Make a French Style Storage Basket

I needed a tall basket to fill in the space above my frig.  I'd looked for a while before finding this homely little laundry basket that was the perfect size -- if not the perfect anything else.  

Before the redo but after the darker stain was added.

I wanted to give it a little personality (make it look like a French storage basket) so I went to town, literally, and found these brass house numbers at Restore for cheap.

After

It's been a long "work in progress".

The original basket with it's natural color was way too light so I sprayed the basket with this...

...months ago.  I love the new color but it took forever to dry.

The house numbers, which were brass and not black like I wanted, were only $1.19 each so I bought them and sprayed them black. 

They did not go on as easy as I thought.  The screws were way too short so I poked a nail through instead and used a gob of hot glue to hold them in place.  It feels pretty tight so I think it will work -- until it doesn't -- and then I'll try something else.

 I tore the old lining into strips, gave them a tea bath, and used them to tie the lid shut.

 

I love the new (old) look and the whole project was under $15.

BTW, does anyone know what the wire flower looking thing is on the door?  I found it at GW.  It looks the same on the front and back and it's magnetic.  Just wondering...

I'm linking up with sweet Amy @

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My Favorite Tutorials of 2010

One of my favorites, Pretty Little Pillow, has a pretty little secret.  

I took the pictures just a tad before the pillow was finished -- it's opening is still pinned together.  

This is not a first for me.

 

Then there was How to Clone a Rooster.  Not really a tutorial.  More like a show and tell.  No secrets here.  Thank goodness.

A few of the most popular posts were the 

Hand Painted Silk Pillow...

... the Vintage Book Planter.

...and the Boy's Oh So Cool Wall Art.

But my very own favorite was the  

Faux Butterfly Specimen Box.

And, like McDonald's, I'm still lovin' it.

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Shabby Carport Turned Breezy Patio

This is one of my favorite posts, I think, with one of my 
favorite comments ever...

Tricia Rose said..."The bravest 'before' photos I have ever seen!

So, here I am, being brave all over again...

I'm not sure why no one I know tried to stop me from buying this house.  Why was there no intervention, no nice men in white coats to, ah, "detain" me until I recovered from whatever it was that possessed me?  Was there a name for what ailed me?  Because, this pathetic little view of the carport on the house is pretty much representative of what the rest of the house looked like when I brainlessly fell in love with it.

I walked past this scene, I am mortified to say, for more than a year, while working on the inside of the house. It was just down right disgusting, I know. 

The old door was rescued and donated by a friend to cover the 

ginormous utility box and those lovely, protruding wires. 

The little table, I love.  It was built by the previous owner and used as the telephone table.  

I think a good cleaning was in order.

I painted the old door with the trim color and hinged it to the outside corner so it swings free 

for easy access to the utility box.  I think the baskets on hooks fill in an otherwise
awkward area.The chairs and plants pretty well disguise the wires that run everywhere. 

Am I really showing this before picture?

If you notice in the before picture there were poured concrete steps leading into the back door.  They were sturdy, I must say, and ugly and were not going anywhere.  My solution?
Build over them.  One of my favorite changes so far!

  

The simple curtains I made from 6'x9' painters drop clothes purchased 2 in a pack from
Home Depot for only $9.99.  They were the perfect size.  I held the panel up to determine where 

to put my cup hooks on either side of the carport opening.  I loosely pleated the top edge 

of the curtain then poked a hole through the layers with an exacto knife.  

Then, I just threaded the holes onto the hooks.  

I think the panels are what make the carport 
into the outdoor room of my dreams.

Just put staining that floor on my to-do list!

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Hookin' up with Donna @ Funky Junk

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New Year's To-Do List

I have played around with Christmas stuff for weeks, finishing up just in time to take it all down again. It's time to move on.  Creating a list of things I want to get done before I die seems like a logical first step.  Not calling it a "resolution" seems like a good idea, too.  Putting it out there (I'm adding it to my side bar) for all to see?  Maybe not.  Just try not to judge my progress too harshly.  I won't. 

This post is not really about New Year's resolutions, which, for me anyway, are way too easy to break.  It's just a little (random) to-do list.  Because, I've seriously got things to do.

• Finish powder room addition
• Clear out my bathroom sink drain
• Finish my sewing armoire
• Find storage space for fabric
• Re-pillow the living room sofa
• Paint Betty's painting
• Make new dust ruffles for twin beds
• Slipcover nasty wingback chair in dining room
• Recover dining room chair bottoms
• Clean bathroom vent
• Reevaluate and tweak TV and hall walls
• Start couponing
• Clear off carport and KEEP it clear
• Build dog kennel stand
• Shed a few pounds
• Cull my furniture collection
• Stain back steps
• Install backdoor screen door
• Acid stain carport
• Plant spring garden
• Build gate to backyard to trap two bad Yorkies
• Build or purchase a coat rack (for living room or outside back door)
• Organize and prioritize my inspiration folder
  

Relax, don't un-follow me yet -- I promise I won't be taking pictures and posting about everything on the list.

The biggest project on the list?  We're carving a powder room out of a tiny 3'x8' space that was a stairway to the attic in the kitchen.  The stairs were never built back after a fire in 1968 and the awkward space (to put it kindly) was incorporated into the kitchen, which never really worked.

During the kitchen reno we just walled it up --  along with a new toilet, a couple of rolls of insulation, a box of tile and that dustpan I looked high and low for.  We recently opened it up from the hall side, adding double doors I found at my local Restore for $20.

There are issues with the doors (as you could see if I could find my camera cord) but I'm determined to make them work.  I'm thinking I'll remove the top panels and replace them with glass.   

Here are a few pictures from my bathroom idea folder....

House of Smith's

Addicted 2 Decorating

I hate I can't credit all of these pictures.  I collected most of them before I was blogging. 

Of course, my space is about the size of a bathtub but I hope to make it beautiful.  

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