Empty frame wall

You know those projects that are just kinda small? Like so small you buy everything for them, tuck it away nicely with the intention to work on it some rainy Sunday afternoon and then forget about?

I've had one of those in mind for above my little yellow console table at the top of our stairs. Come to find out, waiting to do it made it turn out SO much cuter than it would have! Yay!

Our house has a few different styles happening. Basically the downstairs is one, and the upstairs is a little conglomeration of a few different ones.

Our guest bedroom and bathroom is beach-themed, because we love in Hawaii, and our guests are on a vacation to the beach. But my husband doesn't really like the blues and greens and beachy things... and I want him to love our home too. So the beach is contained in our guest bed/bath.

I'm currently redoing our master bedroom. And by redoing, I mean doing for the first time. Only about a year and a half since we moved in. Oops. It's going to be a little shabby-chic, with a lot of clean white, gray and navy. That reveal should be on it's way in about a week or two! Yay!

So in the hall I wanted to kinda tie together the upstairs. We have gray/white in the master, teal/sea blue in the guest, and this awesome little yellow table that matches nothing. Or everything, because as I've told you before, yellow matches everything!

I wanted to do a wall of empty frames, in the all the fun colors of upstairs. So I've had the wood trim to make some big empty frames. And when I was home at Christmas, I was fabric shopping and saw this awesome chevron, in every color, at Hobby Lobby.

I picked up a few different colors, one to make a cute bag for the beach, one for one of my friends to make some throw pillows, and one just because I wanted it. I have no good reason for the yellow except for the fact that I love yellow. Seriously I love yellow.

So as I'm building my frames, I'm thinking about the colors and how I kind of need a little something else to tie it all together. And BAM! The chevron I bought was ... gray, yellow and teal. Seriously meant to be.

So I did this. And I LOVE it. It makes me smile every time I walk up the stairs. And it took my about 30 minutes in the garage and maybe 15 to put it all up. Such a small amount of time for such a big impact.

Rustic signs and letters

One of our friends was getting married in December and wanted a few custom signs made, here are pictures from the event! (I made myself a giant ampersand too that's now in our master bedroom. Love it!) I just printed big letters and traced them onto 1/2" plywood scrap that I had. Then I used my scroll saw to cut them out.

The sign I just made from a scrap piece of 1x8. I painted the whole thing black, cut the words on my silhouette, stuck them on and painted over it in white. When it was dry, I just peeled the letters off and sanded it down a little to give it a rustic look.

I love how the colors we chose pop against the stone fireplace! And now she can use them in her house. I will have to remember how cute this looks for a mantle. This would work as an all the time decoration, or you could just bring them out at Valentines day. Cute! Someday I'll have a mantle... and a fireplace... really just a house to call my own!

I accidentally made her ampersand the same size as her letters. I knew I wanted the ampersand to be a little smaller, so I had to keep this one for myself. I love mistakes that I benefit from! This one now lives in our master bedroom.

Happy Friday all!

DIY storage ottoman

I've been wanting an upholstered storage ottoman for a while now... I've been keeping my eyes open for one that's the right size, the right colors and of course, the right price. I wanted one big enough to fit all our blankets in, and big enough to fill the space as our coffee table. Most are too small and too short (we have to be able to prop our feet on it just right! That's how we roll in this house.)

I haven't one that's just right. What's a girl to do? Make it of course! And this time, I remembered to take tons of pictures so you can all build it too!


Shopping list
-1 1x12 @ 4 feet long
-1 1x12 @ 6 feet long
-2 sticks fun trim
-4 bun feet and 4 plates that they screw into
-2 pieces of 1/2 inch plywood 36"x24"
-2 hinges and a lid support
-Screws, glue and finishing supplies (sandpaper, and stain or paint)
-fabric (2 yards)
-foam (the same size as your plywood, 24"x36")
-batting (enough to go over your foam and cover your edges)

Here we go! There are a LOT of pictures. Just warning you!

I started with the 1x12s from Lowes, and cut 4 pieces. I cut 2 pieces at 36 inches and 2 at 22.5 inches.

Then I drilled pocket holes in the ends of the short boards, and screwed it all together to make a big box.

Then I just nailed the bottom on (your trim will cover the edge), and mitered my trim to put all the way around. I wish I could write you a tutorial about mitering, but in the interest of full disclosure, I'm not very good at it. I just glued my trim on and then put a few nails in to make sure it stays.

Then I stained it all. I also stained my bun feet at the same time. And when it was dry, I flipped it over, screwed my plates into each corner and then screwed my ben feet into the plates. (Sorry, totally forgot to take a picture of that part, but it's not rocket science, you got this!)

After that, I painted the inside and painted one side of the other piece of plywood (which, come to find out, was unneccesary!) My current favorite color is Ivory Bisque, a Rustoleum spray paint. It matches my walls and trim perfectly, so I had the hardware store break the cap and match the color to make me a can. I was going through it so fast, and at $4.99 a can, it adds up! 

Yep, those are dog toys all over my house. And Kona trying to help.

I laid out my fabric, then put down my batting, then my foam, and finally my piece of plywood. Starting on the long side, I folded up my fabric and put in a staple. Then I went to the opposite side and put in a staple, pulling my fabric tight, but not too tight. 

I worked my way around, bouncing back and forth, and then did the same on the short ends. When I got to the corners, I was very scientific about it. I wrapped it like a present!

Then I trimmed off all the excess fabric, especially at my corners. Next, I cut a big piece of fabric that was about an inch bigger on all sides than my plywood, and folded the edges under to create a fake finished edge. I stapled that on too.

I attached the lid to the box using just plain silver hinges. and put the lid support in.

Then I flipped it on it's feet and sat down on the couch and stared at it! I love how fancy it looks and how well it compliments my nesting end tables! And it fits all my blankets inside, and they're so close I don't even have to get off the couch to get one. Awesome :)

Now that it's been sitting in my living room for a few days, I'm thinking about adding trim around the top too. I think it would give that top edge a complete look. If I do it, of course I'll share pictures with you! 

Thanks for hanging out! 

Autumn