DIY Hall Tree from Old Door

We don't really have an entry way to our house, and it's kinda annoying.  Everyday when I leave for work, I have my fancy Coach purse, my lunch box, and a tote back with my gym clothes.  That's a lot for one person, not to mention a mom.  Add to that a diaper bag, a nap mat, milk, diapers, wipes.  Sheesh.  That's a lot of stuff.  When we come home every day, my purse goes on one of our extra dining room chairs (I have a strict rule that Coach NEVER goes on the floor-I work hard to spoil myself!) and the rest gets thrown on the floor.  It makes the room looked so cluttered and I never really know where anything is.  So I talked Justin into making me a hall tree. 

 

 

 

We repurposed a closet door that I bought from Restore for $10.  I have seen these pop up all over Pinterest and I fell in love with the idea. 

 

 

We bought MDF board (because it was cheap.  Normally we would have used a better wood) and cut it to create a box that would be attached to the door.

 

 

 

I didn't want my bags falling onto the floor, so we bought wood shelf brackets and attached them to each side.  We wanted the hall tree to have a simple look and feel to it, so we added trim to the front and sides of the MDF box to give it a nice touch. 

 

 

We used Valspar Signature paint in creme fraiche in a satin finish.  This is the perfect white.  Not too bright, but no hint of yellow.  The satin finish is sleek.  Just glossy enough to wipe normal wear and tear marks off, but not enough where it has a glean to it.

  

 

 You can see the trim detail here after it was painted and it gives it just the right look to keep in with my rustic décor. 

 

 

The legs we repurposed from Justin's old night stands.  We have converted the night stands to another project (that I haven't had a chance to write about) and we had 4 left. I think lifting the hall tree up off the floor makes it look so classy.

 

 

 I found the coat hooks and the door knob from Hobby Lobby.  We had already been using the key holder and decided to keep it. It was just screwed into the wall, so I think it will like it's new home. 

  

 

 The door knob is not actually a real knob, more like a décor piece that we placed to look like an old knob. It had a wall hanger on the back but we were able to use screws on each side to hold the knob in place.

 

 

 I really love how it turned out.  It was such a simple project and we were able to finish it up in just 2 afternoons (even with a 1 year old running around!)  They only thing I would have changed was maybe to add some kind of ring or something on the side to store umbrellas.  But that would be easy to add in later.  I might also add a shelf to the top, but I think it looks great without it.

 

 Total Price for the Project: $42

Door: $10 from Restore

MDF Board: $8

Wooden Brackets: $6

Trim: $3

Legs: Repurposed from nightstands

Paint: Left over from another project

Coat Hooks: $9

Key Holder: What we were currently using

Door Knob: $6



 

Now we have a place to put all of our things.  It's been so nice to have everything together in one place to grab to head out the door or to empty our arms when we get home.

Finally Finished This Chair

Remember this chair that I found at a garage sale 2 YEARS AGO?  Remember how I was going to recover it in that yellow fabric, and stain the wood a dark walnut color?  I got started on it and it never got finished.  I recovered the cushions (and learned a lot from doing it for the first time) and tried to stain the wood, but it turned out looking awful.  It ended up being thrown into the garage and the cushions on the floor of the guest bedroom.  Until last week...

When I finished that baby!  I had some white paint left over from another project and decided that white would look so much better against the yellow and really make it pop. 

 

We bought white blinds while I was on maternatiy leave and I swiched our green curtains out with light blue ones just after we bought our new brown couch to try to brighten up the room a bit.   I think the white, yellow and blue look really pretty together and really bring in some pops of color. 

  

I really like how this area of the living room is looking so I'm hoping to paint some of our dumpster dive/garage sale furniture that I've brought into the house over the past year and really tie the room together.   With Lillie getting bigger and happy hanging out with her toys in her play pen, I'm hoping to getting back to more of these projects!

Farmhouse Table Reveal

Did you forget that Justin built me a dining room table last year for Christmas? 

  

I never shared a sneak peek of the table, but I did show you these awesome cane back chairs I found on Craigs List. 

  

  

A lot of our home projects came to a halt when I got pregnant.  I just didn't have the motivation or energy to do much of anything.  But as soon as we got Lillie home, I've been back to my old self, hard at work on our home projects when I have a little spare time.

 

I busted my butt on this, but I finally got our dining room table and chairs finished!  Since both sides of our family are coming to our house this year to make it easier for us, I wanted it to be finished and looking nice for Christmas. 

 

 

 

I LOVE the way it turned out!

 

 

Doesn't our dining room and formal living look so elegant?  It looks like a real grown up house! Ha.

 

 

Those chairs were a beating to paint.  I didn't know it when I bought them, but painting cane is HARD.  But it was worth it.  Just look at those beauties.  I covered the green seats with burlap and really love how it looks against the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Old White.

 

 

Earlier tonight, we had our first of our family Christmases and it was so nice to be able to sit around the table together.  The table is roomy enough for everyone to have room to eat, but still have all the food in the middle of the table.

 

 

 

Don't you think Justin did a fantastic job?!  It is so beautiful and I love it so much!  It will be a family gathering place for years to come and we just might fill up all those chairs with little ones before we know it!  Ok, ok, maybe not all of them, but hopefully half ;)

 

 

From all of us here at the Harmon House-Justin, Jordan, Lillie, Molly and Dexter-we wish y'all a Merry Christmas!  We hope tomorrow is filled with lots of love, happiness, friends and family!

 

Linking up:
  



 

Special Gift from Mama

 I don't have much time for myself these days, but I have managed to do a few Christmas projects since Lillie has  come home.  It feels nice to craft again.  When I was pregnant, I was too tired or had too much going on.  This past year has been super, super busy for us!

 

 

 

These aren't the best ornaments, but I threw this together for the dogs this year.  We found house chipboard at Hobby Lobby.  The house had a chimney, but Justin cut it off turning it into a perfect shape for a dog house! 

 

 

For Lillie, I made this bird security blanket.  While I was still pregnant, I looked for months in stores and online to buy one for her.  When I couldn't find one, I decided to make one.  Little did I know that I would be able to give my girl this special gift for her first Christmas!

 

 

 

The bird toy was a stroller toy that had rings and other doo dads hanging from it's wings.  I just cut them off, cut a slit in the middle of the blanket, sewed the bird in and added the ribbon.  I love the way it turned out and I hope she loves it too! 

 

 

 

 

Nursery Update-Crib Bedding!

I'm so excited to share with you the bedding for Baby Girl's room!  I love it so much that sometimes I sit in that room and pretend that it's mine ;)  Ha ha.

The bedding line is Lullaby Breeze by Jill McDonald.

I don't think I've told any of you, but my mama bought the crib and my mother-in-law bought the bedding.  I think that it's so cool that Baby Girl's grandmothers will have a part in putting her to sleep every night :-)

I was lucky in finding the bedding.  It was my favorite from the beginning but I had about 2 other sets that I really liked too.  By the time I made my mind up, Babies R Us and a lot of other stores were discontinuing the line.  Thank goodness for Amazon!

Don't you just love the colors?  The blues, pinks, and greens blend so well together.  It's dainty, sweet, and pretty.  Perfect for a baby girl.  And it's not so babyish that she won't grow out of the it so quickly. 

I'll keep you updated as we get the room finished out.  We are working on refinishing the dresser that was mine when I was a baby to put in her room and then we can start working on all the detail work, like wall hangings and decor pieces. 

Baby Girl will be here in no time now!

Our New Coffee Table

I've been wanting a new coffee table since we moved into our house, but it was one of those very low priorities on our list.  What we had wasn't bad, I just wanted something that was a little more our style. 

I knew I wanted more of a farm house style look and I instantly fell in love with this table from Shanty 2 Chic.

Isn't it gorgeous!  It makes my heart swoon.  I showed it to Justin and he said it would be no problem to make our own version of it. 

He drew up his own plans...can you believe that he came up with this?  It's so beautiful!

He used a dark walnut stain on the top and Annie Sloan's Chalk Paint on the legs in
antique white.

 

He also made the top slightly different by framing the entire table on top instead of only the sides.

 

 

I love it!  And it really pulls everthing thing in the livingroom together.

 

 

 

The Nursery-Work in Progress

We still have a long way to go to get Baby Girl's room ready for her, but I thought I'd share the first stages.

 

 

I wanted a bed for this room for an easy place to crash during all those sleepless nights.  It'll also come in handy for an extra place to sleep when my family comes to visit!

 

Remember that bunting?  It's from our wedding.  I took out the cream and brown colors and replaced them with aqua blue to better match the room.  I think I'll put 3 larger frames across the top of it and put some of her baby pictures in them when we get them made.

We bought the bed used from one of Justin's co-workers.  It started out as a captains bed, but Justin was able to build a back for it to turn it into a daybed.  I've got fabric to make pillow shams and throw pillows that will go along the back to make it a little prettier.  I'll be sure to update when I get them made!

 

 

The nursery colors are going to be shades of pink, aqua blue, and green with a bird theme.  I found this wall decal from Modernwalls on Etsy and fell in love!  They were so easy to work with and even downside the decal to fit our space, and even charged me less too!

Here's what it looks like with the crib in front.  Love, love, love.  We just got the bedding in, so I'll be updating with pictures soon when we get it all washed up and put on the bed.

 

More updates to come as we get the room finished out!