Down with a stomach bug today and had to cancel clients, so I thought I'd take the time to blog a little.
I've been having so much fun renovating cheap furniture lately and trying to upgrade our home. We've purchased badly needed new/old furniture for really great prices and have "made them over" in a rustic, shabby chic sorta way, and it's really been fun. The thing is, you can't mess up the paint if you're going to distress the piece anyway!
The first was our living room table that we found in the trash. It had been a beautiful Pier 1 type table which had been totally carved up, so we had to deeply sand it down and then refinish it. I WAS really happy with it until we purchased new sofas which were about the same color. Now our living room is all coffee/cream color and I need to re-do this table. Here's some pics!
Yes, this says POOP!
Narly heart
After two coats of paint and distressing
We are going to stain the top espresso and paint the bottom a robins egg blue and distress... new knobs, too... something similar to this pic:
The second project was a brown dresser and end table from Cort Furniture. This was a little more expensive at $250 for the set, but we were looking for a long dresser for our bedroom, so it fit. I chose not to paint the end table shown, as it'll go in Mike's man cave eventually, and he liked the color.
The original color and knobs
First coat
Painted and distressed
All done!
Love glass knobs!
The third project was a Habitat for Humanity find. Mike found this cute corner desk and chair for $40!! After renovating it, I looked up the brand and info, and it's an old Ethan Allen piece that was selling all fancied up for $450 all over ebay. I love it and don't want to sell it, so it's ours! It fits perfectly into the kitchen corner. We have some renovating to do in the kitchen, so it'll look even better after we're done. :)
At the store
Mike sanding it down
One coat of paint...
Two coats, distressed and glass knobs added!
How cute in the corner!
Shutters were $4.00!
As I type, the husband is cursing in the bathroom trying to put floating shelves up. Apparently, the stud finder isn't working and the wrong screws came with the kit, so he's improvising. We are adding the same shelves just like this lovely woman did in her aaaaamazing blog post. I am infactuated with her easy DIY ideas and she even does the leg work letting you know where she got the items and how much they were. She's a sale hound, too and doesn't spend much with her projects. This is what we're attempting to do. I want to add much of the sweet little additions that she has, as well. I just hope the shelves stay... never used invisible shelves before! Either way, they are MUCH nicer than the disgusting rusty white over the toilet thing we had. Nasty!
I'm not sure if the husband will agree, but we have a large black chest/coat hanger thingy in the hall. It's an eye sore because everyone piles crap on top of it instead of using it for a shoe stasher/coat hanger. It's black, too, and I'm tired of dark colors! It looks much like THIS one, but imagine it with three huge backpacks, dry-cleaning, leashes, piled on coats and shoes. Ick. So, I really want to do something just like the good people at 320 Sycamore Street. She has TONS of ideas... and this one is super easy and cheap. It would open up my foyer and would be so much cleaner looking. The problem is finding something cute and small for shoes... no baskets because Mr. Sam LOVES shoes, so we have to hide them. :)
The bathroom shelves are up and there's no more cursing. Haha! I'm going to load these up with LIGHT but cute things!
UPDATE: OK, I'm wondering if these shelves are meant to be more decorative than functional, or we may need to get larger or longer screws. They look pretty, but I wouldn't put anything very heavy on them. Maybe I'm just paranoid, though, as they are meant to hold up to 30 lbs. Hmmm. Anyway, I kept it on the functional/light side. I just have to add the TP in the large basket, and some rolled up pretty hand-towels in the two middle baskets Here's an updated pic:
Cute, huh?
This is the look I was after on the right... think it's pretty close! What do you think? I'm going to look for those magazine baskets, also! TJ Max!
Ok... must go paint a few things. One is an old hope chest with a heart which I received as a gift but can't stand anymore! It's going to be painted and distressed and put on Craig's List. LOL!
Will post pics soon! Happy Saturday!
Barb
