A few house projects

A couple of weeks ago, I got the urge to rearrange my living room.  I just wanted to think of another way to setup our furniture to make it more cozy and a little more open in the entry area.  So while I was talking to my sister one day, I multi-tasked and moved some stuff around. 

Here is a picture of what it used to look like......

Here is what is looks like now.....

Peter and I really like how it opens up the entry way, and makes a nice cozy couch section for watching a movie together as a family, or vegging with a book in the evening.  And there's still plenty of floor space for my busy boys to play on.

In moving stuff around, it provided a nice new spot to setup a desk area downstairs.  I knew it was only a matter of time before keeping my laptop on the couch would result in one of my boys spilling milk on it, myself spilling coffee on it, or one of their cute little bums crushing it during a karate fest.

However, I didn't want to spend a lot of money on a desk because it wasn't a necessity.  And I didn't want anything super wide or deep because it would cut off the walk through from the dining room.  So one Saturday we went out to look at a few thrift stores but had no luck.  But we stopped at a random barn garage sale where Peter "had a feeling" (ha!) and we found a desk there we thought might work.  It would provide a little storage without being bulky and it wasn't too long or deep like some desks are.

I forgot to take a before picture but just picture an ugly cream color with a shiny top, and ugly gold hardware with a white pendant in the middle.  Yuck!

So I gave it a couple coats of primer and a couple coats of paint.  We were going to get new hardware but the holes from the previous hardware were spaced wider than normal so I decided to just buy rubbed bronze spray paint and give them an update.

We also found a chair at a thrift store that had a dirty brownish fabric covering on it.  Walking through Wal-Mart the next day I found a fabric I thought might work, and it was on clearance for $2 a yard, yes!!  So I just recovered the chair in the pretty, new fabric.

It went from ugly cream with gold hardware to this......here's the result......

 



It has worked out wonderfully to have a little space for my laptop, and a place to store a few things.  I didn't realize how much I would like and use it!  And the best part is......we got the desk for only $10!!!!  The chair was $5.99, the fabric was $1, and the spray paint was $4.99.  So all total it was about $22 for a desk that fits the space perfectly!!

Peter liked the fabric and since it was super cheap I got inspired to make kitchen valances for my kitchen.  I have never had any curtains/valances in there because I could never find something I liked that fit the space and wasn't too country. 

So, although my sewing skills are limited, I followed a tutorial online and am pretty happy with the results.  They add a little cheer to the kitchen and the total for the hardware and fabric was about $25 which is pretty cheap for two windows!

It's funny how just a few simple changes can make your home feel more like a home :-)