What the Heck has Holly Been Doing?

Hey Folks!

Let me tell you about what's been going on 

in my neck of the woods these days.

While everyone on Pinterest

has gotten the spring cleaning bug,

I've been busy doing a little cleaning

but have gotten the 

"Let's do a project" bug!

A few months ago I decided to change out

the colors in my house.

I went from reds and yellows

to blues and yellows.

While it was very pretty,

it never felt like my house.

I kept walking into the living room

wondering who lived there.

It was so NOT my style.

Fortunately, I didn't spend a lot of money

to make these changes.

The only semi expensive piece I bought was the 

blue ottoman in the picture above.

After trying to love it for a couple of months,

I sorta went crazy the other morning and 

moved my reds back into the living room and kitchen.

I'm home again.

I think it's impossible for me to be happy

in a house without red and yellow.

 This picture looks like I have yellow walls.

I do not.

That's just the sunlight coming through the open door to the right.

They are off white but I'm digging the yellow in the picture.

Hmmmmm....

The blues all got moved into the bedroom

since it's still a work in progress.

As for the projects,

well, 

I just sorta went nuts.

I've been seeing a lot of DIY chalk paint

on Pinterest lately and thought I'd give it a try.

I'm a goner now.

I am head over heels in love with chalk paint!

You can do no wrong with it.

It doesn't show brush strokes

and it's very forgiving.

There's no preparation,

you don't have to sand before painting.

It drys very quickly.

I'm a horrible painter

which is something my daughter pointed out to me 

just a couple of weeks ago.

I hate the preparation.

The waiting for the project to dry.

For the chalk paint I used 

JamieLyn's recipe 

at I Heart Naptime.

It was so simple to make and I was hooked.

Please excuse the photo quality

on all of these.

They were all taken with my iPhone.

Here is an old before picture from my previous house

 of an end table that I bought

 at Goodwill several years ago.

Not bad but the honey pine 

just wasn't doing it for me.

I forgot to take a before picture

prior to this project.

I used Behr Pale Honey on the bottom

and Minwax stain in walnut for the top.

I love the soft yellow.

The picture below shows the color more accurately.

Then I sorta lost my mind and 

decided to pull out an old dresser

that I've had forever.

I had bought it for $2.00 at a garage sale

a few years ago.

I had gotten around to sanding it

and there it sat, just like that for over two years.

Crazy right?

Because in just over an hour it went from this:

To this:

I used Behr Awning Red.

I was shocked that I found my perfect red on my first try.

If you're thinking about painting a piece of furniture,

DO NOT BE AFRAID OF THE CHALK PAINT.

Also, I've been playing around with color

in the house.

I have some fabric that I bought a few years

ago and love it.

I actually loved it so much that I never wanted to

cut it and use it.

Am I crazy?

I finally decided to attempt to use it.

I bought six of these chairs on Craigslist 

after we moved into this house.

While sturdy, they are a little boring.

I CUT MY FABRIC!

I attached it to the seat pads with

upholstery twist pins

 and I'm liking this happy fabric 

on my chairs.

If you can look at this fabric

and not smile,

then I just don't want to know you.

The chairs themselves need some work.

They are dried out and in need of 

a good wood conditioning.

I bought them off Craigslist from a guy

who raised St. Bernard puppies.

Teeth marks add character in my book.

Next project.

It's just a small one.

I had an old outdoor tablecloth

that I never used anymore.

I made some pillows out of it

for my side patio.

 And now I had better get to the spring cleaning.

And then I may just run to Goodwill to see what needs painted.

Also, if you could say a prayer for

my dear friend, Kris at Simplify.

Her Momma had surgery today.

Kris has the most amazing family.

Keep them in your thoughts and prayers today.

xxx-ooo

Holly 

I'm linking up to The Golden Sycamore