Year of Epic Makeovers: The Best of 2011

So many amazing transformations took place in our home in 2011! From simple projects to entire room makeovers, 2011 was a year of FUN & Budget-friendly DIY transformations.

Here are the highlights from our 2011 DIY Adventures in Home Improvement & Decorating!

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The Dining Room & Conversation Area

This Transformation post is from May 2011 - more has since been added {like the painted mirror,  West Elm curtains and the reupholstered bergere chairs - see below too!}.

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The Amazing Chevron Wall

This was an amazing project because I truly realized the power of paint. We had originally wanted to wallpaper the wall, but it was too expensive. My beloved zig-zags added the perfect punch to a dull white box of a room!

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The Kitchen Transformation

For details of this amazing transformation, click here for the full post! We've also recently added under-cabinet lighting - what a HUGE difference that makes too! I'm so thankful for a handy and talented hubby!

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Little A's Room: Modern Nursery Chic

I am IN LOVE with Little A's fun & girly {without being baby-ish!} nursery. If we move, I'm going to have to re-create this room! Here's a link to the original post and a follow up post where I did some Dollar Store DIY art!

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Spray Painted Door Knobs

I love this project because it's SO easy & fast and creates a HIGH IMPACT for little effort! It's spray paint. And it's AWESOME. Click here for the full post/tutorial.

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Modern Moroccan Master Bedroom Updates

It didn't take much beyond paint, light linens & a vision to create this relaxing Master Bedroom Retreat! The furniture, rug & even the West Elm sofette was found through Kijiji - so this room is chic and VERY budget-friendly!

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The Family Room

We turned our 4th bedroom into an upstairs family room! Click here & here for how we did it!

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Simple Chair Transformation

This was a simple DIY project - my 1st attempt @ upholstery. Click here for the full post!

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EZ's Room: Modern Zoom Zoom Zoom!

EZ's room is very kid-friendly, but not too childish. The wall treatment was done by Big A - and he did an AMAZING job! It adds a lot of architectural interest to an otherwise builder's box of a room :)

The DIY Alphabet Wall was done with letters from the dollar store! Click here for the tutorial!

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Bergere Chairs

We're *almost* finished this now-gorgeous chairs, but this was indeed an epic transformation that completed the conversation area in our dining room!

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The Entry Way

Our entry way went from being EMPTY to several changes itself this year. We added a bench & a large rug, framed photos, a new light fixture, drapes, painted the door black, then changed the bench to a console table -- I love to have a flat surface at the front entry!

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Spice Organization

This was an easy little project, but I LOVED it because it made my spices so accessible which comes in handy since I'm cooking more since becoming vegan.

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Bulletin Board Upgrade

Click here for the tutorial!

 Whew! We've had a busy DIY-ing year! I've probably missed a few, but I hope you've enjoyed our Year of Epic Makeovers!

Thank you so much for following along in our DIY adventures & madness! Thank you for the blog love and all your comments mean A LOT to us. 

Linking up to:

Southern Hospitality's Top Projects of 2011

Passionately Perfect's Coffee & a Conversation #19

It's Overflowing's Overflowing with Creativity #2

Space 46's Best of 2011 Made Up & Loved Linky Party

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EZ's Room Reveal!

I've been meaning to post this for quite some time. I've been waiting until it's perfect, but a well-decorated room is one that is layered over time. And this decorating process could go on for ages, so I thought I'd just post where we are NOW with EZ's room.

{Click here for my inspiration post; 
here for the tutorial on the wall treatment; 
here for the DIY Alphabet wall tutorial}

EZ LOVES his room. Anyone that comes over must venture up to his room so he can show off his space. 

The room is kind of awkward for photo taking -- it's hard to fit everything in. This is the view from the door.

Here are some Before & After pics so you can see how far this room as come!

A close-up of the wall art. A friend sent these jpegs to me - and they are a perfect match! They are from www.oohmoon.com -- she offers one free digital art design every day. So my wonderful friend saw these and saved them for me :) Am I lucky or what? So yes, they were FREE -- all I had to do was print & frame them.

EZ loves his orange club chair. It's perfect for reading stories. He also ADORES his globe with the plane on top, which I picked up a couple months ago at HomeSense for $30. Sometimes, even now, when I tuck him into bed, he'll stop and say thank you for getting him the plane. He says, "Thanks mum. That's my plane."

Of course, the awesome and easy DIY alphabet wall. EZ loves looking at this. He "helped" put it up, which he likes to tell everyone too! 

I picked up these round bath mats a few years ago at Ikea for $6 a pop. I love how they add a pop of colour, without totally covering the floor like an area rug. They are fun & durable too!

 I hope you enjoyed the little tour of EZ's new room. I still have a few projects planned for his room, but all our DIY projects are on hold for a bit until we sort out our BIG PLANS for 2012!

Linking up to:

Not Just a Housewife's Best DIY Project of 2011 Contest

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EZ's Room: DIY Alphabet Wall Project {on a Budget!}

Thank you to all who have entered my First Giveaway! 

There is still time to enter - the giveaway closes at 11:30pm EST on Thursday October 6th! Click here for the details!

Now back to our regularly scheduled blogging...

I've been working on this little project for a long time {okay, WAY too long!}, though it really should only take a day or so to complete. 

EZ's room is almost ready to reveal to you, but before that, I want to show you the project that I've been working on {for far too long!}.

 Custom Alphabet Wall Art!

...wait for it... from the DOLLAR STORE!

 

I was recently inspired by projects I found on Pinterest, like these below featuring colourful prints and kooky fonts. Kid-friendly & chic in their own way, but not for EZ's room. I wanted something more modern with clean lines.

Image via Pinterest

Image via Pinterest

So then it dawned on me. 

I had a bare wall above his dresser where I could do my OWN custom DIY large-scale Alphabet Wall Art - mimicking the wall treatment already in EZ's room.  Then I remembered these cool sans serif letters I spied at the Dollar Store.  And then it all quickly came together in my head.

We picked up the MDF strips from Home Depot. We got two 1.5 inch wide strips and cut them to 45 inches across, and painted them the same colour as the wall in EZ's room.

I sprayed the dollar store letters & numbers with two coats of Rustoleum's Flat White spraypaint.

 Adair measured and hung the MDF strips, ensuring they were level and then screwed each strip into the wall. We used painters tape to temporarily adhere the letters to the wall, until we can figure out the exact spacing.

I'm really pleased with the results. I love saving money and DIY-ing projects to our exact specifications. 

I still have 2 projects left for EZ's room before I can *finally* share it with you. Hopefully that will be sometime before he leaves the house for university... haha!

Cost Breakdown: 

2 MDF strips from Home Depot @ $3/piece

Rustoleum's Flat White Spray Paint @ $7/can

35 Letters/Numbers @ $1.25 each

Another easy, peasy & fun DIY!

Linking up to these fun parties!

Not Just a Housewife - Show Me What Ya Got #43

Blue Cricket Designs Show & Tell

A Bowl Full of Lemons: One Project at a Time

Somewhat Simple - Strut Your Stuff Link Party 

Read more...

EZ's Room Project Progress

Today I'd planned on revealing a little DIY project for EZ's still unfinished room. But life {being sick & tired, our kitchen renovation, our flat tire} and my regular duties as Mummy of the Year {ahem!} to my kiddos got in the way of my post.

So in lieu, please accept my DIY project as a work in progress, with the final reveal sometime next week!

 

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