Dresser Revived (cont.): Retro Navajo

My day started off with a trip to the Salvation Army store downtown.  I walked in hoping to find a unique chair, nostalgic knickknacks of sorts or perhaps a small table to appease me. After pretending to be interested in the used teacups in aisle 2, the distant furniture section caught my eye.  I followed the main path formed by the large pieces that were brought in earlier that day and decided that nothing was worth my penny.  THEN, I spotted it, as if it were whispering my name...
Enough with the story telling, I'll just get to the point.  I found a dresser priced at $79, left the store, went home to get Dave's truck and headed back to pick it up.  Here are some before shots:



A little Mid-Century Modern never hurt anyone... what can I say, I love furniture with feet.

When I brought it back to the house, I realized that what I thought was solid wood was wood veneer (eek!).  I don't know how to work with veneer, never had, never thought I would.  So I took a shot at sanding it anyway and it actually worked out very nicely, perhaps even a little easier than if it were solid.

Overall this project took me about a month and a half of weekend days to get it to the point it is today.  Needless to say, I'm very happy with the way it turned out and a little sad that I might be posting it on Craigslist (to justify a recent self-indulgement).  On one hand, I hope it would sell because I could definitely use the money, but on the other hand, it looks so right in my guest bedroom.... :-/ dilemma dilemma.

Front: I stained the dresser a darker color to bring out the paint colors I'd be using.  The hardware was cleaned with warm soapy water, lightly sanded and sealed to look shiny again.

Side: The design on the side was something I came up with after looking at several Native American rugs  [that, by the way, is another item on my shopping list] and the colors are some of my all time favorites which I already had samples of in the garage that were still 3/4 of the way full.  The trim around the design was something that I knew I wanted to do.  At first, I was going to make the job easier by framing some fabric but, of course, I couldn't decide on a fabric to use so I ended up being inspired by Navajo rugs instead... hmmm?

Close-up of hardware... very age of the Jetson's, don't you think?







dresser revived.

I'm so so so so happy for this project to be over with but I must say it was ALL well worth it.  I love my new dresser and it adds the mid century modern touch to our bedroom that I've been looking for.  I bought the solid wood dresser off craigslist for $65 and put about 2 month's worth of  weekends sanding and painting into it (those paint layers take time!)  Here are some before and after pics. 

Before, well, after it was sanded (I forgot to take BEFORE before pics so this is what you get).  It even looks beautiful here as is - my opinion.

Before

After the first top painted layer (I got excited).

After.  And there she is... my beaut.  In our bedroom against the back wall.  Now I need to paint those walls...

After

After.  Opposite angle

After.  Here's a close up of the inverse stencil I did on the side which carries up over the top (that paint job was hell).

After. And probably my most favorite touch of it all... the label holders.  I bought some antique distressed label holders to go on the front of the drawers.  In my opinion, they totally top it off!

After.  We won't "mention" what's in THAT drawer... Oh, it's just my gutchies and braziers, come one people!

Until next post...

Kitchen Makeover...

I know we've had it done for awhile now and I'm just NOW posting about it but better late than never, right? 
We decided that the smartest and most economic way to update our kitchen for the time being was a painting facelift to our cabinets.  I will say that I don't EVER want to do this job again.  It sounds sooo easy but all the tasks combined was pure torture!  We (well, I) decided to go with white because apparently it never goes out of style and before the kitchen was swimming in a sea of wooden darkness.  I love wood, but not THAT much. So, here are some before and after pics because I don't think my mom will stop bugging me until I post them on here ;)

Before - looking over the breakfast bar

Before - pic of kitchen desk (don't know why a desk was in here to begin with) and the pantry door.

Dave and his mom, Debbie, helping us remove cabinet doors during their visit.

Doors and drawers ready to be sanded, primed, painted and then painted again, and again...

The kitchen taped off, primed and screaming for paint

After - simlar view as before looking over breakfast bar (we were preparing for our LOST final episode party - those are palm tree toothpicks on top of the bar)

After - Kitchen desk

After - cabinet doors with painted stencil

After - Center cabinet doors above stove (kudos to sister Morgan for her help - love ya)

After - Dining room bar area and cabinets

After - Dining room window seat and bar area.

After - Kinda  overall shot (the space is awkward making it hard to get everything in one photo)

Now, onto the popcorn ceilings... to be continued...

1 year

It's been a whole year since we said our I Do's and the time has flown by.  I'm almost scared that the next 20 years will go by just as fast. Dave, being the sweetheart that he is, made plans for us to spend the weekend in Kerrville, TX, a small quaint town about an hour outside of San Antonio.  We stayed at a well-known inn where I think they had the best breakfast buffet I've been to in a long while ;-) We ate dinner the night before at Italian restaurant, Bella Vita, and ended the night at the hotel bar where a local country band played while we watched the retirees cut a rug on the dance floor - it was a great time.   Below are a couple pictures from our visit (mainly of Dave - I had the camera):

D recording the... scenery?

Photo op while walking a trail along the Guadalupe River

Might I add, while we were walking, a homeless (and perhaps drunk) man said to us, "Look at that! Two warriors still holding hands, I love it!" 

At the dam

Some hopeful fisherman AND woman, trying to snag some supper at the foot of the dam.

THE door that I tried my darndest to convince Dave was a great buy.  I talked the guy down to $40 and what I thought was a steal was the most stupid purchase Dave could imagine - I fell for his guilt trip BUT NOW I WISH I would have bought the damn thing!  No, I didn't know what I was going to make with it at the time but I know some other friends of mine would agree that something like this IS worth it... you know who you are ;-)

Before and After: Table from a friend...

I know, I know, it's been a long time since I've posted anything on here.  Dave and I have been busy painting our kitchen cabinets, trying to get them to a point where we could stand, and actually it's coming a long very nicely.  My sister, Morgan, came down last weekend and she helped me out with the stencilling on the doors... I'm not going to post pics yet only b/c I want to wait until the entire thing is complete!  This includes:
-painting over our laminate counter tops... that's right, PAINTING them :-)
-putting up a tile backsplash
-scraping off the popcorn ceiling
-adding new light fixtures
We have A LOT ahead of us but I cannot wait until it's all said and done! 

Until then, here is a before and after post to calm your taste buds...
About a year ago, my friend Colleen gave me a set of nesting tables that needed a little bit of work.  I took them on and it was only recently that I had the chance to make any progress.  There are two tables in all. Here are some before pics:

Top: The larger of the two tables

Bottom: The table that... "nests" under the top :-)

These pics are after I gave them a sanding.

As of now, I've only been able to refinish the larger of the two tables.  Here is it's after pics:

Amy Butler fabric spray mounted on top of table and framed with wood molding painted in chartreuse.  Mini aqua ball fringe around the bottom edge of the table for an added 'POP' of color. 

Whenever I do the smaller table, I think I might have to paint it a bright aqua to carry on the whimsy of the larger one. 

Labels: DIY

Today my sister, Morgan, asked me where I got the template for the labels on our wedding centerpiece carafes (old milk bottle-looking glass jars):

Sorry for the low-res. image

Anyway, it got me looking for the website and I ran into a bunch of other cool sites with other DIY labels.  If you're into unique details on the cheap, these are the way to go!  Just buy 8.5 x 11" label paper for a printer, and print away!

And of course, my favorite:

To download a free pdf of these apothecary jar labels (above), click here!

Morgan pointed out another cool site with decorative peel and stick labels: http://www.tapeswell.com/

Check it out!

Burlap... it's not just for a sack of potatoes anymore!

For those of you who attended mine and Dave's wedding back in August, you probably realized how much I "appreciate" the fabric, burlap (I think I tried to use it everywhere I could).  It's cheap, it's all natural and it's rustic which is a great way to tone down elegance in a room and bring it to a more comfortable/casual level.  The mixing of these two styles (elegance and rustic) is what I vow to conquer!  I plan to do so in a future headboard project (no time soon, but it's on the list!).   Here are some examples of how burlap can be used to relax a room, whether it be an upholstered chair, pillow, bench, whatever!

Cute monogrammed burlap pillow cover

My favorite are the shoulder bags and the tufted cushion, I want that!

Ok, I can honestly see this in my bedroom somewhere ;-)  I love the reused white burlap sacs (with the  manufacturer's print left on them and all) decorating the upholstered burlap bench.  Actually, the bench looks more like linen (another favorite of mine)  This is true bliss!

Now for the headboard... I've researched all the DIY pages online on how to make one of these things but I'm betting it's a lot harder than it looks.  That's ok, maybe I can get Dave to help me out with this one ;-} I know I want a basic rectangle headboard but the kicker... I want to make it "tufted".  Yeah, I don't even own a sewing machine! But the good thing is, they say you don't need one for this project.  Here are some basic ideas of the type I'm going after, [picture it covered in burlap].

                                       

                                         

                                                  

Here's a close-up of tufted burlap.  There's no way I'm going to mess with a button kit so maybe instead I can find some cute ornate (but not too flashy) buttons to add to the centers.

To learn how to make your own tufted headboard, click here!