The Thorn in My Side

This adorable chest of drawers has been a…. challenge even before I ever met it.  

I spent more time than I care to mention scouring second-hand stores, contacting people on craigslist looking for the perfect vintage dresser to fill a spot that has previously been held by our (hated) highchair.  I’m about to chuck that thing to the curb as soon as I can talk my four-year-old into watching his morning show at the actual kitchen table and not in a seat for a tiny baby. That highchair is the worst. I loved it when I first purchased it, and the colors are fabulous but all the nooks and cranny's… I’m certain there’s food stuck in there from three years ago. Doesn’t that make you want to run out and purchase one? Anyway, I digress, back to the dresser. 

 

So, I finally found THE chest in an unlikely place- one Saturday eating lunch that also is part of a cool little store. I snagged it from another man who was interested it was able to purchase it. Victory! Finally! After months of searching, I finally found the perfect one. The sales people loaded it in the van, and I was on the way. This was one of the weekends of torrential downpours and Corey was out running errands, and the baby was napping so I was just going to wait patiently for him to return it to unload it. After all it took two men to load it up. My patience lasted a record five minutes before I decided I could bring it in myself. I had to park in the driveway and not in the garage due to another project I was working on so I put on my raincoat and headed out to the van to figure out the best way for me to carry in the chest of drawers by myself… without having to take out any of the drawers because it would be easier to carry them in all at once. Easier not lighter, I’m not strong, but I am determined, which counts for more than actual physical strength. First I maneuvered the chest out of the van and onto the driveway and then stood there in the rain trying to figure out the next step. After trying to hoist it up on the double stroller and failing, I decided just to pick it up and see how far I could carry it. I surprised myself and got pretty far before collapsing of exhaustion. I took a tiny break to grab some M&M’s and an old towel and was able to put the chest onto the towel and drag it to the doorway then I lifted it up into the house and put it on a rug and dragged it to its new home. It looked great, just like I’d imagined. But not before I got stains all over my favorite jeans. Then I waited for Corey to come home and help me drag it back to the garage so that I could start painting it. 

 

I painted that stupid thing with four coats of Annie Sloan chalk paint, and the original stain would immediately bubble up to the surface and show through my lovely gray paint- pink. I texted my girlfriend (the google queen), and she told me to put polyurethane over the paint to seal in the original stain and then paint over that. It sounded good to me so off to Lowes I went. Before making my purchase, I spoke to the paint manager and explained my problem to him and what I intended to do. He looked and me and said, “You are not going to like what I have to tell you at all. But you’re going to have to sand off all that paint and stain and start over.” I almost lost it right there. This “simple” project, one that I’ve done a million times before, was becoming a huge pain in my… you know. I told Corey that I needed him to sand all that paint off, and I had to start painting over. He sanded ½ a drawer and that took him 45 minutes so he went to Lowes and bought spray poly and sprayed them to seal in the old stain and it worked! I did have to poly one of the drawers (loving referred to as the possessed drawer) four times before I couldn’t see any pink under it but worked! 

 

Finally!!! Everything was painted beautifully and ready for wax, and it only took about 700  weeks. Everything went fine with waxing the drawers but when I went to wax the chest I had a black stain (from another project) smear all over the top. I almost chopped that thing up right there. After composing myself, I repainted, rewaxed and carried everything in and assembled it.

 

**Excuse the excessive snark in this post. My dog got sprayed by a skunk at 11 last night, and I’m fairly certain that I smell like a skunk today, so that’s putting me in a cranky mood. But, don’t get me wrong. This chest of drawers was a huge disaster even without the snark 😁

***Here's a closeup of the Anthropologie pulls 😍

Finished crib!

Finally finished painting this little beauty! It took forever but I love the color!

Rockabye

I'm working on the sweetest little crib! The color is in and I love the way it's turning out! Can't wait to show you all the final product!

Mantle Magic

Hi friends!

We did something crazy this weekend. We didn't start the weekend planning a project but an unexpected sleepover for Graham turned Saturday into project day. 

I'd wanted to do something cool with our mantle/tv area for awhile and after a little Pinterest browsing we set off for lowes.

Here is the before-

The first step was to paint the brick.

Then Corey started working on the surround.

And then I repainted the brick. I originally whitewashed the brick but it was too white so I painted it a creamy gray.

Then it was time to paint the surround and mantle.

I LOVE the color we chose. It is the perfect moody gray. 

The next project is to make a wreath to hang on the glass and Corey is going to make a pallet box for the mantle for flowers. I'll post another picture when those two little projects are done 😊

Inspiration

Hello! 

We've been enjoying the summer and haven't had a lot of time for projects, but that is going to change very soon 😉

In the meantime, I have a little inspiration to share. 

We vacationed at Hilton Head Island (our favorite place in the world) and had dinner and one of the most fabulous restaurants. Live Oak is beautifully decorated... Not to mention the food is wonderful 😉 It's, basically, exactly everything I love in one space. My sister went in to make sure we were at the right place and came out and exclaimed that I was going to want to move in. She was right. I didn't want to leave. So I stalked around trying to take pictures without being too obvious, enjoy!

Tiered Table

Hello, Lovies!

For awhile now, I've been on the hunt for a table for my foyer. The foyer has been on a constant rotation of random things while I've been keeping my eyes out for a perfect little table to fill the space. Finally, this past weekend, I found the perfect one! And, as a plus, it was a steal. Win. Win.

I bought it and asked Corey to load it in the truck and he walked right by it and picked up a little table that had already been made beautiful. He was bewildered when I said no- the one beside the pretty one. Mine started a little rough, but it had good bones.

Dingy, chipped and very dirty- not to mention that weird ledge on the back. Isn't that the strangest thing?! Like everything is safe not to fall off the table because of eight inches of ledge. Removing that was step one. I was out of Annie Sloan chalk paint so after some internet stalking and conversing with my decorating pro friend I decided to run pick up a quart of Paris Grey for the table.

(As a bonus, I also found something that is the current number one item on my Christmas list 😉).

Okay, back to the table. After a couple coats of Paris Grey and my table is exactly how I wanted it and perfect for the space. I haven't put any decor on it yet, but I'll post pictures again when it's  completely decorated. 

Dresser Update

I forgot to take a picture of the dresser I worked on during Independence Day weekend before I put it in my closet so here is a picture of it surrounded by my dresses :)

The mirror on top doesn't go with the dresser but I really like it on there, and the contrasting colors.

Mirror, mirror on the wall

Hello!

 I just finished painting this mirror last weekend, and it's looking for a new home 😍

Here's a link to the craigslist posting if you know of a space for it!

http://roanoke.craigslist.org/fuo/5109479575.html

Rugtastic

Well, I ordered a rug online and it finally came! It is exactly what I was wanting for the patio. The colors and functionality are perfect. We've been pushing the table and chairs out of the way to maximize the space to play rescue bots and paw patrol on rainy days ;)

The Beauty of Wythe Blue

The patio French doors are now the perfect shade of Wythe blue. I'm really happy with the contrast of the colors. Now, onto a new outdoor rug, ceiling fan and replacing the hideous gold hardware (if you're wondering exactly where the gold at the end of the rainbow is, look no further- it was at my house. We're currently in the process of removing it!). I'll keep you posted on the progress of the mini patio makeover!

Fail.

The patio door paint color round one- fail.   Sea salt is one of my favorite colors, but it just didn't work on the patio doors. I'm not sure if it's due to the natural light or what but there wasn't enough contrast between the doors and the siding. And if you looked closely it was hard to determine if it was even an actual color. So, onto another color that offers more contrast and personality :)

I actually like the color in the picture below, unfortunately it's not that color in person...

Welcome

Well, the patio door painting this weekend had a little hitch.... Needless to say, I'll be spending some time at the paint store trying to locate another color that has a little more contrast than the color I painted this weekend. 

So instead of a pretty painted door, I'm showing you a minor change that I added to our front door- welcome!

Before-

 

After-

Color

Project for the weekend: painting the patio French doors! Can't wait until it's complete!

Bland, Blah, Boring.

Currently, my screened in porch is all of the things listed in the title and I'm not a fan of any of those descriptions. My plan is to paint the  French doors a pretty, fresh color to give the space some personality.... Or the floor of the porch.... I wonder if my husband would notice if I painted it a nice Aqua while he's golfing this weekend? Hmmmm. Somehow, someway this space is going to get a pop of personality! 

Wonder Wall

After living in this house for a year or so I knew I wanted to do something interesting to the wall in the master bedroom. I considered a pallet wall or "Shiplap" wall (because they're gorgeous) and consumed copious amounts of time on Pinterest searching, but in the end I decided I wanted a thicker look and went with thick planked pine boards and then did a couple coats of whitewash to finish the look. I also painted the door to the closet a charcoal gray, because the white that was on there previously didn't provide any contrast, so there's my wonder wall ;)

What's that I see? Fancy Windows!

I have been on the hunt for old, cheap, windows for, what feels like, my whole life. I had forgotten that when we replaced windows at our old house they got transferred to my parents for a use in their greenhouse. Lucky for me they never got around to installing them so I got hem back! YAY!! I'm so excited. They were absolutely disgusting from being stored outside but nothing that Clorox wipes and a fresh coat of pretty turquoise paint can't handle. I guess you're wondering why I want new old windows, I'm planning on hanging these four in the hallway that leads from the bedroom level to the main level of the house. The next time you'll be seeing these windows they'll be hung on the wall! 

Dresser Redesign

Dresser Redesign

Hello there!
I purchased a dresser off craigslist with the intent to Annie Sloan it up (that's a new phrase, use it as much as possible). It's my first time using AS paint and I loved it. Easy to apply and the finish is beautiful. Before is a sad, pitiful piece looking for some love. The after photo doesn't do it justice, it looks even better in person.