Reupholster & Repaint

Remember these chairs?

They were a thrift find from long ago. Too long ago.

Well they had a bit of a makeover and they now reside in my living room.

And here's the set a bit more dressed up...

I used this fabric that I purchased from Fabric.com

I wasn't about to take on the reupholstering job so I set out to find a professional.

I was able to get a great deal by calling around for prices. 

Don't stop at the first quote your given.

 The 4th place I called quoted a third of the price than the first place did. 

Also, don't forget to check references. Reupholstering is not cheap and you don't want to pay to do the job twice.

You will also notice my walls could pass for a patch-work quilt.

Who knew deciding on the perfect gray/green/white color could be so hard.

I'm getting to the point where almost every room in my house has been repainted.
Thank the good Lord because it was pretty obvious we did not know what we were doing when it came to paint selections!

I like to refer to the original living room color as "skin."
With a name like that, it's time to repaint.

After pictures hopefully soon!

Herringbone Box

This past weekend I decided to venture into the dark corner of my

 basement where I store all my "fixer-uppers."

Fixer-Upper: Usually a sad looking household item that I claim to see potential in.

This weeks contender happens to be a very beat up, faux wood box that has seen better days.

It was a pretty easy makeover.

I already had the colored paint leftover from our bedroom so all I needed was tape, white spray paint, and decorative corners. After some tedious taping (I chose a herringbone pattern), here is my new & improved box!

I hope this inspires someone else to fix up those less than pretty leftovers!

Nursery Reveal

One of my favorite things to see on blogs are before & afters.
And although I do not have any children of my own (yet!), nurseries are no exception.
Last week I mentioned I was taking a trip to Arizona to visit my sister-in-law Savanna and to get her nursery all decorated for when their little girl comes into this world.

So without further adieu, here a few before pictures:

And here are the afters:

We took An Ikea dresser and replaced the knobs for a more original look.

DIY flag garland.

We utilized this unused bench by recovering the top with a simple grey fabric and added storage baskets on the bottom. 

My Mom (who is a die hard quilter) made this rag quilt for the baby.

This shade was originally a bright green color.

We used an acrylic, all purpose paint to give it a fresh pink coat. 

The gallery wall is a combination of DIY artwork, Etsy prints, and Fabric.

We used an Ikea curtain (MERTE) and fused a pink ribbon for a colorful border.

We transformed a basic black mirror by painting it to tie in with the rest of the color scheme.

It was interesting having to fuse function with design.

 I typically don't know what a proper nursery consists of since I don't have any children. 

Definitely a great learning experience for myself!

Goodbye Green

I took initiative this past weekend and FINALLY painted the master bedroom.

When my husband and I moved in over 3 years ago, I gave him the option of picking out our bedroom color.

As much as I love him, he has since never been allowed to pick out any other colors.

The reason being, he chose hunter green. Ew.

Here is an old picture in its previous state.

I should also mention our room is considered and "attic room" therefor making different arrangements almost impossible and scarce closet space.

Here's another angle of the room.

(I think this picture was taken right after we moved in)

I haven't even bothered to try and update this room over the years.

The awful color and lack of storage has made this room my biggest design dilemma yet and I kind of left it neglected.

Well not anymore!

Thanks to some help from my wonderful mother-in-law, the master bedroom has been painted!

When it came to color choices, I wanted pretty much the opposite of hunter green so I went with off white.

This room doesn't get a whole lot of light so anything that would make it brighter definitely would be an improvement.

Here's a view from the opposite side of the room.

I can name about 12 things in the photo that I hate.

And yes, the shelf to the right is filled with the extensive shoe collection belonging to my husband.

He is a shoe addict.

It's pretty much a blank canvas so I can't wait to start decorating.

I spy cute kitty ears.

I swear Millie is a sleep-aholic.

She sleeps in this spot about 85% of the day.

See the look she's giving?

That's her subtle way of saying, 'you move me and I'll tear up the curtains'.

Needless to say, I left her untouched.

Campaign Dresser: Before & After

My coveted campaign dresser is finally done!

Thank the Lord because this thing was wearing me out between all the wrong paint choices and never having enough time to work on it.

Here is the before shot of my campaign dresser I scored off Craigslist:

I figured I'd use a pretty basic tutorial to refinish it. Nothing over the top and fancy.

First step was to remove the brass hardware and give the whole thing a good sanding.

I used a 120 grit paper for the first sanding to get all the scratches and dents smoothed out. After that, I would sand in between each prime & paint layer with  400 grit.

Next step was to prime.

I used Zinsser Fast Prime 2.

I chose the water-base over oil-base because of the easy clean up and low odor.

It went on really well with great coverage.

You can get this primer tinted in a few options so since I was painting the dresser a dark blue, I had the primer tinted to the darkest color possible. 

I used a roller brush for the front of the drawers and top and sides but this little foam brush worked perfect for the small trim on the front.

I only needed to do 1 coat of primer because of the great coverage. But before I painted I made sure to sand lightly with my 400 grit paper to smooth out any imperfections.

I had mentioned earlier that I painted my first layer the wrong color. I was going for more of a dark navy blue but when the paint dried, it had too much of a grey undertone. I should also mention I purchased my paint in a flat finish. I knew I was going to be using a semi-gloss sealer in the end so there was no need to buy paint with any gloss to it. This paint color is called Chanson Bleu.

So I tried again with a new paint color this time. It's called Blue Navy from Pittsburgh Paint.

 I gave the dresser another sanding and then added 2 more layers of the new paint color. (Sanding in between layers of course)

The last step was to apply the polyurethane.

Here's what I used:

I chose a semi-gloss because I didn't want the dresser to have too much shine to it.

And again, water base because of the easy clean up and low odor.

It also has a drying time of only 3 hours so I was able to apply 2 coats in one evening.

And here is my new campaign dresser:

To be honest, I was going for more of a dark navy and it kind of turned into a dark royal blue.

Maybe one day when I'm ambitious enough I will redo it but for now I'm happy with the finished product.

One step closer to getting this room done!