Kitchen Table or not?

While we’re currently doing a mini makeover in the kitchen, I’ve been tossing around the idea of making it ‘eat-in’.  We rarely use the dining room  to eat.  I use it all of the time when I’m working on projects and in fact, I can’t even see the dining room table right now.  It’s certainly big enough for my favorite choices of kitchen tables

So, I set about looking for some eat-in kitchen inspiration.  Here is what I came up with: 

Phoebe Howard

Phoebe & Jim Howard
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What do you think?  Do you have an eat-in kitchen?  Would you? And after looking at these…I’m thinking my big kitchen all of a sudden looks much smaller!  Maybe an island is a better choice. But I still would love an eat-in area in the kitchen or at least a spot to sit and talk to the cook, Mr. DIY, while he’s whipping up a delicious meal. 

Ship Shape Big Boy Room

I love this blog and her header just makes me smile.  
Because I imagine with 3 boys, I’d have a hard time making “home” my style…girly.  lol  But she has an amazing style and I love her DIY projects.  The latest ‘love’ is her son’s room, which makes me wish I had a boy, especially during the teenage girl drama stage. 

Check out what she did, including the awesome light fixture and clever headboard and all of those darling nautical details!  She has an amazing way of stretching the budget and gets a big bang for her buck.

BIG BOY ROOM REVEAL!

The “Big Boy” room is complete (for now)! I can not tell you how much I’ve enjoyed working on this space for my oldest son!
As you know, the inspiration for this room came from Serena and Lily’s Ronan Collection.  Of course I didn’t want to copy the space, but there were a few key elements that had to be brought in from the ispiration. Here is my version of the Serena and Lily room!


The shipping palettes were a must in the design of the space! I think that is what made the Serena and Lily room so unique! I got such a kick out of my husbands response when I called him outside to help me unload them from the truck:-)

This light fixture turned out really nice, if I may say so myself! It’s the Melodi pendant light from Ikea. I have a tutorial coming up later this week on how I “hacked it”!


Here is the fixture with the light off (above). I think it ties in nicely with the nautical themed room!

Do you notice the closet?! You can’t have a nautical themed room without stripes! Taking note from the inspiration room again, I knew that I had to bring in the stripes. But, the price tag of the duvet didn’t work with the amount I had to spend on one;-) So with $20 and a little sweat, I think that the look was acheived and you can’t tell this was my first attempt at painting stripes (can you?)!

I haven’t decided if I want the storage cubes to remain in the closet or on this wall below

(I need a chair for that corner!)


By taking the toy storage out of the closet, he can use the closet as a little ‘nook’ to read or to play with his Legos


Seriously, what sailor doesn’t need a place to read “One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish”?!

Here are a few close ups

Mrs. Limestones photography is the best!

Isn’t this the cutest hermit crab?!

Great room, isn’t it?  It’s like waking up to vacation every day!

She has a post  listing her sources too.
And I love that she shares her DIY disaster but doesn’t give up.  Happens to us all, right?  
You’ll have to visit her to see what I mean along the cutest little desk makeover.

And her entire blog full of inspiring DIY projects.

Thanks for sharing your amazing style and genius DIY ideas, Lakeitha!

Decorating Obsessed – Man Cave

Ashley from Decorating Obsessed is so DIY skilled.
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They did an awesome job on their “man cave” but it’s so cool, I’d call it a co-ed cave.  After all – girls get thirsty too! 
Look at this bar her husband made.  All DIY.  I love the molding detail on the front, don’t you?  Gorgeous!

Before:
After:


They gave the old wet bar a new look to match:

The wet bar project is almost done

Remember the ugly wet bar we had in the basement?

Well, it definitely got a facelift.

The most important task was replacing that dated green countertop with the matching countertop we got for the bar.


Unfortunately, pre-made countertops are one of the few things hardware stores will not cut (because of possible splintering), so this was a project Brent got to freehand. Yes, freehand.

So, he set up a cutting station using my other Craigslist dresser and a trash can, and went to work:

Brent did 3 practice cuts on the extra material before starting on the cut. To help prevent splintering, he placed masking tape down the center of the cut.

Before:

After:

I think it turned out great. And the best part? We only spent $60 on this update – and that was for the countertop. The mirror is one I bought on clearance at TJ Maxx 4 years ago, and could never find a home for, and I already had the black paint.

We still have to get a mini fridge for underneath, since the former one was sacrificed for the kegorator. We have some Best Buy gift cards left over from the holidays, so hopefully we’ll find something we like there.

 
Now, my absolute favorite part?  Take a look for yourself.  
(That’s ALOT of wine, Ashley…had I known, I’d have pitched in on that DIY step!)

My wine cork dresser

Remember this guy I scored on Craigslist for $20 several weeks ago?


Well, it found a new home behind the bar as a buffet.


I’m not positive for many wine corks I used, but I would say it’s in the 800+ range.


At first I started out using a hot glue gun, but I was having issues with all of the corks properly sticking – so at Brent’s suggestion I switched to liquid nails and those suckers aren’t going anywhere now. Once the glue was done, I did 2 coats of poly over everything. 

 
Fantastic!
Super job Ashely & Brent!

Don’t forget to enter the Gorilla Glue Giveaway!
All you have to do is be a follower and comment!
If you love to DIY – I know you’ll LOVE this prize pack!
More details HERE as well as info on an upcoming DIY Club Inc. party!