DIY Faux Wood Beams

I've been a mission to add more and more character to my house. If it were up to me, I would live in a couple hundred year old house just full of the best old world character. But, instead, my house is circa 2007 :) only 189 more years to go! ha! Awhile ago, I added the planked walls (shiplap) to my dining room. Next, I envisioned some old beams across the ceiling. I had loads of ideas saved for these and just never did it. The real reason why it took me so long? Because I had to paint the ceiling. Seriously. I despise painting ceilings! Our ceiling was the same beige found around our house, and I knew it would look so much better against white. So, I finally tackled the ceiling, and seriously the next day added the faux wood beams.

 I kind of wish I had waited to add the beams so I could enjoy the white ceilings longer, but I try to do things big like this when I know my husband will be gone. He doesn't quite approve of all my ideas :) So, it happened overnight pretty much!

First step was painting the ceiling. Here's a good picture of how beige it was. I taped it all off and painted it Swiss Coffee by Behr in Satin.

 Next, I took the straightest and most beat up 1x4s I could find. This was pretty easy considering most people don't like the busted up boards.

 Then I stained them. I started with a stain I wasn't a fan of and then changed it up to Dark Walnut by Minwax. I didn't do any sanding or anything. Left everything super rough. I stained the sides and the top, left the back alone.

 I then measured out where I wanted the beams. I ended up having 40" between each one. Not knowing if my husband would approve or make me take them down immediately, I just nailed them in place with my brad nailer. I didn't want a whole bunch of screw holes in my ceiling if they were to come down any time soon. If you are sure you want to keep them up and are afraid of them falling down, secure with a screw and anchor or into a stud, or you can also glue them up. My 1 1/4" nails have held up fine so far, but that's not saying they won't fall down without me knowing :)

 The 8' boards weren't long enough for my ceiling, so I had to butt up a second board to it. I wasn't sure how it would look, but I made sure it stayed consistent in location along each "beam". You can barely notice the seams now.

 As for the end where my planked wall is, I had to work around the 1x2s that were already attached. So, I just cut out little squares with my jigsaw which allowed me to kind of puzzle it in place.

 I did luckily get a decent shot of my white ceiling before the beams went up.

 And here it is afterwards.

Jute rug: Amazon    Farmhouse Chairs: Amazon     Striped Turkish Towel/Blanket: Amazon

 I am such a fan of the character it added with minimal effort and expense!

 A couple of things if I were to do this again: I would use 1x6 boards instead. Once these 1x4s got up on the ceiling, they just look a lot smaller than what I had planned. Next, I wouldn't leave them outside to dry overnight. Most of them got warped and were really hard to work with. I ended up having to go back to the store and get some more wood to finish. So, my lessons learned :)

 Here's a before picture of the beige ceiling from my Summer home tour.

 And now! I am the biggest fan of wood tones against white, if you haven't noticed. So, this space just makes my heart happy :)

So, how did my husband feel about it? He got home from his fishing trip and just gave me a knowing look with no words. I didn't expect much else. He doesn't hate them enough to make me tear the down immediately. So, that's something :)

Shop the look:
Jute rug 


Farmhouse Chairs



Striped Turkish Towel/Blanket


Vintage Metal Fan



DIY Lavendar Gallery Frames

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 Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Best Place To Buy Faux Plants and Greenery

I love my faux greenery. Love it. I tried real plants and quickly realized I have the black thumb of death. I can somewhat keep flowers going outside, but that's it. When it comes to plants indoors, I go fake...or "faux", you know, so it doesn't sound so bad :) Since I have so much in my house, I get asked all the time where my favorite place is to buy my faux greenery. So, if you ever wondered, this post is for you! 

....drum roll please....
Ikea.
Yep. 
Ikea. 

90% of my faux greenery is from there. I have collected many over the years that they have sadly discontinued in their stores. But, the best thing about Ikea, is I feel like they switch up their greens pretty often. So, if you don't like any one visit, check them out in a couple of months and I bet they'll have some different stuff. 

Here are my favorite finds.FYI, Ikea tends to keep all their plant names the same "Fejka" for plant...at least on their tags in the stores. So, it might be hard to figure out what is what, so you'll have to go by the look. I am adding a few more in here that they carried just as of last year, so hopefully they will bring them back since they are the best! 

First off. Fiddle leaf fig. Yes! Ikea carries these! And I've seen them in store, and they are pretty big, about 57" tall....and it's just under $50. Not bad for all you fiddle leaf lovers :)

 Next is my go to fave. I pick up 3 stems of these every time I go. Eucalyptus is the best! I have them in my bedroom, dining room, and front room.

 This oregano plant I have in a couple places throughout my home. 

Here it is hiding behind the frame.

Here's another one on the bench, and different ones they no longer carry on the mantel.

 Rosemary. I just bought a few of these for my dining room and kitchen.

 This faux grass is perfect for any space. I have it randomly place throughout my home.

 I have this weeping fig stem in my front room, potted in an olive bucket.

I haven't used these baby's tears, only because I have so many other plants, but still can't let this go by.

 They also sell these great ginkgo stems.

 One of their new greens is the faux hanging plant.

 I have seen these monstera stems in some amazing spaces, like just two in a large glass jar.

 Another one I haven't tried, this string of beads.

 For those of you who love succulents, they have faux and real ones!

 They also carry faux thyme plants.

A few of my favorites that they no longer sell I have throughout my entire house. I actually took off the black pots and threw just the greens into this dough bowl.  

Here's another example of taking off the black pot and just putting in the plant in a pot. This one is on the shelves in my bathroom.

And these ones in my built-ins were a random ones I found during spring from last year. ...I can spy 3 other Ikea plants hidden in this photo, not counting the two in the built-ins :)

So, do I have you convinced that you should visit Ikea to check out some faux greenery? Seriously, they have such a great selection! Plus, if you don't want to shop at other stores for vases and pots, they have a huge selection of those too!

I seriously was just done writing this post and came across this clover! How awesome is this one! Great, now I need to go to Ikea and grab this one before it's gone! What a perfect punch of color.

PS. I have not been compensated by Ikea for talking about these. It's just my own opinion that I wanted to share with you all!


Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.” 

My House Tour -Full of Before and After Pictures (And 9 Year Blog Anniversary!)

 This post contains affiliate links.
You guys! I just realized that last week was marked 9 years of this blog! What?! That is just completely crazy. I feel like I just started blogging two years ago. Thrifty and Chic is seriously almost a decade old....which totally makes me sound way old! :) Since my blog is 9 years old, that means I have been living in my house for 10! I remember first stepping foot into this place; I totally had that feeling that everyone talked about. We almost didn't even look at it. This listing was in a bottom pile of houses that were on the market that we could afford, and technically had the correct attributes, but the pictures on the MLS were far from beautiful. We looked at houses probably for about 2 months, and started scratching at the bottom of the pile. We went to this house "because it was in the area". And little did we know that it would be our future home. It was perfect! Better than any other listing. Thank goodness for horrible MLS pictures or else this house would have been gone super quick and we wouldn't of had a chance.

So, every year, I like to look back on how much change has happened to our house since the year we moved in and when I started blogging. Most of the before pictures below are how I decorated in the first year. I think it's just so fun to see the difference and how much time can change a place.

Entryway
Before:

We laid new flooring, put some molding on the walls and added some decor. Doesn't seem like a lot, but made a huge change.
After:

Entryway Board and Batten: Tutorial

Front Room
Before:

Our front room actually sat pretty vacant for the first few months after we moved in. We had no furniture to furnish it with. This was one of my first attempts at decorating it with what we had. This room actually has seen more changes than any room in my house. But, luckily, it has stayed pretty much the same for the last couple of years. I added some planking/shiplap to the back wall along with a faux fireplace. I obviously updated my furniture and added some new decor too.

After:

Wood Sunburst Mirror: Tutorial      Farmhouse Ladder: Tutorial      Faux fireplace DIY: Tutorial      Wire Hamper: Amazon    Bench: Target     Console Table: Target     Sofa Bed: Ikea      Bench: Target     Rug: Rugs USA   

 Living Room
Before:

 The before picture of this is probably into the 2nd year of us living in our house. Back then I was obsessed with candles. They were everywhere. I also was in that weird place of what the heck to do with these alcoves. I seriously despised them, but later on, was very thankful for them and how much character they ended up adding to the space once I added the shelves. Updates in here have been the board and batten along every wall, the fireplace and mantel planking, the new flooring, and updated furniture and decor...so, actually, a whole lot of change :)
After:

Shiplap: Tutorial     Media Console: Tutorial      Builtin shelves: Tutorial    Wreath: Tutorial    Rug: Amazon      Clock: Tutorial     Ruffle Pillows: Amazon    

 This is one of the pictures from the MLS. Not the best, huh?

 Here's that area 9 years later:

 Now this is a before picture of my living room right when we bought our new sectional; which is actually still the one we have in it today.

And of course, the after:

Dining room
Before:

 As you can tell, my whole theme in here was Tuscany. I was soo close to adding Venetian plaster to all these walls. It was a thing back then, and I'm so so glad I didn't do it! It was but a year or so later that I ended up adding these planks (or now called shiplap) to the back wall. It brightened up the space like crazy and added the character I always wanted in my home. This table is actually still the same in here. It has it dings and places where the veneer has peeled off, but I can't let it go! :)
After:

Jute rug: Amazon    Farmhouse Chairs: Amazon     Striped Turkish Towel/Blanket: Amazon

 Master Bedroom
Before:

 The bedding set in my master bedroom 9 years ago was a hand me down from my mother-in-law. The duvet cover was a wedding present, and those pillows and curtains were probably some of my first ever DIY projects :) Since then, we have upgraded to a much larger bed, along with new decor. Since it's a vaulted ceiling in here, I wanted to break up the wall and add the square board and batten.
After:

Ruffle Pillows: Amazon      Bedding: Crane and Canopy      Lamps: Target      Nightstand: Tutorial

 Master Bathroom
Before:

 This tub is what sold me on the house. Seriously, as if I didn't want to buy it anyway when we first walked in, this sealed the deal! In here, I added the floating shelves and updated the curtains. That's pretty much it.
After:

Floating shelves: Tutorial     Ruffle Curtains: Amazon

Laundry Room
Before:

 I always have hated my laundry room. It was a pass through between the living room and garage. It was small and tight and completely lacked any character or storage space...which my house so desperately needed. I add some shiplap and shelving in here last year, and now it's actually a decent place to do laundry! :)
After:

Shelves and Shiplap: Tutorial

 Guest bathroom
Before:

 This bathroom is super small, like really, what you see is what you get. It was a big beige box. Really though, all I remember is how tall the beige ceiling are in here. It was just boring. So a few years ago, I updated it with some board and batten and paint!
After:

Board and Batten: Tutorial     Diamond Wall Tutorial

Kid's Bathroom
Before:

 All this decor was brought over from our apartment. Technically, this bathroom was only used like twice a year until we had children. So, when I wanted to redo it, I had to really make the cost low since there really wasn't any reason to do so :) $60 completed this transformation. It has stayed like this until this day!
After:

Bathroom makeover Tutorial 

Guest Bedroom/Kid's Room
Before:

 Can you imagine having a guest spend the night in this room? Well, it's probably not so bad, but definitely what I wouldn't call inviting :) This was even before I put blinds in the room. It got so hot in there during the summer. Now, it's my little girl's room. It did see it's time as a nursery for a bit too.
After:

Girl Bedroom Reveal and Sources

Guest room/Kid's room
Before:

Once our first kid came along, my 'office' aka dump everything in there room became the guest room/office. I did make this a little more inviting and actually had some good tips on storage ideas and how to share an office and guest room in one of my posts. But since then, another little came along and I had to dismantle everything and move in a crib :) Technically, this room is a little different now than this picture shows. We have some different pieces and a toddler bed in here now, but the look is quite similar. 

Nursery Tour and Sources

Well, I hope you enjoyed going down memory lane with me! Even if you don't blog, I encourage you to start taking pictures of our home. It's so much fun to look back at them and see all the changes!


 Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”