DIY Plank Wall Mantel

The mantel in our house has more or less been a giant eyesore since I can remember. It didn’t always look as bad as it does in the before picture, though. It had a bunch of cheesy square mirrors on the top and sides. We took those off, and it sat in that sad state for longer than I’d like to admit. The stack of wood was purchased probably two months ago. I had the idea for a plank wall and we saw a nice bunch of wood in the discount pile in Home Depot. In total, all of the wood for the project was less than $9. There was a few things that I had to do, before cutting and mounting the wood…

There were giant holes where the shelf was bolted to the wall, and also one of the fake bricks was missing from the framing of the fireplace. I used Rock Hard to fill in the holes, and (more or less) made a fake, fake brick to blend in the gap. The “bricks” around the fireplace aren’t actual bricks, so that’s why it’s a “fake, fake brick.”  It’s not perfect, but it did the trick for now. Before painting the bricks, it’s also important to vacuum and wipe down all the crevices. It’s easy for dust to hide in there and ruin the paint job.

Cutting the wood was surprisingly easy. I give 100% credit to the nice miter saw that I got at an estate sale for $20. I got the idea for the chevron shape of the wood from a friendly older gentleman at Home Depot. I was telling him about why I was collecting all that wood and he said, “You know there’s a really simple way to make your wall look really fancy…” You just set the miter saw to a 45 degree angle, measure and cut. All I needed to attach the planks were 1.5in finishing nails and voila! It was up!

Next came the caulking…

Then the paint…

The bare wood looked great, but I wanted to try the white wash treatment. We’re also supposed to install some marble on the bottom, so I thought the raw wood and the marble might be too busy. I didn’t use an official measurement for the paint, just a plastic cup with some paint and added water until the mixture seemed about right. Very precise…

I’m in love with that incense jar…

So that’s that! I’m not brave enough to try to do anything with the marble right now, but I’ll post pictures of it when it eventually gets done. If you’re thinking of doing a plank wall, do it! It’s easier than you’d think and they look fantastic. For another great tutorial on planking an entire room, check out Domestic Imperfection… Leave me some comments with questions or suggestions. It’s always appreciated!

Dome Top Trunk part 2

It’s finished!! I already did the first post on the exterior, and now the interior is done. I’m so happy with it! This is how the inside started…

It was covered with several layers of awful greenish grey paper. Surprisingly, all it took to scrape that off was wetting it with a sponge and scraping. Lots of scraping..

I didn’t really have a plan for the interior. Well, actually I had several plans, but I wanted to wait and see what exactly I had to work with when I was done with the scraping. I toyed with the idea of modpodging an old map on the underside of the top, or using some of these sheets from Home Depot..

But the wood was looking pretty decent on it’s own..

Not too shabby! I thought I’d try a little stain and see how it turned out…

I always think that natural wood is prettier than any painting or paper. Also, the curvature of the inside of the top would make covering it with any paper or vinyl tiles very tricky (ain’t nobody got time for that). Natural wood it is! Lastly, I added the side bars back on, where they were previously, and made a box for the interior.

(I’ll do a separate tutorial on making the box, don’t want to cram too much in one post.)

…and the finished product…

A few side notes….

The wood in the top of the trunk was definitely different from what was used to make the rest of it. Before I stained the interior all the wood looked the same, but after the stain, the top turned a yellowish brown while the rest was reddish. So, if you look at the tray insert in comparison to the top, it won’t quite match, while it does still match the rest of the trunk.

It took three coats of two different stains to get the new wood on the tray and sidebars to match the trunk. There could have been a stain that matched it identically, but who wants to buy more cans of stain when I already have so many sitting in the garage? One coat of Sedona Red and too coats of English Chestnut, both by Minwax, and it matched almost perfectly. Close enough for me!

It looks fantastic in the office where it’s sitting. Once that room is complete, I’ll post pictures of it in all of it’s pirate-y glory.

Step up your game, Bradenton!

It has been WEEKS since we had a good Estate Sale in the area. My thrifty senses are becoming extremely bored! If you look at the pictures for this weekends sales, everything looks like it came straight from Pier 1 in 1997. In honor of my next trip (a road trip with a friend through Tennessee! I’ll post about it later) I decided to do a little “window shopping” of the sales going on in the Knoxville area this weekend. I have to say, I like what I saw, like beautiful vintage cabinets that I will dream about refinishing…

Piles of junk to sort through…

No telling what you’ll find here!

Wooden boxes of all shapes and sizes…

And a fantastic GE fan. The cherry on top…

Hellooooo Tennessee! See you in a few weeks!

Post Box Decor

The only credit I really deserve for this post is writing it, and staking my claim on something my mother found. All other credit goes to my mom for finding this cute little Post Box.

She went to a church sale, probably the biggest one in our area where they actually charge you for admission. A lady had picked up a microphone and said, “I’m selling this post box and I’ll start the biding at $5.” No one was listening to her so she just kept rambling nervously about how she was selling it for a little old lady who had brought it over from London several years ago. My mom felt bad that no one was listening to her, so she bought it. It worked out nicely for me, because I love it! It only had slight wear and it still had the screws and TWO KEYS!

After a little clean up, it was sparkling white. I haven’t yet decided where to put it, or what to do with it but I’m thinking this would be a nice spot.

That spot has just been waiting for the perfect thing, and this might be it. For now though, I am enjoying just having it on my desk. If you’re wondering about that cat picture on my desk top, you can read the story about it here.

If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them!

Thrifties…

If you’re not familiar with Habitat for Humanity, you should be! They do a lot of charity work, helping those in need with their housing. They also have thrift stores where they sell some of their left over and donated supplies. You can find everything there from metalic tiles…

to brand new kitchen cabinets..

Vintage furniture…

And brand new furniture…

Best of all… HOT DOG CARTS!

They sell clothes as well. I found two skirts from Hollister and Abercrombie for just $.99!

Their store is called “The Restore.” If you have one in your area, you should check it out!

Cute Yellow Dresser re-do

I found this little dresser at an estate sale for only $15. The price was right because of how beat up it was, but it’s bones were good. I loved the no frills, simplicity of it. It was real, solid wood with sturdy dove-tail joins. I did have to wood glue one or two spots, but nothing major.

It improved immensely after a quick sanding and only one coat of paint, but there were a few nicks in the top.  I smoothed those out before the last two coats.

After the last coat of paint, two quick coats of polycrylic and drying over night, it was ready to go! I gave this one to a friend of mine and she sent me a few pictures once it was set up.

She loves it, so I love it. This is also the color I used on the chalkboard. It’s just such a happy, cozy color. Let me know how you like it!

For nosey people like me!

One of the best parts about estate sales is getting to see the inside of some AMAZING houses! Take the one for this weekend as an example…

I’m so excited. I mean, look at this kitchen…

I’ll let you know if I find anything good! (that I can afford) 🙂