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Thunk

A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!

 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers! **You are all so awesome for voting over at the One Project Closer site!! I didn’t think you could vote more than once, but I think some have been able to…so if you want, check it out. It takes about two seconds to vote…http://www.oneprojectcloser.com/before-after-2009-vote-for-the-best/ The contest goes through Friday night. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your vote. icon smile A dining hutch redo and fall fillers! **

So my latest project was one that was about a year in the making. I had plans to do this foreva. I couldn’t decide on the details so it just didn’t happen until I started the redo a few weeks ago.

I LOVE our dining room hutch. It’s dark and curvy, just the way I like hutches. If I had a thing for hutches that is.

There is only one issue that has bugged me from day one:

 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!Can you tell what it is? The mirrors that line the back of the hutch drove me cray-zay. They reflected ev.er.y.thing — I mean, that’s the deal with mirrors right? When I filled it with accessories, it felt like they all just disappeared into a reflected abyss. You couldn’t really see anything that was in there.

So, about a year ago, I decided to cover the backs — I started with foam poster boards (from the dollar store) and some leftover fabric from my drapes. I stopped after one though, because as I mentioned before, I just wasn’t “feeling” the room.

A couple weeks ago I decided to finish this everlasting project up. But what to cover it with? I didn’t want to do the same fabric from the drapes because a.) it was more than I wanted to spend on this and b.) I didn’t want it to be too matchy and c.) I was lazy.

So I thunk and I thunk and I thunk. It hit me — DOH. I had a ton of wallpaper left from this project. And it was already white. SCORE!

Here’s how I did it…

Measured each section of mirror horizontally and vertically:

 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!Then I marked the measurements on the foam board:

 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!I marked the measurements down the board, then connected the dots with the level to make a line:
 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!The foam is thin enough to just cut with scissors:
 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!
Then, check it to make sure it fits the spot! I had to do some trimming to make them fit perfect. A fork is useful for this part — if it fits well it’s impossible to get the foam out without one. icon smile A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!
 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!Then just cut the wallpaper to the size I needed, then used the hot glue to wrap the paper around the foam:

 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers! It turned out pretty much exactly how I had hoped!:
 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers! A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!Then I was able to decorate the hutch for autumn…some pumpkins and leaves bling it up:

 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!My apothecary jars are so fun to fill for fall and Christmas! They are filled with a bunch ‘o fall stuff — leaves, pumpkins, beads, pears, apples:

 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers! Teeny tiny acorns and beads that I snipped off pics from Hobby Lobby:

 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers! A pumpkin under glass:

 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!More beady stuff. Are you surprised?:

 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers! Those FAB plates are my HomeGoods finds from today and whoooeee they are gorg! I needed to lift a couple items up and for now, they are the perfect way to do that.

The knobs that were on the hutch were very pretty but have never felt right to me:

 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!

 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers! Enter half price (faux) crystal knobs from Hob Lob:
 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!Fat round ones in the middle, small square ones on the doors.
The top of the hutch is filled with a couple items I already had, then my long scrolly candleholder turned on it’s side, and a couple platters at $9.99 each from HomeGoods:
 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!Stink Eye Sister doesn’t like the scrolly thing on it’s side. It makes her “uncomfortable” that I am not using it as it should be. I told her where her “not as it should be” can (nicely) go cause I like it!
 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!Love you sis! Smooches!
I love how subtle the texture of the wallpaper is!:  A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!I was toying with touching up the raised areas with some stain or paint, to bring out the texture, but now I’m thinking that would get too busy.
Here’s a before — helloooooo accessories? Where are yoooooou?
DSC02836 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!
Ah yes, there you are!
 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers! And I love it at night even more, of course:
 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!

 A dining hutch redo and fall fillers!Oh yeah, did I mention this was FAAAREEEE? Well, I bought nine foam boards for a buck each, but that was a year ago so it totally doesn’t count.
I made what are simply the cauuutest Halloween decorations last night –I can’t wait to show you later this week!

Table runner wall art.

OK, well I kinda lied about the not mentioning molding for another month thing. It wasn’t deliberate, I swear. This project just kind of came to me today and molding was the perfect touch to finish it off. Sorry. Not really. icon smile Table runner wall art.

So I was feeling the itch for a Goodwill trip today — it’s been about a week, and after that long, I start daydreaming about it, and getting hives at the thought of something totally fab and perfect and lovely that’s there waiting for me rightthisminuteandI’mgoingtomissit!!

Whew. So I needed to go. I found a few goodies for under $10 — the other items I’ll show you soon. This one, I just couldn’t pass up. It was a table runner, all beady and natural looking. I feel in lurrrrve.

I stood there with it in my hands staring at it, not baring the thought of putting it down. But I couldn’t figure out where in the heck I would need such an odd sized table runner. It’s only 31 inches long.

So I thunk and I thunk and I thunk and it hit me — I knew just where it was going.

Over the toilet.

Yeah, that’s right. For the longest time, this is what I’ve had over the toilet (such an ugly word) in our little room in the master bath:
 Table runner wall art. Don’t ask. I have no clue what I was thinking. I was thinking spa I guess? It didn’t turn out well. And towels over the toilet? Um….that’s just not good. I mean, we didn’t use them, but still…

So I had a vision, and it turned out exactly how I had hoped! First, I just nailed the runner to the wall using little finishing nails and my hammer:

 Table runner wall art.
I used my nail sinker thing (the technical term is totally escaping me) to get them in close enough to the wall so you couldn’t see them:
 Table runner wall art. Most of them I was able to just push in with my finger.

I didn’t take pics of the molding process, because I think you’ve seen enough of that over the past couple of weeks. icon wink Table runner wall art. But I added some thin molding I had in the garage around the runner to finish it off: Table runner wall art.I spray painted the molding before I hung it, but it still wasn’t just the right tone. So I just brushed some of my walnut stain right over the top of the wood, and now it matches perfectly!

 Table runner wall art.Because I love it so stinking much, I took a ton of pictures, so bare with me:

 Table runner wall art.I’m not sure what you would call the style of our bathroom, it’s a little traditional, a little fancy, a little nature-inspired. But this works, no matter what it is. icon smile Table runner wall art.
How gorgeous would this be in a dining room — in a set of three on the wall hanging horizontally? FAB!

 Table runner wall art. The before again:
 Table runner wall art.The much lovelier after:

 Table runner wall art.Total cost? Four bucks baby. And it took about 30 minutes start to finish, to complete. All during nap time, with time to spare to watch my stories. icon wink Table runner wall art.
I know, by the way, what many of you are thinking. Why worry about this little wall in this little room that no one sees? Well, we see it numerous times a day, obviously. And ummmm….well….have you read this blog? Helloooooo, it’s me. icon wink Table runner wall art.
I will decorate anything if I can do it for cheap!