Decisions Decisions...

Last weekend, I found an old dresser that I fell in love with.  The whole story is here.

I was so excited to snag such a great piece of furniture (and for only $30) and I wanted to give it a great makeover.  I have "pinned" many dresser ideas on Pinterest and I had many visions of what this piece could look like.  I thought about painting the body and staining the top-



This is a beautiful example from Prezidential Life.  But after looking the piece over carefully, I realized there was just too much damage.  The wear and tear would make it nearly impossible to stain any of it.  So then I thought about painting the body and silver leafing the top -



I "pinned" this from The Design Pages.  I love the look!  But then I saw this -



This beautiful dresser was posted on Centsational Girl.  Stunning.  It's a very soft gray-blue.  And I realized that this look would be perfect for my new dresser.  So I started to do some repairs -

I filled in the dings with wood putty and sanded everything down. I also glued and clamped a piece of veneer that had come loose.  It took a little time but the prep is so important.  Then I applied one coat of Kilz oil-based primer -

Then it was ready for some paint.  I decided on Olympic Winter's Day.  It a subtle light gray.  Here's the first coat -

I can't wait to get the second coat on today.  And then I need to find hardware - this dresser only had two handles when I found it.  But it will be gorgeous when it's finished!

New Project!

I had a very busy and productive weekend.  Yesterday, I explained how we hung our new headboard (you can see that here).  Well, we did a little shopping too.  Just for fun, Craig and I stopped by Buffalo ReUse.  It's one of our favorite places to look around.  As a matter of fact, it's where we bought our "headboard".  We also bought this little end table there a while back - 

And turned it into this - 

I wrote about that whole project here.  So, you can only imagine my excitement when I walked in and saw this - 

I ran over and hugged this soon-to-be-beautiful dresser.  And I looked at Craig with the "can I please bring it home?" eyes.  But it wasn't an issue when we saw the price - $30.  Are you kidding me?  

 Yes, those are my toes. And the nail polish color is OPI Deer Valley Spice.  Which I love.  But back to the dresser.  It was in bad shape but I really wanted it.

 

I had no idea I would find a piece of furniture like this here.  It was so unexpected.  Buffalo Reuse has a huge selection of building materials and a small selection of furniture.  Usually, I look around for old doors, windows, or other unique building supplies.  

So, I bought the dresser, brought it home, and have been working on it for the last couple of days.  I can't wait to show you the "after" pictures later this week.  I think it's my favorite project ever!

Thank You! Thank You!

A great start to my week - I've been featured on two blogs today!  This is so exciting!

First, my copper pot redo was picked by Ashley at Simply Designing.  This was a fun little project I did for my daughters -

You can see this transformation here.

The second feature is from Jaime Lyn at Crafty Scrappy Happy.  She liked my ceramic pears (well not in their original form...) -

You can see what these looked like when I bought them here.  A big improvement!

Thank you Ashley and Jaime Lyn!

Also, I am working on a new project that I can't wait to share.  I think it's my favorite project so far!  I'll tell you about it tomorrow - and show you some pictures of my progress.

Installing My Headboard

My husband, Craig, and I installed our new headboard this weekend!  And I have to say - this was a very easy project.  I described how I made the headboard HERE and HERE.  In a nutshell - I purchased an old door from Buffalo ReUse for $10-

It needed some work so I filled the holes with wood putty, sanded it down, and caulked the joints.

Then I gave it two coats of Valspar New Black in satin -

Here's how we hung it - we attached a furring strip to the wall (just under where we wanted the bottom of the headboard)-

We just drilled pilot holes and then screwed it into the studs.  The furring strip was left over from this project.  We rested the headboard on top -

While I held it in place, Craig used screws to anchor the top -

And here are the before and afters -

Before and After -

We think it looks great!  And a $10 king size headboard (we had all of the other supplies already - including the paint - left over from other projects) is a steal!  Now I'd like to spruce up the linens.  One step at a time...

I've linked this project here -

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Exciting News!

This has been a very fun and exciting week for my blog.  Although I'm new here, I have been embraced by so many talented and creative people.  I am excited to share that I have been featured on two more blogs!  The first one, A Glimpse Inside, featured my little black table.  Thanks Allison!

I explained the whole story behind this table here

I was also featured at J & M's Eye Candy.  Kristine and Britney liked my copper pot redo -

You can read about this project here.

Thanks so much ladies for the shout out!  It is greatly appreciated - and super exciting!

How I Remodeled My Kitchen - The Fun Part!

Yesterday, I explained the beginning of our kitchen remodel. You can see that here.  It was a lot of work tearing every ugly thing out.  We wanted a clean slate so we just went for it.  By the way, this was the first time we had ever done a complete kitchen makeover (in our last house, we did many cosmetic changes to update it.  I'll show you how we did that one on a much smaller budget soon).  So, after the dust settled (seriously, there was a ton of dust), we were left with this -

I decided to paint the whole room at this point because it was way easier with nothing in it.  The ceiling and trim got a couple of coats of white and the walls were painted in Valspar Cincinnatian Hotel Hannaford.  I've used that color in a couple of other rooms now - and I love it.  It's going in the foyer next.  Anyway, after all of the painting was done, our custom cabinets went in.  I know what you're thinking - custom cabinets?  I know that sounds kinda fancy schmancy but they were actually cheaper than cabinets at the kitchen stores we checked out.  Uh huh.  Sometimes you just have to shop around.  You may be surprised (we were).  We went with maple cabinets and a cherry stain.  We also picked hardwood floors, appliances, and hardware.  It was beginning to look like a kitchen -

I want to share a little secret about this phase of the remodel.  When the cabinets were installed (professionally), I almost cried.  That night, before the appliances or floor were in, I dragged a chair from the family room in here, and just sat and stared.  I had never thought, nor could I have imagined, that I would have a kitchen like this.  There I was, sitting on a sub floor, looking at a very unfinished kitchen, and just speechless.  All of the hard work, planning, late night painting, and cereal-for-dinner nights, were paying off.  But there was still more work to be done.  And a long wait.  It took us a month to get the granite (we just happened to be at this stage when the granite store does a two week shut down.  Oops.).

Fast forward to what we have now.  Granite counters, tumbled travertine backsplash, appliances, chandelier, furniture, and artwork.  The pretty pictures-

And my favorite part - the before and after's -

What a huge difference!  There are a few more details that I would love to share about this remodel - so I think one more post is necessary.  I'll share some tips, things I learned, and a few more pictures.  But I sure enjoyed looking back at the whole process.  I had forgotten how much we put in to this project!

I've linked this post here -

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