Time out

Don't fret, I haven't forgotten about updating my blog with my new projects. I had a lint brush related accident on the weekend (I will spare you the gruesome details) and ripped my fingernail clean off! So, no DIY until it heals. I have some fun stuff on the go, I hope to be back at it in the next couple of weeks.

Fluke of a Deal

I nearly forgot to share with you the great deal Mr. Mel and I stumbled on while on an errand in town on Boxing Day. 2 chairs for the living room! Regular price was $329 each. I picked both of them of the less than $170 - including tax!

Coffee Table Pickle

Yay for me, I scored a great deal on this coffee table off a local online classified ad.

Now I need some input on how to refinish it. I have some ideas, some inside and some *outside* the box! Let me know what you think on the clicky poll on the right of my blog. Here are my options:

Option 1: A distressed harlequin pattern (in grey and cream) on the top, with a cream base. Something like this:

Option 2: Stained top and black distressed base. Kinda like this:

Option 3: Cream or white base with a decoupaged top (I am leaning towards using something like old maps). Something close to this from Funky Junk Interiors:

Option 4: Colour! Maybe along the lines of this table:

Grandma would be proud

When I was in the 8th grade, my grandmother passed away after a long battle with breast cancer. Nice opening line, right? I promise, this tale has a happy ending. After she passed, she left her bedroom dressers, circa 1890, to my parents. My parents didn't have much use for them but, because they held a  sentimental value, couldn't part with them.

The dressers spent about 6 months in storage, until my parents said it would be ok for me to use them in my bedroom (which I was redoing at the ripe old age of 13). The dressers were in rough shape, and needed some tlc. I got some advice from a local furniture restoration company, bought all the supplies I'd need, and set to work. I spent all that summer stripping, repairing, staining and waxing them until they looked like new. They even had their original iron and brass locks...complete with a skeleton key! Wicked cool character!

When I moved out, the dressers stayed behind. There was always periodic talk about me coming to pick them up, but I never did. Over the years, the pair was split up: my sister took the chest of drawers, and the dresser went to my parent's spare room and then to their basement. When we moved into our new house, I just knew that I was finally going to be able to make use of them again, my much loved (and now well worn) dressers that held such a connection to my grandmother.

I decided that it was time to breath some youth and funk into these relics. They have a wonderful shape and proportions, all they needed was some pizzaz! Originally, I was drawn to the idea of attaching mirrors to the drawer fronts and dresser sides.

When I looked into having mirrors cute to size, however, the cost was more than I wanted to spend. I decided to stick with the idea, but to change it up a bit after seeing a couple of great dresser make-overs at Casa Sugar and one from Shecars. I even found a few inspirations at some online stores!

Here is how I rescued and reused the dresser...now in our master bedroom:

I started by removing all the hardware from the dresser and gave the dresser a quick sanding with my handy dandy palm sander (I used a sanding block to get in the little crevaces). I then gave it a good wipe with a tack cloth to make sure there was no dust on the surfaces. Next I gave it a coat of primer. I let this dry overnight (note my fatty cat Jones checking out my handywork).

The next morning, I painted the dresser and drawer fronts with 2 coats of black paint, CIL's Black Mica, in a satin finish and let it dry for 8 hours.

Now the fun part. I painted the dresser drawer fronts with Benjamin Moore Metallix Copper. I did 3 coats, I wanted to be sure to get enough coverage as the paint is a bit transluscent. The Metallix paint ended up being a bit fussy. If I use it on a large piece like this again, I may consider spraying it on, instead of brushing or rolling it.

Once everything had a chance to dry, I attached the new hardware and shazam...love it!

Here is the breakdown of costs for this project:
$0 for the dresser
$0 primer (leftovers from our condo renovations)
$5 for metallic paint
$15 for black paint
$3 for sponge roller refills
$2 for sponge brushes
$40 for new drawer pulls
Total Cost = $ 65

Coming up short

I should have known this was going to happen. After sewing every curtain and cushion in my previous home, I swore up and down that I wouldn't do a single sewing project at the new house. I spoke too soon. A curtain mis-calc on my part, has resulted in drapes 10" too short for my windows! Duh!

I needed to make this fix as basic as possible. I made a quick trip to the fabric store and found a great co-ordinating fabric and simply sewed it to the bottom of each curtain panel. Mr. Mel requested that they puddle at the bottom (a look I am not particularily fond of). He asks for so little, how could I refuse his request?

Here they are before:

Ta da...Mr.Mel is so thrilled to have these up. He thinks our house now looks "warm". That's a good thing, right?

Here is the breakdown of costs for this project:

$280 for 8 curtains panels
$32 for fabric
$2 for thread
Total Cost = $314

Pine dresser...all grown up!

I have to begin by saying how excited I was to tackle this project, and how ecstatic I am with the results!

In case you forgot, here was the dresser before:

Here's how I breathed new life into it:

First things first, I got rid of the horrible hardware. The drawer pulls I bought ended up being wider than the original pulls, so I filled the holes in the drawer fronts with wood filler and let it dry over night. Bright and early the next morning, I started by roughing up the entire surface of the dresser and drawers with my trusty palm sander. After wiping down the dresser with a tack cloth to get rid of all the dust, I gave it a quick coat of primer and let it dry for 4 hours.

Now I was ready for my first coat of paint, Behr Beluga. I decided to paint just the areas that I would distress later, mostly because I'm lazy! This is the colour that will show through after I distress the piece. I let this coat dry overnight.

Next, I did my top coat, something I whipped up from 2 different colours, Benjamin Moore Palace White and Frostine. I let this coat dry for about 48 hours.

Now the fun (and nerve wracking) part. I took my sanding blocks and lightly scuffed the top coat off in areas that would naturally get more wear and tear. I started with a heavy grit block, and then cleaned it up with a lighter grit block. At first, I was freaking out when I got a little heavy handed and went through to the bare wood. Buuuut, when I took a good look at it, I really loved how it looked, a happy accident!

I considered finishing the dresser off with a coat of polyurethane, but, because it's not going to get a ton of use, I decided against it. Anyway, I hope that it gets some more dings and dents in it's new home. Finally, I drilled new holes in the drawer fronts and attached the new hardware.

Here's the finished product! (these photos are a bit dark, I'll try to snap some new ones soon)

Here is the breakdown of costs for this project:
$75 for the dresser
$0 for primer (leftovers from our condo renovations)
$0 for grey paint (leftovers from a project a few years ago)
$0 for cream paint (leftovers from our new home construction)
$3 for sponge roller refills
$2 for sponge brushes
$6 for sanding blocks
$38 for new drawer pulls
Total Cost = $124

That's better

I couldn't help myself. Mr. Mel and I just hated how cold and sterile our main floor bathroom looked. The room was painted Benjamin Moore Limesickle, a colour we love, but it was just too plain. I took a brush and roller to it this weekend, and painted the back wall Benjamin Moore Brown Sugar and we love how it turned out. It's so much warmer! Yay!

Side note: Scotch brand painter's tape is possibly the *worst* painter's tape I have ever used. Bleh, garbage!

Before:

After (with my Ceilume tiles hung on the wall):