a simple teenager bathroom makeover, part two

In the summer 2019, I started  making over Miss C.'s bathroom,with a new mirror, new lighting and new towel hangers.

I even repainted the vanity from brown to black,much nicer with the black mirror.

We could have stopped there as she was quite pleased with the outcome, but after removing the medicine cabinet, she was a little short in storage, so I built her some:

I built this cool ladder following this tutorial from Ana White (of course!) and painted it black like the vanity. It was not a complicated built, but it took me forever!

So now there is space to store extra TP, Kleenex and more cactus!

Speaking of cactus, I found the perfect print:

Of course, I could have taken this makeover further by embracing the new trend of painting tiles, but I thought it was good just as is. Sometimes it is nice to keep things ....simple!

Happy Day!

a year in review: 2020

What a year!I am so ready to say goodbye to 2020....but I have had a few good projects!
First up was the year of blue:

I painted the library, the island, the outdoor couch!
But the biggest change was our front yard/porch:

part I and part II

and of course, some sewing:

Apple pillow, I love you Quilt, Bunny pillow,

Bunny bunting, Bunny bags, Halloween pillow.

See you all next year!

building a mantel for our old fireplace

Last weekend, I built a mantel for our fireplace.

This project was years in the making....in my head!

And it took about half a day!

Simple, yet perfect!

Here is the original fireplace to our late 60s house,

totally naked, except for the blue tape I was using for reference

while I was decided on the high and width of the mantel.

(Bosco loves looking outside!)

I followed this tutorial from Shanty to Chic,

changing a few things, 

as I wanted a floating beam.

I used 3 pieces of pine: 1 x 5" x 8',

and made a long skinny box (88").

I stained it with Early American.

(you can see the tree I was flocking in the background!)

Then we hanged a 2" x 3" on the brickswith special screws, it was a little scary!I also attached 4 little pieces of the 2 x 3perpendicularly to the wall to help support the beam.

Finally we put the beam on the support,and put a few screws from the top,and voila!

Surprisingly it looks like it totally belongs!

And now I need to decorate it for Christmas,for the first time!
Happy Day!

morning coffee on the front porch

This summer we are staying home, like a lot of people, so we have been enjoying a new routine on the weekend: coffee on the front porch!

We also use it after work for a cool beverage,

and a chat with the neighborhood and its many dogs!

I could not resist adding some sunflowers, 

both in plants and in prints,

so cheerful!

Espresso and homemade lemon biscotti (still working on those..)

are a fun way to dream of Italy and the vacation we could have had...

Our front porch is a new addition to our house,

and we love it.

We also added a walkway through the front yard,

and it is so nice!

We still have some things that we need to work on, but it is so much nicer than when we moved here over 9 years ago....

I will do a post over our front yard transformation in the near future...
Happy day!

refinishing the patio table and some new candles

Summer is well on its way here in the DC suburbs,

and since we are not going anywhere,

it is nice to eat/drink on the patio.

But some of the furniture I made for the patio in 2015/2016

were starting to look a little tired.

Too many long winters!

Earlier, I refinished the couch, staining it blue:

and that brought back that little corner to its former glory.

So I decided to tackle that huge table I built in 2016 for the ORC

from our old deck.

(the house was repainted last year!)

I never updated it on the blog, but I added some wood all around it for a more finish look.

I spent hours sanded it, bring it back to the light wood:

I liked the look of "naked" wood but it needed some protection for the elements,

so I tried teak oil on the bench like in the past, but that has a country look.

so I went with this oil instead :

it is darker than "naked" but the wood doesn't have that yellow color,

so I am happy with it!

With the table looking so nice,

I wanted to add some candles to the tabletop.

A while back I had seen this cool tutorial at Remodelando La Casa

and decided to make one too,

and it turned out perfect:

I followed the tutorial Cristina wrote, just changing the color of the spray paint to sea foam  instead of aqua. And I do not have any sand or seashells, so I used stone dust and flat rocks. I even had the same little glass containers,  I guess we like the same desserts!
So now we are ready to enjoy some nice meals on the patio:

Happy Day!