Design & Decor

The house numbers that currently reside on our home are old, small, and kinda sad.  It’s time for an upgrade so I’ve been looking around the neighborhood to see what other people are using for their house numbers, and guess what? Everyone else’s are kinda sad too.

what kind of house numbers for heatherland

• I wanted Contemporary House Numbers
• I wanted a vertical orientation
• I wanted some negative space at the top
• I wanted a mix of contemporary and rustic style

And I also wanted to pull this off as a discount DIY project.  I searched around the house for remnants of previous projects to use for this, and luckily I had everything I needed except for the numbers:

• A cedar plank
• Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in “Paloma”
• Behr Ultra White water based paint
• Paint Brush
• Rag
• Minwax Paste Wax
• Twine
• Staple Gun
• Gorilla glue

A quick trip to Home Depot and $12 spent on these contemporary house numbers, ($5.99 each):

house numbers from home depot

My project was on a stand-still until Mr. Heatherland got home. Since I was mounting my numbers on a cedar plank I needed the lumber to be cut to size with sharp, crisp edges. I’ve been warned never to touch the table saw since all it’s factory installed safety features have been removed. This is one of the few instances I actually listen- since regardless of the safety features, I have a huge fear that someday, somehow, our table saw will attack me.

He came home, obliged my request, and now I was ready to go.

• I started by white washing the cedar. First with a coat of my watered-down darker color for depth, using Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Paloma.

• Let it dry. Do a quick sanding with 80 grit paper. Then brush on a coat bright white paint mixed equal parts with water, let it sit for a few minutes, then wipe it with a damp rag.

• Let it dry. Do a quick sanding with 120 grit paper. Rub on paste wax, buff, let dry. And then drill some holes for the numbers. I also decided to wrap the ends with twine (stapled on the backside) to give the whole piece more texture.

• Mounted the numbers into their holes with a little gorilla glue. Compress and let it rest for 2 hours.

our house numbers

This little project set me back $20 and I’m in love with them.  The outside of our house is starting to get a little personality- finally!

A Bathroom Vanity is a wonderful way to give your bathroom a little personality.  They are an important piece of furniture and, unfortunately, often an afterthought for builders.

Our bathroom is small and narrow.  I was on the hunt for a vanity that I liked the look of, that would fit in our small bathroom, and most importantly fit into our budget.

It had to have legs

Our vanity needed to have legs.  Why?  Well, so there would be negative space underneath to let the light and reflection from the tile below shine into the room.  I found this one, the Cadmon Vanity, and loved the shape, but hated the color.

IT HAD TO BE PAINTED

Sherwin Williams makes the most fabulous neutral shade of gray, #7669, Summit Gray.  So armed with my trusty spray gun, the transformation occurred.  First with a coat of Kilz (because I was too lazy to sand it), then the gray, and then a final rub down of paste wax.

It had to be smooth

I did not want the vanity top to have an undermount sink.  Why?  Well, two separate pieces wouldn’t have conveyed the overall image.  It needed to be sleek, seamless, and modern.  And upon a lot of research and measuring, Avanity makes a vitreous china vanity top that would fit this base like a glove.

bathroom sink

IT HAD TO BE Gorgeous

It took a little extra effort, but it all came together perfectly, and I love that our vanity is a one-of-a-kind.  Overtime I walk into the bathroom I stop to look at house beautiful our gray, contemporary vanity turned out.