Tackling Small Home DIY's and Pretending To Know What I'm Doing, pt.2

An old chair from a set that I had in college.

 As I mentioned in my previous post, I am a frugal diyer. I wanted to make little changes to the kid's rooms to help make studying easier this year. I gave my desk chair to my step-daughter and decided to use my yoga balance ball at my desk instead. My step-son never really used his desk, but when he saw her chair, he set up his desk and grabbed a spare chair that was stored away in our garage. I was surprised at this because I had previously offered my desk chair to him and he didn't want it. I suppose he decided to use his desk this year.

A layer of primer.

 Since he was going to begin using his desk to study at this year, I wanted to give him a more comfortable chair that matched his black desk. I went to my parent's attic and found a chair from a set of chairs that I had in college. The table is in our garage and I use it for a work surface, These chairs came with built-in cushions, that could be removed with screws. I removed the seat and sanded the surface of the chair to remove the gloss on the "wood." After wiping down the chair to remove any dust, I spray painted the chair in a highly ventilated area.

A layer or two of black spray paint.

 Once the primer had set, I painted several layers of black spray paint all over the chair, making certain that the layers were completely dry between coats. I used a can of spray paint that I already had on hand for the primer and I purchased the black spray paint for less than a dollar (I think it was 98 cents, but I'm not certain) at Walmart.

A fat quarter and hot glue to reupholster the seat cushion.

 While I waited for the paint to dry, I worked on the seat cushion. I spread my fat quarter, right side facing down, on my work surface and then centered the cushion, cushion side down, on the fabric. Using a hot glue gun, I wrapped the fabric around the cushion and glued it to the underside of the seat. I worked my way around the perimeter until the fabric was taught.

The final result.

Before I screwed the seat back onto the chair, I ironed the cushion to make the fabric nice and smooth. It really couldn't have been easier. I already had the chair and some of the materials that I used to make a chair for a study area. I only needed to invest in a can or spray paint and a fat quarter. This cost (roughly) $2.00 to complete. I think that is quite frugal and I like how it worked out. The chair matches the desk and the rest of the decor of my step-sons room and now he has a comfy chair to sit in when he's working on his computer. These are the kind of projects that I can handle. Some paint, a few screws, a glue gun, an iron and a sander are simply tools and supplies that I feel comfortable using and I feel happy making something old new again. Until next time~ Toodahloo!

Tackling Small Home DIY's and Pretending To Know What I'm Doing pt. 1

My laminate countertop after I sanded and cleaned the surface.

 I admit it, I am a bit of a home improvement diy wannabe. If I were a Spice Girl, I'd be "Crafty Spice," because I need to create. Growing up, I watched endless hours of  This Old House and Hometime on PBS. When the diy channel and HGTV became available on my cable channel package, I was a bit excited in a very dorky kind of way. To me, an idea of a good time is to cuddle up to my husband and watch Chip and Jo Jo and marvel at the before and after. When we were first able to get into our house last year, my husband spent a lot of time removing carpets and gutting the bathroom, while I scrubbed and painted walls. My kitchen needed love. When we are totally done with the kitchen, I will do an entire post on the before and after. Here I just want to show what I did to my countertops since I needed to re-paint a section last week. **I am not a professional. I am a novice, a housewife who experiments with inexpensive diy solutions. This is not recommended as a tutorial, it is simply a "show and tell" type of post. I am NOT an expert, I'm just showing you what I did..**

Adding a layer of primer.

 When we moved into our home it needed a lot of TLC. Most of it was on the surface. The old gal just needed a makeover with a little nip-tuck in one area. The rest of the makeover just involved some fresh paint, flooring, and curtains. With a bit of wall art, throw pillows and candles here and there. Since there was a lot of little things and an entirely new bathroom to install, keep on a tight budget was our only option. We didn't have the time nor the money to fuss about with installing new countertops. So, I did some research on Pinterest ( something I did A LOT during our home makeover) and I found a solution for updating our countertops for very little money. I bought a can of black chalkboard paint for $10.00 and a small foam roller for around $5 (we already had the roller handle, we just needed more sponge rolls). I already had a can of paint latex with a built-in primer, so I used that to prime the surface. The first time I did this last year, I skipped sanding the countertops. I shouldn't have done that, but I was in a rush. I recommend sanding the laminate surface and cleaning it so that the paint can really adhere to the laminate countertop. Since I skipped that step, it peeled off last week, which was why I had to do it again. This time I did it the right way.

My laminate countertop after the primer had dried.

 After sanding and cleaning the surface, I painted two layers of primer on the entire area. I made certain to really let these dry before adding another coat. This primer and the chalkboard paint took twice as long to dry because it was very humid outside.

My laminate countertop after I painted a few layers of chalkboard paint onto the surface.

 Once the primer was dry, I painted three coats of chalkboard paint, making sure the layers were dry before adding another. I really should have let each coat dry for a day to harden properly, but when you have pets trying to jump on the countertops and you need to use the countertop, that is hard to do. I should have waited a day to let things really dry and made sure to do it when it isn't humid. After all of my hard work, once hot dinner plate on the paint made the paint bubble and peel away. This didn't happen last year because we weren't living in the house yet, so it had plenty of time to harden, not to mention it was colder and not at all humid. I have covered the spots with electrical tape in order to conceal the spots and also to protect the paint from peeling even more.

The end result after two layers of wax.

Once the paint was dry, I smoothed on a layer of butcher's wax all over the top surface and I waited for it to dry. After the wax hardened I buffed the wax until shiny and smooth, then I added one more layer for extra measure. I really do love the look of this, it's a fantastic solution for revamping a laminate countertop when you are on a budget. Down the road, we will be replacing these, but for now, this works. The only thing that I didn't use to make this a total success was PATIENCE. If you don't let the paint harden for at least 8 hours after it has dried, it will not set correctly. It's a lot like painting your fingernails. If you add a base coat, you let it dry before adding your nail color. If you don't let you nail color harden between coats and then try to add a topcoat, the nails never dry completely and your nails smudge.
When the weather changes to more Fall-like weather and the humidity finally dissipates, I will touch up the spots to peeled. Until then, the tape covers it nicely, the color is an exact match, fortunately! This post proved to be longer than I had expected. So, I will post about my other diy project in the next post. This post isn't meant to be a tutorial by any measure. I am a novice who needed an inexpensive solution and this is how I solved my problem. There is paint made specifically for countertops, but those kits are so pricey, that you might as well buy a new countertop for the price. This is what I did for my home and it worked, but it still needs to be corrected in a few areas. At any rate, I hope you enjoyed my little experiment.
 Until next time~ Toodahloo!

Fall Has Arrived

Fresh apples from the local orchard.

 According to the Autumnal Equinox that just passed over the week, Fall is officially here. I have seen little signs of its arrival, with all the candy corns, pumpkin scented candles, pumpkin spice coffee on the shelves in stores. The new Fall line-up is coming this week on tv. Soon, I will be able to cozy up with a warm blanket and a hot cocoa and watch Poldark. I even found delicious Macintosh apples from the local orchard at our grocery store. When you grow up in a town that has an orchard, not mention the numerous apple orchards in surrounding towns, you get to enjoy the tradition of fresh apples in the Fall. It won't be long before we jump in the van with the kids and the dog and take a trip to a nearby orchard for apple picking and pumpkin harvesting. Not to mention a trip to a local corn maze.
 I have been preparing for fall by gathering my old decorations and finding new additions to my collection. I have also been working on home diys that will be harder to do once the chillier weather sets in. This week, I will be gathering materials to help winterize my home. Last year was our first fall and winter in our home. We didn't get to move in until October and by then, we were exhausted from home decorating and remodeling. We didn;t have any more energy to expel on the house. Instead, we wanted to focus on the home. That being said, we learned over the winter where all the drafts and cracks were. So, this week, I am being proactive and will be gathering supplies to help make the home warmer. Not that the house was too drafty, but I'd prefer to eliminate all, or at least reduce as many as I possible, drafts.It is much better for our wallets to keep the house snug in the winter. 
   

Late summer wildflowers in bloom.

 I'm itching to decorate the inside of my home with my Fall decor, but I'm waiting for the perfect day. Last week it was very summery weather and this week will be much the same. It's hard to get in the Autumnal mood when it is sunny and 80 degrees outside. I've had only one cashmere day so far. I just can't bring myself to decorate, yet. Traditionally, I don't do much decorating until October anyway. I certainly don't put out my Halloween decor until after Columbus Day. So for now, I think I will continue to gather my supplies and wait patiently until the right time arrives. This week, I am having a long overdue girls day out with my childhood friend, who is still my dearest friend. It will be a nice break from the preparations. Still, will we are on our adventure, I will certainly be gathering materials for my decorating, crafting, and winterizing. I'm just looking forward to chatting like little chipmunks and consuming far too much caffeine.

Murr the cat isn't ready for Fall either. He prefers the sunny spots of summer.

In my next post, I will tell you all about some of the recent diy projects that I've tackling. There will be more to come next week, too! Until then~ Toodahloo!