A Little Love for the Bathroom

Happy Halloween!!  Hope everyone gets lots of candy!  Especially me my kids! 

Well, Thanksgiving is right around the corner and we are having all hubby's family here for the holiday.  Yeah!  So I have started to think about all the things I need to get done around the house, starting with...redoing the bathroom cabinets!  We can't have family come and see these can we??

This is not the setup I REALLY want, but it will have to do for the next few year since the total redo I want is not in the current budget.  A $3 can of sample paint in the same color as our blue kitchen chairs and six 50% off Hobby Lobby knobs was in the current budget though.  (Remember these pictures are taken in my windowless cubbyhole of a bathroom so the lighting is not the greatest.)

Thanks Mom for helping pick out the knobs!  I love how they tie the cabinets and counter top together.  Here is a picture from the doorway.

Now we are ready for company to visit this bathroom.  Hmmm...eyeballing my kitchen cabinets...hubby said he didn't think I could get them done in time...does that sound like a challenge to anyone else??

Harp Chair Redo

I have been watching this vintage harp chair on Craigslist for some time now and it was one the items I picked up last weekend.

 

There is just something about it that I love. There was not much to repair on this one. I just tightened a few screws make it a little more sturdy. Then I started painting it cream. Have you ever started "fixing" something and then felt like you were only making it worse? That was how I felt after the first coat of paint. It was horrible looking. I did not like the way the paint felt going on and the harp portion looked all globby. I let it dry then sanded the globby parts down and put on the second coat. Better. I sanded and distressed it and then recovered the seat with the same fabric that I used on the green secretary.

 

I like the finished product.  Not sure I love it.  I listed it for sale, so hopefully someone else will love it!

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A keeper

First some exciting news!!  My secretary was featured on Redoux!  Go here to check it out and see her awesome blog!

Now back to our normal post.  Last weekend I found a corner shelf for our living room.  I have been wanting "something" for behind the couch, I just wasn't sure what.  So when I saw this...

I knew it would be perfect.  That last picture really shows the wear on the shelves.  I had been emailing the owner wife, but when I went to pick it up only owner husband was home.  So he brought it over for my mom and me to inspect and says "I don't know what she (owner wife) even wants for this."  Honest Abe me says "$30."  Owner husband looks at the dirty (I cleaned it before I took the pictures above) and very weathered (it had been sitting outside) shelves and says "you want it for $20?"  Yep!  More than I would pay for a redo and sell, but this was for me.  I decided on the same midnight blue and metallic glaze combo I used on my first secretary, check it out here.  I LOVE the way it turned out.

 

 

Love this paint/glaze combo!

I know I need to find some more "stuff" to put on it.

I picked up a couple other things this past weekend also so stay tuned!

A Few Outside Projects

It has been nice and cool recently and so Friday I worked on a couple outside projects.  I remembered this cool planter bird feeder that I found some time ago on Pinterest and decided to try it without the bird feeder.

Source

I have a ton of pots like these that were empty because I killed all the plants we moved and I have not done anything with them.  I just needed the rebar, plants, and potting soil.  Here it is...

 

Does this look Dr. Seussy to anyone else??  Maybe because my pots are different sizes?  Maybe because I did not paint them a cool color?  Don't mind the bricks in the back.  I have not decided if I like it or not.  Hubby just sorta grunted, so I'm not sure if he likes it or not either.  Maybe after the flowers grow a bit?  Remind me to water, okay? 

 

Here is our front porch with the new pumpkins.  The kids had fun picking them out.

 

 

My last project for the day was a total fail.  I had decided to spray our house numbers on one of our flower pots since we do not have them any where else. 

 

 

I am a terrible spray painter!  The paint dripped all down the numbers and sprayed where I did not want it.  I am leaving it for now.  It looks fine from the street, just don't look when you get up close.  Lazy, lazy I know.

 









What a Steal...I Mean Deal!!

A few weeks ago I found this china cabinet on Craigslist for $20.

Please just use your imagination, I had it all taken apart and cleaned before I remember to snap some before pictures.  The top section sets on the bench looking section and then the last picture is one of the drawers.  There are some decorative brass pulls for the drawers as well.

So on with my story.  I convinced my super patient hubby to drive out with me and check it out (read "buy it").  I happened to know the owners were also selling a secretary for $25, but I wasn't going to push my luck and kept that info to myself.

By looking at the furniture I never would have picked out the owners.  Beer and football meets antique/vintage furniture.  Interesting.  Anyway, we decided to buy the china cabinet and while hubby was loading it up, I wandered over to the secretary and started chatting with the owner about it.  It was pretty beat up, but surprisingly they had kept all the broken pieces.

The husband mentioned that they were planning on moving and just wanted to get rid of the furniture, so they did not have to pack it for the move.  Being the helpful cheapskate that I am I asked if they would give me a deal if I took the secretary also (as if $45 for a china cabinet and secretary was not already a deal).  They discussed it and said I could have them both for $30...uh okay!

As we were pulling out hubby asked "aren't those secretaries worth a fair amount?"  Me, "yes so hurry and leave, I feel like we are stealing!"

Here we are several weeks later and I have finally finished the secretary.  The before pictures are fairly dark, sorry it was night in my garage.

The middle piece was broken off.

The side molding was broken.

One of the toes was broken.

There was a hole in the back of the bookcase section.  Here it is from the back.

And from the front.

There were TONS of scratches on the desk area.

I started out by repairing all the damage.  I glued the missing pieces back in place and filled in and sanded all the scratches.  I then made a homemade chalk paint with a color called Milk Pail by Martha Stewart.  It is a pale green.  I left a few areas wood and cleaned them up with Old English polish.  I polished the hardware and I will not even tell you how many hours it took to get them clean...yes HOURS!  I had a difficult time with the back piece and decided to cover it with fabric and repaired the hole as best as possible.  This is the fabric I chose.

Here she is all put together and beautified.

The fabric and paint color match perfect!

I painted the claws, but left the balls wood. I really like the contrast.

The reattached middle piece.

She is up for sale!

What do you think?

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