One Room Challenge – Week 3 – Sewing/Craft room

So time is just flying.  So to recap, I’m a guest participant in the One Room Challenge , which was started a few years ago by Linda at Calling It Home. Bloggers link up and share their one room transformations that they are attempting to do in a mere six weeks. You can follow along the featured designers here and my fellow linkers here, as they share their inspirations, challenges and of course, the results.

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If you’d like to see how this all started, click here:

Week 1

Week 2

Last week, I got a lot accomplished.  I finished up my inspiration mood board, selected wallpaper, fabric and wallpaper. Placed a few orders and also, miraculously even had the room painted. I really thought that was not going to happen until much later on.  I also had the drapery rod installed and did some sourcing at Ikea.

I’ve been working on the drapes, which I decided to tackle myself, as they are very simple panels. Again, not so sure this was a great idea as I’m a little strapped for time and obviously, I’m not a professional sewer.  Here’s hoping they turn out okay.

The Ikea chair is all put together,  it looks great and is very comfy.  I also assembled this Alex storage unit. Can’t wait to fill the drawers will lots of my hobby and sewing supplies. I love that it’s on casters so I can roll it around to where I need it, depending on what I’m doing.

alex-drawer-unit-on-casters-gray

As I mentioned last week, I picked up some storage pieces from Ikea to use for my craft and sewing supplies.  Here’s a few ideas that I’m planning to use….hopefully.

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Images via Ikea and Pinterest

So to explain, the hanging fabric on hangers is brilliant, as currently they are in a big mess on my bookcase and this way you can see exactly what you have and it’ll be nicely tucked away out of sight in my closet, until I need to see what I have. Of course, this won’t work for the big bolts of upholstery and drapery fabric that I have but thankfully there aren’t too many of those.  I picked up some of these hanging containers and rods from Ikea and I’m thinking I’ll be using them somewhere, somehow. The magnetic strips are typically used for knife storage or spices, but I have another idea for it. Instead of spices, think beads and buttons!

Mostly, this week I tackled some spray painting. I wanted to add a little more gold to the Ikea sconces. Take a peek at the before and after:

sconces, black and gold

I’ve had a bit of a challenge with the main light fixture this week, but more on that next week. I’ll  also be sharing some more painting updates on my next post.

 

Lisa

 

Reveal of my wicker chair makeover

Hope you are all enjoying some warmer weather now. It appears Spring is finally here. I’m gearing up to put away all the winter clothes, I hope I don’t jinx it!

So I’m here to share my wicker chairs’ makeover (click here to read my previous post).  For a quick refresher, they started out looking like this:

Sun room with black wicker chairs

And now they look like this.

Wicker chair cushion makeover

On a side note, that cute little beach print is from Minted, and I just framed it with an Ikea Ribba frame in high gloss grey, that I already had.  The floor lamp is also from Ikea, many, many, years.

Wicker chair cushion makeover

Wicker chair cushion makeover

The adorable terrarium is from my son’s wedding, last Fall. It’s such a great keepsake and it’s sitting on a sturdy metal side table that was from Pier 1.

Wicker chair cushion makeover

I sewed up the matching throw cushions with the left overs from the piping material. They were cut on the diagonal to make the piping so I decided to make that a feature on the pillow, hence the diagonal line.  I then found it a little boring, so I added in the mother of pearl buttons to finish them off.

Wicker chair cushion makeover

A much more fresher look than the black and red, don’t you think?

Lisa

Two mantels, two different looks

Mantels are one of the best places to decorate for the holidays and if you are like me, you love looking at different ones and different styles to get some ideas for your own.

I’m lucky enough to get to do two totally different ones every year, just for me.  Here’s my cottage mantel that I keep pretty minimal and rustic, totally appropriate for the country setting that it is in.

RUSTIC COUNTRY CHRISTMAS FIREPLACE

 

Photo credit: Justin Frost

RUSTIC COUNTRY CHRISTMAS MANTEL RUSTIC COUNTRY CHRISTMAS MANTEL RUSTIC COUNTRY CHRISTMAS MANTEL

 

I used lots of fresh local greenery, some pinecones in a vintage apothecary jar, some antique encyclopedias (which I have sprinkled around the entire place), some sparkly grapevine balls, a birdcage and of course some candleholders. Honestly, this mantel took me all of half an hour to do. Quick, simple and rustic, just the way I like my country Christmas mantels.

Now for my city house, I went with a more sophisticated style.

CHIC AND CLASSIC, GREEN, BLACK AND WHITE CHRISTMAS MANTEL

CHIC AND CLASSIC, GREEN, BLACK AND WHITE CHRISTMAS MANTEL

CHIC AND CLASSIC, GREEN, BLACK AND WHITE CHRISTMAS MANTEL

Some similar elements here, fresh greenery and some dried magnolia leaves (they do last a few years, if you are careful when you store them), some fairy lights and of course candlesticks and candles. I may just tuck in some white and clear christmas balls amongst the leaves, at some point.  Pretty, simple and classic, perfect for my home in the city.

Merry Christmas!

Lisa

 

 

Simple and easy turquoise accented Christmas urn

As promised, here’s my turquoise Christmas urn and wreath at my city house. As you can see I went with turquoise accents on my Christmas urn, this year.  I love the way the turquoise stands out against the evergreens.

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And a close up.

Closeup of turquoise and evergreen exterior urn

It was super quick this year, I just picked up some cedar and boxwood branches from Loblaws and I used some leftover pine branches that I had brought home from the country and layered them together.  I added in the huge pinecones, which I always seem to use,  along with some birch branches.

I’ve used the turquoise bow and butterfly before and I just pulled them out of my supplies and that was it.  Quick, simple and inexpensive

I also picked up a ready made boxwood wreath and just added a few pinecones and another turquoise butterfly for a super simple DIY.

Exterior christmas wreath with turquoise accents

I love the way the turquoise and green pops against the dark brown door.  Hopefully the boxwood wreath will hold up all winter.

Exterior urn and wreath with turquoise accents

Exterior christmas urn with turquoise accents.

If you haven’t seen my first Christmas urn I did last week for my cottage, you can see it here.

I also decided to go back and share some of my previous exterior urns and decor from years past. I think you’ll see that I stick with a pretty similar style, year and year.  And they may give you some inspiration to get yours done, if you haven’t already.

exterior-christmas-urns-001

So let’s see your Christmas urns!

Lisa

This year’s country christmas urn

After our 15-25 cm of snow this weekend, it now looks just like Christmas here! So pretty but NOT so great for driving.

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This past weekend, I got my country log home ready for the holidays (minus the real tree). Have you started your decorating yet?  Yesterday, I did my country home’s Christmas urn and the rest of my entrance’s decor. I rarely have a plan for this, I just go where I’m feeling it, and this is the result.

Exterior Christmas urn with snowflakes

I found these adorable wooden snowflakes at Wicker Emporium last year and I was excited that I fit them into this year’s decor. I kept it pretty simple and rustic with some pine branches, cut from our own trees, my old standby birch branches (from my neighbour’s lot) and some bought cedar branches, as we don’t have cedar on our property.

Closeup of christmas urn with snowflakes

I added in some red dogwood branches in the middle (from my backyard in the city) and of course, a huge pinecone and a sparkly bow to finish it off.

Exterior christmas sled

I also did up my vintage sled and two of the lanterns that I had spray painted black (from their original rusted silver) this summer.

Exterior christmas lantern

Exterior christmas entry with urn and sled

Please ignore all my little wet footprints, everywhere.

Exterior christmas sled

Exterior Christmas urn and lantern

Later this week I’ll be sharing my city home’s Christmas urn and I’ll be taking a look back at ALL THE ONES I’ve done in year’s past. Wish me luck finding all those old pics.

Exterior Christmas urn with snowflakes

What does your Christmas urn look like?

Lisa