From Useless Hole to Dry Bar!

Disclaimer: This post required the use of a lot of tools--granted they were not mine--but this would not have been possible with out saws and drills and what not.

Let me start you all with a picture of the finished product--because I LOVE IT (I stare at it all the time; mostly because its in my living room, but also because it is BEAUTIFUL!)

Now lets start from the beginning. When I moved in I had a large hole, box, inset what ever you want to call it in the middle of my living room wall. Its dimensions are 24"Wx42"Hx28"D. Now tell me WTF, do you do with a space that big! The previous owners had a statue...of a cat... in it. But I am not really a statue person--more of a drinker.

Here is what we had to work with:

It was literally just plywood sitting in the wall--the edges weren't even finished! (Also don't mind the banged up wall--silly recliner--that has since been touched up too!)

We started by painting it a dark gray--it was a dark brown; and measuring out for the shelves. I painted, Jamie measured--I hang things crooked--its a fact just come to my house you'll probably think my house is lopsided.

Next we decided that tile would be awesome--I was secretly hoping she would tell me she could help me add tile to it! So after spending about 2 hours at home depot getting shelves, trim, and tiles and grout, we returned home to finish.

Fact: Cutting trim is apparently hard. Fact: Jamie is a good problem solver.

Fact: You CAN add too much water to grout and will have to go back to home depot and buy more.

This is what grout SHOULD look like:

The first batch I made was like grey soup. Lesson learned--Never assume the 'fill line' is at the top of the container! 

I think it looks awesome-- I can't wait to have some people over for drinks!

My Favorite part is the tile!

Happy end of the semester!

1st Mod Podge Experience

Ever since I started decorating my guestroom/office I have been on the hunt of coral decorations to accent the teal(ish)-turquoise walls. This has proven to be a hard task-- coral is a popular color but not necessarily for home decor.
Thus I decided to improvise and make some of my own decorations. All over pintrest are ideas for making things using mod podge and canvas--seemed easy--so I gave it a go.

I picked out 2 sheets of scrapbook paper that had coral in them for the office, and 8X10 canvas; as well as 4 different blue papers and smaller 4x6 canvas for my bedroom (to go with the new blue curtains I got--however I have since decided I didn't buy the right shades of blue so I am going to try to sell them on eBay).

Here is what I started with:

As it turns out sitting on the living room floor while drinking wine and watching TV= Mod podge all over your yoga pants... ah well. 

Here are the two in the guest bedroom/Office--Both have some coral and some turquoise. I think they coordinate pretty well with out being too matchy.

 I love how these little one look--however I think they would be better suited for a bathroom or Nursery. I have since bought a decorative Mirror in a navy color that matches the curtains better.

Happy Crafting!