Upholstered headboard

Back in 2007 I went from having a full sized bed to a queen sized bed. I had a white wicker headboard for the full size bed but didn't have one for the queen. Since I just spent a ton of money on a mattress, I didn't have spare money at the time for a new heardboard.

It became one of those things that I just never got around to getting but always wanted one. I started to do research and I saw that you could make a headboard out of plywood and fabric. I planned on doing that but then my cousin was redoing his bedroom and getting rid of his headboard.

It was just a basic wooden headboard. It's nice but my furniture is white wicker (I picked it out when I was 15 and it's held up well). So the color aspect didn't work but I then realized just like I planned to cover the plywood, I could cover the wooden headboard!


It was very easy to do. All it took was a trip (or two really) to Joann Fabric's. I picked out some fabric and bought foam and also batting. I ended up returning the foam though and just used the batting. I borrowed a staple gun from my dad and set about making my headboard!

I laid the headboard down and arranged the batting over it and then stretched it to the back side, flipped the headboard over and started stapling away. The headboard is made of very heavy, very sturdy wood so the staples didn't always want to go in. I went through a lot of them. Once all the batting was set, I did the same with the fabric. I made sure to pull it really tight and get any wrinkles out. You can see how I still have a few wrinkles at the bottom edge but once I put it up in my room you can't see them. You can attach the headboard to the bed frame or even to the wall but I was just able to lean it against the wall and put the bed against it. 

Overall, it took me a very short time to do this headboard and I'm very happy with it.

Another great thing about having a headboard is that it provides some more insulation. My walls do not have much and in the winter time I can always feel the cold through the wall. This winter, not so much!

Temporary Backsplash

With the new range and floor I wanted to also update my backsplash as well. The overall look of my kitchen I want is red, white and black. I don't have good true before pictures before I did some of the work but it was all very yellow. Almond colored appliances, off white counters, floor, backsplash and table. I'm not sure if that was their original color or if some of it has to do with the previous owner being a HEAVY smoker and it is the nicotine stain yellow to everything.

Since I just put a lot of money into the kitchen with the new oven and the new floor I didn't have money for an updated backsplash. Plus I have done research into updating it and it's a weird laminate that is on the wall behind the oven and the sink and the best way to replace it is to remove it. That looks a bit difficult and could involve dry wall repair from underneath which I do not have the time or money to right now.

After browsing Pinterest and various home blogs I found that some people use contact paper for their back splash. I searched a lot of stores and was unable to find contact paper or shelf liner that I liked.

I did find some temporary wall paper at Target that I thought could work. I found a blog by someone who used this and it seemed to work well for her. Originally I was looking for a chevron pattern and Target did have one but the pattern itself seemed a bit too big. Plus I was worried about lining up the design perfectly.

Target did have a nice grey looking temporary wall paper so I opted for that. I am SO happy that I chose the grey. The reason being is it made it much easier to put up and not worry about which way the paper was facing.

It wasn't too difficult to put up. I cleaned surface first and then measured, then went ahead peeling and sticking. The difficult part is making sure you cut straight and to get rid of as many bubbles as possible.

Here you can see a before and after. The first picture was originally taken to show the difference with the old range hood but you can see the back splash area as well. 

Here is the new range and hood and the gray back splash. You can also see my portable dishwasher. It's on wheels and you wheel it to the middle of the kitchen, pull out a hose and hook it up to the facet at your kitchen sink. It has never worked since I lived in the house but it's good counter space. Eventually that will be replaced. 

I also put it up around the kitchen sink area. I think it pulls the room together much nicer. You can see a few wrinkles and bubbles that I need to smooth out. The area around the oven seemed to go on much easier than the sink. The nice thing about this is it doesn't have to be permanent. If and when we have the money we can update it in a nicer fashion.

For now it's a nice cheap ($30 for a roll) update to the kitchen.

Flooring is done!

This week I decided to tackle a fairly large project. My kitchen floor! I've lived in my home for almost 10 years and I've always hated it. No matter how hard I cleaned it, it never looked clean. I even tried Cinderella style washing it on my hands on knees and it just was disgusting.

The cost of flooring though always intimidated me. Last year I was ready to take the plunge and get new flooring but then my cousin mentioned possibly redoing her kitchen and letting me buy her oven and fridge off of her. They are maybe 5 years old compared to my 20+ year old appliances. My husband (fiance at the time) said why don't we wait for new flooring until we get the new appliances.

Due to life and other circumstances they never renovated their kitchen and two weeks ago our oven broke. I'm probably one of the few people who rejoiced when her oven broke. It meant I could get rid of the eye sore and get a new one! This also meant it was time to rethink flooring again. I couldn't afford to get really expensive flooring but after a lot of research I found TrafficMaster Ceramica flooring. I read reviews on the Home Depot website. I searched google, message boards and found various blogs with other people who use it and I made my decision to buy it.

The blogs that I read really helped with my decision and they are partly why I decided to start my own blog. Reading real people's experiences and their successes, failures, mistakes, fixes, etc are what help.

So here is mine. Many people were able to put the Ceramica right on top of their current floor. It is made specifically to be able to do this. My floor however needed to be ripped up. It had two layers already and it was cracked and peeling in some areas.

Here is my before photo.

I started by ripping up the tile. This involved a floor scraper but that was gouging the wood underneath so I just used a scraper and a mallet and hammered away at it. It came up slowly but it worked.

Finally it was all up but the floor itself was sticky from the adhesive. I used towels soaked in warm water and set them briefly on the floor to help get the adhesive up and then scraped it with the scraper. There was also one area that had the wood up a bit. This was going to pose a problem.

Other than that one area, the rest of the floor was good and level. Now here's my mistake and the one thing I wish I'd done differently. I should have either ripped up that wood and replaced it with new underlayment. Or I could have try just getting some good nails with decent heads on them and nail it down then try some floor leveler. I did neither of these things. The guy at home depot who saw my photo, told me to buy floor level compound and just put that on and then sand it. That's what I did but it never was level with the old floor. So unfortunately the tile that I laid there seems to be raised a bit and I'm not sure how well it's going to stick. That is not a fault of the product but of a first time do it yourselfer.

Lots of reviews said to do chalk lines but my kitchen is not rectangle and I just wasn't able to do that. I was able to pretty much follow the lines on the floor though and it turned out pretty well. I started with full tiles right by my living room carpet. I wanted a full tile and not an edge. I was able to take it all the way to the back and the last tile I only had to cut about an inch off so it looks like an almost full tile. I lucked out very well all around with this.

Cutting the tiles isn't too hard. Score it a few times with a sharp utility knife and then bend it. A few times I even used some snipper things I found in a tool box and cut it. The weird edges around the door frame were the hardest ones but it was like fitting a puzzle piece.

Here is some progress with the tiles laid down without the grout. Once I got them all laid I was able to grout right away. I used Simple Pre-Mixed grout in Alabaster. This was my first time grouting and it was very easy! I did about 4-5 tiles a a time and you just put it in the grooves and joints. Then you wipe it up with a sponge. Circular motions work and it takes a few times rinsing your sponge.

Here is the final picture!

As a first time tiler this was a very easy project. It was labor intensive and my body is sore but definitely worth it. I don't know how long it will last or hold up but I've read follow up comments and blogs on other people and it's been a couple years and people are still happy. I hope to be able to come back in a couple years and say I'm still very happy!

Also, here's what started all this. The oven.

I'm so happy to be rid of the yellowed appliance. I also put some temporary wall paper from Target as a back splash. I read a lot about contact paper and temporary wall paper as back splashs so I threw this up before the oven was delivered. I will do a post on that with more photos of it around the sink too.