Jersey Boys- Our Texas Home Makeover Post #25

For this move, we purged from this:

1200 square foot basement

2 car garage

350 square foot shop

To this:

1.25 car garage

36 square foot closet

Shop?  What is a shop?

Lots of stuff didn't make the cut to say the least. There were some things the kids just couldn't part with, but I pushed them past their 'stuff' comfort zones as much  as I could.  NO ONE would let me throw out jerseys, so I needed to find a way to creatively store them.

These jerseys became pillows on Blaine's  bed.  I recycled euro sham pillow forms and other standard pillows to fill them. Just put the pillow inside (fold the pillow if necessary) and tuck in the bottom- no sewing!  

Blaine's furniture was an old set from his grandparent's house- recently painted an Annie Sloan blue.  I experimented with ASCP orange on the night stand, but settled on blue instead for the bigger pieces.  I ran out of blue paint so I left the night stand in orange... Dad likes the furniture in his old UT Martin colors!

The dresser before chalk paint...

The chest of drawers after two coats of Annie Sloan chalk paint in Aubusson blue.

Back to the jerseys... I call this lineup our Headless Linemen.  

Drew's jerseys are over his bed.  Eight-year-olds with 3 seasons of tackle football under their belt are rare in Texas- they start 'em earlier in Tennessee!

Of course GBO has a place in Drew's room!  The orange blanket is an old stadium blanket.  As for the rug... He is a die hard Giants fan, but he bought this gridiron rug at Cowboy stadium when he visited at age 5- his matchbox cars have played hundreds of football games on this rug.

Drew's cherry furniture belonged to Honey and Pa- his great grandparents, the Warmbrods.  

Drew's beloved Nashville Celtics basketball jersey became a pillow.  

By creatively using what we already had, we spent very little on settling the boys into their new rooms.  Drew's entire bedroom suit, bedding, and window coverings were left behind in Tennessee, and he had outgrown the Disney themed artwork.  He is really proud of his 'sports career' and loves that his jerseys are out for the world to see!

Mastering the Bath Part 2: Our Texas Home Makeover Post #20something

We wanted to keep the original bathroom marble whirlpool tub - still works like a champ and who really wants to demolish and remove a huge garden tub anyway? We decided to have it refinished.  While we were at it, we had the vanity top and shower refinished to see if we could salvage those as well- we love the results!  

The tub after it was refinished.  With the addition of the shutters (for privacy) and the curtains, the tub has a very spa-like feel.

The faucets, added by the previous owner, were keepers.

These curtains were recycled from my Tennessee bedroom.

Not a fan of the block window... But there's enough going on in this bathroom that they are barely noticeable - except

in photos.

Birds eye view of the privacy shutters and tub.

The privacy shutters allowed me to leave the French doors uncovered.  They also make it very hard to get a good shot of the bathroom!  Here you see the shutters divide the shower/ tub from the vanity area.

The shutters were inspired by our room at Anse Chastanet in St. Lucia:

The original vanity sink, shower and tub were refinished in a faux granite texture.  Tommy loves the sea shell shape of the vanities- I thought it made them look dated... I decided to see it his way since that would save me a bundle!

A close up of the refinish job- it has a bit of texture to it which makes it interesting... The vanity, shower tiles and tub were all refinished to match- saving us a ton of money on the bath update.

A little panorama... The shower tiles were previously white with a hunter green row.  Of course I don't have a before pic!

I used flooring left over from other project to save money... The white carpet tiles left over from the family game room cover all but the water closet floor in this bathroom.  A 5x7 sisal rug was added as well as two small shag rugs.  The carpet tiles were $1.30 per square foot.  

For the water closet, I used a few sheets of linoleum left over from my spring break remodel of the upstairs storage closet.  

View of the floor from the vanity.  The white shag rugs are made of recycled cotton.  And another sisal rug-  I have a sisal rug addiction- I have at least 4 scattered throughout the house.  

We closed the door on the bathroom update the week that school started.  The entire update came in around $2000 compared to the tens of thousands we would have spent on a complete remodel.  Honestly, I love it more this way... 

Mastering the Bath- Our Texas Home Makeover Post #23

The master bath.

THE BEFORE 

'Gotham train wreck' best describes the state of the master bath when we purchased our TX home.  

Faux copper color painted fixtures with matching faux copper color painted wallpaper accented with popcorn ceilings.  

Pulling wallpaper- Drew got artsy... Here's his chicken.

The MLS listing made the bathroom look light and fresh.  In reality, it was dark, dirty, and outdated.  The first step was to lighten the walls and install brighter lights.

THE LIGHTING & CABINET UPDATE

Replacing the light fixtures was challenging- we couldn't find fixtures that would clear the mirror.  We solved the problem by building a mirror frame and mounting the lights to the frame.  

The Cabinets- previously painted a glossy black, got three coats of Annie Sloan chalk paint in Arles- a golden yellow color.  The mirror frame and medicine cabinet were painted to match.

I'll be posting more master bath update details soon!  

The view from the master bedroom.

Boo Kitty Upcycles- Our Texas Home Makeover Post #22

I have been collecting shopping bags in this 99 cent TJ Maxx shopping bag all summer.  

When the bag got full, I sewed all four sides and stuffed it with just the right amount of bags to make an outdoor pillow for the poolside furniture:

This was super easy and we can recycle the pillow once it's no longer usable!

Boo Kitty was super excited about this crinkle pillow 

Boo requests that the pillow remain indoors beside a sunny window to be sat upon at his leisure.  

Game Room Sneak Peek- Our Texas Home Makeover Post #21

Here's a sneak peek at what is going on in the family game room.  This room is the main family area on the main floor.  In this room, there's a pool table and two TVs with gaming systems... It's designed so the kids have a place to hang out with their friends. 

BEFORE

As per usual, I don't have a before pic, but I snapped a quick one while the painters took the walls from dark grey to white.  Dark floors and dark walls made for a dark, dungeon-like family game room.  It needed brightness and color.  

INSPIRATION

AS I tackled the family game room, I was still obsessed with flor.com... I love this crazy carpet!  However, I was still obsessed with spending as little as possible.  Don't ever put anything expensive in a room where 'tweeners hang out!  

Since this is just a sneak peek, I'll save the details for a future post.  Here's the sneak peek:

Zebra bean bags from Big Lots.  Gamers love bean bags...bean bags...the only request that my boys made when consulted about decor.  

The boys don't care that I used a floral rug.  The color scheme seems strangely familiar to them because...

Drew's neon green/ teal/ peach Adidas inspired the color palette.  As soon as I put up curtains the color of their favorite Nike Elite socks, I earned their favor.  

And the side by sides:

Front Door- Our Texas Home Makeover Post #20

The front door needs to be replaced, but of course I am experimenting with it first! As always, my goal is Big Bang for little to no bucks!

I tinkered with the interior doorway and shared the results of my $61 makeover in a previous post:

We are all loving the foyer makeover- color makes us happy!

We wanted to keep the exterior more traditional, so I selected a color called blue-grey slate.  This grey should pull out some of the grey undertones in the pink brick:

BEFORE

As always, I neglected to make a before pic; I found this one- featuring our realtor.  Note the brass kick plate- the hardware was all mix-matched brass.  The door was painted light grey- it was blah-blah.

I took care of the outdated brass with a can of rust-oleum in burnished amber.

I had this can from a previous project and  it did wonders to transform the front door brass:

After paiting the door hardware, I painted the door... at 5am one morning before it got hot outside:

Halfway... When I realized I had no before picture... I stopped and got a quick shot.

AFTER

Here's the door dressed in blue-grey slate and faux bronze hardware:

And here's the side by side:

This was a quick and easy win and came

in under $20.  We liked it so much that we painted the back doors the same color.