Craigslist dresser before and after

The BF just bought a cheapo point-and-shoot camera to snap shots when we go canyoneering. So I promise that photo quality on this here bloggity blog should improve. Until then, more crappy camera photos to prove that nearly any piece of furniture can be improved with paint.

Image from KSL (local newspaper classifieds). Horrific spray-painted purple top and drawers, tacky blue handles. Prime for repainting! Sanded it down, stripped the paint from the handles, and repainted.

And Voila!

Draper-esque, no? The insides of the drawers are pretty blue too for a nice surprise. The drawers are still a little sticky but it works for my undies, towels, pjs, etc....and I think it classes up my little bathroom corner! :)

Before and Afters

I was thinking this weekend about how nearly every piece of furniture I own or have owned, other than my bed mattress and metal bedframe, have been thrifted, Craigslisted, or antique store-d and subsequently refurbished by myself. Thought maybe you'd like to see a few of my projects, regardless of the crappy photo quality.

Coffee Table:

Before: dingy green, lots of promise

During: my first experience stripping paint from a piece of furniture

After: The final product

Kitchen Table:

During: in the middle of sanding off an ugly stain from a thrift-store table

After: Hard to see because I never took a true After but it's on the right of the pic....painted white with a grey pattern on top.

Square Coffee Table: found this in our garage from a past tenant. Item on the right is a whiteboard I repainted and the back item is a bench I repainted

After: Turned out better than I expected

Dining Chairs:

Before: You've seen these pics before

After: Months later I still love 'em :)

Don't have before and after shots for these but I've refurbished all these pieces too:

Bench: recovered the seat in new fabric and sanded/restained the whole piece

Headboard: my mom and I made this together


Bedside table: Found this under a pile of junk in an antique store. Caught my attention because of the blue glass top, took it home, sanded/restained it. My mom said she didn't think it was worth the $30 I paid for it at first but now tells me never to sell it :)

So these are a few projects I've had my hands on! Have a new coffee table in the works as you saw a few days ago. I'll be sure to post pics once I'm done!

Updates on my studio

Just paid my 2nd rent check so I figured it's about time for an update on how things are looking at my studio. Most likely no one is interested, but I find that posting things helps point out to myself what still needs to be done.

Things to do/change:

• I want to move the microwave (big black box by the sink) but don't have anywhere else to put it right now
• I need to buy a tension rod and make a curtain for that space under the microwave to hide the art supplies I store there
• Paint the large frame around my Chile painting white. Originally yellow, I painted it grey at my old place to set it off from the white walls. Now that my walls are grey/creamish, white would look better.
• Coffee table needs to go. I want something smaller with a cushion on top so I can prop up my feet. I found a really cool table base at a local antique shop that looks very similar to the table in the pic below...I'd paint mine white though. Not sure what fabric I'd put on top? Hmmmm....

Overall I'm ok with this space, mostly because there's not a whole lot else I can do.

However, I do want to:

• Cover all my textbooks with brown paper bags and write their titles in gold Sharpie. Sounds ghetto but look how pretty my inspiration pic is!

See those books in the fireplace? Also love the gold mirror and white vases with flowers :)

I've set up a tiny little entryway station on top of my grandma's green hamper that holds my blankets.

Things to do:

• Get a tray to put everything on so it looks more intentional and organized
• Put up a fabric-covered corkboard next to the door for invites/cards/etc
• Hang the two large paintings on the wall on the right.
• Something's off about the two photo frames to the right of the door too....?

Start of a gallery wall over my vanity/kitchen table (studio, ya gotta multipurpose ;) I just put this up yesterday and I love seeing all my favorite people and mementos all in one spot when I have dinner and get ready in the morning.

Thing to do:

• Move the desk a little left so the 'entryway' table has a little more breathing room. Can't go too much left because then there's no room at the stove...

Closeup. I want to put up a mirror to the right of the lamp, balance it out a little more that way.

This corner is pretty much set, except for hanging those two large paintings.

Then there's my bathroom, which is a disaster right now but I just bought a dresser, am refurbishing it, and will whip that all into shape in no time :)

So what do you think? Suggestions? Things you like? Things you hate?

My house as of 7:30 this morning...

....was pretty much a mess. But it's myyyyy mess, allllll mine :)

So far? LOVING living on my own and I fall in love with my space a little more each day. I cleared out a lot of the extraneous moving stuff today so it looks even better now than in this suuuuper shitty phone pics....but here's a (blurry) idea of how it's shaping up!

All the key pieces are in, now I'm just trying to get rid of extra furniture and I need a dresser desperately, but that will all come in due time :)

Trying to decide if I should sell one of the blue chairs....They're the only real seating in the space cuz it's so tiny, but I don't know if 2 are overpowering. I'll probably live with them a bit and make my decision once it's obvious how I live in this space.

Desk-cum-vanity-cum-kitchen table is in place and working nicely :)

The boy was very tired this morning (poor guy got stuck helping me move all weekend) and was not happy to have his photo done did at 7:30 AM...haha.

So that's that!