It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

Earlier this year, we had zero Christmas decorations since this is our first Christmas in our own home. But thanks to my Granny and a tinsel tree from ebay, we are at least now off to a good start! ;) 

Lincoln Beauty-ful Makeover

I've had this Lincoln Beautyware dispenser for awhile now. It was something from my Granny's house that I always loved.

As I'm planning out our kitchen design, the one thing I know for sure is that the main color is going to be aqua. So far, all we've done is paint a few items Aqua and bought a vintage Frigidaire oven (more on that to come...) but then I stumbled upon this photo from a Retro Renovation post:

If you look straight back, you'll notice a Lincoln Beautyware dispenser. I loved the way that looked, so I thought I'd customize my own to match. (I love that whole kitchen BTW *drool*)


























I started by peeling off the only label that was loose. That would be easy to hot glue back on later.


























Then I put some painter's tape over the other labels and pushed them into the creases with my fingernail.


























After that, I carefully cut along the crease with an X-acto knife.


























The tape pulled away easily.


























I only wanted these two pieces to be aqua, so that meant I had to cover everything else in painter's tape too.


























Allow me to introduce you to my favorite spray paint: Valspar Color Radiance Paint + Primer (84508: Nautical). You can buy it at Lowe's. (Since this is my favorite color, I can also tell that you that if you are looking for this in a wall paint, Clark + Kensington has pretty much an exact match with 30C-4, Good Life.)


























Definitely don't skip out on buying a top coat as well, since this spray paint (as most do) will chip without it. (I know from experience!) I chose Rustoleum's Satin Clear Enamel, but depending on what type of finish you like, there are glossy and matte options as well.




The instructions recommend two thin coats, so that's what I did. Then I covered it in the top coat and now it's ready to go!

Vintage Peacock Glassware

I have been on the lookout for a nice set of vintage glassware for awhile now, but I told myself it would have to be both a really really nice design AND price (to prevent impending impulse buys). So when yesterday I found this set of seven glasses for only $20, after about a year of looking, I was finally sold!

I tried to do a little research, but so far with no avail. There are no markings to indicate the manufacturer, and I can't find any posts online with any sort of information. It looks like it would fit in with some examples of Cera glassware that I found, but I couldn't locate any information or history on the company. If anyone knows anything, I'd love it if you could share it with me! All I can say is that they are made with a thin layer of glass that flares out at the top and feels great in the hand. Images of flowers and peacocks are printed on the sides in aqua and gold and the finishing touch is the lovely gold rim.

I also want to use this post to mention this amazing shop I visited in Alexandria, Virginia that really inspired me to find some nice glassware in the first place. It's called The Hour and she started her shop because of the idea that back in the 50's people loved to host cocktail parties, which gave them an excuse not only to get dressed up and bring out their fancy party accessories, but brought people together. She sells some of her pieces online, but they are typically expensive because she knows their value and only sells ones that are in perfect shape. It's still worth checking out though, even if it's just to look at all the pretty designs!

"Mad Men" Inspired Bedroom

Okay, let's face it. 72.5% of the reason I watched Mad Men was for the style. From the interior designs to the costumes, there was such attention to detail! One of my absolute favorites though was Joan's apartment. That coral/aqua combo is just amazing.

So I painted the walls coral (Benjamin Moore 2169-40 "peach cobbler") and I bought some fabric from Hobby Lobby for the curtains (a white muslin and "spearmint" cotton). I love it with the Broyhill Brasilia bedroom set we have and it just makes the room feel so happy when the sun pours in through that south window.

Of course, the walls and one of the corners feel a little naked, and I'm still short one nightstand, so we're not done yet! But boy does that color make a world of a difference!

Inspiration: Joan's "Mad Men" Apartment

Basement Flooring Makeover

We've been Airbnb-ing (yes, that's a verb now) our basement since May. It's an great space for it because they can come straight in through the back door and have their own kitchen, bathroom and bedroom. But the one catch is that the previous owner was a smoker and a cat owner so there was a smell to it, which led to pretty much all the complaints people had.

So basically...RIP old carpet. My husband's parents came over and helped us redo the flooring. They were amazing and we couldn't have done it as quickly as we did without them! We purchased a wood-style laminate called Tavern Oak from Lowe's, and some Killz odorless paint for the ceiling. The space looks and smells so much cleaner. I still can't believe we got this whole thing done in three days. We even added a baseboard, which the room didn't have on the concrete walls before.

In case anyone is interested, these are the things you need for a laminate flooring makeover:

• Laminate flooring (Tavern Oak was $0.85/sq ft)
• Laminate underlayment (to protect from moisture)
• Underlayment tape (to seal the underlayment edges)
• Shims (to allow space around the edge of the floor for expansion and contraction)
• Mallet
• Pull bar (this allows you to slide the planks together once the edges are locked)
• Circular or table saw (for cutting the boards cleanly)
• Trim for door thresholds (where the flooring changes between rooms)
• Jigsaw (for the odd edges that will be hidden)
• Measuring tape
• Pencil

First we had to remove the old carpet. We found linoleum tiles under that, so we took those off as well. 

Once we had the flooring removed, we started rolling on some of the Killz paint, but considering how large the room is and how much paint we would need to cover both the floor and ceiling, we opted to just paint the ceiling tiles. We figured the smell was absorbed in the tiles (and the carpet), not the concrete. And we were right. 

Painting the tiles not only helped with the smell, but it evened out the color too. From years of cigarette smoke, some of the tiles were yellowed. Now they look (and smell) nice and clean! My husband also swapped out the old light fixture for this new one which is more energy efficient. One thing we didn't realize though is that Killz is an oil based paint, meaning it doesn't come off easily like acrylic. It will get all in your hair, skin and clothes, so cover up if you don't want to be scraping off little dots of paint for days!

The next step is the put down the underlayment. This acts as a moisture barrier. We connected the strips with underlayment tape.

Use the pull bar and mallet to nudge the boards into place. 

You want to make sure that the boards don't go all the way to the edge of the wall by using shims as spacers. The floor is going to naturally expand and contract a little depending on the temperature, and that gap will get covered up by your baseboards.

You also want to make sure that you cut your boards so the edges are staggered. I like this laminate because it gives the appearance of several pieces of wood on each board, but it would still look funny and repetitive if we didn't stagger them. Also, don't forget to consider what direction you want your boards to face before you start. If we would have gone lengthwise, the room would have looked even longer than it already is. It can create an illusion that really works for or against you, so don't forget to consider that!

Here's a closeup of the laminate we chose. It's called Tavern Oak and you can get it from Lowe's. It has a really nice subtle warmth and variation in texture that makes the room feel really cozy. It's also a great price at $0.85/sqft.

When we needed to fit a piece underneath a door frame, we used the jigsaw to make a custom cut. 

For the final touch, we added baseboards around the entire room. We were able to nail in about half of them, but the other half of the room is concrete so we had to use Locktite to glue them on. Some extra bricks we had were great for holding them until they were dry. 

Gotta make sure those bricks don't ruin all our hard work!

Before...

...and after!

We Bought A House!

This announcement is a little late...but this past March we bought a house! It's a 1959 brick facade with a fully finished basement. It's really well built and I am having a lot of fun decorating. So far, we have the living room down but there are lots of exciting plans for the rest! More updates to come ;)