DIY

Snow Day DIY Watercolor & Printable

Wayfair Snow Day This post is sponsored by Wayfair, but all content and opinions are solely my own.

Everyone is commenting about the mild winter we've been having here in Massachusetts this year, but I just keep remembering that we had a mild winter last year... until a year ago yesterday when the beginning of our 100+ inches started to fall.  The sheer amount of snow I had to shovel last year still gives me PTSD.  That being said, though, as a lifelong New Englander, I've developed a few habits that help to get me through the cold days and snow squall induced cabin fever.

Once that weather man starts talking about the possibility of getting snowed in, I generally will start thinking up a plan.  Option 1: hibernate on the couch with kitties and procedural detective dramas... OR, Option 2: make something.  I'd say I generally find a good balance of the 2, but there are few things that brighten up a snow day like sitting down to a project.

While this past weekend's storm was a bust for us here, I still prepared myself for a project.  My TV cabinet has been built, painted, and installed for weeks, but you have yet to see the finished product because the frames are still sporting the pictures that came in them and the side shelves are mid-styling.  Sick of staring at canned succulent pictures, I decided that until I bit the bullet and bought the etsy art that I really wanted for them, I would whip up a quick DIY to fill the frames.

watercolor-frames

Ever a hoarder of art supplies, I still had a stash of watercolors and paper from my college days.  While I can't remember the proper way to use them, I remembered enough to put together a pair of unique, quick, and free (if you have the supplies already like I did) art.

DIY watercolor art via Year of Serendipity

I use smaller brushes to help mix the colors, but an unconventional watercolor tool- the chip brush, to actually paint.  I hoped the jagged, unevenness of the brushes would help to add texture to the painting.

DIY watercolor art via Year of Serendipity

I taped the pages down to the floor so they wouldn't curl up with the water.

DIY watercolor art via Year of Serendipity

Then I got to painting.  My first start at a quirky modern watercolor looked like bad art out of the 90s, but just as I was about to get discouraged, I realized that my test sheet where I was trying out streaks of color and brush strokes had a better vibe.  New technique!  Instead of trying to make a pattern, I would simply let streaks of paint become the art.  So I started again.

DIY watercolor art via Year of Serendipity

Instantly I was liking this version.

DIY watercolor art via Year of Serendipity

After streaking on 3 colors, the art was looking nice, but a bit flat.  So out came my secret weapon.... GOLD.  I waited until the watercolor was totally dry, then taped off a stripe on each canvas.

DIY watercolor art via Year of Serendipity

I decided on one page I was going to use the back of the foam brush to add some dots... which turned into drips...which I decided to make look like they were supposed to be there.  On the other I use the foam brush with uneven pressure to add a tear drop shape in a few spots.

DIY watercolor art via Year of Serendipity

I think I'm just as amazed as you at how far the gold took the boring paintings to the next level.  They looked even better when I popped them into the frames.

DIY watercolor art via Year of Serendipity

While these aren't my ideal art for the space, I think I can live with these as place holders until I decide to spend $100 on the art that I really want.  Before I bite that bullet, though, I want to finish upholstering my chair and get that in the room to make sure I'm not trying to overload a small space with too many interesting things.  It's a delicate balance.

DIY watercolor art via Year of Serendipity

Now, when I'm at my desk working, this is a significantly more inspirational view than having the black box of a TV taunting me.  Full reveal of the TV cabinet coming next week!

As a bonus to you, I'm offering up my DIY watercolor art as a free printable.  Click on the images below or the links to bring you to the large, savable image.

DIY watercolor art PRINTABLE via Year of Serendipity

DIY watercolor art piece 1

DIY watercolor art PRINTABLE via Year of Serendipity

DIY watercolor art piece 2

DIY Stair Runner

I'll acknowledge the elephant in the room first.  I've been kind of MIA here lately and I have no excuse.  I've been struggling to find a balance and have vowed to focus on putting out quality content as opposed to posting something just to post something.  So hopefully this post was worth the wait! Installing a DIY Stair Runner- via Year of Serendipity

5 Years ago when we moved into our house, the staircase was depressing.  Dingy, uncleanable carpet and a dated, bowed railing.  No need to adjust the color on your screen- the pic is pretty true to color and the railing was orange.

stair-carpet-before2

Finally, this summer, we replaced the railing and refinished the treads and since then, the stairs have sat naked.

Updated railing, naked stairs- via Year of Serendipity

I did really like the simple beauty of the naked stairs, especially after we refinished the treads, but the condition of the 100+ year old risers and the fact that they're actually rather steep made having a runner an unfortunate necessity.  With one cat who enjoys scratching carpet on stairs, 2 things were imperative: low cost investment/DIY, and a cut pile runner that would not be as easily torn apart.  After quite a bit of searching and debating, I landed on this indoor/outdoor cut pile Safavieh rug from Target.

Target carpet runner

The other supplies that I needed to install the runner were a rug pad (I used this one from IKEA, cut to size), an electric staple gun, a hand staple gun, and a utility knife.  This project was such a long time coming!

Prior to installing, the stairs themselves needed a bit of prep.  Each riser was chewed up from 100 years of being beat on.  Trying to smooth all this out would have taken ages and probably miracles, so I only repaired what would be seen on either side of a runner.  I patched, caulked, primed and painted until they looked passable.

100 year old stair risers- via Year of Serendipity

After a failed attempt at starting to install the runner from the top down, I decided that it might be best to start at the bottom where gravity would be working less against me.  Before installing the first piece, I cut off the stripes on the end so that the stripes would only be on the sides.

Installing a DIY Stair Runner- via Year of Serendipity

Starting the stapling at the bottom, I tried carefully to keep the runner straight.  After securing the bottom, I stapled under the lip of the tread to create a "Hollywood" style install.  All the while being supervised by one fuzzball or the other.  Daisy's in charge of quality control.

Installing a DIY Stair Runner- via Year of Serendipity

After securing it under the lip, I moved onto the top of the tread (checking the spacing from the wall as I went), and stapled along the edges onto the tread.

Installing a DIY Stair Runner- via Year of Serendipity

Then, after the tread was secure on both sides, and pressing the carpet as far into the corner as possible, I stapled onto the next riser.

Installing a DIY Stair Runner- via Year of Serendipity

And then stapled a line as close under the tread as I could get, all the way across, so that the runner sat nice and snug to the stairs.

Installing a DIY Stair Runner- via Year of Serendipity

Since the runners that I purchased were not intended for stairs and were only 7' long, I needed 5 to cover all the stairs.  Once I got toward the end of one runner I would cut it to end just under the lip of a tread so that I could hide the seam as best as possible.  Then I cut the next runner to begin where the last runner left off in the pattern.

Installing a DIY Stair Runner- via Year of Serendipity

Pro tip: never attempt to cut carpet from the pile (or top) side.  It'll be 7 times the work and 11 times the mess.  If you use a utility knife and cut from the back into just the backing, you'll avoid yarn pieces everywhere and get a nice clean cut.

When I completed one runner and started on the next, I would use my hand staple gun (since the electric wouldn't fit) to secure it to the bottom lip of the tread.  This is where I needed to be extra careful to get the pattern lined up.  The runners did vary slightly, so I needed to make sure that the pattern matched in the center first, then worked my way to the ends.

Installing a DIY Stair Runner- via Year of Serendipity

I kept working my way up the stairs until I reached the top.  I ended it like I had with the seams in between by cutting the last piece to end just under the lip of the upstairs floors.

After I finished, I went back and hammered down any staples that hadn't gone in completely and fluffed up the carpet pile around them, completely hiding them.  After several months of naked stairs, it was a change to see the runner, but I'm so pleased with the way it came out!

Installing a DIY Stair Runner- via Year of Serendipity

Unless you study them carefully, you can't see where one runner ends and another begins.

Installing a DIY Stair Runner- via Year of Serendipity

Even walking down the stairs, I don't think I could have gotten the patterns to align any better.

Installing a DIY Stair Runner- via Year of Serendipity

The view from my sofa is looking pretty sharp and for the first time in probably years, doesn't look unfinished!

Installing a DIY Stair Runner- via Year of Serendipity

Adding a pattern onto the stairs, which is open to the living room has set the ball rolling on a few changes in there.  The additional geometric was a tipping point into a bit of decor overload in the space, so I'm gearing up to simplify the living room a bit.  She's gonna be a beaut!

Happy 2016!

swapit-book-planter-3.jpg

Good morning, friends and happy new year!  2015 sure was a crazy year, and I have high hopes for 2016 already. I have some awesome posts in the works for you, but before I jump head first into the juicy 2016 posts, I wanted to ease into 2016 a little with a look back on the highlights of the past year.

Millie, flip house #4, I think is by far the stand-out star of 2015.  Not only is she the most exhausting, trying, exciting flip house I've done, but she reciprocated my love by selling from the very first open house.

2015 recap- Millie the Fliphouse

That kitchen still makes me grin ear to ear.

2015 recap- Millie the Fliphouse kitchen

2015 recap- Millie the Fliphouse kitchen

And how can I talk about that house without mentioning the original bathroom, which was also featured as a Room of the Day on Houzz.

2015 recap- Millie the Fliphouse bathroom

And as the year went on, the ball got rolling on my design business, Copper Dot Interiors and I shared this completed dining space from a client.

2015 recap- Copper Dot dining room

I joined an amazing group of bloggers to Swap it Like it's HOT and made over thrift store items in both the spring and the fall.  (In the interest of full disclosure, I feel that I need to mention that no, the succulents are no longer alive......not through the fault of a design flaw, but of my outright neglect, then overzealous watering)

2015 recap- swap it book planter

2015 recap- Swap it industrial lamp

I answered your Q&As about flipping and tackled a bit of curb appeal on flip #5, Dori.

2015 recap- DIY shutters

In between the 2 flips, the spotlight turned on my own house where we uncovered and refinished the 116 year old wood floors,

2015 recap- 100+ year old floors

and built a new non-eyesore of a window seat for our furry friends.

2015 recap- DIY cat perch

Phew, no wonder 2015 exhausted me!  2016 is stacking up to be even bigger and brighter.  In the coming weeks, I'll be posting about my completed TV cabinet, installing a carpet stair runner, and the mini-transformation of our rental condo kitchen.  With my plate filling up with design clients, I'm hoping to do a bit less grunt labor this year and more fun design work and creative DIYs to share with you!

Bring it on 2016!!