Sunday, July 31, 2011

Elrie's Bathroom Makeover

My friend Elrie asked me to help her fix up her guest bathroom a little. It only had this one basin with a cabinet underneath, a toilet, shower, and, of course, the huge builder grade mirror.

 The cabinet looked old and worn from too many hot showers and steam.
 The huge mirror and generic towel rail did nothing to make this space look special.
The first thing I did was to remove the mirror. Luckily she still had some of the same paint left that they used on the walls, and we could fill in the unpainted space behind the mirror, as well as other nicks and holes.
I liked the color...something between a taupe and a moss green. Very subtle.

We replaced the mirror with a smaller one in a dark brown frame.
Looks much, much better, don't you think?

I also added a little shelf that I had bought at Ikea a long time ago above the toilet.
It still needs a frame, picture , or something above, but we are still looking for that. I don't believe in just rushing out to buy something when it comes to accessories. I will be keeping an eye out for the right item...I'm thinking something metal, in a rusted look, maybe.
I had been wanting to try the "Cabinet Transformations" kit by Rustoleum, and this was my chance...
I chose the Espresso Brown, to go with the other dark brown wood pieces in her home.
Teh kit has everything needed for the transformation: deglosser (no sanding, yeah!), scrubby sponge to apply it with, color, glaze, and sealant. I just had to buy the brush to apply the paint.
 Now this looks a 100% better than the old cabinet, don't you think?
I did put the glaze on, even though the effect is subtle, it just makes the color come alive..
I also added door knobs.  I think it makes it look more classy.
New toilet roll holder...
..and towel hooks in place of the bar, and it looks like a brand new bathroom!

Sorry , I tried getting the whole bathroom in the picture to give you a better idea, but the place is too small, or my camera too cheap, to achieve that.
O, and guess what? All of the accessories, eg towel hooks, toilet roll holder, door knobs and mirror, were bought at...Wal-Mart!


This is what I'm working on now....


Come back to see the end result!

Love,
Joining all the parties on my Parties Page...

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Dresser Love


I found this dresser at Goodwill the other day. I was looking for some drawers to go in my closet, and thought this would work. It was a little too long for the space, so of course I had to transform it to sell it.

This was after I already stripped to the top with paint stripper...
I started to just sand, but the gloss finish was so hard, it would not budge under my little palm sander.
The paint stripper did the job perfectly...quick and easy!
 The top  is my favorite part of this piece. So rich and warm.
I stained it with Mahogany stain after sanding with very fine sandpaper.
Right at the end I rubbed with some MinWax Wax.
 The body and drawers were primed with Zinzer 123 primer, and then painted with some Oops paint from Lowes I had. A sort of a off-white/greyish color.
 The hardest work of the whole project was the sanding/distressing after. Did not distress too much, but enough to give it a lived in look. 


After buying different handles at Habitat Restore and spraying it with ORB, I decided to go with the original hardware, as is. I just liked the look more. It added to the warm tone of the rest of the piece.

 O, and I wiped some glaze tinted with dark stain on, and wiped off to give it an older look.
 It looked a little too dirty, so I dry brushed some white over again.
 Perfect! 

 Sorry about the overload of pictures, but I am so in love with this piece..
 It is going to the new consignment store in my neighborhood,
L.E.A. Consignment . You have got to check it out if you live anywhere near Phoenix. It is a wonderful store with beautiful things..
Hu Uhm...they do sell my stuff, after all...   :-)

Hope you like this as much as I do!
What do you think?

Joining:


..and the other parties listed on my parties page..


Saturday, July 9, 2011

Practise Run

I got this set of drawers at Savers almost a year ago for $14.00.
(Started sanding and painting before I remembered to take the "before" picture. "What's new, Pussycat?" )
 It was meant for the Tween Room before a friend gave me this one.
So, it ended up residing in my garage to the utter delight of my husband.
This week, I decided I could use the drawer space in my closet. I was going to just use it as is...I know, what was I thinking, right?
But then I got the idea of trying out a new look I have seen, and wasn't sure how to accomplish.

The temperatures in Phoenix have been 110 degrees and up, so this is where I'm painting at the moment.
I always grab carpets I find on the curb. They are usually cleaned sufficiently by a good spray with the hose, and are then used for things like this...

After one coat of Zinzer Primer, I applied a coat of green, then some dry brushed yellow, green again, and then spots of dry brushed blue.


 Then the sanding began....


This is the look after sanding and some brown antiquing glaze.


 See the spots of blue showing through?
Just like it had been painted different colors through the years.

 A little bit of yellow showing...
I liked the hardware and kept it just as it was.

All in all I am pleasantly surprised and pleased with the outcome.
What do you think?
Any suggestions on different hardware?
Joining These Parties...as well as the one's on  Parties Page
http://www.perfectlyimperfectblog.com/2011/07/favorites-a-chair-makeover-and-all-things-furniture-party-6.html


Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Little Girl's Surprise Two Hour Room Make-over

I want you to meet my (crazy) friend Kim and her family...

 After having two of her own children,  she adopted first a boy, and later a girl, from Ethiopia.At one stage she had three 3 year olds in her home...
Most times her home is a crazy, crazy, circus beehive of activity. Because of this, she has the funniest stories to tell. Go check out her blog here .

As if that was not enough, she had another baby girl last year, who is now nine months old.
Recently, they moved to a bigger house, on a small farm, where the kids each have their own bedroom for the first time .
But, with starting to raise chickens, planting a vegetable garden and starting a fruit orchard, there was not much time (or energy, I am sure) to worry about decorating the kids' rooms.

That's why I decided to do it for her...on a very low budget (between $0.00 and $20.00 per room)
I started with A's room
Isn't she just beautiful with those huge blue eyes? Kim told her that there is surprise waiting for her when she gets back from summer camp. We had two hours to get everything done! That's why we did not paint. Luckily the paint on the walls are still pretty good.
It started with this little shelf, that I told Kim, she could have. It was a hand me down from my other friend, Amey, who got it at Goodwill and prettied it up. Since I was doing a garden theme, I of course had to change it up a little again...
The reason for the garden theme? "A" likes green, and I had a lot of garden related decor items lying around. My daughter's old comforter, (before we did her "Tween Room"), was perfect for this, too.
I got some really cool gift wrap at Hobby Lobby, and decoupaged the backs again. Then I just dry brushed green and yellow all over the white...
                                    And this was the result... 

Sorry I did not get a better picture. Was not even planning on blogging this...
I got two things of vinyl butterflies at The Dollar Tree, and decoupaged the little holder that I had at home with the same gift wrap..

Since she loves butterflies as well as birds, I spray painted the little bird cage that I had white, and hung it from the ceiling. ( She later said this was her favorite part). See the birdcage on the top of the above picure?

 

The curtain was a panel that I got at Goodwill once, and just bought because I liked it. I used it horisontally here, folded over one third, and stuck to the wall with tacks. Then I hung the flowers on the tacks. The flowers, along with the rest of the stuff, was bought at a Michaels sale once...$90.00 worth of stuff, for $2.50. It was all kinds of garden decor, all thrown into a shopping bag and sold for $2.50. At the time I did not know what I was going to do with it, but, dang! , no self respecting thrifter can let a deal like that go by...

O wait, no, the white frames used to belong to me, and the "Faith, Hope, Love" words were from the Dollar Tree too



BEFORE
 AFTER
This little girl was speechless when she got home and saw her room. Her mom said she just stared, and stared. Then she said, "Now I don't have a geek's room anymore. I feel so special."
I can't wait to get going with the other kids' rooms!

After seeing how much "A" appreciated her room, we have decided to do this on a regular basis for a child who is underpriveledged.
So, if you live in the Phoenix area and know of someone who could be made feel special in this way, let me know.
Bye for now!


Linking to..


                                                A Little Knick Knack