DIY Vinyl Floor Stencil

Today I have a fun new project to share with everyone.  I got this pretty lil thing done last weekend but I had a couple spots to touch up.  Between a sick kid and snow days it took me a while to get around to the last (and easiest) step. 

Remember my Chevron Closet Makeover?  Well the last thing to finish in there was the floor.  I wanted to do something fun, cheap and pretty.  So I set out to find a great big stencil for the floor!

...unfortunately I found nothing even close to what I had envisioned, nothing close to big enough and nothing in my price range even if I had liked something.  Now what?

If you're one of my Facebook friends you may remember a post a couple weeks ago about the best ever $15 find, an overhead projector!  I got a few comments from friends about why on earth I would need such a thing and telling me this was another unneeded item to add to my "hoard".  :)  What hoard??? 

As it turns out there were hundreds of clip art images to choose from for my floor design.  Here's what I ended up with:

 

 

I printed it off and traced it with a Sharpie onto a clear sheet protector I had laying around.   Evan and I work next to a printing company and last summer we were told some large rolls of vinyl were being thrown out.  So after work we headed to the dumpster to find this: 

 

Indeed a HUGE brand new roll of sticky white vinyl.  Evan was even on board with this pick!

 

So I taped a 5 foot section to the wall and turned on my projector.

 

I traced the image then cut it out.

 

 

I had previously painted the floor brown where my vinyl floor stencil would go.  Then I peeled off the backing and stuck 'er down.

 

 







After that I painted the entire floor white right over the vinyl.  I had to give it two coats to get the coverage I wanted.

 

 

While the paint was still wet I began peeling up the sticky vinyl.  In hindsight, I should have let the brown paint underneath dry over night but I was so excited I only waited a few hours.  Because of this the vinyl peeled up a small amount of the brown paint in spots.  Note taken.

 

 

Needless to say I had to touch up a few spots with a small brush. 

Here it is all finished.  I'm pretty excited about how it turned out, it's exactly what I wanted!

 

 

 

So what do you think?  Yay or nay? 

 







French Country Side Table on the CHEAP!

I've been on the look out for some new side tables for our bedroom.  I wasn't necessarily looking for matching tables just cute French Country styled.  I came across this baby the other day on craigslist and had to pick it up.  It was close to perfect but when I actually got it I loved it even more!  The post showed the general shape but I had no idea it had such detail.  Check it out:

 

 

I was a little disappointed that the table is actually plastic, not wood, but for my purposes it would serve just as well. 

 

I gave it three coats of Rustolium 2x white spray paint in between other projects and brought it in.   I set her up in our bedroom and she looks great!  Exactly what I had been looking for. 

 

 

I love being able to use my design creativity on the CHEAP!  Here's the break down:

 



My Table:                                                                                Inspiration Table:

-$6 table on craigslist                                                               -$610 via The Well Appointed House

-$3.44 Rustolium spray paint

 

                                             

 

 

 

How's that for getting just as much bang for your buck?  It just goes to show that anyone can have the great look they want without paying an arm and a leg for it.  You just have to take the time to look around a bit!

 

Thanks for reading,

Aleasha







Bathroom Cabinet Face Lift

Boy have I been a busy lady today!  Two reasons for that really 1) Taylor is at her dads for the weekend and 2) Evan and I didn't put in any over time this weekend which almost never happens.  I took full advantage of my uninterrupted Saturday and completed not 1, not 2 but THREE projects today.  I feel pretty accomplished I must say. 

I'm going to share one with you now!

When we moved in our bathroom was a color I named (lovingly of course) "stick of butter yellow".  In our townhouse the bathrooms were purple/green and brown/turquoise.  Since we downsized here to only one bathroom I decided to start over.  Plus, we got some great bathroom items given to us for my bridal showers. 

*Side Note*
I thought having one bathroom would be terrible since we got full use out of two before but as it turns out, it's lovely.  I only have to clean one, only one toilet paper roll to find empty and our clothes only end up in one bathroom to pick up after baths.  Plus we don't have bathroom items traveling back and forth (so when I'm looking for the nail clippers they're always in the same place!).

Here's the bathroom when I started. 

Long story short, I painted.  After removing MORE wall paper boarder-ugh!  I decided when picking towels for our registry that gray and yellow would be the color scheme.  Wait yellow? Like the yellow I just painted over-yep.  I'm in love with gray lately and probably would have found a way to incorporate it in every room but I stuck with less is more of one color and did 1/2 the dining room and then the bathroom.  Here's what it looks like with the new color:

 

I love it.  But it doesn't really scream the look I was going for.  The bathroom was kind of country bumpkin with wood grain linoleum, wood trim and this wood vanity/medicine cabinet.  Plus it has dated gold fixtures.  They're on my style hate list right up there with wall paper. 

 

First thing's first, I removed the gold cabinet pulls and sanded everything down real well with "paint remover" sand paper.  That's what the package said anyways.  :)

 

 

I taped off around the lights and behind the mirrors.  Time to paint the bathroom cabinet!  I didn't take any pictures of this process for fear of getting paint on my new camera.  For whatever reason I am a really clean painter but you wouldn't know it by the condition of my hands afterwards. 

 

When I was done I replaced the pulls with some super sleek brushed nickle knobs.  These babies were $3.29 each ($15 for FIVE?!) but I found them on sale for .99 cents each at random while waiting for paint to be mixed one day.  I couldn't refuse a great bargain!  I always seem to find things for future projects on sale when I'm there to buy supplies for my current one.  I like that about me lol.  My husband does not hehe. 

 

 

Today you basically get a before and after.  I'm sure some readers appreciate a shorter post for once.  TRUTH!

 

 

BEFORE/AFTER



There she is in a few different lights.  I think one can appreciate the beauty in color when seeing it under different circumstances.  That's right peeps, I painted it BLACK!  How's that for a facelift?  I was unsure it would turn out right and honestly a little scared (can you believe that?) to begin with.  I am so happy I went for it, I should just know to trust my gut by now.  It's sleek, it's modern and oh so clean looking.  I even got a "WOW" out of Evan!

Here's a few close ups of the cabinet fronts.

Do you love???  I do.  It really looks like it was purchased this way.  Such a statement piece.  This was the easiest and least time consuming project I've done for a while and it could be my favorite as far as impact goes. 

Thanks for following along!