The Barn Workshop-DIY Series – Country Design Home

Nov 23, 2014

Rusty Bedspring Coil Votive Holder-DIY!

What do you do when you have not one, but two giant, antique, rusty bedspring frames? Well, the first one you transform into a large marquee sign for your shop,

and the second one you mull over for awhile until you come up with a bright solution. So, without further ado, I’m introducing the

Rusty Bedspring Coil Votive Candle Holder!

Now, I have spotted many a rusty bedspring photo with a votive tucked underneath, but I wanted to take it up a notch by adding a second rustic element: the birch log slice. This elevates the rusty bedspring into a lovely woodland mantel decoration, does it not? Here’s the how I did it:

1. Get Coach to drag out the rusty bedspring frame from behind the fence where it had been weathering over the summer.

Have Coach cut off all the rusty bedspring coils during your freezing cold yard sale. Watch the pile ( of coils and $$$) grow.

2. Assemble your ingredients: A rusty bedspring coil (well, you know where I got these, and I have a ton more if you need one!), a birch log slice (this one I got at Michaels for $6.99 using a 50% off coupon, but you could certainly go into the woods and grab a log or two and slice ’em up), a votive candle-whatever style you choose as long as it fits in the bottom of the ring

and a small clamp and screw (these I had kicking around the workshop-but if you need to purchase one, they’re in the plumbing aisle at your local hardware store. And they don’t need to be old and rusty, they’re not going to show anyway.)

3. Place your rusty bedspring coil on the log slice and arrange in a pleasing manner. These springs are not exactly round, but neither are the log slices, so its a win-win. In this case, I kind of liked the little coiled knot in the front, but you could certainly turn that to the clamp side, or the rear of this rustic piece of art.

3. Attach the rusty coil to the log slice with the clamp assuring that you hold the clamp securely in place with the coil underneath the arched part-this will create a hinge effect.

Now, this can be a bit tricky, because in order to attach the screw properly, you need to hold it at a 90 degree angle while you push down. So, just use the spring as a “tunnel” and go right down the middle. Remember, its a spring, so you can push it down to get a better grip on your screwdriver.

4. Test out your mechanism by slowly lifting the coil away from the log slice and you will immediately see the simple brilliance of this design! You’ll note that the coil does not slide off the log, thereby creating a safe cage for your votive to sit inside. So, in the event that somehow your rusty bedspring coil votive holder gets knocked over while the candle is burning inside, the rusty coil and the votive stay firmly in place : )

5. Decorate your holiday mantel with your new rusty bedspring coil votive candle holder and wait for the compliments! So, there you have it. A simple, quick and easy project that costs under $4 (assuming that you have a box full of rusty bedspring coils).

Now you’ll have to excuse my while I go slice up one of my precious birch logs and make a few more of these. I see many potential Christmas gifts in the works! Hope you have a sunny Sunday everyone, Susan

Filed Under: Auctions, Fleas & Fabulous Finds, The 3 R's Recycle, Re-Furbish, Re-Love, The Barn Workshop-DIY Series, Views From My Back Porch · Tagged: Bedspring Coils, Candle Holder from Bedspring Coils, making candle holder from bedspring coils, Michaels, Rusty Bedspring Candle Holder, Rusty Bedspring Coil, Rusty Bedspring Coil Votive Holder

Nov 21, 2014

Weather-Proofing Your Porch!

By countrydesignhome · 2 Comments

This is a PSA for those of you who live in cooler climes…like we do here in the Northeast…and wish to “shrink-wrap” your screened-in porch before the winter hits. This most definitely will NOT be helpful for those of you in the Buffalo NY area-it’s a little too late for that! Anyway, this is a post from a couple of years ago when I was preparing to serve our Thanksgiving dinner outside. Yup, that happened. I figured if the Pilgrims could eat outside, then why not us??

But, even with a heater it was still a bit chilly, so we are back inside this year. So, without further ado-I give you…the shrink-wrapped porch!

“Last year Coach and I converted our deck into a screened-in porch, which was simply awesome. No more buggy nights, or rainy afternoons when we couldn’t use the deck for anything other than furniture storage! Since we had decorated it with quite a few pieces of antique wicker, I decided to “shrink-wrap” it to prevent any winter weather from ruining our newest addition. We used thin plastic sheeting and some lathing strips and tacked it up all the way around. Functional, not very pretty and it wasn’t very transparent, it flapped in the wind (which drove me crazy!) and the plastic kept ripping away from the lathing. Uggh. So this year I decided to get a more permanent wrap, something we could re-use each season. I went online to purchase a custom porch weather-proofing system, only to find the prices @ $1500.00 and up, to be a bit exhorbitant. Sooo, this past weekend’s project was weather-proofing the porch, country design home style! With this how-to video on You Tube as my guide, we began the laborious task of wrapping it up! The supplies: 20 gauge clear vinyl (heavy enough to withstand the winds and rain, clear to let in the light) and 2″ white Duck Tape Dritz 7/16″ steel grommets 5/16″ screw-eye hooks. I measured each section, determining the placement for the grommets. Cut the vinyl, then wrapped the edges with the tape on both sides for extra stability, overlapping in the corners where the grommets will be installed. Some sections had to be taped together, since the width of the vinyl is only 54″. That proved to be the most difficult part of this project, as the unrolled edges were a bit curled. You just have to smooth it as you go. Mark the center holes for the grommets, cut out the circles and then hammer the grommet into place (this pounding away with a hammer activity is fun for anyone wanting to vent some anger or angst : ). Hanging the large panels requires 2 people to make it level and install the screw-eyes. The finished project : ) Hard, painstaking work, this easily took 20+ hours. The cost? All of the materials, with the exception of the screw-eyes ($5.19/50 @ Home Depot), were purchased at Joann’s using 60% coupons, of course! So the vinyl that normally would have been $7.99/yard became $3.20/yard and in total we will probably use 25 yards-so $80 + tax. The grommets, screws and tape totalled approximately $70, so the grand total (aside from the band-aids, the Motrin and a trip to the nail salon to repair that damage) comes to $150+ tax- one tenth of what the online estimate was! It wasn’t easy, but it looks great, the sun shines through year round AND we don’t have to pack away all of our deck/patio furniture-it just stays in place! And now we will have another functional space for the holidays- as long as you wear your winter coat and mittens : ) And remember, always measure 3X…cut once!! Susan”

So there you have it, but just a couple of side notes for those of you who are interested in doing this project on your screened porch. Since the installation, a few of the grommets have come loose, and some of the tape as well, so that needs replacing. Also, this installation needs to be done on a fairly warm day. The vinyl is quite thick and in the cold it’s very difficult to work with to get it to lay smoothly to tape the edges, and then stretch it out to attach it. Otherwise, it was a great DIY project that I am very thankful we have installed now! Have a great weekend, everyone! Susan

Filed Under: My Little Red House, The Barn Workshop-DIY Series, Views From My Back Porch · Tagged: plastic wrap on the porch, plastic wrapping your porch, weather-proofing your porch, wrapping the porch

Nov 13, 2014

Through the Looking Glass Mirror-A DIY Project!

By countrydesignhome · 3 Comments

A few weeks ago, a customer came into the shop at the barn and purchased 6 of our old white, multi-paned windows for a wall installation. Once it was completed, she texted me this pic-which is awesomely creative and sooo Pinterest-worthy!

She took the windows and hung them on her dining room wall, framed by some old shutters, to create an interesting backdrop for her candles-she loves dining by candlelight- and the glass window panes reflect the light for some very romantic dining!! Loving that painted vintage buffet, BTW. Since Coach and I had recently sold our old gigantic dining room hutch, I now have a large blank wall in my dining room that is screaming for some attention. This seemed like the perfect solution, and since we have a bunch of old white windows hanging around,

White multi-paned windows for DIY

I thought it would be fun to experiment. But, I decided that I wanted at least one window to be a mirror, not clear panes of glass. Here’s where the fun started! Rather than going out and purchasing six mirrors to replace the window panes, I decided I would make my own with this can of Krylon Looking Glass Mirror Paint

I cleaned the reverse side of the window (pretty thoroughly, I thought) to make sure there was no dust or streaks.

Then I scraped the paint around the edges to clean it up.

For this technique, you spray the reverse side of whatever object you want to transform into mirror so that the finished product has a glassy look. Taking it outside, (this stuff is a wee bit smelly, folks) I used the can of Krylon Looking Glass Mirror Paint and proceeded to spray the reverse side of the window. Following the instructions, I shook the can for 2 minutes, then held the can 8-10 inches away from the surface and lightly sprayed the first coat.

Then I waited a minute, shook the can for 10 seconds, then repeated, adding 5 layers of mirror paint in total. While each layer was drying, you could see the vapors evaporating into thin air, which was like a cool science experiment.

As each layer was added, I could see that the window was becoming more opaque and less transparent. By the final coat, I could no longer see the trunk that the window frame was resting on.

Then I waited for the magic to happen. After the drying period, I flipped it over and discovered that my window was now a mirror-yay! But not a crystal clear mirror, more like an old, dusty mirror, which is perfectly fine for the look I am trying to achieve with this wall installation.

But, why, you ask!? You followed the instructions perfectly! BUT, I didn’t clean the glass properly! Behind the glass, you can see the streak marks that I left behind with my paper towels. Lesson learned. If you want a crystal clean mirror, you MUST start with a crystal clean glass surface! (When I first purchased this can of Krylon Looking Glass Mirror Paint, I started experimenting and sprayed this little candy dish, which came out beautifully mirrored. But I left it outside to dry and then it rained, so this is what happened.

Whoops. In both cases, total user error. But, I still love my mirrored window, and it is the first piece of my new dining room wall installation, coming soon! Have a great Thursday everyone and make it a reflection of the real you : ) Susan

PS: If you are in need of some awesome multi-paned white windows-we’ve got extra!

Filed Under: Auctions, Fleas & Fabulous Finds, My Little Red House, The 3 R's Recycle, Re-Furbish, Re-Love, The Barn Workshop-DIY Series, Views From My Back Porch · Tagged: #BobVilaNation, #Krylon Looking Glass Mirror Paint, #Krylon Mirror Paint, DIY Looking Glass Mirror Paint, DIY Mirror Paint, how to use mirror paint to create mirrors, The Barn Workshop DIY Mirror

Oct 16, 2014

Dye-ing for a Change!

By countrydesignhome · 5 Comments

Back in 2006, when my kids were still in college and blogging was the furthest thing from my mind, Coach and I decided we needed a new couch for our family room. After much deliberation and shopping at various furniture stores, we went with our then-college-age-daughter as a tie-breaker in tow and together we decided on this slip-covered, floral cotton sofa, which was (and still is) super comfy and sturdy with it’s foam and goose down cushions. After a while, as my tastes evolved and the room became more “rustic countrified”, the floral slipcover wasn’t working for me.

Somewhere along the way, I purchased a second slipcover in a brick red color at a discount (a mere $200!) but that became so drab and faded as well.

Back to the furniture store to have a new slipcover made, only to find that $700 price tag (that’s just for the cover, folks, NOT the sofa!) a bit too steep. At that point, I realized that my choices were to 1. Bite the bullet and have the new slipcover made or 2. Bite a bigger bullet and buy a new sofa, but Coach wasn’t buying either of those options. He suggested that I dye the red cover white (Oh, Coach…). So, I decided to try a third option: dyeing the floral sofa blue! What did I have to lose except a faded, floral slipcover? First, I washed the old slipcover in hot water and bleach to remove any stains and sizing in the fabric. You can see how they don’t quite match-over the years, the covers and cushions were washed a lot more than the main slipcover.

Grabbed a couple of bottles of Rit Dye in Denim Blue @ $2.67 each,

plus 2 cups of salt (I guess that helps the fabric accept the dye.)

I threw all of the cushion and pillow covers in the first load, then the main cover in the second load. I was a little nervous when I opened the machine top and saw a sea of indigo blue-the room is dark enough-I was looking for light and bright. But once they came out of the dryer, they were exactly what I had hoped for: a soft, washed-denim blue with a hint of the floral design.

So I redressed the sofa which looked great. BUT, that meant I needed some new throw pillows… and some new lighter drapery panels for the window directly behind the sofa. And a new throw to hang on the back of the sofa. And to paint the side table next to the sofa because that was blue too. Oh, and a new lamp for the table next to the sofa. After all that change, I was so excited about the new look! (You’ll have to excuse the “after” pic. I dropped my phone on the concrete floor while painting some wooden pumpkins this past weekend and am waiting for the replacement to arrive. In the meantime, the photos I’m taking are a bit off kilter and color : (

Then Coach came home and didn’t even notice. And then our daughter (the one who helped us choose the original sofa so many years ago) didn’t notice either. That’s OK- I notice, and the change makes the old sofa look fresh and new(ish), and for $6 (plus a trip to HomeGoods for all the new accessories), that’s a good deal! Have a terrific Thursday, everyone- make one change for the better today-even if no one notices-you’ll be glad you did! Susan

Filed Under: Color Class, My Little Red House, The 3 R's Recycle, Re-Furbish, Re-Love, The Barn Workshop-DIY Series, Views From My Back Porch · Tagged: changing slipcovers, dyeing a slipcover, dyeing an old sofa, dyeing slipcover in washing machine, Rit Dye, slipcover for couch, using Rit Dye

Oct 9, 2014

Cheap Crackled Halloween Mason Jar

By countrydesignhome · 7 Comments

I love to crackle stuff. What does that mean? You take new stuff and make it look like the paint has been on it forever and is cracking and flaking off. Sort of a faux old look. Typically I use different brands of crackle medium available at my local crafts store, depending on the price and my coupon stash. To see a before and after on a piece of furniture I redid for our family room, check this coffee table out.

So, the other morning I wanted to crackle a mason jar or two for Halloween, but when I went to grab the crackle medium, I didn’t have any left! Apparently I have been crackling up a lot, so the bottle(s) were empty : (

I had seen many “pins” on Pinterest about using regular glue to get the same effect as the more expensive crackle medium. In fact, I had I previously attempted said technique, but it was a fail. Painted on the glue, allowed to dry, painted on the paint and waited. And waited. And nothing happened. (Normally I would have pics of this, but I deleted the fail photos. No sense writing about nothing.) But, I’m nothing if not persistant in my awesome DIY attempts, so I tried for round two. Before I did, I rechecked the glue instructions and noted my one fatal flaw: I allowed the glue to dry completely (what you would normally do with the crackle medium), which was so wrong! You only wait for it to get tacky (about 15-20 minutes), then paint over it! So here is the new successful DIY crackle with dollar store glue tutorial.

1. Take a jar, a brush and a bottle of cheap school glue.

2. Paint the entire surface with the glue, wherever you would like the crackle to appear.

3. Allow to get tacky (not like that’s really cheap and gaudy, just sticky), but NOT DRY. This takes about 15-20 minutes depending on how thick you painted the glue on. The thicker the glue, the larger the cracks.

4. Paint the top coat whatever color you would like. I happened to use some orange chalk paint I mixed up for some other projects. But you don’t need to use chalk paint. Make sure when you are painting that you only go over each section once and in one direction. Trying to go back over a section you already painted results in messy clumps of glue and paint. Which also looks old, but not necessarily good.

5. While you watch the paint dry, you check out the other mason jars that you had already painted and applied a watered-down matte glaze to and notice that those are involuntarily crackling as well!! Hmmm. Gonna experiment more on that later.

6. Go to bed and wake up in the morning to run to the basement to check out the dried jar. (Kind of like Christmas morning when you are so excited to see what it under the tree. Except you have to go to the yucky basement. And there’s no tree.) BUT, there is a crackled jar!!

7. Decorate jar with a bit of raffia (also from the dollar store) and place it on your window shelf. Light the candle, but be careful, don’t want to set that raffia on fire and ruin your freshly crackled jar!

So, there you have it. Crackling with cheap school glue really DOES work-the total cost? The mason jar- well you know about the mason jars, we have dozens. The raffia rope and glue, $1 each but I only used a tiny bit so we will say 20 cents. Hope your Thursday is all its cracked up to be! Susan

Filed Under: Auctions, Fleas & Fabulous Finds, Color Class, The 3 R's Recycle, Re-Furbish, Re-Love, The Barn Workshop-DIY Series, Views From My Back Porch · Tagged: dollar store glue, dollar store raffia ribbon, halloween mason jar, orange crackled mason jar, orange mason jar

Sep 16, 2014

Polish It Up-Tuesday’s DIY Tip

By countrydesignhome · 4 Comments

Since you all think I am a slacker when it comes to completing my mom’s kitchen project, I just want to share with you one of the other projects I had been working on simultaneously. In the adjacent dining room area, I painted the walls the same color as the kitchen and freshened up the old hutch. We debated about whether to paint it or not, but since the wood is still quite lovely and a honey golden brown, we decided to keep it stained. The problem? It was faded from being next to the sliding glass doors that lead to her deck and scratched from years of daily use. This time, I turned to Old English Furniture Polish with Scratch Cover.

This is an oil with stain in it, so it hides the scratches while it polishes and rejuvenates the surface, bringing back its original glow and shine. Very simple, just put some on a rag (use gloves folks, this stuff stains!) then wipe it over the surface.

For the really deep scratches

I actually just poured a bit right into the area, let it sit for a moment and then wiped it away. This is a door before:

and this is the same door after (these photos are NOT retouched in any way)

Unfortunately, I never took a before photo of the entire hutch. BUT, this is the hutch today:

Deep, rich, glowing color and depth of shine. Super easy and quick. No buffing necessary. Just wipe on

and then wipe off.

Done. And no, I was not compensated in any way for pitching this product. I have been using it for years and think its awesome. I thought you should know about it too. Simple as that. That’s my DIY Thrifty tip for Tuesday. And it just goes to show ya-sometimes you don’t need to start from scratch…just cover them up! Susan

Filed Under: The 3 R's Recycle, Re-Furbish, Re-Love, The Barn Workshop-DIY Series, Views From My Back Porch · Tagged: How to get scratches out of wood furniture, Old English Furniture Polish, Old English Scratch Cover, scratch remover for wood, wood refinished with scratch remover

Sep 9, 2014

Thrifty Kitchen Transformation-The Backsplash

By countrydesignhome · 2 Comments

I know, I know, it’s been so long since my last blog post about the thrifty kitchen transformation.

The reason is because I’ve been doing such other crazy stuff like traveling to Ireland and opening up a retail vintage shop and planning a wedding and building marquee lights…

but, no excuses! My poor mum has been patiently waiting for me to finish the job we started way back in the spring, soooo next up on the to-do list, the backsplash! With all of the available options out there, it was so difficult to make a decision about which type of backsplash to choose. There are many beautiful tiles including marble, glass, silver and tin that each had its own special quality. But hands down, the winner was this gorgeous travertine subway tile we purchased at Grossman’s Bargain Outlet (the same place we got the amazing hardware) for $5.99 a square foot!

Richly textured, with a light terra cotta color that would instantly add a more rustic “French chateau” feel to the newly painted kitchen cabinets and shiny black granite countertops. It has a lovely chair rail at the top between the cabinets that will eventually hold a shelf of some sort.

**Full disclosure: I did not install this tile. If you all remember the glass tile backsplash we installed at my daughter’s condo last year, I believe my final comment was “But in the future, all tile installations will be left to the pros.” Which I did. What would have taken me a week+ took the installer 1 1/2 days. My job was to remove the old black & white tiles and prepare the surface for retiling.

Which was very hard work that included a hammer and a crowbar, Coach,

chisels and a little blood-yuck. (that’s Coach’s, not mine, as I was smart enough to wear gloves during the process).

Did you ever pull an appliance away from the wall to work behind it, then pull it back in, only to be stuck behind it with no way out? No? So that’s just Coach…

My other job (other than pulling Coach out from behind the stove) was to seal the tile using liquid sealer that you brush on. This keeps this very porous tile from absorbing splattered spaghetti sauce and hot fudge : ) I applied one coat before the installation, then a second coat onto the tiles and grout after it dried (48 hours). So this is the black and white tile backsplash before:

And here is the new backsplash. So pretty.

Next up, the trim and crown molding (this oughtta be good…) Hope you’re checking off your to-do list this Tuesday!! Susan

Filed Under: Color Class, The Barn Workshop-DIY Series · Tagged: budget kitchen transformation, installing travertine tiles for backsplash, THrifty Kitchen Transformation, travertine subway tiles, travertine tile backsplash

Sep 1, 2014

Rusty Bedsprings Marquee Lights

By countrydesignhome · 21 Comments

Hi, all ! Happy Labor Day!

So, ever since Coach acquired that first set of rusty bedsprings, I had an idea for creating a marquee light for the barn shop. Inspired by the rusty bedspring coil lights in Salvage Secrets Design & Decor by Joanne Palmisano, I figured I could just take the bedsprings and attach some lights in the shape of an arrow to the back of the bedframe using pieces of wire.

It worked, somewhat, and the arrow became a beacon in our shop in the barn. (This is another one of my creations that, like the vintage sink, that is NOT FOR SALE…says me.) But it bothered me because the cords showed,

the lights were all crookedey and I wouldn’t be able to change the light shape without removing them and starting all over. Plus, because the background was the antique brown wood of the barn walls, you really couldn’t see the form unless you squinted. Or took a photo.

Or looked at it in reverse in the mirror across the barn. So, I decided to take it down and remake it into a true marquee sign. Here is the how-I-did-it:

1. Removed all the little pieces of wire and the lights from the bedsprings. THAT was fun. 2. Went to Home Depot and purchased a 4 x 8 sheet of lightweight plywood.

They have a nifty wall-mounted cutter thing and a very nice guy who will do the cutting for you, which is pretty awesome. LOVE Home Depot!

The plywood was cut down to the size of the rusty bedsprings with a 2 inch edge all around to allow for framing.

3. I built a frame out of 2 x 4’s and secured it to the back of the plywood to give me something to screw the brackets into that would hold the springs in place.

4. Measured and marked the holes I would have to make for the light sockets to be installed.

Of course, rusty old bedsprings are not necessarily even, so once I measured and marked the holes, then put the springs back onto the board, I noticed that several did not actually line up with the markings. So I tweaked them just a bit, and then a bit more, and then I drilled the holes.

After drilling, I used this handy sheet metal grinder bit to make the holes smooth and just big enough to fit the sockets so that they were snug.

5. Painted the board with Rustoleum High Heat spray paint.

Now, these little patio globe lights (from Target, LOVE these!) do not get up to a temperature of 1200 degrees Farenheit, but it’s good to know I’ll be safe just in case.

6. Painted a base coat of dark gray. Why gray, you ask? White would be too bright so the lights wouldn’t show up when lit. Black would be too dark so the bedsprings wouldn’t show up. Gray seemed like the perfect neutral alternative. This can of dark gray was a yard sale find, but a very nice quality paint from Mythic Paint. Went on smoothly, minimal drippage, good coverage and is completely non-toxic. Unfortunately, there aren’t any local stores near me that sell it : (

7. I wanted the plywood to not look like plywood, but more like some antique barn board or metal. So I dry brushed some darker gray streaks over it.

8. Once the paint was dry, I placed the bedsprings back on the board to make sure everything lined up nicely, which it did.

To attach the springs to the board, I used some steel plumbing clamps that I spray painted.

First with some metallic oil-rubbed bronze, but then with a rusty metal primer, both by Rustoleum.

I know the primer was supposed to go on first, but I really wanted the bracket and screws to look rusted to match the springs. Done.

9. Attached the springs to the board, then flipped the board over and placed the light sockets into each hole. Note that the wires are now nicely hidden behind the board where they are not all tangly and messy.

10. Tested out the board by screwing in the lights into the shape I wanted just to ensure they were in proper working order before transporting it back to the barn. In this case, just Hi!. Sent a text to my friends and family : )

There is one problem with using rusty bedsprings as your form: there are exactly 66 coils, so there are 66 lights in total: 6 down and 11 across in straight horizontal and vertical rows. Which means that I can’t really make any curved letters. Block letters it is.

11. Re-installed the “light bright” board onto the rear wall of the barn using some big-ass brackets to make sure it didn’t come tumbling off the wall and onto someone’s head! This thing is HEAVY!! Here is the new, improved Rusty Bedspring Marquee Sign that is now the beacon of light on our shop.

Which is really fun and draws a lot of attention. And, I heard more than a few browsers say “that must be a new sign, it was an arrow before.” Which is great, because that means they are returning to the Barn at Todd Farm to shop some more! Yay!

12. We do a lot of standing around at the shop (oftentimes the booth is so full of shoppers, we can’t fit in it-which is a very good thing!) Sometimes we’re just taking a break from all of the furniture moving, like this old girl.

Other times we’re just goofing off-good thing we’re the bosses…).

So we had some time to try to come up with other words for the light board, now that we can easily change it out. Subliminal messages like BUY could work, but I am thinking HUH? or MEH might draw a smile. Do you have any suggestions?? (no profanities, please : 0 Remember, we only have 11 letters across, 6 letters down and no curves!! Have a great holiday Monday, everyone! Hope you are enjoying the fruits of your labor : ) Susan

Filed Under: Auctions, Fleas & Fabulous Finds, Color Class, Inspiration, The 3 R's Recycle, Re-Furbish, Re-Love, The Barn Workshop-DIY Series · Tagged: #BobVilaNation, Home Depot wood cutting, Joanne Palmisano, making a light board from Rusty bedsprings, reclaimed rusty bedspring coils, Rustoleum High Heat Spray Paint, Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint, Rustoleum Rusty Metal Spray paint, rusty bedspring coils, Rusty Bedsprings Light, Rusty Bedsprings Marquee Lights, Salvage Secrets Design Decor, Target Clear Globe Patio Lights

Aug 25, 2014

Wall Decals Pop!

By countrydesignhome · 3 Comments

In the midst of all of the DIY’ing for the shop, I decided to “freshen up” my daughter’s old bedroom, which now serves as a guest room/ironing board room. (doesn’t everyone have one of those?) Since her high school days, when we added white wainscoting and painted the walls sage green, her favorite color,

I have always thought that someday, after she “flew the coop” I would paint it something a little ” softer and prettier”. Although I am a lover of mother nature, I am not necessarily a “green” person and prefer lighter, brighter colors for my walls. PINK, I can live with that, and since there is already a fun pink floral area carpet in place,

I mixed up a can of bright, light pink for the walls. I had a can of flat white on hand, to which I mixed some bright pink and soft gray to avoid that “bubble gum” tone.

The room is a square shape, with a small alcove at one end where there is a day bed tucked under the eaves. Which leaves an oddly-shaped, off-center wall for hanging pictures or mirrors. So when I was contacted by the folks at www.vinylwallartdecal.com

to sample their product, I knew this would be the perfect solution! The graphic I chose was “Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful”, which is such a powerful statement, especially in a little girl’s room.

The graphic is stunning, was very easy to apply and looks amazing. I like that it was actually in smaller pieces once I cut it apart, making it much easier to handle than one large graphic.

Here is the “how-to apply the graphics” instruction sheet, included in the package,

which I have enhanced with some additional instruction and illustrations, as it was just a bit unclear. Also, the package did not include a pic of the original graphic, so I had to go online to make sure I had it right, since I had to cut it apart and re-align it prior to hanging on the wall. Here we go:

Step 1: “Take the transfer film out”, which initially I took to mean you remove it from the mailing package. There are two separate sheets in the package, both on white paper backing. One is the transfer film and one is the graphic. The instructions don’t say to actually remove the transfer film from the backing and place the tacky side on to the graphic, but that is what you do. Here is the graphic sheet with the shiny transfer film on top of it.

Step 2: Then step 2 makes more sense, that you rub the clear transfer film with a towel to adhere it to the graphic, removing any wrinkles or bubbles.

Wall Decal Rubbing Transfer Film with Soft Cloth

Note: the included clear transfer film wasn’t quite as large as the actual graphic, so I had to do a bit of cutting and pasting for that. But that didn’t matter because it is removed once the graphic is transferred anyway.

Wall Decal Cutting And Pasting Film Transfer

Step 3: Cut out the images and clear transfer film together, leaving room around the edges of the graphic for handling.

Since I now had a pile of cut-apart sections,

at that point I actually taped the entire graphic to the wall to make sure I had it positioned correctly.

Step 4: Peel off clear transfer film from the white paper graphic backing with the graphic attached and press that onto wall or dry surface in the position you’d like it to be.

Wall Decal Peeling off White Backing Paper

Step 5: Rub clear transfer all over with your fingertop, making sure you rub the edges of the graphic for full adhesion onto the wall.

I did one section at a time and left the others taped to the wall until it was completed.

Step 6: Peel off the clear transfer film from graphic on wall. If it starts to pull graphic with it, just rub again to adhere graphic to wall.

Step 7: Step back and admire : ) I know it sounds like quite a few steps, but the final product is just lovely and in this room, creates a statement next to a B&W photo of the iconic Jackie Kennedy Onassis, who was the epitome of being her own kind of beautiful.

So thank you to Vinyl Wall Art, who provided the graphic sample for me to review. You can check out their website here: where you will find so many thoughtful quotes and adorable graphics for your home! Loving this Cute Owls and Cute Tree– so whimsical!

They even offer large black board stickers-brilliant!!

If you have any questions, you can check out their blog Notepad Corner, which provides you with lots of information about their products. So, if you do get a chance to shop their beautiful website please tell them that Sue from Country Design Home sent you! Hope you have you’re own kind of beautiful Monday, eveyone!! Susan

PS: Although I was provided with the sample from the company Vinyl Wall Art, the written opinions are strictly my own.

Filed Under: Color Class, Inspiration, My Little Red House, The Barn Workshop-DIY Series, Views From My Back Porch · Tagged: blackboard wall sticker, dandelion wall sticker, notepad corner, various facts to choose wall decals, vinyl wall art decals, vinyl wall decals, wall decals pop, wall sticker, wall stickers

Aug 20, 2014

Everything AND The Kitchen Sink!

By countrydesignhome · 4 Comments

As you all know by now, we have now opened our vintage shop in the Barn at Todd Farm,

and so far things are going very, very well! Lots of our rescued, re-cycled and re-furbished pieces have been sold, and shoppers appear to be very excited about the variety of vintage goods we are offering.

Following our first Sunday (which seems like a lifetime ago, but was actually just a mere three weeks ago!) I realized we needed to make a change in our displays. When we set everything up and stepped back to admire our work that first day, we all said “this is great, as long as nobody buys these big pieces that have all of our dishes and pottery on them”.

BUT, that is exactly what happened, leaving us scrambling to find new spots for pie plates and Pyrex and pots and pans. So, I decided that we needed a permanent, dedicated spot to safely and attractively display our kitchen wares. The perfect solution, in my mind, was an old kitchen sink and countertop with shelves above it, so off to Craigslist land I ventured and found this awesome old General Electric porcelain sink for $40!!! A steal!!!

Once I had acquired the sink, it really was just a matter of building a solid base that would be sturdy enough to hold the weight of the sink and anything else we put on it. I started with a plywood top, cut with an extra 1/2 inch around the perimeter, and a hole cutout for the sink. Which turned into several cuts, which in turn created a nice new Mustachio for Coach.

Who, by the way, was really not on board with this whole sink thing. He did help me, but reluctantly, not seeing my vision and thinking that I was wasting valuable time that could have been spent working on other “saleable” projects.

The legs were built from 4×4 scraps Coach had hanging around somewhere behind the barn, cut to standard countertop height of 35 inches.

I simply attached those with large L brackets and some screws, then created some cross-pieces for stability, attaching those with smaller L brackets as well.

I would show you the rough-cut details, but they are really not very pretty and you can’t see them anyway : ) Once that was completed, I added an old, chippy shutter for the front panel,

and then I added some of these little metal strips (I have a big bin of these I grabbed at a yard sale. Have no idea what they are for, but they make a nice 1 inch decorative edge. Got plenty more if you need any…)

for the decorative edge trim. Conveniently, there are holes already drilled in the strips, so I just used some brass tacks to attach them to the plywood edge.

For the sides, I affixed some burlap panels with a dowel and some tacks. Nothing fancy. We don’t really have any kind of a storage area in the barn shop, so the burlap panels allow us to use the under-sink for keeping bags and tools, etc. The sides are simple blue burlap panels, but the front panels are actually made from old burlap potato sacks (which we have plenty of for sale in the shop : ).

Not crazy about how those look, so I’ll be changing those this upcoming weekend. Once we brought the sink to the shop, it was simply a matter of finding the perfect spot to build it in, then adding the shutter shelving and filling it up with our kitchenware and painted mason jars.

We even added an old window because everyone loves to look out the window when they are at the kitchen sink, right??

So, what happened when we opened up the shop 6 am Sunday morning?? Every person walking by and into the shop went right to my sink display and admired it, inspected it, asked how much it was. Initially shocked that folks were interested in buying my old sink, Coach quickly recovered and started asking $650. Wait, what?!?!?! THE SINK IS NOT FOR SALE. REPEAT. THE SINK IS NOT FOR SALE!

But both Coach and Lisa (his partner in crime this week) were hell-bent on selling that sink out from under me. Soooo, I compromised and used the old “if I really don’t want to sell it, then ask a ridiculously high price and if someone really wants it, they can have it trick”. $1000. FIRM. In the meantime, I am off to paint the pieces that I didn’t get a chance to paint because I was building the kitchen sink. Have an unsinkable Wednesday, everyone!! Susan