Big Huge Mounted Color Photos...

...for next to nothing.  

I did these for our house a few months ago.  I love them, they look great.  And EVERY TIME people come over to my house, they always say:

1. I can't imagine how much those canvases must have cost!
2. Where did you get these done?

or, if they KNOW me...

3. There's no way you paid for this.  How did you do that???

:)

Well, partly to help those wanting to know, and partly to save myself from ever having to explain how to do this again...here we go!

OK, #1.  I know what many of you might be thinking - contractor prints from Staples, right?  No.  I tried that, and they came out terrible!  Or, terribly.  Anyway.  They did not look good.  I was so glad I only spent $4.99.

So here's what you do.

1. Order "rolled poster prints" from Winkflash.com.  *They did not pay me to say that!  Winkflash just has the best prices I could find, and the quality is really, really good.  Highly recommend!*
Cost of the prints I ordered:
30"x40"...$15.57  (no joke!)
20"x30"...$11.37
(2) 16"x20"...$6.57 each = $13.00 total (or so)
Total prints = $40 approximately.  I used my rounding off powers to figure that out.
2. Carefully unroll and put heavy things on the prints to flatten them out a little.  I put a towel on top of each print so they wouldn't get boogered up.

3. Go to Home Depot and get a big 8'x10' sheet of home insulation board.  I know this cost me less than $10.  Take some helpers if you want!

4. Cut it up into pieces a little larger than each print.  Go outside on the deck.

5. Spray a board with Elmer's Spray Adhesive, then lay the print down.  Smooth it out with a hand towel.  *It doesn't matter if you get the print on straight or not!  Don't worry about that.*

6. Here's where you get to make them look all nice & straight: get a cutting mat & ruler, and an EXTREMELY SHARP utility knife.  Like, a brand-new blade, sharp.  Line up the ruler along the edge of the photo, and cut!  Don't worry about the knife going all the way through.

Once you've made a nice straight cut, even if the knife did not cut all the way through the board...you can just "pop" the edge open, like this:

Can you see that?  It just pops open and gives you a beautiful clean edge.  THEN, turn the board over and, using your straight edge, cut the other side. 

7. Rinse & Repeat for as many photos as you have.

8. Find some creative & ingenious way to hang these on your wall.  Pat yourself on the back!  Invite friends over. Let them think you paid the big bucks.  Or not!  They will ask where you got them.  :)

There you have it!  That's how I did four nice-sized mounted poster prints for a little under $50.  


Sharing with...
Sumo's Sweet Stuff
Sew Chatty
Sew Can Do
Making the World Cuter

 

$15 Office Makeover

Well, hi!  I have, in fact, NOT fallen off the face of the earth.  Just in case you were wondering. 

Today...just a quickie little "before & after" of a room in our house.  This is the sunroom, otherwise known as the "computer/sewing/whatever-else-we-can-cram-into-it" room.  One half is my sewing area, the other half is DH's office area.  I have a lot of supplies.  HE has a lot of supplies.  Usually this room is an absolute  nightmare to look at.

Behold:

That's the office side.  My sewing side, when kept clean, is fine.  But this office...there were some inherent problems.

Problem #1: The Hutch.  Otherwise known as the "clutter magnet."  Really, it served no purpose but to provide a place for us to put stuff on, that we didn't know where else to put.

Solution: Get rid of it!
New Problem 1 1/2: Wanna see what 8+ years of sitting by a sunny window will do to a desk?

Yeah.  That's apparently the official place where the "sun doesn't shine."

Solution: Paint, of course!  I resisted the very strong urge to go to Home Depot.  I wanted to spiff up this room for as little money as humanly possible.  So to the basement I went, and much to my surprise and delight, we had almost a full quart of black semi-gloss paint.  AND primer.  AND I even found some little mini foam roller covers down there.  Our basement is a dark and scary place, but you can find good stuff there if you look!

Problem #2: The Big Hulking Chair
Just not fitting for such a teeny tiny room.  Plus, it spins around, so when the kids would get on it and use it like a piece of playground equipment, it put gashes in the front of the desk, making the desk even more unsightly. 

Solution: My $3 flea market chair!  A little paint & fabric, and there ya go.

And here is the new and improved desk, sans hutch, all freshly painted:

OK!  Moving on...
Problem #3: The Corner of Junk

Scary.

Solution: Shelves...was going to buy some from IKEA, but DH reminded me that we had some shelves down in the basement (see?) that his work was just going to throw away.  They'd been down there for more than a year.

Brought them up, cleaned them off, spent $12 on brackets, and.............

Ho yeah!

And here it is, all together...SO much better now!

I still need to find a solution for all those wires under the desk.  But I'm going to wait, because I have a feeling that the big old computer is about to be forced into retirement, to be replaced by a young ambitious laptop.  We shall see.

Oh and I couldn't resist...I was taking this picture, and I looked up, and this is what I saw :)

Downstairs progress: Inspiration Rooms

When I re-decorate a room, I like to do what they did on a show called "Design on a Dime."  (Is that still on?  I have no time for HGTV these days.  Well, except for Design Star, but that's on at night.)  ANYWAY.  On this show, they would have an "inspiration room," which was a photo of a high-end, expensive room - and then they would duplicate it in their own house with similar, more affordable things.

I'm no interior designer.  I can't just look at a room and dream up beautiful things to do to it.  But (I'd like to think) I can execute the ideas fairly well.  So I love the whole "inspiration room" thing. 

I had an inspiration room for our bedroom...

photo source

that turned into this (still a work in progress)...

....hmm.  Now I actually feel kind of lame.  Well, in my defense, our room is tiny - about 10.5' x 11'.  I kid you not.  Tiny.  Aren't old houses "charming?"  But still, there's no excuse for the bare wall behind the bed - gotta do something about that, it would look so much more finished....

MOVING ON!

In my search for a nice color palette for the downstairs, I found this room in a BHG photo gallery and fell in love with it:

photo source

Ahhh.  Isn't this beautiful?  So fresh and light.  I love those gray-ish walls with the green and brown.  This became my inspiration room, love at first sight.

First things first, I painted our walls.  I went with a neutral light gray, called "Gentle Rain" by Behr.  What a breath of fresh air!  The previous color was this yellow-ish, caramelly color that had been there for quite a few years.

before - old color

after - new color

 Vive la difference...

So that was that for the paint. (I did paint both rooms, if you're wondering!)

Next up was the curtains.  I dubbed the ones in the inspiration photo "the curtains of my dreams."  My mom actually found the specific fabric online - Waverly "One Wish" in Mint Julep.  Herein lay the problem: I needed 12 yards to do both windows.  At Joann's, that fabric is $40 a yard.  That just ain't happening.  Even if we had the sort of budget where $500 for curtains was do-able, I don't think I'd be able to bring myself to actually do it!  At Fabric.com, it's $16 a yard.  Much better...but still not justifiable for me.  That's still $48 a panel...I just can't do it!  Not when there's fabric like this...

...on sale at Joann's for $7.99 a yard.  Normally $20, it goes on sale once a year for 60% off.  It's from the Waverly Modern Essentials line, called "Fun Floret."  So at $100 for all 12 yards...we're not talking "cheap," but we're now finally talking "do-able." 

And how FUN is this beautiful fabric???

radiators under windows...the bane of my existence!

I could not be happier with these curtains!  They are a fun, fresh pattern and color, and they do so much to brighten up these rooms!

It's coming together, but I still have lots to do.  Next up: wall decor. 

Downstairs Redo: The Shape of Things to Come

That title is for all you Losties out there.  Has it really been a month since I've last done anything on here?  Well, I'm a busy lady, what can I say.

One rather important "housekeeping" item: I noticed that when I opened up my own blog today, the post titles were all in the Comic Sans font.  It is very important to me that YOU realize that this is not anything I have done on purpose.  I firmly believe that Comic Sans is pure evil in the form of a font.  It makes me shudder just to look at it when other people use it.  I have no explanation for why it is showing up on my blog...but I didn't want anyone to think less of me.  ;)  We behind the scenes at Pleased as Punch are thinking about maybe doing something about it someday.

*****

OK, with that bit of ridiculousness out of the way...as I mentioned before, I've been busy!  Wanna see?

One day I got really fed up with our downstairs rooms: the family room and the play room, formerly known as the dining room.  We have this bookcase that we've had for years.  Actually, DH built it for me!  At the time, it was built for a specific purpose, which included housing a tv (as you can see).  It worked great for us for a long time.  But over the years, it had come to this:

I could stand it no longer.  With DH's blessing and the assurance that he wouldn't get upset or anything, I took that bookshelf apart, board by 500-pound board, until it was a pile of scrap lumber that now sits in our basement.  We have these three MDF bookshelves that my sister-in-law gave to us before they moved out of town.  They have been sitting up in the spare room, holding books, but not in a pretty way.  We just didn't really have a use for them.  But a light bulb LITERALLY appeared above my head one day!  Literally!  So I hauled those things downstairs (no small task) and butted them up against each other and WOW what a difference.

They look so clean and uniform!  I hardly wanted to put anything in them!  It really makes the room feel like there's more space to move.  All that clutter felt oppressive, almost, and I didn't even realize it until it was gone.  Now listen: I'm not done with the new bookshelves; I did put pretty much everything back on, just to put it somewhere.  For now.  I think it still looks a little cluttered, but so much better than before.  And I do have plans...I'm just waiting for some fun things to come in the mail.  More on that later!  Anyway, here it is at the moment...

And thus, the Changing of the Bookshelf was the little rock that rolled down the hill that started the avalanche. 

One time, DH & I replaced the light/fan/heater fixture in the bathroom, and it turned into a whole big bathroom renovation.  This is what tends to happen.  I think, "my goodness!  That one little thing makes such a nice difference...what else could I change?"  And then I start getting ideas. 

Next up...!

Bedroom Breakdown

I'm so happy to still have some readers here!  Thanks, guys!

So...the bedroom.  I actually have some "befores"...

before

What is with these cats???  Such camera hogs.  The "before"...eek.  Stark walls, leftover wall decor from when we had red bedding (not that it all has to match, but...).  ONE lamp, and not on my side, which was a pain.  Full-size bed...and I'm told that I kick.  No curtains. 

 After:
- I never realized that gray could warm up a room!  That is the Benjamin Moore color "Coventry Gray" - but I took the paint chip to Home Depot and got it mixed there in the Behr Premium Plus Ultra.  The kind with the primer in it. Looking back, I'd skip the Ultra and save a few bucks.  We still had to use two coats, and I wasn't blown away by the quality - I mean it's very nice paint, but I was expecting a miracle in a can.  I've used just the regular Premium Plus before, and thought that the Ultra didn't seem any different.  Not to mention, you really don't need primer on white walls.  Duh. 

- The bed: we got a queen-size bed and mattress set.  And there was much rejoicing.  Before we went shopping, I was under the delusion that we could probably get a good mattress set for about $300-$400.  But I was wrong, so wrong.  :(  And in an uncharacteristically UN-frugal moment, we bit the bullet, went to a furniture store, and bought the bed and dresser.  Even though we did not spend nearly what I know other people spend on furniture, I almost threw up as I paid the girl at the counter.

- The bedding!  I am in LOVE with the bedding.  Homegoods.  :)  And it came with the pillows - that's just one less thing for me to do!

Here's another before...

 
We were trying to cram too much furniture into the room.  The room measures 10'3" x 11'.  No joke.  So we got rid of that dresser and now instead, I'm using my closet for all my clothes.  I got a Rubbermaid closet system and there are lots of shelves in there now.  It's a ridiculous mess right now, or I'd post a picture.  It works pretty well, but I'm still getting used to it.  It's worth having the extra openness in the room.

curses upon you, radiator!

Now there's just a mirror, which I love.  It was $80-something at the Home Depot - Martha Stewart brand.  Not exactly frugal, but have you priced these mirrors elsewhere?  Most start at $200.  I might have to take it back, though, because it makes my hips look big.  It's faulty.

Another before/after...

before...not great.

after...well actually, still not great, but better.  Please ignore the bag hanging from the door and the hamper sitting there.  I didn't mean to have those in the picture...

Low budget item #1: the curtains.  They're actually sheets.  Twin size flat sheets from Walmart, $5 each.  That's $10 a window.  Not too shabby!

that's my daughter's head in the picture.  I tried to crop it out, but there were technical difficulties. 

Low Budget item #2: the lamps.  $7 each at a yard sale.  I didn't have to do a thing to them!  The lady would NOT bargain, though, and had no sense of humor at all, which made me almost put them down and walk away, but DH was there and he talked sense into me.  You can't get lamps anywhere for $7 apiece. 

Low Budget item #3: the side tables!  I wish, I wish, I wish I had a before picture.  You would not believe how crappy these things looked.  They're just cheap-o MDF, and they were brown, and falling apart.  They were originally $5 each, but I bargained and got them for....ready...$5 for the pair!  I sturdied them up by replacing the original dinky little screws with bigger ones...and then a little primer, paint, & polyurethane...and wow.  They could not BE more perfect.

So the last thing to do is to replace the light fixture on the ceiling.  I have NEVER liked it.

I'm going back and forth between spending $99 at Lowe's for a showstopper...

Or just getting a $10 basic, unnoticeable, sad, boring flush-mount one.  I'm actually leaning more towards the "who cares" one, just for the sake of not blowing any more cash.  I don't know, though.  But I do know this: the old one has to go.  The Addams Family called; they want it back.

***

$5 Dresser + TLC.....Priceless

I wish I'd taken a picture of it all together, but...

...and it was even uglier in real life!  Beige, with brown/"gold" accents.  The mirror was filthy - there was some sort of grease all over it.  You can't tell from the picture, but the knobs were mismatched, and the two front legs were loose and wobbly.  It was in pretty bad shape, but I still can't believe I got it for $5.

Once I stabilized the legs so that it didn't wobble, I realized that this thing is built really well!  Solid, and the drawers have dovetail construction...which of course we all know from watching Antiques Roadshow, is a good thing.  ;)

I didn't take step-by-step pics, because as another blogger recently put it, "the world doesn't need another tutorial on how to paint something white."  Amen, sister.  I did refer to this tutorial by Centsational Girl, the veritable queen of furniture makeovers.   I was pretty sure I knew what I was doing, but I really wanted to do it "right."

I'm so unbelievably proud.  Here it is!

I love the hardware I found.  This is from Lowe's.

Look how smooth!  Thanks to a product called Floetrol. 

It's ironic. I spent $5 for the dresser.  Then I spent $30 for the hardware (a splurge for me, but not NEARLY what it could have been).  Paint & polyurethane...about $20.  I only bought a quart of paint, which was more than enough for two coats.  So all in all, this cost a little more.  But to me, it's my $5 dresser.  :)

Linking to:
http://tidymom.net/tag/im-lovin-it/
http://www.missmustardseed.blogspot.com/
http://www.remodelaholic.com/
http://shabbynest.blogspot.com/
http://frenchcountrycottage.blogspot.com/
http://romantichome.blogspot.com/
http://chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com/
http://southernhospitalityblog.com/another-thrifty-treasures/
http://www.homemakeronadime.com/
http://nightowlcrafting.blogspot.com/2011/08/hoos-got-talent-62.html
http://southernlovely.blogspot.com/2011/08/show-share-1.html