Command Center Fix

I have showed you the Command Center we have in our house.  (If you have not seen it you can check it out here)  We have made several changes to it since then, but the most drastic change came just recently.  We started to get stains on the sheet metal we have hanging up.  It looked horrible!  It just made the whole room look dirty! We had some chalk board paint laying around so decided that we would use that to cover the stains, even though I have no intention of really using it as a chalk board. 

Here's what it looked like...BAD I know!!

We primed the metal with a latex primer just as the chalk paint recommended.  

Then we put 2 coats of the chalk paint on.

I love how it turned out!! Makes the room feel so much nicer :)

Homework Supply Drawer

After school can seem to get a little crazy around our house.  I have tried to put some routines in to place to help make things run a little smoother, but definitely the most helpful thing for us is to have everything needed to get homework done in one location.  In our old house I actually had a homework station set up in our basement, but found that having it down stairs away from the rest of the house was not very functional for us.  So now we have the space to let the kids do their work on the main floor of the house so I have a drawer in our kitchen buffet that is dedicated to homework supplies. 

No one ever has to ask where a pencil is or go searching for a ruler.  Everything they need is right here.  I still have young kiddos going through school so crayons are still a part of our homework routine, and I also keep extra erasers, glue sticks, tape, and scissors.  In the back of the drawer I also stash some flash cards and a set of pretend money to help kiddos as they are learning about that.  

It certainly is not a fancy set up, but it sure does make things run a little easier at time to study!  Now, speaking of homework, I am off to make sure these kiddos are getting theirs done! 

Antique Window

About a year ago my sweet friend, Brandi, offered me an antique window that she had picked up at a flea market.  I was so excited to find the perfect spot for it, but as life often goes, things were busy and I never seemed to find the time to clean it up and find a place for it.  So out in the garage it sat.  And sat.  And I looked at it all the time dreaming about where I should put it.  I finally decided that I wanted it hang it in my dining room.  I thought it would go perfectly with the antique china cabinet that Brandi painted and distressed for me a few months ago!  (I'm starting to think we need to rename this the Brandi Room!) 

The frame was a little rough looking, so while I wanted to keep the old look of it, I also knew that with our bright white board and batten in the room, that the window would need to be cleaned up and brightened up a bit.  (You can see how we did our board and batten here.)  I did a very thin layer of flat white paint to brighten up the frame, but also to allow the character of the wood to still show through.

It worked perfectly!  The paint did just enough to tie it into the brightness of the room but maintained the character of the old wood.  I love how it turned out!  And to finish it off, I hung a birchwood wreath on it.

BEFORE

AFTER