DIY: Building a decorative shelf || Secretly hiding the TV cords

I had a need to cover up some TV/video game wires, and couldn't find a premade solution.  Here's a peek into the process of building my own shelf, with open insides to hide all those ugly cords!

Back in November, the hubs and I took advantage of some Black Friday sales, and decided to replace our living room TV.  We nick-named it "Bertha," which should give you an idea of why it had to go.  We ended up getting a pretty handsome little Samsung Smart TV from Best Buy, and mounted it above the fireplace on a swivel mount and a sound bar.

We couldn't quite get it centered above the fireplace because of the placement of the studs, but I had a crafty solution up my sleeves.  I got some of those boxy shelves from Target, and filled in the blank space beside the TV.  

One major problem still remained.  I can't stand cords.  I've always been the kind of person to hide them as much as possible, and this was not an easy challenge.  I did some internet research, and found some people who had drilled a hole in the wall and fished the wires behind.  I decided not to take this route for 2 reasons: the TV is mounted on an external wall, and I didn't want to mess up any of the insulation, and running power behind the wall without going into proper electrical wiring could be a major fire hazard.  I wasn't really looking to tear out the drywall and run proper wiring and an electrical outlet.  As a side thought, we also decided that if we want to sell our house anytime in the near future, a prospective buyer may not want an electrical outlet above the fireplace.  

We scoured the local stores for some cord hiding solutions, and nothing really seemed to make them invisible.  We looked at all kinds of options that Lowes and Best Buy suggested, but I wasn't really pleased with any of them.  All I wanted was something to hide the cords, but look like it belonged!  Here's the post that ultimately inspired my design.  This guy did run the cords behind the wall beside the fireplace, but his idea about hiding the cords above the fireplace is exactly what I needed.  

I couldn't find a shelf in the right dimensions, so I got the idea of using crown molding.  I got one decorative piece for the front, and one plain piece (intended for chair rail I think).  I measured the distance I needed to cover, and started cutting!

Here's the cutting device I used.  It's handy when you don't have a wood shop.  The most important part was to be sure that the molding was at the right angle, so the cuts would be right.  

The angles fit just right!

I used the smallest nails I could find, and was very careful to tap the pieces together.  A little wood glue also helped keep the pieces where they belong.

The hardest part of the whole project is waiting for the glue (and later the paint) to dry.

I found these little brackets in the hardware section.  They were the perfect size for what I needed, and would help me make my masterpiece easily detachable from the wall.  I also used a dremel tool to carve out a little crescent on each end of the shelf.  I made them subtle, but still large enough to allow for cords to come out from either side.  

Now for paint!

I used the same color paint that was used on the trim in our house.  This particular hue is called Statuesque and is by Valspar.  It's a really sharp white, and contrasts nicely with the bold colors we used in the floor and walls. 

Voila!  The shelf is very subtle, and looks like it was an original part of the fireplace.  It's large enough to put small knickknacks or candles on, but small enough to be visually pleasing.  

Fin!

Winter Wonderland || Planning for Spring

In eastern Virginia, we don't really get much snow.  When we do get it, schools close, businesses shut down,and everyone makes their crazy journey home through the treacherous blizzard like conditions that we know as 1-3 inches of snow...  

If the hubby were in town, he would be shaking his head in disappointment   I can hear it in my head now,  "You call this snow?"  

Even though its a little dusting, seeing our house covered in white made me realize that we have a lot to do before  I'm satisfied with our space.  The white siding is kinda drab, and I'm ready for some color.  With spring coming, the biggie is our back yard.

These days, I wish I had more paid attention when Dad was planning out our yard (but don't tell him that).  When we bought our house, we struggled with the idea of what to do with the back yard.  I don't think the previous owners did anything to the ground, and now it's just a massive area of flat dirt.

For now, I brainstorm and plan for what I can do in the spring.  I'm thinking areas of mulch, areas of grass, and of course the fire pit.  Maybe a hammock too?

One thing I would like to do is make a rain barrel.  This could be really great for irrigating the yard and especially the garden beds.  You can connect a series of soaker hoses to the rain barrel and help distribute the water that you've collected!

Better Homes and Gardens has a fantastic step-by-step article on rain barrels here.

Vote for my bathroom! | Birchbox DIY

So I don't know if any of you get Birchbox, but I must say- I LOVE my Birchbox!

Both the hubby and I get monthly Birchboxes filled with fun little treats.  The women's box is usually more geared towards cosmetics, and the guy's box is filled with more manly cleansers, colognes and other useful little items.

This month on Facebook, Birchbox is doing a DIY contest for the best DIY project you've ever done.  Remember our epic bathroom flip after the sewer-mageddeon?  Well, since this is our new favorite room in the house, I figured I'd submit it!

Here's my submission:

The contest is based on votes, so I need your help!

Even more painting

With everything that's been going on in the Rhine house, life has been a little crazy!  Remember when we had sewer-mageddeon?  Well, we just had the sequel.

But we're making the best of it.

So now that we've had the floor torn back out, we've got a chance to really make a difference in our house.  I'm actually pretty excited to get some good work done in our house.  

Cody did not approve of the giant fans scattered throughout the house.

Now with the fans gone, its new floor, new paint, new doorknobs, and other new little touches all around!

Good bye wall paper!!  Wait, is that more wallpaper under the wallpaper?  The green is what was in the kitchen, and the white with pink and blue flowers was in the hall and stairs.

Here's what we've done so far:

Notice the awesome painted light switches?  Rather than buying new ones, we just took the old ones out back and sprayed them with hammered bronze spray paint.  Voila! 

Have a great turkey day tomorrow!!

Bathroom- Finished!

So after a long while, I can say we've finished some pretty cool stuff here at the house.  Today, I'll give you a sneak peek of the finished downstairs bathroom.  I think it's my favorite room in the house, and I think the hubby would agree.

So I really don't have any good pictures of before the bathroom makeover.  We intended to do it, and the sewer-mageddeon come up by surprise and motivated us to get things done a bit more quickly.  Here's the in-progess picture:

And here's the finished product:

Vanity, Mirror, Toilet, Paint | Lowes

Towels, Shower Curtain | Target

Scooter | birthday gift from a friend

The vanity is my favorite part.  I love the vessel sink.

Fluffy Towels Reeds | Yankee Candle

Punkin | Target

Halloween soap dispenser | Target

I love that scooter picture.  A good friend gave it to me for my birthday a few years ago.  It was to re-kindle my desire to have a scooter.  

I thought these little boxes were fun.  I bought them for a previous house, but it matches so much better here!

Ceramic paper plane, Bowling ball candle holders, Punkin, Wall cubes | Target

We had to get creative with the toilet paper.  There's not much wall space in this little bathroom, especially with 2 doors into the bathroom:

Bathroom Makeover

If you had the opportunity to completely re-do a space or two in your house, what would you do?

We all have our dream houses planned out on Pinterest, but how much of it is actually realistic?  Due to the recent sewer-geddeon, we have the chance to re-do the whole bathroom, and at least the floors in the kitchen.  With this comes a lot of thought- Can I work some upgrades into the upstairs bathroom too?  Can we get what we want while still being money conscious enough to pay for the new sewer line?  Will I ever get this awkward smell out of my house?

This is the idea board I've been putting together so far, with some feed back from the hubby too...

I really like dark colored wood and bold colors.  I already have the light green trellis shower curtain, and the current tub gets to stay.  Otherwise, the whole room is up for the changing.  I have a few wall hangings from the previous house that were travel themed with some red accents.  I would like to see them in this bathroom, but when it comes down to it, we can really do whatever we want!

Vanities | I like vanities with a little lift.  It makes it seem like a piece of furniture rather than another lego block stuffed in a corner.  The more personality, the better.  Storage is an issue in our house, so it's something to consider.

Lighting | To be honest, the current lighting in the room sucks.  Upstairs, I've noticed when showering that not much light gets over to the shower side, and I'm often showering in the dark.  We need to find something that will spread the light around, yet not be too blinding while you're washing your hands.

Colors | I think I want to go with some fun complimentary colors.  I wanted to work with light greens and reds, but I'm afraid without something else it will come across very Christmasy.  The color combination, compliments of Design-Seeds, gives some warm and cheery colors without being bland.  They make me think of  Italy- even though I've never been there, but its what I would like to think the colors of Sicily would be like.

What would you put in a new bathroom?

Pad-Thai Inspired Paint

As I was sitting at our local Thai restaurant eating my favorite dish of Pad Thai, (yum!) I noticed the paint around the room.  They have these lovely green walls, the ceiling painted black, and then a center section of the ceiling accented with green.  Now I don't think I would put black ceilings in my own home, but it got me to thinking about painting the ceiling in our soon-to-be house.  I'm in search for fun colors to paint our new home in, and so the ceiling is a possibility I would like to explore!

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Painted ceilings here make the tall room look shorter and wider.

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I could totally see this working for a cozy living room or pottery studio.  I love the light teal with the neutral tan/brown.  It's warm but no overwhelming.

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I love love love this guest room.. The accents to play off of the ceiling are perfect, and not too much.  I like the accent of the white ceiling fan too!

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What about a room painted with a high gloss ceiling?  The reflectivity adds a bit more height to the room, but I wonder how much it would reflect.... how much gloss is too much gloss?  :)

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Or what about a toned down grey- something soothing and neutral?  Maybe with a little more color pumping  up the rest of the room?

There's a lot to think about before we move into our little home.  The hubby is going on a temporary deployment ::conveniently:: two days before we close on the house.  Power of attorney, closing papers, paint colors, moving companies, wall paper peeling, new sofas, placement of all of our stuff..   There's a lot going on! For now, I'll just try to keep cool with my ice pops and beloved air conditioner.  

Song of the Hour: Winter Winds by Mumford and Sons.  I'm so excited to see these guys live in a month or so.  It's going to be fantastic!!