2013 - Page 16 of 36 - Pretty Handy Girl

Aged, antiques, arts and craft, Crafts, desk, distressing, Glaze, kitchen, Kitchen Renovation, painting, Painting & Antiquing Techniques

The Painted Distressed Wood Panel Tutorial

I can tell you are excited about this tutorial! I’ve had more comments and compliments on the side panel on my kitchen desk and on the range hood. Today we are going to talk about the painted Distressed Wood Panel Tutorial.

They are definitely the details in our kitchen that make it personal. I got the idea after seeing Sarah Richardson’s kitchen, where she actually used reclaimed lumber on the side of her cabinets.

But, I knew finding the right distressed wood would be tricky. Plus, I always worry about the presence of lead paint. Instead, I decided to make it and fake it. As promised, I’m sharing the tutorial with you. Read more

August 26, 2013/26 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

Home Office, inspiration, kitchen, laundry room, Master Bedroom, painting, Painting & Antiquing Techniques

25 Dreamy Blue Paint Color Choices

It’s no secret that one of the quickest and least expensive ways to transform a room is with paint. Choosing the right color, however, can be tricky. It’s always recommended to paint some sample colors in the room you’ll be painting. Both natural and artificial lighting play huge roles in how the hues appear at different times of the day. After you’ve painted samples, see how they look in the morning light, afternoon and with ambient lighting in the evenings.

Many people lean towards neutrals for wall colors, but light blues and aquas bring in the airy tranquil feelings of the sky or surf. Be lulled into a peaceful tranquility by these 25 dreamy blue rooms. You’ll soon discover that these colors do anything but give you the ‘blues’.

Bedroom Beauties:

1. Valspar’s Carolina Inn Club Aqua at Young House Love
John and Sherry balanced the softness of the wall color with rich wood accents.

2. Benjamin Moore Tranquil Blue at MosaicWorks.ca
In contrast to natural wood tones, this room simply uses white accessories to create a lovely retreat.

3. Kelly Moore Blue Green Gem at Centsational Girl
Gray and silver accents echo the wall color in a welcoming guest room.

Why My Grandmother Would Love that I Wrote All Over Her Coffee Table

My grandmother wouldn’t mind that I painted and then wrote all over her coffee table. She was one of the most giving people you’ve ever met. She truly was the type of person that would give you the shirt off her back if you needed it. I strive to live up to her legacy every day of my life.

She was also a very lucky lady. I mean lucky as in she could spot a four-leafed clover in a field of them. She was constantly finding money on the ground.

When I was living with her my freshman year in college, she made me do a U-turn on a street because she saw a five dollar bill in the middle of the road! She was a hoot and loved to make people laugh with her jokes or just dressing up as a bunny every Easter.

(That’s my sisters and me in the floral skirt.)

She also won several contests in her life. But, she rarely kept her winnings. One of the things she won was a solid construction coffee table. When I was moving into my first apartment, she gave it to me. We used it for years until my design tastes changed and I bought a new one. Grandma’s coffee table moved into our attic. It sat there for years, buried under bags and suitcases.

When the big tree fell on our house, we did some serious purging in the attic. I should have taken the coffee table to Goodwill or sold it at our yard sale. But, something made me keep it a little longer. Read more

August 23, 2013/22 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

arts and craft, Birthday Gift, Crafts, DIY, fabric, Gift Ideas, gifts, kitchen, painting, save money, Sewing

DIY Kids Cloth Napkins Tutorial

Hello Pretty Handy Girl readers, contributor Jaime back again to share an earth-friendly, fun and very useful tutorial as we begin to think about back to school! Today we are talking about creating DIY Kids Cloth Napkins.

Let’s make personalized cloth napkins for kids, I promise they will be the talk of the lunch table at school this year!

I was sending my kids to school nearly every day with a large paper towel to place on the lunch table, gosh knows I don’t want my kids eating directly off the school lunch table! Then it occurred to me that using all those paper towels was extremely wasteful.

The solution: make them personalized cloth napkins which can be washed and reused AND makes for most stylish lunch spot at the table! Read more

August 21, 2013/8 Comments/by Jaime Costiglio

adfree, Do It Yourself, Electrical, Giveaway, light fixture, Rewiring outlet, Tutorial

How to Install a Lutron Maestro Occupancy Sensor on a 3-way Switch

Teaching kids to turn off the lights in a room they are no longer in is a tough job. No matter how many times I try to explain that leaving the lights on wastes electricity, it just doesn’t seem to sink in. In their defense, they are like little wind up tops flitting from room to room playing with trains in one; reading in another and barely stopping to use the toilet in the bathroom (putting the lid down is a whole other issue! Ugh.)

When Lutron approached me about giving my kids a helping hand with the lights, I was immediately intrigued. It turns out that Lutron has just introduced the Maestro occupancy sensor dimmer that can be easily installed in place of an existing light switch. (Single pole switches are easiest. Dual or Multi-location switches may require a little more wiring and programming to work properly.) After some thought, I decided to try the Maestro in our art & craft studio. This is the room that we least notice when the bulbs are burning (it is over the garage and is separated by our guest room from the rest of the house.)

Follow along to see how to install your own. Your attentive nature may be rewarded at the end. 😉 Read more

August 19, 2013/53 Comments/by Brittany Bailey