DIY | It's Great To Be Home

Feeling Poufy

July 13, 2011 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 24 Comments

I started making my pouf last night!

I have to admit, I’ve been a little nervous about having this pouf sewed and presentable in time for the Pouf-A-Long next week (if you don’t know what I’m talking about scroll down a bit). But once I started assembling the pattern and cutting out the fabric it started to feel like a project that I can definitely tackle. It’s not as hard as I thought! So far, at least. :)

I’ve only gotten as far as cutting out all of the pieces for the pouf – the next step is busting out the sewing machine! This will definitely be the most ambitious sewing project I’ve ever tackled – until now I’ve only sewed pillows and curtains. I’m kind of excited for the challenge!

I hope you’ll jump in on the fun with me, Kim and Meredith and join the Pouf-A-Long! You still have a week to get’er done, which is plenty of time. And if you need the pattern, click here for the full pouf tutorial from BHG.

Can’t wait to see your poufs next week! And by the way, who’s shocked that I picked turquoise for my fabric? :)

A High Gloss Knock Off

February 18, 2011 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 18 Comments

If you had a chance to read the debut issue of the online magazine High Gloss, then this image must have caught your eye:

Page 64 of the magazine is dominated by this glorious guest room in Jamie Meares‘ home. I could go on and on about all of the elements that I love in this space, but what really does it for me is that bold, striking artwork. I’m kind of obsessed with it!

So, when I had an empty spot in my gallery wall I knew that I wanted to try to recreate that awesome painting. My attempt doesn’t quite live up to the original but it was lots of fun to paint something again and I think the result is funky and lively, and I can’t wait to break out the paint brushes again!

If you’d like to have a little fun this weekend and try your hand at knocking off this abstract painting, here’s how to do it:

(1) Assemble your supplies:

artist canvas (I got a 2 pack of 16 x 20 canvases from Michael’s for about $6)
acrylic paints in your choice of colors
medium-sized artist paint brush (may want to include one that comes to a point for those fine detail areas)
1 piece of chalk
spray paint (this will be your base color)

(2) Spray paint your canvas. I know true artists will cringe if they read this, but I just spray painted my canvas with flat black paint as the base for my painting because it was quick and easy. I chose black so that the “frame” (the sides of the canvas) would be black like the majority of the frames in my gallery wall. (Also, if I’m being totally honest, I originally had another plan for this canvas where I wanted the background of the artwork to be black, but that project didn’t work out.)

(3) Sketch your design using chalk. I thought it was easier to sketch out the design using chalk (and using the original painting as a loose guide) than it would have been to free-hand with paint. After I drew the lines, I wiped off the excess chalk (going in the same direction as the chalk line) with a thin towel. (Ha, if you look closely you can see remnants of my original plans for the canvas! It was terrible!)

(4) Blend your paints and start painting! This is the fun part. There’s something relaxing about just coloring between the lines, don’t you think? Be sure to experiment with blending colors and shades!

(5) Go in for a second coat. Chances are that you’ll need at least 2 coats of each color paint to fully cover the canvas. This is your chance to tweak the paint colors if they aren’t really looking how you want them to.

(6) Pat yourself on the back. Isn’t it fun to create something? Even if it isn’t perfect (mine certainly wasn’t!) it’s still a piece of art that is so cool to hang in your home. There’s nothing better than getting to say “I made that” when someone asks about your painting.

(7) Get that sucker on the wall! Enjoy your artwork and start planning your next piece!

What types of artwork have you created for your home? Feeling the urge to break out the paints this weekend?

First image via High Gloss.

Reader Re-Do: A Masterful Master Bath

December 13, 2010 By Liz - It's Great To Be Home 9 Comments

Have I told you guys lately how talented you are? Well, you are! Keep on reading for the proof. :)

A few weeks ago I started emailing with a lovely reader, Shannon U., who just so happens to spruce up houses with the help of her handy hubby. Check out what she had to say about one of their recent renovations:

This is the master bath in our house we just moved from. It was a HOT mess!

The bathtub had originally leaked under the shower and ruined both the shower and floor tile. It started to grow mold. We didn’t like the layout anyway, so we took the opportunity to rearrange while we updated. We GUTTED it! Hubby and I are pretty much total DIY’ers. We only hire out plumbing and masonry. Everything else is all us.

Originally the toilet was smashed right up against the tub and was almost unusable! We moved it to the opposite wall next to the vanities. Hubby laid new 16″ marazzi tile from Home Depot. We bought the vanity with granite attached for only $600 on Craigslist.

We used white solid surface material for the inside of the shower because I was sick of scrubbing shower grout! The glass for the shower was not expensive because we used a “mostly” frameless look with just a couple of clips. It made the cost less than half of a “true” frameless.

Hubby did all the tile work and I put a metallic brown finish on the walls. I’m the paint gal. :) We got the tub from a salvage yard and had it redone for about $350. The tubs are plentiful at most junkyards, the hard part is finding 4 feet that match! We had the inside sandblasted and I painted the exterior metallic bronze. I painted the walls a metallic bronze to match.

Hubby installed beadboard around the bathroom to go with the cottage look of the tub. I guess I was going for a PB inspired look. All faucets and light fixtures were bought from Overstock.com. Total cost for everything including lots of plumbing was just under $5000. Not bad for a totally brand new master bath!

Didn’t Shannon and her hubby knock it out of the park? And talk about serious bang for your buck – a bathroom of that quality could easily cost 2-3 times more than they spent! What’s your favorite feature of their renovation?

P.S. I announced the giveaway winner this morning – click here to see if it was you!