Susan Solo – Photographer | Traveler | Adventurer

Category: house & home

  • DIY Project: Mirror Refinish

    DIY Project: Mirror Refinish

    Did I ever tell you how much I love DIY projects around the house? When Chris and I bought our very first home back in 2005, I think we felt invincible, like we could do any and all of the fix-it projects around the house. Home Depot says, “You can do it, we can help,” and we believed them! We frequently tackled the projects that most people face with a new home – painting, installing appliances, replacing light fixtures, hanging shelving, etc. We’ve since become pretty busy with our jobs and haven’t had as much time to do DIY home projects, but we still do some smaller ones here and there. Over the summer I finally refinished this standing mirror in our master bedroom. I’ve had it since I was in high school! Back then, this sort of forest green went well with my room, but it certainly didn’t work with our bedroom today.

    So I decided on a paint color that would tie in with our drapes and bedding. I may one day change out our duvet color, but I always want this sort of soothing gray-blue-greenish color in the room, so I landed on a Sherwin-Williams color called “Quietude.” Isn’t that a perfect name for a bedroom paint color?

    I took the mirror apart in the garage, and got to work. I went right ahead and applied a layer of Zissner primer without sanding because I’m lazy impatient efficient like that! I used a small foam roller for the primer and the paint (one roller for each), and used a small foam brush to work into the corners. I let each coat dry for several hours in between.

    Two coats of Quietude later, here is the before and after! I love the new color, and it works perfectly in our bedroom. The color is nice and soft, and not even a tiny sliver of that dark green is showing through the light blue-green thanks to Zissner!

    I really wasn’t sure what kind of finish to expect since I didn’t sand first, but it turned out very smooth and I’m really happy with it. I suppose if there were lumps and bumps in the original green paint I would have sanded, but luckily it was a job well done by my mom who originally painted it for me in high school.

    And here’s a wider snapshot of our room. It’s still a work in progress – we need to get some shelves up on the walls, and I eventually want to do something else with that dresser the TV sits on. But isn’t it so fun to peek inside people’s houses?!

  • Candy Jar Reuse Ideas

    One of our favorite features at weddings the past few years have been the candy bars/buffets that couples set up for their guests. Everyone loves treats, and it’s also a great way to provide some colorful personalization for the wedding reception. It’s literally eye-candy! That and sugar rush + dance floor = all-night-FUN!

    There are tons of posts out there on tips for setting up the bar, but I thought it would be helpful to share some ideas on what you can do with your collection of candy jars after the reception. Of course you can always pass them along or sell them for another bride and groom to use, or you can (Captain Obvious) use them as candy jars, but here are some creative reuse ideas!

    1. Rainy Day Jar or Date Night Jar: Take turns with your new husband/wife writing down fun suggestions for a rainy day or a date night on small pieces of paper, and store them in the jar. Next time you need an idea for one of these occasions, draw randomly from the jar!

    2. Thanksgiving Thanks: For the month of November or even throughout the whole year if you’re both feeling ambitious, write down things you are thankful for on little slips of paper and put them in the jar. On Thanksgiving Day, take turns reading the thanks to each other. Aw!

    3. Office storage: I can’t think of a cuter way to store paper clips, rubber bands, or maybe even pens/pencils. Craft supplies would also make a really pretty display – think colorful ribbons, scrapbook embellishments, and markers.

    4. Memory Jar: Decorative jars in various sizes are perfect for corralling small mementos. I happen to collect movie ticket stubs, and I purchased two jars just for that reason. Some other small collections that can be displayed in the candy jars: fortune cookie paper fortunes, post cards, concert tickets (or any kind of tickets, really), seashells, etc. Here’s the original post about some of my jarred memories.

    So what did you do with the jars from your wedding? Did you find a creative use for them, or are they sitting in a storage closet?

  • 101 in 1001: What Was I Thinking?

    For those of you who have been following my little blog for a while (thank you for reading!), you know I’ve been participating in one of those 101 in 1001 lists. First, there are two things that I have finished but haven’t posted about yet: #5 – Buy a new sofa, and #68 – Refinish a piece of furniture. Both of these items go along with some updates we are making to the house, so I’m not quite ready to take pictures yet, but I can at least show you proof that I did refinish a piece of furniture. This Pottery Barn headboard used to be black, but I wanted a softer look for the master bedroom and decided to paint it sort of an antique brass:

    And second, because my deadline is fast approaching, I have been reviewing the rest of the list to see what I have left to accomplish. There are a few things that I’m not really interested in doing anymore, a few things that are no longer possible (visiting my brother in Scotland – he moved back to the States!), and more than a few what-was-I-thinking items. I’m not a quitter though, and I still plan to complete as much as I possibly can assuming it’s possible. I think I mentioned this before, but the one item on the list that seems completely insurmountable is riding a bike to the end of the W&OD Trail and back. The DC end. That’s about a 56 mile ride. I think when I added that item on the list, I figured I had already done a 20 mile ride so what’s another 36? Except I don’t think I rode my bike all last year because of a knee injury, and now I’m not in any kind of shape to do even 20 miles! But I’m still willing to spend this spring, summer (ugh), and fall trying my best to get this item crossed off the list. I’ve already been out a couple of times for very short rides just to get back into the habit. So if that one is the only other 101 in 1001 item I happen to complete before the deadline is here, I’ll still be really proud because that’s the big one for me. So stay tuned!

  • Ch-Ch-Changes

    Pardon my urge to make small-talk about the weather, but I can hardly believe it’s in the 60s this week after all of that snow we had last month. Spring is almost here! Change is in the air, I can feel it. And speaking of change (corny segue?), you might notice I happened to sneak in a few changes to the blog this week. Let me know what you think! (As a side note for anyone who is interested in the technical details, I updated my version of WordPress, and then my old template didn’t work that well anymore, so it was time for a new template.) One of my favorite little features is the Facebook tab up there in the left-hand corner – it’s a quick way to get to our Facebook page!

    But the real purpose of this post is to show you another mini-project. In keeping with the “changes” theme, I am currently working on a makeover for my home office. Just a new coat of paint in a different color, and some new furniture for added function. If it all turns out well, I’ll show you some before-and-after photos! Anyway, part of the makeover has included finding some artwork to hang on the walls. I’m in no way an art collector so I’m not talking about fancypants pieces, I’m just talking about fun framed art to add little bits of visual interest to the walls. I have a chocolate brown and orange-y colors theme in mind for the room, so when I found this print on etsy, I was thrilled. It’s even more adorable in person. And in searching for other fun prints in the perfect colors, I was inspired to make something on my own. I created this little modern heart print with the date of my wedding anniversary (please ignore the wall color – that’s going to change):

    It’s sort of another framed date project, right? If you’re interested in making this or something similar, here’s what I did: I opened a new file in Photoshop in the size of my frame opening. (This is a RIBBA frame from IKEA, and the opening is 4.75 inches square.) Next I used a cute function of Photoshop that I rarely use called the Custom Shape Tool to create a heart shape in the punchy orange color. Then I added a text layer with our initials in white and centered it on top of the heart, and then added another text layer of the date in orange and positioned it in the corner. I printed the file, put it in the frame, and that’s that! Super easy, super cheap, and now Chris and I have no excuse for forgetting our anniversary. You could use other shapes to commemorate other occasions, or maybe you’ll be inspired to come up with another framed date idea. Let me know if you do!

  • Jarring Memories

    Obviously I rely very heavily on photography to help document my personal memories, but I also have things that I’ve saved from vacations and fond moments throughout the years. I’m a firm believer that objects with special meaning should be displayed instead of crammed into a shoebox and shoved away on a closet shelf, but sometimes it’s hard to figure out HOW to display things and they just end up in that box. I have a handful of random things that have just been tucked away in a small lidded basket, and I have recently been brainstorming fun ways to display my cherished keepsakes. I thought I’d share a few of my ideas in hopes that it will help you find a way to honor your own special memories.

    My first two projects were as easy as just putting things into pretty jars! Strange as it is, I saved a baggie of sand from my first vacation to the Outer Banks with Chris, and it’s just been sitting in my “memory box” for over a decade. I also have a seashell that we found, and an OBX sticker that I bought in one of the gift shops. It occurred to me that there aren’t too many ways to display sand, but I found this cute jar from IKEA for $2.99 and it works perfectly! I just poured the sand in there and nestled the shell and the sticker (with the backing in tact) on top. Easy breezy, instant art/display/conversation piece:

    In addition to that baggie of sand (so weird, I know), I’ve saved nearly every ticket stub from every movie, concert and show I’ve ever seen.* If you and I have gone to an event together, I probably still have the stub. It’s a habit from when I was in middle school and it just stuck – I can’t throw them away! So every time I return from an event, the stub went into the memory box. Since the jar worked so well for the sand, I decided to try the same method for displaying ticket stubs, and I love it! I found these two apothecary jars at Pottery Barn, but there are plenty of places that sell similar containers, or you could even use fun flea-market finds. I keep the stub from the first movie I saw with Chris (Good Will Hunting) displayed front and center.

    So what do you think about jarring your memories? I think it would work really well with so many things. You could collect a few details from your wedding like an extra favor, a save-the-date or invitation, your garter, etc. It would also work well to corral collections like wine bottle corks, matchbooks, or pretty much any small items.

    What memorable items have you saved? Do you habitually collect anything like ticket stubs? Let me know if you have a fun way to display your keepsakes! I have a few more projects that I’ll blog about soon.

    *With the exception of movie dates pre-Chris. 🙂