Where Problems Become Details, My Own Creative Space

 

My husband and I are always tearing something apart in our house and as I prepare to take on a ceiling and lighting job in our kitchen, next week, I'm reflecting on our last renovation. You may or may not know this about me; I'm a creative mess. I love to make things. All things. Anything! 

 

See!?! Total Creative Mess!!   I've been scrapbooking for years. I'm always working on one project or another and until recently, I was working in a pretty uninspiring space. A space that had almost no storage and a giant bed in the middle of it. A bed I covered with layouts, ribbons, glue, scissors. Heaven forbid I'd have a guest. I'd have to hide everything away! Lose momentum on projects, or lose the projects all together! It came from this frustration that my husband and I decided to upgrade my creative space. 

 

The basement bedroom has a tiny window. An itty bitty window that allows minimal light into a rather large basement room. There was a huge, oversized closet in the room that inefficiently housed most of my supplies. It jutted out from the wall and covered half of the window. As enlarging the window was not an option at this point, my husband decided our best approach was to remove the closet. Which might seem nuts but it actually worked out quite well once we dealt with headaches related to the design of the space. The closet was placed where it was, as it hid the duct work and air vents that ran from one end of house to the other. We opted to box the duct work in and wall paper the wall as a feature to house my desk and the IKEA storage unit we purchased for my supplies. 

 

There was a support post built into one of the closet walls. We structurally needed to leave that where it was and opted to distress pallet boards to build it in. It became a feature as well. A problem became a detail. 

 

These details or problems add character to a space and working in an older home, you find problems around every corner!

 

My Scrapbooking Room still needed to be a functional guest room, so we added a beautiful Murphy Bed, from Costco's Bestar Line. Alongside the bed we ordered and installed storage units, from the same line.  This was truly the best solution. I now have the entire floor space for large projects (like my current one...painting and distressing a dining table and chairs). 

 

 

This project worked out very well. I now have an inspiring space with plenty of room to move around! A place to sleep and some extra storage for my guests. Just what I needed!!!

I'll keep you all posted with future adventures in my old house...full of problems...oops! I mean details! 

Thanks for reading!!! Please feel free to comment below with any questions, concerns, or if you just liked this Big Idea!!!

When Life Gives You Pallets...Make Signs, Really Beautiful, Decorative Signs.

Rustic Wedding Décor

Our mothers have all encouraged us at one time or another, to “make lemonade.”  What I am proposing is most definitely not to add a bunch of extra and unnecessary sugar to our lives (and a pinch of salt, if you don’t already know that, its truly the secret to a really spectacular pitcher of lemonade). I’m proposing we look around, find useful objects and make something beautiful.  We have all received a large delivery at one time or another, you’ve seen them abandoned in back alleys, I’m talking about pallets.  Pallets are full of useful wood.  They are naturally aged, attractive and very splintery! Instead of throwing them onto a fire pit, which would be far less labour intense and may actually lead to some unintended fun, give them a quick sand and pull out your power tools.

This Summer, I had the opportunity to help out my wonderful neighbours with some rustic wedding décor.  Where did we start?  Pallets.  Every wedding needs signage and lots of it!  Parking directions, seating arrangements and heart warming quotes to set the mood.  Pallets were an extremely affordable option.    Affordable, as in, FREE! 

I don’t know if you’ve ever lifted a pallet before but they’re heavy and large.  For this handy stuff, I enlisted the help of my creative, strong and helpful husband and our neighbour, the husband to be.  We knew our signs had to stand up to the elements.  You never know what kind of weather a wedding day will bring!  They had to be sturdy enough to not blow over in the wind, survive a hail storm, deal with sweltering heat…let’s just say, the local weather is unpredictable in August and this was an outdoor wedding.

My hubby and I took some time to break the pallets down.  You’re going to need a crowbar and a strong back!  A full size pallet was simply too large for our signs. We broke down one pallet completely to salvage wood and cut another down the middle, next to the support beam, to form the actual sign.  Many of your boards will break, depending on the dimensions of your sign, even a broken board may be useful.  They typically break on the end joints as opposed to the middle of the board.  Trim the ends, measure and mark with a square and cut to your required length.  

My absolute favourite tip?  SAVE ALL OF YOUR NAILS!!  These can be reused.  A rusty nail is exactly the look you desire.  A rusty nail that you bend over and smash into your sign, is even better!

Once your boards are cut, it’s time to rebuild your sign! Try to create a closeness between your boards, this will make your sign more legible.  A typical pallet has large gaps between wooden boards, so remove a few and add filler boards from your secondary pallet.  Choose interesting boards for a rustic project, knots and bark are your friend.

Though it looks lovely, as is, the wedding colours were yellow and blue.  I couldn’t resist the opportunity to distress!

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint is my favourite paint to work with!!  I used her Old White and English Yellow. I also used Minwax Water Based Wood Stain in Grey.

I used a dry brush to apply grey stain and white and yellow chalk paint. I added all three colours, one after another with no dry time in between.  I applied colours with quick brush strokes; making sure to apply heavily to the corners and edges, avoiding the centre of the boards, which were reserved for writing.  I used a few different brush sizes…and my bare hands.

If you’re hands don’t look like this when you’re done, you’re probably doing it wrong.  Kidding!  I’m a TOTAL MESS – Every creative project, I end up looking like the I was the project!  Glitter, glue, paint, googly eyes; if I’m using a product, guaranteed I’ll be digging it out from under nails for a week!

Final step of distressing….a quick sand to blend your colours, now you’re ready for words!!! When you write your message on your sign, be sure to use a pencil first.  Pencil can always be erased or sanded off at a later date.  Plan your message and your font, in accordance with the spacing on your pallet sign.  It needs to be very easy to read.  Choose a tall font when you have wide boards and smaller font with narrower boards.  If you don’t like the look of your writing, or if you do not have a steady hand, use a stencil!!

 I used white chalk paint to write my message.  It goes on thick, it’s bright and easy to read from a distance.  When you’re ready to commit to your penciled in message, start with an angled brush.  The beauty of an angled brush is that your wording will appear straighter, more angular and neater.  Start with thin lines and build them outward to the thickness you desire.  Allow some time for your first coat to dry, before cutting in with a fine detail brush.  I outlined my lettering with my detail brush, this makes an overall difference in the quality of your font and the darkness of your letters.

It is very important to note that sometimes imperfections will appear as interest.  However, if you’re unhappy with a result, sand the surface and start over!  This is your project, have fun!  If you’re pleased with your work, that will shine through.  Anyone looking at it will admire your style and talent.

  

Please comment below if you have any questions or if you just liked this Big Idea!!