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Fall Tablescape and Coffee Bar

Fall Tablescape and Coffee Bar

Welcome! I’m so glad you could join me today. I enjoyed taking a little time off from my investment house projects to decorate the house for autumn. It’s always fun to twitter around and create a beautiful tablescape. Last year’s tablescape had plenty of orange, yellow and pink accents. But this year I chose a palette filled with blue, green, and accents of purple that complimented our fall hydrangeas. I also had fun adding a little coffee bar. Won’t you come on in and stay for a while? I’m brewing some fresh coffee and have baked pears for you to sample. Don’t forget to help yourself to some coffee.

Several years ago I sold our old dining room table and decided to build my own rustic farmhouse table. I love it and kick myself for not making this table sooner. It was a fairly quick build, you can find my tutorial to build your own farmhouse table here.

(I’ve included affiliate links in this post. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links.
There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Right before I started decorating, I received my monthly Sand Dollar Lane Box. Inside were several items including the chalkboard and magnetic zinc frames you see on the tour. In addition, a little wooden desk box and some other pretty little things were inside the box. I am particularly enamored with the little gold magnifying paperweight and a small whale dish that brighten any space. (Did you spot them above?)

Here’s a better view, can you see the pretty paperweight on the shelf above? I might need to feature it more next time. The bowl the apples are in was in my subscription box last month. Leen really knows how to pick some cute farmhouse coastal decor!

When I received the chalkboard in the Sand Dollar Lane Box, I knew I wanted to make a fall words chalkboard sign. I don’t seem to spend as much time making chalkboard art anymore, so this was a fun little activity. As inspiration, I used some of the lessons I learned in the Busy Girl’s Guide to Handlettering Course. And because I love sharing, here is the free chalkboard art printable available for you to download here (print it our use it as a template for your own art.)

This year’s tablescape is relatively simple. I built a rustic painted trough to display hydrangeas in, making a beautiful centerpiece.

Then I used a pear and a loropetalum clipping at each place setting.

While decorating the dining room, I decided not to buy any flowers or greenery this year. I had two reasons for this decision:

I struck out finding seeded eucalyptus anywhere. I might need to order some from a florist. (Anyone have a good resource?)
I wanted to challenge myself to use what I have. You know what? I was amazed at how much greenery I was able to harvest from my yard!

Ferns, loropetalum, monkey grass and the hydrangea bushes were overly abundant this year. The clippings from them worked nicely in my fall decor. I encourage you to take a look in your yard, you’d be amazed what you can use for fresh greenery!

Usually we use the hutch in our dining room for a hot cocoa bar during the holidays, but I decided it would be nice to create a little coffee bar to enjoy for the fall. Who doesn’t love a pretty coffee bar? (Especially if you make your own frothy healthy coffee at home.)

I hope you’ll come back tomorrow for the Fabulous Fall Home Tours. I’ll be joined by seven more of my talented friends!

See you in the morning.

Wall Paint Color in this room is Benjamin Moore Elmira White.

September 28, 2017/6 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

Before and After, Build It, Home Tour

Pantry Reveal with Coffee Bar and Hidden Wine Storage

Hidden Wine Storage at Back of Countertop | Pretty Handy Girl

Today’s the day I’m finally sharing the Pantry Reveal, complete with a Coffee Bar and Hidden Wine Storage! Let me warn you, this isn’t your ordinary pantry. This space is multi-functional. The dreams of a better and more organized pantry started four years ago while I was in the thick of our kitchen renovation. For 48 months I’ve mulled over the plans to have food storage that works better for how my family lives. At first I used painter’s tape to try to figure out better spacing (excuse the poor photo quality. This was taken before I improved my photography skills):

The shelves were only 12″ deep in a 36″ deep closet. That’s 2/3 of the pantry not being utilized. I’m sure you or someone you known has a similar 6 foot wide pantry with bi-fold doors. Be sure to share this post so they know there is hope for a more organized pantry.

As another year past, my plans began to take shape utilizing more of the depth of the pantry:

Then my plans evolved into this chicken scratch sketch:

After the plans sat in my head for a while, I used Sketch Up to utilize every square inch of space in the closet side. . .

. . .which you probably saw when I showed you how to build chalkboard front drawers

and how to use vintage rulers as shelf stops.

The closet side of the pantry holds roughly 2/3 of what the original 6 foot wide pantry did!

The other two thirds of the pantry area was set up with upper and lower cabinets and a walnut counter top. I ordered the cabinets from Kith Cabinets (the same manufacturer that made the rest of our kitchen cabinets) because I worried that I wouldn’t be able to match the quality if I built them myself.

The upper cabinet is deceiving because it is actually 18″ deep (as opposed to a normal 12″ deep upper). Which means we have a lot more storage within those cabinets.

We have some amazing storage now! Large pull out shelves hold all the chips, pretzels and snacks. I debated ordering a three drawer cabinet, but ultimately knew I’d prefer the deeper storage that the trays offered.

At some point, I’ll build custom dividers for the chips and snacks. The baskets work well, but there is a 3-4″ gap behind them that I could use. (I’m all about utilizing that space wasted space!)

The drawer is perfect for coffee stirrers, extra k-cups, plastic utensils, straws and more.

Speaking of coffee, it’s a wonderful feeling having a dedicated coffee station now.

When guests come to our house, the first stop (after the mudroom) is the coffee bar! I wish I had a photo of the bi-fold pantry doors before. They were uninviting and bland. This is essentially what they looked like:

Source

BORING!

This is what greets us now:

You may recall our DIY Chalkboard Calendar wall. We still use it for the kids’ and family’s activities. It helps the boys feel more connected with our schedule and lets them keep up with events and upcoming travel.

But wait, that’s not all! Are you ready to see the hidden wine storage?

Hold onto your wine glass!

How cool is that?

We can remove the doors if we want.

This makes the perfect spot for self serve wine at an open house party.

Normally we access half the wine storage at a time.

The real star of this pantry makeover is the rustic reclaimed wood plank wall. (I need to mention that I was approached by Timberchic about working with them on a sponsored post. A year passed before I contacted them back with the idea to use their wood panels in my pantry makeover.)

Those planks are a super DIY friendly product called Timberchic. The wood is salvaged from logs lost during lumber transport in the Maine river and lake systems. You can read the amazing story here and learn how Timberchic is helping the local ecosystem.

The planks can be purchased in 3″ and 5″ lengths. I chose 5 inch planks in a variety of natural and whitewash, then cut them into thirds for my project. (I’ve suggested that Timberchic should sell these thinner planks. Be sure to send them a tweet letting them know you like the thinner look too!)

In the meantime, I put together this little video to show you how easy it is to install the Timberchic panels:

Now we have a beverage center for day or night!

What do you think? Do you like the new pantry, coffee bar and hidden wine storage area?

I’m not sure I can still call this a pantry. A Pantry with Coffee Bar and Hidden Wine Storage?

or does it qualify as a butler’s pantry?

I don’t know for sure, but I do know that I love all the storage. . .

. . .and the view when we come into the kitchen.

Do you have a 6 foot bi-fold pantry? Why not turn it into something you’ve always dreamed about.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post for Timberchic. I was compensated for my time and promotion of the Timberchic products. As always, I’m very particular about the brands I represent. I only work with products I love and want to share with my closest friends.

June 5, 2017/48 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

Build It, Home Tour, organizational tips

Vintage Ruler Stops on Narrow Pantry Shelves

Make Your Own Chalkboard Front Drawers | Organized Pantry | Pretty Handy Girl

While configuring the new pantry, I knew I wanted to use up any and all available space to maximize storage. A shallow shelf took advantage of the 3 inches behind the door frame in the closet side of the pantry. To prevent items from tumbling off these shelves, you can use thin slats of wood. But, I utilized Vintage Ruler Stops on the Narrow Pantry Shelves. Not only do the rulers prevent items from being bumped or knocked off, but they provide a rainbow of color.

If you remember, this was the pantry before:

And these are the plans I made to transform the pantry into something beautiful with more storage.

Installing Vintage Ruler Stops on Narrow Shelves:

(I’ve included affiliate links for your convenience. I earn a small percentage from a purchase using these links. There is no additional cost to you. You can read more about affiliate links here.)

Optional: Painter’s tape

Instructions:

Cut vintage rulers (or other thin wood material) to the width of the shelf cabinet box. Squeeze a line of Iron Grip Silicone Adhesive along the bottom edge of the shelf and about an inch up on either side.

Press the ruler into the glue and line it up with the bottom edge of the shelf.

Use painter’s tape or a few brad nails to support the ruler while the adhesive cures. Once the GE Iron Grip Adhesive cures it will hold the ruler firmly. Without the adhesive, brad nails will eventually work their way through the wood or fall out.

Repeat for the remaining shelves.

Your shelves are ready to load up with jars and cans!

I love the side storage that was reclaimed in the closet. That was definitely one of my biggest pet peeves about the old pantry — wasted space.

It’s amazing how many jars and cans I can fit on the side.

Do you have a pantry or closet that can use narrow shelves for additional storage? I bet you do ;-).

June 2, 2017/5 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

Build It, Home Tour, organizational tips

Pantry Progress Update

I’m really anxious to show you a sneak peek of the pantry renovation project. I’m not 100% done, but the finish line is close. This is a good spot to give you a pantry progress update and show you the process of turning a bi-fold door pantry into something with more functional storage, not to mention coolness factor.

This is where the project began:

That was our 6′ wide and 3′ deep pantry back in 2012 shortly after a small water leak left us with a gutted kitchen. After the restoration crew installed the new subfloor (because of the asbestos abatement), I took the ugly bi-fold doors off and fully intending to include the pantry in my complete DIY kitchen renovation. By the time I finished the kitchen renovation, I was exhausted and longing for a break. Four years later, this is where the pantry progressed until a few months ago.

Big difference right? Just kidding. I installed flooring and a new light fixture, but that’s it. I had dreams of making an open pantry and showed this sketch to my friend Sandra from SawdustGirl.com back in 2013.

She and I talked through some ideas and then I sat on the project for a couple of years. By this time I had revised my idea on the pantry and drew up a new sketch:

(Please don’t show that to my illustration professors. That’s one rough sketch there.)

The idea was to partition off the right hand side of the pantry and create a small closet with a door. To get the most storage possible, I moved over to SketchUp to draw out plans for the small closet.

Next it was time to cut the shelves out and get this project rolling.

Our dining room took over pantry duties as I began the framing process in the gutted pantry.

I’m sure you’re going to ask me why I didn’t remove the framing over the doorway. I decided to leave it in place because the door frame is made up of a large double header and the kids’ bathtub is directly over the header. Basically I didn’t want to risk the tub falling through the ceiling.

New wiring was run for two outlets on the left side and I moved an outlet down toward the floor on the right side.

You may remember when I showed you how to Add Energy Efficient LED light fixtures in recessed can lights. Those lights were the ones I installed on each side of the partition.

I tried to hire my favorite electrician to install a door frame switch for the light, but he explained how to do it and left without taking my money. (I owe him big time.)

In the end, I’m grateful for his advice and for pushing me out of my comfort zone. It wasn’t as hard as I expected.

Next up on the to do list was to build the cabinetry for the closet.

I constructed two boxes. One deep box for the back and a shallow box for the side shelves. I’m not going to show you how to build cabinets because Sawdust Girl does it so much better than I do!

After the boxes were built and painted, I carefully installed them into the closet. Some white caulk and trim moulding were added to give it a more finished look.

Next I built the drawer boxes for inside the larger cabinet box. Again, Sawdust Girl has the best instructions for building drawer boxes here. But, here’s a tutorial to show you how to finish off plywood edges.

Blum drawer slides (affiliate link) were used on the drawers, per Sandra’s suggestion.

Want to see the full reveal? Click here to see my Pantry Reveal with Hidden Wine Storage.

May 22, 2017/9 Comments/by Brittany Bailey

Christmas Card Display, decor, Decorating, Holiday decorating, Home Decor, Home Tour

Holiday Home Tour 2016

How to Make a Vintage Rustic Sleigh Ride Sign | Pretty Handy Girl How cool! You can use this technique to make or transfer any sign graphic.

I’m so happy to see you again this year! This is my annual holiday home tour and each year I can’t wait to invite you in to see the decorations. (These are my home tours from 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015.) This year I tried to keep it simple, but I did take two days to make a really fun vintage sign. I hope you’ll come on in and see it (and the rest of my holiday decorating efforts.)

Before I start decorating, I like to choose a theme. This year I wanted to create a nature or woodland inspired theme. I pulled the storage bins out of the attic and assessed what I had to work with. Then, I made a list of some items I could use to fill out the room. Next stop was my local At Home store. This home tour has been sponsored by At Home. This year I’ve been thrilled to be an At Home brand ambassador. (You can see a photo tour of the At Home store in this post.

Or come take a tour of my patio decorated for a garden party using several At Home finds (feel free to stay a while if you need to shake off that winter chill by looking at summer photos.)

Finally, you won’t want to miss this drab to fab screen porch makeover that I accomplished with help from At Home.

Have you warmed up yet? Well come on inside and get cozy. I made you some hot chocolate and salted caramel chocolate chip cookies for the tour.

Did you notice the little silver twig tree? That was an At Home find, I couldn’t resist it. The little white lights make the tree glow at night. I also picked up some faux poinsettias from At Home and popped them in my 3 Step Little Red Wagon Planter.

May I take your jacket? You can kick off your shoes if you want to get more comfortable. The shoe storage bench and coat rack were early DIY projects. This mudroom spot is my sanity saver because it holds our daily assortment of coats, backpacks, shoes and socks!

These topiaries from At Home have seen a lot of use. I bought the unlit versions to save money and added my own lights for the holidays. But, honestly the lit versions are only $10 more, so splurge if you buy some for your home.

I decorated the shelf with some reindeer and two DIY cone trees (hot glue and moss or leaves). I also used some wall decal stars from my friend Leen the Graphics Queen (affiliate link.)

The “Post” box keeps all our epi-pens close at hand but not in sight. Anyone else have a collection of epi-pens? 😉

Come on in the living room and sit down. I just finished decorating the tree.

I brightened the tree with lots of feather boas and red ornaments. Plus, I added several of the kids’ ornaments they made in preschool. Those ornaments may not be pretty, but they are precious to us.

Want to make your own decorative bird house topper? It’s a fun little project that will satisfy your doodling desires.

I have to share with you these beautiful pillows I bought at At Home!

They look a lot like some higher end store pillows, but for much less. I especially like the faux fur pillows. They might stay on the couch year round.

Speaking of pillows, I had to buy Bandit a cozy bed from At Home. They have the best prices and selection I’ve ever seen for dog bedding. Good dog, Bandit. It’s about time you fell asleep. This dog is non-stop energy most of the time.

The other find I couldn’t resist at At Home was this pretty shell tray. They have an amazing assortment of trays in all colors, shapes and sizes.

I love using this easy to make shutter screen to display our Christmas cards each year.

This year I added a strand of lights and the vintage sled.

Did you spot my new vintage inspired sign?

I made it this week using all scraps from my workshop. Here’s the tutorial to make your own Vintage Rustic Sleigh Ride Sign!

I know I’ve probably overstated this, but At Home has everything for your home decorating! For instance, birch logs can be purchased in the wedding section of At Home. (I’m not sure why they are in that section, but they are.) They were 6 feet tall, but I cut each log into three for display by the fireplace.

I bought the white lantern from At Home to round out my collection. You may not realize it, but that little black lantern was actually transformed from a $5 dated light fixture.

A note about that metallic dot pillow—yup, you guessed it—another At Home favorite find!

Let’s head into the kitchen.

Every year, I like to make a little something I think the kids will enjoy. This year, I created a little snow scene in a cloche.

The cloche is actually the globe from a hanging light. I ditched the light and used the globe to make a fun little snow globe scene.

I used more wall decal stars from my friend Leen the Graphics Queen (affiliate link) to decorate the windows. These little stars add a festive feel in minutes.

On the other side of the kitchen is a desk aka our family command center. The raised desk was a DIY project I built using more ReStore cast offs. And the hutch was built using an old table top. . . seriously!

The little galvanized village scene was created using a variety of At Home accessories. The lighted pine cones came in a set of three and have a timer switch so they’ll shut off at night. That’s one less thing I have to turn off before bed.

I usually let my boys decorate a small tree. This year they added blue lights to this little faux ivy tree. I actually like the soft blue glow at night. My boys. . . they love to go against the grain. 😉

Thank you so much for coming over. I enjoyed your company.

Stop by sometime next week. I’ll be sharing my frugal holiday tablescape with you.

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post for At Home. I was compensated for my time writing this post. At Home also provided me with a gift card to purchase items to use in this post. All ideas and words are my own. I was not told what to write.

Pin for later!

December 9, 2016/11 Comments/by Brittany Bailey