This should be entitled, “My Summer Report” because while my kids were busy baking up s’mores cakes and working in the garden this summer, I was off tackling a major project of my own. Oh wait, I was whittling away at it between those s’mores delicacies and the garden. No wonder it took me so long.
I am finally here to unveil my daughter’s new room. The last installment went in sometime in September but it’s never too late for a big reveal. Being a little shy about showing off massive parts of our home, I still couldn’t resist sharing the bulk of her dwelling place mostly because I am always trying to push “reduce, reuse, recycle” on anyone who will take the bait.
Boring you with the details would be tedious and cumbersome. There are plenty of sites that take the time to tell you exactly how this process works. Trust me, the least handy person on earth could do this. Unfortunately, the most impatient could not. If you just begin this mantra, “Sand, clean, paint. Sand, clean, paint…”, and prepare to repeat it until you’re ready to tear your nails out, then this is the project for you.
I scoured Craigslist for months for a piece of furniture that screamed, “There is beauty that lies within!” When I saw the (excruciatingly blurry) photo of this dresser with the $75 price tag, I was pretty sure it was a match made in heaven. No, the lighting is not bad. It was seriously yellow with a glossy, gold-speckled top and hideous gold trim – like your grandmother used to have. Yes, exactly like that.
I’m sure you wonder what I saw in it. I just loved the curvature in the design and the dainty little legs. Fortunately, it was in beautiful shape with dovetailed and smooth-gliding drawers. Yes, the drawers are all there, by the way. I just got a little too excited about starting that I forgot the full ‘before’ shot! Aren’t you starting to love it? Okay, maybe not yet.
Within a few, short days of the aforementioned acquisition, and again, after months of hunting, this desk found its way to my house. It’s a Pottery Barn original and in fantastic shape, save for the gashes and gouges across every visible surface. The girl who sat at this table for all of her youth had no mercy.
So $150 later, this was stationed in my garage. I know, not exactly a shoestring budget piece. But note that brand new, these PB desks go for almost $500. And that doesn’t include shipping, handling, taxes, surcharges, random fees-for-no-reason and a bill for the heart meds after clearing our your savings account for a desk.
Again, I forgot the good ‘befores’ (not that you will see massive change here – I’m just turning it brand new again).
But there was one more, befitting piece waiting for us. Enter the sad, old bookcase. It was white when I picked it up for just $15 (yes, from Craigslist). I even negotiated down from $20, it was that pathetic – I am sure I could have walked with it for 10. This shot was taken after a first (maybe second) sanding. The owner had changed her mind one too many times about its color (the thing was probably headed for purple if it had waited around too long).
But you know what sold me on this piece? It was the simple little embellishment in the framing that told me that this was once a little work of art and not that awful, cheap fake laminate/wood-wannabe. This thing just needed to find its roots again.
Enough laborious talk, right? Onto the good stuff. Here we go, in progress on all three pieces. Yes, all three at once. No, I will never do that again. Remember the mantra, “Sand, clean, paint, repeat.” (And tape, tape, tape.)
Even multiple sandings couldn’t take out that gouge smack in the middle of the desktop.
And as for that bookcase, as cute as that wooden embellishment was, there was just something missing. I finally put my finger toe on it. Bun feet. Betcha didn’t even know there was such a thing as a “bun foot”.
Okay, fast forward about two months. It doesn’t really take this long to refinish furniture unless your husband is traveling half time and your three kids are underfoot 24×7 for the summer and you need to take time to use the bathroom (and maybe change your clothes, God forbid)… But I did it. I actually did it. My mantra was beginning to taper off, the paint was cured and weeks later I was ready for the final poly coat.
Let’s not forget that I had to do a ton of wood filling and sanding (again) and re-drilling for the holes for the new glass pulls I found. The measuring and straight-lining and fretting I did over that little detail was excruciating. But I stuck to my guns and did it. I think it paid off…
Does that sing, “Bling!”, or what?
I added the same glitz to replace the boring wood hardware on the PB desk… take that, PB. And look at that thing – brand new.
Here’s that adorable little bookcase with the addition of those chubby-cheeked bun feet. Couldn’t you just reach out and squeeze them?
And for good measure, I had to line those drawers. But my daughter is too cute for your mama’s old contact paper trick. So I cut some properly-themed fabric to size, followed the instructions on a bottle of fabric stiffener, dried it out and had some adorable custom drawer liners. I love pulling them open to find sweet little owls staring back at me.
C’mon, you know you want to see that transformation again, don’t you? Drink it all in…
And I’m proud to say that my daughter is in love. Now I better get cracking on the wall decor – give me another three months and I’ll get back to you…