Terrific Transformations Part One: Living Room

Well, originally I planned to reveal all of my awesome furniture transformations in one post, but there are simply way too many things to show, so I am splitting them up into multiple posts. Part One is showcasing the pieces for my living room, including a redone $0.99 end table snagged from Goodwill, DIY artwork, and two baby pink lamps that got a spicy orange upgrade :) Also to come in Part Two, the Kitschy Kitchen/Dining Area: 1. How my uber-crafty sister and I, with inspiration from iHeart Organizing, made adorable and functional DIY kitchen containers, including magnetic spice containers from leftover packs of gum! and 2. The unveiling of the rest of my dining chairs and the bright shelves that match them. Part Three shall feature the bedroom: since the bedside tables are still being completed - my super-duper brother-in-law has painted them brown, but is going to finish them off by painting the inset portions a beautiful Tiffany blue :) - those, along with some other pieces of bedroom decor, will be revealed another day!

So on to the big living room reveal - feast your eyes on the before and after of the end table that cost me just under a dollar but now, after a coat of cocoa brown (painted by my great brother-in-law!) and a new knob, looks like a million bucks!

Speaking of the new knob, here is a picture of it (left) next to the old brassy fixture:

Much better, yes? According to Anthropologie, where I purchased it, the fun little symbol is a chronograph. I love how kitschy and cool it looks!

Another project for the living room: lighting. I have two end tables, so I thought a pair of lamps would be nice to brighten up the area. I already had two on hand: these baby pink ones circa 1997 when I had a rose petal bedecked bedroom. Since I wanted to infuse more of the orange from the kitchen/dining area into the living room, I thought painting the lamp base orange with leftover paint would look good, especially with the brown burlap shades I purchased from Target.

After I finished, though, I felt like the lamp was a little too bold. Then I thought of some cute scrapbook paper I had bought at The Scrapbook Boutique and realized it would look great on the middle portion of the lamp base!

So I used some clear tape to affix the paper to the base, then glued the portions where the paper overlapped.

Voila! A new, toned-down lamp base which I think will go nicely with the futon fabric! (The flash on my camera makes the brown look purple-y; it's really a dark brown.) I need to buy another sheet of the paper to cover the other lamp, and then the project will be done.

And the last piece for the living room: DIY art project involving a 2-pack of 16 x 20 canvases, some painter's tape, and leftover paint from the other projects. I previewed this project earlier this week, but here is a reminder of the before...

....so that you can see the true impact of the AFTER!

Yay! I love how it turned out! It will tie all of the colors of the living room together nicely, and at $7.99 for the pack of canvases, it will be such an inexpensive way to add a pop to our boring white walls. In case you do want to do this project on your own, here are the steps:

• After buying supplies (the canvases, desired paint colors, painter's tape, and brushes/sponges) tape off whatever pattern you want. I just did abstract lines, but you could do any shape with tape!

• Paint canvas as desired and let dry. DO NOT peel off tape before the paint is dry or it could ruin it!

• Easy as pie: peel off the tape and enjoy your beautiful creation!

Super huge thanks must go to my amaaaazing big sister, Megan (check out her blog!) and her super-duper hubs Brandon for helping with all of my projects today!

I can't wait until I can post pictures of our actual living room rather than just the pieces that will go there! Tune in for more reveals soon, starting with projects for the kitchen and dining area.

I'm posting this transformation to the Before and After Party hosted by one of my favorite blogs, Thrifty Decor Chick! Check her blog out -- it's amaaaazing!