Quote, unquote. That is what I overheard my husband telling his mom on the phone last weekend. I guess that's an accurate description of what I was doing...although the doubt in his voice was not reassuring!
The crafty thing he was referring to was a little DIY I was attempting. I had enlisted my friend Laura to help me with a project that was long overdue. {true friends do chores with you!!} Let me tell you the story of a particular dresser. I got a call from a long time family friend whose elderly mother had to move in with them. They had to make some room in the house for all of their mother's things, and so she thought of me when deciding to get rid of a few antique pieces. I'm not a huge antique person, although I do really appreciate things with charm! Because I was alway complimentary of their pieces, she thought I just loved antiques.
Face to face with this dresser, I had to take it home. I knew I had no where to put it. I knew I would have to fix it up. But, hearing all these sweet things about how our friend just knew I would take such good care of it, and how we are like family...I couldn't say no. {character flaw I'm working on}
So, fortunately we have a pretty large storage shed. And that's where this dresser sat, for over a year.
I felt such guilt about it! Do I sell it at a yard sale? Do I give it to someone? Do I cram it in my house somewhere?
Well, just last week I had an epiphany. I impulsively decided to get rid of 80% of my books. It was crazy and my stomach hurt while I packed them up. But, I knew I'd never read them again, and they were just collecting dust. I found most of them a good home and that makes me happy! Because of getting rid of so many books, I was able to downsize from our 3 book shelves, to less than 2. Coincidentally, Blake was also in the mood to purge things and our teamwork resulting in a complete rearranging of our house! It was glorious!
Am I making this a really long story? Anyway. Our 3 bookshelves used to live in our dining room. Now that they were gone, I had a nice empty wall that would perfectly fit that dresser and it's mirror!
The shed was not too nice to it either. It was really dirty, but after a good wipe down, it was ready for a little DIY. Laura and I went to Lowes, she picked the color and we left with a few brushes and a quart of paint.
*A note on the color. Pinterest is amazing, this we know. I was really inspired by so many pins- particularly this one and this one. I knew I wanted to paint it blue, because it was just the right splash of color without gettin' crazy. We picked Valspar Moon Shade with a satin finish. *
Chores are so much better with a friend to talk to! It took us a few hours and several coats of paint to get it just right. We even kept the old pulls, but they needed a little elbow grease to go from gross to patinaed. The hardest part was waiting for it to dry before I started decorating! I have such a problem with patience. When I want something done, I wanted it done yesterday.
Here are our before and afters:
Yes, Delly had to be right underfoot the whole time. She ended up with quite a bit of blue paint on her little tail. I just know all of her tennis balls are going to end up under this dresser! She makes another appearance in the photos below. She can't help but be involved in photoshoots.
My favorite part of this little project was that it cost next to nothing. I spent around $20 for the paint and brushes, and I shopped my house for the vignette. I'm also so happy to be able to display my great-grandmother's Blue Willow china too! Also the dried Hydrangeas in the pitcher are from my bridal bouquet, which makes it pretty special.
Leave me a comment: What do you think of the color? Does your husband support your DIYing? Does your pug have to be next to you at all times??
This was so much fun!!! It turned out great.
ReplyDeletehi so this is not chalk paint just acrylic wall paint?
ReplyDeleteYes, I picked out a color swatch at Lowes and had them mix it with a satin finish. I'm sure you can achieve the same look with chalk paint, though.
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