A little DIY project inspires a big change…Part 1

Thanks to True Value, we’ve added giving our 1980’s kitchen a much needed makeover to our DIY list, or at least up a few notches from where it was (near the bottom). SO exciting! Our dream kitchen knocks out walls/etc. so we haven’t done much in there since moving in three years ago but I’m ready to make a change.  Because the dirty-looking-even-when-clean 20 yr old white linoleum floor (duct taped in places by previous owners) and blue laminate countertops are my biggest embarrassment.  Our kitchen is functional but it’s butt ugly!  We’re still saving for the dream kitchen but in the meantime, a tight budget mini makeover is just what it needs.  Our first trip to True Value = “wow!  Where do we start?”  We came home with a few things to get us started and this

and our plans evolved from there.

Here’s the wall before (new kitchen paint color coming soon)!  It’s the skinny wall between the two doorways.

Nothing useful going on there. (you get a peak into the dining room – another  mini makeover in progress) There was a Pottery Barn phone hanging on this wall, however we don’t have a phone line to the house any longer and there isn’t one even there behind the phone.  Probably the reason it never rang, huh? Purely decorative and now it resides in the basement junk pile awaiting an ebay debut or yard sale.  Oh man.  More work!

I filled the nail hole and lightly sanded the wall.

Then using a paintbrush and chalkboard paint, I cut in around all of the trim and used a foam roller on the larger middle section. 
AH!  Hide your eyes!  You can see a peek of linoleum that I NEVER show!  Dingy white and country blue flowers!  Look Away!  I line my paint tray with foil.  Easy to cover between coats and keeps paint/roller/brush fresh!  Paint clean up is one of my least favorite tasks so I keep it to a minimum!
 
I let it dry for about 5 hours then added another coat and let that dry.  It felt a little rough to me so I lightly sanded again and put on a third coat.  Then life got busy and crazy so I let the paint cure for a few days.
Love the sanding attachment for my Dremel Multi Max.
Sanding with the Dremel Multi Max makes the job easy and quick!  It fits perfectly in my hand too. I love that it’s not awkward.  More on that guy in another post.

With the side of a piece of chalk, I rubbed all over the chalkboard area then erased with a chalkboard eraser. I’ve skipped this step in the past and the writing was difficult to completely erase.  This works!

Love how it turned out.  Perfect place for writing down the day’s events, shopping list or even the menu du jour when Mr. DIY cooks. 

It’s little projects like this that get my DIY mojo refueled, spark my creativity and motivate me to want to move forward with the kitchen, tiny budget and all.  I love the little chalkboard wall but it looks out of place with it’s surroundings.   Every time I walk in there, I feel my big 80s poof growing back!  Plans to do something about that!  Stay tuned!  Oh –  I conquered my fear of the miter saw monster so there’s no stopping me now!

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I was one of the bloggers selected by True Value to work on the DIY Squad. I have been compensated for my time commitment to the program as well as my writing about my experience. I have also been compensated for the materials needed for my DIY project. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments.

DIY Project Parade

How was your weekend?  Productive?  Definitely here…so productive in fact that I’m ready for Monday to be Saturday so I can have a weekend!  Anyone reading have magical powers to make that happen?  No?  Doesn’t hurt to ask or dream.  But here is one of the things I checked off my DIY To-Do list this weekend:
My Decorative Plate Wall…
I put up some decorative plates although I’ll be taking them back down to re-paint the dining room walls  (dining room makeover in the works!) but sometimes I can’t wait to see how something looks…do you get that way?  We’ll call it eager.  Not impatient.  🙂
The plates I made are strictly decorative.   I printed my images onto Avery 8 1/2 x 11 inch clear mailing labels.

 
I found a bowl that was the right shape of the flat part of the plate.  I traced the image on the clear mailing label (centering around the image) and cut it out.


Peel off the paper backing and place onto the center of the plate.
Easy, right? 
Rub out the bubbles.
If there is a stubborn bubble, use an xacto knife to make a small slit and rub again…bubble gone!
I‘m sure by now you’ve heard of dischangers to hang plates.  They make it so easy. I love that you can’t see a brassy plate hanger.  They’re reasonably priced and easy to use too!

Disc Hangers from $1.00
Using a finger, wet the back to activate the glue.  Place on the back of the plate (if you have a design on the front, make sure that it’s place appropriately).  Let dry over night.
To hang my plates, I laid out a pattern that I liked on the back of a sheet of wrapping paper.  I traced them and labeled them so I’d know where each plate goes (to use as a guide after the nails are in the wall).
My wall is plaster.  I used a pen to mark onto the wall through the wrapping paper where the nail would go.  Then I mark a dot on a piece of tape and line it up with the hole on the wall then hammer into the tape. Using tape with a very sharp tiny black nail (I think it’s actually an upholstery tack), ensures that chunks of my plaster wall don’t crumble.  Remove the tape once the nail is in place.
 
And finally – my wall of plates!
Tip:  If you note that your dischanger is crooked with the design on the front of your plate, use a small piece of poster-tacky-stuff on the back to straighten it on the wall.  I may be speaking from experience.  I’m sure you noted that with my technical term “poster-tacky-stuff”…maybe.
What do you think?  I love this look.  Is it original?  Nope.  But it IS original to my friends and family and that’s who sees it.  🙂 

As I mentioned, my plates are purely decorative and this would work for plates that can’t be heated  and only dusted with a dry cloth but Jenn from Rook No. 17 discovered an amazing product for using transfer images on ceramic dishes.  Check out her post here.  Speaking of Jenn, random.org chose this as the winner of the Gorilla Glue Giveaway:

Congratulations Jenn! It’s your lucky day!  🙂

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So…care to share your DIY project?  I’d love to see it! 

SHOW IT OFF!  What did you DIY lately?
The DIY Show Off

If you’d like to link YOUR DIY project post to The DIY Show Off Project Parade:
  1. You must use the button above and link to this post to share the linky love.
  2. Include your name or blog name and project title. Add your permalink (not your blog url, but your DIY project post url). Feel free to link a Past Post, just invite your readers in a current post with a quick note.
  3. Or email your link to thediyshowoff@gmail.com and I will add it for you.
  4. If you notice your link has disappeared please add the link back to The DIY Show Off to your post today with a quick note to your readers about the party and try again! I love when everyone participates and readers check out everyone’s links, but I think the return favor of linking back is the nice thing to do so everyone plays fair and enjoys all of the projects and links. Also – this blog party is for DIY projects only. Links not related to DIY will be deleted.

    DIY Project Parade

    What a week!  I have a number of different projects going at once! I am loving it!  But dreaming of days off and sleeping in, being served breakfast in bed inspired this DIY project.

    Materials:
    Old cabinet door
    Wood filler
    Sandpaper
    Paint and Primer (Dutch Boy  – Color:  Lake Champlain)
    Milk Paint (Antique White)
    Deco Art (Pearl White)
    Cutting Edge Stencil (that I used on my daughter’s walls)
    (2) Cabinet pulls
    Deft Clear Gloss Wood Finish
    Adhesive Felt

    Tools: Foam brushes, Sanding Bug, Drill, Scissors

    Here is the cabinet door (before) from any ugly vanity we removed from our powder room.  I removed the brass pull and hinges then gave it a bath.
    I grabbed the first screwdriver I could find.  We have more screwdrivers than pens.  Seriously, we can never find a pen but screwdrivers sure are handy.  I need a screwdriver with ink.  Looks like this one is used to open paint cans.

    I sanded both sides and wiped it down. Isn’t this sanding bug so cute?  Works great on a small project like this too! Since it’s not real wood, sanding took some of the faux wood paper off, but I just kept sanding until it was as smooth as I could get it.  One of the things I love most about DIY is the amazing transformation and the little imperfections that make it one of a kind. 

    Then I remembered that I needed to fill the holes.  So, I did and sanded again once the wood filler was dry.

    These Painter’s Pyramids sold at Rockler were really helpful and allowed me to paint on newspaper in the dining room.  They kept the door up off of the newspaper and table.  It’s been so hot and muggy outside so this allowed me to pain in the comfort of a cushioned seat and a/c.  So handy!

     

    And I wiped it down again before painting. I used foam brush and Dutch Boy Paint/Primer all in one.  It took 2 coats. I’m a paint snob and I was very impressed with this paint! Zero VOC and eliminates household odors (isn’t that cool?).  LOVE the color too (Lake Champlain) so you’ll be seeing this in future projects! 
    I like the easy to open plastic lid (although it takes some muscle to get it open the first time – insert Mr. DIY’s help at this point).  The easy pour spout was cool too!
    Once the 2nd coat was dry, it needed something in the center.  I taped down my Damask Cutting Edge Stencil.  The entire stencil was too large, but I only used the portion of the stencil that fit my area.
    Using a small amount of Milk Paint on my foam brush (I kept wiping it off on a piece of cardboard), I dabbed the areas of the stencil. This was the first time I have used Milk Paint.  I love t
    hick paint and was like pudding.  It looks good enough to eat or maybe that’s because of milk in the name and pudding’s main ingredient? Milk!  I DO NOT advise eating your milk paint though.
    Once that dried, I wanted to give it a little glam so using another foam brush, I added Deco Art Dazzling Metallics Pearl White to the stenciled area.
    Then it was a few days before I got back to it but when I did, I sanded the edges a bit to distress it.
    Spray both sides and edges with the Clear Semi-Gloss Finish to help protect the wood/paint.What a beautiful finish!
    Next mark the areas that need drilled for the handles.  Drill the holes for the handle in the middle of the left and right edges. Attach the handles. Or have a handyman do it for you because you’re cleaning up all of the DIY materials and supplies before guests arrive for a party you’re having in a few hours.  Of course, that’s my experience.  My day was chores/DIY and hosting a party but I’m crazy like that and love when I can squeeze DIY into my schedule.
    After the handles were attached, I traced circles onto a piece of adhesive felt, cut them out and attached to the bottom side (1 in each corner) to prevent scratching surfaces.
    Ta da!  All done.  A junk door becomes a pretty tray!



    I‘m donating my Trash to Treasure Tray to the 7th Annual Trash to Treasure Charity Auction in St. Cha
    rles, MN, The auction, hosted each year by the Pfarkel Sisters of Junk {Re}defined (in photo above), donates all net proceeds from the auction to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.  If you have a project that you’d like to donate – there’s still time (although very little!)  Click the button below for more details!
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    It’s also time to vote on your favorite DIY project over at the DIY Club! 
    My tray above used at least one of the DIY Club sponsors and it would qualify for September’s DIY Club Contest. How about yours? If so, it’s so easy to enter and the prizes are awesome!  
    Click HERE to vote and get the details!

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    Now, my favorite time of the week!  
    SHOW IT OFF!  What did you DIY lately?
    The DIY Show Off

    If you’d like to link YOUR DIY project post to The DIY Show Off Project Parade:
    1. You must use the button above and link to this post to share the linky love.
    2. Include your name or blog name and project title. Add your permalink (not your blog url, but your DIY project post url). Feel free to link a Past Post, just invite your readers in a current post with a quick note.
    3. Or email your link to thediyshowoff@gmail.com and I will add it for you.
    4. If you notice your link has disappeared pleaseadd the link back to The DIY Show Off to your post today with a quick note to your readers about the party and try again! I love when everyone participates and readers check out everyone’s links, but I think the return favor of linking back is the nice thing to do so everyone plays fair and enjoys all of the projects and links. Also – this blog party is for DIY projects only. Links not related to DIY will be deleted.