Category: Inside & Out

A look at what’s going on at the Home at the Quarter-Acre Wood

From Blustery to Brrrrr

From Blustery to Brrrrr

ColdRose

Like so much of the Midwest, we went from beautiful (but windy) warm yesterday to the deep freeze this morning. The warning of the chill had been out for a week, but we were still running around like there was a hurricane a comin’ yesterday afternoon and evening watering the grass one last time, winterizing the hoses and faucets, mending mailboxes (which had been hit for the third time in two years), snipping the remaining flowers still blooming outside and bringing in the geraniums that still had lots of life to bear.

Groceries? Eh, who wants to take their four-year old grocery shopping when we could be outside enjoying the very last bits of a blustery fall day. . . which means that becomes my chore while my son is in preschool. Maybe I’ll just strap the frozen goods to the top of the Jeep and run all kinds of errands without fear of a thaw.

These Windows Won’t Scream

These Windows Won’t Scream

Room1

 Today I’m sharing my newest décor addition to our living room, and as long as you don’t ask me the same question as my three year old — “Why do we have windows where there are no cracks?” — we’ll get along great.

I knew I wanted basic old windows as an accent for the large blank wall above my sofa, but finding the perfect size, condition and price proved to be a bit more difficult than I originally imagined. So when I found these babies at The Rusted Rabbit for $17.00 each, I grabbed them up and carted them home.

windowsA

 Why blank windows? Well, my focal fireplace wall is very busy with lots of photographs and pictures and I’m planning a photo collage for the opposite wall, so I thought simplicity here was best. I didn’t go with a mirror, because I didn’t really care for the reflection and there’s a large mirror in the entryway connected to this room. So there you have it; and here’s how I got it.

Materials:

  • black paint
  • pale bluish/gray paint
  •  off-white trim paint
  •  foam brushes
  •  electric palm sander with medium grit paper
  •  razor blade scraper
  •  dust mask
  •  old rags
  •  picture hangers
  •  Monkey Hooks

What I did:

I worked on the red side of the windows, because I didn’t want to see any of that color through the panes and that saved me from painting both sides. To begin, I donned my mask — as hot and uncomfortable as it can be breathing in any dust is not healthy, especially when you don’t know the paint history of old pieces.

With my palm sander, I sanded both windows to knock off the peeling paint and dirt. I then wiped down the pieces with a damp rag and gave them a final swipe with a dry rag. (Tip:  Old, holey socks are great for furniture refurbishing.)
window1

 Using the black paint and a foam brush, I not-so-strategically painted spots of the window. I didn’t cover the entire surface, because this was just the first of several coats.
window2

 After the black paint dried, I repeated the process with the bluish/gray paint (the accent color of my living room). I still did not cover the entire surface.
window3

 After the gray paint dried, I painted a coat of trim colored paint (to match the trim in the rest of my house) over the entire front surface of the window. This is probably a good time to point out that I didn’t paint the edges of the windows, because they were still a beautiful, natural raw wood. After this first coat of trim paint dried, I applied another whole coat to entirely cover any red paint spots still bleeding through in areas.
window4

 After the last coat of paint dried, the fun began. With my palm sander I started taking off layers of color until I started seeing the many different colors and raw wood reappear.

The red paint was the most durable and the least desirable, so after everything looked as weathered as I wanted, I wiped down the entire thing with a rag. I then dipped a clean rag in some of the gray paint and lightly wiped it on some of the red spots to tone it down a bit.
window5

 I then scraped off all the paint on the panes with my razor blade knife, attached two hanging loops to the back of each window and put them on the wall with Monkey Hooks (in my opinion, the best and easiest way to hang heavy items on your wall).
room2

 I love how these windows look and think this technique is a great way to decorate a large space without screaming for attention.

 

A Spot for Pots

A Spot for Pots

So I’m finally showing off a bit of my kitchen — the “just fine” kitchen I’ve lived in for the last two years. I have big plans for this little brown room, but it will take quite a bit of doing; hence, the fine brown kitchen continues to exist.

But for now, there is one cheery spot in this little room (other than my son’s craft projects and finger paint pictures posted on the fridge), and that is the pot rack hanging in my bay window. Now this old piece of rusty metal didn’t begin life as a spot for pots, but instead was born as a . . . well, I guess I don’t really know what its first life happened to be, but for me it has dutifully served as a pot rack in my last three homes.

potrack1potrack2

Mom picked up this little gem somewhere in her travels when she knew I was looking for a pot rack years ago. My husband has always been a bit perplexed that I’ve never painted it, stressed it or changed it in any way, but I think this cute little thing is simply perfect the way it is. With the aid of a few ceiling anchors and s-hooks this metal thingy-mabob has proved to be the perfect spot for my favorite pots.

Now when you wake up on a Saturday morning searching for the coffee and this is what you see. . . you know it must have been a really good week (or you were so swamped you never even thought of doing the dishes — but I like the other option better).

potrack3

Shared at:
Vintage Inspiration Link Party
Savvy Southern Style
We Call It Junkin

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