Mini Project: Garage Numbers

I finally got sick of looking at this sorry excuse for house numbers. It is actually in the back alley, on the garage, so you don't see it from the front of the house, but this is Edmonton, and we have a whole network of back alleys.

Each time I drive up and park my car in the garage, I am reminded of this eye-sore, but then immediately forget about it.

Not today, Satan!! I bought some new 4", peel'n'stick, black, metal numbers from Home Depot and brought them home.

Once I removed the screws from the old number plate, I knew I would have to seal the holes, which wouldn't look great. 

That is when I got a sneaky, simple idea. I used one of the 1/4" trim lengths that I had laying around, and painted it black.

Then I caulked the screw holes, and installed the new black trim over it to create a visual anchor for the rest of the numbers. 

Th rest was simple: Wash the surface with mineral spirits; measure off the distance from each side; stick the 1 and 5 first followed by the 2 in the middle. 

The only downside of upgrading your house numbers is that it makes you side eye everything else... Like that brown trim. I'll get to it soon. Thank you for stopping by!!

Shower Room Makeover: Sad to Superb - Continued

Hey, remember that time I made over the shower room?

Well, I guess I wasn't satisfied, because here we are 3 years later, and I'm doing a thing.

Ugh, okay so here's what happened.

I was going to replace the drain in the sink. That's all I was going to do. Honestly! But, as I am pulling the drain out, it broke in half right in my hands. It was so much worse than I thought it was. Obviously, I then started to wonder what condition the bottom of the fiberglass sink was in. It was in perfect condition! Well, if you consider the fiberglass rotting where the overflow channel is, as perfect condition. I set off to the Restore (Habitat for Humanity) and it came through! There was a perfectly nice vanity of the correct size, WITH a new faucet on it. Cost me $75 bucks.

I set to changing the shut off valves, one which never really shuts off anything, so that is super helpful. But that sucker was hella on there. I had the hand torch on the solder and I was wiggling with the pliers, but no joy. Turns out that particular shut off valve has another nut to remove only the shut-off knob, so I was able to just replace that. Then I replaced the drain, p-trap and wall pipe. So basically, Almost everything under the sink is new. Yay! I guess.

Next, I She-Hulked the old vanity right out of there. There were some interesting wads of painter's tape stuck in the side then covered up with caulk. Cool.

I patched the wall, sanded, then repainted, then installed the vanity. 

Once it was in, its plain whiteness was clean, but boring.

To fix this and add texture, I bought some grass cloth.

I added it to each of the cabinet inserts.

The finished product works pretty well!

Thanks for stopping by!

Colour Catalyst - Room Revision

Well, adding a naked Burt Reynolds picture was a good start!! Check out that post here.

However, some things just don't sit right, but you live with them for a while until you have the time or inclination to change them.

Before

For me, it was the grey curtains in our bedroom. I really wanted to see white curtains, but certainly not if the wall was white... And down the rabbit hole we goooooooooo.

After

Colour Blocking Bedroom Makeover

Another room, done!

Mini Project: Paint & Planters

Not everything works out the way it should, (like winning the lottery or marrying rich... erm... what?)
Like the time that bought a painter's pen for my dresser project. The dresser turned out great, by the way. Check it out here.

ANYWAY, I had this painter's pen, and thought I should try and use it for something. Luckily, I had just bought two new plants that also happened to fit nicely in some terracotta pots I already had.

Dapper Dresser

We picked up this free Kijiji dresser almost a year ago. It was the perfect size for M's room. Plus, it has mid-century lines that I love.

BEFORE

It came with some minor damage, but after a humidifier leaked, it wreaked havoc on the top...
Well, crap!

This gave me the opportunity to finally do something fun with this dresser.

Dining Room: Drab to Dazzling

Our dining room was boring. It featured a light wood valence with 1980s fabric vertical blinds within; a flowered ceiling fan with a special angel watering... something.

A few changes and the room looks completely different! As with all of our renovations, I only want to enhance the original vibe of the house, rather than try and bring it into the current decade.

I Love Lamp: Pineapple Express

Thanks, Value Village!
I picked up these lamps months ago and then did nothing with them.

Living Room: Rock 'n' Roll

I am still working on the window wall and valance, but in the meantime, I painted another wall.

Huzzah!

Living Room: Paint and Planters

Though this was the very first room to receive paint, I haven't gotten around to completing it. And it still isn't done, but I thought I would share some of my progress.

Back when I was still in Ottawa, I pulled together a 5 minute colour concept, that I still liked (with a little tweaking) even after we got possession of the house.

Shower Room Makeover: Sad to Superb

If you are staying current with the blog, you know that the road to the shower room makeover hasn't necessarily been a smooth one. Click here to see what we had to do.

Guest Bedroom Makeover: Dank to Dreamy

My strategy for decorating this house is to start with the worst first!
Considering that we are going to have guests in Chez Wheele in about 20 days, the basement guest room became priority.

Here is a reminder of what it looked like before. Oooh, sexy crushed red velvet... Barf.

And this is what it looks like after!

Copper Curtain Rod

Make do with what you have.

What I have is two stubby little black curtain rods.
Cute, but those drapes are not functional. At all.

A quick solution was to replace two rods with one.

In My Wheele House Turns 4!

Time certainly has flown by.

What started as a way to a) satisfy my DIY urges and b) fill our very large but empty house with furniture has turned into something of an archive of our time here.

So how did it start... with a disgusting, dusty, broken ottoman.

Seriously, gross. BUT, with a little hard work, a lot of coats of red paint, and an awesomely bold pattern, I was able to turn it into something quite wonderful.

I love this 'after' shot because you can see how empty our place still is at this point.
No rug, no artwork, no lighting. Sad really.

Over the past 4 years, that ottoman has seen its share of love.
Greyson still claims his little spot of sun whenever he can.

Then came along this little bundle of trouble...
Which lead us to my very first ottoman cleaning post.

The ottoman was a coffee table, an extra seating spot, a perfect vignette base, and so many others.

It has been a wild 4 years with many changes. I wonder what projects and adventures will fill the next 4?

DIY: Balance Bike

For my daughter's 2nd birthday, we made a wood striding bike.

No, seriously!

Bathroom Makeover: From Pink to Perfect

Here is a great little renovation project by my friend Nicole.
She lives in an adorable 1940s era home in Northern British Columbia (my hometown).
Interestingly, it was originally a primary quarters house that was at the old barracks.

Blurry Before & Amazing After

Curbside Shopping: Radio Teaser

THIS!!

I was leaving for work, and saw one of my neighbours put this beautiful little creature out on the curb.

What I love most about items like this, is it is just the right amount of 'busted' to let me put my own stamp on it, and not feel obligated to restore it. In fact, I doubt neither the radio nor the record player work still. Truly perfect.

Stay tuned to what ends up happening with this Addison Standard Broadcast cabinet,