DECOR

giant rosary

I have been eyeing this wooden rosary at a fancy home decor store for a few years. I didn’t buy it because they wanted close to $200. So I waited for years hoping it would go on sale but it never did & then it suddenly dawned on me: I could make it myself. I got the wooden beads from a craft store & ordered the cross from Etsy. I used 53 pink beads (for the Hail Marys) & 5 larger white beads (for the Our Fathers). Easy peasy & it only cost me $35 to make it myself. I can’t believe it took me so long to think of it.

Ikea hack

I liked the bones of this cabinet & the yellow one was on sale but yellow is not in my colour scheme. My plan was to strip it (never fun) & then stain it a dark espresso colour. I had to abandon that plan when the stain did not take evenly so I painted over it with solid grey instead & changed the hardware. As a matter of fact, I don’t think any piece of furniture I own has its original hardware on it. Changing hardware is a really good trick to make pieces look customized or vintage or just to upscale a look.

AFTER

BEFORE

refinished bench/table

I took a tired-looking old table & stripped the paint off the top & I love how it turned out. This was hard work & there was nothing fun about it; but it was worth it.