Shutter Love

 

Ok y'all, take a look at these old shutters...what do you see? Trash, junk, a filthy mess? Well, that's what my neighbor saw! She had these stashed away in her garage for who knows how long and was about to dump them in the trash! Me on the other hand, I saw some soon to be gorgeous decor for my back patio!!! Have some vision people!

Here's a close up to show you just how nasty they were lol! Because we needed a close up right? lol

The first step to refinishing these beauties was just a little soap and water! I scrubbed them down to give me a clean surface to paint. 

I chose this gorgeous shade of blue by Sherwin Williams called Jay Blue. I was inspired by my new patio pillows to go with a brighter blue color. Everything on my patio is very brown and I needed a few pops of a happy color! So, without further due, here are my shutters now!

Gorgeous right?! After giving them a solid 2 coats of Jay Blue, I dry brushed them with a very light cream khaki color to make them look distressed. 

I hung them side by side above the ginormous bench my hubby made completely of reclaimed wood pallets! The pillow you see there on the left was my color inspiration for the shutters. 

I added a couple of moss wreaths (Joann Fabrics) tied on with some burlap ribbon. I am so pleased with how these turned out and what I love even more is that I took something that was going to be trash and turned it into decor!! I'd like to think that if we all rescued some trash, there would be just a few less things deteriorating in a land fill. I hope I have inspired you to find some trash and turn it into treasure!! 

Build a Nursery with Me!! Part 2

 

Woodland Nursery Design Board!

This is the room before. The color was an awful shade of minty green!

Then I got the hubby to paint it for me and it looks so much warmer!!

The color I used was Universal Khaki by Sherwin Williams. This shade of khaki tends to change color throughout the day. It has green and grey undertones. It definitely has the masculine feel I wanted.

Painting your space should always be the first step. It lays the base for everything else to be layered on!

The next item that I have been working on is the dresser/changing table. This photo was my inspiration!

This is the dresser before. I bought it at a flea market for $40. It was in great condition and I loved the handles just they way they were!

I sanded the dresser to remove all stain.

I also sanded the drawers. but taped off the handles to keep them protected.

And this is the after! I used a mixture of Espresso, black, and grey stains. This technique takes time and patience. I like using a sponge brush and a wash cloth, that way I can control how much stain goes on and is absorbed. I just kept applying it in layers until I achieved my desired look!

Aren't these brass handles awesome! So glad I left them.

The last project so far was this adorable Rocking Moose! I found it at Ikea for $40. The only draw back was that it was red. Who wants a red moose? Leave it to Ikea...lol. So, I decided to spray paint it with Rustoleum's Hammered spray paint.

I will say that overall, I didn't love the application of this spray paint, but it did the job.

I started by pulling the red pieces from the box. There are only 5. The other pieces are natural wood.

 

I lightly sanded them down by hand to give the paint a little more to adhere to.

Then they were ready to paint! It only took one coat to cover and about 48 hours to fully dry.

Once everything was really dry, I put the pieces together! Is this not adorable?! It turned out just the way I pictured it in my head!

You can kind of see the texture in this close up pic. I just love how cute this is in the room!

So, that is all for now! I am currently working on curtains, a closet system, the rug, and some of the wall art. Update coming soon!