I saw on Pinterest lots of examples of making trees out of wood and Dollar Tree faux tin tiles and thought I would give it a try.
I plan on my trees going on our deck table so they are sturdier than a lot I saw. The need to hold up with wind and rain. The triangles are cut out of leftover pieces of wood from our stash. I made sure they would fit the tile.
After the wood was cut, I traced the shapes off on the tiles and cut them out with scissors. Several sites talked about using hot glue but my things get stored in a super hot space. Hot glue doesn’t hold up so contact cement was the best choice.
Everything got a coat of Kilz Gripper Primer. It is made to stick to slick surfaces.
I used the same paint I used on my mural to paint the trees then dry brushed the high spots with black and white paint. Literally you dip just the tips into the paint then take off most of the paint before lightly dragging it across the surface.
I cut some small blocks for the tree trunks and Mr. Math cut the bases. He then screwed them on. If you are doing something like this for indoor E6000 glue would work fine. We always overdo.
I really like how they turned out.
It is really warm here now and we are spending a lot of time outside so we get to enjoy the trees.
I bought this piece of Ethan Allen cabinetry at a resale shop years ago. It would have been part of an entertainment center. It hung out in storage then had legs added and moved into my principal office as a printer cabinet after it was painted a vivid turquoise. It served me well until I moved to another position where I couldn’t bring my furniture.
It was moved with us and ironically ended up stored in almost the same spot where it now is in the guest house for years.
When we got all the furniture out I thought it would work with the color scheme but the two 1950’s chair cushions were too much for the space.
Of course the solution was to change the color. The only color I could see it as was red. I also wanted some of the turquoise to come through because even though it is bright, I like it. Believe it or not there is a bit of a paint shortage in our area. Apparently it is the time of the year that students paint their parking space and red was hard to find. It took three stores. I would have loved that… back in the day’
I brushed a few areas with paint thinner, painted the cabinet classic red, then sanded over places to let it look a little distressed.
It is amazing how it changed the look. Of the piece.
Not sure the folks at Ethan Allen would approve but we like it. We have installed a television so the cabinet is going to hold dvds etc.
The paint thinner made the wrinkles you see in the corner.
Still plugging along on the exterior but soon there will be paint.
Y’all, I had the best weekend last week. I got to spend the weekend in the season 1, episode 1 Fixer Upper home. While that was an awesome experience, sleeping for two nights with all of my kids and my sweet granddaughter under one roof along with our dear friends was the BEST part of the weekend.
I hope you don’t mind, but I am going to share my weekend with you along with a few tips in case you head to Waco yourselves.
First of all,
This my friends is the house we stayed in.
It is a beautiful home.
Come on in, I will show you around.
The three stories of stairs are so pretty. They were quite a challenge for our 18 month old granddaughter to navigate. She could not get enough of them.
The first shiplap room on HGTV. Joanna made her mark convincing Charmaine to leave the walls open to reveal the shiplap that traditionally was covered with a “finished” wall in this one small room.
There are the requisite French doors. I just loved this little space.
The kitchen is my favorite room in the home.
I loved the beams, the tile, the vent hood, the lighting, and he countertops. That island, made by Clint Harp from reclaimed shiplap made me swoon.
Something I wasn’t prepared for was the industrial elements. The paper towel dispensers, the exit lights, the pump hand sanitizers on the wall. Charmaine said that at one point she planned a child care center here.
Oh, and Joanna would never approve of the shelves that are in the corners.
The family room was very comfortable.
The front porch was amazing.
You just have to be comfortable sharing it with all the Fixer Upper fans who drive by, stop by, jump out of their cars for pictures, even coming up on the porch, and even the one extremely brave man who asked if he could come in… in case you are wondering the answer was no. I enjoyed it and waved like a fool at all of them until they drove off… except that one.
Also, the neighborhood is rough. It is definitely the best house in the worst neighborhood now.
The house sleeps more than 12, has four full and one half baths. It is close to Magnolia Market, and the homeowner is the same person who was on the show. She checked in on us, brought a Keureg when he one there didn’t work, and was a pleasure to work with.
The home can be rented HERE, if you are interested.
The quality of the construction was apparent, the home was beautiful, and it was a great weekend for us.
This week I am going to show you you our visit to Magnolia Market.
I seasonally decorate our ranch house In the country. I am sure you know what I mean about seasons. I decorate the house for all the major holidays: Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentines Day, Easter, 4th of July, and Rodeo.
What? You haven’t heard of rodeo season? It is an event here in the greater Houston area. Kids dress up at school, we go to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, and connect with our cowboy roots. We have already been once Saturday to see the rodeo and Alan Jackson and are headed back tonight for more rodeo and Sam Hunt.
I am no cowgirl. I just got my first ever pair of cowboy boots for my birthday but in our little neck of the woods, rodeo is a big deal. The Spanish Trail, one of the trail rides that travels into Houston and coverages at Memorial Park before the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, originates very near our home.
Our house always has a bit of a western vibe ( cattle roamed the acreage less than 10 years ago) but we crank it up a notch here around rodeo season. I thought you might enjoy seeing our mudroom bench and our dining tables decked out for rodeo.
Our live edge cedar bench and mudroom are my favorite thing we have added to the house so far.
The boots? The hats? One pair are mine. And of course everyone here needs rubber boots. My daughter in law gave me these rubber cow print cowboy boots. I’ve also seen some cool cowgirl boots on King Ranch’s website. They have a really cool shop set up at the rodeo, too.
Our two tables are fun places to decorate. We love having friends and family over and those two tables aren’t enough for everyone. I have few over 30 more than once.
The buffet was one of our first purchases as a married couple. It has traveled with us to seven of our eight homes. The salt glazed pitcher on top was rescued by my grandmother under a house they bought more than sixty years ago. The flag graced my veteran father in law’s casket and is a treasure to us.
Faux cowhide on our bench is a nod to our ranch home.
Our breakfast table has a Texas theme. Thank goodness those placemats wash. They get some action. The galvanized jug in the center with silk bluebonnet is new from Michael’s . It looks great with our amazing coffee bar in the background.
I love, love, love our coffee bar and the shelves. It makes my clutter look like a collection. That is my story and I am sticking to it.
Make sure you notice that our one cow, Bessie, made an appearance.
i love to visit model homes. Near my sister in law’s house they have 7 model homes open for touring. It was a muddy, stormy Sunday afternoon so she and I headed out to walk through the homes. This builder’s homes are well built and are part of a 55+ neighborhood. Today you get to see the first two.
I have never seen this designer/ builder’s work, and I really enjoyed getting to see their ideas. They had the most creative ceilings I have ever seen. My favorite home happened to be the first home we visited.
The very first room was… Navy and coral with a rustic, modern vibe. I can honestly say it was the only room I could see myself in, but I did take away some ideas.
We didn’t plan on going so excuse the iPhone photos.
House One
I loved this house.
The front bedroom was so cool. I really liked the china cabinet and the matching crib springs. The stripes wet navy, burlap, and a cream color. The art was stenciled canvas.
Loved the coral tailored cloth on the night stands.
Here is the rest of the house:
The master was a little too fussy for me. The side tables were way too full and the picture above the bed was too much. The mosaic tile panels are throughout all the homes.
I had to ask myself if that design in the shower would get old?
I loved the zinc topped hammerd table.
I liked the wood squares on the laundry wall.
I loved the wood flooring!
House Two
This house was totally not my style but still fun to look at and even in this house there were elements I really liked. I called this the mirror house.
Imagine dusting all those mirror frames.
A wall of mirrors in a 55+ guest bedroom?
I really liked this piece.
Loved the formal dining table.
I like the light fixture but two breakfast tables?
The backsplash was fun.
Oh my, the master was sensory overload. Tile and beam ceiling, tile insets on the wall, mirror edged headboard…
I have wanted a similar headboard to this one for a while. Â The only thing standing in my way was the $2400 it would cost to buy and have delivered. Â The bed is by Viva Terra and it is stunning.
Recently my friend Cheryl offered me some reclaimed cedar that came off her lake house during a renovation. If you grew up going to Texas lake houses built in the 70’s then you probably saw some of this one foot wide cedar hung vertically.  A lot of those homes are still covered in the cedar but most of them are now painted, not stained like they were originally, which by the way causes cedar to rot over time.  A new king sized bed along with the gift of the wood meant it was time to get my headboard built.  If you read the post yesterday you know we also added a ship lap wall to the bedroom.
The headboard was easy to build especially since we opted not to make the bed frame. Â This girl needs storage under her bed for art that changes seasonally ( a bed skirt is a must to hide my stuff) and I love having a bench at the end of the bed to put on shoes. ( My bench needs to be recovered but we are still negotiating the bedroom color scheme.)Â
I drew off a template on roll paper folded in half. Â It isn’t exactly like the picture above, but it works for me. Â We taped the template up on the wall to make sure I liked the height once the wall was completed and the new bed was assembled to make sure I liked the height. I even added the big square pillows to make sure I liked it.
The nice folks at Viva Terra even provide their bed dimensions on the website. Because we went with a traditional frame and box spring our mattress is higher than the one pictured above. We had to make our headboard 70 inches high vs. the 65 inches on their diagram.
Hubby built a frame from 2 X 4’s to support the wood. Â He doubled the 2 X 4’s on the vertical portions. Â ( Do you see his drawing? Â Wonder why I call him Mr. Math?)
I sanded down one side of the cedar with my sander until it was smooth then we cut it to length based on the template then we nailed the boards to the frame. Â I drew the template onto the wood with chalk then Hubby cut it out with a skill saw. Â I can use a skill saw but by this point the whitewashing and sanding had taken a toll on my arm.
Once it was cut out, I sanded the boards again then painted on three coats of poly.
My one small, and I am not sure if it is a regret yet, Â is that I sort of wish I had stained it a little darker. Â The cedar ended up a little lighter than I wished but all in all I really like the look. Â The cedar from our lake house was darker once it was polyurethaned as you can see in our table top.
It took three coats of poly to even tell I had any on the bed and there is no way I would sand it back down, but eventually, if it bugs me, I may add tinted poly to the bed. Â Right now I am oh so very pleased with the results of our weekend’s work. Â It took three 2 X 4’s , a package of 60 grit sandpaper and left over polyurethane to complete this project. Â We have $15.00 in this beauty if you can believe it. Â The end tables and lamps are thrift store pieces that I worked on two years ago. Â I love them still and I am very happy about how they look with the new wall.
I am really proud of our effort on this space.
Doesn’t the bedroom look beautiful?
   Â
Full disclosure here. Â I took this photo this morning and don’t like that I can see the 2X4 frame. Â You can only see it from this angle but it will bug me. We have plenty of wood to clad the legs so that is on the agenda tonight. Â We thought the legs would be totally behind the bed. Â That will be an after work project this week. You often don’t see the errors until you take a photo. Â
 grrr.
Here are some updated photos with the fixed sides and the coral added.
Thanks for taking the time to look at our work. Â This week I am going to have you help me with he color scheme in the bedroom because we are stuck. Â I used teal accents because my inspiration photo showed it with those two colors but Hubby is not a fan. Â He is also not a fan of navy and coral. Â hmmm.
I am HATING and I do mean HATING having the Garagemahal shut down while the near the lake house is on the market. It has been an unusually cold, wet winter in southeast Texas and I have been at loose ends. It is too cold and or dark in the evenings when I come in to work on projects at home during the week and it is all about decluttering, cleaning, and moving stuff to storage on the weekends. Oh how I hope this is all over soon.
One of the things that I can do right now is plan and dream. After my big winfall at the clean out the barn sale, I am really thinking about the Guest Shed. According to the tax rolls it is a little over 400 square feet.
I know you are probably not impressed with it, but it is cool. It has a wood burning stove, hardwood floors reclaimed from a high school gym and already has plumbing. Currently it is a wood shop but it wouldn’t work for me. The enclosed space wouldn’t accommodate moving furniture in and out. There is a better space on the property already.
If you have a room you are thinking about redoing it is a great way to envision the space. I have super cool mid century chairs instead of the ones pictured, we will be building a Murphy bed that will look like a cabinet. The space will have a bathroom with a shower, a kitchenette with my farmhouse sink find in it a and cabinets already in the space.
The one room guest house is going to have bright white walls, a whitewashed turquoise wall, bright curtains. (I am thinking orange print for the curtains.) I love the site Spoonflower for fabrics. Right now these are my favorites:
I am leaning toward the wood grain as a nod to the woods surrounding the shed.
I plan on getting a modern vinyl fouton that can double as an added bed. I think the artwork is going to be mid century-ish fish as another reminder of the lake nearby. ( I also think they are really cool.)
I found these cool images on Etsy.



This Good Housekeeping 1959 photo is my inspiration with a more modern twist.
I collected some colors while out yesterday and I found the cushions for the lounge chair at Lowes. They are a green print.

Now if only our lake house would sell quickly. Fingers crossed.
Well, I had time on my hands in my day this week while out on school visits. Not enough time to go back to the office but too much time to be idle.
Two thoughts kept running through my brain.
1. I want to change the look of our master bedroom.
2. If we get the land we are looking at buying, the exterior of the house must change.
If you follow me on Pinterest (kasmithson) then you can probably see what I am thinking about working on because I start pinning like crazy when I am collecting ideas. This week I started a new board for the master bedroom and one for the front of the plain Jane ranch house with an undersized front porch that we are hoping to buy. Â (Crazy, I know but we love the land, the location, and the outbuildings. Â The house will be a project for years to come.)
Since we don’t have our lake house sold or the other place purchased yet, I decided to focus on the master bedroom at our Burb house.
I am totally blaming this upcoming redo on Joanna Gaines and HGTV. Â I love the look the homes she decorates. Â The rooms are restful, stylish, and have a sense of history. Â Our home is a newish, tract home that is long on space but short on character.
Here are a few shots of our master bedroom today.
It isn’t awful, but we really need to have a king sized bed, and the room is lacking in character. Â Â When our son and daughter in law come back from overseas and collect their furniture, the master bedroom furniture will move into our guest room.
Here is my wish list for our bedroom update:
A “Shiplap” wall.
( I did not know I loved this so much until HGTV’s Fixer Upper)
The House of Smith has a great tutorial for getting it up here.Planked Wall
I like something like this for This Old House only I want the window seats under our two windows and  drawers instead of cabinet doors in the center section.
I want a tripod lamp.
I already have the parts for one like this: Â Dwelling Cents Tripod Lamp
What stays:
The triple mirror and the crystal lamps will be a part of the design. Â The lamps will be going on the side tables and the triple mirror on the side wall.
The coolest chair ever. Â It was rescued by my mom and dad. Â When it was delivered to me it was in pieces. Â I love this 1940’s low-slung chair . Â It is so comfortable.
The side tables. Â They are a pair that I made over a while back. Â They used to be part of an entertainment center.
The bench. It will get recovered.
The curtains, although they will need to be raised to the ceiling so that they are raised enough that they fit with the benches that will go under each window. Â I really like those lined burlap curtains.
That means the headboard- which I love- goes, and the oak furniture will head to storage until the kids come home to get their furniture then move to the guest room.
The biggest project will be figuring out the built in wall unit. I want it to look like a built in wall unit but really be a piece that will come apart and move with us. It will need to go from one side of the room to the other with a drawers, closed storage and drawers. Â I am looking at ReStores and at Hotel furniture sellers for base cabinets.
I have a feeling we will get on this as soon as the lake house is on  the market.
Thanks for reading my blog. Â I love hearing from all of you.
Rain, rain, more rain, and cold meant no outside work, no Garagemahal furniture work during our week at Star Hill. Being stuck inside our 950 square foot house with husband, bored dog, and a restless wife meant something had to be done. That something was updating our bedroom. For less than $50.00 got the room freshened up. We painted the walls Behr Subtle Touch, I made Roman shades, and put in a reclaimed wood hat rack.
Every room at Star Hill has some variation of red, white and blue. Anything that goes into the house has to be tough and washable. We play hard at the lake. Last summer I found a blue striped Ralph Lauren quilt for $20.00 on clearance at Marshall’s and I knew it would be staying in the room. We purchased one gallon of Behr Subtle Touch zero VOC for $27.00 and $17.00 worth of fabric for the mini makeover.
Here are the best pictures of the color before we painted. Â I snapped these after we already got started moving stuff.
I have to give props to my husband. When it comes to painting, he is the best at cut in work. He can paint right up next to the ceiling or in this case, the reclaimed wood without taping off anything. It is a gift I don’t possess. I did the rolling and we were done in two hours. The fleshy tan color i never cared for is gone and a soft gray is now in the room. We have also had a standing hat rack in the room, taking up a square foot of space in our tiny room. We need something to hang summer boat hats, spring rain gear, and wet winter hats, gloves, and scarves.
My dad gave me three vintage coat hooks he took from a house being torn down. I loved the patina on them. They are perfect for a room with an old door headboard, a reclaimed wood wall, and sewing machine base side tables.
The most stressful project was sewing Roman shades for the windows. I am a terrible seamstress. I try, but it always seems to go wrong. This time it all worked out like I wanted. I used red and blue fabrics that coordinated with the bedding to make them and denim ribbon I had in the closet.
I love this vinyl cling on an old window. Â It is the perfect art for our room and reminds Hubby to give me a good night kiss!
This oak chair was two dollars as is at a resale shop. Â I am crazy about the chippy blue paint.
All put together, the room looks cleaner and more finished.
Another room ready for us to put the house on the market.
Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. I love to hear from you..
 
 
 grrr.
