Thrift Store Furniture: Before and After

So I may or may not have purchased a mid century dresser at the Salvation Army a little over a year ago and left it in the garage until just recently to collect spiderwebs and dust (much to the chagrin of Shaun). But I did have really big plans for it and I did finally end up baking good on my word and painting it!

I actually planned on purchasing more thrift store pieces over the past few months but Shaun was slightly reluctant (exasperated is more like it) because I hadn't touched the dresser.

Since I got the dresser it spent most of it's life in the garage until one day Shaun got a storage system for the garage and insisted the dresser had to get the boot. We carried it upstairs and put it in the extra "junk" room that we were using as storage for the time being.

Well cue another one of my inspirational cleaning days and said room became my craft room, spare bedroom went into old craft room and the dresser ended up with it. Again it sat for about a month before I finally ended up biting the bullet and painting it. But paint it, I did and I feel so much better now with a functional piece! I still have to give it a light sand and a wax but I've already started on a billion other projects in the house so as soon as I sand the next piece I'll knock this one out at the same time. 

I really wanted to get some Annie Sloan chalk paint to do up this baby but the short trip to Warrenton provided to be just too much for my 10 mile radius of motivation to handle. I also discovered that apparently the stuff is quite expensive as well. This dresser is pretty banged up, not an antique in any sense of the word so I didn't want to waste a ton money if it turned out horribly.  But then, I thought, if I'm already DIYing this, why don't I see if I can DIY the chalk paint as well??

So I took to the inter webs and after a lot of googling, I found a quick, cheap alternative for less than $10. Plaster of Paris mixed with latex paint.

Easy peasy! I got to mixing, adding a little bit of hot water to get the right consistency and voila! I had the perfect, no prep piece painted within a couple hours.

As you can see there are still a few tough spots on the drawer fronts that I will have to touch up. I'm also thinking of getting new drawer pulls. Maybe something cute from Anthropologie?

Bear gets very jealous whenever I am taking pictures of anything other than him. So he likes to sneak in there occasionally to make sure I know he is watching. I think he has perfected his pose.

So there you have it! Bear is enjoying the new dresser in the spare bedroom (which he has claimed as his own) and I'm pretty happy that I finally got it knocked out. Now onto the coffee table! 

DIY thrift store tray

Spring has arrived! But only in the technical sense of the word. The weather yesterday was bright and sunny and 60. Which, if you're used to a northern climate is not too shabby. Living in Virginia, I was expecting maybe something a bit more...springlike?

Anyways, spring is officially the start of DIY season in my opinion since it's really the time you can open the garage door and sand things down and paint in your driveway without gloves and a parka.

I plan on spending many a weekend refurbishing or creating things for our home in the sunshine and warm blacktop of our driveway.

The funny thing is, from when we moved in until when I got a job was almost 2 months. 2 months of uninterrupted stay at home time to clean and create and refab. The problem, of course, is that I did almost nothing in terms of decorating and DIYing in those first 2 months. Now that I have a job (and less time to be productive) I am ready to get out there and start being creative. It's strange how I always say to myself when I'm working, "if only I had a spare day off I could get so many things done." When in reality when I had so many spare days off in a row I became lazy and comfortable and I didn't want to do anything that didn't include laying on the couch reading blogs. yep.

All that aside, I've finally begun to do my thrift store shopping (but I think that coincides with having an income again) and I'm trying to take things slow but also create items that will have a large impact.

Yesterday, since it was so beautiful and sunny, I stopped into Goodwill and Salvation Army. At Goodwill they had this wooden tray with the picture of a snowy house carved into it. Now as much as I'm sure someone would have loved that tray just the way it was, I didn't and I knew immediately I was going to change it. For $1.96 I made the investment and took it home.

Unfortunately I did not capture any pictures of it myself because I wasn't sure how soon I would be doing anything with it (turns out almost immediately) but I found a picture of it online here

yep. That's it! I've found several of these online being sold for anywhere from $5-$25 so I ended up nabbing it, even in it's original um...snowy condition for pretty cheap.

I wrestled with the idea of leaving the outside portion of the tray wooden and painting the inside a fun color or pattern but I ended up going the quick route and spray painting that bad boy.

Since it was slightly warm outside it took less than an hour to complete 3 coats and have them dry.

I didn't paint the inside pattern because I wanted to mod podge a pattern on top of it. 

I really wanted to use some of the cute wrapping paper I bought from Paper Source but since I downstairs living room/dining room area is taking on a white/grey/red theme I decided to use a red patterned scrapbook paper.

I wanted this to look sort of worn and aged and I decided that if I didn't like it down the line I could always scrape it up and start new.

So I smeared a layer of mod podge on the bottom of the tray and tried to patiently wait for it to become tacky and dry a bit. This is of course at 8:15 when Shaun came home with the truck that we needed to pick up a mid century dresser piece I bought from Goodwill before 9PM (more on that later).

So I impatiently applied the scrapbook paper and tried desperately to smooth out the bubbles that formed in my haste to get it covered.

When I came back I finished the rest by cutting another piece of scrapbook paper to fit perfectly along the pattern of the last one. 

When I sealed it with another coat of mod podge I realized just how bubble it was and tried desperately to smooth it out with not much effect.

Here you can see how bubble it ended up, but I decided I would use it on the shelf to hold books anyway so the bubbles weren't as prominent.

I'm sure I'll end up redoing it in the future or putting it somewhere you can't see the pattern but for now, it was a nice fresh pop of white in an otherwise very industrial feeling table.

For $2 and about a hour worth of work, I'm pretty happy with it.

That's what thrifting has become for me. I used to look at things only in their original state of beauty and it was hard for me to look past the terrible floral pattern or stained wood.

Now I look for shape and practicality and ask myself, can I paint this or refinish it? Can I cover this with something more attractive? And I am realizing that there are even more inexpensive options out there than I realized! 

I plan on doing something fun with the top of our kitchen cabinets soon as well but that will most likely be from objects acquired over a longer period of time. Now that I have determined my color scheme I can finally fill that empty space between the top of the cabinet and the ceiling.

Pretty Things: World Market with pops of color!

So I'm sure with all the posts I've made recently you can gather that we have a new home and therefore a lot more space to furnish and decorate. This is one of my favorite things in the world! Decorating, planning, prepping and making things looks nice is one of my favorites! I know that making a dinner party look fancy isn't the biggest priority in the world but it makes me smile and feel all warm and fuzzy inside, can't that be enough? ; )

Today my pretty things post is from one of the places I used the shop while we were in Fairfax all. the. time, World Market. The problem was, with a tiny little condo, there wasn't much for me to furnish! The fantastic thing about World Market, however, is that they don't just sell furniture! In fact, I've purchased, jewelry, gift bags, wine and nutella from World Market! Now you understand why I am so in love!

We still have the couch, dining chairs, rug, console table, laundry room items, duvet covers and more set to be delivered this week and next so I'm waiting a bit on any other large purchases to see how the space comes together so far. I guess because of the grey weather we've been having, I've been in color overdrive lately and that is certainly reflected in my post today!  Here are some pretty (and pretty colorful) things for my wish-list from World market that I'd like to fill our home with in the upcoming weeks!


1. Formula One Red Classic Adirondack Chair-$99.99

Now don't get me wrong, this color would not be my first choice. They have a light teal option that is of course my favorite color of all time. But our house is red and black and white so getting these in red will probably be my only choice of color pop once we install a deck or for the front porch. I think our style of house is just begging for a good adirondack chair!

2. Telescope Accent Lamp Base-$39.99

I've been going all out on the rustic vibe for our main living area and dining room. Besides the couch I'm using an old trunk as a side table and I think this would look glorious atop it next to a pretty vase of flowers or a few Martha Stewart magazines. I also love that for just $40, I can pick out any shade from the variety of shades they have there to top this beauty off and add my pop of color there. Did someone say light teal?

3. Green Velvet Plum Blossoms, set of 2-$15.98

The other one of my favorite colors to decorate with is pale yellow. I think it's bright enough to use as an accent color in combination with almost any other warm, neutral or cool color scheme. But it's also soft and feminine enough to use in large statement pieces like a settee, curtains or a patterned area rug.  These would look quite nice on the floor in a large white trellis style vase, or atop the mantle in a tall, skinny apple green vase.

4. Red Ikat Print Burlap Throw Pillow-$24.99

don't even, I mean do not get me started on pillows and throws.  I can't be left alone in those aisles when out shopping.  I am a sucker for blankets (since I'm always snuggling with one in bed, on the couch, in the car *did I say car?* I love what a colorful throw pillow can do for a room. Have you tried just changing out your pillows throughout the seasons? It makes a world of difference, I tell you! The thing I love about this pillow, other than it's brilliant pattern and colors is that it's made of burlap. Burlap is one of my favorite materials because it can really tone down a space. If this pillow was a satiny, shiny finish it would look like something straight out of the 90s movie, Clueless. But the burlap makes this pillow appropriate for 2013, although I might not be able to wait until summertime to pick up a couple of these!

5.  Aqua and Gold Fan Necklace-$16.99

Ok so maybe I cheated a little bit. This is quite clearly not an item for the home. But I just had sneak in a bit of teal in this countdown and with this beauty on the homepage of the website, taunting me, calling my name, I just had to add it! Can't I pretend it's like my vacuuming necklace? My power necklace to help me crush all these loads of laundry I have yet to do? Can someone help me convince Shaun that it somehow doubles as a door knocker?

Snapshots of a day: a snowy morning at the new house

The finale of house hunting came to a whirlwind of an end this month when we put an offer on the house and settled 2 weeks later. It's been a hectic January with a lot of stress, a lot of busy schedules and a lot of excitement.

The house hunt has lasted over a year and I am thrilled to see it come to an end. I don't think we could have picked a more perfect place or a more perfect time. Even though we don't have all of our furniture or even half of the rooms filled yet, I really look forward to the process of painting, designing and setting up all of the furniture and decor in the house. The 3 rooms I'm most excited about are the foyer, my craft room and the climbing wall I'm building in the basement : )

This first week at the house has been appropriately snowy and peaceful and really a great setting for a relaxing, yet busy first few days. Even with boxes everywhere, a lack of furniture and a proper dining room table, it has been full of great moments and quiet times of reflection. I can't wait to start painting!

1. First sunrise at the new house
2. Meatwad trying to find his perfect lounging spot
3. boxes upon boxes
4. This is what lunch looks like when you have no pots and pans
5. Setting up kitchen things
6 and 7. Picking colors for the foyer. I think I'm going with "Icing on the Cake" by Benjamin Moore. The top one on the paint strip
8, 9, 10. A peaceful snowy day
11. I think Meatwad found his new spot
12. A hot cuppa coffee to help me unpack
13. Finally found some pans to make breakfast
14. Favorite thing about the fireplace is how it goes through to the outside so when we build a deck, we have an outdoor fireplace as well!
15, 16 and 17. someones sneaking up on you bunny!
18. I think he found his spot!


I'm hoping we get more snow soon, but I also won't complain when it warms up for spring!

Pretty Things

Things I am loving right now are mainly house-related. Organizational items, furniture, cleaning supplies etc. I have a LOT to do by this weekend so that's my main focus at the moment.

However in my search for furniture and accessories I went to one of my favorite places for home decor, jewelry, and a plethora of pop culture and nerd-related stuffs that make me quite excited, FAB.com If you haven't been to fab yet, you are missing out. You really are.

Fabs mission is to help people with amazing design solutions which is precisely my goal. Every week they have a ton of new sales from different designers (single artists to big companies) and you can get some fantastic original and/or limited edition artwork for your home!

This week I sort of fell in love with these prints by Paper Sparrow. She has amazing music related and whimsical art prints for an equally amazing price. Some of my favorites are below!

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Sweet Dreams little one 11x14 $18. I don't have any children of my own but how darling would this print look above a crib in a nursery?

2. Narwhal's Aquarelle 11x14 $18 Being a redditor, I'm automatically connected to anything Narwhal or bacon related so this sweet print of a narwhal playing a banjo in the water is quite the perfect print.

3. Not All Who Wander are Lost 13x19 $23 I don't know if it's the hippie in me or feathers are just a thing now but I love these colorful avian things so much. Also a fan of the Tolkien quote, of course, but I really like the design aesthetic she used in the theme of the poster.

4. Arctic Fox 11x14 $18 The warm yellows and blues of this print give it such a great vintage vibe. I'd love to put this anywhere in my house but I think it would look particularly great in a living room or family room!

5. Climb Every Mountain 13x19 $23 This print is perfect since I climb (although not as much as I used to) It would also make a great gift for any of my climbing girls.

I know I'm supposed to be focusing on house things and furniture and paint and cleaning and keeping my budget down since I won't be working for a few weeks but I might just have to get a few of these beauties. It's not like it's a total random purchase, it is for the house after all! ; )