Inspiration Photos For Distressed Dressers.....

I mentioned in the previous post that I had a file saved on my computer consisting of my inspirations for painting my dresser.  Here they are: 

Click on Image for Source

hmmm....Maybe I SHOULD do the brown glaze to antique my dresser.  These pictures always make me change my mind!

Distressed Dresser

When my husband and I got married, we inherited some of his childhood furniture.  This dresser was old.  I mean peeling wood, broken drawers, dull stain and varnish kind-of-OLD! It's been sitting in the garage because I have procrastinated facing this Ugly.

It has horrendous hardware that somehow suggested an obsession of a Texas sports team....which The Hubs isn't even a fan!

 I sanded the entire dresser with a pretty rough grade.  After I re-sanded with a finer grade just to smooth it out.

 I used a Gripper primer.  This primer can go on pre-stained or painted woods without the need of sanding.  I chose to sand the dresser just in case!

 I chose "Garden Sage" from Sherwin-Williams as my paint color.  As shown here, it's in my empty, but finished basement.  I'm going to put it in the guest room where the walls are a buttery/golden yellow.

I spackled the holes where the old hardware had been before.  I sanded down the spackle and then painted the drawers. 

The hardware is from Home Depot.  Easy as pie.

I chose not to use a brown glaze to antique it at the last minute.  I decided I liked the clean green look.  Funny, because I really wanted to antique this "distressed dresser" due to some very inspirational dresser photos.  (To be shared later...)  Hopefully, I made the right decision!

Happy Veterans' Day!

I'm so sorry I've been MIA lately.  My son has had a cough for over two months and finally I decided it was time to fork over the moolah and head to the doctor's.  They said that because of having RSV earlier in the year, he'll struggle to completely get rid of any cough.  So back on the nebulizer he goes and my frustration only continues!  I decided that I needed a treat that night.  I made No-Bake Cookies!  They were absolutely delicious and totally out of character for me to crave..hmmm.  Anyways, I made some changes to the recipe viewed in red.

 Image via blisstree

2 cups sugar
4 Tb cocoa
1 stick butter
1/2 cup milk
1 cup peanut butter (I didn't add any)
1/2 cup shredded coconut
1 Tb vanilla
3 cups oatmeal
In a heavy saucepan bring to a boil sugar, cocoa, butter and milk. Let boil for one minute and add peanut butter, vanilla and oatmeal. (Or if you were me, add coconut and no peanut butter) Drop by tablespoonfuls onto waxed paper or aluminum foil until cooled and hardened.
NOTE:  I waited for the mixture to cool a tad and then added some leftover, frozen, chopped candybars and some chocolate chips.  This way they didn't melt and I had a delicious chew to my mounds!

Last weekend I was able to experiment with a new recipe I found on Brown Eyed Baker's blog!  It was for Pumpkin blondies/brownies.

She said they had the textrue of a gooey, dense brownie but with the pumpkin flavor.  Of course I had to try it!  I did have chocolate chips to the batter and I can tell you, it was the perfect addition!

 Images and Recipe via Brown Eyed Baker

Check out her recipe here.  I guarantee you won't regret it!  I think my hubs and I ate almost an entire pan!!!

Miss Selfridge Obsessed!

I might have spent some serious time on this site....and might have even sent a letter asking if they thought about adding the option of international prices on their site.....Yeah, I'm that serious.

Cream Long Sleeved Beaded Top

Dark Wash Bootcut Jeans

Peter Pan Crochet Top

Frill Mini Skirt

Pink Ruffle Top

Dark Wash Wide Leg Jeans

Green PU Biker Jacket

Petites Bow Sleeve Blouse

Grey Hitched Bow Skirt

Red Victorian Top

Yellow Bow Top

Pleated Tipped Tiered Skirt

Stone Ruffle Mac

Guncheck Skirt

Apparel from Miss Selfridge

Thus far this is my wish list....for my birthday, Christmas, Mother's Day,...ummm Fourth of July?  Okay, you can see I'm in love.  Are you?!

My Finished Bathroom!

Finally, I was able to finish decorating the basement bathroom before the holidays hit.  This was the before:  I didn't even have cabinets or a counter yet, or paint for that matter!

I chose a camel/tan color for the bathroom.  I believe it's called buff or something like that.

 and the final.....

 This picture's frame was a really dark brown.

I painted it off-white after lightly sanding it down.  After it was painted, I sanded it again to antique it a bit. 

Here it is after again:

 In the end, I was pretty pleased with the outcome.  We saved money by doing the tiling and painting ourselves.  We chose a ceramic tile with glass tiled accents.  This way we could afford granite counter tops.  My husband did the floor in a diamond pattern that I just love.  Most of our accessories were from secondhand stores, on clearance, or something we already had.  Yeah for being thrifty!

Hope you all enjoy your weekend.  I know I will!

Project Runway Finale!

I can't believe I'm so behind on posting about this.  My husband actually watched the finale with me and him and I were both shocked.  Didn't everyone think Mondo was going to win....I mean did they even look at Gretchen's collection?  My husband actually asked me if her theme was safari inspired said in complete seriousness and confusion.  I loved Mondo's fun interpretation of design.  It was refreshing, bright, fun, and yes maybe it looked a littler teenager-ish but, they buy clothes too!  When the judges were arguing over the winner, I turned to my husband and said, "Michael Kors is going to get what he wants because he IS a designer, and he's probably got the most stubborn head there!"  Yep, he wanted Gretchen and she one. (I really didn't mind her so much, it's just that I loved Mondo!)

 

I think it was a waste of my time and anxiety levels reaching their peak....Was it a waste of yours?

Stress Lights

I've been toying over the idea of getting new lighting in our dining room.  I can't say that I really LOVE any of the lighting in our whole house.  I'd love to add a little elegance to our home, but it sometimes seems like painting lips on a pig.

This one is definitely a statement piece...but would definitely be too large for our space

This is probably my favorite because it's so elegant and beautiful.  Maybe too fancy for our child-friendly home.

Too Rustic

Perfect.

Images via Lighting Universe

Keep in mind, that I have other options but, this one actually took hours of searching.  The quest continues......