Nursery Update - Another Craigslist Dresser

Hello, all! I hope everyone is getting to enjoy some fantastic early spring weather like we are here in North Dakota! We went to a St. Patrick's Day parade yesterday and it was almost 80 degrees! Who would have ever thought that you'd be able to wear shorts and a tank top on St. Patrick's Day in ND?

Anyway, we're plugging away on the nursery and this is our most recent project.

I love this solid wood (no particleboard or veneer!) mid-century dresser and at just $60, it was a steal! The top was in sort of bad shape, with some water spots, stains and dents so I went back and forth on what to do with it. I loved the look of this dresser from aDESIGNdock.

I love the darker wood drawer fronts and the contrast with the white shell. This is such a fantastic look but the dresser is going against a cream colored wall and I just didn't feel like it would look right. We decided that since it was solid wood, sanding and staining was the way to go. So...I put my husband to work :-)

My next decision was what to do with the bare wood. (Man, decisions are TOUGH!) I had three options in mind. First, a clear coat just to seal it. The color would have been super close to the crib but the contrast against the cream colored wall wouldn't have really been there. My second thought was a simple, natural colored stain and my third was a beautiful, deep walnut color.

I ended up going with the natural stain.

I'm super happy with my choice. I love the little bit of color and if we decide to go darker in the future, we can easily do that.

So, that's just a tease. You'll have to wait until the room is totally done to see the finished project :-)

As far as updates go, here are a few more. I finally got the chevron curtain fabric and blackout liner and plan on sewing them up today. While I was at it, I picked up a yard of this Dwell Studio fabric for some accents.

I also have a couple updates on the baby. My c-section is scheduled for April 23rd so unless he decides he wants to come early, that's his birthday! Speaking of him deciding to come early, I guess he's big. He's measuring a couple weeks ahead so I have another ultrasound scheduled for March 27th to get an idea just how big he is. Who knows, maybe he'll be here sooner! I guess that means we still have a lot to do!

How is everyone doing? Are you taking advantage of the fantastic weather? What are you working on right now?

Grosgrain Ribbon "Matting"

Hello all! I'm so excited to show you my favorite element (so far) of the nursery. I showed you back here the prints I bought from etsy. I'm super happy with them but I bought them in 11x14 and my cheapo frames from IKEA were just slightly bigger than that. I had to come up with a solution to hide that fact.

Here you can see at the bottom of the frame where I had a little space. It was like this at the top as well. I also didn't like that you could see the outline around the edge of print.

Close up :-)

I used an orange grosgrain ribbon to conceal the problem areas and to add a little punch of color.

I cut four strips of ribbon so it would be just slightly longer and poke out the back. I laid it right up against the glass of the frame and put the print over (or I guess, technically, "behind") it. I put the backing on the frame just like I normally would and used the little tabs of ribbon to adjust the placement so it was just right. I trimmed the excess and voila:

 

I'm loving the extra bit of color this adds and they're going to look fantastic against the gorgeous blue wall.

 

We've got the blue wall painted and the crib is up. I've been posting some progress pics on my Facebook. I'm going to order the fabric for the curtains this weekend but want to find a fantastic coordinating fabric to use as an accent so I can order them all at the same time.

So, does anyone have any ideas for a great fabric to coordinate with green and white zig zag?

2011 Wrap Up

Hello friends! 2011 has been a big year and I can't wait to share with you some of my favorite posts and happenings.

My five most popular posts this year have been:

#5

Easy DIY Art

I love these in my bedroom. The cream color adds some much needed light to the space!

#4

Another Waverly Fabric SCORE!

I paid $14 for 2.75 yards of this gorgeous Sun N Shade fabric and am planning on finishing up my deck project this summer. Here are the fabrics I'll be using.

#3

Downstairs Bathroom - DONE!

This summer I did a mini re-do of my downstairs bathroom. It was just the freshening up I needed...and SO simple! I've since added a DIY Sunburst Mirror to the spot next to the mirror. It's the perfect finishing touch!

#2

Craigslist Dresser...Done?

This was another one of those never ending projects. I had so many problems with the paint bubbling up and I spent so much time sanding and re-sanding. In the end, it was worth it! This is the perfect storage solution for DVDs, diapers and wipes, toys...I love it! I do still need to buy the hardware I've got picked out but I'm having a difficult time getting myself to spend the money. The knobs and pulls are $5 each and I know that doesn't sound like much but that's $60 total and I just don't want to take it out of my budget. I am planning on a re-do of this whole space sometime this year so when I begin that, I'll buy my knobs :)

#1

New Reading Bench

This was by far my most popular post this year and one of my favorite projects. This goes to show you what a little bit of elbow grease can do. I bought the bench for $20 on Craigslist, pulled off some nasty upholstry and padding, repainted and reupholstered it. For a $30 total investment, I have a fun new piece of furniture and a great addition to my little girl's room.

So, those were my most popular posts of 2011. I want to share a few of my personal favorites.

#3

Valentine Wrap-Up

I loved the Valentine's Day crafts I did this year and I smiled every time I looked at them. I can't wait to get them back up and to do even more this year :)

#2

Owl Love You... (Before & After)

I love this little guy. He just makes me happy :)

#1

Lattice Entertain You...

These are my absolute favorite project from this past year. I fell in love with the fabric and got an awesome deal when I found it in the clearance bin at Joann. Unfortunately, I only had enough for one window. I hunted and hunted for this online but this color isn't made anymore. (It's Waverly Lovely Lattice in mocha. They do make this in the Sun N Shade fabric but I had the 100% cotton and needed the same to match up to what I already had.) Finally, I tripped over a store that had this online.

I love everything about this fabric. The weight, color and pattern are perfect and the curtains are perfect for my living/dining area. Almost every time I look at them, I can't believe how lucky I was to find that second five yards :)

2012 is going to be a busy year for me too. I've got a monster list of projects and to-dos that I'm planning on posting soon. Included in that list will be converting my guest room/office into a nursery for a baby boy coming in April. That's my biggest DIY project planned for 2012. (The baby, not the room!)

I've had so much fun looking back on 2011 and it's inspired me to forge ahead in the coming year. I've loved all the friendships that have developed through this blog and all the support I've received. Thank you ALL for making it wonderful :)

Linking up to:

Adirondack Chair Before & After

Remember here where I showed you the awesome deal I got on these Adirondack chairs? Well, I went ahead and gave them a simple makeover.

These chairs were SO faded...they just soaked up the paint. I ended up putting four coats on!

Anyhow, they turned out great! I love the crisp navy blue color.

They're a great addition and a nice lounge area for the deck. At $2.00 for the chairs and ottomans and about $20.00 for the paint, they're a great deal!

On another note, we finally started staining! (Yes, that is a different furniture set up there. I'll tell you about that another time!)

Linking up to:

Miss Mustard Seed

Thrifty Decor Chick

DIY Flush-Mount Drum Shade

Hello! First, I want to apologize for my extended absence. This has been a crazy busy Summer and although I've gotten a couple projects done, I haven't had time to actually blog them. I will be better. I promise :)  Second, I want to welcome my new followers! I'm looking forward to sharing lots of projects with all of you :)

Raise your hand if you've got these generic, builder-grade (I call them boob lights) light fixtures in your home...don't be shy! I know they're pretty standard and it's so easy to overlook them when you're focusing on other design aspects of a room. I'm here to tell you that you can prettify your lighting in LESS THAN five minutes WITHOUT having to do any wiring! Yes we can!

With a simple drum shade from Target, a nipple, coupling and a cross bar, I've updated my light fixture.

First, remove the finial at the bottom of the glass shade and slide the whole thing off.

Then, use a nipple and a coupler until it's long enough to reach the part of the shade that sits on the socket (I know, I'm not very technical here.) and add your crossbar to hold the shade up. I put the finial back on the bottom of the nipple just to make it look a little nicer.

I still need to get something to use as a diffuser to cover the bottom but haven't really decided what to do yet. I considered a light-colored, thin fabric but am a little concerned about heat build up in the light. Because the shade fits snug against the top of the light there isn't really air flow. I'm thinking I'm going to have a piece of glass or fiberglass cut so there is an inch or so around the edges but it can still be held on snugly by the finial. I just haven't had time to get that done yet. For now, it doesn't look horrible unless you're looking straight up into the light.

I really love the end result and can't believe how it makes the ceiling in this room look so much taller! I think I'm going to have to replace a couple more of these in my house :)

I've got a few more posts in the works for this week. I promise that from now on I'll be better! I'm really looking forward to fall and all the fun projects that come along with it!

Linking up to:

Not Just A Housewife

Dittle Dattle

DIY Mirror Frame

Hello! I was so flattered by the comments I got about my bathroom re-do and I'm so excited to show you how I fixed up the builder grade bathroom mirror. I know so many of us have those and don't know what to do with them. I got the idea from Mirror Mate, a company that sells custom frames for boring mirrors. While they're great, I just didn't want to spend much money.

I started with my boring, plain, builder grade mirror.

I picked out some decorative trim from Home Depot. I decided to stick with something narrow since this isn't a very big mirror to begin with and I didn't want to take up too much of the mirror surface.

I cut the trim, angling the corners, using a miter saw...

...and notched out the back where the frame was going to go over the clips holding the mirror in place.

I painted the frame yellow with just a standard spray paint. and bought these Command poster hanging strips. I considered getting the picture hanging strips but this trim is so light weight and I wanted it to sit as flush against the mirror as possible. This line of products from Command is awesome! I use them on everything!

I just adhered the individual pieces of trim to the mirror...

...and there you have it! All in all this project cost less than $20 - $15 for the trim and $3 for the paint. It took less than an hour in work time. Not bad for something that makes such a big impact!

Next, I'll be working on my master bath mirror. I'm thinking about a somewhat different treatment for that one though. I'm still working out the logistics but I can tell you, it's going to be GREAT!

I finally was able to get a short enough break in the humidity to get my sunburst mirrors painted. I'll be posting them within the next few days :)

What kind of changes have you made that took so little but made a huge impact?

Craigslist Dresser...Done?

Hello, all! I hope everyone had a great weekend. Mine was pretty mellow...I started working on a couple sunburst mirrors. I would be done but it was SO hot and humid, I didn't want to go outside to paint them. So, hopefully today after work I will be able to get those done!

Today I'm going to show you a peek at my downstairs family room. This room is BAD. Disgusting. It has been severely neglected since we moved in to this house a year and a half ago. My husband and I can't agree on a direction for this room to take. We've got two of his outdoorsy, sportsman type pictures hanging down here and as much as I hate them, I feel like I need to give him some input. I told him that we can put his autographed baseballs and bat down here somewhere (because I flat-out refuse to put them in the bedroom, where he really wants them!) but I don't know how to mix his sports memorabilia with the outdoorsman type stuff. I swear that one of these days I will figure it out. It's at the top of my to-do list!

Anyway, here is the TV wall. We used to have an entertainment armoire here but it just seemed too heavy for the space. In the interim, we've been using this old farmhouse table that I used to use for my desk.

Look at all that clutter! It drives me so crazy. Luckily, I spend so little time down here that I don't need to see it constantly. I realized that we needed a solution for storage so I was on the hunt for a dresser I could use as a media stand.

Enter my $35 Craigslist dresser...

I loved the faux bamboo trim on here. It's also huge and heavy. It is going to provide so much storage!

I sanded...

...and primed.

...and had issues with the paint bubbling, chronicled here. I really was exasperated and had to fight to keep myself from giving up.

Well, after sanding and re sanding a few (10?) times, I finally got it looking pretty!

I've still got a lot of work to do in this room. It's a work in process :)

I still need to get some new hardware for it. The dresser was missing one of the original pulls. Unfortunately, there is no way I'll be able to find a match because they are so unique, so I'm on the hunt for new ones. I'm thinking some polished chrome would look really pretty on there.

I have some posts in process for this week and like I mentioned earlier, I'm really hoping to get those sunburst mirrors done. So, my question for today is...what have you found on Craigslist?

Linking up to:

Thrifty Decor Chick

Not JUST A Housewife

Miss Mustard Seed