Pretty Painted Seaglass Chest

Hello and Happy Monday!

A few months ago, I posted about the slew of painting projects I had lined up.  Over the Memorial Day holiday weekend I got to it!  Here is one today: the little IKEA chest in my bedroom.  I had a small IKEA Rast chest in the corner of my room, which holds workout clothes.  I can't believe that I cannot fit everything I own in my huge dresser and huge closet. But I cannot, so I brought in one more small piece.  I like the Rast a lot - it's solid wood and has tons of potential.  But it is a little small, and I think it's better suited as a nightstand, which it will be in Big's room.  Here is the Rast:

So I bought the IKEA Tarva chest.  It was about $80 and much bigger than the Rast.  Like the Rast, the Tarva is solid wood and has tons of potential.  It went from this ...

To this!

Obviously the unfinished wood was temporary.  I decided to paint it a sort of seaglass greenish blue, since my bedroom - shockingly - is awash in white and cream.  I had a quart of Valspar paint and primer in one on hand in Sherwin Williams Waterscape, which is what I used on the bamboo entryway table in the old house.  I love this color!  And I really love the Valspar paint.  It's good stuff.  It took one coat of oil based primer (Zinsser), two coats of the Valspar and then two very thin coats of Polycrilic in satin finish.  And ... voila!

I bought some glass knobs at Home Depot.  

I really like the chest, but I would like to make some changes once I have a little more time. I think it needs some molding to dress it up a bit.  And I'm not sold on those glass knobs - but I want to wait to replace them until the molding is done.  I probably should have worked on the molding while I was building and painting the chest, but I really just wanted to get it done!  I'd love to mimic this look on an Ethan Allen chest:

But for now, I'm loving the increased storage and pop of seaglass in my room!  

Wednesday I'll give an update to other changes around my bedroom ... stay tuned for all of this and more. 

What about you? Copying any designer furniture pieces lately? Painting furniture or walls?  

See you swoon,

Patio Cleanup (part 1)

On Monday, I shared the before and after of my upstairs deck.  I also made progress on my downstairs patio.  Remember this?

That picture was from right after I moved in.  It got a little rough out there.  Here you go ...

So, I took a few hours on a Sunday, a handful of garbage bags and got down and dirty and cleaned up the space.  I bought three bags of black mulch from Home Depot, a new hose and nozzle (the hose that was here was in bad bad shape) and some cutters and pruners.  I weeded between the bricks, weeded the beds, pruned the bushes, made little beds of mulch and gave the whole space new life.  Here it is now.

I still have some work to do.  I need to hang the hose holder and hose, clean and put a fresh coat of white paint on the Adirondacks, clean the bricks with the deck cleaner, and plant a couple of hydrangea or peony bushes.  Next year, I want to make this space into an outdoor living area ... but I don't think I can do it this year.  Baby steps, right?

Have a good weekend! Are you planning on doing any projects?  Please share!

See you swoon,

What I Wore {part 11}

Good morning all!  Wednesday ... almost there ... almost there!  How about we celebrate hump day with a little round-up of some of my recent outfits.

* Knotted Chambray Shirt, Chevron Skirt *

I found this navy, white and hint of orange (see the stripes) skirt at Old Navy last summer.  It's fun and flowy and super comfy.  I wore it with a chambray shirt, which I decided to knot at the waist.  I wore a white cami underneath.  You can also see what my hair looks like when I don't straighten it.  Some days, when it is humid or I am pressed for time, I bag blow drying and just embrace the wave.  

* Pink Cardi, Ruffly Shell, Dark Grey Pants* 

Look, pants!  I love this ruffly shell, which is from j.crew from a number of years ago. The collar is filled with tons and tons of layers of ruffles.  It looks good alone or under a cardi.  It was chilly this day, so I wore it under a pink cardigan that I got at the j.crew outlet this past Winter.  Plain old dark grey pants round out the look.  

* Colorblock Skirt, Printed Halter, Black Cardigan *

You've seen this skirt before.  I love it.  I found it at TJ Maxx for around $11.  It was a chilly day, so I wore a printed halter top with a bow at the neck (Loft, circa 2006) and a fitted black 3/4 sleeve cardigan from Forever 21.  The outfit needed something, and the something was a belt. I wore a red skinny belt to finish it off.  

What have you worn lately?  Anything fun?

See you swoon,

Hit the Deck!

Happy Monday!  I hope you had a great weekend.

Over the holiday weekend, I took advantage of the absolutely stunning weather (not too hot, not too cold and lots and lots of sunshine) and worked on a ton of projects around my place.  Top among them was to get my two outdoor spaces into shape.  Today I'll share the before and after of my upstairs deck.

The upstairs deck just needed a little cleaning and decorating.  Here it is before ... all my furniture was stored away for the winter.

First, I had to clean the deck floor.  It was green in spots. See?

I went to my local hardware store (True Value in Paoli) and talked to the owner, who was so helpful.  He carried a great product that was all set to go: Olympic Deck Cleaner.  All I did was put it in a bucket, and spread it on the deck floor with a cheap sponge mop.  Let it sit for 10 minutes then rinse with buckets of water.  The green was gone!  Easy peasy.  

Once the floor was clean, it was time to decorate.  I bought the patio furniture and coral indoor/outdoor rug last summer from Target.  The pretty coral and white pots are all from Home Goods.  And the herb planters are from Christmas Tree Shops.

This year I picked up the cute pillows (indoor/outdoor fabric) from Pier 1.  They were on crazy sale for the Memorial Day holiday.  I bought a handful of new plants and will do my very best to keep them alive.  I will turn this black thumb green yet.  

This space has evolved nicely!  I can't wait to hang out up here.  I have a few projects I'd like to tackle at some point: replace the ugly light, spruce up the little table and bring in some more lanterns.  But for now, I'll enjoy my pretty little space.  

See you swoon,

Nantucket Red Skirt: a year's worth of use!

Don't you just love it when you prove yourself right?  I sure do.  Case in point, my Nantucket Red skirt I picked up last Summer.  I had been coveting the look of a Nantucket Red skirt -- that faded, beachy red -- and finally bit the bullet and purchased the real deal from Murray's Toggery shop in Nantucket by ordering online.  The skirt was about $65, so I resolved to try to wear it beyond the Summer.  And I've made good!  I wore it in the Summer, and Fall, and Winter and now Spring!

Here's what I did for my Spring look:

I wore a striped, fitted top from H&M tucked into the skirt.  I loved how nautical it felt.  I was thrilled to realize my new coral wedges (from TJ Maxx) looked like a perfect match to the Nantucket Red!  So I wore them with it.  

And now for a round up of how my little skirt fared in each of the four seasons:

Summer

chambray shirt, brown leather belt and brown leather cork wedges

Fall

cream cowl neck shell, ruffly tan cardigan, bare legs, tall brown riding boots

Winter

Cream cotton Irish sweater, yellow polka dotted scarf, brown tights, brown riding boots

Spring

black and white striped top, coral wedges

And there you go! Four full seasons and one little skirt.  I'd say I've gotten my money's worth and then some.  I'll keep posting outfit ideas for this little guy.  I still have some ideas ...

See you swoon,