New Year - New Look!

It's late January and I am so ready for Spring, aren't you? With the "post Christmas blues" almost over, I felt inspired to make some small, but effective changes around the house. In keeping with my usual theme of "frugal/free/repurposing" & keeping in mind that the old saying that "necessity is the mother of invention"  has become my mantra...here we go...

 I am not fond of having the washer/dryer in the kitchen, but I tried to make the best of it by using a slab of butcher block (bought years ago at a garage sale for 5$!) to give us more work space/storage in the kitchen. I've tried different arrangements and never felt that it looked the way I wanted it to.
The plate rack cupboard was given to us by our friend Margot, I love it, but couldn't find a way to make it work. When the washing machine is running, the dishes clang. It drives me nuts! This whole look makes me want to de-clutter!

I've been looking at plank walls, especially ones made with barn board or reclaimed wood. I imagined the wall done that way, with very little hung on it, a simple, clean look.


I searched Craigslist for weeks looking for wood we could recycle. It was either not what I wanted or it was expensive. So, I decided to attempt getting the look I wanted using new wood and distressing it with stains/paint. 

 We bought 2 packages of tongue and groove paneling ($9.99 each) and used some to make a gift for our friend Margot and the rest for the wall. Total cost $20.00 (I used stain & paints we already had).

 My talented, patient husband did a great job of applying the planks to the wall with his compressed air nail gun. He "rounded off" the edges for a nicer finish.

Then came my part of the project. I looked up "paint recipes" for the reclaimed wood finish I wanted on Pinterest and came up with my own concoction of colors. Dark stain + beige paint + grey paint + white paint.

First came the dark stain:

I applied it with a brush, waited a few minutes and wiped it off. I then lightly brushed on the beige paint sporadically, followed by the grey. Once dry, I dry brushed a little white haphazardly.

 To hide the taps for the washer we used an old Marconi radio "shell", the insides having been gutted years ago. We added four wooden knobs on the bottom as feet to make it the right height, then cut out a bit of the bottom to accommodate the pipes:

 I really like the way it turned out...

 The wall is beautiful, but it needed something...

 I've wanted a large clock in the kitchen for a while, I was going to make it with wood,

  (by "I" I mean Mike!), but had a better idea...

This old ceiling tile I bought at a garage sale for $2 would make a great clock!

 Mikey framed it, keeping in mind it needed to have the space for the clock mechanism in the back. We purchased the mechanism was purchased at Micheal's Crafts for $13.99, less the discount, worked out to about $9.00. Pretty good price for such a pretty clock!

 I dry brushed a bit of dark stain on the frame to give it more of a distressed look.

 I totally LOVE the finished look. The kitchen feels bigger, more open and pretty!

The plate rack got a new home,

on the cabinet I built a long time ago.

 It will be trimmed out with some moldings and antiqued to match.

The entrance got a bit of a makeover too. 

Mike built a lovely shelf using wood and brackets we already had. 

 The shelf got the same treatment the wall did. I really like the soft colors.

 I finally hung the driftwood mirror/wreath I made from driftwood collected on the beaches of Gary Point, Steveston. 

Here's a before & after pic

What do you think?

Thanks Mikey for all your hard work! I love you! xx

Thanks for following!

xx

Sandra