Surprising Sunflowers

Sitting in my room on a cloudy day I start to realize how beautiful these sunflowers that Matt bought me for our year and a half are.

Not only are the flowers beautiful, but they really brighten up the entire room! The clouds outside are no match for these sunny flowers.

Here is a closer shot of the beauties. Looking at this close up I am thinking of getting this picture printed out to hang up in a collage in my new room.

It really amazes me how much of a difference flowers in a room can make...let alone sunflowers. I can not stop looking at them! (Note: my little lamp in the corner ;))  We are really trying to keep these babies alive (the last flowers he bought me died in a few days). I am giving them a ton of sunlight and plan on changing the water frequently and adding some of the flower food with each change. Any other tips on keeping flowers in a vase fresh?

I love keeping the blinds open in Matt's apartment mostly because I LOVE natural lighting. I never open the windows though because as you all know, I am afraid of bugs and lizards and frogs and lots of other things that crawl and fly. I know that there is a screen but back home bugs always found a way around it (remember all the lizards in my room after my window was opened for a day?). I am not willing to take the chance.

Dare to Compare?

Seeing as it was my first real DIY purchase ever I sat down to myself wondering if the $23 I am going to end up spending on this lamp was too much. And just when I started to worry I came across this $214.00 lamp from noyadecor.

Or this $442 lamp

 Here is my $23 lamp from goodwill and target (still needs a smaller shade and some shade decor). I think it looks pretty good being that it saved me $200-$400.

TV Stand Progress

Me and Matthew bought this TV Stand for $5 a few weeks ago in hope of re-selling it. It is made of particle board and laminate wood and we finally found a great way to paint it to look brand new.

Today it looks like this.

Still very unfinished, but I'd say that it is a lot of progress from what we started from! We first had to remove the spinning top. It made a TV sit really uneasy on the top due to a screw placed in the very center. Then we filled in the holes that held the spinning top with DuPont AirTite Siliconized Acrylic Caulk for interior and exterior surfaces. We got a 5.5 fl oz tube at Lowes for $2.

We then removed the backing of the original TV Stand because it had tons of problems. We got a new backing (not shown here) at lowes for $6. It was basically a piece of wood that they cut to the exact dimensions of this original backing. We brought in this backing shown to have an exact measurement.

That's when we started to prime. We used Zinsser cover stain oil based primer and it worked wonders! However, whatever you do, make sure not to get any on you. It stained us for days. Also, use cheap brushes that you wouldn't mind throwing away because this stuff will not come off of paint brushes without a paint thinner.

We I was super nervous after the first coat because the TV stand looked like this.

Matthew kept telling me that it was just the first coat and it was just primer. And turns out he was right. Once again. Now I put the doors on just to get a little sneak peak at what it will look like once we do paint it white. Still to do?

1. Paint over the primer white. 
2. Put (cute) little knobs on the doors
3. Paint and install new backing
4. Remove those wheels and get some legs installed

Well, till the next update! It already looks better than the $5 piece we bought from goodwill if you ask me!

Lamp Progress!

I bought this lamp a few weeks ago at goodwill!

First I taped off the parts I did not want to paint. Then I spray painted the lamp white in our back porch using Valspar Lacquer in white.

Now, after buying a new lampshade, it looks like this!

I will be covering the lampshade with fabric, which color I have not yet decided. I am also considering getting a smaller lampshade. I bought this one from target for $13. A small might have been more appropriate! I still need some time to adjust to it, but I cannot wait to add this lamp as an addition to my new home!

I had some troubles finding a good lampshade and couldn't find a lampshade that fit these gold things that came with the lamp. Matthew simply pulled it off the gold thing and voila!

Here it is detached.

After that I simply put the lampshade on the stub that was left. Now the only thing left to do is make a nice lampshade! I will spend about $4 on fabric and the ending cost of the lamp will be about $23, the shade being the most expensive (if i do not return the lampshade).

DIY Abstract Art

I am looking into some abstract art for my new apartment. I have no artistic ability, HOWEVER, abstract is not so hard to accomplish by yourself. Here is a picture of the finished project 

I started with smears of that mint green color that I created by adding turquoise with green and white. I did a few smears and then added some yellow smears and some red mixed with white and shaded some yellow in the mix! Really its up to you but find some inspiration and go with it!

Now all this needs is a frame!

Paint Chip Art

I went to Lowe's today to find some cute paint chips in some colors that I liked. Unfortunately, I didn't consider WHAT exactly I would do with these paint chips. I am thinking something creative like this or this. Here is a picture of the frames that I am going to need to fill up (I still need to buy two more to balance out this mini collage!)

I will add another longer frame under the small one as well as another small frame next to the already small one. This might help make it more clear

Getting the Look Before Getting the Apartment

I am so excited to finally move in to my first REAL apartment! Granted I have been living in my boyfriends apartment for almost 6 weeks now and have slept here for the past semester, however, I will finally have my OWN space where I can decorate a NEW room!

I've been searching for inspiration since I first signed my lease in the Fall semester (I know, it was early). I must admit it is difficult to put together a room when I only have pictures from the apartments website, but I have done my best so far.

Here is the inspiration board I first created:

I kept meaning to add some font, but I had a hard time getting it to save! The picture in the right hand corner is the real pictures of what the apartment is supposed to look like!

That being said, I have already worked on a few things to get started! I sent my grandmother this mint green fabric and she sent me back this wonderful hand made pillow! (She made another one as well, but for whatever reason I never caught a picture!)

I was also on the lookout for a cute lamp for the room to make it POP, only to find out that the lamps of my dreams costs anywhere from $60-$100. Thrift store here I come! I found this beauty at the local thrift store!

Isn't she beautiful! I knew her potential the minute I laid eyes on her. It only took a few coats of white spray paint to turn that into THIS:

I can NOT wait to add a cute yellow lampshade (DIY of course!) and I will post it as soon as its finished. And how much did this wonderful piece cost? Six bucks. Once I add in a thrift store lamp shade and less than a yard of fabric from Jo-Anns it might run me about $10. 

Now I just need ideas for what shape of a shade to throw on top!