Remember this...

...that old water heater door that's been driving me crazy since we purchased the house? Well, thanks to my handy husband (who knew he'd become that :) I think I have solved my problem.

First, we took off the doorknob and patched & repainted all of the holes that were left from my previous camoflauging attempt. I patched & sanded, while John removed the doorknob & repainted. (He was a bit agitated at the idea of removing a fully functional doorknob, but he I convinced him of my vision & he obliged).

Then, John took 5 old fenceboards & cut off their dog-eared tops & attached them together to create a faux shutter. (No pictures of this, largely due to the fact that one of us was not in the others good graces).

After John finished the faux shutter, he used the leftover paint from the kitchen beadboard & painted the whole thing for me. Two coats even!

Now the fun part. After all the paint had dried, John started hanging everything. The top piece shown here is the original shutter from our house (along with the matching shutter that is not shown in this picture). Two summers ago, when I repainted the exterior trim & purchased new black shutters for the front windows, I saved these because of their charm & potential. Now we were finally getting to use them. I painted them this past summer and they have been sitting in our bedroom waiting to be displayed.

The 2 original shutters with the diamonds and John's faux fenceboard shutter inbetween (you can see the door below)

The finished product

If I could have, I would have scooted the entire thing over a bit to the left, but in order to cover the door and hang everything correctly I had to leave it where it is. Its right side lines up with the edge of the couch, but I think it still looks alright.

I'm very pleased with the outcome & I even think John likes it too.

Total project cost: $0

Project: Sewing Closet Organization

I have some major furniture shuffling in the works, and this was my first move. I took these metal shelves from the garage and moved them into the sewing room closet. A huge improvement.

Project: magazine holder recovering

Let the summer projects begin...I'm starting small, but don't worry, I'll pick up some steam as the summer goes on.

I'm trying to simplify the things that I have. This magazie holder design wasn't working for me anymore. White contact paper is amazing.

Sewing with Sheila...

Last weekend John and I ventured north. He to watch the valley championship basketball games at Selland Arena and me to hang out with my dear college friend, Sheila (along with Jane, who I was able to spend a short amount of time with). Sheila and I set out to sew a valance for her kitchen window and pillows for her couch. We also managed to cut out fabric to make bedroom drapes. All of the fabric was purchased at the wonderful Quilter's Paradise in Clovis (and, in case you were wondering, it is indeed a paradise...). Sheila had not ventured into sewing before, but lucky for us, she received a Singer sewing machine for Christmas, which made all of our efforts possible. Friends, sewing, & decorating, of course, made for a wonderful weekend.

Sheila at the helm

The pillows

The kitchen valance, up close

The valance in context