Penny Tile Decor

We found out last month that the Canadian penny is being eliminated, and after a few moments of nostalgia at the loss, my mind naturally jumped to design and the penny tile trend :)

Penny tiled bathroom backplash via House & Home

Penny tiled kitchen backsplash via You Paid More Than Me

These penny tile backsplashes are just gorgeous, and I love the pairing with lighter hues, keeping the spaces bright and fresh.
As flooring penny tile looks fab  too - it creates this cool vibe of urban glamour, and I just love how the coins shimmer in the light. 

Penny-tiled shower floor via Houzz

Penny tiled floor via Design Tawler

Personally I really like this bold and funky trend, but I'm not sure I could or would pull it off myself. A penny-inspired tile might be more my style, like this beautiful and soothing version.

Penny tiled Master Bath via Sarah Richardson Design

Hearing the news about the penny's demise though got me thinking twice about decorating with actual coinage - making a statement with what is now sentimental value!

Plus, using actual pennies would make for a fun and affordable DIY :) And if you're renting like us, you'll want something you can take along with you when you move. 

Penny tiled tabletop via Thrifty Inspirations, Penny tiled accent able via Dabble Magazine

Rachel's penny-tiled tabletop at Thrifty Inspirations is just adorable, and this fully-tiled version by Nicolas Rosaci of Dabble mag is a real showstopper.

For an even smaller project, I'm thinking of trying to create some penny-tiled wall art.

Penny tiled craft letters via The Crafted Sparrow

Penny tiled mirror frame via Flooring Supply Shop

I'm not exactly going to miss all the spare change weighing down my wallet, but I also can't help thinking about all those shiny pennies I used to save as a kid - they seemed so valuable, I felt like I was rich :) The coin may be expendable now as currency, but at least it inspired it's fair share of design before being phased out!

7 Fun Facts About Me + Blog Awards

When my cousins and I used to play 'house' as children, I spent more time decorating the "house" than playing!

I've travelled to 4 out of the 7 continents.

I met my husband at university, although we didn't know at the time that we'd actually met previously as toddlers :)

I took the Homegoods Stylescope Quiz (twice :) - and my results were "Bohemian Casual". As much as I was hoping for "elegant" or "glamorous", the description blurb was spot on!

I speak 4 languages (well, kind of :)

My husband and I went to a homeschooling conference, but since we don't have kids yet we decided to get a pet fish on our way home. We named him Zakir and he's super cool. He got really sick once and every day I was scared to look at his bowl, but thankfully he recovered :)

I'm a Muslim, an aspiring lover of God and His Beloved.

Don't worry, I didn't wake up this morning with an inexplicable urge to blog 7 fun facts about myself. Nor is there a DIY hidden somewhere in this post. Honey Sweet Home was chosen for the Versatile Blogger Award!

A huge thank you to Jennifer at Just A Girl In The World, Sharla at The House at Bluebird Lane, and Angie at Beneath the Magnolias! I can't thank you lovely ladies enough, I'm so touched that you thought of me!

I've mentioned it before and I'll say it again - as a relatively new blogger, the amount of support and encouragement that I've felt from fellow bloggers is just overwhelming. All praise to God, I'm so grateful for it, and I really cherish this community so much :)

As the award goes, recipients can share 7 random things about themselves, as well as pass it on to fellow bloggers, so I'd like to spread the love :) Here are some great blogs that I love reading, and that are definitely Versatile :)

Rachel at Thrifty Inspirations

Helen at Picked and Painted

Julia at Shoe String Bean

Bella at We Heart DIY

Jane at Urban Jane

Whenever you're in need of a little inspiration, definitely pay them a visit!

Honey Sweet Home was also given another Liebster Blog award, by Linda at Miss Tori's Treasures :) Thanks again Linda, I can't even express how grateful I am! You can check out my first post about the Liebster Award here.

I'm off to hopefully make some progress on a couple projects today - have a wonderful weekend!

　

Kids Wall Art - Craft Letters!

Today I've got a cute and simple project to share: dressing up wooden craft letters to create some fun kiddie wall art!

I visited my sweet little nieces last weekend and I wanted to make them each a little something to hang in their bedroom :) Embarrassingly enough, I bought the wooden letters for this project over 2 years ago - talk about procrastinating! I originally started painting them all by hand in bright colours and cute little patterns. These were a few of my faves:

But halfway through painting, the project got shoved in the back of my closet. Between planning my wedding and moving I totally forgot about it! I finally dug them out last week.

I didn't have the time to finish hand-painting them all, so I opted for a quick and easy alternative: spray paint and craft paper. I primed and painted all the letters in a bright hot pink, then picked out a couple of fun printed papers for each girlie :)

A more sophisticated and classic damask for the eldest, a funky zebra print for the middle sis,

and a bunch of cute and sweet patterns for the youngest :) Each one got a little sparkle too!

I just cut out the shapes from the scrapbook paper and glued them onto the letters with mod podge. We hung the letters over their beds using double-sided mounting tape. Each girl picked how she wanted to hang her name, although auntie made some helpful suggestions :) The finished product was a fun way to dress up their little spaces!

…

I think they look pretty cute, don’t you?

This is a really easy and inexpensive way to customize your own wall art - wooden craft letters are pretty easily found at craft stores or even dollar shops, and the same goes for scrapbook paper. Just one tip: look for the flat letters as opposed to the bevelled ones I used, it'll make tracing and cutting the craft paper way easier!

Happy Weekend :)

Linking up at The DIY Project Parade, Overflowing With Creativity, May Before & After Party,  

Drab to Fab Makeover: Hutch Love!

I used to think hutches were so dated, I could only imagine them in tacky old wood finishes that felt really gloomy and heavy looking. Either that or a little too country for my taste. But thankfully I’ve seen enough lovely ones to change my mind :) With a little inspiration, even a dreary old hutch can become a gorgeous addition to any contemporary design!

I’ve been hinting at my own huge hutch makeover for awhile now, so it’s about time I get this post out! This is by far the biggest project I’ve done to date. I was ready to give up several times, but I’m seriously LOVING the final results :)

 

It all started when I saw this piece sitting at my friendly neighborhood Goodwill. 

Not the saddest hutch you've ever seen, but nothing special. It did have great lines though, and really gorgeous details! The finish wasn’t actually that bad – the buffet looked pretty nice on its own. But as a whole it was pretty dull, literally crying out for a makeover! The original price was way high, but thanks to a sale and a little extra bargaining we brought it home for a song :) 

Refinishing this hutch was definitely waaaay more work than I anticipated. This mammoth (with all its doors and drawers) pretty much took over our apartment. And I'd get winded every time I tried to work on it. That makes me sound really out of shape, but you don't know what kind of body contortions were needed to get under all those non-removable shelves :) So I didn’t take any in-progress pics, but the steps I followed were pretty straightforward:

1. I removed all the doors and hardware, then patched + sanded any nicks with wood filler.

2. I primed everything with 1-2 coats of my go-to Zinsser Cover Stain - it’s my go-to mainly because I still have 1/2 a gallon to use up :) - but it adheres amazingly, even to veneers and glossy surfaces, which allowed me to skip sanding!

3. I painted the piece with 2-3 coats of Cottage White. Fab colour -not too yellow or pink or grey, just a really soft and creamy hue. To help minimize patchiness and roller marks I tried out a paint conditioner, which honestly worked wonders!

4. To protect and seal the piece, I went with a water-based product by Varathane - 2-3 coats, lightly sanding between each.

I was really worried about finding a sealer that wouldn’t create a yellow tinge, after my experience with my white goodwill dresser. Helen from Picked and Painted suggested using a wax, but I didn't want to try it for the first time on this giant! So I asked for some tips at Rona, and the paint guy was awesome! He tried out a bunch of different products on a white slab for me, and to my eyes this one gave the truest clear coat.

I kept most of the original hardware, simply updated the pieces (including the hinges) with a little Rub n Buff in Antique Gold.  

 

Since some of the pulls on the buffet doors were broken, I replaced them with matching knobs.

To add a little interest to the interior of the hutch, I wanted to line the back in a really glamorous gold wallpaper. But that plan was a little too pricey, so I opted for this great Morroccan stencil by Royal Design Studio instead.  

LOVE it! The stenciling adds that glam factor I wanted and really makes the hutch pop! 

To achieve this look my sweet husband and I removed the hutch backing, painted it a creamy-beige (a sample jar of paint was enough), then stenciled it in a metallic craft paint. You can't tell from the photos but the pattern has this gorgeous reflective shimmer, especially at night :)   

Deep rich hues are classic, but given the size of this hutch I knew I wanted this makeover to be really light and fresh. I think the final results are anything but drab :)  

I think this might be true love :)

I'm totally smitten with gold lately, and the sparkle of it against this crisp clean white looks so luxe :)  

I was blessed enough to have this hutch sell pretty quickly, but I'm already missing it! What do you think? 

Looking at the pretty pictures makes me almost forget how exhausting it was :) Although next time I tackle a makeover like this, I may invest in a sprayer first. Any suggestions?! 

Linking up at Transformation Thursdays, Furniture Feature Fridays, Remodelaholics Anonymous, Creative Inspirations Link Party, Addicts (not so) Anonymous, Thrifty Inspirations, DIY Project Parade, Overflowing with Creativity, Sass's Sunday Salvation Show, April Before & After Party, Twice Owned Tuesday, Vintage Revivals,

Easy & Inexpensive DIY Art: A Framed Scarf

Hey everyone :) Happy March Break! I had all these grand plans to go on a road trip with my friend and use the time off work to get moving on several projects, but half the break has come and gone and I’ve barely done anything :) Typical!   

I did come across a great idea on Pinterest last week though to DIY your own custom wall art!

I wanted a little something something to dress up a particularly bare corner, but I wasn’t loving anything in stores (at least not anything on budget :). I was looking for something in bright hues, similar to this gorgeous piece (by Nancy Ramirez at Cozamia)

Love.at.first.sight! I'd LOVE to order one of her prints someday, the prices aren’t too bad either, but for now – considering all the upcoming decor projects I have in mind – I needed a thriftier idea :)   

I searched the web for some free prints I could frame, and I found a few options, then somewhere along the way I came across this loveliness

I had a pretty phone like that once...then I got rid of it because it was impossible to hold between my ear and my shoulder...and now I wish I hadn't...*sigh* Well the picture was captioned ‘framed scarf’, originally via Design*Sponge. I’m not sure if it’s actually a scarf in the frame, but whatever, I was inspired!

So I went digging through my closet and found the perfect scarf in my own stash. You can find such pretty scarves almost anywhere, but if you’re anything like me you already have a zillion in your own closet :) Either way this can be a really inexpensive project.

The scarf I chose was one my Mom bought me years ago from India – I never wear it but I always loved the pattern too much to get rid of it. I ironed it, cut out the sections I wanted to use, and matted the swatches in a great set of frames I picked up at Homesense. I think it would look great without the mats too.

 

I love how easy and simple this was to do, and the colours are so bright and fun! You can't tell from the photos but the scarf has little flecks of gold in it too, which look great in the sunlight :)

If you're eying the stenciled hutch on the right, consider this a sneak peek - more on that soon! 

So have any of you used framed scarves in you decor? I'm thinking about a small gallery wall for our living area, so I'm on the lookout for more DIY wall art ideas which I'll hopefully share soon - any tips would be appreciated!

Linking up at The Winter Pinterest Challenge, Twiced Owned Tuesdays, LaThrifta's Cheap Finds & Transformations, DIY Project Parade, Spring Craft Link Party,