Dining Room Update: Mirror Montage

Our dining room walls are very blue.  I thought originally that I'd want to lighten this up with some fun, more white focused art.  I also contemplated using some canvases for a quick DIY to create the same Kate Spade inspired art that's floating all over Pinterest.  I even bought the canvases!  But the more I thought about it the more came to the realization that this room needed light, and outside of putting sconces on those clean walls - the next best thing is mirrors!

Enter the mirror montage project.  I knew after seeing pictures like these that I wanted a few different sizes of mirrors to create more of an installation look than just one big mirror (I'm not in the habit of watching myself eat at the dinner table)

via

 

via

 

But when it came time to pull the trigger on all these different shapes and sizes it still felt like I needed a "theme" to carry them all through.  Enter my BFF, loud and proud GOLD.

 

Trouble is, I'm apparently the only one fully 100% embracing the gold revival (the buyers at Hobby Lobby FOR SURE are not on board yet) so there was a serious lack of gold mirrors to be found.  So then I jump ahead to thinking, hmm maybe this project is "Magic of Spray Paint" worthy?  Well with the vast array of textures I was finding (lots of that don't spray paint me plastic) that didn't seem like it would end well.

 

Finally, I settled on gold leaf!  So here I bring you, my gold leaf tutorial!

 

First off, I collected almost a dozen mirrors from Hobby Lobby and the like, mostly for $5 to $10 with frequent 50% off sales.  I knew I wanted one interesting focal point, so while the majority of the mirrors are oval or circles or some version therein, the crown jewel is a mosaic tile sort of design that will match really well with the new rug we got for this room.  Of course I found it at Target and it was part of the Threshold collection - love!

 

So here we go!  I got all of my gold lead materials from Hobby Lobby or Michaels. They have pretty much the exact same selection.  I'd recommend starting with one of their starter kits which include all 4 of the liquids you'll need + 10 sheets of gold leaf to get you started.

 

 Step 1, make sure your mirror is clean and free of dust!  This is also the step where you can put down a "base color"  I chose not to do this on any of my mirrors, wanting the black (and in some cases, yellow/blue) to show through in tiny tiny areas to create a little patina.  But I do recommend adding a base if you're looking for a picture perfect, and realistic gold texture.  Strangely enough, people recommend starting with a base of red.  Red base paint comes in the start kit I referenced.

 

Then, you'll take the adhesive and a foam craft brush and put a light coat on the entire area you'd like to gold leaf.  Make sure you really cover it all as you will NOT want to go back and add more once you start the leafing process.  Let this coat sit for about 10 to 15 minutes so it gets tacky.

 

Then it's time to get out the gold leaf.  It comes packaged between thin sheets of tissue paper and its VERY fragile so be careful as you pull it out - I found it best to get some static on my finger and let that do the work.

 

Then you lightly place it on your surface, being sure to create enough give that once you smooth it into the cracks it doesn't break.  This part takes MAJOR practice!

 

I used a dry foam craft brush to push the gold leaf into place.

 

 

Once its all in place and pressed down, you'll likely have some left over pieces that you'll need to pull off.  Keep those for filling in the gaps later.

 

 

Speaking of those gaps.  So I try to fill as many gaps as possible with more gold leaf.  Anything else that's still uncovered can easily be filled in with a gold leaf pen.  These cost about $8 but are AMAZING and I was able to do all of my mirrors with just one pen!  I clearly got lazy on this last mirror and had lots of black uncovered spots to fill in.  This was because my lazy self didn't put enough adhesive on the sides so nothing was sticking.

 

 

The next step is sealing.  I again applied this with a new, clean, foam brush in just one light coat.  It's important to fill in any gaps with the pen before sealing.  One other thing before sealing - some people like to put an antiquing coat on to tone down the brassy look of the gold.  I was actually looking for that yellowy sheen so I didn't use a toner but if you wanted to, you should do it before the sealant.  Toner comes in that starter kit.

 

And that's it!  I went on to lay out my mirror gallery on my dining room table, trying to figure out the width in between.

 

 

Then you saw from yesterday's post that I hacked up some newspaper to recreate this general layout on the wall before hammering.  Dan said this was a HUGE help.

 

Finally before starting to post them, I gave them all a good cleaning and scraped off the gold foil that got on the mirror, using the same method we used to get the paint of the windows last weekend.

 

 

 Here she is!  So excited to have something up on the wall and something to cross off my to do list!

 

 

Have you put up anything fun on your walls lately? 

 

This weekend we've got projects galore, involving painting the den, buying more (and hopefully the LAST!) bit of crown and baseboard and of course painting painting painting!  Before and afters next week!

 

Hope you have a lovely weekend!

 

 

XOXO,

KC

 

New Bedroom Addition

Guess what landed on my doorstep yesterday?  Hint: it has to do with an update to this look:

+ one unhappy dog.

 

We didn't trade Emma in, but the new rug did finally get here!

 

+ one unhappy dog + new chevron rug

 

It's definitely a different look and a pop of much needed color/pattern.  As you can see this is clearly a work in progress with a messy bed.  But more big projects on the immediate horizon for this room.

 

I also finally finished up a project for the dining room last night - super excited to share that tomorrow.  Here's a hint.

 

hmm, planning my black friday deals already? who knows... crappy iphone pic. oops.

xoxo,

KC

The Magic of Spray Paint: Halloween Part 2

So on the eve of Halloween, I have my second set of decorations for you - a la spray paint.  Now these could easily be parlayed into a (dare I say) "harvest" decor - I'll likely keep them around until I start the Christmas decoration blitz - so don't let my tardiness get you down - these are easy.

Now for starters, I took inspiration from Pinterest on this project, and while it wasn't a complete Pintrosity, it came close at times.

I should have known better when the "DIY steps" were listed in the Pinterest caption and the link was to Pottery Barn... You guessed it - I wanted to try the ever popular pin - DIY Mercury Glass Pumpkins...with spray paint.

deceiving image actually via not so accurate instructions/inspiration via

 

Considering that the "large" pumpkin shown is $40 and the "small" aka micro pumpkin is $25 I was thinking: "if I could even remotely pull this off, just think how much I'd save!"  Basically this Pinterest project suggests purchasing Krylon Looking Glass spray paint, spraying some plastic crummy pumpkins and then misting the not-yet-dry-paint with water to create the Mercury Glass-esque swirls.

 

Well let's just say my impatience may have played a role in this mess.  For starters, I couldn't find this so called "Looking Glass" color even after checking Michaels, Home Depot and Lowes.  So because I'm not a quitter, I picked up some Krylon Chrome.  Ok, easy enough.  I also grabbed some slightly ugly (again with all the shades of orange and tan!) plastic pumpkins from the $1 spot at Target (I basically live there)

 

that's my little plant mister in blue

 

So I apply the first coat of "chrome" to the first pumpkin and apprehensively mist on some water.

 

My pumpkin immediately looked like it had a case of severe acne.

 

pimple pumpkin

 

I'm not sure if it was the texture of the pumpkin, the fact that I wasn't using this hard to find "looking glass" or that I didn't have legit directions, but when I sprayed the other pumpkin with "chrome" (sans any water misting) it looked fine

 

acne free pumpkin

 

So now I was stuck, one with pimples and one without so in an effort to have a somewhat similar looking pair, I ended up spraying a little on the "good" pumpkin as well.  I mean, it's Halloween - things are supposed to look a little ugly - right?

 

Then I took time some time off to let these pumpkins sit, err eat some Halloween candy - whatever.  I came back the next day with a bottle that fixes everything - GLITTER!  For $2.50, a little spray bottle of silver glitter mostly masked the imperfections and gave them most of that sparkle I was looking for from a Mercury Glass finish in the first place.

 



sparkle pimple pumpkin.

 

Never one to miss out on an opportunity to zhush - I added some little stripey bows from my BOO project.  I paired these with 2 white pumpkins (purchased at Michaels for 50% off and without ANY of the hassle) on our mantel in the den.

 

 

 perfect pair of pumpkins - just couldn't help myself.

 

So, not a total Pintrosity, but like I said, we came close on this one. 

 

On a completely unrelated note: hope all my East Coast friends are safe and dry today!  My heart breaks for all ya'll and the devastation in your area!

 

xoxo,

KC

 

Weekend Recap: Finishing Details

So the title of this post would have you believe that we're close to finishing the house.  That's probably 55% true.  As it stands we've got 80% of the "improvements" we want to complete in the first year done - but only on the main level and upstairs. 

Random sidebar that will totally make sense soon...

Every year we have a BIG Christmas party - this will be my 10th year to host!  I LOVE LOVE LOVE Christmas and decorations and cookies and carols and all of it!  And our annual Christmas party really is just a big way to say thank you and Merry Christmas to all our nearest and dearest, which given the work and cost, works out pretty well as a massive "gift" to most everyone we know.

The thing is this will be another year of first for us when it comes to Christmas.  It's going to be my first Christmas away from my fam (eek, still can't quite talk about that one...) and our first Christmas in our first home.  This is also the first year that we're inviting a LOT of people from our respective companies to our annual party - holy pressure! This will also be the first time A LOT of people (new friends and lots of old!) get to see the house.

Naturally I have begun planning.  In October.

 

Step 1 of my plan includes finishing the other 20% of "improvements" we want to make to the house.  This means, finish the crown, finish the baseboards, finally paint all that stupid trim, add a back splash in the kitchen, put up window treatments, etc. etc. etc. forever x infinity - or so it feels.

 

Step 2, and the MUCH more exciting step in general, is lots of zhushing.  Again, naturally I jumped the gun this weekend and skipped ahead to Step 2.  While we did paint a lot of trim and get out the razor blades to scrape paint off window panes, I also happened upon an AMAZING sale Friday.

 

Enter RugsUSA.com and their incredible 60% off sale.

I was able to snag two huge 8x10 rugs: 1 for our bedroom and 1 for the dining room!

 

via for the dining room this actually has a grey design which will be a perfect tie to the living room.

 

via for the master!

 

Also, not sure why this is showing a blue border on both rugs, but that's not actually on there.  I CANNOT wait for these two rugs to show up on my doorstep this week! 

 

Surprisingly enough, I think the dining room might be the first room finished - I have a fun and inexpensive wall decor DIY that I'm going to try out later this week and then this should be pretty close to done.

 

We did tackle some annoying things from Step 1's project list this weekend, but let's be honest, none of you care about how my dutch door is now a new, hardly noticeable but brighter, shade of sparkly white.  Although I must say, I feel incrementally better about the kitchen now!

 

This week, we'll finish the trim painting once and for all, and make a plan for the crown, base and cornice boards with my brother in law - cannot wait for those!  Then we'll have to figure out if we have time to tackle Step 3 before the party, which I'm terribly excited about but can't get too ahead of myself with.  You'll just have to wait and see like me, if we get there in time!

 

Pick up any free or cheap thrills this weekend?

 

xoxo,

KC

 

Weekend Recap: Tri City Greatness

With my mini love note yesterday to D for our 1 year anniversary, we didn't get to talk weekend recap.

This weekend was crazy town busy!  Friday I watched the first of the 10ish Cards games I'll watch all season - I'm a fair weather fan - quite literally!  I'm not interested in actively watching the boys during a St. Louis summer.  No amount of beer makes sitting in your own sweat cute.

Now that the Cards are officially in the playoffs (tied with the Nationals as of yesterday!) I can embrace the game in my own special way - ridiculous watch parties with lots of red!  Stay tuned for that.

Saturday D and I got up and met our friends X and N for the Tri City Garage Sale.  This is an annual event that I try to hit but missed last year as it was the weekend of our wedding.

Over the years I've gotten some SUPER bargains - all our dining room chairs which I painted and recovered, plus a table which I gave to my sister A, my desk, a vintage steamer trunk for D's side business (more on that in a minute), and tons of fun zhushing elements.

Well despite my furniture hall of year's past, this might be THE GREATEST YET, even though we only spent about $30.  Enter, the 49 star flag!

holy scary outfit, k.  good thing that flag is amazing.

 

 

Not to get all Antique Roadshow on you, but the 49 star flag was only made for 8 months - 8 whole months!! - from when Alaska was inducted as the 49th state in Jan of 1959 and Hawaii was inducted as the 50th state in Aug of 1959.  The best part of this find?  It was only $10.  Amazingness.  I'm planning on making this the center of our den redo which we're hoping to start on in December after we make a final push to finish up the upstairs and main level.

 

Other exciting finds of the day include: a gigantic clock, a vintage globe, an antique printing set, a stately planter in need of some TLC, a sassy metal orange bookcase, original Ball Mason jars, and a brand spanking new projector screen which we'll put to great use.  We also picked up lots of colorful vintage books - always a fun find and great bookcase maker!

 



the cornwell hall

 

 

X was much better than I at immediately finding homes for all her new treasures and snapped this pic of the bookcase, globe, some books and mason jars all zhushed up in their office.

 

look at that zhushing! love it!

 



The rest of the weekend was full of unexciting things like painting outlet covers and bathroom trim in preparation for my family coming in a few weeks.  I did take off Saturday night to visit D and his brother J at Grove Fest, a neighborhood festival where they were promoting their side business, 314 Threads.

the booth was looking pretty messy at this point as we were huddling like crazy to stay warm.

 

That's it!  Back later this week with some spray paint transformations and holiday projects!

 

xoxo,

KC

Friday Finds

Hope everyone is having a GREAT Friday.  This week was a toughie but it also seemed to fly by - crazy how a packed schedule makes you feel that way.

So Wednesday evening before trying out my latest work out scheme (more on that next week) I popped into Target to pick up a few essentials and of course cruised the home decor section for some inspiration/bargains. 

I've been meaning to post about the amazingness that is the new Threshold line by Target for some time now.  Have ya'll seen it?  I did some research on it after seeing a new lampshade with the Threshold branding about a month and a half ago (scooped up for these awesome lamps) and apparently Target is rebranding their Target Home line, both in actual logo and product assortment. The new product selection was described by one of the top Target merchants as "New England Country Chic."

Sign me up, hook, line and sinker, I'm sold. 

Everything I've seen is super reasonably priced and surprising well made and exceptionally well curated for a house brand.  Right now they have a much better selection in store and are still clearly working through the branding change over on their awful .com site (love the store, hate their website - soo not user friendly after the relaunch!) but I've pulled some of my favs from the new collection below.

1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8

 

 

I feel some zhushing in my future after all this inspiration from Target, although my weekend will  likely also involve some trim painting and mulching as well.  More on that on Monday. Happy weekend loves!

xoxo,

KC

 

ps i wish target paid me for this (preferably in threshold items, duh.) but sadly they did not.

Zhush it up

I work in marketing, a field that is predominately female with a few rare breed men that aren't afraid so embrace their more "communicative" side.  My D is actually one of these rare men, but even he (much like the few men in my department) was unaware of what "zhushing" means.

I always thought this word was yiddish but it turns out to be more French than anything, which is rather fitting since it's really the action of putting a little je ne sais quoi into action.  I bring up the whole marketing thing because of a scenario I recently encountered at work.

A female colleague and I were wearing very similar espadrilles and were discussing their comfortable in the middle of one of our main throughway's.  A fellow male colleague comes up just as I'm explaining that the cording on my shoes just gives them a little "Zhush."  At this he stops and says asks what on earth is Zhush.  After providing several relevant examples of Zhushing - straighting your collar so that it stands up  (use starch people, BIG pet peeve of mine), selecting an appropriate man bag or complementary scarf as an accessory - not even going into how Zhushing can be used to make your house, albeit your LIFE, more fun, and after a few more examples he got it.  This colleague, straight as an arrow mind you, now frequently asks me if he's "Zhushed," partly joking but not enough to disregard the answer entirely when I jokingly (not entirely) say no.

I digress.

It's time to start Zhushing the house.  Now I have particular anxiety about this because Zhushing essentially says alot about your personality, or what you hope to convey about your personality.  Whether its in the details of your necklaces and shoes or which books and trinkets and art you display in your home, it's important.

I started with the "most close to complete" room  - the Living Room.  What with the new furniture, fresh floors and new paint color, we're getting close.  We're currently using an older armoire and two older black bookshelves that we already had from the old house.  Eventually I'd like to see some more white in here with some floor to ceiling shelving but we can't get what we want overnight.

Now with this house we're looking for "more modern" than the last and a nice clean aesthetic, so that being said, D put down the mandate that these shelves remain as simple as possible - no cramming them with milk glass and books like the old house.

I started with this blank slate and gathered some groupings of things I knew I'd want to include.  Sorry for the crappy iPhone pics.  I was just happy I remembered to snap some!

semi-blank canvas, I already figured out the top by the time I remembered to take a pic

So you can see what we're working with, two short bookcases, about 4 feet tall and then an armoire around 5 feet.  I started with the Hatch Show prints mostly because they were the only two pieces of art that actually had the same size/proportion frames.  I also love these pieces and they were burried in our office in the old house.  I'm not sold on this as their permanent home, which is why they're still resting not hung, but they are a nice pop of color in an otherwise conservative room.

 

now onto filling these guys up

After collecting what I knew I would want to include in these shelves, I broke the pieces up into categories on the dining room table for easy picking.

 white stuff (mostly milk glass), greens, pretty trinkets and books (in that massive HD box)

From here I just went with symmetry as much as possible, relying on the physical differences in the materials I chose to (hopefully) create the interest I was going for.  Here's the end product.

decent first pass

up close finished version.  let's talk about how blah the backs of these are.

This likely won't stay this way for long but it accomplishes the goal of getting something in, keeping them fairly clean, and showing just a tiny bit about who we are.  Some of my favorite things in this: my gramma's old books, milk glass I've collected over lots of antique malls and thrift stores, a picture of D and his first ever pup Cody, and the little blue and white china box from our house in Texas.  It's where we always stored the spark plugs to the Christmas tree lights growing up and strangely where I keep mine now.

Up on the blog later this week: kitchen redo phase 1, and the details for a bridal shower I'm helping to host for good friend E this weekend.

xoxo,

KC