My dream was to have a wisteria arbor like this

Isn’t that just beautiful?  My vision was to do it across the concrete walkway here

(See those table and chairs? They rotted and fell apart from the sun.  And the fireplace behind it blew over and shattered.  Such a bummer)

We have a wood bridge that connects the walkway to the bbq area. We put the columns up 4 years ago aded the Costco bbq island and some chairs but that was about the extent of it

 I was dreaming of finishing off the columns over the bbq area by adding  the dark wood beams  like this picture {but no fireplace}

Source

But I think I dream too big.  Because once I got the cost of the engineering, materials and labor it was way more than what we wanted to spend.  So there it sat unfinished for 4 years.  It did not stop us from enjoying the area and having parties, but it was time for me to come up with a plan “b” and get it done.

I decided to go with a wood beam arbor over both areas, and to keep costs down, we used aluminum rather than wood.  I really didn’t want the upkeep of wood, and after seeing the aluminum sample and how it was surprising similar looking to wood beams, I was sold.  The dark wood color in aluminum wasn’t doing it for me, so I went with white.  Not the dream I was envisioning from my inspiration picture, but it was going to be better than what was there.

So the rest of the columns went up over the walkway

And now we finally have the two spaces completed

Even though the white arbors aren’t anything like my inspiration pictures, I still love it!  Once we had the arbor’s up, you can see why it motivated me to faux finish my bbq island. 

All the furniture I have out there right now needs to be moved around or put somewhere else.    I still need to purchase hanging lights and a bigger outdoor table and chairs.  I am thinking  I could still add the wisteria over the walkway and maybe some rustic furniture to achieve a similar look to the inspiration pictures.  But honestly,  I love the new white arbors, and I am so happy it is finally done.

Update. The Apartment Therapy Color Contest is going strong!  I am in first place in the west division.  WOOHOO.  But the competition is fierce!  The numbers change hourly.  It has been exciting and heartfelt to see all my friends & family rallying behind me and drumming up votes.  It is an exciting time I tell ya!  The voting is open until Monday, November 21st.  You can only “fav” once, but any other family member or friends can vote

You can click here to vote. 

And I want to thank you all to have taken the time to vote already!  I really appreciate it.  Cross your fingers I can hold on to that first place, I have big plans for my winnings!

My new arbors is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.

Back to the post…I finally finished painting the BBQ faux stone that we had purchased from Costco 3 years ago.  It took me awhile due to weather, plus it wasn’t such a smart idea to start this project in the fall.  The days weren’t warm enough to let my layers dry, and we had some rain lately (San Diego get rain? yeah we freak when it rains here, don’t ask).

Here is what it looked like before in all it blah white state

Here is what it looks like now

Major difference huh?  Even close up it looks pretty good.  The highs and lows were already there, but since it had faded so much you couldn’t see them anymore.  I used glazes and some dry brushing to get the overall effect.  Then sealed it with a satin polyurethane.

One panel on the backside had faded different than the rest.  You can see it in the middle of this picture, right below the back of the BBQ grill

I tried to blend it as best as I could, but this was as good as it was gonna get. (I just noticed that I need to use some high heat appliance spray on that black part. The sprinklers must be doing that)

I am going to do a tutorial on how I did my finish, I even recorded some video on my iPhone to help understand the process.  So you get to see my wrinkly hands and hear my annoying voice. {I don’t know anyone who likes to hear their voice on video do you?}  This type of faux treatment can be used on interior bricks.  You know the dated fireplaces that you want to replace but don’t have the funds to do it.  You can transform it to any stone color, I chose to use the tan colors since it blends with the rest of the natural stone I have in my yard.  But you can get any stone color you want with the same technique I used.  I am hoping to get the tutorial up on Monday, so check back if you are interested in doing this.

So in the end, this wasn’t a one day project like I had thought it was going to be.  But I stuck with it, and finishing it really gives me a sense of accomplishment.  Just for fun, I will leave you with a side by side of the before and after.

Linking up to these fun parties!

Painting a faux {fake} stone bbq island is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.

But since it is Halloween, I thought I could get away with doing a posting of creepy creatures.  I don’t know what makes your skin crawl, but mine is snakes and mice.   They give me the willies. Being that we live on a hill surrounded by open space, those two creatures are frequent around here, and it creeps me out.

Last week I was walking down our hallway at 8:00 at night, and saw this!

I thought snakes only came out during the day when it is hot!  Now I don’t go down any hallway or  walk into a room without turning on a light….freaks me out just looking at this picture. {Sorry for the bad pictures in this post.  All pictures were taken with my iPhone}

This weekend I started what I thought was going to be a one day project.  Yeah right.  More like a 5 day project..

We got this bbq island about 3 years ago from Costco.  Over time the sun has bleached the finish on the fake stone fronts to white.  Here is the back of it all bleached out.  You can’t even see that it has a high and lows on the faux stone.

When we bought it, it was a gray looking “stone”.   So I decided I would faux finish the now white “stone” to a more realistic looking stone that matched the rocks in our yard.  Well it is not as easy as I thought, and once I got the finish down that I liked,  it turned out to be a 4 step process

First step, cover the whole thing with a raw umber glaze, already a huge difference, but it still didn’t have enough depth

As you can see from what is sitting on top of the bbq, I have a concoction going on.  I am mainly using raw umber for the base and then going over it with a mocha glaze and then adding highlights of dark and light with acrylic paints.  I am using a rag, and an artist brush to put on the different layers. I am going to seal the whole thing with a clear polyurethane.  Tedious I tell you!

So what is so creepy about doing this?  See that hole on the white part in the picture above?  Well, that is where this guy was staring at me from when I started to paint the backside

Needless to say, I went running and haven’t gone back since.  Today I had my husband check the BBQ out from head to toe to make sure there aren’t any more creatures inside so I can finish my “one” day project.

I hope all of you who get trick and treaters and/or little ones to take trick or treating had a wonderful time.  For me,  I will be out painting until the sun goes down or sooner if another creature comes scurrying out of the bbq.  When my masterpiece is all done, I will post pictures, but it might be awhile at this rate

Creepy and Crawly for Halloween is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.

Two years ago we hired a professional to re-paint the whole gate.  But recently we noticed that the gold was looking dull.  So I decided that rather than call the guy back to spruce up the gold I would do it myself.  Remind me next time to make that call, because this wasn’t as easy as I had thought.

First I used gold leaf paint, but I didn’t like the way it was going on, too many brush strokes showing.  I use Rub ‘n Buff on a lot of picture frames, knobs or whatever else I want to put gold or silver leaf on, it is a great product.  I got out my tube and tried it and it went on beautifully.  I thought I would have it done in one weekend…but I thought wrong.  It took 3 weeks.  Mainly because I ran out of Rub ‘n Buff and so did Michaels.  I had to resort to ordering on line in order to get the quantity I needed

I used eight of these

My nails actually looked like the ones in the picture when I started because I just got a manicure.  {ok, add a lot more wrinkles and then picture my hands lol}   I learned the hard way, trying to remove gold from your cuticles and under your nails is not easy.   I finally got smart and taped my finger

I rubbed and rubbed for days…

I thought it would look nice to make the decorative spikes silver, change it up and give it a little contrast.  So I pulled out my silver Rub’n buff and went to town on the spikes

Fail.  None of us  liked it,  the silver made the spikes disappear.  Of course I didn’t realize this until I had them all done, UGH!  I went back and applied the gold leaf color over every single one of them.  Lesson learned.

I sprayed all the gold with a polyurethane sealer, hoping that will keep them from fading.  It is hard to get a wide shot of the whole gate area.  I have to stand pretty far back to get it all in

The gold is on the back side of the gate as well.  Now you know why it took so many tubes and so much time

My next project is to detail the large horses that sit inside our gate flanking the waterfall

We got these beautiful bronze horses years ago at Red Baron’s Auction in Atlanta, Georgia. My husband and I went there many times to purchase large scale items like these.  It is so fun to go to their auctions.  The auction last 3 days and they provide you with tons of food and entertainment.

One day  I saw a preview on tv for a show called Auction Kings on Discovery.  I recognized the people on the show from when they worked for Red Barons.  Now they are big time reality stars, who would of thought.

There is a lot of detail on these horses, I might just take my own advice and call in a professional to do this one.

Gold leaf Rub ‘n buff on a gate is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.

All my outdoor furniture is left outside year round, it takes a beating from the sun and the finish fades.  So since me and my family liked the red so much, I decided to spray more of my outdoor furniture red that was in need of freshening up.  First I did the Costco fire pit furniture that was originally black

Then 4 lounge chairs that I had purchased from Frontgate

and the side table base that goes with the set

I used a satin finish on the furniture

I decided not to go red on the small table and chairs, because I am going to add some type of floral cushions with accents of red.  So I just freshened up the black

Since I was on a roll, I decided my mailbox could use some freshening up too!  I sprayed it brown and then took some gold leaf paint and silver rub and buff and it brightened it right up

Oh the power of a can of spray paint, who knows what is next!

What a difference a can of spray paint can make is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.

A couple of months ago I was so excited to show you the cute radio flyer wagon I got and the colorful plants I planted in it

Well, a week later it looked like this

At first I thought the deer some how got in and ate my plants.  But there is no way they can get in, and the closer I looked, I saw the evidence of bunny droppings inside the wagon.  Duh!  Rabbits can hop, and I am sure hopping up onto the wagon was no big deal for them.  UGH!  What was I suppose to do?  Put a cage around this cute wagon to keep them out?  That isn’t appealing, so I decided to fake them out.  I bought some nice looking fake plants at Ikea and planted them in the wagon. {4.99 each}

I added some estate sale finds as containers to spruce it up a bit

I even “planted” one in the ground to look more realistic LOL

I have some real plants still surviving in the wagon that I am going to try and keep alive.  I was thinking I might spray them with tabasco sauce as a deterrent if a rabbit should try and nibble on them.  Worth a try right?  I don’t know if it will kill the plants or not, or even if the rabbits would mind the taste, but I thought this would be a good trial and error spot to try it on.  If it works, I am going to Costco and buying gallons of it and start spraying it everywhere!

I didn’t just add fake plants to the wagon either.

I picked up this cute bench at an Estate sale last month and a cute pail to put next to it to fill with flowers {that was the plan until I saw what the rabbits did with the wagon}

So I added more of the Ikea plants to the bucket too

I would really like to have colorful plants in the wagon and the pail, but something is better than nothing at this point.   Honestly, these plants from Ikea are pretty darn real looking, I am not minding them at all.  Let’s just hope the rabbits aren’t into fake.

Going fake is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.

I needed something that coordinated with the  colors of the two benches that sit on the balcony

And low and behold, I found not only two rugs for this area, but the perfect match!

They weren’t labeled outdoor rugs, but I knew by the fiber content, polypropylene, they would work for an out door rug.

Here is a tip on buying outdoor rugs.   Outdoor rugs are made of Olefin, also known as polypropylene,  a synthetic resin. Olefin’s best qualities are its fade and mold resistant qualities along with its ability to resist dirt and stains. It’s also very fast drying which is why it’s often used as outdoor carpet.  So always look at the fiber content of a rug, even it doesn’t say “outdoor” on it.  These two particular area rugs I bought have a rubber backing, regular outdoor rugs won’t have a backing because you want the water to flow threw the rug and not puddle on top.  But since this is a covered balcony, and I didn’t feel this was an issue.

So how do they look?

Perfect!  I was a little leery of the two patterns competing with each other.  But since the rugs have the darker tone of the turquoise and the bench seat cushions have the lighter tones and a touch of the turquoise they compliment each other

This is a long balcony with a lot of jut outs of columns and beautiful architectural detail moldings.  I don’t want to over crowd the space with a lot of furniture and take away from the beauty of it, so I keep it simple with just two benches.  Just enough to be able to go sit outside and enjoy the view

Now that I am looking at these pictures, I think adding a couple of potted plants would finish it off.  They would have to be faux plants of course because I know I would never remember to water them!  I mean come on, it took me four years to remember to get rugs for this area!  But oh, how I am loving it now.

Master Balcony Rugs, Finally! is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.

I originally was planning on a small group of 12 friends and family, but in the end we had about 20 people.  I had to change my plan of using real dishes and pull out the paper goods.  I couldn’t just throw the plates and silverware on the table..not my style.

I wrapped the silverware in the napkins and tied a ribbon around them and put them in pretty white cups.  I put the plates in a nice wire basket I got on sale at Pottery Barn.

I tied ribbon around these mason jars for the raspberry lemonade and put them in this red box I had lying around.

I had so much fum making this banner that I hung in front of the food table! I made it out of place mats that I just cut in half.  I hot glued them to a long ribbon and tied on the stars.  I liked the way it turned out.  Plus I can use it again next year.

I got fresh flowers from the local farmers market and arranged them on my tables

I bought these flag pennants at World Market for decorating my umbrella but didn’t have enough for the second umbrella.

I just couldn’t have one umbrella decorated and the other plain, so I made my own last minute flag pennant.  It was my first attempt at making one, and it was so easy!  I laid a triangle pattern on the fabric and cut it out using decorative scissors.  Then used my hot glue gun on the back fold that the twine goes thru.  I will be doing this type of decoration again for sure.  Super easy, and makes a great inexpensive filler for parties.

I love decorating for the 4th!  It is so fun to make vignettes of red white and blue

One thing I didn’t make this year were 4th of July wreaths.  I bought them instead.  My first time ever doing that!  I always make my own holiday wreaths, but I loved this particular style and knew I would’t have time to make it, let alone two of them.   So I bit the bullet and bought them off of Etsy from a shop called  WreathsbyKari,  She did a great job, and it was money well spent.

I have been pinning on Pinterest more 4th of July ideas for next year!  I think I might be a little obsessed with this holiday.

4th of July decorating is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.

Well I was wrong.  My sister out did herself this year on her sweets she brought for our 4th of July barbeque.   She blew me away when she arrived.  Look at what she made!

THE CUTEST! EVER 4th of July ice cream cone cupcakes.  Red velvet even!

With a cherry on top.  So cute right?

But that wasn’t all!  Check out these super yummy chocolate cupcakes she made {oh and I told her if she was going to bring cupcakes, could you make them festive?  {Rude I know, but hey she is my sister who else could I say that to? I am the decorator and she is the baker, I just wanted to make sure the display of my dessert table looked good lol}

They were so good too!

Pretty great sister huh?  Well it gets better.  She made some pies too!

My husband said it was the best cherry pie he ever had.

And the apple pie she made was just as mouth watering as the cherry

She out did herself don’t you think?  Made my store bought treats look pretty much…store bought.  Like I said she is the baker, I am the decorator.

But I did attempt to make some mini dessert shooters.  I picked up the mini dessert glassware at PierOne,  and decided it would be fun to make some different varieties.  Of course most of my ingredients weren’t homemade like my sisters, I hooked up with Betty for these {as in Betty Crocker}

Cheesecake minis, chocolate mouse shooters and trifles

Combining my decorating touch and my sister’s baking skills, we had us one awesome looking dessert display

We did have regular food of course!  Hot dogs, hamburgers, potatoe salad etc. and lots of good company and fireworks.  But the desert table was the hit of the party.

It is all about design with me when it comes to parties, which works out great because I can I know I can leave the baking up to my sister.  A big thank you to my sister Cindy, she did an awesome job!

A sweet 4th of July is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.

I took the plunge and painted my outdoor bar stools.  Silly me, didn’t take a before picture! But I can tell you, the finish on these bar stools had seen better days, they were brown and fading. At first I was whoa, I might of gone too far.  My intent was to bring the red of the Pottery Barn cushions that I have on my outdoor dining room table.

You can see the cushion on the chair in the background here

I thought when I saw them for the first time looking out my family room window, that maybe I should tone down the red with some glaze. Maybe my taking a chance on red wasn’t the right choice.  Too bold?

But when my family saw them, they loved them and said to keep them the way they are!  No need to convince me to do less work, so they are a keeper.

Plus they go really well with my 4th of July decorations I am putting out.  What do you think, would you take a chance on red?

I took a chance..on red is a post from: Cre8tive Designs Inc.