Coastal-Industrial Side Table

We have been having the most amazing weather lately.  Which makes it so hard to get anything done inside the house!!  I did however find a project that goes inside but I could work on when I am outside.  Projects always get done a little faster with a little Vitamin D on board.

So, check out my new “Coastal-Industrial” side tables!!

I have been working to overhaul my house from dark browns/burgundys/reds to a light, bright airy feeling with touches of blue.

These end tables began as a steal find from Hobby Lobby years ago.  They were so dark and had obviously seen way better days.

Awhile back I found a small box that I fell in love with.  It has a bit of industrial edge and I used this as my inspiration for the tables.  Sometimes my inspiration comes from the weirdest places!

 

I love the coastal look so I definitely knew that I was going to go blue with the tables.  I mixed up several versions of paint and never found anything that I liked.  I ended up using a Krylon spray paint in Bahama Breeze.  The table was lightly sanded and then I waited until it was a windy day and took the table outside and did a quick coat of paint on it.   My goal was for the table to look maybe a little bit more like metal than wood.  I added a nail head trim to give it a little glamour.  And this is what I came up with…

I love how imperfect the paint is in contrast with the nail head trim.

It is so fun to get the table put back in its place and add a few accessories!! You can probably tell from the number of pics this is totally my favorite part.

Now that I have the tables in place I am going to have to work a little harder to get the rest of the room to work with them…this room still has a red/gold ottoman and curtains!!

As always, I love to hear what you think!  And if you like what you see and decide to follow me please leave me a comment letting me know so I can follow back!!

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Check out my friends at these sites that I love!

Mondays

Alderberry HillAsk AnnaBetween Naps on the Porch

DIY Home Sweet HomeMaking the World Cuter

Be ColorfulSumos Sweet StuffDebbie Doo's

Rustic CraftsMy 1929 CharmerThe Southern Institute

Tuesdays

Crafty Texas GirlsJillify It

Wednesdays

Faded Cottage Charm Handy Man, Crafty WomanThe Shady Porch

Savvy Southern StylePrimitive and ProperThe NY Melrose Family

Thursdays

The Shabby Creek Cottage Yesterday on TuesdayThe Brambleberry Cottage

The Vintage FarmhouseSomewhat SimpleHouse of Hepworths

Fireflies and JellybeansA Glimpse InsideSaved by Love Creations

Seven AliveAKA DesignCrafty, Scrappy, Happy

Thrifty DecoratingNot Just a HousewifeThe Crafty Blogstalker

Fridays

Blissful and DomesticShabby NestRomantic Home

Finding FabulousRemodelaholicThe French Country Cottage

WhipperberryChic on a ShoestringStuff and Nonsense

Naptime CraftersSimply DesigningOne Artsy Mama

Days of Chalk and ChocolateAt the Picket Fence

RedouxAddicted 2 Decorating

Saturdays

Family Ever After Funky Junk InteriorsLolly Jane Boutique

Serenity YouTatortots and JelloToo Much Time

Be Different Act NormalSix Sisters StuffPositively Splendid

Love Notes by LaurynIt's Overflowing

Sundays

I Heart NaptimeNifty ThriftyPetite Hermine

Cherished TreasuresTwigg StudiosFlamingo Toes

Thank you to all of these amazing sites that are so gracious to host each week!

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Kitchen Organization

Happy Monday!  I hope that everyone had a great weekend!  We had June weather in March….made it very hard to get anything productive done.

It was a weekend filled with cookouts, bonfires, and motorcycle rides.  All of the things that I never thought I would be doing in March!!

Finally, last night I did get a few things accomplished.  My recent good deals from IKEA have been sitting on my dining room table collecting dust and I finally got around to doing something about it.  Yeah!

We have a few problems with organization in our kitchen…so I made a few simple changes that will free up some much needed cupboard space.

Here is the backsplash area in my kitchen before…

PS these pics are at night and not so good

I realized that what I needed to do was to use this underutilized space.  During my trip to IKEA I found some of their ultra- awesome systems to help me do just that!  And this is how it turned out…

I am so excited with how it turned out!!  Just adds enough added storage to be able to leave out a few of those necessities that you use everyday.  And they are so stylish that they do not look cluttered.

The second area that I wanted to organize was our cereal.  I am so tired of having a whole drawer that is dedicated to just cereal.  We need this space for other things. 

I saw a Staples ad for these awesome chalkboard labels by Martha Stuart.  Ok, I didn’t quite pay enough attention to the ad because I first went to Office Max looking for them.  The people there thought I was a little crazy.  But I eventually realized that I was at the wrong store and motored to the right one and got the labels. 

And here is what they look like…

Aren’t they just adorable??  And, even better I only paid $5 for a set of 6…don’t think I could make them for that price!! 

No, we do not really keep cheeseburgers in the third jar.  We like two kinds of cereal at our house and I asked what we should keep in the other jar and the consensus was cheeseburgers…my drawing looks more like a planet than a cheeseburger.

So, my weekend ended up not being all non-productive.  I am so happy to get a few things off my table and wow have I freed up some new storage space! 

Have a great week!

Check out my friends at these sites that I love! 

Mondays

Alderberry HillAsk AnnaBetween Naps on the Porch

DIY Home Sweet HomeMaking the World Cuter

Be ColorfulSumos Sweet StuffDebbie Doo's

Rustic CraftsMy 1929 CharmerThe Southern Institute

Tuesdays

Crafty Texas GirlsJillify It

Wednesdays

Faded Cottage Charm Handy Man, Crafty WomanThe Shady Porch

Savvy Southern StylePrimitive and ProperThe NY Melrose Family

Thursdays

The Shabby Creek Cottage Yesterday on TuesdayThe Brambleberry Cottage

The Vintage FarmhouseSomewhat SimpleHouse of Hepworths

Fireflies and JellybeansA Glimpse InsideSaved by Love Creations

Seven AliveAKA DesignCrafty, Scrappy, Happy

Thrifty DecoratingNot Just a HousewifeThe Crafty Blogstalker

Fridays

Blissful and DomesticShabby NestRomantic Home

Finding FabulousRemodelaholicThe French Country Cottage

WhipperberryChic on a ShoestringStuff and Nonsense

Naptime CraftersSimply DesigningOne Artsy Mama

Days of Chalk and ChocolateAt the Picket Fence

RedouxAddicted 2 Decorating

Saturdays

Family Ever After Funky Junk InteriorsLolly Jane Boutique

Serenity YouTatortots and JelloToo Much Time

Be Different Act NormalSix Sisters StuffPositively Splendid

Love Notes by LaurynIt's Overflowing

Sundays

I Heart NaptimeNifty ThriftyPetite Hermine

Cherished TreasuresTwigg StudiosFlamingo Toes

Thank you to all of these amazing sites that are so gracious to host each week!

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Runway Worthy DIY Curtains

I think that I have made it clear in the past that I love Target.  My favorite part of Target is the end caps…you know the ones full of all of the clearance items!!  Well, a while back I found a pair of white curtain panels on clearance for $4.  I wasn’t sure at the time what I was going to use them for but at that price you don’t think about stuff like that you just buy…right??? 

This last week, I was working on my second story hallway and I knew that I had to change out the dark curtains that were hanging on my little window. 

I thought those curtains were so cute when I found them…I may need to seek help for these times of mental instability!

There are two problems with these curtains.  One, they are way too dark.  Even with the window,  this space does not get a lot of light as it faces to the East.  Secondly, the window looks too small when the curtains are hung at the top of the window.

  The little white curtains, still sitting in my Target bag, came into mind to help lighten this space up.   But, I knew that they were going to be way too short to help with my window height problem. 

So, out came the muslin that I had bought for $3.99/yd. and have used on so many projects…a truly great buy!

First, I decided on the height that I wanted the muslin to start on the curtains and then I used the entire width of the muslin to fashion a skirt on the bottom of the curtains. 

Skirting it is such an easy process as long as you can measure and pin.  I used a 1-1/4 inch fold, then pinned the fabric, then folded over another 1-1/4 in. section and pinned.  I repeated this process across the top of the fabric. I did all of this while the curtain was hanging.  Then I took the curtains down and did a quick seam across the top and down the sides.  So easy!

Here is the original bottom to the curtain…way too short!!

 

 

And then the curtain with the pleated skirt done.

I left the bottom long, without hemming, to allow it to puddle at the bottom.  Love that look!

I think that these curtains really do a nice job making this space look larger and a lot brighter!  The refreshed trim and of course my DIY "designer doors" help a little bit too!

Hoping to give you a tour of the whole space next week.

I love to hear all of your comments and suggestions.  If you like what you see please follow along via Linky Followers, Bloglovin, or GFC.  Leave me comment to let me know you are and I will follow you right back!

Don’t forget about my giveaway going on right now for a 2Ft. tall rusted metal letter from The Heavy Metal Division. 

Please check out my party page and also see me at:

Somewhat Simple

The House of Hepworths

Saved by Love Creations

AKA Design

Chic on a Shoestring

Funky Junk Interiors

Between Naps on the Porch

My 1929 Charmer

Crafty Texas Girls

Savvy Southern Style
Yesterday on Tuesday
Debbie Doo's

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Heavy Metal Giveaway!

I have my own little Etsy shop called “The Heavy Metal Division”.  Lately I have been having a ton of orders for custom letters that brides are using in place of using a guest book.  So, the guests are signing in and writing notes to the brides and grooms and then the couple are able to display these in their homes.

Here is an example of a recent letter that was done..

 

I thought this was such a fabulous idea!  Way more fun than a guest book that just gets stashed away!!

So, I have decided to give away one of these letters to one of my fabulous readers.  You don’t have to be a bride or a groom…you can use the letter as you please!  The giveaway is for a 2 ft. tall letter…whatever letter you want!  You can choose to have it rusted metal or you can choose to have it painted the color of your chose!! 

What do you have to do to enter???

1.  Become a follower of The Hell on Heels Housewife and let me know what letter you would pick and how you would use it.

2. Get yourself two entries by reposting the giveaway on your site and letting me know!

This giveaway will last until the end of the month at which time a random name will be drawn and notified!! Yeah!!   

***I hate to be a downer but I have to retrict the giveaway to US residents...the shipping is quite expensive even here.  So sorry!***

   So I need to give you a little background on why I do the type of artwork that I am going to show you today. I have always loved art…always wanted to call myself an artist…just thought it sounded sooooo cool!!

Anyway, I was a Neonatal Intensive Care nurse. There is nothing creative in that. Very rewarding but also very stressful. So, I quit my job to help my husband at his auto body repair business. While I am work sometimes I get bored. I am not allowed to paint cars or anything fun like that…which is probably for the best! So I came up with this idea to keep me occupied and indulge my creative ambitions.

So check it out! The Heavy Metal Division by Maggie Johnson. Called the Heavy Metal Division to represent materials used and my EXTREME love for 80’s hairband music!

Step 1: I start with a big piece of sheet metal like this. Please ignore the fenders leaning against my metal. Sometimes other people think they take priority over my projects...what?

This car is in my way...

Step 2: I cut a template out of cardboard

Step 3: Trace the template onto the metal.

Step 4: I use a plasma cutter (basically is heats the air to do the cut) to cut the metal. There are plasma cutters that will cut the shapes out for you. I do mine by hand. I like how it makes my pieces look very rustic.

Step 5: Once the piece is cut out I spray it with a solution of water, vinegar, and salt. Then I wait. Usually with in two days I have a rusted piece of metal!

Step 6: Once the pieces are completely dried they are sprayed with several coats of polyurethane. And, if arms or accessories are needed they are welded on.

 

And then the finished product!!

My valentines wreath!

Thanks for letting me show my creative process. I am pretty sure I just heard Jon Bon Jovi calling my name...better go!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Stepstool Updo

For those who follow along, you know that I have been working on getting all the trim in my house painted white. 

Well, let me tell you, this process sucks!  I am so tired of doing it.  I must be vocalizing this quite a bit because my husband has started to mention hiring someone to come in and finish it!  But of course, the cheapskate in me would never let this happen.

I think that part of the reason that I hate it so much is that I am getting bored with it.  I am so ready to get moving on another project!  I decided to tackle a small project in the midst of the chaos.

Last week I went to IKEA (read about my Minneapolis junking adventure here) and found this incredibly cute and incredibly cheap ($14) step stool.  But, it definitely needed a little bit of an updo.

Really the easiest assembly ever.  Maybe took 15 minutes.

What I love about it is that it is high enough that my little one can reach almost anything that she needs and it is super sturdy!  She has stated that there was something on the top shelf in her room that she has wanted to reach for her “entire life” and now she can!  A very exciting day!!

After assembly, I painted the stool with a blue Valspar paint.  I am not sure of the exact color.  On a recent trip to Lowe’s I bought 8 reject sample colors for 50 cents each.  I had no idea what I was going to do with them when I bought them.  But, I knew that would come in handy someday!!

I wanted the stool to have a little bit of a nautical feel to it so I added a little bit of rope around the legs.  I used hot glue to keep it secured.

And of course I had to add a few numbers for fun!

And, the final product….

I am a little bummed that it is finished.  Now I have to get back to reality and get that trim painted!! Here’s what I am working on right now.

Please let me know what you think.  I love to hear all of your comments….good or bad! Really!!  And of course, would love for you to follow along with me.  Just let me know that you are so I can follow you back!

Click here to enter for chance to win a 2ft. tall rusted metal letter just, like the one shown here only you chose what letter, courtesy of "The Heavy Metal Division"!!

 

Please check out my party page and also see me at:

http://www.somewhatsimple.com

http://www.houseofhepworths.com

http://savedbylovecreations.com

http://akadesign.ca/

http://www.chiconashoestringdecorating.blogspot.com/

http://www.funkyjunkinteriors.blogspot.com/

http://www.betweennapsontheporch.blogspot.com

http://my1929charmerblog.com

http://www.craftytexasgirls.com/

http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/
http://www.yesterdayontuesday.typepad.com/

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