My 'New' desk...

A few weeks ago, I bared all and shared with you our master bedroom. It has been a bit of a mess for a while now, as explained, it has been the dumping ground for anything and everything. Well we have taken the first step to making it our little sactuary again, and somewhere that I can be creative, when the kids have gone to bed.

I would have desperately loved an Ikea desk, however we don't own a money tree, damn hey, and when I mentioned to my parents that I needed somewhere to sit and scrapbook at night instead of the floor, my Dad offered me an old desk he had at his workshop, that I could have if I wanted it.. The ever generous soul, he truely is the most kind and caring man, and would give you his last dollar if you needed it! Not quite knowing what to expect, my Mum sent me a photo , as below, and I saw potential. ( I had to look past the Man-mess, boxes and dodgy phone photo). It was delivered the next day and we hubby, set to work the following weekend.

 Before

Sorry I forgot to take a before shot, but you get the picture!!

 During

Instagram photo, and DH at work!!

The desk is actually more of a sideboard or hall table I think, so with the height of the original legs, I could not sit at it on the chair I wanted to. I had thought of just raising the height of the legs but they wouldn't have looked very nice, so we just chopped them off, and replaced them with gorgeous turned ones from Bunnings ( about $15 each, pricey I know, but we got the desk for free , and we had left over vouchers from a Christmas present , so we only had to fork out $20)
It got sanded with a palm sander next (stuff sanding it by hand!) and a coat of primer , in  a spray can.
When that was dry, a few coats of white spray paint, some new hardware , I used glass knobs that I had bought a few years ago for a project and didn't end up using . THESE are super cheap and would look pretty cool too, or even THESE which we have used on our Billy bookcases in our living room.
Leave to dry , give it a clean and time for the fun part!! Setting it up! Yippppeee

In place, so that if ever, (yeah right) I get to scrapbook during the day, I can gaze out the window!

         The gorgeous glass knobs, I just love them and they complete the desk beautifully!

And set up with my chair (spare from our dining table as Stella is using a Junior Chair)

                                                                            After

     And the perfect turned legs, they look fantastic and have changed the whole look of the desk!

And the day I set it up, it had to be christened. And it felt GREAT to sit somewhere, and play, and when I needed to stop (only for Angus as the big 3 were with their Grandparents), I could just get up, and close the door. Perfect

And another fruit from our labour , a layout I did last night for a scrap challenge.

Thats it!! Easy peasy! AND CHEAP! Got to love that!

Its not the biggest desk in the world, actually its probably the smallest, and in terms of scrapbooking it makes working a little harder, but its almost a good thing! The more you spread out, the more you make mess, and I work out of my Scrap bag, and it sits next to me, and I love it!

The total cost of the project;

Desk - $0 (given to me)

Legs - $20 (we had a voucher)

New knobs - $0 ( I already had them)

Primer and Paint- $7 ( Just one can as my lovely Dad gave us the others)

For those that asked for a post, sorry it has taken so long, but I hope you find inspiration to do up something old. Whether it be a piece of your existing furniture to update, or something you might pick up at a Garage sale or kerb side pickup, there is potential in everything!

And now I have done it, I find myself checking out everything that is a bit dated, its rather addictive!

Getting Organised

There has been alot of this happening around here lately!! Trying to cross jobs off the never ending list. Making way for a new baby and member to the family. Organising our documents and important things , since selling the salon. Trying to make life easier and put systems in place so that everything runs smoothly when we have 4 kids, all very young.
You get the drift.
So in the past month, we have had alot of projects on the go!! Lots of orders from Ikea, phone calls about items, searching the net for inspiration (and Pinterest!!) and trips to DH favourite shop (Bunnings of course!!)
But.... we are thrilled with the way everything is turning out and falling into place.
I am stoked with all the extra storage we have created , just by changing a few crucial pieces of furniture in our house, and making the space we have, work for us!!
Throw in my gorgeous Mums, and Noel's birthdays and the month has filled up quickly and flown by even faster!
So, thats where I have been. AWOL, and on a mission!! With only 9 weeks to go, we don't have the luxury of time, and I am sure that will certainly NOT change when the little cherub arrives either!!
And with Noel playing football, swimming lessons and the odd event/party etc on weekends, its hard to find spare moments to get these jobs done.
Life I tell ya, is awesome, but boy is it busy busy!!

One of our projects, and the important one for the kids, was a new sandpit. The old Sandpit was a 1m square box from Bunnings. Definately not big enough for 3 little people, but thye used to love it and squeeze in there like Sardines!!
So a Sunday Morning job, and the new Sandpit as complete!!

Digging out the grass complete

Lacey, after she sampled the soil, and realised it didn't taste that flash!!

Max , trying to help with a hammer!!

Stella , measuring, just to make sure Dad has done it right!

Hmmm, I somehow doubt that Max is afraid of drills, he couldn't get close enough!!

Voila!! A new, big sandpit, and even though it was sprinkling, the girls were in there playing!!

Awesome, but not so great for my floors!! Sand everywhere, all the time!

And the next morning, a peak out the patio door, and a gorgeous sight of Max, playing in his new sandpit! LOVE

Next up, was a new chest of Drawers for Stella. She was in desperate need of a new set, the old ones were the cheapest from Ikea, and had served her well for 3 years, but they no longer rolled well!

We purchased these, from Ikea, and they are the Hemnes. Nice and tall , solid, and deep drawers.

And now everything in the drawers is organised better in baskets. Easy to find, and put stuff away!! DH even puts away clothes now!!

Her shirt Drawer, singlets on far left, T-shirts in the middle, and long sleeves on the right.

 And the second drawer, also the deepest (the 2 little drawers on the top hold knickers,singlets and precious things!!)



From Left ; Winter Pyjamas, Summer Pyjamas, Dancing clothes, bathers
Behind; Tights, bed socks and socks


I love the organisation, the space and the way everything stays folded and less cramped and crushed.
Money well spent!

I also managed to revamp the tired box set that has always sat upon her dresser. It holds lackies, headbands, bracelets, her baby bracelets, and other important items to be kept safe.
It was painted a manky green colour, with angels etc, however a bit of a sand, spray paint and some fabric Scrapbooking paper (purchased from Spotlight in the Cardstock section) and it was revamped quite easily!!
The Fabric paper was self sticking, however not strong enough to hold onto the wood, so I used some Spray adhesive first.  I love the way it turned out , and adds some colour to the drawers.

There has been a fair bit of constructing happening around here, all flatpacked of course. A new TV unit has gone in,(Liatorp Series from Ikea of course!!)  I will try and photograph tomorrow (it looks amazing!!), another Billy bookcase for beneath the kitchen bench top in the dining area, Lots of labelling and rearranging of boxes , and the twins have even moved rooms!!

Noel , the master at Ikea furniture, and his little helper!

I will be sure to blog about it all soon!!
This weekend, I hope we can get a new base cupboard into the laundry, so that the benchtop that is taking up a large chunk of our Garage can be moved and installed, however I dont like our chances, here's hoping!

mirror mirror, on the wall....

Remember this, from this post, well , look at it now, in all its glory, perched on my wall, waiting to greet people as they walk through the door!

I must say, I am chuffed with it, and surprisingly , so is Noel. He made comment,( a rarity) and its amazing the way it lightens up the whole area, reflecting light. I do think though, that I would like to get some distressing or aging paint/ink and rub over the details a bit more !

Not forgetting another small part of my day yesterday, making yummy scrummy food for our babies. I love making food for them, and very rarely use prepackaged or jar products, not that I am against them for others but I love making fresh food for our children, and knowing they are getting nutritious meals.

And boy do they love it too!!

Enjoy your Tuesday, lovely sunny weather here today! Magic as my Mum would say!



finishing fun

Oh what a glorious day!! I LOOOOOOVVVEEE Sundays!! Its our only day as a family as I work Saturdays and I just love it. I love the simple things, pikelets for brekky, fun in the sun on the trampoline, trips to Bunnings, however today I loved being able to finish a few projects I have on the go!
My hubby actually said this morning "I just wish you would finish one thing before starting another!!"
Now where would the fun be in that? I just have way too many ideas running around in my poor little head!!
Soooo, here is just a snippet of today. I also made Stella a gorgeous bunting for her room and made over a stool from her room, but pics in the morning as I didn't finish them til late and the light was icky! We also planted new herbs in the vege pathc (and harvested the smallest carrots I have possibly ever seen!) planted a few new plants in the garden and rearranged our toy room and chucked some junk out!

Man folk hard at work!!

However;

This is the stool half way through its journey!

.

Remember this;
                                 

Well this is it now; it is going to hang in our bedroom as it matched our new quilt well I think!

Sorry for the brightness, it was such a glorious day today, but very sunny, but the material backing is a red /maroon stripe and I am still trying to decide whether to distress the frame or now? Any suggestions?

And this got a makeover today too!! Hopefully it gets put up in its new found glory tomorrow!! Can't wait to share!

And leaving you with this , the sweetest thing EVER!! Who needs a nanny when you have a big sister that is more than willing to help!?

She loves them to bits, sometimes too much!!