3 Easy Steps to a Furniture Refresh with Chalk Paint
Three easy steps to a furniture refresh with chalk paint sounds too good to be true. In fact, for years I have had friends talk to me about this paint but I thought “who has the time?” and “that will take too long”. I am glad to share I was wrong on both counts. Putting my style on a set of chairs was as easy as 1, 2, 3. Rolling up my sleeves and giving DIY projects a try are becoming more of a habit for me. Check out my first shared DIY here then read on for my easy steps to a furniture refresh.
Step 1. Clean your furniture
Our area has a few community Facebook groups. Thankfully, a set of four chairs was placed up for grabs in one of these sites. Four matching chairs for free? I’m on it! (Actually, my husband went and picked them up – he’s the best!) Borrowing from my wonderful cleaning mentor, GoCleanCo, I placed one teaspoon of Tide into two cups of hot water and scrubbed down each chair. Cleaning and drying your furniture helps paint to stay on it.
The original look of my freebie chairs. Step 2. Paint with Chalk Paint
After cleaning your furniture, paint with chalk paint. Again, I have been told about the joys of chalk paint but until this week, I was a skeptic. It IS amazing. My neighbor gifted me the remaining portions of her Chalky Chics. At my neighbor’s recommendation, I ordered the chalk paint and wax brush set below. (*as an Amazon Associate, I may earn a commission from any valid Amazon links*)
Using the larger brush, two coats of paint was applied. Drying time for chalk paint is relatively quick. I was able to paint all four chairs within an afternoon.
The photo on the left is after one coat of chalk paint. The photo on the right is after two coats of chalk paint. Step 3. Wax
With the smaller, wax brush, apply quick strokes of clear wax to your furniture. The beauty of chalk paint is it’s design is to be shabby chic – meaning perfection is not the desired result. I love the charm of some natural “distressing” to the furniture. I purchased a chalk paint clear wax coat from Walmart for only $6.54! What a deal! The wax helps seal in the paint and prevents it from flaking or scratching off in the future. For the brand I used, waiting 24 hours to buff the wax with a lint free cloth was recommended.
The products I used. The Result
I am so pleased with my “new” furniture. My sunroom work station had a mismatch of chairs. Now, I have a beautiful set of black chairs that make the room so inviting. Who knows? Maybe I will get more work done!
What do you think? Have you used chalk paint before? What are your thoughts? If you have yet to use it, I strongly encourage you to join in the fun! For around $25 I got a beautiful new space!
All four chairs around my farm table in the sunroom. Tackling the Garage
Tackling the garage was a little more intense than I envisioned. While I have visions of a space similar to the one below, alas, my reality looks much different. An entirely new magazine-worthy space is not what I have but, I did clear out the clutter, implement a system I can use, and clean up our garage. Just as I tell my kids, focus on “progress not perfection”.
Start in a circle
I love following GoCleanCo ‘s feed. She gives an abundance of cleaning motivation. Feeling overwhelmed at the task of the garage, I reminded myself of Sarah’s advice, “move in a circle”. Beginning by moving in a circle helps keep you on track. I began in a circle in the garage and quickly realized I would need to narrow down my task. Therefore, I chose the storage room as my main focus.
Our garage like many others I am sure, houses not only my car, but our camper, camping gear, bikes, Jeff’s tools, tool boxes, toys, my children’s keepsakes, and seasonal decor. The main portion of our garage holds items that I would classify as “Jeff’s”. The storage room built within our garage I can easily identify as mainly “my stuff”.
A progress shot. Pulling all the items out in order to sort and clean. Pull Everything Out
After I swept and cleaned what I could in the garage, I started working in a circle inside the storage room: pulling out one storage container at a time. Being able to go through each container allows me to see what needs to be culled and tossed and what items I still use. Identifying labels on the fronts of each container helps to easily identify what I need when I go into the storage room throughout the year.
Organize Like Items
Once you have worked in a circle, pulled all items out, then organize like items. I had no clue how much Christmas decor I had. My fall decor was lost amongst all the Christmas. There are three main categories within my storage room: Christmas decor, fall decor, and keepsakes. (See how I recently decorated my home for fall here.) Once the front of each tote was labeled (I had to skip the stack right next to the wall due large Christmas decorations. When Jeff helps me get all Christmas decor down this year, new labels and totes will be assigned to this stack), I placed them in stacks together with labels facing out. One problem I had been running into was my labeling was on top of the totes. I had no way of knowing what was inside unless I took everything down from its stack – so time consuming!
Totes are neatly stacked with labels on the front. What I’ve Learned
From my garage experience, I believe my take away is: there is always some cleaning and/or decluttering to be done in your home. While I would love to be able to have all matching storage totes as seen below, I am super pumped that I was able to go through three boxes that I had yet to unpack from our last year’s move. Cleaning out this garage space brings peace to my mind. The ability to walk into this room and easily identify what tote holds what I need is a huge win in my book. Maybe future garage projects will include swapping out mismatched totes with matching ones.
Now to decide, how much Christmas decor is too much Christmas decor???
How about you? Do you clean out your garage regularly? What tips have you found helpful? Let me know if my life lessons in tackling the garage have been beneficial to you! Including some posts from women who have organized their garages like professionals hopefully provides some inspiration for you to tackle your garage!
What to Do and Bring When Camping
Growing up, I believe I remember camping exactly one time, maybe two. Trips as a child were often only to visit extended family not for the pure enjoyment of travel. Fast forward to married life and a husband who loves to camp. By association, I am loving it too. We have camped in tents, pop ups, fifth wheels, and bumper-pull campers. Currently, we own a pop up camper. To fully appreciate camping, there is some preparation that needs to take place. Follow along in this post to gain knowledge on what to do and bring when camping.
Camper
After selling our last camper, we have camped mainly in tents. Due to our desire to be outdoors but not totally roughing it, we purchased a pop up camper towards the end of last fall. With all the quick-fix and easy application materials available in today’s market, camper renovations are wildly popular. This Instagram feed is full of camper reno inspiration! To join in the fun, I have given our camper a little refresh. In order to fully appreciate it, you need to view the original look of our camper. Thankfully, there was nothing wrong with our camper and it was maintained by the previous owners in near perfect condition. Aesthetic changes were all that was needed for it to truly become ours.
The overall appeal was low when we originally purchased our pop up camper
.Our camper can sleep six comfortably. One pop out side holds a king size bed, the other pop out side holds a full size bed, the dining table converts to a twin bed, and the L-shape couch converts to a twin size bed. Since we do most of our cooking and hanging out outside our camper, once we updated the look, we keep all its beds ready for sleeping.
Now, for what activities we like to participate in while camping, places we like to go, and what products I believe make camping more enjoyable, read on. I’ll intermingle pictures of our updated camper throughout.
Our camper looking from the full size bed towards the king size bed. Activities
On our most recent camping trip, we went tubing at Big Wills Creek Campground. Any type of outdoor activities multiply the fun of camping. Fortunately, our campsite was situated next to the creek and made for an easy commute from camper to tubing trail. Other activities we enjoy while camping are: sitting around the campfire, riding bikes, making s’mores, playing card games, and hiking nature trails. When visiting a campground, check out their website or their front office. Plenty of activities on site or nearby will be advertised. Many campgrounds include playgrounds, community activities, and nature programs available to participate in.
The left side view of our camper. Campgrounds
In addition to Big Wills Creek, we have visited several campgrounds nearby that do not require long hours on the road. Our longest road trip to go camping thus far has been to Grayton Beach State Park. The good news of owning a camper? Air conditioning! I’m uncertain I would camp anywhere without a little air conditioning running in the background (and a heater in the winter). Grayton Beach has some of the best trails to go biking due to its connection to all 30A communities.
Tannehill State Park is another favorite campground of mine as well as Guntersville State Park. While Tannehill has a beautiful creek and a cool trade day once a month, plenty of deer can be seen typically at Lake Guntersville. Obviously, Alabama campgrounds are what I am most familiar with; however, your vehicle can take you anywhere you want to camp.
Looking to the right of our front door of the camper. What to Bring
Time and experience has helped me accumulate a nice little “Must-Have” list for camping. I am all too happy to share my knowledge with you. Here are nine items that I feel make our camping experience a little more enjoyable. These items are linked in my LiketoKnow.it link included in the right sidebar.
Must-Have List for Camping
- Solo Stove – Jeff received this for his Father’s Day gift this year and I must say, I am loving it! It is light weight, easy to get a fire going, and once it is cooled off and emptied, it can be carried in its own carrying case. Perfect for a cozy campfire or some impromptu s’mores.
- Shoe Rack – Camping attracts a lot of dirt and debris inside a camper. To reduce the amount of dirt, I do not let my crew wear shoes inside the camper. Instead, shoes are housed neatly on a two-tier shoe rack.
- Outdoor Rug – Isn’t it rough to step out of your camper onto the ground with no shoes on? Good question! Me and my crew do not have to experience a rough or dirty ground when we come out of the camper and put our shoes on because we have a nice outdoor rug placed in front of our door.
- Mini Fridge – Some people say this item is cheating on camping and if that is true, I am totally okay with it. Jeff picked up a mini fridge at Bargain Hunt and at first I thought that was crazy because we have a tiny one inside the camper. Boy, was I wrong! This mini fridge has been amazing. Jeff simply plugs it up and sets it right outside our camper. It has been the biggest help with meal prep and storage.
- Stringed Lights – You know how amazing it is at Christmas time when you can drive around and see all the beautiful lights on display? I’m telling you, you can experience the same thing in a campground. Each camper, RV, and tent seems to have its own calling card when it comes to outdoor lights. We like to string one set of our lights inside our pop up tent where we house our table and another strand of lights around the awning of our camper. I’ve linked up an extra long set so you might want to get a shorter length but I think the long string looks better.
- Folding Table – A totable, folding table comes in handy while camping. We mainly use ours to house our microwave, toaster, and coffee maker. Hey, we never said we were roughing it while camping!
- Mini Keurig – As mentioned above, we place a coffee maker on our folding table. Jeff purchased a mini-Keurig for me when I was teaching a couple of years ago. Now that I am back at home with the kids, we use the mini-Keurig on our camping trips. I love it!
- Plastic Totes with lids – Storage totes are a huge help while camping. I like to use the ones that have a lock on the sides. We place storage totes under our camper in order to clear up space inside the camper. Non-pantry items such as ziplock bags, citronella candles, marshmallow skewers, tablecloths, aluminum foil, and so on are stored in one tote, another tote holds pantry items that we do not want racoons or other critters getting into, and another tote holds extra bedding. Thankfully, our camper has storage under all the seating areas to hold cooking utensils, small appliances, pots, and pans.
- Wedding Tent – Why my husband and I call our outside tent a wedding tent is beyond me. Maybe it’s because it looks like one of those tents you would see at an outdoor wedding. Jeff sets up this pop up tent right beside our camper and we call it our “living room.” It holds our folding table, small appliances, and camp chairs for us to sit around and hang out.
- ****BONUS**** I did not list this item on my LiketoKnow.it link but one item that Jeff purchased this year that has been a game changer for the middle aged woman that I am is… a portable potty. This may sound unpleasant; however, a portable toilet keeps you from trekking across a campground in the middle of the night to find a bath house.
Check out my LiketoKnow.it link in the right sidebar. If you have never attempted to camp, I hope this blog post has peaked your interest. If you are already a camper then I hope I have given you some ideas on how to improve your camping experience. Did I miss anything? Is there another facet of camping you would like to know more about, comment below. I would love to hear from you! And if you would like to read more about our travels, check out my blog post here for our recent trip to 30A!
5 Ways to Add Touches of Fall to Your Home
Changes in the seasons is such an exciting time. The anticipation of what a new season brings welcomes joy into my heart and home. Now fall just happens to be my absolute FAVORITE season of all. I love the weather, the color, the activities that fall brings. While my taste and aesthetic has changed as I’ve aged, my love for this season has not. I want to share with you five ways to add touches of fall to your home.
1. Select a Color Theme
Taking the time to peruse Pinterest or Instagram will give you a wealth of examples on fall scenery and décor. Notice what your eye is drawn to. Do you prefer yellows to oranges? Do you like additions of color or is a neutral palette (check out this stunning fall display) more your style? Decide what you like then implement those colors in your home.
As I age, I am learning to not be sidetracked by anything that catches my eye (i.e. signs that have the word “fall” in it) and am cultivating decorative pieces that keep in the color scheme or theme of my home. With that being said, I am not made of money! I cannot run out and buy all new items that hit the shelves. Learning what items I need to get rid of and what I need to make due with until I can purchase something new, has been a great decorating lesson. Pausing to consider which colors I am drawn to and keeping those few colors in mind that I truly enjoy, helps me pump the brakes on trends that may quickly go out of style. For example, last year, blush was a big color used for fall. This year I am not seeing that color as much. Admittedly, I have collected more pieces that include the color burnt orange than I realized. Now I am focusing my future purchases on more subtle fall colors.
2.Determine Which Areas of Your Home to Decorate
Your budget may come into play when determining which areas of your home you want to decorate. Budget may not be an issue; however, selecting high traffic areas to decorate will prevent your home from looking like the fall season has thrown up in it. Not the best visual but hopefully you get my point. By taking the time to think about what areas of your home you want to decorate, you can be intentional about the items you love that are placed on display. In my home, I decorate the foyer, living room, and den with a few signs mixed in the kitchen and dining room. If you only have enough decorating items for one or two spaces, then make them count! Select the areas of your home that will be seen the most. You want people to enjoy the beauty of your fall décor.
3. Use Symmetry
Decorating a space such as a mantle or a console table, requires a little bit of math. Let me explain. Decide where you want the eye to travel. Do you want an equal, balanced look? Symmetrical placement of lamps, pumpkins, or candles can keep a balanced look. What if you want the eye to be drawn to one side? Asymmetrical placement will do the trick. For example, on the console table below, the height of the arrangements trend to the right. Check out this space filled with fall décor inspiration. In that Instagram example, notice how the heights of the floral arrangements and candles give a balanced look.
4. The Power of 3’s
Have several canisters but not certain what to do with them? Cluster them in groups of three. The power of 3’s has a strong appeal in decorating. Different items can become cohesive simply by grouping together by 3’s. In the image below, objects with a similar color scheme look better clustered together in a group of 3. When looking for inspiration, see if you notice groups of 3’s.
5. Use a Variety of Texture
A variety of textures in your décor, draws in the eye. Texture breaks up any monotony that a monochromatic palette might create. Texture in decorating invokes emotion. An invitation of coziness and atmosphere can be created through the powerful display of textures. Blankets, architectural pieces, natural elements such as wood, all add texture to your space.
With September underway, now is the perfect time to plan and start decorating your home for fall. Take the time to incorporate these 5 ways to add touches of fall to your home! Which tip will you use? For more information and happenings in The Helms House, check out my home page.
