The Always-Changing "Dining Room"

It wasn't until recently that I discovered my love for Gray, Yellow, and a pop of Aqua...my new "color pallet" for the House.
I've experimented with lots of different colors, and I think it drives my husband CRAZY that I can't just make. up. my. mind!  ha ha

This post is about my always changing Dining Room.
Unfortunately, I do not have any pictures taken of the 1st "before" picture, but it consisted of baby blue and white.

I went through this "red" phase, so to begin...

We used crumbled up tissue paper to texture the walls (very time consuming, by the way.) then painted over that with a hue of red, and then brushed over the red with a golden glaze.

So it started off looking like this:

We have 2 Dining Rooms, one I guess you would call, a Formal?  Although, we are very un-formal people.  The other is more of a Dining Room Nook area next to our Kitchen.  We have two Table and Chair Sets, neither which I'm absolutely in love with, but they will have to do for now until we find and can afford our ultimate Dining Set. 
The Dining Room set you see below was a Craigslist find for $300.00.  I may actually keep this furniture, or at least the China cabinet, and maybe paint it?...another DIY project down the road.

A ceiling fan used to actually be where the chandelier is...

While I was cleaning one day, I decided to pull out some white paint I had on hand, and paint the bottom wall below the corner railing.  By doing this, it actually opened the room up a bit.

From there I bought a new rug that I had been eyeing at Target (only later to learn that it wasn't the proper size to go underneath a table of that size.), added faux wooded blinds, and some pretty palm trees.

Of course, since these pictures were taken, I've killed both palm trees (I obviously don't have a green thumb...ha ha), and I no longer use that rug underneath the table.

Good Bye RED, Hello GRAY!

Here is a most recent picture taken of our Dining Room!

The paint color is Benjamin Moore Rockport Gray.

This is only the beginning stages of this Room, I have LOTS planned! 

I just hung the original pictures back up for now, but I think I'm planning on doing something entirely different on that wall.  I also changed out the dining room table, and put the other set in the kitchen dining nook area.

So stay tuned, for more is coming...

Boy Bedroom:

I'm a newbie at this whole DIY thing, I'm learning as I go...don't judge. 
ha ha 
Some of my ideas are pretty "out there", like my tree branch curtain rods, or my obsession with pallet wood, etc.
I'm also new at documenting, so I don't always have "before" pictures from previous projects I've worked on, but I promise to "document" in the future.





The Dinosaur Bedroom:


Before:  I do not have a "before" picture, but if you can just imagine...this Room was once painted black and yellow...I'm not sure if it was once a Batman theme??

I had to give the moulding and doors 3 coats of white semi-gloss paint, I textured the walls to give it a more updated look, and the walls received 2 coats of paint! It was a JOB!
I changed out the white mini blinds to faux wooded blinds.

Curtains & Rod are from Target.

Bedding is from Pottery Barn Kids, and I got the Framed Cork board idea from PBK as well.

When deciding on a theme/bedding, I wanted something that could suit my boy's now, but that when they grew older, I would only need to change out the dinosaur sheets (if they weren't into dinosaurs anymore), and the plaid comforter could be used for all ages (in my opinion).

Here's another picture...better lighting?

To make the Framed Cork-board, I bought a cork-board from Target, and cut/stain moulding to frame around the cork-board.  Okay...okay...actually, my Brother & Dad "cut" the wood for me! ha ha

I then just used wood glue to glue the moulding to the cork.

Shipping Pallets

I was 9 months pregnant when I spotted hundreds of Shipping Pallets next to a dumpster!  I just so happened to be with my Sister, and begged for her to load up her van with some for me!  It looked something like this:
Her lifting about a dozen heavy shipping pallets into her van, while I stood there laughing.  ha ha  ((She loves me!))

My very first project made from Shipping Pallets were some shelves to go above my desk in the dining room nook...

It went from this:

To this:

To "TA DA" !!!

(Actual "pictures" have been edited out to protect the innocent.)

Next I thought I'd experiment with some Craft Paint...

In order to still be able to change out the pictures in the frames, I used Velcro on the back.

Did I mention that Aqua is one of my FAVORITE colors?...which prompted my next project...

This was done with a few different colors of Craft Paint, then I cut out the words from a Cricket Machine, and used mod podge over them.

THEN came me staining the wood for an entirely different look...

Same thing as the above picture, I just used mod podge over the words.

For this next project, I thought I'd try hand-painting the words instead of cut-out letters...

...and just a quick 10 min. craft you can do with your children...

Coffee Table made out of Shipping Pallets...

I gave my Brother two pallets, and he made me a beautiful coffee table!

First Time Blogger...

First time blogger...First official post...

Countdown To The Holiday's...
This year we're hosting Thanksgiving, and I thought what better way to get myself motivated, then to use that as a deadline to spruce the house up a bit!  First priority...DOWNSTAIRS, as that is where house guest tend to mingle. 
Tomorrow's agenda:  Putting the final touches on flooring...
We have Laminate Wood throughout the entire house, except in the wet areas, that's tile. 
So tomorrow, the hubby and I are working with my Dad to lay down Base moulding, Quarter Round moulding, and Trim.  Should be fun!...we shall see.  Scott & I have NO experience with this sort of thing, but I think we're both pretty handy!

Here's some-what of a "before" picture...do you see how there's NO base moulding?  Eeew!  And FYI:  Since this picture was taken, I no longer have those couches, and the curtain is no longer there (still debating on whether or not I'm gonna keep those branch rods)  Basically this room is a CLEAN slate!

I'll update y'all when it's DONE!