My Buffet

I have a couple of touch-ups to do, but other than that – my buffet is done! Now I just need to buy some white candles. :)

Before:

After:

Painting furniture is actually really easy. I have been painting furniture since I was a kid (Yes, seriously. I could never decide what color or pattern my dresser should be – so paint became my friend at an early age).

The Process
My best tip is to find furniture that is structurally in good condition, and the rest can be altered easily. I do a light sanding on whatever I'm painting (just rough it up), and then a thorough sanding to the top of the piece (that's the area that usually receives the most wear). Once all the sand dust is off your furniture – paint away.

I'm a no primer and no oil-based paint kind of girl myself. Oil-based paint definitely has it place, especially when painting tile, but other than that I would prefer something less smelly. Plus, latex is just so much easier to work with. Primer also does have it's place. I would recommend using primer if you are going from black to white (or any other extreme changes), because it will save you time in the end.

Paint anywhere you have to use a small brush first, then do whatever rolling is needed. Doing it the other way, can start altering your rolling pattern and look sloppy.

Paint
For the buffet, I used Glidden's Black Onyx. This is the first time I've used Glidden, and I thought it covered wonderfully. My best tip for picking paint is to keep it all the same. No matter how many coats you do, at some point paint will chip – and you want to know exactly what you used, so you can just do touch ups, and not an entire new coat. This also makes it easier, when you find additional things to paint. That way there's no confusion later on. Everything that is black is just one color.

Finish
There really isn't a wrong answer for what type of finish to use. I personally perfer satin, because that's the shine most store-bought furniture has.

Wine Art

I thought some modern wine art would work in the dining room. I've been looking around online, and have been thoroughly impressed with the wine designs involving calligraphy.









I absolutely adore the Drink Wine print.

Being a graphic designer, I figure I should be able to do something. I'm not done with my idea yet, but here is what I have so far. I think I like the direction it's going.

My First Furniture Flip

With all moving craziness, I have been too busy for garage sales this summer. My coping for this was reading Britt's weekly entry on her garage sale finds.

Two weeks ago though, I was finally able to hit up some garage sales! While I didn't find anything for myself, I found 2 deals that were too good to pass up. I bought a coffee table and lingerie dresser for $10 each. My plan was to update them and resale them on Craigslist.

Well, I posted my first of the "furniture flips" tonight on Craigslist, and someone is coming to pick up the coffee table Wednesday morning. This was a super easy way to make a little money.

Before:

After:

Weekend Update

Seriously, after this weekend, I want a nap. I am exhausted, and yet I know that come tomorrow after work, I will somehow keep on going. Get ready for photos galore, and more should be coming tomorrow night.

What I Bought
I got this awesome buffet off Craigslist for $85. I can't wait to finish this piece.

The Living Room
I was just not a fan of the living room color. I was basically on countdown for the sofa to arrive, so I could color match. It was just this weird light green – it was no good.

Before:

After (with my fabulous new lamps):

The Dining Room
And since I painted the living room, why not add the dining room to the weekend agenda.

Before:

After (with a sneak peak of my Craigslist goodie):

The sofa has arrived!

I love it! It is exactly what I was wanting. I can't wait to start painting the living and dining rooms this weekend.

The one weird thing about the sofa though is that although it is gray, it photographs lavender. But I do promise you, I don't own a lavender couch.

Butt Shot

This is seriously what my dogs do all day once I'm home.

Master bedroom

It's not done, but it's good the for moment. I'm loving how it's coming along.


Bed and nightstands: Ashley Furniture; bedding: Crate & Barrel; throw pillows: Target; dresser: Craigslist; lamps; Craigslist; mirror: Hobby Lobby; dog art: DIY.

Guest Bedroom: Part 2 and 3

The nightstands are finally finished. They sucked to paint, but it was definitely worth it.

Before and After:


And more importantly, the duvet! I picked it up yesterday with the 10% discount. I absolutely love it. I'm kind of sad not to be working on the guest bedroom anymore, because there's so much I still want to do to it (upgrade to queen-size bed, make a fabric headboard, etc), but with the living room sofa coming on Thursday, that will be my new room of focus.

The duvet:

!!!

The sofa is in! It's being delivered on Thursday. I'm so excited to have my living room finally coming together.

Hallway Photos

I wanted to display photos in the upstairs hallway, but I wanted it done in a modern way. I think so many photo displays have that shabby chic "everything is everywhere" look, and that's fine, but I wanted something with clean lines, without the overall pattern becoming a perfect rectangle or square.

I found exactly what I was looking for in a Martha Stewart Living magazine. While I think she is great, I have never had the desire to copy anything she's done until now. This hallway she did is amazing – I love the solid line going all the way through it.

So last night, after buying a couple more black frames and editing all my photos to black and white, I worked out my game plan.

Once I was done, Brent did all the measurements and hung the photos.

I love the way my hallway looks. The is exactly what I was wanting.

Guest Bedroom: Part 1

This room could possibly be a work in progress for quite some time. There are so many plans that Brent and I have for this room, but we are taking it one paycheck at a time. And currently, those paychecks are being spent in other rooms. I am buying the West Elm duvet cover tomorrow, but that's the last big purchase this room will see for awhile.

For now, it's all about the cheap projects, project #1 is easy and free – painting furniture. The original dresser and nightstands were black, and while I'm fine with black basically everywhere else in the house – I thought it was too dark with the room color, especially since it's in the basement. I thought painting everything white would give the furniture a nice pop.

Dresser before and after:



My goal for the weekend is to finish the nightstands along with paint my garage sale finds from this morning (a post on that to come later).

Dog Bed Approved

After Tuesday's massacre, new beds have been bought (thank you Gordmans), and Chip approves.

Books #72, 73 and 74

#72 – "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" by J.K. Rowling
I thought the series was okay, until I read this book. Now I finally understand how people can reread the series over and over again. Every question I ever had was answered. It was an amazing wrap-up to the series.

#73 – "Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper" by Diablo Cody
If you want a quick read – here's your book. It's mindless entertainment, and you get some insight it the adult entertainment world as well.

#74 – "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
I LOVED this book. If you have not read "Hunger Games" yet – do it now, and then read this sequel. It was incredible. I'm now impatiently waiting for book #3. It's going to do a long wait. :(

The next item to save for

Is it bad that I haven't even bought the duvet cover, and already have a new item in sight? My logic is I'm making the duvet cover happen, so I can make 2 of these table lamps happen as well (and the fact that my birthday is next week, can't hurt).

These lamps would be fabulous in my living room – they are the exact modern-glam look I am going for.

Plus everything in Z Gallerie is currently 20% off, and I found a long-lost giftcard from there that's still good.

Looks Like Somebody Gets a New Bed

My parent's Westie, Toby, was over today while their house is being painted – and let's just say he was a busy boy. I came home to find Macintosh's dog bed upside down in the bedroom doorway with foam everywhere.


Looks like Macintosh is getting a new dog bed. Well, after my parent's house is done being painted and beds are safe from Toby.

Chip's bed will be in a safe place tomorrow.

Woohoo!

It's fate – the duvet will be mine on Saturday. I just received an email for 10% off any West Elm purchases made on Saturday, if I attend their 2-hour design seminar that morning. Done.

The duvet and shams will come to about $140, but then when you factor...
- $14 off for 10% discount
- $25 from freelance map
- $5 from Valspar paint rebate (Brent, I told you it would come in handy)
- $60 from selling the wall art and unused sofa table on Craigslist

I will only have about $40 to pay. Nice!

A modern Hollywood Glam

Because of the amazing mirror art above the mantle:

Craigslist Mania

I've sold quite a few items on Craigslist, but I've never received the email enthusiasm, as I am for this item. I'm already on my 15th email.

I've also listed a sofa table, that just doesn't fit anywhere in this house. It's also being picked up tonight.

I love making money for decluttering. :)

Saving? What's that?

I know I'm supposed to be saving money for my fabulous duvet cover for the guest bedroom, but anyone who knows me knows I have a weakness for Craigslist and the amazing deals it offers.

I found this wonderful buffet for the dining room on there tonight for $30.


With some black paint, this piece will be transformed. Hopefully I'll hear good news from the seller about the piece still being available.

Update: Boo! It's already been sold. Oh well, it's better to focus on the fabulous duvet anyway.

My new crush

I think this duvet cover is amazing. I totally want one for the guest bedroom.

I know, keep dreaming, right?

Update as of Sunday: I'm now selling things on Craigslist, so I can buy this. Just a slight obsession.

Flip It!

I love items that have multiple functions and looks. That's why when I saw this bookcase from Crate & Barrel, I knew I had to get it. In the old office, I had it as a bookcase – in the new office, I switched it up and have it console style. It looks like a completely different piece of furniture!

Before:

After:

Panel Love

I am so happy I didn't cheap out on panels I didn't truly love. Finding a more pricey fabric and then getting them custom-made, was more than worth it. Plus, the lady I used to do them was beyond reasonable priced.

My Favorite Painting Supply

While I somewhat enjoy painting, I hate cleaning up. I have mad skill when it comes to letting paint brushes dry up to the point where I have to throw them out.

That's why this SHUR-LINE Teflon tray is my paint-supply soulmate. You're supposed to just leave the paint on it. Then, once it's dry the next day, the paint peels right off. This thing is a miracle.

A Day of Organization

One thing I can't stand are messy drawers, closets or cabinets. I have spent many Sundays in my childhood organizing my closet or desk. I find the concept of organizing to be very calming.

So it's only natural that I started my organization process (even though I'm no where close to unpacked).

For the Socks
I have too many socks to keep track of, so I love these sock organizers from The Container Store. This things take up little room, yet each divider holds about 10 dress socks. And yes, I do realize that I have a lot of argyle socks.




Jewelry Organizer on the Cheap
I just can't do jewel boxes. There are not enough little compartments for me, and all my necklaces get tangled – it's just no good. My favorite thing very jewelry organization is ice cube trays. These things are amazing and cheap. I have one drawer for all my bracelets and necklaces, and another drawers with my earrings. It is my favorite thing ever and it basically costs nothing.

Full Bath Progress

Well, it's not 100% done, but it's done for now. Here it is:

Before (previous owner):

After:

The wall color is Behr's Grass Cloth.

Close Ups:

The "before" hinges crack me up – it looks like they have little wings on them. I have the same hinges in the half bath – I can't wait to get rid of them.

Photos galore

What Brent and I have been up to, photo-style.

The Mess of Boxes
While there is still a lot of box madness, it's nowhere to where it was.


Contact Paper is Evil
It's official – I hate contact paper. I just lack the coordination to not have the contact paper end up all stuck together. Thankfully, my mom did the majority of it.

While I never want to see contact paper again, I am so happy I did it. The paper in there was hunter green (shocker), and it was just way too dark.


Towel Happiness
I still don't understand how the previous owners survived without towel rods in their bathroom, but this honey-do was on the top of the list.


I bought another hand towel holder to replace the nasty plastic one in the hall bath, but that bathroom is a whole other story (hopefully that bathroom will be finished tomorrow).

Goodbye Cookie Monster
I love that I have 2 hall closets in my entryway, but I hated the "cookie monster" carpet they were sporting. Fortunately, there was hardwood underneath. While the hardwood isn't in the best condition, it's still a wonderful improvement. My battle wounds from tearing out the carpet were totally worth it.



Kitchen Organization
While I'm thrilled to have a pantry, my issue is that it's long and narrow. I had a similar issue in the Fairway house, and I would end up buying food I already had because it would get lost in the back on the cabinet and I'd never see it again.

My solution to this are these cool cabinet drawers. And I thought for $20 each, it was totally worth it. I'm so excited to be able to find my food easily. :)