China Hutch Makeover!

Hey there!  I am excited to share with you a project that I have completed for our dining room!  I purchased a smelly old china hutch on Craigslist for $60 and my husband couldn't believe I would even think about trying to make it pretty.  It was BAD!!

I used Annie Sloan chalk paint for the hutch and used her brushes as well.  The thing I love most about using chalk paint is that there is no prep work, other than giving it a good cleaning.  No sanding or priming at all!  I wish I could find my before picture.  It was pretty pitiful!

Here she is all finished!

I used Annie Sloan chalk paint in the color Old White.  I also used a coat of clear soft wax and used the dark soft wax to accentuate areas that I distressed.  I went ahead and invested in quality Annie Sloan brushes in different sizes & also her wax brushes.  They make all the difference for application!

Here's a close up that shows some of the distressing I did using sandpaper.  I LOVE the old look!

I left all of the original hardware on and painted right over it.  I didn't want the hardware to stand out too much from the off white finish.  I sanded down the pieces to age it a bit.

I love having a place to store my china and some pretty accessories.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  I'd love to hear from you!

Christmas Home Tour!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season!  I thought I would jump on the Christmas home tour bandwagon, since I love looking at other houses decorated for Christmas.  I enjoy decorating our home, and you will see that I am a fan of simple when it comes to decor.  

I'll start the tour with our living room.  I decorated the stair railing, the mantel & the tree.  I love how our living area opens up into the kitchen so the tree can be seen from all angles.

A close up of some of our ornaments on the tree.

I used garland on the mantel and added battery operated lights to it.  The white sparkle trees are from Hobby Lobby.

A view from the kitchen.  Our living area and kitchen are basically one big room.  I LOVE the wide open feeling!

I used garland, battery operated lights, and flowers to decorate the staircase railing.

The Christmas decor flows right into the kitchen.  I only have a few decorations in here.  I like to keep the counters clutter free for the most part.

View from the living room into the kitchen and eating area.

Now on to the entryway.  I decorate the balcony and the entry table.

I keep things REALLY simple in the dining room since there is a lot going on in there anyway.  I threw some jingle bells on the antlers... That's it! lol

That's it!  I hope you enjoyed the tour of my home decorated for Christmas!  May you all have a blessed holiday season with your loved ones.  Merry Christmas!

Guest room is finished!

I am so excited to finally say that our guest room is finished!  We have lived in our house for two years now and this has been on my to do list since we moved in.  I absolutely love how it turned out.  I now look forward to having friends & family come and stay with us.  The room was quite boring and ugly before.  Hope you enjoy the tour!

This is an old mirror that I found at a garage sale a few years back.  It was originally dark brown and was part of a beat up dresser.  Amazing what a coat of paint can do.

A relaxing, comfy place for our guests to stay.

I got the word art sign at a little store in the town I live in.  Love it!

This picture shows the gray wall color.  So relaxing.

I got this cute little side table at K-Mart of all places!  I added a little black paint to the top to add some whimsy to it.

I used Annie Sloan chalk paint to transform this dresser.  It was my dresser that was in my bedroom when I was a little girl!  It was originally dark brown wood.  LOVE that I was able to use in this room!

I decided to distress it a little and add some dark wax to it.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look at our guest room!  I am thrilled that it is finished and that I was able to use a lot of items that I already had to decorate the room.  Paint on the walls & furniture made a huge impact!

I will be adding more rooms in our house to the house tour soon!