Friday, March 1, 2013

Dresser - before and after ( bedroom update )

Good morning - TGIF - seriously LOL - a before and after dresser and far far too many hyperlinks of which you do not have to click on any of them................

Ok - let's see now - I've shown you the bed HERE
I've shown you the little bench John made HERE
I've shown you partial glimpses of the floor HERE

Now I'm ready to show you the dresser - if you remember this was a steal I had found on Craig's list - the whole set for 25.00 ( if you missed that post you can find it HERE  ( a lot of hyper links, I know lol )

Here's the before in all of it's Hepplewhite Glory!!!


Beautiful lines - beautiful bowed drawers - beautiful handles - but needing some love most desperately -
And so I painted loved her -
Until she looked like this

Hepplewhite, furniture, before and after, white,

Painted, furniture,dresser, hepplewhite, white

I kept it pristine because I didn't want the entire room " shabby " - with the white floor - and the shabby bench it would have ended up looking too " forced " in my humble opinion...............had I gone with a soft blue I could have gotten away with shabbifying it ( my word ) but I wanted everything in this dark cavernous room to be WHITE.  I used Rust-o-leum Painters Touch - it took about half a quart - in white high gloss - water based.

I had 2 identical tall mirrors that seem to end up on every dresser I change to actually - I put them side by side and they fit the width to a " T "


Then I had to move the John Denver art work I did - you can see that HERE ( sorry but someone may have missed one of these posts - and it's very important that everyone see everything I do lol ) to paint the other side of the floor - and just propped it up on the dresser in the mean time - AND I kind of like it there!
I hung one of the drop cloth wreaths - should I link it - nah - okay - you can find the tutorial HERE

Pallet Board, art, John Denver,

I have other mirrors in the room - so may leave it like this for a little bit -

Remember when I discovered a way to get a Patina on the handles? ( the last time I promise - but you can find that post HERE ) well I embellished them a little - until I came up with this ( and took away the whole look I was going for - so they may very well all be painted black in the near future ) sometimes your " vision " works - sometimes it doesn't - but you don't know unless you try, right?  And anything can be fixed!


my little reminders of Paris made their way on to the dresser of course - which I mostly decorated with white


I painted that Eiffel Tower white last year - it used to be a bronze color


my Keep Calm and Carry On miniature - that I printed and framed in this little glitzy frame I found at Home Sense.............and I don't care if it's out of vogue now - I still love it - and since John hails from Across the Pond, it seems fitting, right?

and the room is almost done - I'm trying my best do a full reveal on Monday - but the floor had to be
done in 3 sections - not fun - and then each section takes 3 coats of paint - and 3 coats of polyurethane, so it's been pretty time consuming when you factor in drying time.................

Hepplewhite, dresser, painted, white,



Have a great weekend everyone - another little glimpse of the floor perhaps?
Can't help myself - I'm in love with it ( hope the love affair lasts a little longer than usual in this case )

floors, white, painted

and that's all for now - I've also painted a ladder white - revamped and painted Soda's dog bed ( she seemed to be getting jealous that our bed got a make over - and I tried to explain to her that our bed was her bed but she pouted none the less ) and I did some artwork.................

Thanks so much for the feature - it's such a thrill!
Classy Clutter

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Miss Mustard Seed

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

If he were a Carpenter

Thanks so much to Rooted in Thyme for the feature!!!

Hi Everyone!
Remember this pile of pallet wood I was supposed to make my son artwork from?


Well Mama got greedy - and decided to use it for herself ( don't worry Gordie - I promise I'll make you something - scout's honor - just not THIS week )

Well progress in the bedroom continues -
We have a very small master - very very small - so everything has to be stragically placed to optimize space.
I've always liked having a bench at the foot of the bed - but just couldn't make it work in this house - without walking around with black and blue legs from smashing into it constantly.
After walking by this pallet wood for a few days, an idea started forming in my head - what if we ( I use "we" very loosely in this case ) could make a custom piece - very narrow - but still a BENCH???

Suzan says - John, do you think you could make me a bench for the foot of the bed?
John says - No Suzan, I cannot, I'm not a carpenter
Suzan says - How hard can it be to do?
John says - Very hard - if you've never done it before,
Suzan says - Oh but it's nothing really - just a few planks of wood - and some more wood for legs - there's nothing to it really
John says - So you make one
Suzan says - I'VE PAINTED THE FLOOR - I'VE PAINTED OUT FURNITURE - CAN'T YOU JUST SAW UP A COUPLE OF PIECES OF WOOD?
John says - Listen to me carefully, I'M NOT A CARPENTER
Suzan says - But it doesn't TAKE a carpenter to make a little bitty bench -
Suzan says - AND it doesn't have to be functional - it's not to actually sit on
John says - Well what the hell is the point then?  Just to look at ?
Suzan says - Yes - just to look at, it would make my heart so happy just to have a little bench to LOOK at.

That night John started working on one -
Look what he made!!!
Keep in mind he has never built anything before - EVER.

Pallet board, DIY, Bench, White wash

It's rustic - and shabby - and perfectly imperfect - and fits exactly how I thought it would.


bench, pallet boards, white washed,

Oh oh, there's some space beneath the bench - can't have any of that!
( remember, small room, have to utilize every square inch )

Does anyone remember this? ( if not you can find it HERE )
It was an old wooden crate that I picked up for 5.00 last summer - I painted it white and stencilled it AND

DIY, Parisien address, storage box, white washed

it fits under the bench like it was meant to be there - and gives me more storage

Bench, diy, pallet wood, white,

I love that I have somewhere to place a few books


I dry brushed it white - with a little blue here and there - and for 5 dollars I have a bench and storage!


Suzan says - Do you think you could build me a little bookshelf
John says - Relax. I think you're overestimating my abilities here.
John says - And whatever you do - DON'T SIT ON THAT BENCH.................
John says - I TOLD you, I'm not a carpenter
Suzan says - Oh but John, I beg to differ.......................

DIY, Bench, white, pallet wood,

Oh yes, you're a carpenter


( and I am his lady)
At this rate maybe I'll get him to build us a house....................
I mean how hard can it be to do?

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