Since I have lived in my home I have struggled with this dining room..I envisioned gatherings with great food and lots of friends.  I have enjoyed some great gatherings...but never in the dining room.  Its been painted and repainted again and again but my satisfaction with it never seemed to last.  It always ended up as a catch all for all my stuff and it was never useful.  I hate wasted space (who doesn't!) so it has been bothering me for years now!  Two and half years ago I sort of put it in the back of my mind...I decided to get into shape and as of a month ago I reach a major major goal so I decided to do something awesome for myself.  I collect vintage...vintage everything...but I don't feel like I am respectful to my collection.  I forget about my bags and scarves because they are crammed in drawers, my jewelry gathers dust in bowls on my dresser...clothing that fits (I have a huge collection and its been a blast going through it at different stages to see what fits as I progressed) is mixed up with stuff that doesn't or stuff that should be sold or passed on to friends or donated.  I joke about being a hoarder, I really was starting to feel like one...I mean what pleasure am I getting from a stunning faux leopard bag if its in my scary basement at the bottom of a trash bag?!?  So up and out..I finally decided to turn my spare bedroom come dining room into a delightfully over the top dressing room.  I kept a very tight budget spending about 160$ for paint and wood and I shopped myself.  I cleaned out my garage, my 1/2 story, my basement and found cool items that I had forgotten about, projects started and elft to gather dust.  It feels great finally see all of my stuff and I have so much left over I've decided to have an awesome huge Vintage Yard Sale to pay for the other part of my gift to myself, a vacation to NY NY! 

SO this is my dining room before....when I first purchased my home...its pretty scary

 
SO I redid it and I was really happy with it.  That is until it started gathering dust and vintage clothing begain to accumulate on the table...here is the first after...


So I decided maybe a change was in order so I repainted for the 6th time and came up with this...


I really loved the color and the drapes but in the ended I still wasn't using it as a dining room.  So here is my final final make over of my dining room...



I made the shelves and clothing racks and everything else refound through out my home.


















I have used this room every morning since completing it and it stays pretty spotless...If I keep a room consistantly clean I know I really love the way it looks!  Thanks for reading and looking. 

HI there I wondered if anyone has done a pebble moasic in their front yard?  I really like the look of them and I think I could make it a bit more formal so it would look good as my front walkway but I am concerned about clearing it during the winter and if it will just be a big mess?  Any thoughts?

I have lived in my home for ah 5 years now and had a blast redo the various rooms, the one place I feared to tread.  The back yard.  It was small and scary with weird weeds and horrific pornographic smelly mushrooms...really I have pictures of them.  I tried a few things with it, painting the shed, adding tables and raised beds but it just wasn't me and it never looked good.  There were many issues...the large rotting shed, the huge broken concret slad left behind when i tore down said shed (in addition to two other large concret slabs) and the weeds.  This spring I walked out into my backyard looked down and wondered where the gress was.  There was NONE my yard had been taken over by thisle...it was all thisle (my fault for uhm not mowing at all the year before) so I decided to do something...I did tons and tons of research, considered breaking up the concrete just anything.  I realized I had to change my perspective a little and focus on making the best of what I had and reworking what was there.  ALso I needed to stay with in a tight budget of about a 1000 dollars.  First thing I had to deal with the thisle...Everything I read suggested toxic chemicals orrr waiting it out.  I opted to wait it out...this involved leting it grow until it put all of its energy into flowering and then ripping it out and ripping it out...I don't have pictures of the thisle forest but I do have pictures of the boring yard before the thisle took over .  We started by pulling out the thisle, my back yard is actually very small and with the concrete its even smaller, we pulled out about 12 bags of thisle and various weeds.  After pulling it out I laid down about 3 inches of cardboard.   

After laying down the cardboard I began stopping at lowes every evening after work, late in the day they bag up mostly full bags of mulch that have rips in the bags and mark them half price.  I was able get the cedar chips I like at a buget friendly price, I also collected 5 dollar gallons of opps stain from the same maker that I thought I might be able to mix into a pleasing shade for my fence.  This took a little time but i wasn't in a big hurry.  While I collected my bags of Cedar mulch I was also able to collect gravel and that same discount andtops soil for filling in depressions.  I stored these items on the scary broken slab in the back of the yard and got to work on the visible slabs.  To them I added paint (not Opps sadly and clean sealer)  I also refinished some vintage patio furniture I had gotten for a steal because the glass table top was broken..I took care of that by cutting a peice of exterior plywood to size, painting and sealing it and adding a hole for my redone umbrella.  Once I had the supplies needed for the rest of the landscape I started...I added a thick layer of mulch to the cardboard in a somewhat interesting design (I hope within the next two years to be able to just cover the yard with flowers without the thisle taking over again) and cut into the cardboard to plant perennials...by collecting and trading annual starts and perennials with friends I was able to fill the garden cheaply.  I also created alot of colorful ceremic art to fill my garden, totems, hangings and feeders.  Anyway I said kinda on budget...it was about 1300 all total but that includes the art, the furniture, the paint, the new fence and someone other than me installing the fence.  I am not completely down...i would love to fashion a trellis for over the garage door, add a reycyled shed (if anyone knows where to find tips on doing these I would love to know), add a little line to dry clothing on and add art to my bare garage wall but overall I am happy with it.  I didn't want it to be over the top, which it for sure is but I love it regardless.  Enjoy!






















This is along my driveway I plant Zinnas everyyear...these guys have been coming up for a few years now and i only realized there were flowers and not weeds this year and finally stopped yanking them out...


Picasso day my friend and i made some totems inspired by him!

I really just need some ideas as to what I can do with my backyard to make it party worthy.  I am planning on replacing the fence in August.  I removed a rotting shed in my back yard hoping to find a nice slab on which I could build a pergola instead I found 6 uneven ones and a fence that was rotted with posts that are not sunk in the ground...i also found lots of animal skeletons.  Not fun.  I would really like a budget friendly way to make it look good until I can get in there and rip out the cement.  The get together I have been asked to host is in September.  SO far I have repainted an ugly beigy yellow garage door a crisp white, ripped out a shed, built a raised bed garden (I would have put it on one of the slabs if I had known I was going to be trying to disguise a big slab of concrete a month after I built it) out of cinderblock with the intention of covering it with a mural or maybe a moasic and I planted even more long lived annuals.  I also stenciled two of the concrete slabs in my yard and created some colorful yard art from clay.  If anyone has any other ideas or suggestions for my yard and the huge slab (I will be getting rid of the excess stuff before the party) I would love to hear them.




This is the slab that was under my shed, the idea I had was removing the smaller slabs myself and planting flowers but leaving the larger 2...but I don't have much, any experience with that kind of thing.






More of my tiny back yard...

Some pretties...hopefull y they will still be here for the party.








One of the slabs I stenciled...

Well I have been a busy woman and this is one..actually two of 4 makeovers I am finishing up.  These makeovers were fueled buy 2 things...my fear that if I don't keep a leash on my collection I will end up broke and with mounds and mounds of collectables surrounding me and the fact that I hate having junk rooms.  I figure if I am paying for every square inch of this house I should love every square inch of it...as such I decided to do a few makovers freestyle.  I tried to spend very little money and to use things I found in my own basement and garage...this included alot of items I purchased for other rooms or things I just couldn't pass up and swore I would do something with someday.  70% of the cash I spend went to the furniture and primer/spray paint.


This is the room as I found it back in 05





This is my colorful after..





Here's my mad kitty litter box hiding skills in action...I still have to take it out of the TV and place it and her on the second floor nothing like being the middle of a date when you cat decided its time to do her business


My 5 dollar sample rug, love it ( still have to figure out a batter way to hid the sample sticker right now there is a bookself game placed over it)



A huge cheap wall pocket I had to stap to the roof of my car to get home, but it was so worth it!



I saw this self in the window of my favortie thrift store and dreamed about it until I found a way to get it home...





This little display case was a spluge at 40 dollars, I found it at thrift store also know as mid century modern heaven...its jam packed with danish modern goodies...so worth teh drive.












I adore this light, I had 2 smallers ones but I managed to break them




I really like the idea of standing in one room and catching glimpes of bright colors from other rooms so this is my hallway..you can reach it from the dining room.



I have been collecting these frames for ages with no idea what to do with them, I am not someone who has alot photos of family hanging in my house and I wanted to find a way to display some.  I really liked the idea of grouping photos along with with lots of little mirror (to bring light and life to this little dark stairway



Thanks for checking out my place, I hope to post a few more makovers.

I have been looking for a Way to hide my kitty litter box...something that kinda blended with my decor.  I found it in the form of a vintage 50's television that I picked up at the thrift store for 15.15

I forgot to take a picture before I gutted it but here is what I started with...

 



I was paranoid when gutting it so I wore a big respirator and worked on a big rubber mat, I don't know it it kept me safer but I felt better about ripping into the TV.

After I gutted it I sanded it down, ripped out the shelf that held the guts of the TV and added a peice of wood and a little support beam to hold the litter box.  Afterwards I primed and painted it.  Originally I had a little ramp covered with astro turf for my kitty to walk up, but it took up to much room so I removed it and exchanged the legs for similar but shorter ones...all in all I think it turned out well.  Oh I also added a curtian for a little privacy and to keep my cat from trying to jump out of the box the wrong way.  SO far she seems to like it...

Well I posted pictures last year of my livingroom makeover and this summer I layed a new floor in my kitchen, it was a pain but I love it .  So yesterday I picked up some fresh flowers and cleaned my kitchen for a tea party/stitch and bitch...everything looked pretty and bright and I used the last of my Mrs.Meyers honeysuckle so it smelled wonderful I just had to snap some pictures to share my new space.  It was done on a pretty tight budget, besides the new fridge most of the budget was spent on the floor.  I decorated with items from the thrift store and yardsales.  The colors were inspired by 2 cast iron sinks, last year I was at our local Habitat for Humanity and I spyed a pile of wooden crates.  In the crates were new vintage sinks.  I couldn;t decide between the hot pink or the sky blue some I splurged 20 bucks each and purchased them both.  A few months after I purchased them a good friend closed on her house , I was still debating which sink and what color floor when she let me know how much she love love loved the pink sink.  So i gave it to her as a house warming gift.  Which worked out since she had it installed and I found out they were undermounts *sigh* and I would have to rip out my lime countertops to install it.  Needless to say I held on to my sky blue sink for another day/project.  I am pretty happy with my mini remodel....


This is my kitchen before...





Pretty lack luster and basic...I hated the floor it showed every scrap and bit of dirt.


This is the after....





















I hope you have enjoyed my make over, I have a tendency to clutter so I try an edit myself often.  I hope to post pictures of my craft room and retrofied patio soon.



EDIT*** Thanks so much for the responses!  The floor is Composite VInyl from Rave Collection in "Bikini Blue" and "Shocking" ...I spent forever ripping up the sheet vinyl and cutting the tiles to fit, it was a paint but so worth it.  I will try and snap a good picture of the blue sink to add, its a little hard to see in its crate.  Oh also the paint in the kitchen is Behr - Spring Meadow...

Each winter I dread the coming since no matter the weather I have to find a way to work.  This years heavy snow fall actually happened on my off days so I decided to make it a fun occasion and work on some larger crafty projects.  

This potting table was made on my kitchen floor with 3 2x4's and 1 1x10 that I had precut at the store, I used screws, nails and cup hooks I had around the house along with some oops paint and polyurethane I had on hand super fun and simple...

http://members.aol.com/jwretrogrl/pottingbench1.JPG
 
I plan on placing it outside for summer and placing a big washbin beneath the opening so I can sweep excess dirt into it.  Also I would like to make some small stepping stones to place it on so that the legs don't stay moist..
http://members.aol.com/jwretrogrl/pottingbench2.JPG
http://members.aol.com/jwretrogrl/pottingbench3.JPG

This is before I added the accessories and painted the underside but I think you can see the color better..

http://members.aol.com/jwretrogrl/pottingbench4.JPG

Last year on Crafters Coast to Coast I saw a woman add a mosaic to some edging and figured it would look good in my garden.  This was the first mosaic i've done and it was fun but the project was alot more work than I anticipated.  Plus as you can seen in the pictures the edgeing in not quite set into the gound as firmly as I'd like, thats because I gave it a little ruffled edge with glass boubles cut in half and could'nt pound the edging in properly without damaging it.  

http://members.aol.com/jwretrogrl/edging1.JPG
http://members.aol.com/jwretrogrl/edging2.JPG

I have been enjoying everyone's pictures of their pads and I figured I post a few of my own.  I purchased my house in Columbus,OH in Janurary of 05, and I already had of fun peices none of them really seemed to fit with the new layout.  Pretty much everything is thrift except rug and TV and cds..ok theres alot not thrifted but the fun stuff is.  

This is the before picture of my living its pretty much a blank slate..

 

This is the view upon entering my home..







I looked all over for a coffee table before I snagged this one at the thrift store for 10 bucks.  There are 25 watt bulbs in each of the cylinders and it actually works.

I have had alot of fun working on my place limited budget and all,it progressing nicely I hope to post pictures of my craft room soon.  Thanks for looking