A New Twist on our Faux Six-Panel Doors

Remember this post from last week??  After looking carefully at our new faux six panel doors I realized they needed a little something more.  They just sort of blended in with the wall.  It was time for another change (is this typical for other people too, or am I just REALLY indecisive?).

So here's our re-post of the mirror door redo -- but this time with a different ending:

When you live in the same house for....well, 15 years, sometimes it's hard to identify changes that need to be made.  You just get so used to your surroundings that they become normal.  And until someone points it out or your in a major "redecorating" phase (like I am at the moment) you don't realize all the things you CAN change and update.

For me the thing that has been flying under my "updating-decorating-projects" radar was our lovely bronzey-mirror closet doors.  I think I've had some form of mirrored closet doors in every house I've lived in -- so they were normal to me.  Until I really looked at them and realized how much I hate them. 

Good thing is, I think this trend has passed.

But I'm thinking that they're probably still found in some houses....like ours.  Not that I have anything against mirrors -- just not a full length bronzey-gold door mirror -- that I can do without.

These mirrors hide our wrapping paper/gift/extra doggie toys/movies/video game  junk closet (which is in our TV/Entertainment Room).  So we definitely needed something -- be it a door or curtains, anything to keep that mess hidden.

I couldn't in my right mind just throw away a perfectly good set of closet doors (thanks to my strong don't-throw-anything-away-mentality- upbringing).  So that left me with coming up with a way to modify my current mirrors.


And who wouldn't love six-panel doors???

First I took the closet doors down.  I had to remove the top bar across by taking out the screws that were holding it to the trim.
 
Honestly, that was the hardest part of the whole project.

Then I had to do some measuring and calculating...which I won't go into the boring details on.

First I took a flat piece of trim (found in the Mill-work section of the hardware store).  My particular trim was 2" wide by 3/8" deep.  I measured and glued it smack-dab in the middle of the mirror:

Next I measured and cut six pieces of the same trim to "intersect" the middle section of trim:

I did this until I had six squares:

One thing I thought of (of course AFTER I glued everything down) was that I could have made two large rectangles in the middle and then two small squares on the top and two small squares on the bottom -- but oh well, I made mine all the same size.

After the trim pieces are glued and it's dry, it's time to sand, prime and paint.  I used Rustoleum Satin Ivory Silk (which oddly enough matched our wall colors in the room).  And then you're done! -- easy as that!


And I'll be honest with you, I had attempted to put quarter round lining the inside of each square, but it didn't go so well so I scrapped that idea.  I figured if I liked how it looked already, it wasn't worth my frustration and time to add another element.  Maybe on another project.


The cost breakdown for my redone mirrors:

Trim:  3 - 8 foot boards:  $3.45 x 3 = 10.35
Paint:  (I had some at home already) 3 cans x $2.98 (they're on sale at Menards this week!!) = 8.94
Glue: Left over from another project
TOTAL:  $19.29

Ready for the twist!?!  We liked the idea of our doors, but it just felt like it was lacking something.  We needed to make the doors stand out a little.  Enter our free paint find from last week; and a lot of tedious painting and we have our finished product:

So I have to say if you decide to for a look such as what we ended up with in the end -- paint the wood before it's glued on!  We had to tape off every square and paint  -- not that I don't love painting, but when I kept thinking of how much easier it would have been to paint this before I glued it on -- well, it just didn't add any enjoyment to the project!  This is where changing my mind made for a LOT more work -- but I think this is worth it. : )

I'm linking this to the CSI Frames, Art & Wall Decor challenge:

Ready for the "answers" to our "DAD" letters?

D:

 Basket from underneath our Buffet Table











A:

One of those flip picture frame-things








D:

Coffee Mug Handle











There were some spot-on guesses for these -- good job bloggy friends!  Hopefully everyone has a WONDERFUL Father's Day Weekend!

Framed Letter Friday

Well of course with Father's Day coming up we had to do the word "Dad" for our Framed Letter Friday:

 

We'll have our reveal later on today for the answers on what each letter is.  Until then.....feel free to take a wild guess at what they might be! :)

Round Two of the PB Knock-Offs

Thanks to Leslie at Bargain Shopping Paradise for featuring my the PB chandelier:







And thanks to Allison at House of Hepworths for featuring my PB chandelier today!  Her blog is SO good -- not only is she ultra-crafty but her posts never fail to crack me up too!  So THANK YOU Allison!

And speaking of Pottery Barn Knock Off Lights ....... we're trying another one today.  Should I say that I really pulled out all the stops on my last one and this one is not nearly as exciting?  It's kinda true -- I was so happy with how the first light turned out that none of my other projects around the house are really measuring up.  Oh well, someday I'll get over my love affair with my light (maybe).

I saw this set of lovely lights in my PB catalog a few weeks ago (does anyone else continue to get these even though they never order anything??  Sadly, I'm just too cheap -- but I'm glad I have the catalog to flip through -- it makes me feel sophisticated).

Aren't these lovely?  And I especially the bluish green tinted one.  

So I kept my eyes open at the thrift store for the perfect piece of glass.  I scoured their million and one vases every time I was in.......and I finally found "the one."

The shape was darn-near perfect for my mini version of the PB light.  And I LOVE when you get to the register and it's on sale even MORE than you thought.  Cost for this little lovely?  $1.49 -- SCORE!

I was a little bummed that it wasn't colored -- but oh well I'll take what I can get.

Oh, wait -- it gets better - I found Pam's blog, Gingerbread & Snowflakes with a WONDERFUL tutorial on how to "tint" glass!  OMG -- could not even tell you how excited I was when I found this -- visit her tutorial -- it's awesome!



So the trick was to use Mod Podge and food coloring.  Well first, let me say that I have NEVER used Mod Podge before -- but I've heard AMAZING things about it and how addicting it is.  So I went out and bought some (did you know Joann's has a 50% off coupon this week?) with my coupon of course -- and I L-O-V-E this stuff! 






So I happened to find some Neon Food Coloring in my cupboard (no idea what I would have used this for -- but it came in handy this time!).  I put a few drops of the neon blue and mixed it with the Mod Podge like Pam did and painted it on.  After I painted it I stippled it with a paper towel -- real technical using paper towels and all, I know.

I know it looks quite electric-blue in the picture -- but as it dried it mellowed out. 









Next step was the lighting portion of it.  If you look at the PB light, there isn't a cord going through the glass -- it simply gets pushed out the top.  So I used the wires and switch from this light:

It's not too hard to get the wires out -- just unscrew the bottom wing-nut:

The bottom of the lamp just comes right off and the wires can be pulled out, but first you need to detach them from the switch part at the top of the light near where the bulb goes.












Unscrew the top by the actual switch and pull that bottom cover off.

**NOTE -- You could just as easily buy a lamp kit at the hardware store instead of reusing an old lamp.  It would probably be easier. :)

I unscrewed the screws that were holding the wires to the switch of the light.  Once the wires are unscrewed they can slide through the base of the lamp.  Now all you should have are the switch part and a black plug-in cord. 

Then put everything back together without the base or the glass part (I'll be using the base for another project).

What you should end up with is the top part of the lamp where the light bulb goes and the black cord that you plug into an outlet.

This part will sit in the top of the vase.


For the final part of my light I had really wanted a simple round lamp shade -- but I couldn't find one in the size I wanted or in the price range I wanted.  So I decided to makeover a lampshade that I had lying around the house.

I LOVED Amy's tutorial over at The Idea Room for a Rosette Lamp Shade.  She did an adorable lamp for her daughter that had a TON of the cutest little flowers on it.  I didn't do as many as she did but I did take her idea in using one of my hubby's old t-shirts he was going to throw away.

I cut it up into strips and rolled away!

I only did five and put buttons in the middle of each one.

The buttons were ones I found at Joann's for $1.50.

I think they turned out pretty good for my first try.

And are you ready for our lamp reveal!?!

I'm in love with how the glass turned out.  Pam is an absolute genius! 

I'm definitely going to be using the glass-Mod Podge-food coloring on other pieces.

Total for my lamp:

Vase:  $1.50
Light:  $2.99 (plus I can reuse the base for another project)
Buttons:  $1.50
Mod Podge:  $3.49 (and I'll be reusing this - a lot!)
TOTAL:  $9.48 (compared to $99.00 for the PB one!) 

I'll be linking up to these parties today.