Update

updateverb |ˌəpˈdāt; ˈəpˌdāt| [ trans. ]make (something) more modern or up to date : security measures are continually updated and improved | [as adj. ] ( updated) an updated list of subscribers.
Dan and I have been busy doing some simple updates to his house, getting ready to host out of town friends.  What better excuse to tackle a few projects that we've had on our minds?
First up:  Stools for the large island in the middle of the kitchen.  
With the countertop measuring 30 inches high, we knew we had our work cut out for us.  Most "bar" stools stand much taller and while we were looking for something to give this area a "bar" feel, we needed short stools.  We lucked out (at the Queen of hearts, of course) finding exactly what we needed, two stools standing only 24 inches tall and priced at just $20 for the pair.  

We covered the pleather looking cushions with a striped golden yellow fabric on sale from JoAnn Fabrics.  

They fit perfectly under the island and will provide that always needed extra seating when friends are over because let's face it, no matter what you plan for everyone always gravitates into the kitchen.

Next up: A tall pedestal to house Dan's displayed liquor decanters.  

With the addition of the wine cooler, the new space still just had this feeling of being unfinished.  We thought if we could add another piece with some height to it, it might complete the space.  After what became quite a long search we found this "fern stand."  The height was in the range we were looking for and the diameter of the table top was also measuring up just right.  The price tag was a little more than what we wanted to spend but with nothing else promising in sight we paid the 50 bucks and took it home.  

I'm still not good at remembering to take "before" pictures but here is the stand during it's facelift.  It was white originally and took on an initial coat of light tan paint.  

Once dried, I used my trusty Weathered Wood medium to aid the cracked paint look we were wanting.  Some left over Sunburst paint from the accent wall added the finishing touch.

So here it is in place and functioning as part of the new Bar area!  Now if we can just find a way to hide that cord...

Last but not least: A globe for the kitchen light.  

Several months ago Dan and I decided to totally change the look of the light in his kitchen.  We first removed the standard looking cloudy-glass globe.  Then, we unscrewed the customary lightbulb and replaced it with this Edison bulb that was inspired by the lighting we've seen in some local Atlanta Restaurants lately.  We purchased the bulb from C-Lighting and were thrilled with it when we got it home.  It hung solo for a while before we thought about looking into some type of cover for it to finish off the look.  We found an $8 foldable wire basket that was easily attached to the original fixture.  We are loving the industrial look it adds to the rustic lighting.

Farm Tool

tool |toōl|noun1 a device or implement, esp. one held in the hand, used to carry out a particular function : gardening tools.

After visiting Dan's grandparents in Shelbyville, Indiana this summer we came home with a truck full of memories and all sorts of stuff from the barn just waiting to be put back to use.  One such item was a Single Tree, formerly used as a horse yoke.  We decided to mount it on the wall and suspend pictures from it.  We bought nine feet of wire and three fasteners from Home Depot (costing less than $5).  We then found metal clips at Office Max and hot glued them to the bottom of the wire (clips plus hot glue gun, $10).  After deciding on what pictures to use, we matted them and clipped them on.

Pictures we chose:

 

  

DIY

do-it-yourself (abbr. DIY)  adjective

of work, esp. building, painting, or decorating) done or to be done by an amateur at home : easy-to-use materials and do-it-yourself kits for plumbing fittings.
I tore this picture out of a Country Living magazine a few years ago.  I thought it was such an original idea and I loved the look.   

Believe it or not, an old hand rake can be hard to come by.  But yet again The Queen of Hearts came through and now we have our own Hand Rake stemware holder above Dan's new wine cooler in his kitchen.  I added the tray with a martini shaker, low ball glasses, cork screw, and hors d'oeuvres plates to help complete the look.  The wine cooler was free thanks to a gift card Dan got from work, the hand rake cost $13, and I picked up the tray at Home Goods on sale for $8.  Everything else we already had on hand just waiting to be displayed!

Transformation

transformation |ˌtransfərˈmā sh ən|nouna thorough or dramatic change in form or appearance : its landscape hasundergone a radical transformation.
Dan and I have been on a mission for a while-  he needed a headboard for his king size bed and we didn't want to just get any old headboard from a store.  So we of course started brainstorming ideas...old doors, decorative wrought iron pieces, shutters.  We found plenty of all of that at our local antique spots but it was either overpriced or not quite right.  On our second visit to our new favorite place The Queen of Hearts (where I found my perfect tea cup and saucer) we decided to dig through a dealer's "booth" that was basically a big pile of old wood and metal.  We managed to find two windows that when put together would form the ideal headboard shape.  The prices were unbelievable (long window $40, arch window $39).  Then, Dan pulled out two unfinished wooden spindles ($7 a piece).  We cleared a spot right in the middle of all of the junk and laid it out, thinking this would be perfect!

We took everything home and ordered some unique glass finials from ebay to attach to the spindles thinking they would be a nice finishing touch.  After a painstaking session of chipping the old paint from the long window, we primed each piece.  I decided to use spray paint for the initial coat out of ease (and I was nervous having never done spray paint for something like this before).  Thank goodness it turned out!  We chose a texturized indoor/outdoor Rustoleum paint in dark brown.  After everything was covered and dried, we used two different acrylic paints to add some antique detail.  Then came the fun part of roughing them up on the driveway and the side of the house.
Hanging these pieces was another issue.  Luckily between Dan's dad and boss we found a way to safely secure each piece on the wall the way we wanted.  But before we hung them we painted.  Dan had the idea of an accent wall and I ran with it-  choosing a color named "Sunburst" that took minimal convincing because he actually liked it!  I think the color turned out looking great and the headboard a real masterpiece.