Table for Two

Two weeks ago, Oh the Fun explored the progress in the Thomas Family Room and the woes (but also excitement) of having a room that is in limbo and “not quite there yet”. If you remember, our last look into the room was this:

However, today is all about seeing things from the other angle:

While I was typing that post, I really got to looking at the couch placement and decided that I didn’t completely love where it was. No, we’re not doing anything drastic like changing the whole room! There is really only one way that all of the furniture fits nicely. I’m talking more about the mirror/couch relationship.

Originally, we did not want to push the couch all the way against the wall (to the left) because whoever would end up in that corner would have trouble seeing the TV, which sits on the fireplace mantel. For this reason, we kept the couch un-centered and added an end table to the left side. The mirror we centered to the entire wall, NOT to the couch placement. However, in looking at that picture above, I decided that it would look more cohesive and make more sense if we centered the couch as well.

So, goodbye end table 😦 If we moved the couch, it would no longer fit. I wasn’t convinced that this would be the best decision until Mom and I stumbled across these guys at the Restore (for more about our previous Restore adventures, click here) a few weeks ago…

The picture on the left is a side view of the table and the picture on the right is looking straight- on at the table.

Could these skinny minnie tables (I think they might actually be plant stands?) be the key to solving our spacing problems? Although I wasn’t positive about them at first, we took a risk and brought them home to see if they would fit. As it turns out, they’re perfect!

We now have a couch centered under the mirror and not one, but TWO end tables keeping it in place. The old end table has a new home and these two little guys seem to fit the bill perfectly (nothing any bigger would have worked, due the size of the couch).

I like a lot of things about these tables: they are small and compact, so we can fit one on either side, they are white (which has helped me think about other color possibilities in this room), they have a bottom shelf (where our router will live), and they have a unique shape to them!

The quirky shape is just begging for some kind of cool make-over/design element addition.

And my absolute favorite part? We were able to add MORE LIGHT to the room with the addition of another table lamp! Sometimes I feel as if our family room gets dungeon-y and dark, so having another light source has really made all of the difference.

So, thank you Restore (again)- you rarely disappoint! In this case, I’m definitely thinking we’re taking steps in the right direction… and just for kicks, one last before and after for the day:

Ever find something (or two somethings!) that just work? I love it when that happens. Do tell! Comment below and email me some pics- I’d love to share your befores and afters with the Oh, the Fun family!

Until next time, peace out everybody!

-Leslie

Feeling Blue

Time for another room reveal! Just like the kitchen and spare bedroom, this room went through some pretty major changes to get to where it is today. Welcome to our Upstairs Bathroom, folks! Our style/vision for this space is clean, crisp, and fresh feeling. Let’s rewind though, shall we? And start from the beginning… When we first bought the house, the Upstairs Bath looked like this:

Head to toe purple, white tiling, wooden medicine cabinets, floral shower curtain. The room itself was in great condition- the flooring and fixtures looked fine and everything was in pretty good working order! Now to make it feel more like us…

Step 1: Remove towels and shower curtain. We knew we were going to replace everything and having it up would just get in the way of sanding, painting, etc.

Step #2: Spackle. This was a tedious job that we had a lot of help with! Because we removed both of the medicine cabinets and a few towel racks that had been installed with molly bolts, there were many places in the drywall that needed to be reconstituted. Thanks goes out to some of our Youth Groupers and my parents for their patience with this project!

Step #3: Sand and paint! Love this step 🙂 We chose Behr Ultra White for the ceiling, trim, and door and Behr “Spa” for the walls. If you look closely at the picture on the right, you can see the blue on the walls around the shower!

Step #4: Change out a few furnishings. We took out one of the medicine cabinets altogether and replaced it with a white framed mirror. We’re loving the crisp, clean white lines it gives us.

The other medicine cabinet stayed, but got an upgrade as well- a new paint job!

Step #5: Step back, and admire. Our faithful painters rock. That’s all there is to it. Here are some more “afters” to feast on… we’re loving the new room so far!

So, what do you think? Do you like the new color? Yes, we still have work to do:

• Decide what to do about the vanity… Leave it as is? Paint it?
• Re-grout the bathtub/shower
• Bleach the grout between floor tiles
• Paint the beadboard Behr Ultra White
• Add some decor to the walls and counters (pictures of that coming soon!)

But, overall, we are thrilled with how it looks so far. We like clean and it definitely feels clean 🙂

Anyone else have a bathroom they love? Share some pics- I’d love to see what colors and styles you chose! Until next time, enjoy “the fun of” the weekend!

-Leslie

Update: There have been some updates to the Upstairs Bath since this post… including some new minty details and a storage solution!

Cheap & Easy DIY Magnets

Yesterday was a day devoted to schedules and the styling of such. As much fun as I had creating our Thomas Family Calendar…

… I had no way to hang it! The poor thing had been affixed to our fridge with scotch tape because of the lack of magnet presence in our house.

Well, NO MORE! This weekend proved fruitful in a host of different ways, but the best part? I got to try my hand at magnet-making and, truth be told, it was pretty darned easy (and fun)! So with that, I bring you:

This is a great project to tackle with a nice cup of tea, wine, or lemonade at your disposal (whatever floats your boat) and your favorite TV show or Pandora station playing in the background. I made mine to the tune of Everybody Loves Raymond, so my productivity was seasoned with a lot of laughter breaks.

For this project, you will need:

1. Basic Tools. A pair of scissors, pencil (not pictured), and a paint brush (also not pictured are all things you’ll need for this DIY.

2. Tiles! For the longest time, I couldn’t figure out what to use as the “anchor” for both the magnet and the decorative paper. I settled on a simple tile, figuring that I could find them pretty cheap and already painted with a white finish. Wrong. I was striking out left and right and learning quickly that single tiles were far more expensive than I thought! The ones below were just too big and almost $1.50 each, which, after including the cost of other supplies… was starting to take this project out of the “thrifty” category.

I was giving up hope on my project, UNTIL.

I almost couldn’t believe it. A whole slab of (25!!!) tiles for a whopping total of $2.57! That’s the same price for 25 as the other kind was for 2! Major score. I was also excited about the unique hexagon shape, in comparison with the more uniform square.

3. Magnets. I was having trouble finding magnets for this project that weren’t so thick that they would make the pieces stick out too far from the fridge. Either that, or they weren’t large enough in size to be able to hold anything in place. I decided to go with the Magnetic Tape and figured that two 1″ pieces taped next to each other would be enough coverage for my tile. Two packs of the magnet tape was exactly enough for six magnets.

 

Note: If I did this again, I would try for a magnet with a bit more strength. It works for what I’m doing, but for hanging heavier things, you may want to take this into consideration.

4. Super Glue. This is optional, but I wanted a bit of insurance in adhering the magnet to the back of the tile, so I opted to use a dab of super glue to help.

5. Modge Podge and Glue. I didn’t end up using the glue because the Modge Podge did the job just fine. It’s up to you- you might like to give the glue a shot!

6. Scrapbook Paper. Grab a few prints you love and you’re good to go!

Alrighty, let’s get to it:

Step 1: Break apart the tiles and remove the “connectors” from the sides. In the picture below, you can see the little tan tabs of glue- break or cut them off for smooth sides on your tiles.

Step 2: Cut the magnet tape into pieces the length of your tile. Each strip should get you six- enough for three magnets.

Step 3: Stick the magnets to the back of the tile. This is where the (optional) super glue comes in. I used the center line of the tile to line up each magnet.

Step 4: Cut the corners of the magnets to line up with the angles of the tiles.

Step 5: Trace the tile on your scrapbook paper and cut the shape out. To get the “white border” effect, cut just inside the shape you traced so it will end up being smaller than your tile.

 Tip: Once I had the size I wanted, I used the paper cut- out as my new guide for tracing and cutting the rest of them.

Step 6: Put a layer of Modge Podge on your tile.

Step 7: Center your scrapbook piece. I wasn’t too concerned with getting it perfectly centered and straight, as part of the charm of these is that they are not all exactly uniform.

Step 8: One more coat of Modge Podge on top.

Step 9: Let them sit until they are dry to the touch (this took under ten minutes).

Step 10: Arrange and enjoy!

These cuties make me more motivated to keep our fridge clean, organized, and uncluttered. I’m loving how the patterns and colors subtly tie into our kitchen decor. Totally customizable to your space!

And for a quick cost breakdown per magnet:

Tile: $.10 + Magnet: $.83= $.93 per magnet! Granted, I already had the rest of the supplies on hand, so just to be fair, we’ll round it up to $1.00. A dollar per magnet- not bad!

For something that is this cute, with the bonus of the personal touch, I’ll take it! And probably make more… 🙂 Don’t be surprised (friends and family) if you start receiving these as gifts… you’ve been warned.

If you end up making magnets of your own, email pictures to me and I’ll post them so others can see how you made out! Happy Crafting!

-Leslie

PS. Tomorrow’s the big day for our “oh-so-purple” bathroom reno! Check back in to see the “afters” to this lovely BEFORE:

Update: Check out the progress of this room here and here!