Bread box to book box

Before

After

Peacock Wall Art

After-ORB spray paint and jewels

Before-$3.99 brass beauty

Guest bedroom

After-painted paneling on 3 walls cream.  Installed paintable wallpaper on focal wall and painted it paprika.

Before-orange paneling

Bar Light

As part of updating our wet bar, I wanted to add a more decorative light fixture.  After searching online for inspiration, I decided I needed a island pendant.  Of course the most inexpensive one I found that I liked was $150.  I held off from buying it to see if I could find something less expensive.  About a week later I found it!  

Here is what I started with.  The center is glass with a metal frame and it contains 3 light bulbs.  Functional but not pretty.

Here is what I found for $6 at Goodwill.  It is the perfect size and already the color I wanted.  The problem...I need to figure out how to cover the gaping hole that would be left from removing the old fixture.  The plate on the new fixture it actually larger than I found with most others but still wouldn't cut it.  So I decided the easiest fix was the leave the old fixture in place and just hang the pendant from it. 

I removed the two screws that they chains hang from on the ceiling plate and drilled two holes in the metal frame of the original fixture.  I removed the glass from the original fixture and replaced it with foam core poster board.  I painted the original fixture frame and foam core oil rubbed bronze with spray paint to match my new fixture.    

Once the paint was dry I installed the two screws into the holes I drilled into the original metal frame.  And then used a link from the chain on each screw to hang the new fixture.  Instead of using the expected glass shades, I used fabric lamp shades that match the living room to add color into the space.  A unique fixture for $30!

How to frame a builder grade mirror

After

Before
This bathroom originally had a small oval mirror so I replaced it with this builder grade mirror I bought from our last home.  It got damaged during the move on the bottom right corner.  So, I decided to build a frame to jazz it up and cover the imperfection.

I bought some polymer moulding because it is inexpensive and easy to work with.  I have learned from experience that it is not ideal (vs. real wood) for all applications because it damages easily.  But for a mirror frame that won't get as much abuse as something like base moulding, it is perfect!

I cut the moulding at a 45 degree angle by scoring it about 10 times with a utility knife.  Once it was scored half way through the thickness I was able to snap.  I cleaned up the edge with some sandpaper.

I used Loctite Power Grab to adhere the moulding directly to the mirror.  

The backsplash and wall held the bottom and left side piece in place while the adhesive dried.   I used 2 finishing nails to hold the right piece in place.  I removed them when the adhesive dried.

After the adhesive dried I caulked the seams and painted the primed pieces white.  The cost of  an 8ft piece of moulding was $9.  I only needed one piece for this mirror after using a couple of scraps from another project.

Wet bar

Elevated dog bowl