Simple Dresser Makeover

I can’t believe I started this blog a year ago. It was such a great decision! I love having so much proof of my hard work because it’s so easy to write things off and forget. If you’d like to see what I’ve been up to the past year, you can find a photo link to each project on my project gallery page.  I’ve got a new project to help kick off the year.  Its a five drawer dresser I found on Craigslist for $25. It was clearly well built and just needed a little makeup and maybe some microdermabrasion and possibly new jewelry.

Now I actually had no specific use for this, but for $25 dolla dolla bills ya’ll AND those dovetailed joints, it’s hard to say no. It’s definitely a piece that can blend well in any decor and I’m digging the simple clean lines.

I knew I didn’t want another fully painted piece and the wood was in really good shape once it got a good sanding, but it took me a couple weeks to decide what to do with it. My problem isn’t being afraid to take a chance, its NARROWING down all of the options. Another gradient? Paint a pattern? Wall paper the front? Stripe it? This may sound so kooky but I find it I just let it settle for a few days if I’m unsure, then the piece usually speaks to me. Not literally, just like it becomes more clear to me what it wants. In this case, it wanted I white body and rich stained drawers.

I primed the body with Kilz primer spray paint, sent from heaven, and stained the drawer fronts using Minwax stain & polyurethane in one step in a color called Bombay Mahogany. Then I snuck a drawer back in stood back and decided that was the one!

I slapped a couple coats of white paint and some polycrylic to polish it off. Time to drill holes for the knobs. I created  paper template and measured out where I wanted the holes to go.

Here are the new knobs I picked out. It was love at first sight, but only took me a couple of months to find “the ONE” or ten in this case. i found them at Hobby Lobby, where else? They have TONS of knobs, but rarely do they enough all at one store. So I usually end up making another trip to a different store. Twenty dollars for the knobs is almost as much as I paid for the dresser! It’s still pretty cheap altogether.

I couldn’t be happier with the way it turned out. I’ve been kind of having a love affair with wood lately and this is the best of both worlds. I’ve been seeing a lot of pieces refinished similar to this and served as the perfect inspiration! I have so many other projects that haven’t quite seen the light of day but luckily I got quite a few Christmas goodies that make everything easier and I’ll be sharing soon!

I Really Love Lamp

Consider me frustrated for forgetting to take a before shot. You see, I had this lamp, and it was brass kinda like the one below. While it could have worked in my decor as plain ol’ brass lamp, I was craving something different.

I found the perfect drum shade from Ross for $14.00. I wish they had ten, I would have bought all of them.

For the lamp base, I picked pink! First I sprayed it with Krylon’s white primer that I had on hand. For smaller, more detailed projects I totally prefer Krylon over Kilz. Krylon comes out way smooth and gives the perfect base coat for a project like this. Kilz I like for furniture, but sometimes comes out chunky.

After the primer I finished it up with Krylon spray paint in Watermelon. The color is not exactly subtle but I wouldn’t have it any other way. It’s taking a lot of self control to not paint any and everything pink. I love being a girl.

Drool. It is exactly what I wanted to be. It’s my pink artichoke lamp.

It so perfect that the color is called watermelon, because it hangs out in my “green room” or the den and everyone KNOWS that green + pink = watermelons, duh.

Ahhh, look at my nekkid pillows on the sofa! How embarrassing! The covers are in the wash, but I’m ready to make something new for it. Oh and you get to see a sneak peek  of Christmas! Plenty more to come there.

I’m happy with the way it turned out for less than $20. I forgot to mention, it was a gift from my mom she picked it up from an estate sale. I’d like to do something interesting to the lamp shade, but I still need the inspiration to strike me like lightning preferably without the hospital bills. I’ll probably check out Anthropologie’s lamp shade, I’m sure there is plenty to copy, er… “get inspired by” over there. Seriously, who can afford their shades? Or anything they sell for that matter?

Anyone else craving bright and bold colors?

Art Therapy

What gives lately? Not with you, but me. I’ve been feeling a little sluggish and uninspired, but I just need to push past it. So, I’ve been doing a little “art therapy” and I think it’s working.

For me, I can’t go wrong with a brightly colored painting to lift my moods.  It looks so good on my chocolate bathroom walls.

It’s seriously hard for me to NOT paint with bright colors. Most of the furniture in my house is all very neutral, but art is one place I like to go caaarazy with. MMmmm…. Cooooloooors.

I’ve also got that other makeshift art in my bathroom, and oh, it’s colorful too.

What’s your “therapy”?

Some of my others include, retail therapy, mom therapy, puppy therapy and snuggle therapy. Right now, art is the only one I have access to!

I’ve also listed this painting in my Etsy shop here. If you want it, its yours!

Painting Family Heirlooms

Wow, I’ve been so neglectful of blogging. Lately I’ve felt like I’m in some kind of a haze and kind of moody. To be honest, sometimes I just don’t feel like my life is that interesting, so what is there to even blog about? Things just haven’t been the same since Durant went missing. My little spark is missing, but it’s been nearly a month and life must go on.

I’ve had this chair for as long as I can remember. Well my family has had this chair for as long as I can remember. I used to sit on it in the kitchen while my mom cooked or used it to get into the tall cabinets when I used to be to small. It has seen a lot of use! I think my great grandfather made it… Mom?? is that right? Anyways, I wanted to keep it and my mom didn’t care if I painted it. So I did.

Welcome to 2011, chair.

In case you didn’t know already, Kilz Spray Primer is like the best thing, ever. Sometimes it kind of expensive but such a time saver, like whoah. I thought about leaving it white, but my kitchen needs a little more color in it.

I gave it a once over of Catalina Mist by Krylon. I’ve had that can forever, but for some reason never used it.  It’s really pretty though.

I can’t wait to have a little rugrat of my own someday to hang out with me in the kitchen using this chair. I’m not the most sentimental person ever, I get a rush filling up a trash bag of stuff to throw away, but sometimes, I do like to hang on to certain things and being reminded of the history.

Once I finished spraying it blue, I gave it a white wash with paint. I could’ve sanded it. In fact, that was the original plan. Turns out this was so much faster. Awesome.

 

And there it sits, happily ever after… For now.

New Door Handles… Be Still My Heart

This is by far one of my favorite updates I’ve done in a long time. I’ve been wanting to replace all of the brass egg knobs on all of my doors, but with so many doors and knobs not being that cheap when you add it all up, it simply wasn’t a priority. See how ugly and dirty and scratched up and neglected this poor french door is? How sad.

This past weekend I was walking through Hobby Lobby, looking for something completely unrelated, and stopped dead in my tracks to inspect these beauty. This was love at first site. You may not think it exists, but I swear on my life it does. These were on clearance for $5.68 each down from $20, I’ll take four, thankyouverymuch!

Oh thank heavens, there wasn’t a giant hole drilled though! Make my life much easier! Just took some wood filler, and a sanding to get it all fixed up. Of course I cleaned the door and all of the stupid, tiny, cornucopia of window panes then slapped on some fresh bright white paint. I didn’t realize how yellow the old trim door and trim color was. You’ll just have to take my word on it since I can’t find that picture.

You saw earlier that they were brass which was fine and dandy, but not exactly what I wanted. That door is really close to my built in desk which has all silvery hardware. I’m down with mixing and matching, just wanted something different.I bought some Rub n’ Buff in Silver leaf (in the below photo, top right). I’ve read enough blogs to know it was awesome, but never had a reason to get some of my own. I just happened to spot some down an aisle and  there it was, in the flesh, begging me to take it home. So I did, and let me tell you, they should rename this product. Forget Rub ‘n Buff just call it Magic. How can one tiiiny little drop do that! I was all like, “CALEB!!!! COME QUICK!!!”  Wow, gee cool, Gloria. I thought it was awesome. It kept it all antiquey but I really like the switch up.  If you have never used Rub ‘n Buff, I URGE you to FIND a reason to buy it, seriously awesome. Imminently life changing.

Drool.
I’m so happy with the way it looks, and that I actually cleaned this door for the second time ever. Panes are a pain.

Now to clean the rest of my house! Oh and I guess I hadn’t mentioned it already after getting so caught up in all of the love and magic, this is the first of many makeovers for this room. I’m turning this into my crafting/studio room. It’s not that I don’t love my original studio, it’s that the space didn’t function very well for me unless I was sewing. I’ll be getting an awesomely huge crafting table as soon as I can find a truck to bring it to my house then bringing in other furniture and what not. So for this pending makeover, what better way than to start at the door. Voila! Cross this off the list!

Any one else out there get way too worked up over simple changes like me?

Look at all Those Legs: Part Duex

I know I just posted about this table and called it done, but I couldn’t convince myself that I really liked it. It looked lazy, and unfinished and it didn’t take long for me to get on it and show it a little more appreciation. First, let’s start from the beginning.

Just the plain ol’ wood…

Then the gray with white stripes.

I guess I kind of liked it, but it lacked a bit of pizzazz. It fell flat in the room, more like a piece of furniture was thrown in place rather than it intentionally placed there. Be warned, what I’m about to show you is a little “out there.” I can tell you right here and now that not everyone will love the after, but for me it’s perfect…. until I change my mind again. At least, I don’t feel like I’m convincing myself I like it, but my tastes may change down the road, who knows.

I still wanted to do stripes, but a more interesting version. Out came the bright colors and painters tape. I started with what I already had and built on from there.

I think I’ve been subconsciously inspired by all the Target Missoni hoopla because I think the finished product channels it a little bit. I didn’t intend to hence the subconsciously inspired bit.

It’s a cornucopia of color now and helps tie in some of the other colors in the room that may have felt a bit disjointed. I feel like it fits my personality so well, my decorating personality that is.

Here you can see a tiny peek at the green ceiling. It’s all coming together!

It makes me so much happier than the previous table.

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Look At All Those Legs

I believe in miracles
Where you from,
you sexy thang

I like to sing my songs with a little twang in ’em. You know, I’m from Oklahoma after all. We ALL talk like that and ride horses into town. But I digress.

MEET MY MILLIONAIIIIIRES! I mean table…

Do you SEE those legs?!? Just stare them up and down until that table feels uncomfortable.

So pretty. You may think it was a crime to paint over the wood, but it was just mehhh. At first, I wanted to keep the tabletop with a stained wood grain, but I did something to screw that up. I’m still not exactly sure what I did, I put something on it that wasn’t stain and then the stain wouldn’t take to it regardless of how much I sanded it down. It’s a shame because the top was really pretty.

I ended up painting it gray with a little red accent. I love blue, but sometimes it just needs a break and I find red is a good color for that. You’re probably DYING to compare this side of the room to what is looked like before, so let me oblige you…

Unimpressive. It was pretty plain before, almost anything would have been an improvement. My favorite part? I PUT A BIRD ON IT! Can you find it below?

After I painted it gray and did the red, it still felt unfinished so I put some diagonal white stripes on top. I’m still on the fence about it. I intended to do the WHOLE top, but got this far and thought the whole thing might be a bit much. Maybe I’m wrong. I does  kinda give me an 80’s neon vibe. I guess if I’m complaining about it this much that might mean I don’t really like it. Ohhh I don’t know! The indecisive mind! Gahh!

I also wanted to point out my cute new bookends! My mom picked them up from an estate sale and I snatched them up first chance I got. Victory!

ANDDDD my cute new feather tray! I got it online from Kohl’s along with my coral. The tray was only $8. I’m telling you Kohl’s has cute home stuff.

That’s all!

Nothing a Little Chalk Paint Can’t Fix

Not too long ago I did a little redecorating in this corner. It was all fine and dandy, but there was something sinister lurking on that tabletop.

It had been through a lot, like a candle gone wild with full on burn marks and leftover wax that isn’t well witnessed in the photo above. I had some VERY detailed plans laid out for this table.  Ladies and Ladies, exhibit A

I so make the best plans. That’s been written on the table for, oh… 5 months. After planning and scheming for months, I finally busted out the foam roller and man’s greatest gift to mankind… chalkboard paint because that’s what miracles are made of kids-chalkboard paint and cupcakes. Please don’t argue.

One of the hardest parts about such a simple project is WAITING THREE DAYS before conditioning it. At least that’s what the directions say, but truth be told, I haven’t followed those instructions on previous chalking projects and it came out fine. I guess I was in a rule following mood. Conditioning makes future marks easier to erase, and this is what it looks like.

Ta-Da! So helpful, so useful, so chalky.

Before you get all, but I liiiiked the whiiite. It was so light and airy. What’s done is done. The plan was laid out and there was NO way around it, I tried to appeal but my motions were denied. (I’ve been watching too many legal shows, Damages is by far my favorite.) Just take a close look at that tabletop and the place setting! See, you could EAT off of it. No need for real plates! Or even food! It could be just like the feast in Hook, I’ve ALWAYS wanted to recreate that seen, so I pretty much do on a daily basis. People think I’m weird, but I’m just surprised they don’t know what I’m doing.

So that’s all folks. I’m happy with it. I’ve always wanted a chalkboard table top and now I have one. My wildest dreams have come true. So I guess this is the end of my blog, I had a good run!

Just kidding, there’s plenty more to come!

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Who ISN’T Painting Their Cabinets These Days?

For rill. Erbody’s cabinets getting painted. It’s almost impossible to enter blog land for a day without see a new cabinet makeover. I’ve already painted some in my cabinets in my living room and started my kitchen cabinets a year and a half ago, almost done! Fingers crossed. And now I have another to submit.  I’m this close (picture fingers showing half inch measurement, whatever that really means anyway) to banishing all of the honey oak cabinets from my house. Actually more like orange juice oak.  Here is what it originally looked like…

Here is what I’ve most currently shown you, walls were painted and decor added.

I’ve since murdered the aloe vera plant and placed it in the dungeon that is known as “under the sink” and of course painted the cabinets. I wasn’t feeling a bright white so I went with a soft gray. It’s the same color as my dining table, Valspar Foggy Mirror. Well, half of it. That’s right, these two cabinets are two totally different colors.

I started with the sink base oh… 5 months ago, and quickly halted this project because I ran out of paint. Oops. My house isn’t SUPER close to either Lowes or Home Depot, so its kind of annoying making a trip there. Plus I couldn’t remember who sells Valspar so finally I went to Home Depot since it is right next to my work.  Apparently in these situation my brain ceases to function or remember that I COULD JUST LOOK IT UP ON MY PHONE. Oh well. I picked out a Martha Stewart color, Sharkey Gray. It’s pretty close in color and doesn’t bother me the slighest because it is D-O-N-E, done.

I’m not even gonna hide it. I painted over the hinges. It’s all got a nice, neat layer of Minwax Polycrylic over it to keep it safe, I love that stuff.

Okay one more confession, please don’t gasp… I didn’t even sand anything.

Cue Gasp.

I told you not to gasp. I wouldn’t recommend the whole not sanding thing, especially in high use areas, but like I said, it’s been up for 5 months and has withstood the dog test so I’m feeling pretty confident about it. Confident enough to admit it to you.

I’m gonna be honest with you. The countertop does nothing for this color, NOTHING. So don’t be to quick to judge!

Here’s the To Do list:

• Replace countertop/sink/faucet, I’m thinking DIY either concrete or using mosaic tile.

• Get new toilet paper holder. Preferable a robotic one that talks and asks how your day was

• Fix gaping hole in the wall that is not pictured along with the scratched up trim.

• Find product to paint over grout to make it less jarring. Any recommendations???

• New art to replace hanging pictures. I’m sure my guests just Looove pictures of me smooching on my husband. Maybe something more interesting like an actual painting of something and not an abstract.

If you’ve got any painted cabinets, I’d love to see!

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GlittRRR

Apparently, it’s now cool these days to leave the ‘e’ out of words that end in ‘er’ a la flickr, tumblr….

Anyways, other than finding my ring again, along with my inspiration, my life was changed this weekend by Mandy at Kini Style. I love her blog, and Saturday she posted about some glitter nails using Martha Stewart glitter. SOOOO simple, I loved it, and recreated it before I could even finish reading her post.
I put a clear coat on my nails, poured the glitter on THICK, then shook off the excess. Voilà!
My ruby red slipper nails!

I found that by NOT putting a clear top coat on, the glitter has much more dimension and stays put well, it does feel really rough, but I mean look at it, just look at it.