Painting Projects

The painting bug has bitten me and nothing is safe! I had been struggling with our new 'rental' status, after always owning and living in our own home. I love to be able to drill holes, put shelves up, add bits and pieces around the house and anytime I please. In a rental you have to be creative and use other things to get the 'change hit'. Its like a drug to me, I paint something, make something, change something and I get this high and then after a while it runs out and I need to find the next thing. 

Perhaps I should go on The Block?

Whats the best thing to mix it up and give a 'change hit' in a rental? Why paint of course. Adding pops of colour to items around your home can really boost a room and your mood. So the past few weeks have been full of painting projects.

Kmart has been rocking it in the home wares department  and I picked up this house shelf. The outside was a whitewashed wood and the backing a hessian type material with the printing. Pretty drab really 

A trip to the paint shop, a sample pot of Seafoam half and we were set!

I pre under coated the unit (more for the hessian at the back) and then popped a few coats of this yummy blue all over. 

Ta - da!! A new home for little Super hero figurines in the boys room and a colour hit at the base of Angus' bed. The boys love it! Win

Next on the list was these cute houses that I finally managed to nab from Cotton On Kids. The sold out so quickly the last time they were released and I just had to have one! 

A base coat ( I already had a tin from my Kitchen makeover project) and a few coats of these yummy colours ;

 a pretty yellow called Lemon Delicious and the most devine pale pink called Tea Party.

And now they are a cute feature in the corner of the play/toy area. 

A few command strips and voila, perfect for a rental! 

The perfect spot for little bunnies to look cute and watch over all the fun play that happens here ( and the bickering and snatching etc)

I have been on a basket buying ban for a while and have only just allowed myself to purchase a few newbies in the last few months. Why? Because it was like they were breeding in our house. I had baskets everywhere and not all of them were being put to good use. 

Now? A few years on , they are all starting to look a little worse for wear. Nothing a can of spray paint won't fix!! This little basket was white, dirty and scratched and ready for the bin. Now its the ideal home for bits and pieces of lego that I find around the house and any projects that Max is working on at the time. 

Its situated low on the boys bookcase in their room and matches with their new photo wall perfectly ( a post on that is coming soon!! )

An old tray that was a very yellowy/creamy colour needs a spruce up , again , nothing that a can of white paint couldn't fix. Nice and fresh now! 

And another little Kmart purchase that received the start makeover treatment was this cute metal stationery tray. It was originally a bright red colour and a bit leery for our home , especially the girls very pink bedroom. But as the 'Loom craze' has overtaken our house, I have been finding those little suckers everywhere!! Long after the girls have packed the boxes away, random little bands pop their ugly little heads up. ALL. OVER.THE. FLOOR. Drives me bonkers. 

And me being lazy, I simply can not be bothered walking to their room, opening the containers and putting the found bands back in there, so they were ending up in the bin. These chucked bands add up and I knew I had to stop. Enter the Stationery tray. Kmart for about $8 I think. A can of white spray paint. Wonderful!

It is a great size and sits well on the shelf of their bookcase. It is a quick dumping spot for all the bands that I find around the house, for half finished bracelets, beads in bags and items that Stella likes to keep handy, in the event of having a few minutes spare to loom up her magic. 

The loom band storage boxes sit next to it, as do the loom boards so its all corralled in the same convenient area.

These are only a few of the paint projects happening here, I doubt the list will ever end and the workers at the Paint Place are really getting to know me and the kids now! 

Oh the power of a good paint colour , warms my heart! hehe

Kids Kitchen Makeover

After having our kids IKEA kitchen for a fair few years now, it was looking tired and grotty. Our toy area is a part of our open lounge room area and every time I sat on the couch , I seemed to catch sight of it and it bugged me. After seeing a gorgeous picture on Instagram of someones clever makeover of an IKEA kitchen for their daughter , I was inspired. It couldn't be that hard to do , surely?

Enter mass Pinterest pinning session.... It didn't take long to convince myself that I could do it!

And now ? I am so so pleased with how it turned out!

 Not only does it add a gorgeous pop of colour to an otherwise bland area, but it looks devine ad the kids have been re-inspired to play and use it. Win win! 

Here it is before its little tizzy up. The bench top are had a dark stain/mark that I could not get off, the tap was broken and it was looking a little used and abused. 

Now it stands , pride of place in the toy area. Surrounded by a sea of gold polka dots at that! 

We have added some pretty glass knobs above the oven area as well as a few cute tea towels (I cut a pretty Target tea towel in half and just whizzed up the edge on my sewing machine).

We also added a 'splash back' behind the sink and stove area using some pretty wrapping paper and a thin sheet ply board cut to size. 

A few cute bowls that I picked up the the Coles Dollar Dazzlers section finished the new look perfectly and the kids are having a ball with 'precious bowls'.

As I said, we are completely in love with the 'new' kitchen and think that it looks amazing. It wasn't hard, nor expensive to do and it makes such a change to an otherwise plain kitchen and kids area.

Stay tuned for a follow up post on how we underwent this project. 

Updates ...

There is nothing I like more than quick, easy and most of all , budget savvy updates for me or my home. I am a 'homey' person, always choosing to spend time or money on furnishings/ decor than clothing or items for myself and I like change. I like to have something to do all the time and I don't like to spend a lot of money while doing it! My husband calls that 'stingy'  I call it 'budget savvy'. Same same really . 

Here are a few ways I have been satisfying the need for change and gaining that 'hit' that I need every now and then, without breaking the bank! 

I have been on the lookout for more storage for our Toy area for a while , but with the cost of freight to get things up here, and our limited shopping options, my hunt was not very successful. And then this little bookcase gem popped up on our local Facebook buy and sell page. We have these Ikea bookcases in the kids rooms, as well as some small cube storage in the same range so it fits with our existing furniture perfectly. It didn't take long to be filled and used but I have plans to recover the backboard with some pretty paper or fabric. I will just add that to the Projects list , shall I!?

Before our big move to the Pilbara , I used to have my nails done with a gel polish and loved it! Move to the Pilbara and the prices are astronomical to get them done (as it is with everything) so I just couldn't justify it. 

So I researched and ended up buying myself a lamp and gel polishes and now do my nails myself. 

So much fun! 

You've got to love when your shirt and nails match!! Definitely not on purpose but a welcomed coincidence. 

After a impulsive purchase of this floor rug from Kmart (less that $30) , I then got it home and had no where to put it. Not good! They are the worst purchases of all.

Then I had the idea to fold it in half , tuck it under the beds legs and use it next to my side of the bed ( I have this bizarre issue with moisturiser, clean feet and going to bed . No,  Seriously!)

Not only has it helped with my 'issue' it has added a nice pop of colour to our previously neutral and dull bedroom. I am loving this 'embrace colour' phase I am going through! 

No money spent here, and this project cost was an hour of my time. Its amazing what a wee little tidy up can do to a key area of your home. Functionality and aesthetics aside, it makes me feel good!

After picking up 4 of these gorgeous green glass knobs on eBay for $12 including postage, the cabinet I had intended on using them on , was a pain to remove the old knobs.  No problem, plenty of others to jazz up. 

Loving the little pops of colour and snazz up to our TV unit! 

During a recent little tidy up of our store room , I rediscovered my boxes of fabrics and decided they either had to be used , and soonish, or sold off on eBay/facebook etc. So while my husband was home one day (he is shift working now) I set up the sewing machine and buzzed up some pillowcases for our room ( the blue/teal ones in the middle) . Again, the pop of colour is gorgeous and the satisfaction of knowing I made them is even better!

I am definitely on a "revamp, reorganise , re evaluate" phase and its so refreshing!