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

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:

Cute Way to Ask Girls to be Bridesmaids

As I said here, my sister is recently engaged! They are planning their wedding for next July, so she recently asked her friends (and me!) to be bridesmaids.

I thought she did it in a really cute way!

She invited us all over to my parent's pool for lunch and a pool party. When we got there she had these babies laying on the lounge chairs.

She bought some white towels with brown trim and added each of our initials in sage fabric paint to match her wedding colors. She then tied a sage bow around the towel and attached a laminated card with this poem on it:

"The day, the dress, 

the bride, the groom,

the joy, the tears,

will all come soon. 

Professing true love,

to my husband to be, 

with family & friends, 

all watching me. 

But there's one more thing

that there needs to be...

and that's to have you 

standing with me!

Will you please be my Matron of Honor (or Bridesmaid)"

Cute, right? I can't wait for their wedding! I'm so happy for her and excited to be her matron of honor. 

P.S. I hate the matron part of that title. Not that I hate being married, but I feel like that makes me sound old. Oh well.

Cheap Thrills

Hi, my name is Kim and I am addicted to Goodwill. (I'm imagining you all saying "Hi Kim" in unison)

I think the reason I love it so much is because it gives me my shopping fix without spending loads of money. Plus it's way more exciting to find "treasures" than to just buy stuff off the shelf at any old store. (Not that I don't enjoy that too.) I just think it's fun to find things that have been thrown away by someone else, that just need a little TLC.

So let's get to the good stuff. Here are some recent find:

This picture makes it look like I'm hoarding candlesticks. I may or may not be. I got each of these candlesticks for between 1.00-1.99. They will all get a fresh coat of spray paint and probably be placed in threes. I know one set is going on the guest room dresser and the other set is still moving to different spots as you read this.

 I love lamp. This is more of an after picture, but I love how these lamps turned out! I forgot to take before pictures (bad blogger), but the top lamp was shiny brass and the bottom pair were a dark wood. All it took was a can of white spray paint and a couple of minutes and I got white lamps! I got each of them for less than $5. The pair lives in our bedroom which you can see here. The single lamp found its home in the guest room.

Ok, I don't know about you, but I HATE spending money on holiday decorations. So I try to look all year long for them. I usually have a rule that I will only buy them if they are the color of the week (half-off) or its a half-off Saturday. Typing that out loud makes me realize how cheap thrifty I can be.

Birds. I don't know why I thought I needed them, but I did. I had been searching for some that I liked  everywhere (not just GW) but these 2 I couldn't pass up for $1.99. They need painted, yes, but they will look good once I'm done with them. Promise. Currently they live on the console table in our living room on a tray.

 

One of my major projects for this summer is organizing all our closets and the pantry. I figured these baskets will come in handy. 

This right here. This is probably one of the finds I am most proud of. $12.00.

If you're still with me, here's how it went down:
I looked and looked and looked for a small dresser for the guest room, but all I could find were tall chests or giant dressers. A couple of Saturdays ago, the hubby and I were running errands on a tight schedule and I saw that it was a 50% off everything sale at Goodwill. Since we were on said tight schedule, J did not want to stop, but I begged and begged and he did. I ran in while he pouted waited in the car and sure enough there were 2 dressers that fit the bill. Fate? I think so.

So when I came back out with a receipt, J was less than thrilled because he knew what that meant. It meant we got to wait in the long line to pick the dresser up around back. Of course, then the dresser didn't fit in the car.

At this point, I think J was about to make me walk home, carrying the dresser. With my good looks and charm though, I convinced him we just had to tie the trunk down and drive carefully. It worked and we are still happily married.

Now I just need to decide: paint or stain? which color? how can I get J to help? Just kidding on the last one...kinda.

Linking up to

Pottery Barn Knock Off

I love Pottery Barn. Plain and simple. I wish I could buy 98.539% of their store at all times. Maybe it's a good thing that we live in in the middle of nowhere. The only time I am ever close to one is when my beloved laptop needs to visit the Apple Store. Why did they put the Apple Store right next door to Pottery Barn????  Ugh.

First world problems, I know.

Wondering where I'm going with this? Me too.

What I am trying to say, in the most roundabout way possible, is that when I took my computer in last week and walked by PB, I remembered a project I wanted to share.

So what's the next best thing to Pottery Barn? Goodwill! I kid, I kid but I do kinda love it.

During a not-so-recent trip to Goodwill I found ugly light fixture for $5.99 that I just had to have. When I brought it home J thought I had gone nuts. This was pre-blog so I don't have any before pictures (sorry!) but it looked a lot like this one, only covered in dust and GW stench:

After J stopped making fun of me, I very kindly let him know that it was nothing a little bit of paint couldn't fix. I recently discovered Rust-Oleum's metallic spray paint in Oil Rubbed Bronze and I knew it would do the trick!

So I took the whole light apart, cleaned it, went to the garage, and got my spray paint on. I did a couple of light coats and kept the paint can moving. After it dried and I put it all back together it looked like this:

Looks pretty close to this, right?

Pottery Barn $269

Great Success! (Imagine a Borat accent)

So while painting the light was a success, the next part of the story was a big fat FAIL. I had planned all along for the light to go in the entry way. J hung it up, we admired it, and I was so proud of myself that I sent my sister this picture.

Notice anything wrong? I didn't.

But my sister, who obviously is more observant, pointed out that the light hangs lower than the door. DUH! How did I not even notice that? So back down it came. At this point it was late so I put it in on our guest room floor to deal with the next day, where it lived for the past 2 months.

This past weekend we finally got around to moving it from the floor to the ceiling!

Not too shabby for $5.99 and a can of spray paint.

Penny likes it too. She says hi.

L

Linking up

DIY Upholstered Headboard with Nailhead Trim

Confession:
 I have been drooling over upholstered headboards for a long time. I often virtually visit this one from West Elm for $449

 And this one from Restoration Hardware for $1120

But I don't have that kind of money just laying around.

So after seeing how many other people in blog world had made their own, I decided to give it a go...anddd it turned out way better than I thought it would! I followed this tutorial from Centsational Girl pretty much to a T.

I started by rounding up all the supplies:
1/2 inch piece of plywood that I had cut at Lowe's to the size I needed- $15
1 package of batting (I bought the queen size)- $9
1/2 inch foam (I got it on sale at Joann's)- $10
Staple Gun- borrowed
Staples- already had
Pliers- already had
Hammer in a sock- had it
Jigsaw- borrowed
D-rings- had it
Drill- had it
Fabric (I used 2 yards)- $30
Nailhead Trim Kit (French Natural) from Beacon Fabrics- $20

So that is just 84 beans for our headboard! We were much happier about that price tag and we actually had fun making it.

So here's what we did:

After I got the plywood cut at Lowe's, I took it over to my parents to borrow their jigsaw to cut the curves out of the top. As I had secretly hoped, my Dad cut the curves for me.

Next I cut the 1/2 inch foam to completely cover the plywood.

I didn't bother using any adhesive to hold it down. I just wrapped and stapled the batting tightly around the foam and plywood to hold it in place.

Next came the fabric which we attached with a staple gun.We probably should have trimmed it and made it look pretty on the back, but we are lazy and who is ever going to see it?

We then put D-rings on the back to hold it on the wall and waited for the Nailhead Trim Kit to come in the mail.

 I highly highly recommend getting the kit instead of trying to put in individual nailheads. I know I would never in a million years get it straight. We had a hard enough time with the kit where there is a strip of nailheads and you only have to put in every 5th one.

 

 

 Be super careful because the trim is sharp! J sliced his hand open. Men...

We bought a rubber mallet like the tutorial we used said to. I had a hard time getting the nails in with this. I don't know if it was the mallet or the user but the nails kept bending instead of going into the plywood. I had much more success when I wrapped a regular hammer in a sock. The sock was to keep the hammer from scratching the nail trim. Once we switched hammers it was so easy to do!

And that was it! It really was as easy as it sounds and I love it!

Now it's time for me to Ooh and Ahhh over the fact that this project actually turned out exactly as I had planned. Please excuse the iPhone quality pictures.

 

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