Living Room

One More Reason I Hate the Gym (and an Antique Yellow Table)

Published May 14, 2013 | By Shanna

Remember when I said I was going to start going back to the gym again? Well … I have been, which is a start — but just not as often as I should. With summer right around the corner, I have got to kick it into gear, people!

Yesterday, I had to drive one of my unnamed child’s friends home from school, and we had to go down a very bumpy dirt road. I glanced down at my legs, and the amount of jiggling that was resonating from them was mortifying — like two jello-filled water balloons sloshing around in my driver’s seat. In fact, I was so distracted, I did a terrible job avoiding all the ruts — which, of course, only compounded the problem…

That ride disturbed me enough that I drove my car straight to the gym.

I’ve written, on more than one occasion, about how I am a complete germ-o-phobe, so the gym is kind of my worst nightmare as far as that goes. I can not stand touching the same weight machine handles that 147 other people have already touched already.

Today kind of pushed me over the edge though.

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Posted in Before and After, Living Room, Side Table | 18 Comments

Ruffled Lamp Shade Tutorial

Published April 22, 2013 | By Shanna

Happy Monday! I hope everyone had a great weekend!

I got a lot of work finished on my projects, and to prove it, I once again have sanded off all the skin on my thumb and I have a huge burn blister on my left pointer finger from the glue gun.

What can I say? I live a life of danger.

The child that wishes to remain anonymous and I spent a big chunk of the weekend on today’s project.

Remember this great old lamp I got at Goodwill awhile back? It was great except it was filthy and needed some polishing up. Continue reading →

Posted in Lighting, Living Room | 55 Comments

Stenciled Burlap Curtains

Published April 17, 2013 | By Shanna

Hope you guys are having a great day! It’s raining and dreary here in Wichita, but I thought I would show you what I was up to yesterday.

Remember the dining room paint disaster? Well the second redoux color has grown on me — which is good since Topher refuses to paint it a third time. When we moved into this house, I just threw some cheap curtains up in this room since I knew it would be a while before I got to decorating it.

Little did I know it would be SIX years later before I got around to it!

Shameful!

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Posted in Living Room | 7 Comments

Turquoise Nightstand Makeover Times Two

Published March 20, 2013 | By Shanna

It’s a cold, and soon to be wet, Spring Break here in Kansas — which, sadly, is pretty normal.

We are even supposed to have snow for the first day of Spring, so it looks like there will be no tanning-in-warmth-of-the-sun for the child that wishes to remain anonymous.

We did take a quick minivacation to Kansas City for a few days and took in some fun shopping and consumed a staggering amount calories including lots of pasta, bread and cupcakes. Looks like the kiddo and I will be spending the rest of spring break in the gym.

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Posted in Bedroom, Before and After, For Sale, Living Room, Side Table | 31 Comments

Happily Ever After? Probably Not.

Published March 12, 2013 | By Shanna

The child that wishes to remain anonymous and I just finished watching The Bachelor. I must say, it was anticlimactic. We thought out of all the girls, he chose the two most immature out of the entire bunch. So when it came down to choosing the final one, we didn’t really care.

I thought Lindsey just wanted to get married, and it didn’t really matter to whom (did you see the big honking tattoo on her foot when she stepped out of the limo? How did I miss that?).

Catherine is just in this for the adventure, and once it’s just another typical Friday night sitting around watching TV, she’ll bail. When Sean went to meet her family, they told him they didn’t think she was ready to get married, and when he left there he said he thought it went really well. What the?

Maybe that’s why he’s still single. He will just be Bachelor #67 … who can’t figure out why he’s still single.

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Posted in Before and After, Living Room | 9 Comments

Girls night

Published March 6, 2013 | By Shanna

I had a fun evening last night!

Three of my DIY friends and I got together for a lovely dinner at my friend Nicole‘s house — these were the girls that I had my booth with at the craft show. It’s so fun getting together to swap stories about the chaotic life a newbie blogger, running a business out of the house, and still trying to raise a family.

Don’t get me wrong, I know people that work outside of the home have crazy lives too, but it’s nice to have someone that shares in the same interests as you. People might know what the letters SEO stand for (Search Engine Optimization … if you’re interested), and that you can bounce new paint techniques off of. This is a talented group of ladies, and I am happy that we have come into each others’ lives.

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Posted in Bedroom, Before and After, Living Room, Side Table | 3 Comments

Tying Things Together

Published February 26, 2013 | By Shanna

It is still snowing here in Wichita. Shocking I know. Thankfully, in our area, it didn’t develop into the Blizzard of Oz they were predicting; however, I am desperately craving some sunshine.

Plus it takes paint a really looonng time to dry out in the garage when it is this cold.

On the upside, with all the school snow days, we’ve been able to catch-up on a few things. After finishing some work on a handful of projects, the unnamed child and I watched My Best Friend’s Wedding. We are now getting ready for the latest episodes of The Bachelor, but before that, I thought I would share a project I finished last weekend.

Now that the dining room is aqua, I am trying to tie that into my living room. I had an eggplant (K-State) purple and some jewel tones going on in there, but out with the old in with the new. The aqua dining room is to the left of the door which is to the left of this mirror. Are you with me so far? Continue reading →

Posted in Before and After, Living Room | 6 Comments

Roll With It

Published February 6, 2013 | By Shanna

While at a yard sale last summer, I came across something unusual. I found a heavy, dense cylinder with a raised pattern consisting of strange, symmetrical shapes and nubbins all over it. It had holes on each end and someone had attached a lamp base to the bottom.

Definitely something unique.

Intrigued, I asked the owner if she could tell me anything about these one-of-a-kind, heinous-yet-filled-with-potential lamps.

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Posted in Before and After, For Sale, Lighting, Living Room | 41 Comments

Million Dollar Babies

Published January 9, 2013 | By Shanna

I had to take our three dogs to the vet today.

First of all, do you know how hard it is to get three dogs into your car? Then to coral them into the vet office, where you have to wait 10 minutes? Now 10 minutes might not sound like a long time, but when you have three hysterical dogs wrapping their leashes around themselves (and around you), ten minutes is a loooonnnggg time.

Charlie had a problem with his eyes, so he needed drops and shots, but when they tried to take his blood, he pulled away and started bleeding everywhere — six pounds of fury. He ended-up having to wear a bandage around his leg for a few hours. Also, his paws have been itching quite a bit, so he needed to have some medicine squirted on them (something we need to continue doing daily).

Gracie has an ear infection, so they slathered her with some salve that smells suspiciously like Windex — and she now smells like a cross between Neosporin and window cleaner.

Lulu has been struggling with bad eye stains and has also been prone to urinary tract infections, so we suspected she needed a dose of antibiotics.

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Posted in Bedroom, Before and After, Living Room | 76 Comments

Restoration Redoux’s Top Ten Projects of the Year!!!!!

Published December 31, 2012 | By Shanna

Since we are about to start off a new year, I thought I would reflect on this year’s favorite posts.

When I first started reading other DIY blogs, I have to admit I was a bit intimidated. Every project they did looked so perfect. When there was a tutorial, a lot of them used terms or techniques I wasn’t familiar with, and so I would never try them.

I was searching for a blog that brought it down to a beginner’s level. I wanted one that would say “Hey, I’m no expert, but this is what did or didn’t work for me.” I didn’t just want to see perfect houses with their perfect lives. I wanted the “Hey, my husband’s been out of town, my house flooded, the kid is sick, and the house is a wreck … but here’s this easy project I completed in the middle of it all.” I wanted real life. I wanted someone to tell me that not every project they do turns out perfect, or that they had to do a technique 3 times before they got it right, and I wanted to learn from their experiences.

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Posted in Chair, Coffee Table, Desk, Dresser, Lighting, Living Room, Side Table | 30 Comments