boho decor

Simple DIY corbels

June 10, 2020 by Tanya 2 Comments

You know how you see something for sale and you think to yourself, I could pay $24.95 a piece for those.

I could.

It would be easier.

And then something kind of clicks and you realize that you don’t have to.

You could make those for a few bucks.

Maybe even with scrap wood from other projects and paint you already have.

Welcome the simple diy corbel.

I kind of have a thing for corbels right now, they are my jam.

I have this spot where the long dining room flows into the front living room. The front living room is my fave space to be. It is the only room with super high ceilings in our 1970’s mid-century modern home.

We have added a lot of our own style while still trying to keep much of our home’s original vibe.

Lots of paint, wood floors, white-washed shiplap fireplace surround, and a wood wrapped beam at the peak with exposed electrical.

Add a whole bunch of baskets, swivel chairs, and a mix of vintage and modern and this is our home.

I saw corbels very similar to these online and thought I might just order them.

But Troy likes to make stuff (yes this is very convenient and I try to not make the hey can you make/fix/build this list too long) 🙂 and he gave them a go.

These are actually leftover bed rails from a dismantled bunk bed. He ripped the pieces down to 2″ x 5″ size for the top and back. For each corbel the top piece was 14.5″ long and the vertical piece 16″ long. The angled piece we cut to 17″ end at 40 degrees and the other at 50 degrees as we wanted the bottom of the corbel a bit longer.

The ends we rounded off a bit and used a wire wheel on our drill to create some lines and texture.

I painted them with an off-white paint and sanded them until I felt like they could of come off an old porch.

They just just the perfect amount of architectural interest in this spot, I just love them!

They were very quick to make, the longest part being the time for the paint to dry!

I don’t know about you but when the world is crazy and there is so much uncertainty around us home is where I like to be. I always want this little spot of the web to be uplifting and encouraging, and that wont change. But for all of us I wish for some peace. That we would look at our own hearts and choose grace and kindness to be our creed. That we would help a stranger, hold a door, pay for someone’s coffee, smile when we don’t have to. The power of being kind and doing the right thing costs us nothing but the difference it makes cannot be measured.

Thank you friends for reading and as always, you are appreciated more than you know!

xo, tanya

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: boho decor, DIY, Farmhouse Style

Little vintage table before and after

May 19, 2020 by Tanya Leave a Comment

Hey there!!

How’s your week been? We were talking the other day about the creative surge that both Troy and I have felt since stay at home orders went into place. I have realized how much I missed this little corner of the internet to share and create, and I am SO HAPPY to be writing again. This time has been so good to evaluate how I spend those spare moments and made me love my little home even more than I did before. But boy do I miss Goodwill, and I am going to run out of paint at some point 🙂 so a healthy balance of the freedom to come and go or stay at home and chill is something I am really looking forward to.

In the meantime, this table. And renovating a 70’s house…

Our house is a 1970’s mid-century modern that we’ve been in for almost two years now and I’m slowly turning it into my version of a modern city farmhouse.

Open concept spaces and large inviting kitchens seem to be something that were not a priority in 70’s design. But by tearing out cabinets, and white-washing dark dreary wood we’ve made great strides. We have a ways to go, you haven’t seen the main hallway bathroom!

Right after we moved in there was a yard sale down the road. I would love to say that I used self control after moving TONS of stuff but I saw this little vintage table for five bucks. I knew it would look cool any color so into my car she went.

I used white chalky spray paint and distressed all over with my palm sander. Next to give the table a little age and patina I watered down some brown acrylic paint. Using just a bit of the watery paint and a small damp cloth I applied it to the table here and there then blended as I went. This table won’t have any liquids on it so I decided not to use and sealer on it. here it is after one coat.

When I see the half-way mark I always wonder if this was a good idea!

It’s in the entry way now but I like to move stuff around once in a while so I’m sure she could be just about anywhere next week 🙂

I’ve found a balance that I like between vintage, modern and a little bohemian. I love to have things in our home that I poured my heart into and make me smile when I walk by them.

And if something gets broken during an epic nerf gun battle or “tag in the dark” (yep they actually do that lol) oh well. Most of it was found anyways on the fly and I’d much rather see my tribe having fun than have a perfect house.

I’ve kind of always thought perfect isn’t much fun anyways 🙂

Thank you as always for reading, I hope you have an amazing day!!

xo, Tanya

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: before and after, boho decor, budget decor, DIY, Farmhouse Style

Industrial glam bar cart

June 29, 2019 by Tanya 4 Comments

I have wanted a bar cart for a while now. Something that was my speed, a little shabby and a little glam. A nod to the 70’s is always good too.

And I didn’t want to pay hardly anything for it, because well the thrill of the hunt is the hunt itself, the find and then the best part, the DEAL.

Do you love the deal too? Like swerve off the road when you see a yard sale sign, jump up and down in a thrift store kind of love? Oh good then we were separated at birth I am sure of it.

This find was $9.99 at our nearby Goodwill and I liked it immediately when I saw the herringbone inlay on each shelf. It was too big and bulky to be a little bookcase but I felt like it would make a cool bar cart.

And if I ended up not liking it for that purpose, Abbie my eight year old already decided that Barbie’s would look excellent piled on top of it. So to the checkout we headed.

We taped off the center on the top to leave the herringbone pattern on display, and painted the remainder of the cart with Chalked spray paint in Charcoal. This is THE most beautiful dark grey on the planet, just saying…. I am pretty much in love with this paint.

Once the paint was dry, and the cart was a little distressed we added these acrylic casters. I wanted to go with these as number one each one was less than five bucks each at Harbor Freight. And two, they look like Lucite. Don’t even get me started on Lucite, it makes me think of Wonder Woman’s invisible jet and everything cool and amazing about a clear piece of furniture. I don’t have one, yet!

We found the sleek cabinet/drawer pulls at Home Depot, put them in place and voila! we were the proud owners of a “new” bar cart. She is all styled pretty for these photos but you know she has also been the home for 30 Barbie’s this week and a cat who like to sneak inside and nap on the bottom shelf periodically.