Color Obsession

I have an obsession with a new color. What should I call it? It's sort of... leaf green. Darker and more mature than chartruese, more youthful than olive. There's just something about it.

I found this mid century modern dresser for the basement.

And there's only one color it could be.

This is my go-to green. It's Meadowlands by Valspar.

This dresser was just $40. I thought that was a steal for it's modern sensability. But it had a few small condition issues. Like this cigarette burn.

A little sanding took care of that.

This particular paint has primer built in, so after a little all over light sanding, I just dived right in.

After one coat.

Let it dry for a bit, then the second coat. I let this paint "cure" for several days before putting the HUGE heavy TV on it. Maybe I should have put a bit of polycrylic on it for extra protection. I guess time will tell. If it gets a little knocked around I can always sand and touch up.

And now the moment of truth. A couple before and afters!

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

Linking to some of these great parties.

Now go make something!

Slip Covered Ottomans

When redecorating your home, often the most inexpensive option isn't finding the best deal for something new... it's repurposing or redoing something you already have.

Enter my ottomans (please ignore the flaking, painted concrete basement floor).

I registered for these suckers at Bed, Bath and Beyond before Mr. RBR and I got married. It was when these square ottomans first came out. I thought they were mega cool. Of course now these little ottomans are all over the place. Now they have cool fabrics, and even storage inside. Nope, not these. No storage. Just little square ottoman cubes. Plus they look a little boring, don't they? It's not like they're offensive. They're just... yawn.

Well not anymore, honey!

A little fun black and white fabric (3 1/3 yards for two). Esmee by Wavery.

Sewn into a slipcover. I have not done much of this, but you just pin it inside out and sew. Sometimes the best way to learn to do something, is just to try to do it!

Now take a look!

No one would ever dream of calling these two boring. They're the life of the party, er, basement!

Speaking of basement, I owe you an update. Major progress. You know it's going to be my mom cave, right?

A before and after? You bet.

Linking to some of these great parties.

Now go make something!

Bolstering your Pillow's Appeal

See what I did there? I used "bolstering" the verb, and I'm talking about "bolsters" the noun. Get it? AH HA HA HA HA

HA HA

HA

Nevermind.

I have two bolsters. I've had them for ages. And they've always sat on these two chairs.

There's nothing wrong with them. They're perfectly fine tan, faux-suede bolsters. Nothing offending enough to warrant them getting tossed.

But I think they lack pizzaz. Despite the bold geometric on these two chairs, this area was rather... boring. What's missing? Then it hit me. Duh.

COLOR.

I hate to throw anything out. And, heck, I'm cheap too. So how about a facelift?

I found the PERFECT fabric. Epic Tale by Waverly. It's the stripe in this stack.

It was a little more expensive than I usually go for at $22/yd. But I only needed two feet (2/3 yd) for this project, which came to about $14.50.

All I did was cut out two identical striped areas, seam the raw edges, and sew it together to make a tube.

Then just slipped it on. Come on, what's easier than that? And a nice transformation for little time and little money... two things I don't have much of these days.

Linking to some of these great parties.

Now go make something!

This project was featured on Finding Fabulous.

Handpainted Jewelry Box

Several years ago I asked Mr. RBR for a jewelry box for Christmas. I'm usually not extremely picky and didn't feel the need to pick it out myself, but I did ask that it be 1. large (larger than the one I had at the time) 2. Be white 3. Have silver hardware.

Mr. RBR found this.

It's not tooooo bad. The size and functionality of it I love. It's worked well. But I've never loved the finish.

Mr. RBR said he looked everywhere, but couldn't find something that was large and white, let alone with silver hardware. This finish is kind of halfway between cream and pickled oak. You can't really tell in the photos, but there's a pickish hue and some wood grain showing. And the brass just didn't go with our bedroom decor.

But now that our bedroom is getting a refresher, why not change it?

I started with some spray paint. Just give it a light sand and paint away. The drawers on this jewelry box shut pretty tight, so I didn't even bother to take my jewelry out.

Don't be like me.

Here's what it looked like after 3ish coats with some spray paint. I liked it. I thought it looked nice!

But why not take it over the top? I decided to put a little handmade detail on it. Something branchy. I got me some spring fevah! I got a large artist's brush and practiced on some scrap paper.

Uh oh. I might be in trouble. That sucks.

To the internet for some inspiration!

Um, yeah. Something like THIS!

This is wallpaper by Schumacher, found here.

So I printed out the inspiration on my home printer. I got out a teensy tiny artist's brush and some regular white semi gloss trim paint. I found the paint was a little too thick and clumpy to get the small detail, so I added a few drops of water right on the paint lid. Then I just went for it!

It was a little scary, but I figured if I hated it, all I needed to do was re-sand and re-spray. No big deal. Luckily it turned out very nice! It's not hard. Give it a try! Find some inspiration. Practice before you paint your piece. Go slowly--take your time!

When it was dry I wanted to make sure to protect my hard work. The spray paint seemed very durable, but I didn't want my branches to scrape off. I found some matte protective spray I already had (I used it to protect the chippy finish on the dump truck and train in the boy's room). I didn't want to spray the whole jewelry box in this case, because the sealer is matte and the spray paint was gloss. I was pretty sure that would rip a hole in the universe.

Nah, I liked the gloss, and I didn't want to cover it with matte. If I had gloss spray sealer, I would have sprayed the whole thing. Instead I sprayed a little matte sealer right in the cap. Stuck my brush in there and painted over top all the white areas I wanted to protect. After I was finished I immediately cleaned my brush with mineral spirits so it stayed nice.

All done! Here it is in its new home.

You think if I brought it outside it might inspire spring to come sooner?

Hmm... Not working.

It's still pretty. One more before and after.

Linking to some of these great parties!

This project was featured on the CSI Project.

Nightstand Kitchens

Did you know there is a phenomenon going around blogland? NIGHSTAND KITCHENS!

People take old nightstands (or sewing tables, or tv stands, or small entertainment centers) and turn them into kiddy kitchens. And they are so cute I can't stand it! Makes me want to try my own. The possibilities are endless. And of course each one ends up unique... it makes want to try to do a bunch and try to sell them.

Then I remember I have 3 children under 5 years old and a house in shambles and I think "WHEN am I going to do this exactly?"

We'll see. In case I can eek out some time this summer, I'll keep these gorgeous specimens in my idea box.

This one from My Little Gems.

Another one from Domestic Simplicity. Pretty!

Girly meets modern at Dwellings by Devore.

Vintage Songbird. Fresh!

Bright red by Little Miss MK.

This little beauty, made from a sewing table, is freaking me out a little bit. Look anything like the beadboard in our Toy Room? Eeeeerie! From Lipstick and Laundry.

The details on this one are killing me! The black windows on the appliances, the highlight and numbers on the microwave? Sooo cute. Martha Writes.

And all kinds of kitchen-y goodness over at Out Of The Crayon Box.

Have you made one of these? Please, please share! I'm begging!

Builder's Itch

Hey, if tennis player's can have tennis elbows, how about a builder's itch?

I have an urge to BUILD. Something. Lots of things. I don't think I've built one stinking thing before, but that dang Ana White sure makes me wanna try.

I know I've helped build lots of things. I've torn apart plenty of things. I've painted, revamped, destroyed and put together a lot of things. But BUILD something? Something from SCRATCH?Idonthinkso.

There's one little itty bitty problem--besides complete lack of experience. I'm afraid of saws.

I keep thinking I'm going to cut a finger off.

A little story that I just thought of. My friend used to go to this church. The minister was missing part of his index finger and part of his ring finger. First of all, how in the heck does that happen? If you're in some sort of finger accident, how do you miss the middle finger? Secondly, as the minister was gesturing he looked like he was giving everyone the bird. No really. Swear.

I don't want to look like I'm flicking anyone off! Argh. But I'd sure like to make some of Ana's plans.

In an old house, storage is often, well, lacking. I'd love to make this entry bench system.

Picture from Ana's site.

Learn how to make the bench here.

Or how about some floating shelves? Yes, please!

Photo from Ana's site.

Learn how to make the shelves here.

She makes it look easy.

So easy in fact, I have a growing wild fantasy of adding a custom built-in cabinet to a little used nook upstairs.

It'd be great!

If I knew what the heck I was doing.

I'll let you know if I'm ready to risk life and, er, finger.

Happy birthday, Clayton!

Something really amazing happened three years ago today.

After nearly four years of failure to become parents using nearly every method available to us... we finally, finally, FINALLY officially became parents.

Clayton was born.

We had had so many failures, I refused to take any pictures of myself pregnant. Finally on the way to the hospital, I relented.

Finally.

We didn't know on February 23, 2008 what Clayton would bring to our family. But honestly it didn't take long to find out. Clayton's always been on fire. From nearly the moment he was born he has been fiesty. Clayton has been my only successful pregnancy out of 10. I've lost 9 others. In my mind I joke that Clayton came from one stubborn-ass egg. Sorry, but I think it's true.

He laughs the loudest, he cries the loudest. He is a bundle of energy that almost never, ever sits still. He's a rollercoaster on steroids.

Just seven weeks after baby Clayton was born, little Zack would join us. Then the party would really begin!

Dear, dear Clayton. I love all you kids so much, but on this day, your special day, I hope it's all you've ever dreamed of. Just like you kids are all I could ever dream of.

I love you sweetheart. I hope you'll always know how much. You are a special kid.

Love,

Mommy