Bedroom Dresser Makeover

Not long after Tim and I got married, we got tired of our hand-me-down bedroom furniture, so we went out and bought a big matching set of bedroom furniture.  It seemed like the grown-up thing to do at the time.      

A few years later, I had something of an awakening when it came to decorating our home and I realized that our bedroom furniture (as well as everything else in our house) just wasn't my style at all. The bedroom set we bought was big, bulky, and dark.  It completely overwhelmed our space and I didn't see anyway to make it look better. I wish I could find an old picture for you.

I really wanted to start completely over, find pieces that I really loved, and create a room that was lighter and brighter with an eclectic mix of unique pieces.  So after some major convincing on my part, Tim let me sell our bedroom set on Craigslist.

I've learned that finding what I love takes time.  It takes patience, persistence, and it takes not settling.  But after selling our bedroom set, we had no furniture and our clothes were just sitting there all piled up on the floor.  Obviously we needed something immediately to hold it all.  So we went to Ikea and bought two dressers that would hold our things until I found what I really wanted.

That was four years ago.

Over those four years, I've been on the lookout for a dresser.  I've looked on Craigslist, in thrift stores, antique stores, etc...  I knew I wanted a solid wood, vintage piece that I could paint.  I wanted it to have clean, straight lines, so as not to be overly feminine, but also have some interest to it.  And since we moved to a smaller home a few years ago, we now only have space in our room for one dresser, so it needed to be big enough to hold both mine and Tim's folded clothes.

Finding a dresser with all of these qualities was not easy, but I stayed patient.

Then a few weeks ago, my in-laws were here visiting and we were loading up in the Jeep getting ready to go to Target when I got a text from a neighbor alerting me to a "darling long dresser... really unusual... lots of potential" that someone had sat out on the side of the road in our neighborhood for the trash pick-up.  This neighbor knows me and knows my love for painting and making over old furniture.  Obviously I was interested at this point.  So we drove off to find the dresser.  As I pulled up to it, I immediately noticed it's unique vintage look.  It was extra long and had clean, straight lines.  I hopped out to give it a closer inspection. I wanted to check if it was solid wood (yes), to make sure the drawers worked (yes), and that they were in good condition (yes).  

I could see the potential in it and I knew I wanted it.  So Pop Pop stayed back to guard the dresser while Mimi, Hudson, and I went home to get the van (since the dresser was not going to fit in the back of the Jeep).  Within the few minutes we were gone, three people stopped to look at it and the trash truck showed up to take it away in the trash.  We pulled up with the van just as Pop Pop was telling the trash guys we were going to keep the dresser.  This was perfect timing because instead of throwing the dresser in the trash truck, those guys kindly loaded it up in the back of the van for us.  I was so thankful for that because it was such a heavy dresser that we would have had an extremely hard time loading it up ourselves.

Here she is - the before picture:

  

The next day we removed all the hardware and I wiped it down with a liquid sander/de-glosser.  Using the sander/de-glosser wasn't necessary (according to chalk paint directions), but I had some on hand and figured it could only help. Then I got right to work painting it with Annie Sloan pure white chalk paint.  I have always loved her chalk paint because there is no real sanding or priming involved, so you can go straight to painting.  This is perfect for me, as I am always anxious to start seeing the transformation.

But this time, I had problems.  After I painted the main part of the dresser, I noticed that there were several spots on the top that were cracking and peeling as the paint dried.  I had never seen or heard of this before with chalk paint, so I was pretty confused and frustrated.  I hand sanded down those spots and re-painted only to have the same thing happen again.  After googling this, I discovered this does happen sometimes with AS chalk paint and there doesn't seem to be a clear reason why.  It seems to happen most often with the pure white and old white colored chalk paint though. 

My suspicion was that something oily had spilled on the top of the dresser and this was keeping the paint from adhering in those spots.  Through googling, I learned that I could try sanding down the entire top, then putting a layer of shellac down, and then re-painting.  Not fun, but since there didn't seem to be another real option and we didn't have much to lose at this point (except our time and a few bucks for shellac), we decided to give it a try.

BUT.... after sanding the top all the way back down to the wood, I completely fell in love with the overly distressed look and decided not to re-paint it after all.  I just sealed it with the Annie Sloan wax and called it done.  It was a perfectly happy accident.

At this point, I loved how it looked, but we discovered that it had a bit of a bug infestation.  Yuck.  So Tim had to take it back outside to spray it down twice with bug killer.  The drawers were also extremely smelly.  I googled this problem too (what would we do without the internet?) and found all kinds of ways to get the smell out.  I tried many of them.  I wiped them out with a vinegar/water mixture, set coffee grounds in cups inside of them, let them air out outside... none of that worked very well, so I ended up polyurethaning the inside of all the drawers.  I'm glad I did because I feel like that sealed up any germs and smells, so they won't get on our clothes, especially since we really don't know where this thing has been or what has been inside of it.

As many issues as this dresser came with though, I absolutely love how it turned out and I think it was totally worth all the extra effort.

Here's the after pictures:

I ordered these brass ring pulls and I really like their classic simplicity.  There is brass on the front feet of the dresser too, so they complement each other nicely. 

I also really like the detailing of the round front edges.  It's not overly fancy or anything, but it adds some extra interest to the piece.

The most fun thing about these projects is seeing the amazing transformation.  It's not quite what I had envisioned when I started this project, but in the end, I love it even more than I originally imagined.

I love that it's unique.  I love that it has a story behind it.  I love that my in-laws were involved in finding it and helping me haul it home.  And I love that Tim and I both worked on it to make it our own.  I hope it will be something that we have and enjoy for a very long time.

What about you?  Have you ever had a project go all wrong, but then end up better than you ever thought?

Decorating on a budget, DIY sweater throw pillows, and stump side tables

I love throw pillows. I also love to switch them up for the different seasons, but it's not always in our budget to pay for brand new pillows. Not to mention that many stores sell the feather pillow inserts separately from the pillow cover.  So not only do you need to buy the pillow cover, but then you also have to factor in the price of the pillow insert.  And since nice feather pillow inserts can run anywhere from $14-$26 at places like Pottery Barn, updating a room with a few new throw pillows can get expensive pretty quickly.

Of course you can buy cheaper pillows at places like Target, but I've decided that I really like the feather pillow inserts so much better than pillows stuffed with polyester filling.  Feather pillows are softer and squishier and they always plump back up very nicely.  They don't lose their shape over time either like cheaper pillows do.  And once you have invested in all the feather inserts you need, you can just switch out the pillow covers seasonally or whenever you're ready for a change.  So I've decided the investment in feather pillow inserts is worth it.  But since I am just beginning to build our feather pillow collection, I needed to find ways to do it within our budget.

I read one day on the Nester's blog that to save money, she buys feather pillow inserts at thrift stores and then just runs them through her washing machine and dryer to sanitize them.  Sounded kind of genius to me, so the last few times I've gone to the thrift store, I searched through the pillows to see if I could score any feather pillow inserts. And what do you know... I've found quite a few.  Yesterday, I found five.  They are only $5 each, so I stocked up.

Since Fall has hit here in northern Virginia, I have really had an itch to get some cozy pillows on our couch.  I've been dreaming about some sweater pillows like these:

But, even on sale, these pillow covers cost more than I want to spend right now.  So since my desires are the mother of my creativity, I decided to try to make my own sweater pillow covers from thrifted sweaters (since I didn't have any old sweaters laying around).  

While I was thrift shopping, I looked for well-made, quality sweaters that were soft and had interesting patterns, textures, or lines in them.  I also checked for stains, holes, pills, etc...  Be picky.  Find something you really like or walk away.  Always keep your end product in mind, because you want to love it when you're done.  It's also important to make sure that the sweater you pick is big enough to cover your entire pillow or you will be sad when you go to make your pillow and it doesn't fit.  

Besides sweaters, I looked through men's plaid shirts and women's skirts for any other fabrics, textures, or designs that I thought might make a good pillow.  In the end, I bought two gray sweaters to use for my sweater pillows and a women's linen skirt that I thought could work for a pillow cover too. 

I'm not going to go into any kind of sewing tutorial for you here because I am not a good sewer.  I just try to cut and sew straight lines.  I sewed three sides of the pillow on the sewing machine, then flipped my pillow right side out, stuffed the pillow insert in, then hand-sewed the final side closed.  Pillows are probably one of the simplest things to make, so if you've never sewn anything before, this would be a great first sewing project.  Give it a shot!

Here are how my two sweater pillows turned out

The first one:

The second one:

Our couch and my swinging chair are instantly cozier now!  I'm pretty happy with them both.  Total cost for each pillow including the feather insert and the sweater was about $13 each.  So I think that's pretty good.  They have at least partially satisfied my desires for sweater pillows.... although I may need to make a few more for our couches in the basement.

As a side note, I've been wanting a stump side table for quite some time now.  A few weeks ago, a neighbor set a whole bunch of wood out on the road for the trash truck and I spied a good log in the pile that I thought would make a good side table.  After hauling the log over to my house, I peeled off the bark, sanded it smooth, wiped it clean, made sure it was dry and had no bugs in it, and then I painted and distressed it.  Although it's not perfectly flat across the top, it's perfect enough to hold my books and coffee when I'm sitting in my swinging chair.  And the best part ... it was free!!

What about you?  Are there any fun ways you've found to decorate on a budget?   

Snippets of Fall

Hooray! It’s officially Fall!
I’m pretty sure I say this every year, but Fall is my absolute favorite time of year.  The cool crispiness in the air, brightly colored leaves, pumpkin spice coffee, cozy blankets, warm fires, boots, sweaters, and scarves… it’s all my favorite.
And pumpkins!!  I’m addicted to pumpkins!  We found a pumpkin patch this year that grows all different kinds and colors of pumpkins, squash, and gourds.  There were so many to choose from that I might have gone a little bit overboard. I just couldn’t help myself.  Honestly, I do this every year now. Growing up, I thought pumpkins came in one shape and color – giant orange jack-o-lantern pumpkins.  There was nothing very exciting about that. Then a few years ago, I discovered that there were so many more colors and sizes and shapes of pumpkins than I ever imagined.  And I couldn’t choose just one pumpkin anymore.  I wanted them all!  But for the sake of my marriage and our bank account, I restrain myself (kind of).

Aren't they so cute sitting on my front porch?!



So when the leaves start changing and the mornings turn chilly, I get the urge to start cozying up the inside of our home.  As much as I usually love bright colors in my home, I am drawn to warm and cozy neutrals and lots of soft textures in the Fall and Winter.  I don’t have a lot of Fall decorations, but I really like using things from nature to create a warm and inviting feeling.  Not to mention, pinecones, acorns, leaves and branches are all free.

Shopping the house is another free way to switch things up.  It’s always a bit of a creative challenge to make do with the things we already have. I found neutral colored books, a candle, and a cozy fur for the hanging chair just by looking through different rooms in our house. And if need be, I’ll break out the white spray paint and spray paint something… like that vase holding the branches.

I had some leftover birthday money so I did splurge on this birch wreath from Target because I loved it so much.  And I picked up those two acorns at HomeGoods.

That little white candle needed a pick-me-up and I’ve had that fabric flower sitting around for months and months because it fell off of a pillow and I never sewed it back on, so I just decided to hot glue it to the candle.  Instant cuteness.

I found this little wooden potato crate the other day at an antique market and thought it would be fun to use on my table or coffee table to create a centerpiece.  At first I didn’t even think about putting pumpkins in it, but the lady checking me out said, “Wouldn’t this be cute filled up with pumpkins?!”  And I totally agreed with her. Genius!

I had some leftover chalkboard paint, so I painted a small chalkboard spot on my pumpkin.



Happy Fall!!

Deal of the day

You’ve heard the saying, “Good things come to those who wait.”.  Well when it comes to creating our home, waiting isn’t always my strongest attribute. But I’m learning that waiting is so important to getting an end result that I love.  It’s important to first figure out what you love and usually that takes time and research.  Pinterest is great for that.  And then it usually takes even more time to find what you love at a price you can afford.

 

We’ve had these Ikea dining chairs for several years now.  They weren’t really my favorite, but I bought them at a time when I wasn’t willing to put the time and energy into finding what I really wanted. I just wanted something immediately and Ikea was cheap and those chairs were good enough. We’ve since learned that buying on impulse just to fill a void in your home is the first step down the wrong road and it ends with having to turn around and do things over.  You lose both time and money that way.  So we’ve stuck with the chairs just because replacing them wasn’t necessary and wasn’t really in the budget.  But recently the bolts that hold them together have been falling out of them one by one.  The holes were stripped, so even after we tried to screw the bolts back in, they would eventually just find their way back out.  We got down to four chairs that were still holding themselves together properly.  Over the last several months, I’ve been looking around to see what style of chairs I loved because I knew we were going to need to replace our dining chairs in the near future.  I paid attention to dining chairs on Pinterest and blogs and I would also randomly pop in on Craigslist to see what I could find there.  We didn’t have a lot in the budget for kitchen chairs, so I was hoping to find a good deal. I honestly didn’t know exactly what I wanted until I stumbled across this next picture.

 

This is from Joanna Gaines farmhouse.  Have you seen her show, Fixer Upper on HGTV?  It’s my new favorite show.  She and her husband, Chip are so inspiring to  me.  And I love her style.  You can read her blog, here.

Anyway, after I saw that picture, I knew I wanted metal chairs.  I loved the look of the white wood table combined with the vintage metal chairs. And we already had the white wood table.  As usual, first I checked Craigslist.  I found four metal chairs on Craigslist that were originally from World Market. 

These

 

The owner wanted $500 for the 4 chairs and a table.  I wasn’t in need of a table, so I emailed the owner and asked if I could just buy the chairs.  I was hoping I could buy 4 chairs from him for around $300, then go to World Market and buy a few more. At this point, we were hoping for 6 chairs total. The chairs were listed at $119 each in the store.  It wouldn’t be super cheap, but by buying a few from Craigslist first, we would at least save some money. 

I didn’t hear back from the seller immediately, so in the meantime, I decided to go to World Market to sit in one of the metal chairs and see how I liked them.

But, while I was there, I saw that they were having a clearance sale on all their summer furniture.  Everything was marked 75% off.  And they had a variety of metal dining chairs marked down from $100 to $25.  I think possibly my mouth fell open in shock at that price.  Holy cow! What a deal!  The problem was that there were only two that were the gunmetal color that I wanted. The rest were yellow, orange, or blue.  A lady at the store tracked down a few more gunmetal colored ones at another World Market and by the end of that day, I had bought five chairs and Tim had three more on hold at other store locations across the DC area. 

Although we first thought we just needed six chairs, we ended up deciding it would be best to have eight since we enjoy having people over for dinner.  And since they were so cheap, we felt that we could afford to buy a few extras.

With added coupons, I got all 8 chairs (across 4 different stores in 2 different states) for $196.10 total.  Originally, those eight chairs would have cost $800!  It was a steal!!  I’m pretty certain I couldn’t have gotten a better price anywhere, not even on Craigslist.

 

And I love the look. The dining area is both eclectic and vintage, with new and old pieces mix and matched together in a way that is unique and fun to me.