This past Sunday I attended a baby shower for my older sister at her mother-in-law's house in Lititz, PA. If you don't know where Lititz is, it's right in beautiful Lancaster County. Honestly, if I had to move out of Bucks County, you could find me in Lancaster. I really love the charm and old-world feel. Anyway, Mrs. W. (the mom-in-law) has lived in the same house her entire life, with the exception of only six years. It's a lovely old farmhouse that has undergone several renovations. One such renovation occurred in the seventies, and transformed the house into one with wood paneling and shag carpet. In the nineties, however, the W's started making some changes to update the look, while trying to preserve the good bones of the farmhouse. This wasn't easy, since the previous renovation had gotten rid of the great deep-silled windows and some of the other important historical pieces. That brings us to three years ago, when Mrs. W. decided she had enough with the small, enclosed rooms and decided she would knock down some walls to form what is now her gorgeous kitchen. This is where my kitchen envy comes in. Just take a look for yourselves:
The house has high ceilings- I don't know, maybe 10 feet high- which just adds to the spaciousness of the kitchen. I couldn't get enough of the stove area, the hood above it and the mantle/shelf mounted to the hood. And the backsplash is beautiful as well.
There are soooo many cabinets, so there's plenty of room to store all your dinnerware, your neighbor's dinnerware, their friend's china and a small child. Also, check out the double wall ovens! {Swoon} I have no need for double ovens since I try my hardest to never have to bake anything, but it's still swoon-worthy as far as nice kitchens go.
On the opposite wall of the work area and across the kitchen, there are these gorgeous built-ins. They honesetly look like big, beautiful pieces of furniture.
Here's a glimpse of the entire length of the kitchen, including the 10 foot-ish island in the middle.
You may wonder why I would take a picture of the sink, but did you happen to notice that it's copper??!! So cool!
The entry has a copper-paneling ceiling which was fabulous, as well. I had to stop taking pictures because I feared that the W family might think I was crazy and I didn't want to be the cause of any issues between my sister and their in-laws. That would not be good.
On a side note, check out these adorable cupcakes that my sister's sister-in-law made for the baby shower. She made chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter icing and vanilla cupcakes with white chocolate icing, both of which were delicious. The cupcake toppers came from here and were the perfect addition since they were going with a safari-theme.
Too cute!
Have you ever wanted to take pictures of other people's houses, or am I the only strange one?
Phew! The contestants and their Star partners really set the bar high this week with their Round 1 projects. Almost every one of you commented about how hard it was to choose only three favorites and we felt that pain right along with you! We know that you're not really here to read lots of mumbo jumbo from us, so let's get to those results, shall we? And the Winner of Round 1 is…
We loved this project and think it was executed so well! Nice work Karianne!! Can't wait to see what you'll come up with for Round 2. Let's see who else made it to Round 2… 2. Sarah {While They Snooze} & Sarah {Thrifty Decor Chick} Trash Pile Made Trendy Table
3. Sarah {Sarah M. Dorsey Designs} & Brooke {All Things Thrifty} Statement Piece Light Fixture
4. Amanda {Love and Renovations} and Beckie {Infarrantly Creative} Televison Stand Upcycled to a Bar
5. Jane {Life, Crafts & Whatever} & Jamielyn {I Heart Naptime} Tin Tile Mirror
6. Melissa {5 foot 12 Creations} & Sherry {Young House Love} Lab Station Turned Dining Room Buffet
7. Nancy {Owen's Olivia} & Kari {Ucreate} Dresser Turned Modern Sandbox
8. Ann Marie {White House, Black Shutters} & Shaunna {Perfectly Imperfect} Floor Board Kitchen Island
9. Janel {Nellie Bellie} & Brittany {Pretty Handy Girl} Frumpy to On Fire, Fireplace
We're so sorry to say goodbye to the following three contestants! Boo, we hate this part. Thanks for all your hard work and excellent projects this week, girls! 10. Jourdan and Ashley {Little Yellow Barn} & Beth {Home Stories A to Z} Man Chairs
12. Nat and Holly {My Sisters Suitcase} and Jane {Tatertots & Jello} Little League Lounger
To keep things legit, here are the official results!
I'm sure she doesn't need a reminder, but here's what Karianne won this week! Round 1 Prize Package: $50 worth of 31 Gifts products $60 worth of Twysted Yarn products $70 of Henle Headbands products $100 Blog Re-design from 733 Design (who designed all the CWTS logos!) Project featured by HomeTalk We also want to thank Homes.com for being the Official Grand Sponsor of Creating with the Stars!
Congratulations to the nine moving on! You have your work cut out for you, for sure! Next week's theme is KNOCKOFF!
The winner of Round 2 will win the following AWESOME prizes: (to see the entire prize package, click here) The Week 2 Winner will receive: $100 Gift Card to Royal Design Studio A pair of $120 Robert Allen pillows from Chic Decor Pillows Project featured by HomeTalk
Voting for Round 2 will begin on Monday, March 18th at 12 AM EST. Don't forget that you can link up your favorite upcycle through this Friday at 10 PM EST right here for the chance to win prizes and be featured here on EC2! Finally, we're super excited because: 1. Tomorrow we'll be sharing Karianne's tutorial for her awesome bike clock. 2. On Friday you'll get to see how Sarah put together that amazing trendy tire table and, 3. Saturday, Sarah will be giving us the step-by-step process behind that insane light fixture! Be sure to come on back for loads of inspiration starting tomorrow!!
H ere's a little sneak peek before I show a few before photos.
BEFORE #1 This was our original dining room (also referred to as the toll booth). It was long and narrow with a single homemade bay window. Unfortunately, this is the only before picture I have of the original room. It measured about 6 feet by 10 feet.
BEFORE #2 This is before picture #2. The new structure was reconfigured to 12 ' x 16' and french doors were added at the transition between the kitchen and new dining room. Shortly after completing this round of renovations (which was two years ago now), we knew that we should have put windows on the east wall instead of the dining cabinet (there wasn't room for both). Luckily, we had the foresight to have the contractors put a header in that wall so that we could opt for windows down the road....good thing. And here are the afters....
We recently added those two new windows on the east wall, which lends a whole new feeling to the room. As you can see, the dining cabinet no longer fit, so instead we hung a nice long mirror.
The antique table is a family piece from my Grandmother's house that I grew up with. It isn't what I would have typically chosen for this room but it has sentimental value and it really is a beautiful piece. We added two leaves to create a farmhouse style feel rather than the square we originally set up.
To create a less cluttered and more open feel, I decided to place chairs on two sides rather than all four. And to lighten the weight of the table, and because I really love the look of Parson chairs, I found slipcovers to fit over the armless dining chairs we had up in the guest house. This was the cheapest way I could attain the Parson chair look without the $500 plus price tag.
We also added a sea grass rug (relocated from the living room as it was too small for that space). I also decided to add curtain sheers to frame the french doors going out to the dining patio.
Because most of the wall space in this room is either windows or french doors, there isn't much space to hang art work. So I decided to lean a piece up against the mirror as I love art in rooms that isn't expected. To learn more about the portrait, go here. I kept the walls white because I really wanted the room to feel light and fresh. I also wanted the outside to come in so I didn't want colors to distract from that. I'll accent with different things to transition through the seasons (fall decorating is so close!). Total expense of decorating, not including the two new Marvin windows: $334.98 JC Penny sheers were on sale for $69.99 a pair (I bought two pairs) Allen and Roth curtain rod and hardware from Lowe's ($95) Shabby Chic slipcovers from Target ($24.99 each) Everything else we repurposed from other rooms. I've included our expenses because an important part of my design philosophy has always been to decorate within a reasonable budget. In this case, we had already spent a lot of money on the new windows, so my goal was to be as creative as possible for the least cost. I hope that you like our 'new' dining room!
We thought Round 1 was pretty impressive, but Round 2 officially blew us away. Apparently all of blogland was pretty excited too, because we had a bajillion of votes over the last two days (yes, that's the official number, FYI). This round was the closest one yet, with 1st and 2nd place only separated by around 20 votes the entire time! Let's see who ended up on top!
The Winner of Round 2 {Knockoff} is… 1. Amanda { Love and Renovations } and Beckie { Infarrantly Creative } West Elm-inspired Wood Tile Dresser
We thought this project was amazing and it's actually been on our list of"Knockoffs to Try" for a while now! Thanks, Amanda, for showing us how it's done! Congratulations on the Round 2 Win! Who else made it to Round 3, you ask? 2. Sarah { While They Snooze } & Sarah { Thrifty Decor Chick } Anthropologie-inspired Sharpie Plate Art
We want to give Sarah a shout out for her project too. It was incredible and so many of you loved it and voted for it, too! Congrats Sarah! 3. Melissa { 5 foot 12 Creations } & Sherry { Young House Love } Anthro-inspired Ikat Console
4. Sarah { Sarah M. Dorsey Designs } & Brooke { All Things Thrifty } Schumacher Zimba-inspired Drapes, Anthro-inspired Bench, Custom Cornice
Ok, so now we totally know how Len, Carrie-Ann Inaba and Bruno feel on Dancing with the Stars each week…saying goodbye to talented people is HARD!! We're sorry to let the next three incredible DIYer's go, but wish them tons of success with their blogs. We've loved having them! 7. Jane { Life, Crafts & Whatever } & Jamielyn { I Heart Naptime } Horchow-inspired Mirrors
8. Ann Marie { White House, Black Shutters } & Shaunna { Perfectly Imperfect } Anthro-inspired Duvet
Once again, to keep things legit, here are the official results…
And here's a reminder of the awesome prize package that Amanda won from this round…
$100 Gift Card to Royal Design Studio A pair of $120 Robert Allen pillows from Chic Decor Pillows Project featured by HomeTalk
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Congratulations to the 6 contestants moving on! Are you ready to get your paint on? We hope so, because Round 3's theme is Paint!
Round 3 is our Semi-Finals Round, so this is when things really get serious! This week both the Contestant and their Star partner are in it to win it! The Semi-Finals Winner will receive: $500 Gift Card to Home Depot (Contestant & Blog Star!!) $100 worth of Martha Stewart supplies from Plaid Crafts $125 Gift Card to Lucent Lampworks Project featured by HomeTalk
Voting for Round 3 will begin on Monday March 25th at 12AM EST. Don't forget that you can link up your own Knockoffs through this Friday at 10PM EST…the winner will get an awesome prize pack and have their tutorial featured here on EC2 this weekend. Click here to link up! Make sure you check back throughout the week! Thurs, Fri, and Sat we'll have the full tutorials for the top three projects and Sunday we'll share the Link Up winner's tutorial! Thanks so much for making this contest awesome so far!
C reating a healthy home has been a priority of ours since we began our renovations five years ago. Our motivation was due, in part, to the fact that this was a home in which we hoped to raise children. So naturally, creating the healthiest nursery possible was also main priority for us. It motivated all of our choices, from furniture and wall treatments, down to the rug. These are the choices we made:
The Cribs: We chose the Da Vinci Jenny Lind crib because it is made with wood harvested from sustainably-managed forests. It's also lead and phthalate free, and stained in a non-toxic finish. Also, the teething rail is BPA free. The Crib Mattresses: We chose Naturepedic organic mattresses. They offer a non-toxic waterproof surface that includes 100% food-grade polyethylene. They are also hypoallergenic, filled with organic cotton filling. The Crib Sheets: We chose 100% organic cotton crib sheets.
The Armoire: It was important to us to not purchase any furniture for the nursery that was made with manufactured wood, that may contain glues, adhesives or other compounds which may off-gas over time. Antique furniture provides this safeguard, as well as the opportunity to recycle beautifully-crafted pieces made long ago.
Mike created shelves for the armoire using solid tongue and groove pine floor planks. My Mom then covered them in 100% cotton fabric.
Nursing Chair: We selected the IKEA Jenny Lund slipcovered arm chair for nursing. I was really nervous about bringing a new chair into our nursery, as most new furniture is constructed with manufactured woods that may off-gas. So, I was happy to learn that IKEA strictly procures wood from sustainably-managed forests, and their pressed wood products comply with low formaldehyde standards. The Rug: We narrowed down our rug choices quite fast in knowing that we would only buy something that was made with natural fibers (with no rubber or plastic backing). We initially looked for 100% wool rugs, but ended up ordering a 100% jute braided rug for its style and shape. It's also reversible, so it should stand the test of time.
Wall Treatments: Like the rest of our house, the nursery was painted using Benjamin Moore's no-VOC line. Everything from the ceiling and the mouldings, to the doors and walls, were painted with the color Simply White in either flat or semi-gloss finishes. Choosing white for the plaster walls was a natural choice for me as it was the color of my childhood room, from birth until I left for college. White also has the added benefit of having less pigment added to the mix (pigments most often contain VOCs). I did just recently learn however that Benjamin Moore is one of the very few lines that uses VOC-free pigments. Thus their VOC-free line truly is VOC-free, no matter what color one chooses.
When Mike created the paneled wainscoting, he used solid wood mouldings, assembled and secured in place with a finish nail gun instead of glue.
The Closet: To create extra storage, we relocated the antique dresser from the guest house. We preferred using the dresser for the same reason that we chose the antique armoire. Also in the closet are the toys and books in waiting....until the babies are older. Purchasing two cribs, two mattresses, two car seats, clothing, diapers, etc.... added up as you can imagine. So we focused our budget on the things we knew we would need from birth through the first several months. Any toys and books we have were ours from childhood, or were given to us by family and friends. When we do start buying toys, we will focus on brands that offer phthalate-, BPA- and lead-free products.
Baby clothes: We have been very lucky in that we have received lovely hand-me downs from my friend Karen, and my brother Steven and his wife Marna, who have a son and two sweet daughters. The above knit sweater was my adorable nephew's.
This sweet outfit is a combination of a hand-me down (the white cotton onesie) from my niece and a purchase from a baby consignment store (the 100% organic cotton jumper with pink velvet piping). I've found consignment stores to be a wonderful resource for beautiful clothing, often hardly worn, at much lower prices than retail (organic knit jumper was $11). I hope that everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving holiday! I managed to stay on my feet long enough to make the pie crust... I spent the rest of the day on the couch nodding off and listening to the bustle of kitchen activity made by my mom and Mike. Happy Holiday Season to everyone! xo
This is so exciting, isn't it? We're almost into the final round of our first ever Creating with the Stars contest which is crazy! We know that the contestants are putting in hours and hours of work on their projects each week so that they are the best they possibly can be, and we just have to say that the caliber of their projects is blog star-level!
This week was Sponsored by The Home Depot, and isn't it amazing what a huge impact a little paint can have? Ah-mazing! Here's a little reminder of the epic prizes our Round 3 winner will receive… $500 Gift Card to Home Depot (Contestant & Blog Star!!) $100 worth of Martha Stewart supplies from Plaid Crafts $125 Gift Card to Lucent Lampworks Project featured by HomeTalk
The votes were neck and neck again this week, with only a few votes separating the top two spots. Only three contestants move on to the finals, so the pressure is really on! Ok, enough of our chatting, let's get those results!
1. Amanda { Love and Renovations } and Beckie { Infarrantly Creative } Painted Wall Mural and Dresser
This is Amanda's second week in a row in the top spot…for good reason! You just can't ignore that yellow dresser (Monica has a similar painted dresser in her dining room!) and set against that black wall, it's just stunning! Congrats again, Amanda!
2. Melissa { 5 foot 12 Creations } & Sherry { Young House Love }
Painted Chalkboard with Map and Games
3. Sarah { Sarah M. Dorsey Designs } & Brooke { All Things Thrifty }
Painted Desk and Accent Wall using Custom Stencils
Ack, this is just so hard to do (does it ever get easier?!!), but we have to say goodbye to these three amazingly talented women. 4. Sarah { While They Snooze } & Sarah { Thrifty Decor Chick }
Painted Map Coffee Table
5. Nancy { Owen's Olivia } & Kari { Ucreate } Painted Couch featuring a Custom Horse Stencil
Seriously, we could cry about having to let Nancy, Sarah and Janel go! You guys are welcome back here anytime. And, now we know who to call when we need something awesome painted! Here's the voting break down… the first and second place projects were separated by under 50 votes!! Insane!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ok, it's the finals now, people- the last chance these bloggers have to show what they're made of!
The prizes are stinkin' awesome this round (and the Blog star gets them too!) The Grand Prize Winners (Contestant and Blog Star) will each receive: $500 from Homes.Com $500 Gift Card to HomeGoods Project featured by HomeTalk
Next week the challenge is Home Decor- so anything (even a room makeover) is fair game! Tomorrow we'll be sharing the tutorial for that amazing mural and yellow dresser! We'll be so sad when this contest is over and we don't have these incredible tutorials on our blog anymore!
If you missed all the amazing projects in the first three weeks of CWTS, be sure to check them out below!
Round 1 Projects & Winners Round 2 Projects & Winners Ro und 3 Projects & Winners Round 4 Projects Before we do anything else, we want to say thank you to all of our sponsors! This fabulous contest was made possible by them and we are ever so grateful! Also, a HUGE shout out to Homes.com and HomeGoods for sponsoring the Grand Prize round this week! You guys are the best! The Grand Prize Winning Team will EACH receive: $500 from Homes.Com $500 Gift Card to HomeGoods Project featured by HomeTalk
We just can't keep you guys waiting in suspense any longer! Without further ado… The Grand Prize Winner of The 1st Annual Creating with the Stars Contest is…
1. Sarah { Sarah M. Dorsey Designs } & Brooke { All Things Thrifty }
(Sarah, her hubs, and cute pup!) Colorful, Texture-filled Bedroom Makeover
Congratulations Sarah and Brooke! Sarah has delivered such amazing projects throughout this contest. Let's take a look back, shall we? Round 1: Statement Light Fixture
Round 2: Custom Cornice, Drapes and Bench
Round 3: Painted Secretary Desk and Accent Wall
We have LOVED having Sarah in the contest and have been continually inspired by her. Well done, girl! Make sure you keep up with all of Sarah's DIY awesomeness- Follow her on Facebook!
Melissa and Amanda have been awesome competitors too! They worked hard, stretched their DIY limits and came up with some super fun and stylish projects. Thanks for being a part of the contest, ladies! We also want to thank Beckie and Sherry for being amazing blog stars! Their partners loved working with them, and we already love them (duh!)
2. Melissa { 5 foot 12 Creations } & Sherry { Young House Love } Guest Room Makeover
3. Amanda { Love and Renovations } and Beckie { Infarrantly Creative } Reading Room Makeover
Here's the official vote tally…
This contest has been absolutely amazing and we're so thankful to all of you for playing along! Tomorrow we'll share how Sarah put her room together and then Friday we have a fun wrap up post for ya… think David Letterman top ten meets Monica and Jess. We know… you can hardly wait right?!? We'll also be sharing our favorite home decor project from the link up party (you have until Friday at 10 PM EST to link up right here). The good stuff just keeps on coming!: )
How many times can we say we were floored by the Round 2 projects? Not enough, apparently, because, people, those projects were incredible. If you missed the Round 2 projects, you can see all of themright here. To see the bloggers you chose to move on to Round 3,click here. We're sure these girls are already working hard on their Paint challenge this week- ack! We're loving the suspense.: )
We have been anxiously awaiting the tutorial for this wood-tiled dresser since we first laid eyes on it. I'm not sure you guys realize this, but the contestants get about 3-4 days to complete their projects, photograph them and submit them to us. That is a crazy turnaround, but you would never know it with this one! It was so well-executed and came out beautifully. Love it! --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Is it awkward for me to admit that I knew I would be knocking off this dresser before I even got into this competition? I've been in love with it for a while now, and I remember a week or so before I even found out I was in the competition I stumbled on it again and my husband Corey and I decided right then and there that if we got in and if there was a knockoff round, we'd be doing this guy.
(The inspiration — via West Elm) Luckily, we did, and there was, so here we are! Like I said, this dresser has been on my mind for a while because it's just so beautiful, but if you know me at all you know I'm not the type to spend $900 on a piece of furniture. It's just not gonna happen. So, Corey and I set out to re-create this dresser as affordably as possible, all while putting our own little spin on it. What we used:
An antique dresser
Scrap 1x4 wood — we used maybe one board total
White paint and Gray paint
Gorilla glue (or any wood glue you like)
3/4" dowel rods (for drawer pulls)
1/2" dowel rod (for drawer pulls)
We started off with this beautiful antique dresser that we found at a local flea market. We loved the clean lines, the tall frame, and (of course!) those casters. Drool. Our style is a pretty good mix of modern and more traditional/vintage furniture, so we liked that this would lead to a slightly less sleek and modern look than the original, which fits right in with the rest of our house. It was basically perfect.
The first step for us was figuring out a way to inset the drawers a bit so that when we added the wood tiles they wouldn't stick out. We wanted the entire front of the dresser to be flush (the West Elm one has the drawers slightly inset, but we thought a flush look would be a bit more fitting for our dresser). Our original plan was to just move the drawer slides back a few inches in the dresser, which would hopefully make the drawers sit the way we wanted them, but thankfully it was an even easier fix than that with this particular dresser — there were little metal pieces on the inside of the drawers that stopped them from going all the way in. All we had to do was pull those out and make some new stoppers with some little dowel rods and we were good to go.
Next up was cutting all of our wood tiles. Let me warn you — this project isn't for the faint of heart…it took forever! But, I think the end result is totally worth it, so I won't complain. For the tiles we took a few 1x4 boards that we had already laying around and cut them down to 1/4" thick tiles. It was the quickest way we could think of to do it, and it also meant that the end-grain of the wood would be showing, which added some fun texture. It was a pretty quick job to cut the tiles — we just used a chop saw with a piece of wood clamped to it to make sure all of the tiles were the same size. Our stack quickly grew, and soon enough we had a giant pile of wood tiles.
One they were all cut, we gave them a quick whitewash. I wanted a bit of variety within the tiles, so we did a whitewash on some of them and a gray wash on others. It was a subtle difference, but it makes the end product look a bit more random and varied, which I like.
Once our tiles were all dried and ready to go, it was time to attach them to the drawers. We didn't want to nail them in because then we'd have a billion different nail holes to fill, so we just used some wood glue. We glued 'em on in a subway pattern and then clamped a board to the drawer while it dried to ensure they all stuck. As the tiles got wet with the glue, some of them started to bow, so clamping it down also kept that to a minimum. We let it all dry together for about 12 hours (just to be sure!) then removed the clamps, sanded down the edges, and that was all there was to it!
The last step was creating the drawer pulls — we knew we wanted ones similar to the inspiration piece, but we also knew that actually finding and buying those pulls would be challenging (not to mention expensive!) so, we decided to make our own! Corey bought a 3/4" dowel, drilled two holes in the back, and inserted a small, 1/2" dowel piece. We then spray painted the whole thing with some oil-rubbed bronze spray paint, and screwed 'em in!
Once we put it all together, it looked a little something like this:
And that, my friends, is how we created our own version of West Elm's wood-tiled dresser — and under $200, to boot! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Isn't that fabulous?! An amazing knock off that even West Elm would be impressed by.: ) We were peeking around at Amanda's blog and found these adorable DIY Animal Magnets. Another knockoff, and we are obsessed.
This Dresser turned Media Console isn't too shabby either, is it?
Check back tomorrow because we're pulling a Young House Love on ya, and posting TWICE!! We'll be sharing the tutorials for the super fun Anthro-inspired plate wall and the Anthro Ikat Console!! Also, do you want to be a part of Creating with the Stars yourself? You can link up your favorite knock off project right here until tonight at 10 PM EST for a chance to win a great prize package and be featured on EC2!
