Old Door Christmas Tree

I use to be a crafty person, loved to do all the trending crafts, making handmade items with paint, glue guns, fabric, etc. Now I just want to do DIY's with power tools, which I am starting a collection of my own and loving it! Here is def a great DIY with using multiple power tools!

Being honest here, I saw this idea on Instagram, briefly, and I didn't save it or screen shot it, or even remember who's page I saw it on! So if you know, please tell me so I can give them credit for the inspiration! They just had a photo of someone else's trees, and it got my inner creative self just a thinking! This is a super easy DIY if you know how to use those glorious power tools!

So lets get on with it!!

All you need is an old door (or any wood door), some 1x2 or 1x4 for the wood trim, some block molding (or any block of wood), a chair leg thingy (don't know the official name, but look at the pic below), a leg, and a round or square plaque/base. Other than the old door and trim, I got all of the rest at Lowe's Home Improvement.

Other supplies include:

Stain and stain brush
finish nailer and nails
skilsaw
chalk line
Screwdriver/drill and screws
hammer and a nail

Time to get started!

Make sure you lay your door down on a flat surface, find the center at the top and lightly hammer a small nail at the center. Attach the chalk line to the nail and pull it to each of the bottom corners of the door and snap the line. You will see a chalk line triangle! Make sure your skilsaw is at the proper depth of your door, and you have it hanging over the edge(I say this because I had it on an outdoor coffee table that now has a cut going thru one corner;), and cut along lines, you will then have a very large triangle! Be careful if you move it at this stage, because it won't have the sides holding it together. Measure and cut your trim to fit the sides, with a couple of inches hanging off the bottom on each side. Stain these as well as your leg, wood blocks/molding, and plaque/base. Attach the trim with a finish nailer and nails. Find the middle of the door at the bottom and attach your blocks of molding, both on the front and back of the door, also with the finish nailer. You will now have enough thickness at the bottom to screw in the leg holder thingy. After that, find the center of your base and screw in the leg with several screws to make sure it is very secure. You can now screw the leg and base to the bottom of your tree and you are DONE!

See? Super easy DIY using my fave power tools!! Hope you had a great time with this! I hung a wreath on mine, but you could totally deck this out with lights, ornaments, paint stencils, or whatever your heart desires! If you make one of these, please post it on Instagram and tag me @theoldhouseonmain cuz I would love to see it!

Hope you have a great day and see ya next time!

xo Margy

Dining Room Done! YAY!!

Well, it has been a long time coming, let me tell ya! I finally retired from my job, and wanted to get started on all the projects I have been waiting patiently to do. The dining room was one of them, with its dark blueish/teal walls, I was ready for a change! I know that dark walls are making a comeback in the decor world, but I have had these for like 10 years and need some light and bright!

After doing the entry way, I had decided I wanted the whole house to be more cohesive and a little more neutral, so I stuck with the same colors on the walls and trim and added a little flare! With lots of time on my hands and no deadline to hit, I began.

 Retirement is a funny thing, some people just keep right on moving forward and never look back, being busier than when they worked. Some get bored, and decide that they really don’t like it, and then there are those few that seem to have everything happen right after retirement. Well, I am in that third category! My last official day, I tweeked my knee! Two weeks later, my Mom was diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer! Two months later, I tore my minescus in my other knee (a week after I started the dining room makeover) and had to have it scoped. When they scoped it, they found out that I had also torn my ACL! A couple of weeks later, my Mom passed away. This all happened within the first three months of retirement and needless to say, getting the dining room completed was the last priority! Luckily, I had done most of the higher part of the 11 foot ceilings, and all that was left was some of the trim and below the chair rail. Since I couldn’t climb a ladder yet, (torn ACL) I began painting the lower part of the walls. It took longer than expected, probably because I really wasn’t in the mood for awhile, and honestly kinda sad, but got that completed-FINALLY!

Even though my home will be all the same neutral colors, each space will have that WOW factor, and the dining room is no different. I originally wanted to do some wallpaper, but because of the budget, I made the choice to stencil. I opted for a large stencil that I purchased at Micheals craft store. For those of you who have never stenciled, there are a couple of different ways to get the same result. I find that it is easiest to use a foam roller on walls and furniture, but use a stencil brush on everything else.

Stenciling supplies:
     
                1.  2 Stencils
                2. Foam roller (small)

                3. Spray glue
                4. Painters tape
                5. Roller pan
                6. Latex paint




I will just quickly explain how I did this particular stencil project, I also did a very brief "how to" in my last post about the guest room, so if you already read that, then just skip to the end. First thing is to spray the back of the stencil with the spray glue. You can use any brand, but I used 3M brand of glue. Set it aside for about 5 minutes or until it gets tacky. While it is getting tacky, measure and figure out your stencil pattern on the wall. I don’t ever measure, I usually just eyeball everything, but if you read the instructions on the stencil package, it will tell you how to get started, usually. Then you simply place your stencil on the wall and make sure you use the painters tape to tape off any edges so you don’t accidentally paint over the edge onto the wall. Pour the paint into the roller pan and roll paint onto the
roller. Here is the secret, don’t use very much paint! If you use too much, it will bleed under the stencil. when you have all the holes in the stencil painted, simply remove the stencil. It is best to have at least a couple of stencils so you can continue and not have to wait for the stencil to dry. Just keep moving along the wall until you are done!


Hope you enjoyed my little Dining Room refresh, on to the next project!

My Guest Room and Simple Decor thru the Year

Its amazing how one room in the house can change in just a years time! Before last years renovation of the guest room, I guess it had been a few years since I had changed it up. This is what it looked like before last year.

 I guess not too bad, it was really dark with gray walls and ceiling. I had the twin beds together in this photo to make a king size bed, win win for a guest room. I wanted to change things up and make it lighter and brighter, but I also wanted a black wall! So I got to work!

In order to go light and bright with a black wall, I opted to go with Pure Ultra
white by Behr on 3 walls and Cracked Pepper by Behr, to be found at your local Home Depot, for my dramatic black feature wall. After all was painted, it seemed that the black wall needed some oomph, so I did a stencil technique on the wall.

 Just in case you want to know how I did it, well I am going to tell you! I bought my wall stencil on line at cuttingedgestencils.com, used 3M spray glue so it would stick to the wall, used a foam roller, and clear gloss Polycrylic by Minwax. Blue painters tape is also needed.

 As you can see, it gives it just a subtle tone on tone pattern and texture, and that is exactly what I wanted! It is also super easy!
I wanted to also incorporate some shiplap into the space, but because our house is of a different era and I didn't want to have shiplap permanently on the wall, I opted to put it on the headboards instead. It was another easy project, just using 1x6 inch pine boards that are nailed and glued into place. Here is the result!

 This is my favorite room in the house, I must say! It is so much fun to decorate with all the seasons and holidays! With simple changes of pillows and throws, it is constantly getting changed and photographed for my Instagram account, @theoldhouseonmain!!
For those who just like to look at the photos, I know you are out there, here are a few with the changes of the seasons and holidays, ENJOY!

 FALL 2017

  HALLOWEEN 2017

CHRISTMAS 2017

VALENTINES 2018

 EASTER 2018

SPRING 2018

SUMMER 2018
Guest rooms are the perfect place to have some fun with decor! I was going to have a photo of what it looks like now, but I am kinda in the middle of seasons and I have had some family stay here and actually use it, so it is not really even decorated right now! You will have to check my Instagram account in a couple of weeks to see what I am going to do this year for Fall decor, and I hope I know myself by then!! If you have any questions, just let me know!

Thanks for stopping by!  XO, Margy

Light or Dark, that is the question?

Hello again! It has been awhile, so sorry, I kinda got caught up in the whole Instagram world! Not gonna lie, it's rather addicting and time consuming! Today I am talking molding and whether to go a light color or going wild with a darker color! I was wondering because I changed up my entryway recently, wanted pure white walls, and couldn't decide on the molding color! I plan on changing the whole house up, eventually, and because its such a small house, I wanted everything cohesive.

I decided to go to the experts, Instagram of course, to find out what a girl should do?

I did a poll in my stories, and asked which one? Which do you think? Light or darker? Well the majority, including the hubby, thought I should go...darker!! I was kinda shocked, actually! It was a fairly close poll, but still, REALLY? Truth be known, they didn't know the whole story. They didn't know that I was going to have a dramatic feature wall in every room, that I wanted the molding to have some contrast, but didn't want it to overpower the room, and it was to be the same throughout the whole house.

In the end, I found a color that was in-between the light and the dark colors. It has just enough contrast, but doesn't overpower the room. I am happy with my decision, I love now how bright and spacious feeling my front entryway feels, and look at that drama on the wall!

The moral of the story is this...

Think about the big picture in your space. Do you want the molding to pop, or what is on the walls to stand out? Do you want it to look traditional, or a little on the edge? All in all, either light or dark would have looked good, but I knew I wanted what was on the walls to be the feature and focal point in each room.

Let me know what you think about my entryway! Love it or hate it? Love for you to comment below! Thanks for stopping by and see you at my next project!

xo, Margy

Floor Cloths, What are they and How to make them!

I have wood floors, OLD wood floors, that are original to the house. I also have 2 very active large dogs that like to play in the house, on our very OLD wood floors. I needed a solution to protect those OLD floors, and still looked cool. Rugs with those rug grippers just doesn't cut it! That's where Floor Cloths come in, they are durable, and withstand my very active dogs!

So, there are different types of floor cloths, and I won't go into that much, only to say they are usually made out of some type of canvas and have been around for decades. The floor cloths for today's post are made out of vinyl flooring! Yep, cheap linoleum that you can buy as a remnant at any Home Depot, Lowe's or flooring store. It doesn't even matter what it looks like!!

Curious? Well, read on....

You actually paint and use the back of the linoleum!

This is the back of my floor cloth.

All you have to do is make sure that the vinyl or linoleum flooring has a paper backing of some kind.

Here's what you need:

Cheap vinyl flooring with paper backing

Heavy duty scissors that will cut the flooring

Measuring tape to measure the size required

A large enough area to paint your floor cloth

Some kind of plastic to protect your surface from paint while painting your floor cloth

Primer paint, my fave is KILZ brand

Latex Paint that has primer in it, my fave is Behr Marquee

Polyurethane 

Basic paint supplies

I have a few room sized floor cloths to protect those OLD wood floors, and this is really about making those. This type of floor cloth can also be used for small areas but you might have to use those rug grippers underneath to hold them in place. I want to be able to still see my OLD wood floors, so I cut mine to have about 2 feet of wood showing all around the room.

I also have a weird wonky fireplace and did a custom fit to it.

Basically they can be very versatile and durable as well.

Let's get started...

Take your measurements and cut your vinyl accordingly, then put down your plastic protection and lay your vinyl down, back side up. 

You will now primer the paper backing with the primer paint, using a roller, like you would use on walls. 

Let that dry and make sure that there was good coverage, if not, then simply go over areas that were missed and let that dry.

Now you need to determine, if you haven't already, what kind of pattern you want on your floor.

I did large stripes, so with the lighter beige color, I painted the whole floor cloth.

After that dried, I measured and taped off the gray large stripe and painted those. Easy Peasy!
If you use latex paint without primer in it, you might have to do two coats of each.

It is best to let this dry a good 24 hours and then apply the Polyurethane.

The more coats of Poly you put on, the more durable your floor cloth will be!

I usually put on 3, and make sure it is a non yellowing, water base poly.

You are DONE! 

This is a super easy project and not too expensive. Make sure that all your furniture has those felt pads on the legs, and you are good to go! I just clean mine with water and a Norwex cloth, but I have used the swifter wet-jet in the past also. Basically clean it how you would clean the linoleum that is on the underside 😆😆!

They are great for layering also!

If you get tired of the design, just primer it and start over!! I think my next one I will stencil a cool concrete tile pattern and put it in my kitchen! Hmmm....


Have any questions, just ask!!

Thanks for sticking around and I hope this has given you a new project to consider!!

This Old House on Main...and Me

         For my first post, I thought I would share our Old House and a little bit about myself. Our red brick house was built in 1890 by a guy named Frank Chase. Frank's father had a huge family farm that was called Chase park and his house was just next door, although it was torn down the year before we bought our house. We have lived here for 27 years now (wow, time flies!), and love this little house of ours! Okay, enough history, lets get to the pics!

About me:

        Well, I am your typical DIYer, some things turn out great and others are complete fails! The fun part is just trying! I have learned so much about myself by just trying to do all kinds of projects. You don't know what you are capable of until you try! I usually jump in with both feet and yea sometimes I regret it, but there is always something to learn. Projects around the house, I guess, are probably my thing. This poor old house has been the brunt of my projects, and it is still standing! Every nook and cranny has been changed over and over, and it seems, I am never done. My husband of 30+ years just rolls his eyes, swears a couple of times and usually helps me dig in, if needed. Gotta love him!
       
          I decided to do this Blog, to hopefully share some of the projects and to learn a ton about this whole world of blogging. It is fascinating to me as well as kinda scary! I am also going to be retiring from my job in a couple of years and I will need something to do! I have also started an Instagram account, look me up and follow me at theoldhouseonmain!

          Well, hopefully I haven't bored you to tears yet. Please come back and check out some interesting projects from the past and hopefully lots in the future!

          Thanks for stopping by,
       
          Margy