Our storage unit is almost empty!!!!! Technically, it's empty of all the stuff we're keeping. On Wednesday, Salvation Army is coming by the unit to pick up our donation items.
Can I just toot my own horn for a second? This was a brilliant idea that I can't believe I didn't think of sooner. Brilliant. Initially, my plan was to somewhat sift through all the stuff in the unit, divide it into two sides, haul off all the stuff we weren't keeping to Goodwill, then haul the rest of the stuff home. UNTIL I remembered...some charities pick up donations! I've done it before from our home - why couldn't I do it from a storage unit?!?!? No reason at all!!!! So, we loaded up everything we were keeping, brought it to our house, have to make plans to sort through it...and complete strangers will come by our storage unit and take our donation stuff, and we'll be FINISHED!!!!!!!! We won't have to move the stuff we don't want anymore! Hooray for more money in the bank and less money going to keeping crap we don't need somewhere we don't need it! :D
I'm hoping to make some minor organizational progress tomorrow afternoon. Get some stuff cleared out of the garage, move things in the house to where they belong...things like that.
Monday will be a clean the house morning, and hopefully an organize/sort through stuff afternoon/evening, since My Love will have the afternoon off.
Tuesday, I intend to work more on the baby furniture, and hopefully get that finished up. I also am hoping to start and finish work on my dresser revamp, and get that sucker inside so My Love doesn't have to fret about it. I think I have decided to go with Mediterranean blue and no wallpaper. The wallpaper idea intrigued me, but with 6 drawers, I just feel like it will be overkill. I might trim pieces of the wallpaper out and use it as accents on the drawers...but I don't think I'll do the entirety of every drawer face.
In other furniture news, I'm disappointed, but I had to abandon a project :(
Because My Love was so gracious in letting me keep my new dresser, and because he wasn't really excited about the dresser I wanted to put in our master bathroom, I "sacrificed" it today. It stayed in the storage unit, awaiting being picked up Wednesday with our other donation items. We didn't have anywhere else in the house to put it, even if I redid it, other than the master bathroom...and I didn't want to have it take up space in the garage, then put the work into it to revamp it and still have him dislike it. I'm super bummed, because it was brilliant, but sometimes even brilliance is impractical :/
I think that's all for now. Hopefully I'll have a gajillion pictures to post soon...both of my daily February pics, and of my FINISHED projects! :)
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
Dresser Mock Up
So, I couldn't help myself...I made a mock-up...or, as close to one as I have time for.
The color is definitely off. Like I said, it's a subtle turquoise, whereas this came out pretty obviously turquoise. The glaze will also be darker, and make the details pop more, which was hard to show without making the color even brighter. The glaze will also dull the blue a bit in reality, which I can't effectively show on this computer generated dresser.
But, here's what it would look like...sort of...if I put the wallpaper on the plain drawers, painted the dresser Mediterranean blue, and glazed it.
My concern is that it will be too busy. It'll look cool no matter what, and I think I've decided on Mediterranean instead of white...I'm just not sure about the wallpaper.
I'm also not quite sure how the wallpaper will come out on the drawers. It was easy to make it symmetrical on the mock-up - I'm not sure if it would come out as exact on the real deal.
Does that help? Is it easier to envision?
So, wallpaper or no?
The color is definitely off. Like I said, it's a subtle turquoise, whereas this came out pretty obviously turquoise. The glaze will also be darker, and make the details pop more, which was hard to show without making the color even brighter. The glaze will also dull the blue a bit in reality, which I can't effectively show on this computer generated dresser.
But, here's what it would look like...sort of...if I put the wallpaper on the plain drawers, painted the dresser Mediterranean blue, and glazed it.
My concern is that it will be too busy. It'll look cool no matter what, and I think I've decided on Mediterranean instead of white...I'm just not sure about the wallpaper.
I'm also not quite sure how the wallpaper will come out on the drawers. It was easy to make it symmetrical on the mock-up - I'm not sure if it would come out as exact on the real deal.
Does that help? Is it easier to envision?
So, wallpaper or no?
Thursday, February 09, 2012
Furniture Overload
Yes, I know...I still haven't posted my February pictures. The sad part is that I have taken several of them, but don't have an easy way to get them from my phone to my computer. I refuse to link my phone to my email. Refuse. I can check my email from my phone, but I don't have it synchronized. So, the only way I can really get pictures onto the computer is to upload them to facebook, but I don't know that I want my February pictures all on facebook.I'll figure this out...
Today, I broke down and painted the filing cabinets. I did something I don't usually do...I skipped the priming step. And, I'm fairly certain that, in this case, it paid off! I used Rustoleum Gloss Protective Enamel in white. The wood grain came through really nicely through the paint...which is not usually what I guess people want, but I love the way it looks. Couldn't be happier. I also was super lazy and didn't do the backs, haha! I ran out of paint, and since the cabinets are going to be up against a wall, I decided not to worry about it :) I'll do it eventually, I'm sure, but I just want the stupid cabinets in my art room! And I want to get our documents organized, and filed away in my pretty cabinets that won't be in our garage anymore!!!
I also primed the hutch. I used Zinsser liquid primer instead of spray. It's all ready for its coat of black paint, which I intend to add once we're through with this garage/storage unit insanity. If all goes well, by the end of the week for sure next week, I'll have the dresser, desk, and hutch in the nursery, painted, sealed, and complete with new drawer knobs :D
Currently, the dresser and desk are upstairs, the drawers have their final coat of paint on them, and their new holes for their new drawer knobs are drilled. I'll put the final coat of paint on the dresser and desk when I paint the hutch, seal them all with polyurethane, and do a happy Snoopy dance at the progress I have made!!!!
Thankfully, those things will be leaving a welcome empty spot in the garage where they used to reside.
However...
***this part of the post was completed today, because I fell asleep before I could finish it last night***
...there may or may not be something taking up their old place...
...okay, there definitely is.
...I got a text message yesterday morning, saying,
"Hey, I saw these out for the trash by my house and thought of you. All the drawers are there too. The drawers had cool fancy designs on them."
Along with this picture...
Free furniture?!?!?!? The possibility of a roadkill rescue?!?!? And a dresser, to boot? (which we really have been looking for lately) I knew I was in trouble. My Love has been relatively patient with my whole furniture revamping obsession - more particularly the duration it takes me to complete projects vs. the ease with which I add other projects to my list...or...the garage.
I ended up being in the area where the furniture was supposed to be, and decided to try to find it and take a look. "Just to see," I reassured myself. Maybe someone else had beaten me to it. If not, I resolved that, should there be any major issues, I would have to turn the project down, because I really don't have time for a massive overhaul...just facelifts...and that even was pushing it.
When I drove by the first time, it all looked pretty much like the picture, but with a stack of drawers over to the right that I couldn't see very well. When I turned around to do a second pass, these caught my eye (forgive the lighting):
LOOK AT THAT DETAIL!!!!!! It's stunning! Those three drawers go vertically in the center column. The other drawers were all there as well. Everything looked to be in working order, with a few minor things that need to be reattached, and a missing drawer pull.
I took the drawers home with me, intending to make plans to get the dresser to our house later that day. But, after talking about it with My Love, I was going to have to give up on this opportunity. We're trying to get our garage organized, and our storage emptied, and while it was a fantastic project, the timing wasn't quite right. I was all ready to load the drawers back into my car and take them back, so someone else could have a shot at claiming this ugly duckling.
That is, until this sweet lady who discovered the dresser for me texted, offering to deliver the dresser to our house for us! We don't have a truck (which is probably good, since I'd haul all sorts of things home, haha), and I can't lift much these days, with the baby bump and all.
My sweet Love let me keep it/have it!!!! :D With the explicit understanding that this project had to be done ASAP, and could NOT take up space somewhere it didn't belong for very long, or it was going back to the curb.
So, now to quickly decide what to do with it. I'm currently thinking white or blue. For the first time in a while, the blue I'm looking at using is NOT Rustoleum! :insert monster music here:
The color is Valspar Mediterranean - I can't find a good picture of the can that looks like the actual color of the lid. It's sort of a subtle turquoise. It matches the color scheme in our bedroom pretty well. And, even though the dresser is going to be in the closet, it'll be cool to have it be pretty and match - especially if we rearrange ever!
Once I pick a color, I have to decide if I want to get really creative and finally use my textured wallpaper on a project for myself! I've used it before for a project I did for a friend, but haven't found the right project to use it on for myself! Here's what it looks like:
Basically, I'd insert it into the center panels of the six plain drawers...probably with the cross looking bit centered. Then, I'd paint the whole thing either white or Mediterranean, and add a black glaze to make all the details pop. Either way, I'll be painting the hardware either hammered black or oil-rubbed bronze. I found a drawer pull on eBay that looks similar enough to the other pulls to not stand out too much. I figure I'll take the one from the center drawer and put it on the drawer missing the pull. That way, there will only be one different pull, and it will be on the detailed section - so people will be less likely to notice, or see it as a flaw.
So, what do you think? Once I get my usual tasks done, and my garage/storage unit taken care of, I need to be ready to paint this sucker and get it put away!
White or Mediterranean?
Textured wallpaper or no?
Help!
Again, I'm off to work on the garage and my usual household things. As soon as I am caught up on all that, it's onto this new dresser project, and back to finishing/working on the nursery! Pictures will be posted as soon as I take them! :D
Today, I broke down and painted the filing cabinets. I did something I don't usually do...I skipped the priming step. And, I'm fairly certain that, in this case, it paid off! I used Rustoleum Gloss Protective Enamel in white. The wood grain came through really nicely through the paint...which is not usually what I guess people want, but I love the way it looks. Couldn't be happier. I also was super lazy and didn't do the backs, haha! I ran out of paint, and since the cabinets are going to be up against a wall, I decided not to worry about it :) I'll do it eventually, I'm sure, but I just want the stupid cabinets in my art room! And I want to get our documents organized, and filed away in my pretty cabinets that won't be in our garage anymore!!!
Here's the top - I thought it showed the grain better from this angle. I'll take some better pictures later, and certainly more once they're in their proper place!
I also primed the hutch. I used Zinsser liquid primer instead of spray. It's all ready for its coat of black paint, which I intend to add once we're through with this garage/storage unit insanity. If all goes well, by the end of the week for sure next week, I'll have the dresser, desk, and hutch in the nursery, painted, sealed, and complete with new drawer knobs :D
Currently, the dresser and desk are upstairs, the drawers have their final coat of paint on them, and their new holes for their new drawer knobs are drilled. I'll put the final coat of paint on the dresser and desk when I paint the hutch, seal them all with polyurethane, and do a happy Snoopy dance at the progress I have made!!!!
Thankfully, those things will be leaving a welcome empty spot in the garage where they used to reside.
However...
***this part of the post was completed today, because I fell asleep before I could finish it last night***
...there may or may not be something taking up their old place...
...okay, there definitely is.
...I got a text message yesterday morning, saying,
"Hey, I saw these out for the trash by my house and thought of you. All the drawers are there too. The drawers had cool fancy designs on them."
Along with this picture...
Free furniture?!?!?!? The possibility of a roadkill rescue?!?!? And a dresser, to boot? (which we really have been looking for lately) I knew I was in trouble. My Love has been relatively patient with my whole furniture revamping obsession - more particularly the duration it takes me to complete projects vs. the ease with which I add other projects to my list...or...the garage.
I ended up being in the area where the furniture was supposed to be, and decided to try to find it and take a look. "Just to see," I reassured myself. Maybe someone else had beaten me to it. If not, I resolved that, should there be any major issues, I would have to turn the project down, because I really don't have time for a massive overhaul...just facelifts...and that even was pushing it.
When I drove by the first time, it all looked pretty much like the picture, but with a stack of drawers over to the right that I couldn't see very well. When I turned around to do a second pass, these caught my eye (forgive the lighting):
LOOK AT THAT DETAIL!!!!!! It's stunning! Those three drawers go vertically in the center column. The other drawers were all there as well. Everything looked to be in working order, with a few minor things that need to be reattached, and a missing drawer pull.
Here's what the other six drawers look like:
I took the drawers home with me, intending to make plans to get the dresser to our house later that day. But, after talking about it with My Love, I was going to have to give up on this opportunity. We're trying to get our garage organized, and our storage emptied, and while it was a fantastic project, the timing wasn't quite right. I was all ready to load the drawers back into my car and take them back, so someone else could have a shot at claiming this ugly duckling.
That is, until this sweet lady who discovered the dresser for me texted, offering to deliver the dresser to our house for us! We don't have a truck (which is probably good, since I'd haul all sorts of things home, haha), and I can't lift much these days, with the baby bump and all.
My sweet Love let me keep it/have it!!!! :D With the explicit understanding that this project had to be done ASAP, and could NOT take up space somewhere it didn't belong for very long, or it was going back to the curb.
So, now to quickly decide what to do with it. I'm currently thinking white or blue. For the first time in a while, the blue I'm looking at using is NOT Rustoleum! :insert monster music here:
The color is Valspar Mediterranean - I can't find a good picture of the can that looks like the actual color of the lid. It's sort of a subtle turquoise. It matches the color scheme in our bedroom pretty well. And, even though the dresser is going to be in the closet, it'll be cool to have it be pretty and match - especially if we rearrange ever!
Once I pick a color, I have to decide if I want to get really creative and finally use my textured wallpaper on a project for myself! I've used it before for a project I did for a friend, but haven't found the right project to use it on for myself! Here's what it looks like:
Basically, I'd insert it into the center panels of the six plain drawers...probably with the cross looking bit centered. Then, I'd paint the whole thing either white or Mediterranean, and add a black glaze to make all the details pop. Either way, I'll be painting the hardware either hammered black or oil-rubbed bronze. I found a drawer pull on eBay that looks similar enough to the other pulls to not stand out too much. I figure I'll take the one from the center drawer and put it on the drawer missing the pull. That way, there will only be one different pull, and it will be on the detailed section - so people will be less likely to notice, or see it as a flaw.
So, what do you think? Once I get my usual tasks done, and my garage/storage unit taken care of, I need to be ready to paint this sucker and get it put away!
White or Mediterranean?
Textured wallpaper or no?
Help!
Again, I'm off to work on the garage and my usual household things. As soon as I am caught up on all that, it's onto this new dresser project, and back to finishing/working on the nursery! Pictures will be posted as soon as I take them! :D
Monday, February 06, 2012
Monday Monday
Well, I'm already a few days behind on the photo a day challenge. I'm going to catch up by tomorrow, and see if I can't do better at doing one a day like you're supposed to. Blerg!
:sigh:
I'm currently about to force myself to get up and tidy the house a bit...
And then I need to use that momentum to get myself back to finishing up the furniture for the nursery. Don't get me wrong, I want to finish it...I am just having a hard time motivating myself to do it. Fortunately, I don't have too much more to do to get the dresser ready. I still have to paint the hutch, which is going to be a small nightmare, and the glider...and then I'll be done painting the furniture! Can't wait for that part!
I'm going to drop off the cushions Wednesday, and then just play the waiting game for my new and improved glider to come together!
In the next week or so, I'm hoping to track down some bright red contact paper to lay in the drawers of both the dresser and the desk. Once I get that down, I'm going to start washing and folding baby clothes!!!! Eventually, I want most of them to be hanging up in the closet, but as I don't have any baby hangers yet, I'm going to wait until I acquire some. I can't wait to organize his little stuff in his closet! :D
My Love and I have stayed up late the last few nights playing video games together. It has been lots of fun, but is taking a toll on my sleep cycle. I'm feeling slightly icky. I got to take a quick nap this afternoon, which helped my energy level, but I still have that weird, not quite well-rested feeling going on. Hoping that will pass. I'm going to grab a snack real quick, then get going on the furniture. And...go!
:sigh:
I'm currently about to force myself to get up and tidy the house a bit...
And then I need to use that momentum to get myself back to finishing up the furniture for the nursery. Don't get me wrong, I want to finish it...I am just having a hard time motivating myself to do it. Fortunately, I don't have too much more to do to get the dresser ready. I still have to paint the hutch, which is going to be a small nightmare, and the glider...and then I'll be done painting the furniture! Can't wait for that part!
I'm going to drop off the cushions Wednesday, and then just play the waiting game for my new and improved glider to come together!
In the next week or so, I'm hoping to track down some bright red contact paper to lay in the drawers of both the dresser and the desk. Once I get that down, I'm going to start washing and folding baby clothes!!!! Eventually, I want most of them to be hanging up in the closet, but as I don't have any baby hangers yet, I'm going to wait until I acquire some. I can't wait to organize his little stuff in his closet! :D
My Love and I have stayed up late the last few nights playing video games together. It has been lots of fun, but is taking a toll on my sleep cycle. I'm feeling slightly icky. I got to take a quick nap this afternoon, which helped my energy level, but I still have that weird, not quite well-rested feeling going on. Hoping that will pass. I'm going to grab a snack real quick, then get going on the furniture. And...go!
Thursday, February 02, 2012
Teaser
What do you get when you take...
Hopefully, a revamped, perfect glider for my Little Man! I can't wait to drop off the fabric and cushions to the seamstress, and see how it turns out! :)
Depending on if the weather cooperates tomorrow, I'm hoping to get to painting the glider, so it'll be all ready for its new cushions whenever they're ready!
I'm super excited about the fabric because it's soft, and funky without having a vibrant pattern that could clash with the other themes going on in the room.
I'm also hoping to get started on some of the artwork for the room - cannot WAIT to get things up on the wall, and furniture in that room! :D
An older glider (similar to this one, but not exactly)
Rustoleum Black Lacquer Paint
And some fun, bright red, Minky Dot fabric?
Hopefully, a revamped, perfect glider for my Little Man! I can't wait to drop off the fabric and cushions to the seamstress, and see how it turns out! :)
Depending on if the weather cooperates tomorrow, I'm hoping to get to painting the glider, so it'll be all ready for its new cushions whenever they're ready!
I'm super excited about the fabric because it's soft, and funky without having a vibrant pattern that could clash with the other themes going on in the room.
I'm also hoping to get started on some of the artwork for the room - cannot WAIT to get things up on the wall, and furniture in that room! :D
February 2 - Words
These are odd "words"...and not as artistic as the ones I had intended to "photograph," but this is the fruit of my labor today, and a HUGE step for me in the right direction of living in a way that brings me peace of mind.
This is my cleaning checklist, inspired by a different Jen at IHeartOrganizing - let me tell you, she is brilliant!!! BRILLIANT, I say! I love sooo many of her ideas, and am so excited to hopefully apply them to our home!
Anyway, what with all the life changes quickly approaching...and the need for me to have a routine anyway, adopting a list like this is essential to my success. Have I mentioned before on here that I'm a major list person? Well, I am.
And here is a "picture" of the words that will help me reach my goal as someone with an organized, decluttered, and simplified home and lifestyle:
This is my cleaning checklist, inspired by a different Jen at IHeartOrganizing - let me tell you, she is brilliant!!! BRILLIANT, I say! I love sooo many of her ideas, and am so excited to hopefully apply them to our home!
Anyway, what with all the life changes quickly approaching...and the need for me to have a routine anyway, adopting a list like this is essential to my success. Have I mentioned before on here that I'm a major list person? Well, I am.
And here is a "picture" of the words that will help me reach my goal as someone with an organized, decluttered, and simplified home and lifestyle:
I'm hoping to post pictures of our home soon, with a few before and after shots of all of our progress we've made in both decorating and organizing!
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