To Duvet or not to Duvet: That is the Question

First of all, let me just say that I have now had FOUR posts within the last month. That's gotta be a record of some sort.  It's cray-cray, I tell you.

Anyway, on to the reason for today's post. Let's talk about bedding, my friends. Up until very recently, my only experience with bed coverings has been the good ol' bed-in-a-bag set. I'm all about the bed-in-a-bag. It just makes my life easier when everything I need is already packaged up nice and neat for me. 

Before I get much farther, here's a reminder of what our existing bedding looked like. It was perfectly sufficient with the newly painted walls, but I just really wanted an excuse to upgrade.

In the process of my master bedroom makeover, I've broadened my bedding horizons. While searching the Internet far and wide for different options, I came across many duvets and duvet covers. Now, I'd seen these terms before but quite honestly never really knew what they meant, so I've just kind of ignored those options.

DIY Contemporary Canvas Artwork

In case you haven't been following along lately, we recently painted our master bedroom and bathroom. I in the process, I had to remove the decorative vinyl lettering which had lived on the wall above our soaker tub for several years. But I already had a plan for what to replace it with, thanks to Pinterest.

The Pinspiration:

[via Two Girls Being Crafty]

This was actually an idea I'd pinned at least a couple years ago (so don't give up on those old pins; you never know when you'll get motivated!). I thought the above DIY version of a World Market painting was pretty awesome. And from the looks of it, pretty foolproof. So I set off to Hobby Lobby in search of the materials:

• Canvas (I chose 22" x 28" so as not too look too underwhelming on the large wall)
• Ivory spray paint
• Paint marker (I got a Sharpie oil-based marker in brown)
• Round foam pouncers
• Acrylic paints (I got the exact same colors listed on Two Girls Being Crafty, because I liked hers so much. And let's face it, it made my decision-making process much easier.)

All in all, I was able to get everything for under $30.

Taupe-tastic Makeover Part II: Master Bathroom

Last week, I posted about our newly-painted master bedroom.  But that was only the first half of this project... we also have a master bathroom which needed to be painted too.  And that bathroom happens to be quite large--practically as much surface area as our bedroom, it seemed--so it was no piece of cake to paint. Let me just say that having 10-foot-tall ceilings is nice, except when you have to paint the room.

Now that I'm done complaining about what a headache it was, let's check out the before pictures (I didn't remember to take pictures right before painting, so these are from a few years ago). It was the same aqua color as our bedroom used to be, with the same sloppy paint marks up on the ceiling. 

Our master bathroom consists of double sinks, a very under-utilized soaker tub, a toilet room, a shower, and our closet. 

Taupe-tastic Makeover Part I: Master Bedroom

Painting our master bedroom is one of those projects that’s been on my to-do list for awhile, but there’s been no urgent need to get it done. When we moved into our house 6 years ago, I actually liked the greenish/bluish/aqua color. But over time, I’ve grown tired of it and wanted to move toward something a little more sophisticated and neutral (but not blah-neutral).

Here are some “before” pictures (these were taken right after we got new furniture a few years ago, but we’ve since gotten different bedding).

Frugal & Fabulous Fabric Artwork

Wow - it's been more than 4 months since my last post. That may be my longest blogging hiatus yet. But I'm still here, dangit!  There's been a lot going on with work and life in general, so therefore just not much time for doing fun stuff worth blogging about.  *insert pity party here*

However, the other night I was bound and determined to get my DIY fix. Now, I don't want to talk this project up too much because it's not like it's anything groundbreaking--but I am pretty happy with how it turned out! And let's face it, "artwork" is a very generous description, but whatever.

I've had some oh-so-trendy chevron fabric sitting in my closet that I purchased quite some time ago just because, well, I just really liked it. I also had stashed away an 11x14 picture frame which I scored from a Michael's clearance sale for $3 or something crazy cheap like that. (In case you hadn't figured it out, I tend to buy things on sale even though I have no idea what I'm going to do with them.)

Recalling something I'd seen on Pinterest, I realized my bargain finds were the beginnings of a new project. All I needed was a little paint and a mat for my frame--just to make it look a little more "complete." I got a little can of Krylon Sun Yellow spray paint at Hobby Lobby, which was a pretty close match to the yellow in my fabric. 

Nailed It: Sally Hansen Nail Polish Strips

We're almost a week into the new year, and I'm definitely itching for some crafty-type projects. I've got a couple up my sleeve, but nothing completed quite yet. So until then, I'll share a different type of DIY "project" - my recent experience with nail polish strips.

It’s amazing to think about the time and money that’s spent on those little blank keratin canvases at the tips of our fingers—from Fench manicures to gel manicures to Shellac to bling and other nail art (have you seen some of those fancy nails on Pinterest?).

Lots of women keep their nails impeccably manicured in some form or another on a regular basis. I am not one of those women. Sure, I’ll paint my own nails every once in awhile, but I’ve only gotten a professional manicure (or pedicure) maybe twice in the past five years. I probably should go more often just to keep my nails in better shape, but it’s just not something I want to spend my money on.

However, I do find myself intrigued by all these DIY nail products on the market today. The at-home gel manicure kits, for instance, promise professional results at a fraction of the cost. But it still seems like a lot of time and effort to me; plus, you can’t just remove them with regular nail polish remover.

Furniture Revamp: From Two-Toned to Too Fabulous

Several years ago when we were back in college, my husband (then fiancé) built a ladder shelf and matching A-frame end table for my birthday. Probably because I was always complaining about needing some shelves for all my stuff. He had stained the vertical supports a dark reddish color and left the shelves natural (with a poly coat) for a two-tone look. They were solid, well-made pieces and easily the nicest furniture that I had back then. The shelves traveled with us to our new apartment after we got married, and then to our current house where they reside in our living area.

In the meantime, we’ve acquired a lot more furniture and most of it is either deep brown or black with a worn/antiqued finish. So the two-tone look of the ladder shelf and end table started to seem a bit outdated and mismatched. And as you can see, the shelves kind of blended right into our gold-ish wall color. But giving them a makeover wasn’t really a top priority, so I didn’t do anything about it until recently when I was feeling motivated and needed a new DIY project.