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Monday, August 26, 2013

DIY Desk Makeover

First off, thanks to everyone for the great response on our blog debut! Feels good to know our friends & family are looking forward to reading.

Last post we mentioned doing House Tours, but unfortunately that wont be happening this week...

Sunday morning, the 18th, we received the call that our Grandma was in the hospital. She needed to have her appendix removed. Small surgery normally, but at 79 years old with several health issues, it didn't turn out to be so small. 8 days later she is just being moved out of ICU.
We absolutely ADORE our Grandma so much! She is the matriarch of the Luke Family, so this has been a rough week for us all. As of today she seems to be doing much better, but please continue to keep her in your prayers.

So needless to say we haven't had the time to put together our House Tour post. Hopefully we can get our schedules back on track and pull it together soon!

In the meantime here is a post from Alyssa's home:


The upstairs hallway of our home is all an open space to the downstairs below.



(Yes, it desperately needs color!)

When we first moved in I put this white console table there, just to fill the space. I eventually put a lamp and some décor there and left it.
I was so undecided with what colors I wanted to go with upstairs that I didn't do anything with it for quite awhile.

One day Jess sent me this picture from Pinterest


She knew I was looking for inspiration for my guest room and I fell in love with everything about it! The textures, the colors...just my style!
Once I decided on this look & color scheme I knew I could get started on the rest of the upstairs.
I have this thing...I like to match. Not always & not everything, but mostly. Does that make sense? Ha..
If my guest room is going to be shades of coral, tan & white, than my bathroom must be as well! And of course the hallway should go somewhat along those lines, right? Well, yes, for me it must!
I'm around 75% complete done with the bathroom, and 5% done with the bedroom. I'm taking my time, what can I say? But I started this little project in the hallway and am excited to show the progress.

I found this solid genuine hard maple desk & chair on craigslist, snagged it for $80 and stuffed it in the back of Mark's little car.


 Solid would be the right word to describe it. This thing is heavy!

Step 1. Remove all drawers & hardware
Step 2. Use a paint that is mixed with primer so you don't have to do separate coats
Step 3. Paint away. Use smooth even strokes. Don't saturate your brush with paint, a little goes a long way.




Step 4. Use a paint + primer spray paint to paint your chair. Super easy! Two coats looks best.

After one coat of paint + primer! That's all it took!



I love the way it turned out! Super easy project, literally one coat of paint for the desk & two coats of spray paint for the chair. 
Next I will be making a seat cushion for the chair. Thinking a shabby floral pattern.
Also there is a cut out on the wall behind this desk, and I am wanting to do stencil pattern in this coral. I think it will give the hallway the pop of color I am looking for! 

Love this wall stencil from Sarah M. Dorsey Designs

If anyone has experience with wall stenciling on textured walls, be sure to offer some advice, it doesn't look too easy!


Hope you're enjoying the blog, more posts to come!

Monday, August 19, 2013

Blog Debut

Hi there!

We are very excited to debut our new blog, 'Jess & Lyss, Two Sisters, Two Homes & One Blog".

If you know us personally then you will already know the following; We are two sisters, Jessica & Alyssa, 3 years apart and BEST of friends!



Jess has been married 6 years, lives in a suburb of Washington with her hubby & dog, Teddy.
Lyss is a newlywed of 1.5 years, lives 8 minutes from Jess, with her hubby & dog, Zoey!


We are both recent, first time home owners with a love for decorating & making our houses homes. We wanted to create a blog where we can share home ideas, DIY projects, great finds, bargains, photos, & our home life with you.




What's coming next blog post? - House Tours! Take a look into the place we call home.



Photos captured by: Mark Gauthier Photography