I'm at Dream Book Design Today

Happy Tuesday!

The lovely Adri from Dream Book Design has asked me to answer a few questions as her guest today for her Arizona bloggers week. She writes a fantastic blog full of awesome design inspiration. I didn't know Adri lived 20 minutes from me until she asked me to be her guest, how cool is that?  Thank you so much, Adri!

Shabby French Armoire

One more piece is out of the garage! I see a light at the end of the tunnel :)

This one was taking up a lot of space so I was motivated to finish it quickly.

I remembered a before shot after I had already dismantled everything.

The finish was very worn, and some white paint livened it up. 

 I took dozens of pictures of this "pose" using all different settings and not one of them came out very clear.

 I love the feet.

 And all the curvy details.

 After cleaning the original hardware, I spritzed them with satin nickel and then took steel wool to them to age them before spraying on a clear sealer.

 The flip down drawer is a great feature for media storage.

It would be so cute in a baby's room, though!

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Mom's Laundry Room Makeover, Part 1

I hope everyone had a great time celebrating Mother's Day!

We did things a little different this year, and gave Mom our sweat equity 

to show her our love and appreciation for all she has done for us.

She and Dad recently moved into a new house, and she's been making it a home.

She wanted her laundry room to look clean and cheerful, so that's what we gave her!

Here is what it looked like before - I remembered the picture after taking the cabinet doors down. 

They were your garden variety of oak.

 I brought the doors and drawers home to spray them, 

then came back before the weekend to finish up the casings.

 

Boo kept me company while I worked.

 

That's my brother, Ryan. When he's not out saving lives or fighting fires he's an in-demand handy man because he is a perfectionist and knows his stuff! We made a great team. While we painted, my sister and Ryan's wife helped my Mom take pictures of stuff and listed them on CL for her. 

A very productive Mother's Day!

 My Dad took down the builder shelf above the washer/dryer because they will inherit my laundry stand when I move, which will hide that white thing in the back. I am really going to miss that stand!

All that is left is for Mom to pull it all together by adding black and white accents to the walls, and then take down the fluorescent lighting and add a cute chandelier.

Mom said it was her best Mother's Day ever!

Colors used:

SW Roman Column for cabinets

SW Ryegrass for walls

The "Sausha" Cabinet

Before you go any further, I must warn you.

I  just painted over perfectly good wood.

Yesireebob.

And I am aware that it breaks a rule somewhere, so if you need to look away, by all means please do!

My buddy Sausha from {Show & Tell} LOVES chippy paint, and her love for this finish inspired me to go ahead and try it on something. We share ideas with each other a lot over email because we're dorky like that and could talk finishing techniques all the live long day while our pieces are drying in the garage.

(Sorry, Sausha, I don't really think you're a dork like me.)

Last week she introduced me to cabinet scrapers, and I picked some up yesterday for this t.v. cabinet.

 

Ready?

I think it's so cute!  I will definitely be doing another like it in the future, 

even if it means I have to break that rule again, he he.

I'm determined to finish all unfinished furniture in the garage before we move. Stay tuned!

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More Changes and a Small Dresser for Trudi

Hi there! Remember me? 

I haven't been blogging much because I haven't had anything interesting to share these days. 

Kevin and I are in the middle of big decisions, and have decided to downsize and move to a more affordable location, and very close to my parents, and my brother and his wife. It was a major decision, but one we feel good about. The kids will have to go to new schools, which is a bummer, but we will all adjust to the changes that downsizing and living in a new part of town brings! We opened escrow yesterday on a house that we see ourselves calling home. Unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to find a home for sale that is not a short sale, so it may be a while before we hear whether or not the bank approves it.

In the meantime, I made over this chest for a coworker of mine. She's had it for a while and wanted to re-purpose it and use it as bedside chest. She wanted it black, but told me to do whatever I thought was best with the hardware and the distressing.

 I couldn't resist staging it with one of our wedding photos because I've been awfully sentimental lately :)

 

I couldn't decide what to do for the hardware until I saw these knobs someone used on a dresser in the vast sea of blogs out there. So, I made a trip to HL and lucked out that it was 1/2 off knob week!

 

So, that's what's been happening over here. 

I've had some emails asking how Robin is doing. She is as upbeat and positive as ever! But, the chemo is very rough and she gets her nutrition intravenously due to the bowel obstruction. She has a huge support system that are taking care of everything so she can focus on her family and her treatment. Thank you for your continued prayers!

Changes

So do you remember this playroom?

 

We converted it to a guest room for my sister. We didn't know how long her stay would be, but she was welcome here as long as she needed, and I wanted her room to be pretty and cozy. I sifted through, donated, and relocated the toys, and my sweet friend Karen helped me for hours removing the wallpaper:

The room went from this:

 

To this

(That's my little shadow in the doorway):

 

And this:

 

To this:

But now it looks like this:

We miss Erika so much, but she had a roommate offer she couldn't refuse. The girls loved helping her choose her jewelry and shoes every morning before work. I already miss our talks over red and snuggling up to our favorite shows in her room. Now we are in the process of making this space a game and exercise room. That is the $25 treadmill I found at a garage sale, and the bike I've had for 12 years that I still love. I'll be searching CL for a dresser that I can refinish for under the t.v., and a used couch that I may need to tackle the art of slipcovering for (after learning a custom slipcover is $800). More later :) Love you sis...

A Classic White Dresser

To all who left comments on this dresser I am so appreciative of your helpful advice. 

I had serious painter's block, and your suggestions got my 'ol brain working again.

Here is what this dresser looked like before. The wood top couldn't be saved because I had to remove a lot of veneer that had water damage and had bubbled. So, the entire thing had to be painted.

 

This is the infamous picture of the paint job gone wrong. 

I mean, seriously, it looked like a circus (mmmm frosted animal cookies)...

Since there is so much going on with this dresser with all the details, I decided on a simple cream. I think it would have been beautiful in a silvery gray, but I wanted to use what I had on hand.

 It was just too prissy to age it, and I like how the creamy white lets the details speak for themselves.

 I don't have a color name because I mixed the white myself. 

I saved some to have it matched in the future because I really like it.

 Luckily the dresser still had all the original hardware. 

I just gave them a light mist of satin nickel to make them look like pewter.

 All I have left to do is line the drawers with some fabric and she's ready for the ball!

Truly, thanks again for all your awesome suggestions.

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