabrics, styles, it is what I am called to do.  I’m called to help people turn a shell, a house into their home.  To talk with them and figure out what will work for them and help them create a space that they feel comfortable in.  And it is my pleasure to do so.  For a while, I felt as though my career as vanity, frivolous, fluff, if you will.  And I think it was because I didn’t realize that just anyone could do what I do.  I didn’t see the value in what I did.  And sadly I worked in this field for a long time before I realized my worth, the value in my skillset and gifts.

 

I keep referring to my design skills as a gift.  And I believe that.  I firmly believe that I was given this particular set of gifts and I am called to put them to use.  Whether that is out in my studio, setting our own house up or helping someone else transform their space. I think we are each given talents and gifts in this life.  What we do with them is up to us.  But I have found that putting our natural talents to use is far more fulfilling then fighting it.

So, I will continue on my path, using my creative talents in many ways.  In fact, I’ve got a fun project coming up in the next few months that I can’t wait to share with you all but I’ll keep that under wraps for the moment.  It is exciting to see the different ways that these can be exercised – my day job, my studio time, our home, my work with the At Home magazine, my blog, 4-H – so many ways to put these to good use!

It is my hope that you have discovered your talents and gifts.  And that you have found a way to put them to use that is rewarding, satisfying and fulfilling!

Colourfully yours,

Lori

PS The artwork in this post is from my grandmother, Lena, I feel quite honoured to have as much of it as I do!

January 5, 2019 By
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1 In Makeover

Our Coffee Table Saga Continues

Will I ever find the perfect coffee table?  Is this is the one?  I just don’t know.  But I do love what we’ve got going on now!

So, if you read THIS POST then you know that I’ve seen a lot of different coffee tables pass through my living room.  And I even hinted strongly that maybe, just maybe, our ‘forever’ coffee table might be coming soon.  And we were soooooo close. Live edge with hairpin legs??  Oh, yes!

I had my metal fabricating friend ‘whipping’ up a set of hairpin legs for me.  And by whipping up, I mean, we’ve talked about it back and forth for about 2 years 😉 And that was just fine – why rush into these things!?!  And it’s a good thing, too, because way back when it started out as a bench! See? This is why I don’t rush into anything….unless I see a cool thing at Value Village or Winners because there’s no room to wait there!

When I got word that Randy had the legs ready, I was excited but busy schedules meant my brain was scattered and I drove by a few times without swinging in to pick them up.  Until one day I did remember and boy, oh boy, what a pretty set of legs!

I knew that I would have to do some work to my live edge board, I had last worked on it about 4 or 5 years ago.  I wanted to resand it, maybe stain it again with some Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint and then give it a few good coats of Hemp Oil.  But, I had the legs finally and I wanted to envision how it would look once it was all put together.

I took the legs, headed to the studio and pulled out my live edge board.  Whomp, whomp….in all our back and forth, we failed to take into account the actual width of the board itself.  We had calculated the height perfectly, but missed that one aspect of it #rookiemove

We made a new plan, but that got my wheels turning – what did I have on hand that I could turn into a coffee table NOW because I’m not always super patient { no comments from the peanut gallery } when I have a cool project soooo close to being done! Then it hit me, the section of old barn door in the loft!!  It would make the coolest table!

I hauled it to the studio and got looking at it.  I couldn’t take off the old back support because it was on there with long nails that were bent over and I didn’t want to risk damaging any of the boards.  Instead, I would have to find an old board that I could add to it. And of course, I knew it had to be an old board because it was 7/8″ thick, not 3/4″ or whatever the new 1″ boards are.  Thankfully we have lots of bits and pieces for just the case like this and I found exactly what I needed, trimmed it up and screwed it in place.

Wait, let me back up and tell you a little about this door.  It was the door to the chicken coop that we built when we first moved here, it was already in the barn.  Then when the chicken coop got switched to a pony stall, we cut the door down, leaving two cross pieces on the door in use and only one on the remaining chunk of door.  The boards are tongue and groove so it stayed together well enough, but would need to be supported to be a table and to allow the legs to be the right height….because a rocking table is annoying as all get out.

Once the door was properly supported, I attached the legs and hauled the coffee table in from the studio and tried it out in the living room….once I moved my pretty turquoise one out of the way….again!  And guys, my barn door table is all kinds of awesome.  The chippy paint matches the carpet perfectly, it has character { check out those hinge and handle marks!! } charm and super cool legs.  It is chunky enough for the couch and the size still lets us manuever through the living room with ease.

I brought it back to the studio for a coat of hemp oil which really brings out the character of the door.  Hemp oil is easy to apply, especially to old wood like this, it drinks it up!  I just rub it on with a rag and let it soak in.  Easy peasy, you may have caught that on my Insta-stories?  I love watching the transformation!!

For now, we have this character-filled coffee table taking center stage in our living room.  Will it stay? Will we go to the live edge version later?  Who knows? We’ll just have to wait to see!  But for now, I’m quite thrilled this options – because no one has a table quite live this one, eh?

To be continued,

Lori

PS If you’re interested, I have a lovely painted coffee table for sale – you can see it HERE

October 19, 2018 By
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In Decorating/ Makeover

Coffee Table Transitions

Please tell me I’m not the only one who has pieces of furniture to fill the gap while I wait for the actual piece? Like my current coffee table, for example! And giving said coffee table a makeover or two in the meantime….perfectly normal, right?

Let me start at the beginning. Our living room is a little awkward to arrange. And maybe we made it more-so when we did the big switch of where the sofa sits in the room. But I so enjoy the space more with it in front of the east window, not the north window with our backs to the road. But, that means we need a narrower, shorter coffee table to allow traffic to flow easily from the dining room and without cramping Grace the Fern, too.

Since I had a few coffee tables in my stash, I tried every single one out that I had. I feel like Goldilocks and the 4 Coffee Tables.

This one was chunky enough but not narrow enough,  although Hannah seems quite pleased with it… The next one was too delicate and low but really a good width and depth. So they got passed on or made over { which you can read about HERE & HERE } Enter the table that came from the farm machinery auction because clearly that’s where one would go to buy a coffee table, right?  { I suck at remembering to take before shots before I start my makeover…again, notice my adorable family member peeking over the edge but don’t take note of the state of the studio!! }

 

It’s a little too long, but it’s narrow enough and low enough to comfortably put your feet up because that’s how we roll. I like that it has storage in a shallow drawer and a shelf below. So after a trial run, I decided that yes, it would work so I hauled it back to the studio to get painted. I decided on a neutral colour, a special mix of Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint. Then I finished it with hemp oil, my favourite go-to finish. And drug that heavy sucker back into the living room. And I wish I could tell you how much I loved it.  But I didn’t.

Why did I think I would want a netural? I’m not a netural kinda gal. And it just blended into the sofa!! I’m all colour, right?? Ugh.  But I left it for a while.  I thought maybe my long-term coffee table might arrive but it wasn’t happening right away. { I’ll save that whole story for when it does arrive }

But what did arrive was a box of yummy, delicious Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint!!!   Guys, I was thrilled.  Maybe you saw the Instastory?   You know how much I love the products and the process of using milk paint.  So, this gave me the perfect excuse to haul that heavy coffee table baaaaack out the to studio and paint it a colour I would be happy with.

I mixed up some Kitchen Scale with Flow Blue and got to it.  { I can’t seem to ever just mix one straight colour. }  I sanded heavily between the layers to add depth and show some of the previous colour, because it isn’t you, dear netural, it’s me… So, three layers and lots of pretty dust later, I was ready to hemp oil it.  Guys, if you have never hemp oiled a painted surface or metal or raw wood or leather, I recommend you get to it.  I’ll wait…..

There is something so deeply satisfying about seeing the depth and richness of colours blossom under a silky layer of hemp oil.  And this coffee table sure did come together for me in the end.  It’s bold and big and bossy but that’s what our monster of a sofa needed.

 

 

So, I wish I could say this ends the saga of Goldilocks and the 4 Coffee Tables but there’s another one coming eventually.  But until it does, this beauty will hold down the fort.  And the remotes, cups of coffee and whatever else I decide it needs to hold for us!

To be continued,

Lori

PS I was provided the products by Miss Mustard Seed Milk Paint, but my take on them are just that 😉

 

 

September 19, 2018 By
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2 In Makeover

Master Bedroom Update

At the end of the day, you want to love getting home and seeking that refuge from the craziness of life in your bedroom.  But I have to say, I wasn’t loving how our bedroom was feeling.  It needed attention, it needed a boost of some sort.

Our bedroom, which isn’t large, was feeling blah to me.  It felt dark and boring and just not right.  There’s some major projects I’d like to do but pulling down ceiling tiles and installing shiplap isn’t quite within my abilities or present budget.  I want to paint the built-ins, too, just to lighten them up but haven’t managed to convince everyone of that one yet 😉 And we have flooring to put down, but again, not something I can tackle myself.  So, the question become, ‘What can I do to change how this room feels?’

Step one was switch out the headboard!  Ugh! We had the same headboard the whole time we were married, Michael had bought it before we started dating even….and the salesman told him he’d never have to buy another headboard!!!  Clearly he didn’t know Michael was going to end up with an interior decorator for a wife!!!  So out went the scrolly number we had and in came an old panel headboard from Phillips and Chestnut.  Muuuuuuch better!

I had gotten a new bedspread { does that make me sound old?? } when we first moved in and I loved it for a long time.  But I was getting tired of it and after snuggling the girls under their duvet covers, the handsome Mr. Byrne and I decided we wanted one, too.  A new plaid duvet from IKEA certainly made the room feel fresher, too.  And cozier!

But it was still not 100% to where I wanted it, it felt dark and drab.  It needed some life, a punch, a pop of something – anything to give it a kick.  I debated painting the walls white, the floor a colour….then I decided it needed some yellow!!!  But – would I repaint my nightstand yellow? Maybe I would paint the headboard yellow….how was I going to bring in the yellow?

A trip to Value Village to check on the basket situation for the ever-growing basket wall was the game changer.  I found the cutest retro night stand and paid just over $10 for it!!  I swung into the local hardware store on my way home to grab some spray paint, I was keen to get started.  I suck at prep work – I may have mentioned that – so I did none and started the makeover of that little dresser – how could it go wrong….right?

Ugh!  The paint did a weird thing in a few spots so that delayed progress.  I sanded it out and tried to light coats…and it worked, thankfully! So I drug it upstairs and put my favourite vintage lamp on it { and sorted through the books and magazines that piled up } and called it good.  And it really helped the room – it feel brighter and fresher and way more punchy.  Mission accomplished!

Then of course I tidied some things, dusted others things and took some pictures just to share with you! Because I know you were concerned about how blah my room was, too, right?  I need a bedskirt – I’m thinking a simple white one will hide the bed frame and flooring boxes under there….

I still love my big huge dresser, you can read about that makeover HERE.  I’m still very happy I painted it!  And it’s topped with some jewelery and other treasures that I like to see everyday.

 

Michael uses the built-ins for dressers and has some cute little treasures that the girls gifted him, like this sweet little turtle.  And I decided he probably deserves a lamp of his own so this bright yellow little number is prefect to tuck in the eaves.

You know how sometimes you miss the obvious even though it is right there in front of you the whole time?  My flower crown from Oh Dina! was hanging here the whole time and it took forever for it to dawn on me that our room needed yellow…sheesh…. And this painting has a neat story { I love to tell the stories behind the pieces I use in my home – don’t you? }  This painting lived in this house when I was a teen.  Yep, it belonged to the family who lived here when I was a young teenager and they had gifted it to me somewhere along the road.  And it’s come full circle, back to living here.  I have no idea who the artist is or anything but it looks like it belongs here, eh?

I think that the grainy quality of these pictures help my case, we have north exposure so it just isn’t a bright rooom, even with the huge window!  It definitely needed a refresher and I’m happy with how it is coming along.  I’ll have to finish off the one gallery wall and find a bedskirt and maybe, just maybe, convince my father-in-law to help me lay the floor!  And with a few more pops of yellow, I think we’ll call it good!  Until I want that shiplap ceiling bad enough….

To be continued,

Lori

 

September 17, 2018 By
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