Rain on a Tin Roof

DIY and Home Decor Blog. Fly Your Freak Flag.

Jenna

How to Add Feet to a Box Spring and Get Rid of the Footboard

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When we set out to makeover Bill’s Room / The Guest Room / My Office, we really needed to relocate my desk so it wasn’t a focus in the room. Our best option was to move the desk to the small wall opposite the bed. However, it was relatively tight there. We needed to get that footboard out of the way to open up the space. In order to do that, we needed to figure out how to add feet to the box spring so we could eliminate the bed rails, and thus the footboard.

We figured out how to do it – and y’all I’m so mad I didn’t do it sooner because it was so easy and made a huge difference in the space.

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In an unexpected twist…we bought a house. Meet the 70’s Landing Pad.

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You read that right. And no, its not April Fools Day or anywhere close to it.

We bought a house.

And it was completely unexpected.

If you’ve been around here for more than a minute, you know our love for our current home, The Beloved Foreclosure runs deep. We never really expected to leave it. We even put in a pool and new patio this summer, had plans to completely re-do the Circus’ room and were even considering adding on an addition – we love our house.

Now, let’s switch gears for a minute. We’ve known for the past couple of years that my in-laws wanted to move down to Chattanooga after my father-in-law retired to be closer to the Circus – well closer to us too, but let’s face it, mostly they wanted to be closer to the Circus. When we found this out, we looked at lots to build a house on that would be big enough for both our families and we also looked at existing homes that would hold us all as well. I am one of the few who loves her in-laws and would happily have them in the same house as us. We actually found one, but couldn’t work a deal out with the sellers. Finally, we all decided that our best shot would be to find them a house in our neighborhood – we love our neighborhood and if we couldn’t find a great house for all of us, then we wanted to stay in the neighborhood. The problem with that is that there are few smaller, one story homes in our neighborhood that would work for them. We found one that we thought would work, but they couldn’t even get an offer in before the house was already under contract – good houses tend to move fast in our neighborhood. We also kept our eyes open for a house for us and if we found one, then my in-laws would take our house.

We never really thought the latter would happen. We always expected to find a house for them – not us.

We were wrong.

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Masculine Bedroom and Office Makeover

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How many uses can you find for one average sized bedroom?

Well around here, we can find three.

Apparently, we like a challenge.

I thought that as kids got older, they liked to spend more time with their friends – away from the adults in their lives.

Apparently, I was wrong.

Or either Bill is the exception.

It seems the older he gets, the more he’s here.

I’m not complaining – I’ll take all the quality time I can get; he’s off to college next year.

In the meantime though, the room he was inhabiting was not very “Bill.”

While Elvis loved his jungle room, apparently Bill was not fond of a similar theme with the leopard print wall in his room.

I was also invading part of his space with my office area.

So I told him he could decide what he wanted to do with the room.

I know – I couldn’t believe I uttered those words myself.

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Semi-Winning The Tablescape Game: DIY Stone Embellished Napkin Rings

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I am not a tablescape person.

To be blunt, I suck at them.

It’s just too much thinking – there are too many things that have to be on a set table for me to also figure out what to use as a centerpiece, place cards, etc.

Now, doing one of those things solo without having to think of all the other jazz – I’m good.

Like last year – I had really cute, or really cute in my opinion anyway, also cheap, little painted pumpkins that doubled as place card holders.

And this year, I’m rocking one single element of the tablescape – the napkin and napkin ring.

Now, just let me say this is not too frou-frou. I’m not a frou-frou person and frou-frou just stresses me out. So if you were expecting a perfectly color coordinated full place setting to go along with that napkin and ring, I’m not your girl.

However, if you want pretty stone embellished napkin rings (done in under 10 minutes), then I’m totally your girl. 😉

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King Headboards for $300 or Less

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I am not a snuggler.

I can be a snuggler for about five minutes and then you need to get off of me.

Grunt Labor isn’t a snuggler either. This is good.

However, he does roll over in his sleep quite a bit and while doing so, his face sometimes becomes thisclose to mine and he breathes right on me.

And I hate that.

I do love him though, don’t get me wrong. He knows I can’t stand him breathing on me. Some nights I give him an elbow or kick to get him to roll back over. If I’m feeling nice and don’t, then I usually don’t sleep great or it takes me forever to get to sleep and then he feels terrible the next morning when he finds out I didn’t sleep because he was breathing on me.

We need a king sized bed.

The best sleep we get is when we stay in hotels with king sized beds. I love him, but I need him to be on his side of the bed. In his defense, he says there are some nights I get right up on him, although I don’t remember this, so I cannot attest to its validity. Maybe he needs me to be on my side of the bed as well though.

So we’re on the hunt for a king size headboard and/or bed that won’t cost a year’s worth of preschool.

Here’s what I’ve found so far…

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How to Remove Paint Overspray from Floors

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I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat at the kitchen table or been driving the car having a conversation with one of the part-time children about their day and all of a sudden they say, “So I told him my white mama would do it.”

Stop.

Hold the phone.

Shut the front door.

You did what? What did you just volunteer me for child?

To buy ad space on a t-shirt.

To help sell peaches.

To makeover the locker room.

While there are countless more events to note in this department, today I would like to talk about the time I was volunteered to makeover a football locker room.

What had happened was…

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DIY Selenite Knobs: Super Easy, Super Cheap, Super Pretty

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During our staycation two weeks ago due to the hurricane, we visited the Land of the Gnomes.

Its not really the land of the gnomes, but that’s what I like to call it. I’ll tell you all about it in another post…

At every staycation stop, we let the circus get something from the gift shop to attempt and make up for not going to the beach.

Ok, I wanted something from just about every gift shop too.

In the Land of the Gnomes gift shop, I found a display of stones and gems.

They were pretty. And shiny.

Therefore, I was immediately sucked in.

Mainly because they were shiny.

After deliberating 10 minutes about which stones to buy and what I could do with them, I finally settled on a few small bars of selenite.

And I came home and made the prettiest, and cheapest, hardware knobs you ever did see…

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Show Me Your Grain…Your Wood Grain.

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I won’t lie.

The sight of a beautifully bold painted piece of furniture (preferably either kelly green, navy blue or a bold red) makes my heart soar.

Not as much as Grunt Labor makes my heart soar, but pretty close.

However, I have come to really appreciate a good grain…a good wood grain that is, because chocolate isn’t a grain yet, is it? I’m still waiting for chocolate to be classified as “good” for me.

Here are a few of my favorite stained and painted furniture makeovers…

Click the link below to read the rest and enter the giveaway!

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Business in the Front, Party on Top: 70’s Credenza Makeover

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I got my first and only Achy Breaky Heart t-shirt at the flea market in the middle of town.

I was seven.

It was heather gray, with a big multi-colored neon heart and multi-colored neon lettering on it.

I was so damn proud of that t-shirt.

Billy Ray Cyrus and his mullet essentially had overnight success with a song that had a terrible title.

It was the age of the achy breaky heart craze.

It wasn’t until I was in at least middle school, if not high school, that I realized the name for Billy Ray Cyrus’ infamous hairstyle was a mullet.

And that people described it as business in the front, party in the back.

Well that’s just what this credenza makeover is. Business in the front, but the party’s up top…

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Achieving Green Thumb Status

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One summer, my great uncle and I got into gardening.

Ok well, it was more me and he just listened to me rant on about it.

We visited every Lowe’s, Home Depot, plant nursery and any store basically within an hour of us that was selling plants.

He bought each of us a rose bush.

I bought each of us a tropical plant of some sort.

As if I know the name, I just thought it was pretty.

The rose bushes lived.

The tropical plants died.

As did anything else I purchased.

I read his mother’s book on gardening that was thicker than the Bible.

I’m not kidding. I still have it.

I attempted to propogate hydrangeas.

I divided irises.

I ordered a ridiculous amount of flower seeds from a specialty seed company and planted every last one of them.

Much to my dismay, not a darn thing lived except for a few irises.

It was apparent that summer that me and flowers didn’t get along too well.

When I realized Grunt Labor was such a fantastic gardener, I jumped for joy and didn’t worry with anything flower related again.

Things have changed though.

I have now achieved green thumb status, y’all.

And I didn’t have to lie, cheat or steal to get it.

Ok, I did cheat a little…

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My Fall Home Tour: Take Two

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If you saw my fall home tour a couple weeks ago, you may have noticed there wasn’t a pumpkin in sight.

I like to ease into fall.

Or maybe I hadn’t figured out where I stored the fall stuff last year…

Either way, Lindsay from The White Buffalo Styling Co. is hosting the Fall Edition of the Blogger Stylin’ Home Tours this week and asked me to join in, so I thought sure!

You’re actually forcing me to find those pumpkins, aren’t you?

If you are popping over from Caitlin at Desert Domicile, welcome! No kidding, I drool over everything that woman makes. If you don’t know her, you should. In fact, you should have known her yesterday. She’s that good.

Ok. I’m going to tell you my big secret for fall decorating.

Are you ready?

Seriously. Its top secret.

Click the link below to read more…

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How To Refinish Wood Furniture Without Sanding or Stripping

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There once lived a man.

He was a farmer who wore Liberty overalls.

And he was a wood worker too.

He made lamps and a baby cradle when his first granddaughter was born.

The granddaughter slept in the cradle and her daughter slept in the cradle.

And the granddaughter doesn’t remember a time when a lamp her pap made wasn’t in her grandparent’s den.

They were floor lamps with a small table halfway up – nothing anyone would probably consider in style.

Except her.

A few months ago when the granddaughter went back home, she found her grandfather’s lamps in an outbuilding.

And that just wouldn’t do.

So along with a huge gold mirror and some old farm equipment that she just couldn’t let get thrown away, she brought the lamps home.

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How to Raise Cabinets

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So sometimes during a big project or after I finish a project, I start looking at all the little projects that made up that big project and I decide that some of those little projects probably wouldn’t be that interesting to you.

So I don’t bother too much with pictures and I don’t post about it.

But then months later, someone will ask me something specific about that small project that helped to make the bigger project possible and I will realize that I probably should have posted about that.

Does any of this make sense? Its late and I’ve been drinking. And apparently that makes me use the word projects too much.

So there’s that.

Anyway, if you remember way back in January, Grunt Labor and I finally finished his man cave.

In order to deem the man cave livable, he had to have a beverage center (a.k.a. a fancy name for a mini refrigerator). But when the beverage center arrived, it was a bit taller than the opening we had for it, thus we needed to raise the cabinets or get a new refrigerator.

Raising the cabinets was cheaper and faster than getting a new beverage center.

So you can guess which option won.

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Fall Home Tour: Cowboys and Elvis

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This fall tour is not at all about pumpkins.

Sorry if you were ready for pumpkins.

Instead its about some of my favorite fall-ish things…cowboy hats and boots…red plaid blankets…and Elvis.

Ok, Elvis isn’t really fall-ish, but its my house and I’ll do what I want to.

If you want pumpkins and leaves and all that jazz, check back in a few weeks when I’ve actually had time to remember where I stored all that decor from last year.

#storyofmylife

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Power Tools 101: The Ultimate Guide to Using a Paint Sprayer

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I had a revelation the other day.

A hold-the-phone-shut-the-front-door-smack-myself-on-the-head revelation.

I realized that for two years I’ve been showing you all these awesome (if I do say so myself) furniture makeovers that I’ve completed with my paint sprayer, but never once have I actually told you how to use the paint sprayer from start to finish.

See why I smacked myself on the head?

So here it is. The ultimate guide for how to use a paint sprayer from set-up to cleaning.

Sorry for the two year delay.

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$50 Bathroom Makeover

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I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.

Sometimes the best room makeovers are the ones that are unplanned.

Totally random, flying by the seat of your pants, out of the blue unplanned.

It happened in my living room.

It started with a black and white gallery wall, which led to a new rug, which led to new curtains.

And suddenly, I finally had a living room I loved.

And now its happened with the bathroom.

But the best part is that this random, little out of the blue makeover cost me just $50.

All that was needed was a little paint, a shower curtain, and some rearranging.

So. As my former students would say, “What had happened was….”

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My Favorite Southern Books

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There are few things better in life than a good book.

One thing better is a good southern book.

Cause we all know I’m slightly partial to the south.

These, in my humble, 100% un-expert, but truly southern opinion are the best southern books – the keepers. Some are fiction, some are non-fiction. Some will pull at your heartstrings and some will have you rolling in the floor. Some are about scraping by to make ends meet and some are about witches and ghosts and all things weird.

Would you expect any less from me?

The Best Southern Books…

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Using Velvet Finishes Paint in a Paint Sprayer

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It’s no secret around here that I have a love for both Velvet Finishes paint and my HomeRight Paint Sprayer.

In fact, last year, when Kellie from Velvet Finishes asked me about trying her paint, one of my first questions was “Can I use it in my paint sprayer?”

Luckily, the answer was yes.

Now if she would have said no, it wouldn’t have been a deal breaker. There are lots of times when the weather isn’t cooperating with me and I can’t use my sprayer or other times when the project is small and it just doesn’t make sense to use the sprayer.

But on big projects and pieces with lots of little details and nooks and crannies, I like to use Velvet Finishes in my paint sprayer to cut down on my work time.

Because I like having more time for cheap beer, ya know?

Am I right or am I right?

Many of you, my dear people, have asked me if you can use Velvet Finishes in a paint sprayer and I’ve said, “Yep, you sure can!” Just like with any other paints though, you do have to thin Velvet Finishes before spraying it.

So here’s how it all works. Even though there’s a lot of writing, its really easy – I promise.

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My Favorite Green Color Combinations for Decorating

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It was love at first spray when I made the Kate Spade Inspired Lamp Makeover.

I had met my decorating color soulmate and there was no turning back.

Green and I went together as well as me and cheap beer.

Well, almost. Let’s face it – cheap beer will always have my heart. Oh, and Grunt Labor too.

I think one of the main reasons I love green so much is because it looks great with my second in line favorite colors.

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Cane Inspired Accent Wall for $25

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Sometimes I try to make things more complicated than they really are.

Not on purpose of course.

I just don’t think sometimes. Its like my mind sometimes turns off its “common sense” mode.

That’s also when I end up saying things I shouldn’t to people.

Whoops.

That common sense mode of my brain shut down when I started to do this accent wall.

You see I love caned pieces. Caned chairs, caned tables, caned light fixtures. I’m crazy over the pattern.

And I have a pillow with a caned pattern on it.

And I was determined to get that pattern on my wall. I knew I could. It was just straight lines strategically placed.

But I was overthinking it.

And it took Grunt Labor coming up to me, turning the pillow diagonally and saying, “Its just squares, Jenna,” for me to figure it out.

He was right.

But I didn’t say that because I’m not too keen on how saying he’s right tastes.

Like vinegar, I tell ya.

And once this revelation was made, I figured out how to make my own cane inspired wall.

Click the link below to read more!

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Kitchen Makeover: Take Two

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Hi. My name is Jenna.

I’m a recovering neutral decorator.

Yes friends, there was a time when I turned solely to whites and beiges for decorating.

I knew no better. I thought I liked it. I thought it was my style.

I was so damn wrong.

As soon as I spray painted my first piece kelly green, there was no going back.

And then I discovered the no-fail combo of kelly green and navy and it was as if the design gods smiled down upon me and showered me with their wisdom.

Ok, maybe that was a little much, but you get the idea.

I am a color girl.

And when we renovated the beloved foreclosure I opted for beiges, whites, and light blues.

And they were pretty. I’m not bashing on beige.

But they weren’t me.

So slowly but surely, every room in this house has gotten re-made over.

The kitchen was especially in need of color. This is what it looked like before we added in some glorious color (besides the barstools.)

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Best Sources for Affordable Wall Art and Favorites Under $50

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In case you didn’t know, I’m not an art connoisseur.

Now a cheap beer connoisseur, I am.

Ok, really just Miller High Life.

Here’s how I decide what art to hang on my walls:

I browse online and/or thrift stores.

Ooooo, I like it.

Look at the price tag.

Ooooo, its cheap.

Buy it.

Ooooo, its expensive.

Leave it.

Pretty straightforward, no?

While there may never be a priceless hand painted original piece of art hanging in my home, excluding the circus’ art, these pieces either already reside here or will at some point.

Because they’re pretty.

And cheap.

And nothing beats pretty and cheap together.

Click the link below to get the details!

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9 Simple and Easy Bed Makeovers and Hacks

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I can’t tell you how many times I’ve ran across DIY headboards on Pinterest.

I’m confident DIY headboards could run Pinterest all by themselves.

Now, I’m not bashing on DIY headboards at all.

If you have patience and an insane amount of upholstery and tufting skills, then by all means make your own headboard.

However, I don’t.

I’m in favor of using what I’ve got.

This could also mean that I’m cheap. That’s cool too. I’ll own it.

I can paint a headboard faster than I can build one and cheaper too.

No, it might not look as chic as a velvet upholstered one would, but if it looks like any of these bed makeovers, I wouldn’t turn my nose up at it.

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