Tile Backsplash DIY

We have lived in our current house almost 6 years. We bought the house with lots of plans to update and change things, but it always seemed like once we had the money saved to do something, there was something more important to dedicate the money to. We have decided to do little things ourselves (or try to) to save money.

I have to admit that we don't have a lot of experience "doing" home projects, but we like to watch DIY. I also admit I was nervous that we might become a "Renovation Reality". If you haven't seen it, it is a show that chronicles the experiences of people doing DIY projects and frequently biting off more than they can chew (so to speak) and practicing Murphy's law.

When we moved in the backsplash was only behind the drop-in range and was pink/blue/white tile (I wish I had pics).

I painted the tile first and the paint peeled.

I didn't start taking pics until after hubby had ripped down the tile and taken down the vent hood.

So - before -







Here are some "during" -





And now the "almost after" (we still need to caulk)-







Hubby did a great job, didn't he?!!

If you want to do this yourself, you can. Just do what we did - google "DIY backsplash tile" and talk to your resident Home Depot expert.

Now, what should we tackle next?

From little girls to pre-teens?

If you have followed my blog for the last few weeks, you know my 3 princesses all had birthdays very recently. I was at a loss when it came to birthday presents for Sha Sha (11) and NiNi(9). I finally convinced them to bypass the presents and to go for a bedroom remodel. We did a lot of de-cluttering too. I forgot to take before pics until in the midst of the de-cluttering process, so you will have to use your imaginations to some degree.

So, here's the before -


Walls were lavender with light pink canopies and baby pink quilts with fairies.



The futon and other stuff they willingly parted with.


Another view close up of their lavender walls.


The sick blue/purple desk that had peeling paint. We mixed the leftover lavender with some bright blue leftover from their brother's bedroom to get this color. I have never been happy with it in the last 6 years.

And now - Drumroll please.....

The after photos -

The walls have been called hot pink, Barbie pink, and hubby calls it Pepto-Bismol pink.



The new comforters and shams are reversible. Solid orange on one side and Pink with stripes on the other.




They each got a new memo board for things special to them. The tissue paper flowers were made for their birthday "fiesta".


The girls and I found these cute mirrors at a yard sale for $10 for the set. They also got new dressers.



Since we got rid of the futon, the girls now have 3 beanbags to crash/read in.



The other new dresser.


The desk painted "Home Depot" orange with 2 coats of polyurethane to help minimize chipping. That blue still showed thru on the back, but since it faces the wall, I'm not sweating it. We still want to do something with this chair. Any suggestions? I do have a LOT of orange paint left....

So, what do you think? Is this room fit to carry my darlings into their teen years?

DIY rocking chair refinish

I have been itching to do some re-purposing....

I also wanted to get Gigi a chair that is her own size.

So when I came across this gem at a garage sale for $5, I snatched it up. I looked at it and thought "It can't be that much work."



I had read on another website that Easy-Off Oven-Cleaner worked well for removing paint. I happened to have some handy. So I sprayed it down and let it sit for 5 minutes. Wow, the paint did come off pretty easily, too!



However, I didn't count on how many layers of paint were on this chair!



These are the colors I remember seeing. Lavender, Navy blue, yellow, aqua, red, and white. Whew! Three rounds of stripping. 2 coats of primer and then 2 coats of glossy white paint.

The finished product - and Gigi loves it!