Stephanie @ 1601 : Dining Room

Back at Steph's house. This hutch is one of my favorite pieces in her home. If you have read my previous blogs you know that I refer to Stephanie as "my paint expert" - this hutch is the reason why I call her an expert:)

This hutch started out as solid black. To give it some personality she painted it with Ralph Lauren metallic paint. She just brushed on the paint, not trying to paint it perfectly, because she knew she was going to heavily distress it. She left the inside black.

If you have a piece of furniture in your home that needs an update and want a quick project, you might give this a try. Stephanie recommends you stop by Starbucks and grab the biggest drink possible. The extra caffeine will help you get the job done even faster:)

Stephanie @ 1601 : Hawkin's Room

Another Home Tour! Welcome to Stephanie's home. Let me give you some background on Stephanie...

We have known each other since 1995.

She and I had our first apartment together. We had a black "pleather" couch that we would stick to when we took naps.

We once tried to build something out of old wood pickets. We were so excited to actually hit the nail with the hammer that we didn't realize we were nailing everything to the floor:( oops...

Stephanie...you have come a long way.

Today you get a tour of her son Hawkin's cowboy room. Check out the rustic little man chair....I WANT this chair!!!
Stephanie's dad built the headboard and Stephanie painted the dresser. I love the little boot lamp and the big star on the wall.
Check out the cute sign above the bed. And, I LOVE this bedding.

Too bad that wood picket project didn't work out...she could have totally used in this room!haha

Lamps,Lamps and More Lamps

Today, while at Hobby Lobby, I passed by the 80% off section. Why, why did I do this?

I told myself I was just looking for a friend who recently purchased a new home. I was only at Hobby Lobby for a few knobs, I wasn't going to get anything else.

Then I saw the clearance lamps...oh, how I love lamps. My husband would say, "Where do we NEED more lamps?" Of course I can name about 10 spots I would LIKE TO HAVE lamps, but a need is something quite different:)

So, what did I do? I went ahead and bought some cute lamps for my friend and.....I got a pair of lamps to add to my collection. I couldn't pass up $20 for a PAIR of lamps!

My two new lamps bring my lamp total to 32.
2 lamps in the entry....

7 lamps in the living room...

2 lamps in the formal living room...

4 lamps in the dining room...

3 lamps in the kitchen...

5 lamps in the master bedroom....
5 lamps in Eva's room...
2 lamps in the laundry room...
and 2 lamps in Cooper's room. Wow. Who knew? Did I count that right?!

For fun, walk around and count your lamps. Then, you can either

a)make a mad dash to Hobby Lobby and get a bargain, or

b) you can rest easy knowing you don't NEED any new lamps:)

Shelly @ 328 : Riley's Room

Today our Home Tour resumes at Shelly's house. This time we are looking at Riley's room. (Sorry this is a day late. I know I said I would post it yesterday.) I am a little bias towards Riley's room because my daughter's nursery was decorated in black and pink. I love this color combo. This room should win some kind of award...seriously....it is that cute!:)
 I love the mixture of fabrics on this chair. This chair is the inspiration for one of my next projects. ( I will post pictures when I am finished.)

Monogramming adds such a personal touch. They even have large iron-on letters at craft stores. You should try adding a personal touch to one of your pillows!
I love this bedding! 

Did you notice the walls and ceilings are pink and all the trim is black? And don't you love that "R" on the wall. I am totally going to copy that. They sell those large letters at JoAnn's. I plan on spray painting it and then putting glitter on it just like Riley's.  
These pink knobs look great on this dresser. Fun knobs help add personality to a piece of furniture. A great source for knobs is Hobby Lobby - but don't pay full price. Be patient and wait until they are 1/2 off. They run that special every few weeks.

Did you see the flowers on the lampshade? You could add some life to an old shade by creating a similar look. Get some flowers and use your glue gun to stick those babies on! 

I am ready to get to work on my projects inspired by Shelly's home, are you?

 

 I hope everyone enjoyed our first ever Scarlet Sashes Home Tour! Thank you Shelly for being the first and letting me take pictures of your beautiful home:)

Shelly @ 328 : Mallory's Room

Shelly is one of my newest favorite friends:) She and her family are so precious. Her entire home is so welcoming and beautifully decorated.  Her daughter Mallory's room is probably my all time favorite nursery. Take a look -
Don't you love the cute bird art and the birdhouses on top of this hutch? Did you notice that the walls and ceilings are pink and all the trim is chocolate brown? Such a cute idea!
Love the polka-dots and the ruffle lamp shade.
Isn't this baby bedding adorable? Look at the different use of fabrics.
This room is so well put together it makes you feel like you are inside a boutique. Shelly said that a lot of the accessories in this room are from Hobby Lobby or hand made (her friend made the canvas art). I am inspired... hope you are too.

Check back tomorrow because we are going to take a tour of another room in Shelly's house - her daughter Riley's hot pink and black bedroom....too cute!!!

Home Tours

Do you ever drive by a house at night and try to see how the interior is decorated? 

 I do.

 I see a beautiful home on the outside and imagine how awesome the inside must be. I love seeing how other people decorate their homes. I guess that is why I like to flip through magazines, look at other people's blogs, or search the Rate My Space website.

If you are like me and enjoy looking at beautiful homes then I have a treat for you - Scarlet Sashes Home Tours!!!  Get ready to look inside some adorable homes:)

***FYI- I take all pictures for this blog with my phone, so the quality might not be the best. I always forget my camera, but I always have my phone:) Hope you still enjoy the pics.***

My Favorite Paint Color

Bold....you better love it 'cause it takes 20 coats to cover up....RED.

Who doesn't need a little help choosing paint colors? It really stinks when you spend hours painting a room only to not love it when you are finished. I love seeing paint on "real life walls", not just on the swatch from the paint store. So, go check out this cute blog:

http://www.granvillehouse.blogspot.com/

She is having a "blog party" where her readers post pictures of their houses and their favorite paint colors. So fun!! 

In the mean time, check out my favorite RED. It is not necessarily my favorite paint color,but it is my favorite RED. I think RED is a hard color because it can be too purple or too bright. I think this RED is just right:)

The previous home owners had the kitchen painted "Texas Longhorn" orange...it matched nothing in my decor. I was so nervous because RED is a big commitment. RED is bold, and not easy to cover up. And, I was 6 months pregnant with my second child...I knew I really wasn't going to have a lot of time to fix my mistake if the RED was awful. Good news....I love it! We have lived in our house for about a year and a half and I still love it. I love color, so I am glad I went bold.
So if you are ready to bring a little RED into your home, I would highly suggest Cherry Cobbler from BEHR. I got our paint at Home Depot:)

***This post would not have been possible without Stephanie Farris. Stephanie, the paint expert as mentioned in a previous post, used this red in her entry way and I loved it.***

The Black and White Dresser

One of my loyal blog followers (I love all 4 of you) has asked me to go into more detail on how to create the black and white harlequin dresser. So, here is my best attempt ...

1)PAINT THE DRESSER - The dresser I found was already white. So, I just painted the body of the dresser black and left the drawers white. However....I think there are some really cute options out there. You could do chocolate and blue, white and chocolate, red and white, yellow and cream...so many options!  So, decide what room it is going in and pick two colors. I would suggest the lighter color for the drawers and the darker color for the body of the dresser.
2) DRAW THE LINES - Line up all your drawers on the ground like they will be in the dresser. You want the diamonds to "connect" from one drawer to the next. I know this isn't the best picture, but if you look close you can see the pencil lines. I used this level for my guide. You want something pretty long so it will reach across most of the drawers. Just remember that the "skinner" the ruler, the smaller the diamonds and... the harder it is to paint. I am sure there is a mathmatical way to know where to start your first line, but I just started in the corner:)
3)PAINT THE DIAMONDS- Before I started to paint I put an "x" on all the diamonds that were going to be painted. This may sound silly, but I promise this will make it much easier.
I used craft brushes to paint the diamonds. A smaller one for outlining the diamond and a bigger one for the center.

4)DISTRESS - After everything was dry I distressed the entire piece. I even ran a piece of sand paper over the fronts of the drawers. The white seemed too bright so I rubbed some watered down brown and yellow craft paint over the drawers. If I were to do it again I would put stain over it instead. 
You can see that some of my lines aren't straight, and I could have taken more time painting the diamonds, but overall I really like the way it turned out. I hope some of you give it a try. I can't wait to see what you create!!

The Blue Hutch

When I bought this hutch, I bought it knowing I was going to paint it. However, the big debate was what color. As always...I was leaning towards black. But, I wanted something different since 90% of the furniture in my house is black. So, I called up paint expert Stephanie Farris:)  She thought a blue to match my dishes would be cute. She is the expert, so I trusted her. I love the finished piece. She taught me - so now I teach you. Read and learn....haha
1) PICK YOUR PAINT COLOR: I took my blue and white plate to Lowes (or Home Depot, honesty I can't remember) and found a color that matched perfectly. When trying to decide on a color, ask a friend for their opinion. It is always fun to think outside of our own box:) FYI - they can also custom mix a paint color if you can't find one to match.

2) GET TO PAINTING: I put 2 coats of the blue paint on the hutch. I wasn't concerned about it looking perfect because I knew I was going to distress it. 

3)SAND BABY SAND: After the paint was dry I got the electric sander and started to distress. This is my favorite part!! I wanted it to be heavily distressed so I tried to run the sander along ALL edges. You really can't mess up distressing. If you are nervous about it, don't be:) Go ahead, distress the entire piece of furniture and then step back and see what you think. If it needs touching up then you just have to repaint some spots..no biggie. Just don't judge your entire piece when only a part of it is done.
4) STAIN IT: This step is optional. But I really, really like the results from staining a piece. It gives it a great depth. Before, the blue seemed kind of bright. But once the stain went on it gave it a nice "aged" look. If you are going to use stain, just remember a little bit goes a long way. I brushed the stain on the entire piece, doing a small section at a time. After I brushed it on I used a rag to wipe off the excess. If you do stain, it is a good idea to wear gloves so your hands don't get stained too. I never wear gloves...but it is a good idea:)
So there you go...PAINTING FURNITURE 101. Now you are ready to tackle your own furniture painting project. You can do it! And, be brave - don't always pick black or cream paint:)

Dining Room

A little paint goes a LONG way. We recently painted the walls in our dining room and formal living room. I love the way it warms everything up. It really makes the room feel cozy. 
I also painted this hutch blue to match my dishes.  Now I need  some Mackenzie Childs plates to mix in with my other dishes. Wouldn't that be cute?  

http://www.mackenziechilds.com/Tableware/Enamelware/Courtly+Check+Table/Enamel+Dinner+Plate-Courtly+Check.axd

Paint is a very inexpensive way to change a room. With the hot weather outside, why don't you just stay inside this summer and paint a room!