Playroom Dresser Redo

 There's a brand new dresser in the playroom!

 But, she's not really brand new. This is how she used to look:

Not a beauty, exactly, but lots of fun little details. The large mirror on top was loose, and not in great shape, so I removed it altogether. Since she will live in a playroom, I didn't want to risk any accidents. It was heavy.

A quick coat of primer, left over from my last dresser redo, prepared the sides for paint.

Inspired by this dresser redo by Go Now to Your Dwelling Place, I decided to leave the top in a natural wood finish. I did some light hand sanding then stained it with Minwax dark walnut.

The top and sides got three thin coats of latex paint: Benjamin Moore's Simply White, color matched to Behr premium. This is leftover from painting the playroom trim and shelf, so it blends right into the room.

 I just painted right over the keyholes and scratched the paint off with my nail before it dried completely. Who needs tape?

 The hardware is original. I love the worn look. Doesn't it pop nicely against the white?

I have thought about distressing the piece, but I read on Miss Mustard Seed's furniture blog that latex paint really should cure for a month before sanding. So I'm going to live with the dresser like this for now. I think I really like it as is! When I make a final decision, I'll give it a coat of polycrylic.

The dresser seems happy in her new home! I think it will serve us well as a combination toy storage unit and bedside table, when the room is being used as a guest room.

One more before:

And after:

What a difference a little paint and stain can make! 

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Weekend Love: Take the Curtains Down!

How is it June already? I was still figuring out how to decorate for spring, and now suddenly it's summer! I'm loving the longer days. Except for the fact that the sun wakes up the baby at 6am instead of 7am. But in general the extra light is something to love.

Speaking of light, yesterday I was chatting about my house's lack of windows with a neighbor. (Our homes were built in the 1940's, before the time double paned argon windows, so the builders wisely used them sparingly.) We were in my living room, and she pointed to the bay window and said "I always forget that you have that." 

 

How could this window be forgotten? It takes up half the room. Suddenly, I realized the problem was the curtains. They left by the previous owner and were "good enough," so I had left them.

I just took them down, right then and there.

 

Much more cheerful, isn't it? I may eventually add some bamboo blinds for privacy when we need it, but for now, I like it a lot. Those curtains were really blocking a lot of the precious little light that was making it into the room.

This is the new view from my desk. I'm really enjoying it! And to think all these years I was wasting these windows.

Of course now I have a new project in mind. I saw this collection of window seats on the Inspired Room. Swoon!

I would love to put in a window seat, add some wainscoting around the room, and then paint it all a slightly lighter green...oh my! But alas, I really need to finish the playroom first. But now I've identified my next house project!

What about you? Do you ever get ahead of yourself like I'm doing? Or are you more methodical, taking it one project at a time? 

Playroom Progress

I know the updates have gotten a little light lately, but I *do* promise that I've been working on the playroom/guestroom project! 

yikes

Need more proof? Check out this mess!

Nope, no tornadoes in our part of the country, just my junk from inside the dresser.

I'm kind of at the place in the project when I should be really encouraged that I've done so much. But, all I see is that there is so much left to do. However, lucky for me, I have a houseguest coming on Monday night. So I'm working double time to get it all together! 

My three year old son complains that I'm taking so long to make his playroom. It's true, I have taken longer than I thought it would. Never mind that he and his brother are big reasons it's going so slowly! :) They are such joys, but they are messy little cuties that take lots of time to care for! But I wouldn't have it any other way.

Mush: It's what's for dinner.

For anyone keeping score, here's what I've done and spent on the project so far. (The numbers vary a little from what I've posted before--I've made some returns, and generally listed things in different groups this time. I'm trying to be accurate as I go!)

1. Painted the walls and trim ($58)
2. Built a shelf to hide the built-in AC unit ($12)
3. Added a curtain and decor to the shelf  ($22.75)
4. Painted, padded, and upholstered the coffee table.($25)
5. Created nautical monograms and seashell art for a future gallery wall. ($5 and $1.75)
6. Sewed three new pillows for the couch.($8.50)
7. Sewed new curtains and hung new rods. ($54)
8. Spraypainted a thrift store mirror. ($5)
9. Replaced the bug-eyed ceiling fan with a sleek white one ($8)
8. Anchored the bookshelf to the wall for anti-tip child safety brackets.($5)

Total spent: $205. Over budget much? Hmmm...

Here's what  is left to do:
1. Paint, stain, and clearcoat a dresser (No extra expense! Woot!)
2. Replace and decorate the lampshade on the evil tabelamp.(~$20?)
3. Possibly purchase a new area rug. ($30)
4. Finish collecting items for the gallery wall and hang it up. (?)
5. Possibly buy a new slipcover for the couch.($53--but I think I'm too over budget for this right now.)
6. Pick a color for the door and paint it. (~$20?)
5. Add little finishing touches. (As cheap as possible!!!)

I'm probably dreaming if I think I will get that done by Monday, but it's worth a shot, right? On second though, I think I'll be happy if I finish the dresser and start working on the tablelamp:

It taunts me.

Maybe I can throw a sheet over it? LOL.Perhaps a more mod shade, one that is more cylindrical, sleekly trimmed with navy blue ribbon? That's all I've got. Seriously, any ideas here? I'd love any input!

Quick Seashell Display Frame

Beachy things go hand and hand with summer. Seashells are a big part of that. The other day I found some cute little basket of seashells at Dollar Tree, but displaying them was a challenge. My playroom shelf is full enough. The living room mantle needs a summer overhaul, but the scale of these small shells wouldn't work there. So, I decided to frame them.

I've had this yard sale frame for a while. I admit that the picture attracted me, since I've been thinking about nautical stuff for the playroom. However, I decided it was a little too cheesy even for my taste. But, I liked the frame and for 50 cents it was a bargain!

So I took it apart and put the picture aside...

...cut some cute vintage map scrapbook paper with my cutter, and re-framed it, this time minus the glass...

...and then hot-glued the shells right onto the paper. It looks to me like one of those butterfly display cases, except for, well, the fact that it's shells. :)

It's also 3D. My 3 year old son thinks it is great fun, and keeps petting the shells.  He wants me to glue on some "more" but it is complete.  I plan to make it part of a gallery wall in the playroom. It will stay up at least through the summer. Stay tuned for a gallery wall post! It's coming together!

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Nautical Monogram Tutorial

I'm in the midst of creating a gallery wall for my play-guest-room makeover, and I was brainstorming ways to incorporate some kind of monogram into it. I have seen all kinds of beautiful ways to decorate arabic letters, but none in particular were jumping out at me as "the one" for our playroom. I also wanted to keep a kind of nautical theme going in the room, and I was thinking of ways to incorporate that with out going "overboard" (har de har har)...Maybe rope? Some kind of sailboat pattern? Nothing seemed right. And then it hit me...use nautical letter flags to make something!

I had some fun thinking about making a word, a name, or something else...but then I found out that these flags, when used in an actual nautical situation, are not really used for spelling, but more like call letters on a radio station. So, a monogram it was after all. I wanted at least two, though, so I decided to start with my sons' first initials: A and C.
I began with two little wooden plaques from Michael's. ($1.99 each).

Using a little bit of wood stain and a rag, I gave them two quick coats of stain.

I didn't worry too much about getting the stain on evenly.

After they were dry, I painted on two coats of off white acrylic craft paint. Again, I wasn't particularly careful to cover everything.

 

After about an hour of drying, I used a sanding block to distress the top and sides. Just enough that the stain would poke through.

Enter some scrapbooking paper in nautical colors. 

I cut them to match the shape of the plaques using my sliding paper cutter and some little scissors. I didn't get anything exactly lined up so the distressed edges would show through.

Then, the Mod Podge!

This was my first time using Mod Podge and I am hooked. Great stuff.

 

The plaques are skewing a little patriotic right now, but if I add some more letters, I think that will cure it. The "R", which is the first letter of our family name, might be a nice choice to balance it out with some red and yellow. I'm pleased with the way they turned out!

 

I put them on the shelf for temporary display, but I plan to mount them and include them in a new gallery wall eventually. They work both horizontally and vertically. Decisions, decisions.

Overall, this was a really easy and fun project! Excluding the drying time, I think I spent about 10-15 minutes on each one! If you already own some Mod Podge, each plaque costs less than $3 to make. Less, if you have a Michael's coupon handy. 

 

If I had one of those fancy Silhouette cutters I keep reading about, I might consider adding an arabic letter over each plaque. What would you think about that? I'm sure I could find the patience to use my scissors for this if I really wanted...

I'm looking forward to making at least one more of these, and then setting up our gallery wall! The playroom is coming together! I plan on having the "big reveal" pretty soon. See you again soon!

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