Main bedroom - Bedside cupboards painted with Annie Sloan chalk paint and transfers used from Walibri Art Glass.

These 2 old cupboards has been in Moms house forever and I really love the look of them but felt they are in need of a make over to suit the main bedroom style. The colors of  Annie Sloan chalk paint that I have decided to use in the main bedroom is: Old white, French Linen and Henrietta ( I love pink) but I don't want a lot of the color in the room as I think my hubby would not be so pleased with me.

 The side tables are made from just some sort of ply wood, nothing great but I knew I could turn it into something awesome!

So I grab my paint brush and started painting - First I did the French Linen on all the side borders of the cupboard and while I was waiting for it to dry I let my imagination run....... I did not want it JUST painted, I wanted it to make a statement.

 I found these polymer rose I bought some time ago and painted them with the Henrietta and waxed them...... and then I knew exactly what these cupboards should look like.

At my business (Walibri Art Glass) we do a range of image transfers and I once got this image from the Graphics Fairy that looks like an old french letter. So I printed the image on out transfer papers and let it dry as for now the paint was dry on the cupboard and I could continue to paint the Old white on the front of the door, sides of the cupboard and decided to also paint a block in the middle on the top.

 Once all the paint was dry I then waxed it with Annie Sloan clear and dark wax first before I applied the transfer. Why? Well the transfer is see through and I wanted the vintage look that the wax gave me to shine through it. How do you apply the transfer? Easy very easy!!! Our transfers you cut out, let it lie in luke warm water for a while en then it just slide of the backing paper. You can apply it to any smooth surface. Once the transfer was applied on the front of the door and all the bubbles gently wiped out underneath it I then sealed it with some Modge Podge. It still looked kinda bland so I did another transfer with roses on....... problem ..... the roses was orange!! I grabbed the Henrietta and painted the roses pink!!! I then stuck the polymere roses on top and added the hardware.

What can I say.......... I totally LOVE the bedside cupboards!!!

Thanks to Annie Sloan paint and Walibri's transfers the bed side cupboards have now got a new life.

Drop me a mail if you would like to get your hands on some of these transfers. 

Next I will be doing a blog on those nasty brown build in cupboards in the main bedroom. Till then keep smiling and keep those paint brushes moving!!!

Thanks to Annie Sloan up cycling a piece of furniture has never been easier.

Main bedroom - Floor tiles called Scrapwood

What a task........ 2 people with 2 different ideas on what the tiles should look like. First our choice was a stunning wood look like tile from  #CTM  BUT........ the price did not suit our budget. So after months of debating on which tile to get and searching for hours on end on the internet we took a trip to our local CTM.

All we know is that we wanted a A grade tile as this was going to be the house we are going to grow old in and we did not want to re tile in a couple of years down the line.

Lucky for us our builder could also lie the tiles but if was up to me to do the grouting myself. Being a glass artist who has done many mosaic pieces in my life time and being very fussy with grouting work I took the task on with a smile.

The tiles we decides on was brand new on the market and we fell in love with it the minute we saw it. Looked like old worn wood but it is a ceramic tile........ easy to clean and maintain.

 The tile is called "Scrapwood" in the Kilimanjaro range.

 Don't you just love the look of the tiles as well???

All done and installed - grouting done and I must admit we both love the look!!!

After all of this grouting I really need a break from sitting on my bum on a floor so I will be painting our bedside cupboards with #AnnieSloan chalk paint.  

Main bedroom - Using Annie Sloan Chalk paints on my wall lights.

So why did I decide to use chalk paint on my projects?

Well after reading up about the chalk paint I was firstly very curious, does it really work and can you apply it on just about anything?  Follow my blog to see the outcome of all the different chalk paints that I will be using.

First I decided that we wanted some lantern wall lights for the Main bedroom. Something shabby but chic and I did not want to pay a fortune for it. So we went of shopping and found the perfect lights at Mica Solomons in Bethlehem but not so perfect after all. They where plain and white and kinda boring!!! I paid only R 169.00 per light.

I had a picture in my head and starting playing with my idea. 

First I took cheap lace that I found in my cupboard and cutting it to size with just a little over lapping on each side.

Then I used a craft glue to stick it down.

Like you will notice some of the lace was different colors which did not really matter as I was still going to paint it.

I used the same lace on the back piece that was going to be attached to the wall socket.

After the lace was dried I painted it with Annie Sloan Old white. I painted it 2 coats as I wanted the paint to get right into the lace. Then I left it over night to dry and the next day I used Annie Sloan clear wax and dark wax on it. 

And then I added a couple of bling blings for a little bit of sparkle.

I am over the moon with the results and cannot wait for the light to be installed.

My opinion about the Annie Sloan paint I used:

LOVED it! Worked so easy and the fact that you can thin the paint down and mix it with other colors really works for me.

Reno of a Old Sandstone house and using chalk paint to give it new life.

So back in the early 1990 we bought this house for my parents-in-law in a little town called Fouriesburg. Now after nearly 30 years myself and my hubby is back in Fouriesburg and we are doing a huge reno on this old home.

As I am a lover of chalk paints and in general I love painting we have decided to give this old beauty the love it deserves so I am doing several painting projects with different chalk paints that is available.

We started by packing up everything in the old house before we could start with the reno, which was not an easy job might I add.

Hubby very busy packing up and sorting out. 

Main Bedroom Reno

We decided to start in the Main bedroom as it was the room that needed the most attention and building work. Between the main bedroom and old sun room there was this huge glass division that just had to go!! It was so not going! 

Finally after a days work and 3 hours of that was getting that huge glass division out. Sorry for the quality of the photo but if was taken at 9 o'clock at night.

Huge gaps in the wall made it a nightmare to plaster so we first chopped of all the plaster and then we could start of with new plastering, keep in mind that this was all done in June (in the heart of winter where we sometimes wake up to -6 degrees)

Anybody that has tackled a job this huge will know that there are days when you just want to sit and cry....... When we chopped of the plaster we discovered that the wall where the window is has a wooden lintel above it that stared sagging, not to mention that the bricks that was used way back when was made from MUD!!!  Not even a drop of cement used in them which even made my heart stopped. Copping the bricks out one at

a time because I was so scared the whole wall would collapse.

   Here you can see the wood and what we had to deal with. A new lintel was build in and new bricks build in as the section above the window did just crumble and fall in a heap of dust.

 After all the dust was cleared the plastering started! The stone wall we had to plaster over 2 weeks as it was really wonky and it was winter. The plasterer Old Andries bless his soul worked very carefully to get that wall straight again.

Finally the plastering was done, for me personally it felt like it took forever!!! Next we wanted to add a bathroom on suite, so we chopped through the bedroom into the old breakfast room into an old shower!!! Yea a lot of "into's" happening!!!

Then at last the mess of breaking down was done and building could start on the new on suit bathroom. 

For the bathroom we stole 1 meter into the breakfast room! We we need this bathroom so we will have to comprises on a small breakfast room - or not?

Next I lifted all the parquet flooring, yes I know......... we love wooden flooring BUT I don't see myself polishing these floors everyday as that is what would have had to happen if I kept them.

So like I said do we have to compromise on a smaller breakfast room? Nope I don't think so....... we went right ahead breaking through from the kitchen into the breakfast room! Another couple of near heart attacks as this wall was also only build with mud bricks. A new lintel firstly had to be installed, once again copping the bricks out 1 buy one on the top where the lintel had to be installed.

 View from the breakfast room.

Taking out 1 brick at a time!!!

Lintel build in

Breaking down the WALL!!! Sounds like a Pink Floyd song............

What a MESS!!! I was jumping up and down with joy!!!

Finally all the dirty work was done!! In the mean time we also build a new wall between the bedroom and the old sun room which eventually will be the new tv room.

These renovations happened over a period of 5 months and then the house stood as the money was tight. We have decided that this entire project will be done on a cash only basis. From here on it is making the house pretty (which I love).

Follow me as we are going to be using different chalk paints for different projects right through the whole house.