STAINING FLOORS

I think many people struggle with choosing a stain color for hardwood floors.  The most common material is red or white oak.  If you go with a natural stain over time it seems to turn an undesirable yellow/orange color.

Since cleaning out the bedroom was halted by a 3 hour delay while I looked over a few old Cottage Living magazines.....I went into my office to file a few things and found this page from Domino magazine.

And that delayed the "great purge" of the bedroom until I can motivate myself again....possibly sometimes in 2014.

Now I realize you would have to have the eyesight of a buzzard to read this....

So I took a picture of it with my trusty iPhone. 

I was looking at the white ones and realized I did not follow these rules at all when I did my floors in white.  #rebel

For my bedroom I used 50% white latex paint [BM China White] and 50% water painted on and then wiped off.

Here is what I started with....white oak and I think they are 4 1/2 inch width.

Here is the outcome after a few coats of matte poly applied.

I love them and they still look good 5 years later.

For the rest of my house I used 50% water and 50% paint [same color] but no wiping off.

This is a picture of the floors BEFORE sanding and painting.  They are the original floors installed in 1946 when the house was built.  They were pretty darn orange.  You can see the new floors ready to be installed in the area where we had a leak.  

Here they are after a few coats of poly. 

To say I love them is an understatement. 

And after 3 years they have held up really well!

Why am I telling you this....well there are a few new Minwax stains out that I also love.

Classic gray and Weathered Oak are 2 of them.  Instead of that red/orange undertone they have a more "ash" look to it which I love.  My "go to" stain color used to be 1/2 dark walnut and 1/2 jacobean.

Here is [left to right] Red Mahogany  Pecan, Classic gray on bead board.

Now I could research a million images on pinterest but "ain't nobody got time for that"....so get to searching.  I did pin a bunch of stain colors on my DIY board....

Have a smoking good weekend.....

Do you like the new look of my blog?  If you do you can thank Shari from Little Blue Deer.  She is the bomb and so dang easy to work with.  Does it all website....wordpress...blogger.

You might need a little fresh up?

Shafiredupforholidayweekend

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CLASSIC DECORATING 101

The other day I was doing one of those deep cleanings in my bedroom....you know the kind where you don't clean so much but just start throwing stuff out cause it feels cluttered.

I have a basket that holds all of my  old Cottage Living magazines.  It is a big dust collector cause it's not like I root through there very often.

I grabbed them all up.... put them on my kitchen counter where they would later head to the recycling container. 

My thoughts were "why do I need these....I can find everything online now plus they are outdated right?

Of course my ADD kicked in and I happened to see something on one of the covers that made me start looking through it.....and that was the end of my deep clean.

Noooooooo.....

So much for that.  Anyway here is my point.

I came upon a 2008 issue which included Chaffee Braithwate's  small Atlanta home and thought.....dang it is still revenant today.

Let's discuss.

OK...seagrass...check

White walls.....check

White slipcovers....check

Linen curtains....check

Ghost chair...check [you have to look hard for this but it's there].

I mean this could be published today.

Black and white kitchen with no upper cabinets...yep it's still happening in design land.

When I renovated my own kitchen 20 years ago I decided not to have any upper cabinets.  I'm no design genius but it felt less "kitcheny" to me.

I also opted for white cabinets....and neutral backsplash.  The granite is a whole other story but hellwillfreezeoverbeforethatgetschanged.  Or so I have been told. 

Do you remember seeing this bedroom?  Brownish/gray color....with white?  Color can always be added.

We have wicker and botanicals. Pretty classic.

These are my botanicals which hung in my LR for 10 years.  Yes...something actually stayed that long.  Call the design police.

I recently moved them last year to my guest room.

And in this bathroom....look to the paint color list to the right.  How often have you seen a favorite room with BM Revere Pewter and BM Wickham Gray?

You probably are't going to believe this but I have 2 of the same sinks in my master bathroom which I picked out in 1993.  This picture was taken about a year after we moved in.

Crazy huh?

I have updated a few things over the years....frameless shower door...

Added some antique mirror but I still love my sinks.

Believe me I love a good trend as much as the next person....but I am very careful when it comes to things that are expensive to change.

The good thing about classic decor is that it will save you in the long run.  

Black, white, gray, wicker, seagrass, bell jar lighting, ticking fabric, slipcovers, blue and white, chrome, white subway tile, white cabinets, antique rugs, white curtains, black iron hardware....the list goes on.  

If you don't have a lot of money like me....then go safe and add a few trends along the way to freshen up!

OK....need to wrap this up because we have an appointment with a financial planner.  I would sooner have somebody pull all my nose hairs out one by one.  You know that hurts and makes your eyes water like crazy. 

Shasafe

 

 

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DIY

I think it is safe to say I am not a "do it yourself" blogger....or person.  20 years ago...yes I would give it a shot.  

I don't consider painting a diy attempt but using a glue gun for anything other than hemming a pair of pants falls into that category.  

All that being said....sometimes I have more than one glass of wine and all hell breaks loose.

Which was the case the other night.  Can I just say how dangerous this sucker is.

It can literally bring tears to your eyes and cause you scream out loud.

But I saw these books and thought it looked like a simple project.

So with the same slight buzz I had when I got online and found my 2 rescue dogs on Petfinder one night [which is another story] I dug out some scraps of white fabric and went to town.

While burning my fingerprints off at the same time.

The wine wore off after 3 books...

Maybe if I had some sharp scissors it would have been a little less frustrating.  Who knows.  

Yes...I covered some books.  I guess now the book police will be after me.  

Of course I haven't gotten the wax yet but that doesn't stop me from playing with new toys.

The black and white tray is one of my favorite scores from Homegoods.

Sometimes instead of using moss I will use oyster shells to cover the dirt on a plant.

I have started collecting black pottery from thrift stores lately.  Maybe I shouldn't tell you guys cause that cause then I won't be able to find any.

I will be waiting for another blue moon so I can do more DIY.

TTGLIF

thank the good lord it's friday

Shacraftybitch

32

BOOKCASE DISCUSSION

OK...before we get to the subject of the bookcase makeover I wanted to tell you a husband and wife story.

We were having a little "discussion" the other day.  He might have called it something else.  I might or might not have been giving him a small piece of my mind.....of course in his opinion a small piece is all I have.

Anyway at the peak [my voice might have gotten loud]  of the "discussion" he looks at me and says "can you zip up your fly".

Huh...what?

"Zip your pants up".

"What the HELL does that have to do with my point?"

"I can't take you serious if your pants are unzipped".

See what I'm dealing with here people.  I don't feel validated.

Speaking of validation.....I need to make a few points.

A few people got after me about making the bookcases more decorative instead of utilitarian.

 "designed to be useful or practical rather than attractive.  "

Let's discuss.

As a designer I will take the whole room into consideration before I make decisions.  On the opposite side of the room from the bookcases are two very large  4-5 ft openings.  In my opinion with the cases filled up with books it made the room look very heavy on that side.  Plus.....there is  little wall space in the room for art.  

Another question: why did I not use all of her books?  I would say over 70% were paperbacks. 

And cause she told me I didn't have to.

And....can some bookshelves be decorative and some be "booky".  I'm no expert.....but I think so.  

BUT...the most important thing is that my client loved them and  contrary to popular belief about designers I did not wrangle her to the floor and force my point of view on her.  She trust me to give her the room she wants.

 The sitting room through one of the large openings I mentioned is going to have 2 of these chair 1/2's out of  indoor/outdoor fabric.

They were delivered yesterday.

Oh so comfy!

The family room has 2 sofa's and 2 of the swivel/rocker wing chairs. 

There is a window seat area in that same room that we are treating like this.

I need this table!!!

 I am also looking for some vintage ship prints 

To go on this wall....Thibaut wallpaper goodness.

So there you have it.  Let's all remember that design in subjective.  Just saying.

Have a happy humorous hump day.

Shapoop

 

27

BOOKSHELVES BEFORE AND AFTER

Here we go again....more bookshelves.  If you follow me on Instagram then you saw a preview of  my flea market finds.  

That is MY favorite thing to do because finding small items are pretty easy.  Old books....small  tchotchke's.  Had to look up the spelling of that word....wouldn't you hate to get it in a spelling bee.

Here is the before

Since I am doing the whole room I wanted to get this part of the accessorizing done before the furniture comes next week.  That way I can see where I need to add.

My inspiration was clean, minimal......a bit of "Nantucket, coastal with some vintage thrown in".  Duh.  My favorite style.

Some of my finds....

So let's start with the left side.

Before

I asked her to take everything down before I got there.  Then I did my usual organizing of books and such into piles.

Before...

After

You might think it looks sparse but since there are so many shelves I wanted plenty of space for the eye to rest.  Also...I would like to find a few vintage pieces of coastal art to add in.  I used my favorite baskets from Ikea and it was very hard to part with those vintage cream jars on the top shelf!

Here is the other side....

The metal letter almost stumped me....I kept trying to find a place for it vertically and it was only when I placed it on it's side that I had my ah ha moment.

Moral...don't give up....

Again...room to add a few things after the final install.

Here is the before of the other side.

The after

Yes...the cable box is there but I have some ideas for this area.....

After

And the big picture

A few close shots

Love these fabric balls I found at Scott's.

Picked this little beauty up at a thrift store.

Organic texture from West Elm.

Thrifted books

More organic plant life

Nice to add some greenery with boxwood 

 

I can't believe I found this jar at Homegoods!

This metal cash box was also very hard to give up...I mean it is so my color and style right?

Another Homegoods find....I just added the metal number.

I also found this real shell at Homegoods in the clearance isle....I'm a lucky girl.

Along with this horse on a stand.

The good thing about this install is that whatever doesn't work will fit in my house....win....win right?

More to come on this pretty space as it comes together.

Have a peaceful Sunday my friends....

Shacalm

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