luxe chandelier

I’m anxious & excited to get started on our next home project: a faux fireplace!

Usually other homeowners with this kind of space would build in a desk and use it as a place where to put bills and go on the computer. We have 4 bedrooms so we converted one into an office for both of us.

When we first moved in I was disappointed we didn’t have a fireplace. What were we going to tell our children about Santa Claus? He needs a way in to leave them presents. I know there are a lot of other ways for him to come in but I like the chimney method.

Tyler and I went to Home Depot the other day to get an idea of what we would need and the price of everything. We already painted the backsplash the same color as we did with our TV area in the family room. Since we already have a bold color, we decided the fireplace will be white. I love the idea of displaying candles. We have some marbles that I want to add on to give it an elegant look.

I hope we finish this project this weekend and not get distracted. Stay tuned!

Remember our striped wall last month? As much as we both liked it – I hated how it was making the room look so dark! Friday night we stayed up painting. My parents and Gil, a family friend, came over and we started drinking. I eventually got tipsy and we couldn’t finish painting or else the stripes would have not been straight at all!

We were at Michael’s the other day and came across these huge letters. We decided on Luxe and wanted to make it our statement so we spray painted them white and hung it up so it’s the first thing people see when they walk in.

A co-worker of mine didn’t want this bench anymore and gave it to us. We absolutely love it & wanted to use it for our “mudroom” by the entrance. We painted it a creamy white color.

We had these frames that we found while unpacking. I went to a scrapbooking store in town and came across some really cute paper for 85 cents per sheet. I love how they look! I love it & can’t wait to do more with the wall. Overall we spent around $50 in this room so far.

The office is finished! Well, except that I wan to add some more decorations here and there so I’ll only be showing my desk/space. Tyler’s space is nowhere near done. But I’m glad he took the time to straighten out all of his PC computer cords & tried to make them less visible.

Before Picture:

I’ve had this desk since I was a teenager. We decided to paint it since there were nail polish stains – what can you expect from a teenager?!

After Picture:

I was going to get new knobs but then thought we would save money and painted them light blue. I found a frame I had and decided to frame wrapping paper & spray paint the wall art (stencil) onto it.

We purchased the wall art from Target last year on sale – I love Umbra products! We spray painted them black & then taped card stock that I had leftover from college behind them to give it color.

I was so excited when I found a cute small chalkboard that I forgot I had. Tyler worked at a framing company before & brought it home one day since they were going to throw it away. I painted the frame hot pink so it has a nice rustic look to it.

I discovered all these canvas boards that we purchased in college. I had some money to use and could only be used at the bookstore. So when the school year was coming to an end I went crazy and bought a lot of boards thinking I would want to use them in the future. This is one of those moments where I want to thank the old college Steph for doing that! It still doesn’t make up for the college Steph spending all her loan money on ridiculous stuff and now I’m paying it off.

Saving money & re-using things can be a lot of FUN!