Moving motivation!

So my house currently looks like a war zone.  Why is it that "organizing" everything in boxes someone results in a  huge mess?  We are nearing the finish line, thank goodness because we are both exhausted!

As if I didn't have enough going on I decided to finish another project.  Not wanting to move various parts of a semi-completed project I decided to hurry up and get it done.

I picked up this dresser from the same seller I bought the vanity from.

Ignore all the mess in this picture!

It was only $20 and I knew it had a lot of potential. Lately I have been doing a lot of whites and neutrals so I decided to go for a fun color this time.  I have been inspired by all the great green transformations I have been seeing around blogland.

I can't get enough of this dresser featured in Lonny Magazine!

I saw this dresser and love all the hardware.  I would never think to add drawer pulls to the side.  This is definitely on my must try list.  Found it here.

When I found the perfect green in the $1 oops section at Home Depot I knew it was meant to be.  I added a little gold paint to the existing hardware.

I love the rusty old casters on the feet.

My flash is making the color look more pastel green than it is.  It is more of a bright green like the inspiration pics.  I would have put some cute little accessories on it but everything is in boxes!

I love how it turned out.  I think it is a fun pop of color and another adventure out of my design comfort zone.

Vanity Redo

So the other day while hunting Craigslist I saw a cute vintage vanity for $20.  I had nowhere to put it and didn't know what I would do with it, but it was cute and I figured I could always sell it.

I usually play it pretty safe with my painted furniture.  I decided since I wasn't trying to match this to my home I would try to do something different.  Lately I have been really liking the distressed, worn, looks like it has been in a beach house for 50 years kind of paint treatment.  I had no idea what I was doing but figured I would just go for it and make it up as I went.  Halfway through I hated it and thought I had wasted a ton of my time and would need to paint over it.  I remembered reading a post by Miss Mustard Seed where she said a lot of her finishes look weird midway so I just kept going. I am glad I did because in the end I really liked the finish.  It is definitely outside my comfort zone but it was fun to try something new.

Have any of you tried anything outside your normal design style lately?

Bench Makeover

I found this bench on Craigslist.  It has had many lives.  Originally it looks to have been stained a very orange color. Then it was painted bright blue.  Then someone must have debated between painting it brown and antiquing/ distressing it.  By the time I got my hands on it there was definitely an identity crisis going on.

I have a very small front porch that needed furniture and color.  I wanted a bench so basically my bags and shopping would have somewhere to land while I unlocked the door.  I also wanted a fun color out front especially since we are going into the spring/summer season.

First I started by priming the whole thing.  Sometimes I skip this step but with all the finishes this piece has had I thought this step was crucial.

this is the first coat of blue after priming

After I primed it I lightly sanded the whole piece.  This is really important to get a smooth finish.  I found my paint color in the oops section at Home Depot.  It is an exterior paint so hopefully it will hold up being outside (my porch is covered though).  It was $1.00 for the quart, my favorite price!

 It took two coats to get the dark even finish I was going for.  I sanded between the coats to make sure my finished product was smooth.

After it was painted I wanted to add a fun detail to the front and top of the seat.  I used my cricut to cut two different birds out of vinyl.  I used the outline as a stencil.  They were really simple, stick on, paint over, peel off.    Fast and easy.  I did the same for the leaves and freehanded the branch.

I like how it turned out, bright and a little whimsical.  Just what I needed to get me ready for warmer days.  Plus I love that the seat lifts up and has a good amount of storage.  Perfect for Pyper's outside toys.

Up next I think I need a fun door wreath to match!

Linking to these parties!

Craigslist Freebie!

This chair was the ugly stepsister to the circle chair except better because it was....FREE!!!  The woman who I purchased the circle chair from was just going to dump it until I grabbed it from her.  I think she was tossing it because it had a faint smell of stale cigarettes, yuck, and one of the arms had been pretty badly chewed on by what I suspect to be a dog in desperate need of a new toy.

The first thing I did when I got home was strip the old upholstery and foam off to try and diminish the nasty odor.  Then I got busy trying to repair the arm.  I knew it would never look perfect because so much had been lost but I could make it look a lot less obvious.  I basically just sanded it until it was smooth. I tried to follow the lines of the arm to make it match the other side as best as possible.  There were a few other places the dog nibbled so I got busy sanding those too.  A little wood filler on a few cracks and it was good to go.

My next step was to prime it.  I used a Zinsser primer that is made to, among other things, cover strong odors.  It worked great.  After a couple coats of primer, no more stale smoke!  Then I went with a high gloss Rustoleum white spray paint.  I thought the spray paint would work best for all the small details in the caning.  It only took a couple coats.  I wanted it to really shine so I followed it up with a spray on poly coat.

The fabric I used to upholster is Premier Prints Amsterdam collection in chartreuse.  This was a big deal for me.  I always want to go bold but usually talk myself out of it.  This time my sweet husband convinced me to go for it.  I covered the seat and then slept on it overnight.  I flip flopped back and worth about whether to rip  it off and start over at least half a dozen times.  I am sooo happy that I didn't.  I love the way it turned out!  I think it gives my room a really fun pop of color.  I didn't tuft the back because of my fabric choice and I thought it made the chair more contemporary.  This was a real test of pushing outside my comfort zone and I think it was a great success.  I can't wait to tackle another colorful project!

that is my printer hanging out under there