Sit and take a rest

Hey all!!
 Some of you know that I was looking to add some seating to our little living room. We have a open floor plan that contains the living and dining room and kitchen.  Its difficult to find the perfect size furniture and the right layout, but like everything else, its a work in progress.

Back to the seating area.. We (cough cough) were looking for matching chairs..
I love the big comfy chairs but the size of them were a little too big for the room.. So I was looking for something slimmer and taller to make it feel bigger.. hmm

So hunting away I found a pair on Craigslist.. Yay! But eyed them for over a week because they were over an hour away.
After a week, the seller lowered the price! I emailed the seller asking if she would mind meeting and that I would love to purchase the chairs!
Bam.. She was so sweet to meet half way and I got the two chairs I was really hoping to get! FOR A STEAL BTW!

They for sure needed some TLC and reupholstering but I was up for the challenge!


Here is the before of these darling chairs... See? Potential right?

yucky yellow and green with the spackle paint job..

And here is the after of them! Beautiful! I love the fabric with its pattern but in a neutral color so I can add some funky pattern/color pillows to it all year long!

Two coats of pebble color spray paint

and a yard of fabric!!

 LOVE!

Do you like the table?? Im debating painting the top the same as the bottom. Wasnt sure and ran out of leftover spray paint.. Hmm..

Final look at the night stand

So I finally found the perfect knobs for this night stand..

Remind your self with what it looked like before..

and now take a look at it.

I love it and it is for sale!
For sale you ask... well I was lucky enough to run by two more night stands that are very similar to each other and this one (I will post pics of them later)

So I am passing on this beautiful piece to someone else!

Painted in Antique white and sealed with clear gloss. Super durable and super pretty!

Here it is with its beautiful jewelry!

Check out the lamps that were a GW find too!!

FOR SALE ~ $60

Office Update

HEYYYY!!!

For those of you that have been following my office redo.. Here are a few updates. Its a work in progress (what project isn't)

What do they (husband) say??? Oh... Its never finished, is it??

Nope.. Thats the correct answer..

So here are some updates..

We finished the hutch last time I posted about the office.. Love that hutch and the color is amazing!
Finding little decor pieces for that is difficult.. I want pretty girly things and then I know I need to incorporate some neutral and manly items...  Happy medium I guess, right??

Fits perfectly and love the color and storage.. Dont mind the baseboards (its on the To-do list)

Old books that have the same color scheme as the room

of course, fire accessories

I thought this little bird was darling

Put up the new curtains.. And guess what they were DIY!! Painted curtains.. yes sirrreee!! For $14 I couldnt pass that up.. no way!

And they add some drama and pattern into the room!
Here is my little message/computer area.. I am thinking of switching out the desk tho.. Well see. I love this one but hmmm.. I love love love this one I redid last week!!! The pattern would be amazing in this room! What do you think?

Painted the walls. Manhattan Tan by Behr.. Love it!  So refreshing yet neutral for any possible patterns I want to bring in.

~To Do List~

 Finish painting the base boards and trim
Add a calendar to my memo wall and some pictures
Find a rug
Get a new reading chair
Add a funky pattern pillow
Reading lamp
Chandelier
Wall art pieces


That should hopefully do it.. But the basics are down after I finish these baseboards. Then its accessorizing... yay!! favorite part! But till then I am so in love with our own little office, reading nook, craft room. Its a wonderful place for the hubby to study, me to craft and read while he is studying.. and a place for all our stuff that goes along with it.

Loving it so far!

On a roll..

This week is a week of craziness.. But a full force motivation to get some projects done and fast!


Here are two pieces that I have finished this week.. As my last post was a check list..

Here is two marked off that list!
Woo hoo!!

Here is the desk/vanity that was refinished. It needed some serious TLC. I had an inlay that needed to be covered or fixed since it wasn't in the best condition. The molding on the bottom needed to be reattached. The watermarks that were on the top were rough, but a little TLC, paint and work it turned out beautifully!

Custom mixed paint and chevron pattern on the top with all the original hardware, this is probably one of my faves so far! If only I had all the room in the world.. 

Before:

This was all sanded down and cleaned up

After:

Heaven!

This piece was nearly a dumpster deserved piece.. UGLY as put by my neighbor as I was taking before and after photos.. lol

It wasnt pretty to look at before, but some imagination and additives it turned into a beautiful bedside table for our master bedroom. Love it!!

Before:

I know.. Gross... But seriously I liked the drawers and detail they had. Hey 1/2 off! Cant beat it!!

After:

Need to add some glass knobs and maybe some more molding at the bottom. But it looks Na-ice!!!

Thank you Mr. S for putting the legs on! It was a little bit of work!

Few new projects in the works..

Ok people.. Can anyone give me advice for how to slow time???

Honestly with so much to do and so much playtime I want to achieve, the days just sail on by.

My neighbor said the other day that "the older we get the faster time goes by" ~Steve~ Thanks :)

That has got to be true... When I was younger and was out all afternoon until dark playing or riding bikes, I felt it lasted forever. Now I take a stroll to the park and half the day is gone.. Where is it going?? Does my brain slow down and not comprehend what is going on during the entire day, except for sporadic moments??

Random.. I know.. But it hit me today that time does fly by.. TOOOOOO FAST!!


So my reason for posting tonight.. I have so many things going on and here are a few sneak peaks of what is to come with what little time I do have..

desk refinish. This needs lots of TLC

all the drawers that go along with it.

night stand.. Yep.. Its U-G-L-Y!! But not when Im done.. I got plans!

These lamps were one of the most perfect finds ever. The cords were even wrapped up pretty. Im pretty sure there are brand new that's how nice they were.. Brass to West Elm inspired Lamps. For $20!! Seriously! For the pair I swear!

Pretty Goblet.. Idea!!

Dresser refinish

Chair that goes with the dresser to refinish..

So yes all of this is in my garage.. Well the furniture anyway..

I am working on each "TO-DO" and trying to do it quickly.. I love spending time with my family, so nap times are my creative and get-er-done time! Wish me luck!!

This is seeming like a list.. so I will use it as my check off list for the next few weeks. Get these done before moving on!! YAY!! A GOAL! Love a goal!

Happy working everyone!

Quick Refinishing project

Here is a quick before and after for a dresser set that a friends sister in law needed refinished for her little ones room. It has been in her family for many years and her mom passed it down to her. It was a honor to be the one to bring these pieces up to date and have them be a new addition to her babies room!

Before:

Potential

lots of build up

After:

So there you have it.. It is completed and looking awesome!

Revamped hutch for a new revamp[ing] office..

We have finally started the journey to creating our own office!!

 I am so excited and have been gathering ideas for it for the past month! Woo hoo for Pinterest! The time sucker of my evenings!

Mr. S has some say into what design we are going to commit to. We both will be using it so a little manly with a little bit of girlie = our future office..
Wasnt that detail enough??!
No?

Oh.. Uhm.. Ill keep posting but at the end of this post Ill put up my pinterest link of some inspiring photos I want to achieve and am using for this office space!!

Work with me.. its a lot of stuff..

First we started with a Hutch. Now I am on a budget, who isn't these days right, so I am hunting everywhere for sweet deals. Anywho, I was determined to find a hutch in that would fit in that little room, mainly for space saving storage. Then once I was looking for inspiration for color, I found one hutch that resembled what I was going for.. Colonial RED peeps!! Yes-sir-ee! That will be the focal point and boy am I happy with how it turned out!!!

Here is how it went!

Before

Uhm.. yea.. little dinged up.. but salvagable

EEWW.. look at those spindles on the shelves..can you say dated?!

After:

uhm.. yes!! (p.s. that paint on the walls will be old news)

It is a lot more toned down than this pic

Loved the scrolly handles.. and then I got 4 new rounds ones to balance the detail.

Steps:
#1: Clean and sand as good as you can. (Uhmm I had to sand the top down a ton because when I saw it on CL (whoot, and amazing deal) she said it was solid wood and had a few scratches and dings.. no biggy right?? Well it was veneer on the top counter..what the??.. (everything else was solid wood.) So a tip for that... sand it till its smooth and dont sand to hard or deep, that will end up showing the "cheap" wood underneath.. and that can be difficult to cover up. Clean off again.

#2: Prime away..(after you have removed the hardware and doors.) I use uh... Zeisser (spelling, im too lazy to go to the garage to see) it works great for anything, and it actually can be used on anything that has a varnish without sanding... it does work on that, but I wanted to make sure this red spray paint wasnt going anywhere! So sand before hand.. please!

#3: Once that is dry you are set to start painting. Spray painting is easy, i choose spray paint this time because I didnt want to deal with trying to match up the paint to a gallon paint for my spray gun.. no thanks.. easy please! plus I was in a hurry to see the end result..

#4 after several layers of light spray painting...here is a good blog with a video how-to. Or just read the spray can!! Duh me..

#5 let it dry for a whole day or longer.. This helps the paint "cure"... (what other word is there for letting it dry completely??)
Anyway.. Let it dry and glaze per your preference.. Wipe on, wait, wipe off.. (this helped tone the bright red down to a calmer more sophisticated red)

#6 Put your doors and hardware back on...and...Admire!
Pretty simple and took 2 1/2 days. The drying time and the fact that I was working on the computer desk for the same room made the day and a half I had planned, worth it.. I got two projects done. Each while the other was drying.. heeeyyy-oo! Like!

Here are some pics, from my pinterest page,  for inspiration for this office/craft room redesign..

Linked to:
YATTM

End Table.. finished.. well Refinished!

Remember that end table I mentioned last week.

The one that I had a bet with my hubby to get done in a week!?! Well read about it here...

Here is the finished product!
 I love it!
I had originally planned to sell it, but now I am keeping it for myself.. Fits perfectly in my living room for the time being..


I had to sand the top all the way to the wood and restain it since it had some serious wear and markings on the wood before..

Started with some primer on the bottom half.
After it dried I painted 2 coats of Antique White (my fave) with some light distressing after that had completely dried.

The hardware didnt need to be changed, I thought it actually fit the piece pretty well.

2 coats of dark walnut stain, a coat or two of poly and it was ready to be used!

I am very happy with how it turned out. and the drawers.. so awesome! Its just one big drawer and perfect to hide those magazines, remotes and whatever else you try and hide when guest show up out of the blue.. well I never do that...umm.. yea (ALL THE TIME)

Hope you like it as much as I do!
Here are the before and the after pictures!!

Before. Potential, right!?

Love this stain!!

Knobs seemed to fit right in.

And AFTER!

Old brass light to chic chandelier

Hey all! Happy New Year! Its 2012, can you believe it?

Wow! I hope the holiday season was amazing for everyone! It sure was here!

Well with a new year comes new projects. I finished up most of the projects I had laying around but one..

And that one will be finished here shortly.. It was a bet with Mr. S that I lost terribly..

While we had a date night we ran into a GW. I love going to them on date nights, since I can quickly eye the entire store and not worry about my little one getting antsy on me..
Well in the furniture location of GW I found a lovely side table.. hmm.. WILL BE!!

Anyway.. the hubs made a bet that if I could refinish it in a week I could get another piece as soon as I was finished.

Yippee.. Piece of cake.. right?!

WRONG!

The same week I started, my little angel came down with an extremely high fever and ear infection..and since this was the first time she has been sick her entire 19 months of living, it was a big deal to me! So.. that lasted an entire week practically.

Then to add to the already sick week with a little one, I ended up with laryngitis which led to the worst sinus infection..  I guess I can say the worst because it was my first ever!!

So nuff said.. I didnt win.
But that will be done this week, Fo- Sho!

Alright.. My quick one day chandelier transformation..

Found at GW! YAY! Love that place!
 and for.. guess how much..

guess..
$3!!!
woot woot!
 yep I think I jumped up and down.

I even told my husband guard the cart while I rushed my angel to the ladies room..

So a little degreaser, light sanding, and spray paint and some serious jig-a-roo from my hubby to put it up (He seriously worked some magic here with parts from another chandelier) and we had a new light in our closet for $3 plus the bulbs so $6..

Love the frosted soft white bulbs.

Can you say awesome!! I love it!
Now to get to that side table!