Monday, November 2, 2015

The start of our Vacation Rental






I recently decorated this home with comfort and budget in mind! I was fortunate enough to have a ton of built in character, it just needed the finishing touches to make it the perfect home away from home. We currently have it listed on Airbnb and VRBO as the perfect place to choose for a vacation to the Pacific Northwest. I absolutely LOVE the way it turned out! This is definitely one of my favorite projects!



The first detail is the Aqua front door and cottage curb appeal. This area of Washington is thriving with craftsman homes that were built in the early 1900's and still hold a lot of their original charm.


 



The color of the front door is Aqua Smoke by Behr. I use it all the time, because when you find a color you love, you stick with it! 
 




The comfortable front entry has original hardwoods and is spacious and open. Don't you love that mirror!! 

I decided to go with a sofa with chaise (and a hidden queen sleeper) and the rocking recliner to maximize the seating area and still keep it open for entertaining. 


 The area rug is incredibly soft and plush and adds the perfect amount of cozy to the living room. I also decided to hang the curtains on invisible rods (tutorial soon!) to avoid nailing anything into the plaster walls, I also didn't want to take away from the trim with a rod going across the front.

 The dining room was designed to seat as many as possible in this space and I love the two upholstered end chairs with nail head detail and the white chairs to add character and to mix it up a bit! More invisible curtain rods in this room, the perfect sign and the perfect rug. This amazing credenza came from a farm in Tennessee and was made in the early 1900's. It was the perfect piece for this house. I added new pulls for a little flair.


 The blue throw pillows tie together with the navy rug in the dining room and also coordinate with the light yellow, almost beige walls.



 This is one of the main level bedrooms and I love it! So incredibly cozy. I wanted to keep everything light, bright and crisp. The rug has a metallic tread detail and it goes perfectly with the wood on the accent mirrors. 





This craftsman kitchen has the original cabinets, vent detail below the sink, open shelving and it makes me so happy! I wanted it to feel vintage, I love how the red and turquoise came together. I had a lot of fun painting the letters for the EAT sign and my favorite part is the old red scale.  



The Orb crystal chandelier adds the perfect amount of detail. 


This is another one of the main floor bedrooms. It also has a crisp, clean King size bed. I think that white linens look the best and keep it light and bright. This room has a hint of yellow as accents 




Thank you for checking out my newest project and if your planning a trip to Washington, I have the perfect place for you to stay!

Stefanie

Tuesday, July 21, 2015

Let creativity guide you

To my sweet little one, 


        You are blossoming right in front of my eyes and I am one proud Momma. I think about the girl you are and the young lady you are organically growing towards. I find myself in constant awareness of trying to teach you how to be a kind, loving, happy person. I am with you day in and day out, letting you explore, yet keeping you under my wing.  I will make mistakes and I do it on the daily, I've never claimed to be perfect, but I hope someday you feel like I was perfect for you. I dream you never fear to create in a world that is turning so quickly and things are seen for just seconds. I pray you have a chance to slow down in life and find a journey in creating. Give yourself a chance to enjoy the beauty you have given back to this world. I see your heart and mind explode when given the chance to create and I pray that you always find a love in that. The world needs you to be exactly how you are, so creative, passionate, strong willed and full of life.

       Let your path be your own my sweet girl...

  


DIY Reclaimed Wood Chalkboard

So my Son's 4th Birthday is tomorrow and I want one of those cute HUGE Chalkboards that I could write cute things on. Since I am both frugal and I collect free wood where ever I can find it, I figured I could make one pretty easily. Seriously people you can make this in 20 minutes!

I'm NOT KIDDING, Seriously!!



So here is the quick and dirty on this very cute chalkboard!

What you will need:

3 old fence boards
Home Depot chalkboard
heavy duty stapler
nails
little wood glue



First... Seek out some free wood, we have a local FB page that is called Buy, Sell, Trade and someone posted free old fence boards. So I took my husband and the truck and loaded up on as much as I could fit. I've been letting it dry out and now it is the perfect gray color. LOVE me some gray reclaimed wood!

You will need three boards total, these were on average 5-6 feet long.





Second.... Check out your local Home Depot or Lowe's and buy some of these super easy and awesome 2' x 4' Chalkboards. They also have dry erase boards and cork boards. So you can choose whatever floats your boat. They are $10-$20 depending on what you choose.

BOOM... Easy peasy!

Third.... Bust out your Miter Saw. If you don't have one, ask your significant other for one for your Birthday, Christmas, in your Easter Basket, whatever. They will think your cool for asking for one and may like you more for it! Honestly, what guy doesn't love a girl that wants power tools for Valentine's Day!!  

Place your angle at 45 Degrees, really its that simple. That will give you the picture frame edge. I easily stacked 3 fence boards and cut them at the same time so that they were exactly the same.

You will need :
two long pieces, at just under 4 feet long.
two short pieces, at just under 2 feet long.  

Make sure to cut them a bit shorter than the chalkboard length and width so that when you make your frame, the chalkboard will over hang onto the frame and you can have an area to nail together. 



Once you make your first cut on all 3 boards, separate two and face the finished (gray) side towards each other. Then flip it and reverse it (You can do the Missy Elliot sound affects like I do) and cut the opposite end at just under 4 feet on the short side.  Short side meaning the right side of the board on the below picture. Get it? Got it...Good!

 Fourth... Take the third board and flip it and reverse it and cut the short end at just under 2 feet.  

Fifth... Take the scrap piece from what you just cut and flip it and reverse it again to cut the last 45 degree cut. 

I find it easy to stack the short pieces and then the long pieces together when cutting to use as a template, so that they are exactly the same size. 

I know this sounds confusing, but once you start it's really not. Your are just making 4 cuts total.

Recap: Cut three boards at 45 degree angle.
Take two of those pieces, face together, flip, reverse, cut 45 degree angle.
Take third piece of wood, cut short end at just under 2 feet.
Take scrap piece, reverse and cut another 45 degree angle at just under 2 feet on the short end.

VOILA!!! You have 4 pieces and this may or may not take you 10 minutes.


Moving on ( I hope)....

Lay all 4 pieces grey side down, square up the corners and get out your wood glue and staple gun :)

I just put a little glue on each joint and put three staples on each corner. Simple enough!

Now onto my favorite part! Get out your NAIL GUN :) I giggle just thinking about how much I love this thing. 

Sidenote: Thank you Home Depot girls night, where I fell in love with this amazing Ryobi, battery operated nail gun. I sing "HALLELUJAH!!" whenever I find a reason to use it.  Also a great tool to drop hints for, or you can just buy it "for the husband" and then use it all the time :)





Last and FINAL step..... Lay your chalkboard finished side down and nail around the edges, I put a nail about every 2 inches and I used a 1/2 inch nail.  I also added little D hooks on the top so I could hang on the wall.


TAA- DAA!!!! Here is my new favorite Home accent!


Plus if your looking to use every scrap of wood like I do, you can make these cute arrow accents for your walls :) Just more 45 degree cuts, some wood glue and staple gun! BOOM!




LOOK AT THIS HANDSOME BOY! So Happy how everything turned out and so thankful I had a Chalkboard that cost me $10 to make and I was able to document this day! PLUS!! I made it in the top three, without prompting ;)

Ciao Friends!!



I'm obviously new to blogging, so I'm not paid by anyone to tell you to buy tools, there just cool, and you should.

Friday, January 25, 2013

Frugal Fabric Find!

So a quick TIP OF THE DAY!  As I discovered while trying to create a ruffle tree skirt (as seen all over Pinterest), it is expensive to buy several yards of linen fabric, especially if it has a hint of metallic. It was close to $10 a yard and even with coupons, it was really getting up there in price. I also had to drive over a toll bridge to get to a Joann Fabrics, which made it even more expensive. So my thought was, where can I find cheap fabric???

TABLE CLOTH S AND CURTAINS! Most are 60" x 90" (2.5 yards) or even 60" x 120"(3.3 yards) for a rectangle table cloth. Usually ranging from $10-$30 ( I really only know Target prices, since it is my usual hang out spot).
 A yard of upholstery fabric is 36"x 58" or around there. If you are looking at linen or burlap for $7-$10/ yard or for upholstery fabric is upwards of around $15-$20 a yard. Even with a 40% coupon it is adds up quick.

For this tree skirt project:

I used: 1 round table cloth which was $10 and I had a online Target coupon for $2.00 off + plus 5% for using my Target Debit Card
            1 rectangle table cloth, 60" x 120" $17.99 plus another $2.00 coupon, + Target Red Card
                (3.3 yards of fabric is now about $4.85/yard)
            1 rectangle table cloth,  60" x 90"  $12.99 plus another $2.00 coupon + Target Red Card
                (2.5 yards of fabric is now about $4.40/yard)

So total for this project I paid just under $30 for the fabric I used.

Here is the picture of how pretty this fabric was, plus I had several hemmed edges I could use for parts of the tree skirt I wanted hemmed. I also cut the cute wrap around the packaging and used it for my closures. SO CUTE!

THE BEST PART IS.....I STILL HAVE A TON OF FABRIC LEFT TO USE ON OTHER PROJECTS! I am going to add my "How I made it" posts for these projects soon!

Here is a sneak peak of an old gold based Lamp I Re-vamped for free! Using this super cute metallic linen fabric!  Also, a little Annie Sloan Chalk Paint I already had! Tutorial to be posted soon :)


So to sum up all I have covered, always look out for clearance table cloths and curtains, they usually are super cute patterns or heavy fabrics! Buy them and save them, because if you are like me, it's nice to have a little something lying around when a idea for a craft project hits you! Now go forth, be frugal and create my friends! It always feels better when you made something cute that is almost free!!!


Stefanie




Monday, January 21, 2013

Refinishing my free dresser in Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

YAY for my first Post!! Blogging is something I have thought about doing and after a few friends encouraged me to share some of the projects I've done, I figured "Why not!" I would love to inspire others to jump on the band wagon of refinishing old things to make them new again. This is obviously a very popular thing to do right now and as you will soon find out I try out all sorts of crafts and projects, because if it saves me money to do it myself, I am all over that!

We just moved into a new house in Gig Harbor and it is truly a place I hope I get to grow old in, it inspired me to name this Blog the "Hauer Homestead", hence the nickname of our new house. With a new homes comes the challenges of existing furniture not fitting the new house or serving the space well. Also, there is obviously always a need for new furniture, the part I love. Except that my budget does not allow for new furniture, so I jumped on the trend of refinishing old furniture. Our house is definitely a farm house style, so I am into the antiqued edges and all. After lots of research I settled on the very popular paint, Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. I will share the items I have refinished with you and then go over the PRO's and CON's of the Chalk Paint with you. I have done several projects in the last month and I love the colors she offers.

Here is my first Project: A free dresser turned T.V. Stand. I know it's hard to come by free furniture because refinishing has become so popular, but just always keep your eyes open and let your family and friends know you will always take their free furniture. My Mom had this old beauty in her house and my husband thought I was NUTS when I said I wanted to try and paint it before we take it to Goodwill. It was worth a try right?! Now it is a crowd favorite!

BEFORE:



AFTER:


I used ASCP Aubusson Blue for the main color and French Linen for the metal Hardware.

I did two coats on the top because it was laminate and one coat on everything else. I antiqued the edges by wiping with a damp sponge after it dried for about 30 minutes, instead of sanding. 

I painted right over the metal hardware, I didn't realize how much I would LOVE the detail!



My husband and I both loved the way it turned out, and it inspired me to do several other pieces of furniture too! Posts to come.


MY PRO's AND CON's of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint:

PRO

Organic and doesn't have a smell. I painted this piece in my parents garage, because I wanted to have it painted before I moved into new house. The pieces I've done since we moved in I have painted in my laundry room, and I can't smell paint at all, it's CRAZY AWESOME!

I applied the wax once we moved in, I did it one night in my living room once my kids went to bed, talk about convenient and easy. It doesn't drip and you can wipe on with a rag. It's like shea butter consistency?!

It is the easiest clean up ever! I have done a lot of painting in my day and I am so lazy and hate dealing with paint thinner, etc. that  I usually throw away my brushes. I know that's not frugal and it goes against my grain, but things also have to be somewhat easy when you have two kids to chase after too. I always bought the cheapest brushes, but now I have invested in a Purdy brush :) You can wash away this paint with water and it doesn't leave stiff bristles later. The wax requires using soap and water, but hey, I can handle that!!

It coats thick and easily. The paint lasts forever! It's like Mary Poppin's Purse or something. I have done two chairs, this dresser, a side table and another dresser with Aubusson blue and I still probably have 1/6 of the can left. 

Last, but certainly not least... The ZERO prep work factor. HELLO, LIFESAVER. I squeeze in painting a dresser during nap time, so if I can pump out a dresser in 2 hours, I am one happy Momma!!!

CON

The wax is easy to use, but it doesn't protect the way I would like. I have been researching using a Poly on top of the paint for a kitchen table or for my kitchen cabinets, because I notice that the wax shows oily finger prints very easily. With two small children, it lacks the durability I would hope for. I still plan to use it on most projects, but I would like a Poly with a more Satin finish for large surfaces that get a ton of wear. 

The price....but if you consider how long it lasts and no primer and that you will re-use your brushes, it actually is probably cheaper than the conventional route. 

I hope this helps you even just a little bit, now go out and paint some furniture!


I purchased my Chalk Paint at the Design Cottage in Tacoma, WA. So thankful to have someone close that sells it, Thanks ladies!