Little's Dressy Dresser

My baby girl is growing up!  She is in a big girl bed now and her room is starting to take shape, with the addition of cute curtains, a desk and a super sweet pink chair.  Up today: the adorable dresser I transformed for her room.  Here it is before:

I fell in love with this dresser when I saw it on Craigslist.  It's four feet tall and three feet wide, which is exactly what I need for her room.  As you can see, her changing table/dresser is a little too wide now that the curtains are in place:

I decided to sell the changing table/dresser on Craigslist.  I was able to sell it for the same price I paid for her new-to-her dresser.  Love that!   The changing table was in great shape - just too big for the space and (at least to me) was obviously a changing table.   Plus, I'll admit it: I was thrilled to part with the changing table if only because we are Officially Done With Diapers and Pull-Ups.  The new dresser is a Thomasville and beautifully made.  Jamie and I went to check it out together and were thrilled with the condition.  It was listed for $100, but totally worth it, since the only thing it needed was a little paint (unlike Big's new dresser and desk, which required far more work and new hardware).

I took a few hours and got out my primer and paint. This time, I tried two coats of Zinsser oil based primer, and holy moly cow - why didn't I do this before?  It made such a difference!  I only needed two top coats, the top coats were far smoother and easier to apply.  I will probably do this all the time now (especially given my proclivity to paint everything white).  I used just two coats of Dover White and then two coats of Polycrilic in satin finish.  As for hardware, I adored the vintage looking hardware on the piece and just painted them with Dover White spraypaint.  Here they are before and after:

before

after

Finally, here is the piece all together and in her room.

Doesn't it look great? Little's room is really coming along!  I have more to do - mirror and art on the walls, accessories ... stay tuned!

See you swoon,

After: Hanging Ikea Blinds

Shanna and I were very VERY busy over the weekend!  I cannot wait to tell you all about it this week, stay tuned, Wednesday's post will have all the fun details :)

Before I move on to other projects I wanted to show you my quick Ikea blind update to the den. I know I promised this last week when I talked about  how to customize these for my windows and who doesn't love a quick before and after anyway?

I had to do a little extra snipping around the edges of the metal to make sure it fit but that was no big deal.  Other than that hanging these blinds was a cinch!

This was the window before:

Right now this entire room is cream so there is lots of painting in my near future to warm this space up even more.  The white blinds just made this room feel even more stark and blah.

And here is the after, I have to trim the top piece but other than that this project is D.O.N.E...on to the next! (also you can see a very tiny preview of what I was up to while Shanna and I were away!!)

What were you up to this weekend?  Any fun trips or projects? 

Happy Monday!

See you swoon,

Just Slip Out the Back, Jack.

I have to work in song lyrics whenever possible. 

This "jack" refers to the phone jack in the middle of the wall in the kitchen. Would you like to see it?

You know this was driving me crazy, right?  I looked into moving the jack myself but it seemed like a ton of work.  We are dinosaurs around here and need our land line - we rarely use it, but it is something I don't want to give up just in case.  The placement of the jack was great for a home in the 60s, 70s and 80s when wall mounted telephones were par for the course.  But today? My phone didn't even fit on it.  I brainstormed solutions to hide it and came up with something that cost me next to nothing.  Gotta love that.   I decided to use an IKEA Ribba frame (one that I had on hand already from the old Pottery Barn knock-off typography art I made in the old house) since it has a really deep frame.

I figured I could put the frame right over the jack to hide it.  And then I would use those little white clips to mount the phone cable right to the wall.  These ...

I happened to have those little clips in my hardware box.  Yay!  First thing I did was figure out where the frame would go.  I had to account for the cabinet, so it had to have enough space for the cabinet door to open.  Once I hung the nails, then I addressed the phone cable.  This was easy.  I just used my hammer to tack those little clips right into the wall.  I mounted most of them to the cabinet trim and in the corner behind the desk.  See?

Of course I would not leave it like that.  I got out some paint and painted the cable to match the cabinets and the wall.  Now they blend in beautifully.

Finally - the picture for the frame.  Etsy to the rescue!  I ordered a super cute "Home Sweet Home" print from one of my favorite Etsy sellers, Freshline.  I adore her prints and they are very reasonably priced! This one in yellow and grey was perfectly suited for my kitchen.   Isn't it great?

And here is everything all together!  I am so happy.  No more cord down the wall!  Cute art on the wall! Inexpensive! And look, the cabinet opens just fine!

What do you think?  Have you come up with a creative problem-solver around your home? Please share!  Have a terrific weekend, all!  Jamie and I are headed on a road trip .... woo hooooooo!!! 

See you swoon,

A Quick Tip: Making Your Own Custom Blinds

I have been looking for wood blinds to put up in the den windows that wouldn't cost an arm and a leg and the best price I found was Ikea.  Ikea is a mother ship, they seriously have everything.  They had the exact color I had been looking for and so many sizes, it seemed that way from the way they were displayed. As I cruised the aisles over and over I realized they really only had three or four sizes showcased many times over so it looked like billions of measurements were available, not the case.  Womp, womp.  What to do?  The wheels started turning and a little heart bubble popped over my head with a picture of my new compound miter saw (I should name her I think).
I went home with the plan to cut the blinds to my specifications instead of trying to find something more expensive.  It took me a few days to gather the courage to do this.  I measured and thought about it.  I was a little scared that when I made the cut that shards of wood would come up and slice me so I think that image is what created my anxiety and hesitation.  I also wasn't sure about how well the wood would weather the wrath of my saw but I kept reminding myself that if this didn't work, it was only a $25 mistake and sometimes we have to learn what works and what doesn't the hard way.

Two days I ago I woke up with a ton of courage and ran to the basement before my bravery withered away.  I am very happy to report that nothing sharp and dangerous flew up and sliced me and the blinds look great too!

Here are my tips if you are going to do this at home:

1.  Measure, measure, measure.  It all depends how big you want your blinds of course.  I decided I wanted mine to cover the window frame but still leave a little piece of the window sill sticking out (more on this when I show you the blinds hanging).

2.  Once you have marked where you want to cut, compress the blind slats together and tape them with painters tape.  This helps to keep everything secure when you make your cuts.

3.  You are probably wondering what I did with the metal piece at the top of the blind.  I bought some tin snips for about $10 and they cut through the metal like butter.  The cut wasn't perfect but this part will be hidden anyway.  This was much less intimidating than buying a metal blade for my saw and trying to cut the metal with sparks flying all over the basement etc.  We will save that for another day...when the saw is outside and won't set my house on fire.

4.  Once you cut the metal there is an open area for the saw to cut through the slats.  I highly recommend taping right along the cut you plan to make.  I cut one side with the tape along the cut I planned to make and everything was perfect.  Like I said nothing flying around and a perfect, clean cut.

The second side was a result of my laziness, I didn't feel like like re-taping the cut line and this is what the floor looked like after:

I am not sure if there was a poof of air from the saw or what but these little pieces did fly across the room!  They stayed low to the ground so I laughed at the sight of it rather than shaking in my boots.  Moral of this story?  Tape where you plan to cut, these pieces will stay together :)

Make sure to cut slow and voila!

5. Last step is to hang them so stay tuned for the before and after next week!  I will also be using stain to try and match the freshly cut portion of the blind back to the original color they came in.

There you have it!  Now you can go out there and have no fear if you need to cut these blinds to a specific size for your room!  Anyone have a simple project that you find yourself hesitating with for some reason?  Let us know, we would love to try and help!

See you swoon,

Hiding "the Brown Circle": a tale of countertop catastrophe (and mini kitchen update!)

Or: how my husband burned the kitchen countertop.

Right before Christmas, I was working late in the office (something that, thankfully, does not happen very often at all).  My husband was in charge of picking up the kids, making them dinner and putting them to bed.  I even made life easier for him by making pasta and meatballs the night before so all he had to do was pop them in the microwave.  Then I got the following email (copied word for word):

I place a hot pan on the counter top which made a brown circle.  What do I use to get the circle out

Um ... OMG.  Our countertops are white laminate - old white laminate.  They are a devil to keep clean and stain-free with normal stains like coffee and wine and food.  But a burn mark?  Wanna see it?  It's really hard to capture on camera, but I assure you: it is there.

It is nowhere near as bad as I thought.  It's more yellow than brown and located all the way back toward the sink.  And while I can't believe that a grown man of almost 38 did not think to use a pot holder or trivet under the hot pan, I'm not mad ... especially since we'll redo the kitchen eventually.  However, given this experience, I know white marble countertops are not going to happen.  

Anyway, the "brown circle" is here to stay.  So I needed something to hide it.  It was really simple.  I bought this fake (but looks real!) plant at IKEA a long time ago and just popped it in a white ceramic "pot" (actually it's a tumbler from the bathroom section at Home Goods that I got for $3.99).  It previously lived on the window sill, but now it will be on the counter.  

I measured the "brown circle" and it was about 12 inches long by 8 inches deep.  I knew a tray would be my best bet, and it had to be non-porous and easily wipeable because of the close proximity to the sink.  Lucky me - I found one at Target for around $7.  I just put the little plant on it.  Even though several friends suggested that granite would "get the brown circle out" (ha!), this solution is a much cheaper option for the time being.  Here is the "brown circle" all covered up:

Speaking of kitchen renos ... ours is still a few years off (barring a huge lottery win), but wanna see my inspiration photo?  I pinned it on Pinterest and it is the *exact* layout of my kitchen! Here's my kitchen (before we moved in and yes, that is a microwave basically on the floor - it's a convection oven tied into the gas line so I cannot move it) and here's my dream kitchen:

Before

Inspiration

From Pinterest

Look at that deliciousness!  The floor is the color I want. The wall color is my grey.  The layout - it is my  kitchen!  The counters and cabinets are white!  And hello - maybe one day we will be able to add another patio door to our (eventual) deck near the table and chairs like in that picture.  I'm dying over that narrow little island too ... maybe that's how I can get my marble? That's the plan!

Also, big news here: I've also decided to bag the sliding barn door idea between the kitchen and laundry room.  I loved it and know I would have loved it in the house, but decided against it for two reasons.  First, I could really use that wall behind the kitchen table for storage ... just like in that picture with the hutch.  Second (and more importantly), I realized that the floor-guides for the barn door would have to be drilled into the floor, and our floor has asbestos tiles.  Our home inspector said the tile was perfectly safe as long as we did not disturb it or tear it up - and that if (no: when) we redid the floor, we should just lay the new flooring directly over top of the current.  I certainly do not want to disturb the floor.  So, for now, that doorway will remain open (and that means I need to pretty up the laundry room pronto!), and eventually when we redo the kitchen, I will add a door on hinges.  [on that note, if you're interested in barn door hardware, I'm selling mine!]

So back to the "brown circle" - do you have a similar temporary fix for a big problem? Please share!  And if you know of ways to get a burned "brown circle" out of a laminate countertop, I am all ears. 

See you swoon,