Friday, April 29, 2016

Friday Faves...Sometimes it's the little things



Like many of you, I love the show Fixer Upper.
Chip and Joanna Gaines turn hideous houses into beautiful homes, 
and when you're watching the show, it all happens in an hour!
In reality, there's a whole construction crew working, and sometimes months of time passing.
Our new to us home, has gone through quite a transformation in the eight months we've lived here.
In our real life, it has to happen one project at a time.
We save up and pay cash, so that means it doesn't all get done at once, like on Fixer Upper.
I wish it did!
Right now, bit by bit, we are working on getting the yard in shape,
so some of the remaining updates inside, refinishing cabinets, new countertops,
new bathroom flooring, are on the waiting to be done list.
Meanwhile, I'm content with puttering around and doing the little things.
One of those little things was copying some of the decor stores, like Pottery Barn and West Elm,
by adding some wooden beads into the tray that sits on my living room coffee table,
(aka an antique trunk).
Instead of paying some ridiculous price for a string of natural wood beads,
I just went to Michael's craft store and bought two packages of beads using one of their frequent coupons.
I had my granddaughter string them, one small, one large, one small, one large, on a piece of jute twine. 
Easy, peasy!
Throughout  the house, updated light fixtures and faucets were one of the first projects we did.
I recently completed another little update in our two bathrooms,
replacing the builder grade mirrors and towel racks.
To replace the mirrors, it was as simple as unscrewing the brackets that hold the large plain glass mirrors on the wall and taking them down, (thanking God that the builders did not use glue!).
Then I filled in the holes left by the screws and painted the wall where the mirror had been
 to match the rest of the bathroom.
I traced around the mirrors onto a piece of wrapping paper, marking the spots onto the wrapping paper where the anchor screws needed to be placed.
I could then use the wrapping paper and tape it onto the wall to make sure the mirrors were level and exactly where I wanted them.
Once I had the paper level and exactly where I wanted the mirrors to be, I used a finish nail to poke a hole through the paper into the wall, marking the spot where I needed to place my anchor screws.
Then all that was left was to put in the screws and hang the mirrors!
(I find these lovely framed mirrors for a great price at TJMaxx.)

The other little project was to replace the builder grade towel bars for 
these cute towel hooks found at World Market.
I waited until I received one of their coupon offers and went and bought one for each bathroom.
Yes, the oak bathroom cabinets need refinished, the countertops and flooring need updated,
but while I'm waiting to do those bigger projects, little and affordable updates are being accomplished.

It's Friday, friends.
Hope you have a HAPPY, HAPPY Friday
and a safe and BLESSED weekend!



         1aaadoveladygfairy006    

TidyMom
Shabby Art Boutique






4 comments:

  1. What charming updates, Elizabeth. I'm very happy for you.

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  2. ♥ the bathroom updates :)
    and the beads (so clever) add the perfect something to your coffee table setting.

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  3. I really love what you do with your home - all the little projects just turn out so beautiful! Are you sure you're not related to Joanna???

    GOD BLESS!

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  4. Looks absolutely gorgeous!!

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