Remember that time that we were invited by that cutie Nate Berkus to be a part of one episode on his show?
Remember how we loved working with Nate and were so flattered when he invited us back for 3 more episodes?
Well those amazing experiences helped us realize a few things… 1- We love a good DIY challenge 2- We really enjoyed being part of a TV show 3- People said we're not half bad at it We are crazy, over the moon, still can't believe it ourselves, excited to announce that starting July 2013 we'll be the hosts of our very own DIY Show!!!
We're so glad that we can finally tell all of you! This has been such a hard secret to keep! So here's the deal… Our show is called,"Knock It Off" and we get to do exactly what we love… Get high end looks and amazing style without spending a fortune!! We're going to help viewers"knock off" those pricey styles the DIY way! Being on a show is great, but having a network believe in you enough to create an entire show around you is beyond amazing! We've noticed a bit of a trend in home shows… it's all huge makeovers with enormous budgets- fun to watch, but not something most people (including us) can do in their own homes. Knock It Off is the home show for REAL people- people with a budget- people who want to have an amazing home, but not break the bank- people that love simple, creative ideas- people like YOU!!
We'll have tons more details to share as our premiere gets closer, but for now, here are a few details What: Knock It OffWhere: Live Well Network (ABC/Disney)When: Starting July 7, 2013 Make sure to check your local listings for The Live Well Network- it's a national network. If you're not familiar with LWN, don't worry, you will be soon!! The team behind LWN is amazing and they're putting together so many cool, new shows! They just premiered a new vacation rental show called"Sweet Retreats" and we're loving it!
As we get further into the show, we'll be sure to fill you in on some fun behind the scenes peeks. We love our crew and it has been a blast to work with them!
Our official Knock It Off Facebook page is live we're ready for followers!! Of course our regular EC2 page will still be active, but if you want sneak peeks, exclusive show content projects and more, be sure to LIKE our Knock It Off page! Also, we'd be so thrilled if you'd help us spread the word! We want the world to know that Knock It Off is coming soon!! Thanks!We're sure you guys have some questions about the show, how it all went down, and more and we'd be super happy to answer them!! Leave a comment below. Thanks so much for taking this amazing journey with us!We are beyond excited and hope we make you all proud!!
PS- We'll still be posting regularly here on EC2, but don't panic if you see a tiny slow down. Monica is still working full-time teaching, so we do all of our Knock It Off work on the weekends. Our pace is a little intense until summer, but we're so excited about it all, that we hardly notice!! We have plenty of fun posts planned for the next two months!! PSS- The design team is working on the show graphics and we can't wait to be able to share those with all of you too!! Make sure you've liked the FB page so you'll know as soon as it's ready!!
Last Sunday night we gathered together with 200 of our family, friends, crew, and blog readers to celebrate the premiere episode of our new show Knock It Off. (To watch full episodes online, click HERE. To see all the projects featured on the show click HERE)
To say the party was awesome would be the understatement of the year! We know many of you (our amazing readers) live far away, so we wanted to share our night with you!
A huge thanks to Nicole from Expressions by Nicole Marie for doing all the photography for the night. She's a Philadelphia area photographer. Check out her website to see more of her work.
The dessert table was by far our favorite thing ever! Linda (more explanation on her later) put this together and it reflected us perfectly!
Paint cans, paint sticks, adorable chalkboards, and mini tools captured our DIY theme perfectly.
Yes, Linda made all of the desserts including the tool cookies. They were a huge hit!
Who knew paint sticks could be so perfect as food labels? She dipped the end in paint and then stamped on them. This would also be a great idea for an art themed birthday party!
The tools were plastic and spray painted silver to accessorize the table.
Every little detail was thought of- look at the mini Jess and Monica!! Janeny from Craft that Party made the adorable peg dolls with Knock It Off on them. They made adorable cake toppers! Janeny does all kinds of custom peg dolls that are crazy cute!
Check out the centerpieces… quart-sized paint cans filled with custom Knock It Off lollypops from Vintage Confections. The tool keychains were our little party favors- I think my kids thought the tools were the coolest thing ever!
Jess and I were at the main entrance to greet all of our guests (which was super fun to meet so many readers!!), then everyone got appetizers and dessert and finally it was time to watch the premiere. And what's a premiere without popcorn?
Linda used some paint swatches (with permission of course) to make a garland for the popcorn table.
And now, who is this Linda woman you ask?? She is a blog reader we met and got to know by doing a Knock It Off episode at her home- check her out in an upcoming kitchen episode! Linda owns Frog Prince Cake and Cookie Design and she also helps with party planning.
Linda is SO talented and we can't thank her enough for all her hard work. She thought of every detail and pulled everything off with perfect planning! If you have an event coming up and need amazing desserts or even help planning contact Linda! Also, be sure to LIKE her on Facebook and check out all of her awesome creations!
Check back on Monday when we're going to post on the decor of the party and where you can find all the fun items Linda used!
We also had a mini-Red Carpet leading to a Knock It Off Photo booth. The KIO logo decals came from Ten23 Designs- they do stock and custom design vinyl.
We're so happy that we have so many fun pics of our guests! Check out this weekend's episode to see this fun couple's bedroom transformation!
This couple were the stars of the premiere episode- they loved their dining room->playroom transformation! Plus, they're adorable!
Cute couple alert! Jess and Kev!
Me and my boys… (an no my hair isn't red, just looks like it in this light)
Baby brothers are always good for an extremely weird picture!
We're so thankful for fun, strong, supportive women in our lives!
Have we mentioned we have the BEST sponsors ever? This is Nancy from Bare Root Design Studio- We'll be sharing more about all the fun giveaways in another post.
And of course, we wouldn't want to be on this crazy journey with anyone else. Doing what we love and getting to do it together is the coolest thing ever!
We hope you're enjoying the show- if you've gotten a chance to check it out, we'd love to know what you think! Feel free to email us, leave a comment, or post on Facebook!
Sorry guys, no DIY project today, but I thought I'd share a little bit of what's going on in my world. We know you guys love project inspiration here on the blog, but we're always hearing from many of you that you like the real life stuff too! So, the big news in my world is that I've Retired!! Yup, 31 and Retired!
As of last Friday I'm no longer working in education- it feels strange even to type that! I gave my notice that I wouldn't be returning to the cyber school where I've worked for the last 5 years. Let me tell you that it wasn't an easy decision…
Here's how it all went down… starting in February, Jess and I began working for Knock It Off and the network was super awesome about my commitment to finishing out my school year. We worked almost every weekend from Feb.-June and we worked really long hours. I knew I was falling head over heels in love with our show and wanted to make it my full-time job! Who wouldn't want to work with their BFF, doing what they love, and getting paid to do it! Here's the catch… do you know how many people think it's totally legit to talk about how many shows fail?? A LOT. So, I was torn, take a risk and pursue this once in a lifetime opportunity or play it safe and just keep teaching. It sounds like a no brainer, but when you have 4 kids to think about, it wasn't easy.
Thankfully, the shows' producers were giving us nothing but positive feedback and finally Eric and I decided it was time to take a leap of faith and give 100% to this crazy new venture of Knock It Off! Can I tell you how relieved I was once I made the decision?? It was like about 2000 lbs off my shoulders.
Being a TV show host was never in a million years something I thought I'd do, but life doesn't always work out as we think it will. God has some crazy, whacked out plans. I have no idea where we'll be in 5 years, but I'm secretly hoping Jess and I will be in a 5th Season of Knock It Off!: ) Making a major life change can be scary, but we only have one shot at this life and I feel like with the support of my awesome family and friends this new venture is going to be awesome.
For now, I'm just so relieved to not be working two full-time jobs! Major props to my amazing husband and kids because the last three months took busy insanity to a whole new level. We're enjoying the simplicity of one job and spending a whole lot of family time together. So, that's what's new in my world. Have you ever had to make a crazy, life-changing decision? Do tell!
PS- Oh, I also bough a MAC this weekend- I'm loving it! Thanks to all of you that gave me input on Facebook! PSS- One of our favorite Sponsors, Moo&Puppy is having an amazing sale starting this weekend. She's where we get all of our awesome digital papers from! Make sure you check it out- start thinking of patterns you might want in the fall for back to school, Halloween, and then Christmas of course! Click HERE to check it out! Sale starts this weekend!
Jess and I had so much fun working on this episode of Knock It Off - We transformed this baby's nursery from crazy, blinding pink into a kid-friendly version of a loft space- we called it a"soft loft."
To check out the full video of this episode, click here One of the biggest projects in this space was painting the hardwood floors. The floors were pretty beat up and actually had planks going in all different directions. It took a little convincing, but eventually we got both homeowners on board with the idea of painting their hardwood.
The first step was to sand the floors. You need to get off any gloss, because the paint won't adhere to the floors if you don't. We rented our sander by the hour and it took less than an hour to do the whole room. $50 later we were all done!
Once we were gloss-free, we whitewashed the entire floor. We wanted to cool the tone down a bit- sometimes warm oak can seem a bit red-orange. We used 3 parts water to 1 part paint. This step goes by super fast using a roller and an extender pole. Just make sure you don't paint yourself into a corner! lol Start at the far side of the room and work towards the door!
After the whitewash had totally dried, we used painter's tape to mark off our pattern. I won't lie, this was tedious and almost made me poke my eyes out a few times. Of course we couldn't have just gone with a plain old pattern, we made ours cool and funky. Actually the taping was easy, but figuring out what color went where actually had me and 3 guys on our camera crew going nuts!: ) I think they thought I was losing it.
Here's the pattern we went with. It's just a combo of diamonds and lines, but it gives a fun, 3-D look and we like the combo of diamonds and some herringbone-ish arrows!
We used mini foam rollers for each of the colors. We use a coral, charcoal, greige, navy, and the whitewash color that was the base. The mix of colors is where it was tricky to get the pattern down. What I recommend is using a sticky note or little piece of painter's tape in each shape to make sure you have the colors laid out right before painting.
When each square had two coats, we had one awesome, show-stopping floor! It was so much better than the damaged hardwood and had to much more of an impact on the room!
There were tons of fun projects in this room! Check out our KIO DIY page to see more!
Click HERE to visit the Knock It Off homepage to watch this full episode! So, do tell… would you be on board with painting your old hardwood floors or not so much?
Have you ever looked at your house and thought, well… this is just what it has to be. I can't do much to change it. That's exactly what we heard from Terry, the homeowner of this episode of Knock It Off. I should mention that even though she wasn't liking much about her house, she had the most meticulously clean and cared for home- I want to be like her when I grow up! Now, back to the design- Terry had dark wood everywhere (which some peeps love, but it was dragging her down), wallpaper from almost every decade, and just not a whole lot going for them… Or so she thought!
See what I mean? It's just not the kind of room that inspires you to"Be Awesome" on a daily basis. So, Jess and I decided to take this room from dreary to cheery (yes slightly cheese ball-ish) with a really fun, bright color palette.
How's that for bright and cheery and just overall awesome?!?
We love the impact an accent wall can have and after we removed the circa 1970s wallpaper, we knew that a Royal Design Studios stencil was the way to go! We'll be posting on how to remove wallpaper (we know you want our tips and tricks!) and all about stenciling an accent wall. For now, just enjoy the eye candy!
Terry's family room connected directly to this tiny sunroom she uses as an office and study area. We didn't have money for new chairs, but we were able to build a bench seat (all we needed was wood and 1 piece of drywall! Tutorial coming soon!). We tossed on a few World Market pillows that were on major clearance and we had ourselves a super inviting sunroom! I literally had to pull Jess away from this comfy seat to keep working!
We worked with furniture Terry owned, like this gem and just gave it a new sassy swaga with some paint and two pieces of hardware. If you have a piece of furniture that seems beyond dated, just try giving it a bold color paint and see what happens- it's kind of like magic!
Some of Terry's furniture we used (like the adorable table we upcycled), but other things like the huge ottoman they had, had to go. Instead, we built our own table using 2x4s and 2x6s. This piece looks so expensive because of the X frame, but it's easy-peasy to build (tutorial coming soon!). I think my favorite thing from this episode was seeing how empowered Terry and Jesse felt. I sound all Dr. Phil, but I'm serious! They thought they just had to settle for how their house was, but now they know the awesome potential it has! Since we filmed that episode Terry has sent us pictures of other furniture they've upcycled, and she's painted her dining room walls and all the trim! Jess and I feel like proud Mamas! So, no, we can't come to every single reader's home (we wish we could!!), but hopefully by seeing what we're doing with homeowners on Knock It Off, you're feeling like you don't need to settle either! Here'a a little more before and after action for ya!
Hello adorable sunglasses pillow! Thanks Homegoods for always having amazing things to use in our makeovers!
See how the little sunroom flows right off the family room?
If you missed this episode, what are you waiting for? Click HERE to watch it online! We promise we'll get all these tutorials to you really soon! I mean with our amazing intern Diana, is there anything we can't do??: ) She's the best! What do you think of this makeover? Do you have one of those rooms in your house where you just feel stuck? Do Tell!
We were really excited when we heard about this screened in sunroom needed a makeover! We hadn't tackled an outdoor space yet for Knock It Off, and we were bursting with ideas. Here's where things started…
And here's where we ended up… We created a space that was fully comfortable, much more weather-proof, and filled with style- all on a small budget!
Soon we'll post tutorials for the sectional, plant wall, how to paint siding, and the painted rug, but for now, here's some eye candy from the makeover! This drink station is actually a fold down table. When it's not in use, you can attach it to the wall and it looks like artwork. It was incredibly simple to make and such a great thing to have for entertaining.
We wanted to set this space off as a room of it's own, so we went bold by painting stripes on the exterior siding. It added a huge pop of color and just made the space super cheery (and I know that sounds cheesy, but it's true!). The plant wall was much cheaper than large artwork and also helped with our goal of bringing the outside in!
We were excited that we not only gave the homeowners an entire sitting area with the sectional, but we were also able to give them a little dinette where they could enjoy a meal (or soft pretzel!) outside!
These solar lanterns are from Ikea and you should see how fun they look at night! We added so much mood lighting that we almost wished we could have revealed the room at night! Our producers told us night reveals are a no no: )
And the sectional… ahh we loved how this turned out!! We know many bloggers have built outdoor furniture, but this was our first attempt at it (we didn't mention that to the homeowners of course!!) We basically decided how large we wanted the sectional, did a lot of math to determine how big each piece should be, and then crossed our fingers. Amazingly, it was really simple to build once we had a plan! We'll write a full post on our build within the next week!
If you missed this episode, head over to The Live Well Network for our Knock It Off Page. You can watch the full episodes online HERE.
Stay tuned for all the tutorials coming to EC2 in the next week or so!! Do tell, what was your favorite part of this Sunroom Makeover?
This project was featured in an episode of our DIY show Knock It Off. To watch this episode online, click HERE.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When we started working on this Pirate themed bedroom, the homeowners told us their son totally wanted bunk beds. We knew we couldn't give them just any bunk beds, and outside of IKEA, really nice bunk beds can be crazy expensive! We decided to build our own bunks and to make it look like they're floating, just like something off of a ship! These floating bunk beds would work in a pirate room, nautical room, and any room at all if you tweaked the style a bit!
Building these bunk beds was a lot easier than they look! The first thing we needed to do was make all of our cuts. We used pine boards, but got 2x8s for the main frame so that they were nice and sturdy. There were no fancy angled cuts, so it made the process really easy!
We measured the size of our two mattresses- we had a twin and a double- and then made a simple box frame to fit each mattress and added 1x3 slats.
For the slats, we used regular screws, but for the frame we used RSS screws (Rugged Structural Strength), which are specially engineered to hold a lot of weight. Make sure you go with the RSS screws if you plan to make these- they're what make these bunks super secure! After staining the wood our very favorite grey stain (a custom mix we had made) it was time to attach it to the walls. Again we used RSS screws intended for heavy weights, and we attached it to the two walls. We found our studs with a stud finder and made sure we were attaching to them. That part is super important- we don't want our floating bunk beds to turn into falling bunk beds!: )
We were a little stumped at first about how to suspend the one floating corner, but after exploring all of our options, we went with pipe and a flange. They're strong, can hold a ton of weight, and fit with the style we were going for. We attached one flange to the bed and the other to the wall, again making sure we went into a stud.
We added a fun rope ladder, popped in the mattresses and had ourselves some AWESOME floating bunk beds! The extra addition of bedside lanterns brought the whole pirate bunk theme together! We were so excited with how these turned out! It's one of our favorite things when an idea we have in our heads actually turns out just how we pictured it!
To check out other posts about the projects in this room, check out our Knock It Off DIYs Page and to watch this episode Click HERE!
We're super excited (and honored) to be a part of Knocktoberfest 2013, the brainchild of the incredible Lindsay from Makely. Knocktoberfest is basically a blog event that features 25 awesome bloggers"knocking off" some of their favorite products. You know we love knock offs- duh, it's the name of our TV show!: ) If you're stopping over from Funky Junk Interiors, welcome! We're thrilled you're here. Donna is so cool, isn't she? And such a hard act to follow, but we're going to give it our best shot!
My entryway was in desperate need of a stylish, but functional table. Here's what I came up with!
It was inspired by this Pottery Barn Griffin Console Table that is…wait for it…$1099!! It's made of steel and a reclaimed wood slab, which is why it's mucho moolah, but I got the same look using wood I had on hand from other projects! I'm really happy with the way it turned out.
I used (4) 1x2 pieces of pine, (1) 2x12x12, dark walnut stain, gray paint and Rustoleum Oil Rubbed Bronze spray paint. Pottery Barn is generous enough to share the measurements for their table (thanks PB!), so we just tweaked them to fit the wood we had.
I started by measuring the lengths of wood that I needed.
We ended up cutting (4) pieces at 36 inches for the vertical legs, (4) at 48 inches for the horizontal pieces and (6) at 6 inches for the cross pieces. Side note: I love the chop saw. That's all.
Once we had all of our pieces cut, we made two boxes by attaching the vertical pieces to the horizontal pieces with the drill.
Then we attached the boxes with the 6 inch cross pieces at the bottom, in the middle (we measured halfway up the vertical pieces) and the top.
Then, using my trusty oil-rubbed bronze spray paint, I sprayed the legs of the table. The wood really sucked up the paint, so I had to do several light coats before I got the coverage I wanted.
After I attached the wood plank to the top of my base (we screwed up from the underside), I stained it with Rustoleum Dark Walnut stain. It wasn't exactly the color I was looking for so I watered down some gray paint and brushed that on and then wiped it off to get what I wanted.
I put it in it's place of honor by the front door and dressed it up a bit. Doesn't it look cute- and by cute, I mean super stylish?
Even though I didn't use real steel- sadly I don't have much time for welding- I think the legs look a lot like real metal!
And ok, I'll share one last picture since you've begged me.
Man, I just love knocking off cool stuff for way less money! If you love knock offs like we do, check out our TV Show"Knock It Off" You can watch full episodes online!
And, make sure you check out all of the awesome projects on the Knocktoberfest page, but before you do that, head over to visit Jackie from Teal and Lime to see what she came up with. And a huge thanks to Lindsay for including us!!
Today marks our first day back to work filming for Knock It Off! We've had 6 weeks off so that Jess could enjoy time off with Baby Bennett- I was the lucky one to get maternity leave too! We really enjoyed our break, but we're also super excited to get back to helping homeowners with some awesome room makeovers! Before we went on our break we tackled our first Formal Living Room makeover. We were super excited about the challenge because neither of us have particularly formal homes. If you haven't watched the episode- check it out HERE!
Here's where the room started off… The family had a TON of amazing pieces of furniture, but some of them were being hidden because there was a lot of stuff in the room.
We used a bright, yet sophisticated kelly green on the top portion of the walls.
And added a clean, crisp board and batten on the bottom two-thirds. And of course, we couldn't leave the black piano alone. It looks okay in pictures, but it was pretty beat up and needed some love… you know what that means… Yup! We painted it!! (painted piano haters everywhere are cursing us! lol)
Isn't that so much more fun? The homeowner's kids all play piano and they were excited to have their first lesson on their blue piano. I kinda wanted to be a fly on the wall when the piano teacher saw it for the first time. Mwhaha. Actually, I heard the blue color made the kids play so well that they're all headed to Julliard! From the homeowner's submission video we actually hardly noticed there was even a fireplace in the room! It was so covered up by furniture and accessories.
We narrowed down all the accessories and furniture, replaced the glass shelves with wooden ones, lined the back with fun zebra paper (we couldn't resist adding a fun pop) and then displayed some of their amazing plate collection on the freshly painted white wall.
We kept many furniture pieces the same, but others- like the one below- we changed. The wood dresser on the left is what we turned into a mini office on the right. We painted it, added new hardware, removed the bottom two drawers and it became the perfect place to keep all their office supplies. You'd never know that it's totally functional… well minus the two printers I suppose!
The room had a huge picture window, but it was really covered up by the sheer curtains. Sometimes people think sheers are great because they let in the light, but in this case, they were hiding so much!
We brought in 4 curtain panels (you can only see three), and even though they're solid, not sheer- the window looks so much larger! These curtains are IKEA curtains that we painted to have a custom feel. You can see how to paint your own curtains in this post.
We were so happy with this room- it might have been one of our favorites from Season 1! We can't wait to see what season 2 has to offer!! Check back tomorrow to see how we added the fun pop of gold on the piano wall…
Outdoor furniture can cost an arm and a leg. Since I'm not interested in selling my firstborn to afford nice furniture, we often build it ourselves- and we do the same thing with homeowners on Knock It Off. We wanted to build Barb and Derek a sectional for their sunroom that would have a high end feel and not the price tag.
Doesn't it look great in their finished sunroom?
We are huge fans of giving credit where credit is due- Ana White is the queen extraordinaire of all things DIY furniture! Her blog is full of FREE furniture plans and one of her projects inspired our outdoor sectional.
We didn't use Ana's plans exactly, because we wanted it a certain size for Derek and Barb's room, so we came up with our own version, but if you want to make one, you should follow her step by step directions with awesome pictures!
Ana's plans for an outdoor sectional can be found HERE and you can download a PDF with everything you'll need. A few tips for making one of your own… # 1- Have the right tools! You don't need anything extravagant to build this sectional, but a strong drill, a Kreg Jig, and a Chop Saw are essential.
A Kreg Jig is a great, inexpensive tool for building furniture. We used one when we built our farmhouse table, outdoor table, garage lockers and so much more.
It creates a pocket hole to hide your screws.
You can check out Kreg's website here (and no, this isn't sponsored, I just really love this tool!!) # 2- Have a friend to help! this is a two person job. There are lots of times where you'll need one person to hold and the other to attach something.
# 3- Use Exterior paint or Stain with a Sealant For our sectional, we used exterior paint, but watered it down a bit, so we could still see some of the wood grain. It's a little trick if you're in a time crunch. It spreads easily, like a stain, but you don't have to do an extra coat of sealant. We've learned lots of quick trips doing rooms for Knock It Off.
This project looks amazing and expensive, but it's really simple and a good first project if you're wanting to try your hand at building. All the cuts are straight and the plans are simple (you can thank Ana White for that!)
If you want to see how this sectional looks in the room, click HERE to watch the full episode online.
Hopefully this project encourages you to take that first step and give building your own furniture a try! It will save you a ton of money (maybe even your firstborn!!)
Yesterday we had a super fun time going pumpkin picking with our kids and a bunch of other families. Fall is just such a fun time and we're super thankful for the awesome people in our lives that we get to share all the fun with! Since I've had some weeks off from filming, I've actually been decorating my own house (GASP!). It's actually shocking because until now, I hadn't done a blessed thing since we started filming Knock It Off back in March! I wanted to do our front porch for kind of fall and halloween, but I didn't want to spend any money (or very little!) So, this is my porch using 99% items I already had! Check it out…
The only thing I had to buy was the burlap- I loved the pattern and it only cost me about $7.00! I painted the 31 directly onto the burlap… well, okay, tiny confession… I actually painted all over my granite too!! (Don't worry, it came off!)
I tweaked by tiered planters by adding mini pumpkins around the first tier.
And guess what… we actually grew these pumpkins and gourds! We didn't get as many from our crop as we have in the past, but it was enough to decorate with!
Then, I found a bag of leftover painted pallet wood from an episode of Knock It Off (check out the episode HERE) and decided to add a little pop of color to the porch.
I used some random things from around the house to add some halloween-ish flair!
This was one of those cardboard ring hands for jewelry displays- I painted it with a glossy black and hung a little chalkboard from it.
It's a wee bit non-traditional, but I love the pop of color and how it's halloween, yet still kinda fallish too!
This is an indoor pillow from IKEA, but our porch doesn't get too wet and it has been sitting around my house for a while.
The kids (and Eric) really wanted me to re-do our Frankenstein door from last year (check it out HERE), but I wanted to try something new… I went with a mummy!
I used some leftover thin white fabric and just wrapped it around the door and used some 3M tape to secure it to the back. Yeah, the back is a bit ugly, but the front is awesome! So, for under 10 bucks, our house is all set for October 31st!
So, What do you think of my almost free front porch decor?
When Jess and I saw this tiny galley kitchen, we knew we had to help! It's the kind of space that most people on a budget would call"hopeless" because it's really, really tiny and everything was dated. Thankfully, we really love a challenge, so we headed to Matt and Linda's to give them a colorful kitchen renovation for under $1200! To watch this full episode online, click HERE.
Matt and Linda are a great couple and this kitchen makeover meant a lot to them because they have a family of four using the kitchen, but also because Linda owns her own baking business out of their home.
She was the one responsible for all of the amazing desserts and decor at our premiere party. If you're local and in need of any desserts, you have to check her out. Frog Prince Cake & Cookie Design
Take a peek at these before pictures… does this look like a kitchen for a woman that spends a ton of a time cooking and baking?
Two things made the biggest difference in this space… Paint & Opening up the wall. Here's a rundown of all the changes we made to this space.
Painted Cabinets, Counters, & Appliances Paint is one of the least expensive and high impact things you can do to a space. We painted the cabinets a crisp, semi-gloss white and added new hardware. The counters were painted using a Rustoleum paint just for laminate. The appliances we coated with a stainless steel appliance spray paint. We'll give you the full rundown later this week. Flooring- The flooring project we did in this space could be one of my favorite DIYs of 2013 so far! I can't believe how amazing the effect was! We'll share all the details later this week on the blog, but who would have imagined that peel and stick vinyl tile could look this amazing!
Faux Subway Tile Renovating an entire kitchen for $1200 is tricky, so rather than installing subway tile we painted it! It took a LONG time, and I might have gotten a few grey hairs in the process, but it looked amazing in the end! (Full tutorial coming this week!)
Opening the Kitchen Wall This kitchen is tiny and we couldn't change the footprint, but we wanted it to feel bigger and less closed off from the rest of the house, so we removed the top half of the left wall. Instantly, the kitchen seemed twice the size!
Add Open Shelving Once the wall was down, we really didn't want to put the cabinets back up, because it would make the space seem closed off again. Instead, we purchased inexpensive Ikea floating shelves and displayed their dishes added lots of fun colorful accessories.
Create Additional Workspace We never like to waste anything, so rather than just getting rid of the cabinets we removed, we used them as base cabinets in the dining room. All we had to do was build a counter using inexpensive pine, and for almost no cost, we created a huge workspace and kept all of their storage!
Lighting and Window Mirror We added a fun pendant light and backed an old window with a mirror to add more light to the room. We love using old windows to decorate a space. This really helped make this tiny space feel larger!
DIY Bake Marquee Sign This was Linda's favorite project in the space. It was really simple to make, but added such a fun pop to the room! Jess will be back with the full tutorial later this week!
Fun Accessories Of course we added lots accessories to complete the space. We don't have a full source list, but most of the items were from Homegoods and Ikea! We really keep our eyes open for clearance and sale items!
This kitchen took a lot of hard work. All of the projects saved us big time budget-wise, but required some serious (wo)man hours. We were SO excited with how it turned out and actually, we were even more excited with how happy the homeowners were!
Our first Knock It Off kitchen renovation was a huge success and we can't wait to tackle another one! Kitchens are usually the most expensive rooms in a home, and to think we did an entire kitchen and dining room for about the cost some people spend just on countertops alone makes us pretty sure that Knocking It Off was the best route to go!! Check back later this week for all of the tutorials! To watch this full episode online, click HERE.
There are some DIY jobs that totally stink! I mean, we love DIYing and there are lots of fun projects, but some of them make me want to jab my eyes out! Stripping wallpaper used to be one of those jobs, but it's not anymore thanks to having the perfect removal secret!
When we arrived at Teri's house to start her makeover we knew that this wallpaper was one of the first jobs we had to tackle. It was giving me flashbacks of when I moved into our very first home. Every single room on the first floor was wallpapered- it took us forever to remove because we didn't know how to do it right!! Ready for our secret recipe???
Fabric softener and Water! That's all! So we used roughly one part fabric softener to two parts water mix it right in the sprayer and you're good to go! Here's how we tackle the job… #1- Peel off as much of the outer layer as possible. Sometimes wallpaper, especially the old stuff, has a plastic-like outer layer. You'll want to try and peel that off by hand first. That way, the liquid solution can soak into the paper better. Sometimes using a spackle knife helps too.
See here how the"beautiful" shiny palm tree part still remains… it almost looks like wall next to it, but don't be tricked- it's the paper and glue part of the wallpaper. You've gotta get that off too!
#2 Spray the wall with your fabric softener solution and scrape it off. Once the exterior layer is off, spray the wall with your solution, working in 3x3 sections. It's drippy and messy, so a drop cloth is probably a good idea. Basically you spray the wall really well- it should saturate the paper. Give it a minute or two to soak in, and then start scraping with your spackle knife. It should peel right off. If you have a stubborn spot, re-spray and give it a few minutes. The best part of this process is that is smells amazing and we ended up with really soft hands! lol.
After we used our super simple process for removing the wallpaper, we were able to stencil on this beauty! Doesn't it look SO much better than the palm trees??
To check out the rest of this room, click HERE. To watch this full episode of Knock It Off, click HERE So do tell, have you ever had to remove wallpaper? Got any good nightmarish stories?
This project was featured in an episode of our DIY show Knock It Off. To watch this episode online, click HERE.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Planked walls are the perfect touch for a coastal or nautical room (or in this case a pirate ship bedroom) but buying that much wood would cost a pretty penny! Instead, we chose to use paneling. We're known for being anti-panneling, but we're usually talking about 1970s paneling that screams"outdated basement!"This paneling, when hung correctly works like a charm!
Lowe's sells 8x4 panels of light greyish paneling that has a nice coastal feel to it.
The key to making sure it doesn't turn 70's granny basement, is installing the panels so the lines go horizontally. That's also what gives the nautical planked feeling. We measured our walls and outlets and switches so we could template and cut them out of the panels.
We used a circular saw to cut full lengths and a jigsaw to cut out the outlets and switches.
This is definitely a case of measure twice, cut once- so make sure you check and double check your measurements so that your panels install easily. To install them, we just used a nail gun and made sure we hit a few studs, and got all the edges secure.
You will have some seam lines where your panels meet, but it blends in nicely with the coastal feel. We also added rope along the seam between the ceiling and panels, but you could easily use crown molding if you want a more finished, less nautical look.
These planked walls made a huge impact on the space and were super inexpensive, at $15 per panel, it's way more affordable (and easier to install) than individual planks of wood.
To check out more about the other projects in this room, check out our Knock It Off DIYs Page and to watch this episode online Click HERE!
Wow, here we are just 2 years after we started East Coast Creative and we're celebrating 10,000 fans on Facebook! It has been quite a ride for us, from working with The Nate Show to now filming our own TV show Knock it Off! Honestly, we never could have imagined any of this and we couldn't have done any of it without the support of our amazing followers! To celebrate and thank all of you, we put together a pretty fantastic giveaway. We wish we could give each and every one of you a prize, but in the end there will only be three winners. Bummer, but awesome at the same time! The grand prize winner will receive a $200 gift card to Wayfair.com.
Whether you need a new bedroom set, coffee table, or a few picture frames, chances are Wayfair.com has what you're looking for. (I just ordered awesome wallpaper and can't wait for it to arrive!) They also have Halloween decor if you're still looking for fun ways to decorate, plus you can get a head start on your Christmas decor shopping as well! Be sure to enter below for your chance at winning a $200 gift card to Wayfair if you're in the market for new home decor.
The second winner will receive $50 to Royal Design Studio Stencils (you know how we love RDS stencils!), $50 to Gussy Sews Shop, and $35 to Vintage Vinyl Journals.
After receiving great feedback on the colorful stenciled accent wall we did on an episode of Knock it Off, we thought a Royal Design Studio Stencils gift card would be perfect for our readers. If you win you'll be able to create you're own accent wall, now don't forget to come back and share your design with us! At Gussy Sews Shop you'll find an array of adorable handmade tote bags, diaper bags, zip pouches that are great for your makeup and sunglasses and crocheted infinity cowl scarves like the one seen here. Be sure to follow along on Gussy's blog for new product, sales, and a behind the scenes look at her busy, but inspirational life that includes her hubby and adorable baby boy.
Do you have a bunch of unplayable vinyl records just sitting around? Well, local Pennsylvania artist Katie, over at Vintage Vinyl Journals, figured out how to repurpose her scratched collection and turned them into something creative and useful again. She has classics like Sinatra, Elvis, and the Beatles, but can also customize gifts if you're looking for newer artists like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, or Beyonce. Stop by her site for updates on new journals as well as local shows she'll be selling at.
Last, but certainly not least, the third winner will receive $50 to Frog Prince Cake & Cookie Design (she did all the desserts for our KIO Premiere Party!), a Mila Rose Designs headband that sells for $32.00, and $100 to HorseFeathers Gifts!
Remember Linda from Frog Prince Cake & Cookie Design, who made these amazing mini tool cookies for our premiere party and you might recognize her from an episode of Knock it Off — that's where we met her! Well, now she will make customized cookies for you if you win the $50 gift card to her cake and cookie shop! Please note, she is asking for 4 weeks notice on any order. Can you believe this cute floral headband from Mila Rose Designs is handmade? Melis has a beautiful collection of headbands, turbands, bows and more. She is currently running a sale for the month of October for Breast Cancer Awareness on a selection of pink bands and head scarves with 20% of the proceeds going to Susan G. Komen for the Cure. Whether your country chic or just looking for accessories that inspire you, HorseFeathers Gifts has what you're looking for. They are a mother daughter duo who hand create all of their unique designs and feature a selection of jewelry that gives back to amazing charities. My two daughters are crazy about these bracelets! We can't thank you enough for all of your support, from the very beginning days of our blog to now watching our TV show. We appreciate every comment, email, and like! Enter below for your chance to be one of three lucky winners, each will be selected randomly.
One thing to remember with Rafflecopter… you have to do each entry task before you can click the green button to earn the entry. Clicking the button doesn't LIKE the page for you. And we're super excited about some new IG followers, so be sure to get that extra entry!! Thanks! a Rafflecopter giveaway
I don't know about where you live, but here in PA, September was the most beautiful month ever! We had more perfect days than we could count! We just LOVE fall weather! We thought we'd look back over the month, because a whole lot of awesomeness was going on! September's Instagram… As you can see, I'm really enjoying my time off from filming! Our days have been spent going on field trips, picnics at the lake, girl's night out, and of course puppies!! Follow along my day to day on IG @EastCoastCreative
Jess' September revolved around the new little man on the scene- Bennett. Her days off have been filled with lots of family time, a date night with her hubs, and celebrating that her rings fit again! lol. Follow her on IG @Jess_EC2blog
Okay, now let's see what went down on the blog…
Reader Survey We had so much fun reading through all your comments and input for EC2. Definitely check out the stats and see who reads this little old blog. (PS you'll also learn that men are afraid to admit they love reading blogs! )
We shared the inside scoop on many of our Knock It Off Projects: Stencil Wall, How to Remove Wallpaper, Dreary to Cheery, Outdoor Sectional, If you've missed any episodes of our show… watch them here! Knock it Off: LiveWell Network
We were pretty excited that Silhouette offered to partner with us to give you guys a sweet deal on their cutting machines! Check out this post to get your Silhouette Discount
Perhaps the biggest accomplishment of this month… The Arrival of Baby Bennett! The little man made an early appearance and Jess and Kev are loving up every minute with him! He's totes adorbs people! Check out the adorable pics of Baby Bennett, And you MUST check out his awesome Nursery Reveal
We started a fun series called Right Now…What's Going on in Our World where I shared a behind the scenes peek at what's going on. And yes, it involves insane animal cuteness!! Check it out!
One of my favorite things this month was adding a New East Coast Creative Team Member! Diana is our new intern and she rocks socks!! Seriously, she is doing an amazing job, and it's been super good timing with Jess having the baby.
One majorly exciting milestone for us was having a nice, big feature of my piano in HGTV Mag. Check out the details: Painted Piano HGTV Magazine Feature, And if you want to see how I did it, check out our Painted Piano Project, and the Wood Shim Wall Art above it!
And if you didn't already know we are a tad crazy (well at least the Mangin family is), we went way, way outside the box with my How to Cut a Perfect Mohawk using Frog Tape post. He's still rockin' the 'hawk two months later! So, all-in-all, I think September was pretty stinkin' swell! Oh, but lest you think otherwise, October just might have it beat!! Here's a peek at what you can expect… -Blog redesign & we're moving!! (to Wordpress that is!) -10,000 Facebook Fan Celebration Giveaway! -We're visiting Martha (umm, yeah THE MARTHA!) in NYC -A Playroom Makeover on a budget -Fall Decorating ideas for indoors and out! As always, thanks for supporting EC2- we couldn't do it without you!
As you all know, my hubs and I have been DIYing a 600 square foot patio. It's been a huge job, but it's 99% done and we're loving it! (We've even put on an addition, but our lights were back ordered so I can't give the full reveal yet-boo!)
600 square feet is a lot of space to fill and I wasn't about to go out and buy all new furniture for the space. I've had this old record player hutch (if that's even such a thing) in my basement for about 7 years now- It was just waiting to be upcycled.
This baby used to house my in-laws old record player and then eventually a boombox. It's crazy to think that now that all of my music is on a 4 inch iPhone. Anyhow, if you need any convincing that this piece needed some upcycling, I've provided you with some evidence…
One of my favorite things to do, is to look at a piece of furniture and see past the"yuck" and into the potential it has. Remember when we upcycled this dresser into an Anthro Knock off.
They key to a good furniture upcycle is to believe that anything can be changed and set some goals!
To Upcycle this piece, I had a few goals: #1- Get rid of any and all scrolly things (I sorta loathe them) #2- Remove the speaker fabric #3- Paint it with outdoor paint #4- Add some bold details #5- Distress it (so I don't get mad when one of my 4 kids"distress" it for me) #6- Add new hardware
Get Rid of Scrolly Things Sometimes it's easy to think there are things you can't change about a piece, but it's amazing what you can do with a jigsaw! I just taped off a straight line and cut those scrolly babies off!
Remove Speaker Fabric I ripped off all of the lovely fabric and then had to take out the speakers. There was no magic to this step. I actually gave a hammer to my seven year old son and said,"bang away!"
I love when furniture has an industrial flair, so I cut plywood panels and covered them with chicken wire. It isn't the most fun to work with, but it's not impossible either.
Paint with Outdoor Paint This piece was originally intended to be used indoors, so I wanted to be sure to paint it with good quality outdoor paint. I really don't love taking tons of time painting furniture, so I used Valspar's Exterior Spray Paint. It took about 3 cans to do two coats on the whole piece.
Add Bold Details Since this piece was originally so traditional, I wanted to do something graphic and more modern as a detail. I thought a thin herringbone would do the trick.
Herringbone is super-simple! #1- Mark out your center line. Then, measure the width you want the stripes (I used 1") and make tick marks down both sides of the column. #2- Tape off your lines. The top of the left side slants down to one tick mark below on the right. #3- Paint & Remove your tape. Let it dry and repeat on the opposite side, but shift your painted section down one, so you have the"every other" look.
Distress the Piece You might notice that my lines weren't completely crisp in the herringbone. I was painting outside in 100 degree heat (blogger foul), but I also knew I was going to distress it anyhow. I'm not always into distressing, but I figured it was going to get banged up outside (and I have 4 kids that are pretty rough on furniture). To distress, first I went at it with a sander with 220 grit paper.
Have you ever had this problem? I ran out of the right size sanding pads. Oops! After sanding it down a bit, I gave the entire piece a good glazing. I actually began my glazing love affair by reading Living with Lindsay's blog (check her out it you haven't)! My favorite glaze is Martha's Black Coffee. As you can see, I slopped it on, rubbed it around, and then wiped it off. I wanted pretty solid coverage, so I used a good bit of glaze.
After adding some hardware she was all finished and ready for the patio!
I think she's much more my style now!
All that's missing now is some cool, outdoor artwork. I'd love to hear any ideas you have in a comment. We have some insanely creative readers! P.S. I have to mention that I'm so glad to have my BFF home from vacation! A week apart feels like such a long time to us! Now that she's home, Jess is working like a mad-woman on some cool projects for her dining room!!
We thought we'd start the week off with the results of our 2013 Blog Reader Survey! You guys get to learn about us daily here on the blog and by watching Knock It Off, but we rarely get the inside scoop on you, so reader surveys really excite us!
Alrighty then… let's get started shall we?
We were thrilled to see that so many of you have stuck around for a while!! So, if you're new here, you totally should keep visiting, all the cool kids are doing it!
Okay, so maybe we added the flirty part, but… we think it's true! It's actually still kinda weird to me that we're in the 30-45 range too! 31 is like really grown up!
So, not the Al Bundy, Married with Children demographic, but the cute little family with kids kind.
We definitely still want to appeal to the masses, but it's good to know that kid-friendly decor ideas, kid crafts, and family stuff works with you guys! To be completely honest, I read a lot of blogs and there are a few I LOVE and sometimes I want to emulate some of their style, but then I remember I have 4 kids and my house needs to be livable. So, we think it's a good thing that you guys are cool with kid-friendly!
Okay, so this made us laugh! We know that we have about 98% girl power readers, but I know at least 10 guys that read and comment. So, we're just going to assume men aren't fans of surveys (on a somewhat girly blog) Trust us, we gave our husbands a hard time for not completing the survey! The Nerve!!
Now for the MOST important part… What you want more of from EC2. 1- We had lots of requests for videos- we're cool with that! We think they're fun to make, usually they involve a lot of laughing and ridiculous jokes that only we think are funny! Sidenote: Anytime you want to watch us, go and watch some episodes of our TV show Knock It Off by clicking HERE- lol! We know that's not completely the same, but if you need an MJ (Monica/Jess) fix, it'll do. We're going to try to do some home tour videos too! The only tricky part is getting our homes clean enough to show you! 2- DIY Home Projects- well, the good news is that we're a home DIY blog, so yup, we've got that one covered! We plan to deliver a solid amount of our home projects, and sometimes we'll just put KIO tutorials on our DIY page, so we don't have constant show tutorials. Some upcoming rooms we'll be sharing are Baby Bennett's Room, My"new" Living Room, My Playroom Makeover, and Jess' porch! 3- LOTS of Posting! Did you notice we posted like 6 times last week?? It was semi- accidental, but still awesome! Our goal will be no less than 4x a week- sometimes 5, but that will just be a surprise! We're glad you like regular posting, because we like having regular readers! 4- Letting you into our Brains! This was an interesting request that came through many times… You guys want to know what the process looks like as we plan and work through a room. We love that idea!! Although, this weekend my planning process involved me walking around my house, going to the pantry for a snack and staring because I didn't know what I wanted, walking more around the house, and then back to the pantry. Repeat 10x. But seriously, we're excited to share inspiration boards and ideas with you- thanks for the suggestion!! We gathered lots more info, but this post might actually put you to sleep if I keep going. The bottom line is that, knowing more about YOU guys helps us to make this blog the best it can be! So thank you, thank you, thank you, for helping us out!! Here's a peek at what we have coming up for ya this week… Bennett's Room Update A Perfect for Fall Chicken Chili Recipe and More!!
If you missed the announcement about which nine contestants made it through to Round 2 of Creating with the Stars,click here! We're dying to see what those ladies come up with for this week's Knockoff theme!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We didn't think it could get much cooler than Sarah's 80's Chandelier to Glass Mirror project, but man, were we wrong! This light fixture is a show-stopper and we were both completely in awe of Sarah's creative vision for old fluorescent light covers. I'm not sure I would have ever thought of this project, but I wish I did, because it's stinkin' awesome. Kudos to you, Sarah!
Walking through Habitat ReStore I spotted a few egg crate diffusers — you know those grates that cover fluorescent lights in basements across the country. It's the last lighting fixture I would consider for a project, but once I got around my thoughts of drop ceilings, I began thinking how neat it would be to use the grid to create any square geometric shape that I wanted. At $2 each, what could I lose?
Browsing Pinterest I found this amazing light, Lolita — Shine by SHO and fell in love with the arms. It's lines are simple, but make a big impact! Perfect for a statement piece!
Once we decided on the shape, we measured and marked the edges with a permanent marker. The egg crate diffuser was cut into the shape of the arms with small clippers (clipping as close to the edge as possible).
Next we taped the bottom with painters tape and filled with plaster of paris (mixing it on the thinner side so that it would level itself at the top). You want it as level as possible to reduce sanding. Any excess was leveled off with a spackle knife.
Once firm, they were placed in the sun to fully cure (I ended up letting it sit overnight) Then excess was sanded off. Some of the squares fell out during sanding, so I used a little craft glue to get them back in place. Then I patched the imperfections with drywall spackle and sanded again once dry. This part was pretty messy — so I was definitely glad to be done with sanding! We wanted a simple fixture so that it wouldn't compete with the arms. Looking through thrift shops, all we could find were ones with curves (very '80s) we needed something more mid-century modern. So we ended up building our own electrical housing out of old chandelier parts, PVC, and brass tubing. Here's how we did it:
Honestly, this wasn't the easiest task, but definitely doable. It required modifying (mostly cutting holes in the PVC) so that all the parts would fit snugly. To assemble all of the pieces we used Gorilla Glue Epoxy
We followed the directions by mixing equal parts of the resin and the hardener (in small batches so it wouldn't harden too fast). This stuff worked SO well! It set up fairly quickly and was SUPER strong!
All parts were lightly sanded to remove any gloss, and dust was removed with a microfiber cloth. Then it was primed, and painted with Sherwin William Rivulet (2 coats).
We finished it off with 2 coats of Krylon Lacquer to give it a super glossy finish. Turning off the electricity first, we installed the light and held our breath as we flipped the switch. Success! It works!
We also installed trim and painted 8" stripes on the ceiling to frame the fixture.
and a gallery wall with a few fun prints, paintings, and some fabric mixed in!
I love this fun addition to our office area!
Here's the price breakdown: (2) Fluorescent diffusers: $4 (Habitat ReStore) Plaster of Paris: $5 (with coupon at Michaels) Gorilla Glue Epoxy: $5 Chandelier: $5 (Habitat ReStore) PVC parts: ~$3 (Home Depot) Brass parts: ~$10 (Ace Hardware) Total = $32 Not bad for a statement piece! So next time you see a plastic diffuser don't just pass it by, think about what you can create with it! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- You guys, Sarah has unbelievably good taste and mad DIY skills. I was browsing her blog and this Fabric-wrapped parsons table just jumped out at me! Would you believe that she made that with hollow-core doors??
and take a look at this tufted headboard with nailhead trim. She had to have bought that, right? Nope! she made the entire thing. Gorgeous!
Don't forget to check back tomorrow because one of YOU might be featured here on EC2! We've picked our favorite upcycle project from the link party and will share the tutorial for that project! Get excited, peeps! Also, start thinking about which project you want to link up for Round 2's link party theme: Knock Off! Beginning Tuesday, you can link up any knock-off project you've done in the last year for the chance to win more prizes and a feature here on our little ol' blog!
Ok, time for Round 2, and let's just say we're back and better than ever. Well, not us, but the contestants. Their knockoff projects are killer this week!
We can tell that they really want to win the awesome prizes from our fabulous sponsors this week! Let's just recap what they are, shall we?
1. $100 Gift Card toRoyal Design Studio. RDS is our go-to source for all of our stencil projects and our run on CWTS last year was where we were first introduced to them!
2. A pair of $120 Robert Allen pillows fromChic Decor Pillows These pillows are hand-made and absolutely gorgeous. We're sorta jealous that we don't get them.
3. Project featured byHomeTalk, which, come on, is kind of a big deal.
These are pretty fabulous prizes, but let's not forget that one contestant and their star partner will win the Grand Prize at the end of these four weeks! Woohoo!
$500 from Homes.Com $500 Gift Card to HomeGoods Project featured by HomeTalk
We are so impressed with how these ladies took these famous, really pricey items and put their own spin on them to make them unique and fabulous. Let's get this party started!
1. Anthro-inspired Wall Lamp
When I heard this week was knock-off week I knew immediately what I wanted to do. See, I've been seeing this lamp I wanted in the Anthropologie catalog. It makes my heart happy but…my budget doesn't allow for it. Well, could you afford $2800.00 for a lamp? I know, right?!? Ridiculous! So, I took it upon myself to figure out how to make this lamp accessible to mere peons. Or simply those that have a budget.
Granted, I had to change things up a bit. I used pipes more than wooden spindles. And Rub n Buff to achieve some of the finishes. I also wasn't about to do the whole thing in copper piping (have you seen the cost of copper pipes?) so I sprayed pvc pipe with copper paint and Rub n Buffed it to get a nice shiny look. All in all, I have to say that this ridiculously expensive lamp just got beat. Oh yeah Anthro…you hear me??…you are charging too much!
I'll agree that mine isn't exactly the same as Anthro's. True. But, let's see mine is…about 3% of the cost of their's. Okay, I'll make do with not exactly! Truthfully, I love this lamp. It's so quirky, fun, stylish, and feels like an art piece! I'm so glad this contest pushed me to create it, I'm in love with it!
2. Restoration Hardware-inspired Lighted Sign
When I think of knock off, I think copy cat (in a good way). I think of anything duplicated to the T, but is much less expensive. For this round, I chose not to duplicate, but rather I was inspired by this Restoration Hardware arrow and created something a little different. I'll tell ya… with the basic process, you can create just about anything you can imagine. A state, a letter, a number, a symbol, a phrase. It's totally up to you.
Perfect for outdoors.
Perfect for indoors.
3. Schumacher Zimba-inspired Drapes, Anthro-inspired bench and Cornice
I love designer fabric and furniture, but the high prices make it hard to justify (especially when I change my mind frequently!) I like to get a high end look at a fraction of the price by putting a little, time, effort, and creative thinking to work!
I've been obsessing over Schumacher Zimba fabric forever, it is absolute perfection for draperies! But, at about $100 a yard (that means about $300 just for ONE panel), it is definitely not in the budget. By creating my own stencil and buying pre-made white draperies from Ikea, I was able to get two panels for about $25!!
Ever since seeing one doubling as a window seat, I have been dying to build an upholstered bench ottoman. Inspired by Anthropologie's bench ottoman that costs $1,700, I built this ottoman for under $100. I cut costs by using an inexpensive comforter in lieu of foam, upholstry webbing as a top support, and a drapery panel for fabric. It's perfect for extra seating or a place to rest your feet.
Custom cornices can be very pricey especially when topping a large window. For this window, I wanted a 95" length which can cost over $850. I built this cornice using 1x12 and 1x6 to create the frame and a long tablecloth for fabric for under $25.
These three diy projects transformed this window area and cost me only $150. The time and effort was definitely worth it over paying over $3,000 for all of the originals! 4. Faux Chair Slipcover
It looks like a chair, but kinda like a slipcover too… Well, that's because it's a chair covered by a slipcover! Who knew this chair had such high ambitions? I did, that's who!
I saw this faux chair cover on this Danish website and I knew these covers would be perfect for my house. I drew a template and took it to a copy center to have it enlarged. Then I cut it out and appliqued each individual piece to a plain chair cover to create a faux chair on a slipcover.
It's a fun easy project that takes an afternoon. And now all my other chairs are a little jealous! I had fun making that plate wall, too. Just plates and a few vinyl birds. I think they're perfect with my"fancy, new" chairs!
5. Anthro-inspired Ikat Console
ANTHROPOLOGIE. I LOVE this store. I love the colors, the design, the textures, the ambiance, and inspiration that I always find there. When I saw this gorgeous ikat hand painted console, I knew it was the perfect piece of inspiration for my CWTS Knock off. (and at $1698--it's a great piece to knock off; )
Using a cabinet base from IKEA and an ikat stencil from Olive Leaf Stencils, I recreated the console, choosing a similar color palette, with some color adjustments to fit my own house and decor scheme.
They say"imitation is the sincerest form of flattery." Well, Anthro, you most certainly have mine. In honor of my love for this store, I styled the console using some Anthropologie treasures, in addition to some old wooden spools & candles, books and beautiful orange tulips. 6. Anthro-Inspired Sharpie Plate Art
Woo… week 2! After the crazy, hectic, eating-cereal-for-dinner kind of week last week was I was hoping for a"knockoff" project I could knockout quickly. Apparently, I don't know how to do that. I chose to knockoff Lost Arcadia By Molly Hatch sold by Anthropologie for $7,500! Since that's about $7,450 over my budget, I decided to see if it could be done on the cheap.
It's basically 30 plates hung together with a painted scene going across all the plates. At $7,500, that's $250 per plate. Luckily Dollar Tree sells white plates for a buck. And, since I was pretty sure painting freehand on the plates wasn't going to look all that great, I used a Sharpie and a projector. All you have to do is trace… easy.
I chose to trace a botanical print on my plates since I felt it looked a little more modern, but tried to keep the style and overall feel the same–very loose and all black and white. The plates are hung using Command Strips. At 5 feet wide and 6 feet tall, it makes quite the impact on the wall, not the bank account.
7. Horchow-inspired Mirrors
So, here we are at round 2 (Did you see all of the awesome projects in round 1?). This week's theme is Knock-Off, which I love. I'm cheap frugal, and just can't spend the money that some of the big name websites want for their stuff. Plus, I'm sure my husband would think I'm certifiably insane if I bought a $300 vase or $100 throw pillow. But just because I'm designing on a budget doesn't mean that I can't have nice things, right?
I saw these mirrors over at Horchow, and loved them. I'm one of those ladies that thinks that you can never have enough mirrors in your house. Mirrors to make your room look bigger. Mirrors to reflect light and brighten up your space. Mirrors to make sure you don't have food in your teeth. The more, the merrier. But $1095 shipped? Yikes. No thank you. But looking at them, I figured I could make them. A quick stop at Hobby Lobby for the wooden plates and big mirror, a not so quick stop by Home Depot for the rope and other supplies, and a call and stop by the local mirror place for the smaller mirror size that I couldn't find pre-cut anywhere. Then it was time to go home to paint, sand and assemble.
I did have to get creative with the black caps that Horchow has on the ends of their ropes. My solution? PVC end caps, simply spray painted black. Some black BBQ & Stove spray paint on the metal (which is holding nicely as long as you don't bang around the metal) and voila! Drill a hole in the PVC, hot glue the hooks and rope, and BOOM.
Slightly smaller, slightly lighter in color, but perfectly me. 8. West Elm-inspired Wood Tile Dresser It didn't take long for me to figure out what I wanted to do for this week's challenge. I've been lusting after this wood-tiled dresser from West Elm for months and months, but at a whopping $900, it just wasn't going to happen. So, this challenge gave me the perfect excuse to try and re-create it on my own! And I think it turned out pretty awesome.
I found this gorgeous antique dresser at a local flea market and knew it would be the perfect piece for this project. It's not quite as modern as the original, but it has some nice clean lines and wooden casters, which make me a little weak in the knees. With a fresh coat of paint, some DIY-ed hardware, and a whole bunch of whitewashed, hand-cut wood tiles it looks pretty dang close to the original.
Really, if I'm being honest, I like my version just a little bit better.; -) 9. Anthro-inspired Duvet When I first saw the Corin Duvet from Anthropologie, I fell in love with its details. Hand stitching, gathered fabric, pure gorgeousness. But it also came with a price tag that was way out of my league.
I wanted this look for our room but didn't want to spend $400 (and I didn't want to sew anything) so I bought a white duvet cover and a bottle of puffy paint. PUFFY PAINT?! Yes, I said puffy paint.
I used a picture of the original and a steady hand to paint the details onto my duvet.
But don't worry, the look is nothing like those cheesy tee shirts you used to make!; )
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It's time to vote! You guys have a ridiculously hard job- we don't envy you a bit! You can only vote one time, but you can vote for your favorite 3 projects. In order to vote, please LIKE EC2 on Facebook. Thanks! Thanks for voting! Check back tomorrow to see Monica's Knockoff that saved her over $1500! Did you miss the Round 1 projects? You can see them all here.Want to know the results of Round 1?Click here!
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