The great rental mantel slip cover

There are certain pros and cons to living in a rental. No yard work. That's a pro. Someone else pays for stuff to get fixed. Another pro. Dated 80's architecture. That is most definitely a con. Case in point, this lovely fireplace:

 

Now don't get me wrong - we love having a fireplace. A wood burning one, too. It's the placement (right by the front door), the tile (mottled brown & black), the diagonal wood surround, and that miniscule little rounded corner excuse for a mantel. Even our key bowl hangs over the edge a bit.

So I got an idea in my head that my dad could build a slip cover for this thing that could be removed when we leave. You know how much I love the idea of a slipcover!

I emailed my dad a picture of the mantel then a photoshopped version of what I wanted. He likes a good problem to solve. He was a math teacher. :)

He had some barn wood laying around so he brought it with him when he and my mom came to bring a bunch of our stuff from storage (THANK YOU!!!).

I should have taken during shots, but I didn't. My mom and I went thrifting. Anywhoo, the barn wood he brought was WAY better than I had expected. He let me choose between the weathered grey side or the weathered white painted side. WHITE PAINT. It is a super nice contrast with the stained wood surround. And here's the finished product:



Isn't that SO much better? And it's removable! Now I can experiment with styling the thing. It's deeper, so more stuff fits on. He made it thick enough so that it just hits the top of the light switch by the door.

I LOVE the weathered paint. This is the real stuff, no faux here.

Before:

And after:



Much better! Oh, and pay no attention to the crap stuff reflected in the mirror. I'm still working on that area. And I plan to paint the mirror frame the same color I painted the bathroom vanity in our Nebraska house.

More on that pearl embellished sweater stocking to come...

Today I'm participating in this excellent party:

The Hutch!

So as I said in my last post, I was finally able to get my hutch open. It was the paint that had stuck together on the door & frame. Silly me! Here's a recap of the history of my hutch:

• It started out as two pieces, starting with a buffet that Vino got for me second hand for my birthday. 
• I painted it black. 
• It sat in storage for almost 3 years while we were living overseas. 
• It came back out of storage and the doors didn't close anymore. 
• I looked high & low for a hutch to put on top because I had no place to display my good dishes.
• I found the second piece, a hutch that was FREE.
• It was not pretty.
• I painted it white, using leftover paint from our trim. I painted the inside back aqua, using leftover paint from our porch ceiling (it's paper & not perfect, but it works for now).
• Back to the buffet: I peeled off the poorly done paint job on the top only. I sanded, stained & sealed the top then painted the rest the same white as the hutch.
• I put the hutch on top of the buffet in our dining room. Finally.
• I couldn't open the hutch door. It sat that way for a couple of months.
• My mom suggested that I use a saw to get the door open.

Now that you're caught up, we move on to the present! I couldn't imagine using a saw to get the door open and not damaging the piece, until I found this pumpkin carving tool in storage:

It worked. And the only damage done was to the paint. I'm thinking about leaving it the way it is. It goes well with the rest of the distressing!

Oh, I also used a couple of pieces of wood and some braces in the back to attach the hutch to the buffet. Our house is rather flexible (you may have noticed the shims under just one foot of the buffet) and moves when people walk heavily. I didn't want to worry about the hutch falling over filled with dishes. But that's boring so I'm not going to show pictures.

And speaking of the dishes, these came from my Aunt Jean and Uncle Ken. Uncle Ken bought them for my grandmother when he was stationed in Korea and visited Japan. Aunt Jean gave them to me, and they came in the original boxes (including all the stamps!) that Ken shipped them in from Korea. I grew up eating Thanksgiving dinner on these dishes and I'm so thankful to be able to display them. They really are an heirloom for me!

I will add more stuff to the hutch over time - I have a set of good all white dishes that are still packed. Some of those will go in the hutch but the rest will be stored in the buffet.

The buffet was $60, but I'm not sure I should include the price of that since we've had it for several years & it was a gift from the man. So I won't count it. The glass for the shelves in the hutch were $26. The stain, seal & paint I already had from other projects. The hutch was free.
Total cost: $26

Things happen in our house gradually. After so many months of picturing our dining room like this in my head, I'm really thankful for one more thing completed! Well, mostly completed. Is anything really ever fully finished in an old house??

Little spring things that make me happy: turquoise & fringe

thrifted fringy turquoise table cloth

Not much blogging going on here. Too much work...and flu-ish yuckiness...

But Spring is here!!! The daffodils and hyacinths are coming up all over town. The snow is gone. That's the best part. No freezing cold, dirty, wetness.

I don't know why, but this table cloth brings a smile to my face. It's a happy color and I like the thick fringe. I know it's nothing important in the large scope of life. But when I see things in our house that need to be done that I don't know when I'll get to, when I think about unencouraging issues with infertility & adoption, and any number of other stupid things I could fixate on, seeing something that brightens my day helps me to focus on things that I really am thankful for - the things that do matter. My faith in God, health, family, friends, the good man that I married.

I know it's just a table cloth. I'm not going to get dramatic about it. :)

What kinds of things help you to focus on what's really important? There's gotta be something.

Family...Food...Football...Caramel Corn

We are at my sister & brother-in-law's house for Thanksgiving this year. It's not as exotic as spending Thanksgiving in Tunisia where we were at this time last year, but we're thankful to be with family! This is the first time we've been to their house (they moved here a few months ago). I really like it! I'll include some photos of my favorite decorating ideas that my sister has done.


My mom & my sister making stuffing.


Brother-in-law, Brad, cutting the bird.


Niece Julia.


Nephew Evan.


Nephew Isaac.


Niece Emma.

My sister Shelley and I have similar but not identical design taste. We both like rustic, but I like more of it than she does. She goes for more new furniture & house while I like old & worn in. We are both currently into the same color scheme, though. Neutrals with beachy muted aquas & greens. We're also both into cheap or free.

She has cottage style in a distinctly non-cottage house. I really like the way that she has combined vintage & beachy pieces with her newer stuff & home.


In the living room she has hung another one of the windows like I used in my parent's basement. I think it looks great on the big expanse of wall over her sofa.


She rescued this "O-So Orange" pop-bottle crate from my parent's garage & filled some of the cubbies with shells she collected on beaches in North Carolina. Perfect. And absolutely free.


I made that bowl in college. It's very thick & heavy. I was painfully unsuccessful in my pottery class but I really enjoyed it. I think I gave all my pieces away!


Shelley said that she wants to replace the chandelier with a large outdoor looking lantern, like the ones currently being sold at Restoration Hardware, but not like the prices. Oh, I got that birdcage for her years ago at a thrift store.


Love the ladder. She picked it up at a little antique store in the town where we bought our little house. She dry-brushed it with a little aqua paint (which doesn't show up in this photo) before she hung it.


I want a sea fan. Shelley brought this one back in her carry-on from a trip to North Carolina. I tried to take the photo without getting a glare. I was not successful.

It's now the day after Thanksgiving. The house is full of friends & family watching the Nebraska/Colorado game. The Huskers are currently ahead 13-0. Yessss. Vino is making caramel corn. We're all looking forward to that. It's the best ever. I'm not biased. You can watch his tutorial video here.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! We'll be back working on the house next week and will hopefully be able to move in before the first blizzard of the year!

My Foray into Senior Photos

This week I agreed to take senior photos for my niece & nephew. I wasn't sure how they would turn out, since I have no idea what I'm doing with my camera. But I'm actually pretty happy with the results. All of the photos were taken on their farm. They both compete in horse shows, so their horses had to be included!


This is my favorite shot of Keisha with her horse, Twister.

I was very happy with the angle of these shots.



I was experimenting with back lighting. Don't know if I was completely successful or not. Again, not quite sure how to use my camera!


I LOVE the photos with the grain bin. I'm really drawn to the horizontal lines. AND, the shape of the bin gives the illusion that I have a wide angle lens. :)


This is our tongue in cheek version of the senior portrait with the fancy car. Keisha was recently in a roll-over accident in her Jeep and was VERY blessed to come out of it with only minor injuries. I told her mom that this is her miracle shot!


I studied the sites of two photographers I know. I love their styles & used their photos as inspiration. Becky Novacek Photography in Omaha, NE & Khara Plicanic @ Kabloom Studios in Lincoln, NE.


This shot was a direct rip-off of Khara's shot in this blog post, although hers is much more dynamic!


I had so much fun, even though I was nervous that nothing was going to turn out right. Thanks for giving me a chance to take your photos, Randy & Keisha! Check out the rest of my favorites from this photo shoot here. What do you all think? Suggestions for what to do better next time? Comments? Let me know!