Designing from the heart, progress!

Wow! What an awesome, but busy couple of weeks! We got a lot accomplished in the Castillo home and they are loving their new spaces. God is so good and it was easy to see His hand in this project! Stretching $2000 to do a whole house takes a little divine intervention....don't you think?

Creating Home's goal is to help family's create a home that reflects them and what they love, regardless of budget. And that's exactly what we did! She wanted an orange kitchen and she got one. She wanted her Mexican heritage reflected in her home and we did that! She wanted her love of faith, family, and friends to be the center of the home and that's exactly what we gave her! 

Here is the home we've created so far, with lots of tips on how you can do the same. It's going to be a long blog, so enjoy all the information!

Lets start in the living space!

Here's what we have so far:

The "almost" After. I am in love with the homemade Mexican tile art!

Remember the before!

 We started out with a "storage living room with cold walls with an ivy border. Now the space is a comfortable and warm living space that reflects the families multi-cultural background. Adding the homemade Spanish tile art work, opened the room up to lots of colors! Wall Color is SW Basket Beige, warm but not too dark.
 

Home made Mexican tile art, $64. Here's a how I did it!

First, I found these awesome pictures of Mexican tiles on the Internet....not copyrighted. I had a friend who is a graphic designer tweak them so they would print in larger scale with true color (you don't have to do this step). We sent the images to our local print shop Kinko's and had them printed in 10" by  10" square on photo quality paper, $28!

Next, I went to a craft store and bought 12" x 12" canvases and painted the outside edges and 2" around the outer edges, as well, in dark brown. As the paint is drying, cut the images out of the paper (I used a straight cutter to get a good line). Next, spray an adhesive spray - I tried Mod Podge, but it wrinkled the paper too much - onto the canvas and center the image and affix to the canvas. Allow several hours of dry time before you hang you new art!

Before

Before this recessed area of the room served no purpose.

After

Now there are natural wood shelves for more storage!

Now the area has beautiful handmade bookshelves and an accent of aqua blue, SW Cloudburst. The shelves are perfect for Mom and daughter to put all their books and photos. They love to read! The top shelf is perfect for special treasures!

 

Here's another "how to". Homemade book shelves:

I couldn't believe how easy this was and inexpensive too! Total cost was a whopping $99! I bought 2 x 12 pine lumbar and had the Home Depot cut it into 5' pieces. I bought these simple wood brackets or corbels to support the shelves. Then I sanded the boards with a sander to get rid of any splinter and give me a smooth finish. Lastly, using Minwax's one step stain in dark walnut I applied the stain to the wood with a sponge brush and then wiped it down immediately with a clean cloth to allow the grain to show. I really was that easy and maybe took me an hour or two!

Now just a quick trip to the kitchen, it still need a lot of final touches! But I can at least show you the progress and how we transformed the cabinets!

Before, dingy white cabinets and an 80's Ivy stencil, yuck!

Soft Beige and new hardware make a big difference! SW Macadamia 

 Well what can I say about that kitchen other than gross! The cabinet were dirty and dated and with not budget to replace them, we had to paint! Mom didn't want white or cream, because with a 6 year old and a big dog they would look dirty fast! But I didn't want dark, because we were going for a happy bright feel in the kitchen. This beige was the perfect solution and it's pulled right from the soft beige in the tile floor. Quick design tip: Always remember the floor color you're working with when you are picking colors. 

Here are the steps to painting cabinets:

First remove all cabinets and drawers and the hardware (This makes it so much easier to paint the frames in the kitchen and the cabinets).

1. Lightly sand and all surfaces first for a smooth grease-free finish

2. Wipe them clean

3. Add a good primer using a good brush, let it dry

4. Add your color again using a good brush in nice even strokes for a smooth finish. I used Behr Ultra Premium Plus and it went on beautifully! Sherwin Williams also has a wonder paint for this job.

5. Replace hardware

6. Put the cabinets back on to the frames and enjoy your new kitchen!

Yes, it's a little extra work, but we saved thousands of dollars, our cost was less than $100 for paint and supplies and new hardware was $25. Not bad for a whole new look!

On to the girls room!

Before, scary! I wouldn't want to sleep in here!

I hope she enjoys her new space!

Bright colors, a place for toys, and a bedside table make this space functional and pretty.

We are going to add a hot pink soft headboard to break up the blue.

Now it feel like a little girls room! She wanted to be a part of the design, she even picked her on bedding and made her own art with her friends.

What a tranformation from dark and depressing to bright and fun! We did this for around $150! Again my 10 year old "Designer-in-the-making" put together the plan for this room based on the wishes of the little girl. First the paint made a huge impact. She wanted blue, so Brooke and I pick a soft aqua blue called SW Raindrop. Then we let the little girl pick her bedding and we went from there! 

We added handmade art made by herself, my daughter, and a friend using a paint splatter technique that Brooke devised. Now the art is personal! We added pillows and pin art of flowers and butterflies above the bed to anchor the bed. We found this table at Goodwill for $5 and added this super cute hot pink lamp from Target. We still need to add a few more things to finish off the room and then she will have a perfect space to hang with her friends!

Finally, Mom's space! 

"Every mom needs a place to retreat at the end of the day, and a place to inspire when she's awake."

And this ain't it!

Mint chocolate chip anyone?

This is more like it!

New bedding, Target plum colored quilt set....Mom loves purple, classic silver lamps with linen shades, simple silver frames all create a nice calm retreat feeling for mom at the end of the day!

A soft neutral gray, SW Versatile Gray, sets the mood for this tranquil space! A desk area beside the bed was needed for mom to work in quite. 

The other side of the room was a mess!

Now mom and daughter can enjoy a cozy reading space in her favorite chair! 

Hope you enjoy seeing our progress....I told you I've been busy! All that left is a few finishing touches and they can enjoy their new home!