Trading Places

Over the weekend, my husband and I were in Z Gallerie looking for some accessories for our bedroom. I came across a pretty water colored vase. It's a pretty shape and large for the price { $ 14.99 } I was thought it would look great on our newly painted dresser or somewhere else. I got it home and it didn't feel quite right in our bedroom.

Vase on the dresser

Then placed the vase in our dining room. The light blue water looked amazing with the dark stain of our table.

Most of the time we have a branch candle holder on the table, instead of tucking the candle holder away, I placed it in our bedroom.

Whne I'm our shopping for items for our home, I try to imagaine the accessorie in more then just one place. I like doing this because it keeps our home looking fresh. Another great thing to swap along with accessories is art. Sometimes moving art around your home keeps things fresh. I've done this with art in out living room. In case you wondering why there's a pillow on the floor, its actailly Mojo's new bedding.

Do accessories and art trade places in your home?

In My Mail

Last week, I mentioned checking out Nate Nerkus's book Home Rules from our local library and that I planned to buy the book. Later that night I received an email from Fawn of Frugal Home Designs { she has great DIY projects on her blog } saying she looked at the book a lot, but now its being used as a decoration, and then asked if I wanted the book.


I took Fawn up on her offer, but only if she was she she wouldn't miss it. The book arrived in my mailbox on Monday. It feels so wonderful to connect with people all of the country though my blog and receive kindness out of the blue. I'm still floored by Fawn's thoughtfulness, and will put the book to good use!

Thanks again Fawn.

Craigslist Dresser Goes Chic

Way back in December I found a dresser on Craigslist for only $ 45.00. My Craigslist search for a dresser took forever to find this gem. I love it's detail and craftsmanship and its dovetail drawers. They don't make'em like that anymore! Not only was the dresser the perfect size for our room, it reminded me of the pricier Pottery Barn version for around $1100! But I like our dresser more.


Here's the before, images via Craigslist.

The dresser had some pretty detail, on the side panels, I also liked its feet - perfect mix of masculine and feminine.

Since our new dresser is large, I knew a its current dark shade would overwhelm our small bedroom. So I painted it a Delicate White Satin finish by Olympic Paint. I also added new hardware to up its pretty factor. I found some simple shiny knobs for the top drawers and the wow knobs for the bottom drawers. I usually prefer black or brushed nickel for pulls, but I was drawn to the shape of the pulls. I guess you could say they pulled me in (lame pun intended) The shiny pulls also match our newly hung chandelier.

Here's our dresser now { in our bedroom } I love how it looks against of grey walls.

Here's what I did.

I sanded the dressing using a sanding block to help remove the old finish. I applied three coats of primer (Zinsser Primer). I allowed each coat of primer to dry six hours and then lightly sanded between coats.

The dresser during the priming phase.

The new pulls were larger than the ones originally on the dresser. I filled the old holes in with wood filler after I primed the dresser. Then sanded the wood filler away with a fine grit sanding block. We measured the new pulls and then measured the middle of the dresser and found its center then drilled new holes for the pulls.

Old dresser holes.

Sanding down the wood filler

Next, I painted the dresser using a combination of a sponge roller and paint brush (the brush helps for odd angles and drips) . I applied four coats of paint, I allowed each coat of paint to dry 24 hours before applying the next coat. Between each coat I lightly sanded, this time using a fine grit sanding block.

I applied two coats of Rustoleum Painters Coat clear gloss, it worked perfectly. It gave my dresser a nice glossy yet hard finish. The product also promises not to yellow over time, which is very important on a white dresser. Our bedroom is slowing coming along, it feels great to have the dresser and chandelier checked off my to do list. Next up, is making our bed with all the bedding I've been hording.

Budget breakdown:

$ 45.00 dresser
$ 11.88 for the pulls ( $ 2.97 each )
$ 11.96 for the knobs ( 2.99 each )
$ 11.99 Rustoleum Clear coat
$ 12.99 1 quart of Olympic paint

Total: $ 93.82

I love how our dresser turned out, what do you think? What current painting project are you working on?

Beyond the Basics

Last week I was reading a great post from Jenny from Anything Pretty. She was talking about how she upgraded her dogs bedding, with cute fabric. She did a wonderful job, and got me thinking. Mojo's { our dog } current bedding it's lumpy and let's be honest ugly. I took my inspiration from Jenny and decided to upgrade Mojo's bed. I was going to look for some fun fabric at Ikea next time I stopped in there { Ikea has great modern funky printed fabric }

Over the weekend in Mr CLH and I stopped in West Elm - love that store! I was looking for two things: great stuff for our bedroom and inspiration. I popped in the clearance section, and found a great Euro pillow cover with grey links. I thought cool, it will work in our room and it was only $ $3.97- yup a crazy good deal. Remember spend a few extra minutes in the clearance section of stores, you never know what you'll find.

Only one problem with the Euro sham, they only had one. Then it dawned on me, it would be perfect for Mojo! I used an extra Euro pillow we already had, and viola new doggies bed. As I said his current bed is lumpy and a pain to wash and dry, I'm always afraid it will fall apart.

Isn't his new bed cute? Not only does it match our room, it looks like a stylish element on the floor and does double duty as Mojo's bed.

I still plan on making one more bed for our living room, of course I want a bright yellow and my husband is like no more yellow!