Using what ya got- Updating a Bookshelf

Being in a small apartment means we need to maximize the space we have.  Being on a tight budget means we need to maximize the space while using what we already have (for the most part).  We have this little oak bookshelf which fits perfectly in front of the office door.  It was cute as it was, but I get bored and always feel the need to change things.  So it got a coat of paint and now feels like a whole new piece! 

What do you think? Should I have left it oak? Do you like the painted insides?

Would You Have Bought This?

A couple weeks ago I stopped by the little antique store here in town and came home with this beauty.  You totally would have bought it too right?  I mean its gorgeous, who wouldn't want it?

Ok, maybe I brought it home because it had yellow (one of my favorite colors, especially to decorate with!) and the store owner gave me a good deal.  Know what it is?  Its an old car hop tray from sonic.  The car hops would bring your food to you and this tray would hang on the car door while you ate.  Pretty cool huh?

I cleaned it up with lots of scrubbing, soap and hot water and now it found a home on top of my suitcase stack in the living room next to my favorite reading chair.  The tray is perfect for setting down a book, cup of coffee or pen and notebook.  I am so glad I didn't dismiss it as ugly and dirty.  I think its a gem!

Dyed Yellow Curtains

Now that Hubby and I are lightening up the living room, we decided that our original curtains were too dark for the space.  We bought inexpensive curtains from Ikea (can't beat $10 for the pair!) and dyed them ourselves.  We figured if we hated it, we didn't have a huge investment put into the curtains.  I bought a bottle of rit dye from Joanns.  I filled a plastic tub with warm water, and the yellow dye.  I then dyed the curtains by immersing the bottom half of the curtain into the dye bath.  Every 15 minutes I would raise a little more out of the dye bath.  When all was said and done, this procedure gave the curtains an ombre look.  I love how they turned out!

The ends are in the bucket of dye.

Drying on the clothesline

 See how dark these are?  And this is during daylight!

And these are so light even when its dark outside!

Yellow Doors

I thought I would show you some of the yellow doors around here. 

 The door to the knitting room

 The interior of the front door (the exterior is the same color but in special exterior paint)

Looking down at the front door

The pantry door in the kitchen (you might remember that Hubby and I built this door completely from scratch!

A Very Yellow TV Stand

Until recently our living room was a bit underwhelming.  We had a sofa set that we bought to fit in our previous place, that didn't really match our house style.  Our tv was set on top of an ikea bookshelf and looked very cluttered.  I was originally looking for a large dresser on craigslist, but found this cutie for $60.  I wasn't sure if it would stay wood or be painted so for a while it just sat there the same as when we bought it.  I finally decided the dresser was meant to be yellow (and this is what started the whole entire yellow escapade).  So off to Home Depot I went and returned with a gallon of yellow paint.  Now a gallon is a heck of a lot of paint when you are just painting one dresser... A quart would have given me leftovers!  Once I painted the dresser, since I had extra paint and might as well use it, I painted the front door, the knitting room door, the pantry door, stool legs, dog food chairs and I still have a ton left!   But back to the dresser- I sanded it using Hubby's mouse sander, then rubbed candle wax where I wanted to distress it (the candle wax helps the paint NOT to stick in certain places).  I gave it quite a few coats of yellow, waited for it to dry and distressed it.  I covered the whole dresser in a wood coating to help it shine.  I love having a bright and fun entertainment stand now.  All our accessories are tucked away in the drawers and cabinet.  It looks so much cleaner now!  I am still trying to figure out what else I can paint yellow...

The original piece

In between coats

The stand before... pretty cluttered looking

DIY Dog Food Bowl Chairs

We have two big dogs who eat a lot! They each have their own bowl and space in the kitchen. Sounds good right? Only problem is that the bowls "travel" through the kitchen when Whiskey pushes them making sure all the food has been devoured. I am constantly tripping or kicking the bowls and was extremely frustrated. I tried feeding them in other rooms, but the bowls still got under foot. So I turned to Pinterest to solve the problem. I bought two mismatched chairs from Craigslist for $10. I painted them yellow to match the other accents in the house. While Hubby was at work, I got out his jigsaw and cut holes in each of the chair's seats. I had to keep cutting as my hole had to be big enough for the food bowls. I realized a bit too late that I should have done all this outside, as my living room was then covered in a thin layer of dust. Oh well, now I know for next time. Each dog now has a specific "chair bowl" as we had to shorten the legs on Whiskey's chair. It took them a few meals to get used to the new eating areas but now they know exactly where to go. I love how their bowls look right at home in the house, even if they do look like "potty chairs" as one of my Aunts commented...