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Hello all! If you follow me on Instagram, then you may have seen my most recent Facebook Marketplace find, a $40 fireplace mantel.
I originally had a different mantel for a few weeks in my living room (also from marketplace) but it just wasn’t exactly what I wanted and was a bit too large for the space. I sold that one for quite a bit more than I paid and actually made money off of it, so it was worth trying it out!
When this mantel popped up on marketplace for only $40, I knew I could make it work! I wanted one that didn’t stick out from the wall as much in case I ever wanted to move the couch in front of it and this one was much thinner than the other one.
I also wanted it to have a distressed, aged look to it. I have painted furniture with chalk paint in the past and distressed it, so I knew how to get the look that I wanted.
I painted this indoors since it was winter and too cold to do it outdoors or in the garage. I think chalk paint has less of a smell than interior latex paint and I painted it in a large room. However, always make sure your space is well-ventilated or paint outdoors if possible.
After the paint was completely dry, I simply hand sanded the areas I wanted distressed. The chalk paint comes right off and gives a perfectly distrsssed look!
I’m loving how it turned out! I think it’s perfect for the space and exactly what I envisioned. I can’t wait to style it different ways through the seasons! This project was so simple.
Let me know what you think in the comments section below! Would you try something like this for your home?
This site contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. All opinions remain my own.
Hello friends! We’re finally finished with our master bedroom and closet and I’m able to share all of the details on our painted hardwood floors.
Before, we had dark tan carpet in our master bedroom. It needed shampooed four times before we felt that all of the pet hair had been removed before we moved in. The previous owners didn’t clean the house before moving out and it needed a major deep clean. It took us a week after taking possession before we could move in due to all of the cleaning and painted we did. We even scrubbed all of the walls to rid every inch of pet hair. It was a labor of love for sure but definitely worth it.
I loved our bedroombefore, but I love it even more with the painted hardwoods!
I had never really thought much of the carpet in our room except that it would be nice to replace one day. I didn’t even consider the fact that we might have hardwoods underneath. One day I discovered the old listing from when the house sold to the previous owners before us. They did quite a bit of renovations and in the old photos I noticed hardwood floors in the rooms upstairs. We have hardwoods in every room of the house except the bedrooms, but it is a new hardwood that the owners before us installed during renovations. I decided to pull up a corner of the carpet in our bedroom to see what was beneath and sure enough, there were hardwoods.
To me, the older hardwoods with a rug was preferable to carpet, so we planned on just pulling up the carpet and living with the old hardwood. We didn’t realize what shape it was in until we looked.
We found paint splatters covering the floor and an entire section that was patched. I was disappointed and we were about to tuck the carpet back down until I suddenly thought about painting it as a temporary fix. I had seen painted hardwoods in older houses and on Instagram and thought it was worth a shot.
The old hardwoods were discolored and splattered with paint. An entire section was patched as well.
My husband ripped out all of the carpet and padding that morning. The hardest part was pulling up the tack strip and all of the nails around the edge. Once that was all up, I vacuumed and mopped the old, stained hardwoods, then I began painting.
We bought Dutch Boy Porch and Floor Paint at our local Menards, along with a paint roller with an extender pole. I had it tinted in Benjamin Moore Tapestry Beige, a color that one of my favorite home decor bloggers, Liz Marie Galvan, used in her farmhouse.
This is after one coat of paint.
It only took two coats to cover the floor since it was such a high quality paint. I am not sponsored by Dutch Boy in any way, but I’m so happy with how well it covered and how smooth and easy it was to paint. I definitely recommend this paint!
After the two coats were fully dry, I went through and scraped some of the paint out of the cracks with a razor blade to show more of the wood lines. We still have to add a piece of trim around the edge of the room, but it already looks so beautiful!
We added this jute rug to complete the look. We didn’t seal it with anything because it’s only a temporary fix and we may put down new pine flooring in the future, but so far it’s holding up well! If you were wanting it to last longer, I would seal it with a polycrylic or polyurethane, depending on if your paint is oil or water based.
I would love to help if you have any questions! What do you think? Let me know in the comments section below!
Our living room is one of the spaces I would rarely show on Instagram, yet it is the room we spend the most time in as a family. We never painted it when we moved in. The color was a darker gray than the rest of our home and it had a bluish undertone. We bought a large gray sectional when we moved in from a liquidation store nearby. When we got it home and in the room, we realized that it didn’t fit exactly like we’d hoped and it was a bit large for the space.
We made it work for a couple of years until I got the idea to give this room a refresh. I’m slowly working through every room in our house to make it “my favorite room”. What I mean is that if I don’t love a space in my home, I try to transform it into a something that I love so that every room eventually feels like “my favorite”.
The Before
This is the before photo of the room. The large gray sectional and gray walls made the space feel small and dark, despite it being the room in our house with the most windows. We sold the sectional on Facebook Marketplace for $500. We also sold an old rug for $15.
What We Changed
We started off by painting the walls in Swiss Coffee by Behr. This creamy off-white helped brighten the space so much! Paint and supplies cost $40.
We also moved an Ikea Ektorp chair and ottoman that we had in our son’s nursery into this room. We found another Ikea Ektorp sofa on marketplace that came with an additional ottoman for $75. We bought a new cover for $50 from Ikea and cleaned up the inside cushions of the couch. We sold the ottoman that came with it for $20. The new sofa ended up costing us a total of only $105. I found some new pillow covers and spent $25 at Hobby Lobby.
Eventually, to finish the room refresh, we will add a new rug and coffee table. I’ll share those additions once we find what we are looking for on Instagram!
The Cost Breakdown
We made $535 off of selling our sectional, an old rug, and the ottoman that came with the new sofa. In the end, we only spent $350 of it on a new couch/cover, paint, a new rug, coffee table, and pillow covers. We actually made money off of giving this room an update!
The After
I’m so happy with how this room turned out! To view the process in more detail, check out my highlights on Instagram @faith.and.farmhouse.
I finally got around to painting and distressing my antique buffet table! I’ve always wanted a white buffet and now this one is a perfect focal point for our back living area.
This antique buffet was a Facebook Marketplace find. I originally had a tv stand that I found at a liquidation store, and although it was beautiful and sturdy, it wasn’t solid wood or very unique. I had been on the lookout for a buffet to refinish for quite some time, but they can be pricey. When I found this one for along with the huge hutch I refinished in my dining room for $75 each on marketplace, I was thrilled! I sold my other tv stand for $140 and ended up with two solid wood antique pieces instead of one manufactured piece of furniture.
While the black wasn’t terrible, it was too dark for the room. We are refreshing our back living area right now and the white just brightens up the space. The photo below is what it looked like in our living room once we brought it home.
First, I painted the whole thing with two coats of Rustoleum Chalked Paint in Linen White. I used a regular angled paint brush.
Then, I took a couple of pieces of 80 grit sandpaper and distressed it by hand. I haven’t sealed it yet, but plan on doing so soon with a water-based polycrylic.
I am loving how it turned out! Refinishing a piece of furniture can be daunting, but it wasn’t hard at all! You can check out another piece I refinished here.
Be sure to check out my Instagram page @faith.and.farmhouse for more decor ideas and before and afters!
This site contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links. All opinions remain my own.
I’ve had quite a few questions recently on how I added sharpie shiplap to a few walls in our house. I thought I should write a quick blog post explaining how simple it is to do.
I love the look of shiplap but didn’t want to nail actual boards to the wall, just in case I ever grow old of the style or if we ever move and the next owners don’t like the farmhouse look as much as I do. Sharpie shiplap is such a cheap way to give the illusion of real shiplap and is much easier to install. Hopefully, I can help you recreate the look of shiplap for a fraction of the cost in your own home!
Sharpie shiplap in our master bedroom
Step 1: Gather Your Supplies
The first step in sharpie shiplap is to gather the supplies you will need. The things I used were: white interior wall paint, a wooden yard stick, a 4 foot long level with a straight edge (I found mine at Menards), and these Sharpie Paint Pens in Black from Amazon. The paint pens come in a pack of three and I only went through one pen for an entire room. They really go a long way!
Step 2: Paint the Walls White
The next step in sharpie shiplap is to paint the wall or walls that you want shiplapped white. I used a cheap, base paint that took way too many coats that I don’t recommend and won’t use again. I suggest getting a gallon of higher quality interior paint and having it tinted the white you want. We painted the exterior of our home in Sherwin Williams Pure White and I think that a bright, crisp white like that would be perfect for shiplap. The finish is up to you, but satin is what I tend to use most. Let the paint dry thoroughly before moving on to the next step.
The wall in our living room before we painted it white and added “shiplap”
Step 3: Measure Out the Lines
Starting at the top of the wall along a corner or edge, measure using a yard stick and make marks where you want your shiplap lines to be. I measured 6” down each time, to make my shiplap look like it had the width of 6”. You could do wider widths if you’d like but I wouldn’t recommend any smaller. The 6” marks also equal out nicely if you have 8” ceilings. You’ll want to start at the top so that any smaller widths would be at the bottom of the wall and less noticeable.
Drawing the sharpie shiplap lines in our living room
Step 4: Draw the Lines
Using a straight-edge level, begin drawing your lines with your Sharpie paint pen. Make sure that each line you draw is straight and level. I think it is easier to get the start of each line first along a corner or edge and then continuing each line. You will make mistakes and on occasion the level may slip. Don’t worry, you can always just paint right over the mistake! If you are doing multiple walls that connect at a corner, just continue drawing the lines around the room connecting the lines. Be careful to draw straight and level lines if you’re doing an entire room as you don’t want the last wall to not line up at the corners. Work your way across the wall until all lines are drawn.
Sharpie shiplap in my daughter’s room
That’s it! Its such a simple project that gets easier the more you do it and is so affordable! I’ve “shiplapped” in three different rooms in my house for the cost of paint and the pack of paint pens!
Here are a few shots of sharpie shiplap in our home!
Before and After- Master Bedroom
Before and After- Living Room
Thank you for reading! I hope this helps somewhat if you want to add sharpie shiplap to your own home. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you have questions and be sure to follow me @faith.and.farmhouse on Instagram for more home decor inspiration! God bless!
After a year of living in our new home ,I finally got around to giving my daughter’s nursery a much-needed update. When we moved in, we didn’t have the time or energy to paint this room. We had painted a few other rooms in the house and had a ton of cleaning to do before we moved in. By the time it was all said and done, we were too worn out to deal with painting another room! We decided to wait to paint this bedroom until after we’d settled in. That was in June of 2018. It was June of 2019 before it got done. Oops!
Her room was painted a deep tan color and it was so dark and dreary, even during the day. I wanted her room to be light and airy, with a farmhouse feel and simple decor. She already had white furniture and I thought the look of a shiplap bedroom would give her room the farmhouse look i was going for. However, I did not want to spend the time, money, or energy on installing actual shiplap. I had heard of “sharpie shiplap” on Instagram, but I was afraid that it would look too fake. After looking into it more through the hashtag “sharpie shiplap“, I realized that some of the shiplap I thought was actual shiplap was really just sharpie! I also watched this awesome tutorial from @ouridahofarmhouse that was really helpful! My husband liked the idea that if we were to ever move, the future homeowners could simply paint over it if it wasn’t their style. It seemed like the perfect solution!
Taking the First Steps
My first step in giving her nursery the makeover it needed was to get all of the furniture out and everything off of the walls. I painted the entire room white in just one evening. My daughter slept in her pack-n-play in our room that night. With the windows open, the paint fumes had all aired out by the next day.
After painting the walls white, I gathered the supplies I would need to “sharpie shiplap” her entire room. I bought a cheap yard stick, a 4 foot long level with a straight edge, and I ordered Sharpie Paint Pens in Black from Amazon. The paint pens come in a pack of three and I only went through one pen for her entire room! I’ve since started using a second paint pen when I added some “sharpie shiplap” to our master bedroom. They really go a long way!
How to “Sharpie Shiplap”
First, I placed my yard stick vertically against a corner of the wall and, starting at the ceiling, I marked a small mark with pencil every 6 inches all the way down to the floor.
Then, I placed the top straight edge of my 4 ft. level on the first line and pushed the end of the level against the corner of the wall. I carefully drew a line using the sharpie along the top of my level, just as you would draw a line using a ruler.
Next, I went down the wall and drew more lines using the level and the pencil marks. Once I completed a whole row down the wall, I matched my level up to the end of each line and continued drawing. When I got to a window, I simply placed my level across it to continue the line on the other side since it was long enough.
I didn’t think that it would be so easy, but it’s just drawing level lines all around the room! Each line didn’t end up perfect, and there are a couple of places where they may not be exactly 6 inches apart, but overall it looked pretty great and the entire room was “shiplapped” for only $16 (cost of the level and sharpies)!
Deciding on Decor
After all of the “shiplap” was finished, I moved all of the furniture back in and started shopping for decor. I’m not big on going with themed rooms since kids tend to grow out of their likes and dislikes so fast. The white shiplap is very versatile and I can make it go with any color that she wants in her room someday and still make it look great! I knew I needed to add a few girly touches and she loves flowers right now, so I started with that. I found this adorable farmhouse floral crib sheet and based the rest of the decor around it!
I love this crib sheet!
I then found this adorable sign in the 75% clearance section at Hobby Lobby. It matches the crib sheet perfectly! The laundry hamper in the corner was another clearance find from Marshall’s and this cute white scalloped book shelf was a steal for only $7 at my local Goodwill!
The shelf, wall sign, and hamper were all clearance finds!
I used white bins that I had already had from Ikea for her 8 cube organizer. This shelf is so perfect for storage! We even secured a changing table pad to it when she was a newborn. It is the perfect height for a changing table and can grow with her! The lamp was another great Goodwill find for $5 that I used with an existing white lamp shade.
My husband got this cute little letter board from work so it was free to me! I already had the white vase and the lamb’s ear floral came from Hobby Lobby. The white curtains were a set of 4 from Burlington Coat Factory that I found on clearance!
I love this saying!
Overall, I am loving how my farmhouse nursery makeover turned out! I am so happy that I learned how to “sharpie shiplap”! It is so simple and easy to do! Comment below what you think of her nursery or with any questions that you may have. I’m happy to help!