The sitting room is done minus a coffee table....

I finally have gotten my sitting room in pretty good shape. I did this entire room for just under $700 including the furniture! I got the leather tufted sofa (along with a matching wing chair and ottoman not shown in this picture) for $350 off of Craigslist! I was crazy excited over this find. The zebra chair I got at TJ Maxx for $100, the rug at Ross for $50 and the curtains at Ross for $30.The curtain rod was $16.99 also at Ross. The little blue bench was a Goodwill find at $7. The two blue couch pillows were $6 dollars a piece at a local consignment store. The bird cage pillow was $16.99 at TJ maxx. All of my high shelf decorations were $40 total from a guy on Craigslist. All of my wall art and candles came from my old house and I updated some of the frames with turquoise paint that I found in the garage when I moved in...

 I am still looking for a decent priced clear acrylic coffee table. I just love how they help to add a modern element to a room. I will be sure to keep you posted as I move forward.

Look below to see this room prior to moving in:

Oh how I love a good room redo! Next up is the Dining Room.

I thought this combo below from KOHLS would make a great bedroom.

ebay.com

A newly completed project! A wooden chest that I scored for free out of neighbors trash...(It was dark out... they still have no idea...)  See below for details of this make over.

The Blue Chest Finished

All this rage about chalk paint had me thinking...(like a lot of other DIY chicks)...how hard could this be to make my own for cheap? Well I must tell you that it was really easy and very cheap. I used a 7ounce color sample of Behr premium plus ultra (cost $2.95) and had the folks at HD custom match the color from a Martha Stewart paint card named algerian blue MSL118. I started by putting 2 and 1/3 ounces of plaster of paris in a plastic cup. Then I added a tiny bit of water until it was thin enough to stir but not as loose as paint. I mixed this all with my paint stick till smooth. Then I poured in my 7 ounce paint sample and stirred. Then it was time to get working on the very beat up chest that sits at the bottom of my daughters bed.

Chest before picture

After sanding down the nail polish marks a bit.

The stickers I used as reverse stencils.

The finished product!

Reverse stencil butterflies and birds.

After I was done applying two coats I let it dry overnight. The next day I applied minwax furniture wax in natural. Then I let it dry, buffed it out by hand and applied another coat. It was very beautiful.( I must tell you though that the warnings on the can kind of freaked me out.) Anyhow...  I must tell you that this blue is so beautiful! The natural wood space butterflies and birds are so cute! I will definitely use this technique again as well as my handmade chalk paint. This was very easy for a beginner like me.

A bench for our Dog Lilly

So we have had this bench for quite a while now. Our dog Lilly has used it for years to look out the living room window. It was a very dark and ratty tatty little stool with no personality. This bench was not pretty enough for a pooch princess such as our Lilly girl! So my DIY minnie me (AKA my 8 year old daughter) and I marched off to Home Depot to pick out some paint. We spotted this key lime colored spray paint by Rust-oleum (painters touch Ultra cover 2x) that would be sure to make our doggy drool (and brighten up our living room window as well). So we put on one coat of primer and two coats of paint. 1/2 a yard of Joann's fabric, cushions and some staples later and voila! a brand new puppy perch.

New adventures

Welcome to my "Painted Jewels"  blog! I am currently working on getting this blog up and running. If you have stopped by please come back. I am hoping to have some great things posted real soon! Until then...happy creating!