I absolutely LOVE the canvas of a new (or OLD) home!  When my husband and I moved into a standard new-build a couple years back I couldn’t help but picture my dream home somewhere beneath it’s bland appearance. We LOVE our home but I always look forward to the seasons of the year that allow me to make some changes! Because I am a bit of an impulsive person, I am always looking for “short cuts” to accomplish the looks I want in my home for a reasonable price & time frame – without hired help! I know there are some home projects that simply cannot be “short-cutted” and for those I will definitely have to recruit some professional help (and drop some cash ?). However, the home updates I have completed this summer have all been quick, relateively easy, and very budget friendly ??? (and by easy, I mean I did them on my own with a very basic furniture/home reno knowledge). Below are 5 easy home DIY projects that made my home feel fresh and ready to comfort me throughout the school year!
These projects are PERFECT for the NOVICE RENOVATOR and for a break – summer, spring, fall, or even just a long weekend. I’m already planning my Labor Day weekend project – feel free to make any of these yours!!
1. Chalkboard Open Shelves
Whe we got married two June’s ago we received so many beautiful sets of serve ware from our loved ones! The problem was they were too nice for us to want to pull out and use unless it was a super special occasion, and unless they were being used they were hidden behind our kitchen cabinets. I have always adored the look of open shelves but was not prepared to spend the money and time ripping our cabinets out and making them from scratch. SO, I improvised (as always) and LOVE the results!!
**Quick Directions – To get this look, I simply removed the doors from the cabinets (storing them in the attic so when we sell our house someday the new owners can easily re-install the doors) and used a liquid-deglosser to prep the inside laminate for painting! Once the inside of the cabinets were prepped, the black chalkboard pain adhered easily. I painted the entire inside of the cabinets (shelves, sides, and back) with the Black Chalkboard Paint and used a chalk marker to write the type of serveware that would be stored on each shelf.
This is NOT the set of shelves that hold our everyday dishes, but it is an attractive and functional way for us to display our favorite serveware pieces and it is an easy way for guests to help themselves to a glass of water without having to randomly open cabinets to find the cups! We LOVE this look and the functionality it brings to our kitchen!
2. Homemade Curtains/rods
This took 2 hours of work (this includes the shopping for the items) and ONLY $50!! I have been wanting to find the perfect set of curtains ever since we moved into our house and have tried several styles that I was not thrilled with. Additionally, our ceilings are pretty tall in our living room and the long curtains that we needed were always SO expensive if they were going to be halfway decent! I also wanted the curtain rods to tie in with the other wood elements in my house and had a difficult time finding a color that looked genuine and complimentary to the other wood pieces in the room. With these easy homemade curtains, I had the freedom to pick EVERY aspect of the curtain, rod, and hangers exactly as I wanted them!
**QUICK INSTRUCTIONS – I purchased  a 6 foot wooden rod from Home Depot for $6 and sawed it in half in the store. Then, I picked out my favorite wall hooks (they are actually coat hooks but who would ever know?) and made sure that the wooden rod fell nicely into it’s grooves. Before I left the store, I picked up 2 packs of circular hanging-clips and again made sure they would fit on the wooden rod. This was the easiest trip and everything was so cheap! After this, I stopped by Joann’s fabric store and picked out my favorite curtain fabric, had it cut to the exact dimensions I needed and headed home.  At home, I stained the rod with the exact stain I used for our dining and sofa table to perfectly frame the room and pull out the warmth of the wood. Then, I hung the hangers and clipped the fabric in place exactly as I wanted it (folding it over at the top to avoid having to hem the fabric).
I am THRILLED with the way they turned out and love the natural and functional look! Hemming was not necessary saving me a lot of time and the curtains have held up very well. I could have payed so much more to get this look exactly as I wanted it and am so glad that I found a way to make them myself… I will never buy curtains again!
3. Industrial Sofa Table
Our home has a very open floor plan which we love most of the time but it does make decorating a bit of a challenge! We want our separate spaces to have their own ambiance but to also compliment each other nicely. Additionally, we want for the transition between the spaces to be seamless and natural for guests. One way to add the seperation we wanted between our living and dining room was to add a 90 degree angle with our sectional sofa, but this also created the issue of an ugly couch-back to stare at as you walk towards the space. I set my sights on building the perfect sofa table that could be used as a bar/extra seating for guests who want to engage in the living room conversation without snuggling up with others on the couch! I decided that I wanted to keep the industrial look that I had used in the kitchen stools as well as our entry-way bench. This project was super easy and can be modified to make any piece of furniture from a TV/entertainment stand to a dining table… or even a bench!
**QUICK INSTRUCTIONS – Pick up your wood! I used 12″x8′ boards that were 2″ thick. We simply had the last foot sawed off at Home Depot so that it would perfectly fit along the edge of our 7 foot couch back. I stained them both my favorite wood stain (Minwax “Mission Oak”). After this, I sprayed them down twice with a quick drying water-based poly-sealer (since we intend to have our guests pace drinks on the table). We picked up some industrial piping to accommodate the exact height of the table that we wanted (I’ve attached the drawing of my table plan and needed pipe pieces for your reference). Finally, I spray-painted the pipes a black matte color and had my husband assemble and screw in the pipe pieces in place. THE END.
(I decided to take out the middle pipes due to finding a thicker board and found a 12″ wide board instead of using two 6″ boards – made the project much easier and more budget friendly! The table is VERY sturdy! ??)
(The sofa table was inspired by this industrial bench I found at a local antique store that sits in our entryway – subtly ties the two spaces together!)
I eventually plan to find adjustable stools to store underneath the top wood piece of the table so that our guests can sit and converse at the piece – still hunting for the perfect stools to fit here!
4. Dining Chair Reno
I was gifted a beautiful old dining set from my Papa and while I adore the sentiment behind it, the look is definitely a bit dated. It is such a nice piece of furniture that I want to keep it as our dining table for many years to come. To do this and love it as much as I want to I needed to give it a bit of a facelift!
I started with the cane-back chairs. I hated the “old” look of the cane when it was the original wood color (scroll down for the before photo), but after painting them, I have a completely different opinion about them! I decided to paint the chairs a chalky white to compliment our white kitchen cabinets. Additionally, I found the GREAT idea on a few blogs to re-upholster with drop-cloth so that you can add any painted-stencil design you want. I decided to use an idea I found from a couple blogs to personalize my chairs with numbers that had meaning to us.
**CHAIR QUICK INSTRUCTIONS – I began by wiping the chairs all over with a liquid sander/degloser (this is my new best friend because it works wonderfully in place of traditional sanding). This liquid sander is just as effective as regular sanding – I know this because I used the same product to paint my cabinets and they have held up seamlessly! Â The liquid sander dries almost instantly and after a quick wipe with tack cloth the paint can go on right away! I painted 2 coats of “linen white” chalk paint all over the chairs, including the cane back (this was the most tedious part… be sure to put on your favorite tunes and have a beverage handy ??). Then onto the upholstery..
**EASY-UPHOLSTERY INSTRUCTIONS – I do not own a staple gun nor am I an experienced sewer. SO, I have twice now put to use my “short cut” method to reupholster chairs and it has proven to work just the same! I start by cutting the pieces of my chosen cloth (I used drop cloth because I planned to paint them and drop cloths hold paint like it’s their job ??). Then, I work my way around the under-side of the cushion hot-glueing the fabric to the wood. Yes, hot glue works just as well as staples. I even tried to go back and rip off some hot-glue upholstery from a few years back and despite my best efforts was unable to get the old fabric off.. that’s how well it works! You simply need to save the edges for last – fold and secure them tightly with the hot glue once all sides have been glued down.
Finally, I used number stencils to paint on my special numbers with carbon-colored chalk paint and am THRILLED with the imperfect “hand-made” look!
5. Dining Table Reno
I wanted to preserve the natural wood of the table and felt that painting the table would hide all of the wonderful antique qualities of it. SO, I took on the project of stripping, sanding, and staining my table and couldn’t be happier with the results! You definitely do not want to short cut this project when it comes to restoring wood – you need to put in some time and elbow grease or you could really hurt the piece! I promise it’s worth it when it’s finished ?.
Here are some photos from before and during the process:
(Table and chairs BEFORE and without leaf insert/end chairs)(After stripping/sanding and halfway through staining)
**QUICK INSTRUCTIONS – I started this project by removing the old stain and sealer with a stain/paint stripper, using a blade and steel-bristle brushes to scrub off the old stain finish and edge paint. I did this twice to make sure that ALL of the old products were pulled out of the wood so that I would have the most raw wood canvas possible. Then, I wiped the table down twice with mineral spirits. Once the mineral spirit cleaner had dried completely, I sanded with an electric palm sander to expose and even out the wood one last time. I used my favorite Mission Oak stain starting on the lesser-visible spots to make sure I liked the way it looked before committing to the table top. I liked the look of only one coat of stain, so after the stain set (overnight) I sprayed it down twice with my favorite poly satin-sealer (I don’t like the super glossy look of tables). Â This table has the same old sentiment but new life and I am thrilled to use it for years to come!
(Waiting for the stain to dry)
…and the finished chair/table combo (introducing my Farmhouse Kitchen Table):
If you would like for me to elaborate on any of the specific project instructions or products used, pease email me at kelsie.brown281@gmail.com and I will be happy to share! I hope this post encourages you to tackle a quick project over the weekend. Even a small change like curtains or a sofa table can make a HUGE difference in a home, especially when you have the satisfaction of doing it yourself!
