which way to the restroom...

I've been wanting to do something for the bathroom door forever. A cute vintage restroom sign, unisex restroom sign from hardware store, stenciling, vinyl letters but I couldn't decide on anything. Finally got around to doing this:

Materials:

-Already had can of oops paint in grey (free)

-Little man/woman wood cutouts from Michael's $1.99 each plus 15% total coupon (~3.50)

-Frame I already had, took off glass/backing (free)

- Leftover white spraypaint I already had (free)

-3M command strips x8 (~$6.00 with Michael's coupon)

My steps

-Eyeballed center and positioning

-Had my man hold up

-Outlined inner rim of frame with pencil

-Handed painted with the grey

-Stick em all up with the 3M command strips. Super easy

-NOTE: Technically supposed to let paint dry for several days before hanging 3M strips which I also recommend at least a day as the strips will fall off.

the best ikea shopping tips

I've been to Ikea so many times, and since it's a 2.5 hour drive for me I've learned to prepare as much as I can to get the most out of my trip.

The very first thing I do is measure everything and anything in the house that I'm considering a purchase for.

Curtains?

• Window heights and widths
• Depths from wall to blinds for rod brackets...I've made this mistake before :(

Furniture, rugs, etc.?

• Room dimensions
• Closet depths and dimensions
• Available space for cabinets, dressers, anything you might be even just be considering...

Here is a view of my Ikea.com shopping cart. It shows store availability, and the print out list option gives you several ways to sort your items, by first added, area of pickup in the store, etc. This is absolutely awesome. It gives you a general idea of what you might spend right ;)...and you can use it to cross things off, I highly recommend it this great tool.

So in short, here is my go-to list for what I bring:

• My own measuring tape, just easier to use than the free ribbon tape they provide
• A list of projects and ideas I have
• Printed out shopping list from Ikea.com

And I still spend 5 hours there every single time.

furniture refinishing tip & local hardware source find

Found Cabinetmaker's Hardware Store on Cleveland St. in Virginia Beach. I was looking for the dry sink hinge hardware and probably returned 20 styles of hinges from Home Depot and Lowe's, no joke. Cabinetmaker's were so, so helpful, reasonably priced.  I will definitely recommend them and will be going back!

TIP: Keep all old hardware! Often it will be much easier to spray paint to the desired finish. Even though I didn't reuse the hinges, I was able to take the extremely unique hinge in and Cabinetmaker's found what I needed immediately! They truly were a godsend after all the exchanges I'd already done, internet searching, etc. etc.


Samples from their store...