Painting a Dresser

I finally completely finished painting the $12 dresser I scored at Goodwill a while back.

I am really bad lately about starting projects, almost finishing them, and then ignoring them with only one step or so to go.

But, this one is done now and that's all that counts in my book.

It's been a while since I showed the dresser on here, so here is a before picture to refresh your memory.

That color wood really isn't my style and even though it looks pretty good in this picture, it was pretty beat up in some spots.

I thought I would write down the quick and dirty version of what I did since (A) I didn't take pictures and (B) I want to be able to remember how I did it.

1. Take the drawers out and remove the hardware.
2. Wipe everything down.
3. Fill in the holes with wood putty. I used the cheap stuff and it worked just fine.
4. Apply liquid sander and let dry.
5. Prime. I used Kilz original oil based primer. Let dry as directed.
6. Paint. I used Rustoleum's Heirloom White in satin. I used a foam roller. Let dry.
7. Apply second coat.
8. Spray paint hardware oil rubbed bronze.

and finally, the step that stumped me for about 2 weeks

9. Reassemble hardware and drawers and move it back into the house!

I know that it would probably be a good idea to put on a protective coat, but that dresser really never gets used since it is in the guest room, so I made the executive decision to skip it.

So here's what she looks like now after a little TLC...

Much better :)

Linking up with House of Grace, Home Stories A to Z

perfectlyimperfect

Happy Birthday Ashley!

Today is my little sister's 22nd birthday!

We went out to celebrate on Sunday at Pizzology. I had never been there before, but she raves about it.

The breadsticks are delicious. Seriously. Jacob says I say all breadsticks are the best, but these really might be.

It's also a neat place inside. They even have this little window so you can see them making pizzas.

Oh, and then there was the pizza.

mmm....It's making me hungry all over again!

We finished the celebrations off with a DQ ice cream cake. It was the only thing that she had asked for and her fiance delivered.

Happy Birthday Ashley!

Life Update via Cell Phone Pics

I have been MIA and I am so mad at myself for slacking already on this blog thing. I have no excuse, so I'm not even going to try. I start class and my internship again on Monday and only time will tell if that will lead to more or less posts. My guess is more. After all, I am the queen of procrastination.

I really don't remember where we left off last or what I have been up to, so I figured the best way to do a quick update was to go through my phone to remember what I did.

I thought about editing and making pretty categorized collages but there are way too many pictures and I am way too lazy, so here we go!

We went to King's Island with my brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and niece. We decided to go when it was super hot like crazy people, but we didn't let that stop us from having a good time.

My niece did awesome on the roller coasters and I am pretty sure we got to all of the ones she was tall enough to ride.

I finally got around to painting my $12 dresser. To be honest with you, I finished it weeks ago, but it is still sitting in the garage just like this, but white. Once I convince the husband to help me bring it inside, I will take after pictures.

I also got new pillows for the living room. I need some more to layer with, but so far I'm a fan. (Notice catdog on the back of the couch)

The new bookcases are also a work in progress at the moment, as you can tell by pile-o-accessories in the bottom corner of the picture. I want to change the pictures, paint that wooden thing on the shelf 3 down from the top, and add something to the square vase (maybe a candle and a cool filler?) I'm sure it will change at least 30 bazillion more times.

I also realize that the brass pig doesn't really match anything in the rest of our house, but it has sentimental value so the pig stays. 

My dad's birthday was also in the last few weeks. We went to Buca di Beppos and it was delish as usual.

Mom went a little crazy with desserts, huh?

Speaking of Mom, her birthday was yesterday! We went out to celebrate this weekend, but I forgot to snap a picture or two. Opps!

Penny has become a momma's girl lately. She has to be touching me 150% of the time. I love it and hate it all at the same time. I sure will miss her when I go back to school/work Monday!

Last weekend I headed up to Chicago to visit my friend Diane. I took 1 whole picture and it's blurry.

Fail.

More pictures exist, I'm just waiting very impatiently for someone to send them to me or post them so I can steal them and tell you all about the trip. Becca, this means you!

In other news, my friend Courtney and her husband Matt bought their first house. I am super excited for them and they had their housewarming party this weekend. 

The obligatory man and his grill shot from the cookout.

This is only half the food. Ridiculous.

Their dog Dexter is decidedly a dog model.

The newest addition to their house is this enormous horse dog. 

Internet, meet Yogi. 

He's a 120-ish pound Newfoundland they just adopted in the last week or so that actually is a little malnourished and needs to gain some weight.

He really is the epitome of a gentle giant.  Such a sweet boy.

I mean, how could you not love that face?

That's all folks.

Pretty exciting stuff, huh?

Let there be light

As we have been decorating our master bedroom, I have been on the lookout for a chandelier for the space. In my head, I had imagined a chandelier like these in my inspiration pictures from Pinterest.

Source: None via Kim on Pinterest

Source: blog.urbangrace.com via Kim on Pinterest

 

Source: weheartit.com via Kim on Pinterest

As much as I would love to be able to go to an antique store and buy a crystal chandelier, that just isn't in the cards for us right now so I was thrilled when I found this one for $50 (!!!) at Home Depot online.

It was originally $99.97 It was marked down to $77.00 and I was sold. When I went to check out, I noticed the price in the cart was actually $49.99. I was so excited!

It came in a million pieces, but that's what you get for $50. Jacob put it together Saturday morning before I was even awake, but he says it was time consuming but not hard.

 

I may be obsessed. Just one more. Promise.

Linking up with:

Nightstand Transfomation

I have been busy working on some things around the house, but I wanted to stop in and share one of my projects that went (surprisingly!) without a hitch.

Since we are just starting out, we have a lot of hand me down furniture. I can count on one hand the number of furniture pieces that we actually bought new, so one of my goals this summer was to make all the hand me downs "go" with our house and our style.

One of the most beat up pieces of furniture that we have is a piece that Jacob used to use as a tv stand in college. It is now being used as a nightstand in our guest room (I think it's original purpose in life).

I have been dying to paint it for over a year and I got around to doing it this week.

So here is what the nightstand looked like before

It didn't match a single thing in our house and was in need of a little TLC.

I had most of the supplies in my garage since I had been planning on doing this for some time, but I believe I got everything at our local Lowes and/or Menards. For rags, I cut up one of J's nasty undershirts. (shhh! don't tell him)

I choose to paint the furniture in our guest room Rustoleum's Heirloom White and I really like how it turned out.

It was really easy and went much faster than I had anticipated.

I started off by wiping the nightstand down to make sure it was free from dirt and dust. I then took the shelf out and took off the hardware. Next I applied liquid sander and let it sit for the recommended 10-15 minutes. I choose to do liquid sander because A. it has worked for me in the past B. it's faster and C. it's much less labor intensive.

Next, came the primer. I went with the spray primer because it goes so much faster. While it dried, I went inside and watched something on my DVR. I'm sure it was housewives from somewhere or some other quality programing. Apparently whatever it was, was so thought provoking that I left my camera inside because this is the last in progress shot.

After the primer dried it was finally time to get some paint on this puppy. I know there is a small roller in the supplies picture, but I ended up using a brush to paint on 2 coats of heirloom white.

I also spray painted the knob on the drawer oil rubbed bronze.

After the paint fully dried I used a wipe on polyurethane to finish up. I let it dry for 24 hours before I brought the nightstand back in the house.

So without further ado, here's what the nightstand looks like now.

I know I should probably re-paint that lamp now.

Another item for the to-do list.

Linking up with: