I found a side table that I love!!!!

Okay, I am feeling really brave today because I am sharing a video of me with you.

I found such a great deal that I had to share it with you “in person”.

(I took this video from my phone, in my son’s room, late at night, and I’m looking pretty rough. I must really love you guys!) :)

Here is what the vanity looked like when I walked into the Antique Mall…(insert bright light from heaven and choir of angels singing)…

Here is what the top looked like when we brought it home. I loved it despite it’s flaws…(we had started sanding it a little already)…

My hubby helped me sand it with 80 grit (coarse) sand paper to get some serious work done on top…

Then he sanded the whole top with 120 grit sand paper, and then smoothed it out with a 220 grit sand paper.

Now, I apologize for not taking pictures of the next steps. I was so excited about this project that I truly forgot. But I will tell you what we did.

I wiped the dust off the top and applied two coats of Miniwax “Dark Walnut” stain with a clean cloth. (Be sure to let it dry in between coats.)

Then I cleaned the bottom half of the piece with a wet cloth and a little bit of Murphy’s Wood cleaner.

Then I put a coat of Minwax Polyurethane (satin finish) all over the entire piece with a large sponge brush. Be sure to put on a thin layer.

When it was completely dry, I lightly sanded the top of the vanity and applied a second coat just to the top.

And here it is….(It looks orange-y out in the sun, but it is really a dark brown.)

The drawers work perfectly even though they have some big scratches on them, and I love the way they look. The scratches give the piece so much character…like there is a story behind every scratch.

And here it is in its new home…aaaahhhh….

Doesn’t it fit just perfectly?

I may put a mirror over the vanity…I haven’t decided yet.

The top turned out silky-smooth! I got that mirror picture frame at the Antique Mall too for just $4.99. I thought it would add some more “bling” to the room.

I love the details on this piece….the engravings, the cute little round feet…

One more reminder…$25.00!!!!!

Seriously? You can’t beat that with a stick!

So can you tell I love this piece? Hope so!

I am sooooo close to having this room finished. I am mostly looking for some lamps and some material for pillows.

The “big reveal” will be coming soon….

I am linking this party to DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land!

And Home is....@Reluctant Entertainer!

Be sure to mark you calendars for my next linky party.

All you have to do is link your favorite DIY project (related to home decor or home improvement) that you have completed in the month of April. One entry per person please.

If you don’t have a project to post, then just come and hang out at the party and check out everyone else’s great projects. :)

I will be posting more details about the party this week.

Have a blessed day!

Traci

Black Dresser for my Bedroom

UPDATE: I have had a bunch of questions about my Easter outfit. :) You girls are so funny! The dress is Calvin Klein, and I got it at Marshall's on clearance for $44.00 (which is actually kind of pricey for me). The shoes I got at Payless for $14.99, and I already had the necklace and earrings. There ya go, sweet things!

I hope you had a wonderful Easter weekend.

The weather here was absolutely perfect, and I enjoyed spending time with both sides of our family.

I did get a couple pics that I wanted to share with you.

Me and my boys…

The loves of my life!…

The whole crew after church…

I missed Mom terribly. I have such wonderful memories of Easter as a child. Mom played a big part in making it so special. I pray that my boys will also look back on these days and feel the same love that I did growing up.

The best part of the day was being in the Lord’s house and celebrating Jesus’ love for us all!

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Now to another piece of furniture that I finished for our master bedroom makeover.

Remember this inspiration picture I shared with you?….

And remember this dresser I found at an antique mall?…

Well, I broke down and bought her. They were asking $250.00 for the dresser. (Remember I had a $700.00 budget from the money I made selling my previous cherry bedroom suite.)

I did NOT want to pay that much!! I am sooo cheap! I knew that as soon as I bought the dresser, I would find one like it at a garage sale for like 25 bucks, and I would be totally kicking myself!

So I waited for about two weeks as I looked at every used furniture store, Goodwill, and antique mall I could find, and I saw NOTHING like this dresser.

I went back to the antique mall and offered them $200.00 cash, but they didn’t take it. So I called my Aunt Sue who buys and sells antiques, and ask her what I should do.

Long story short, my Aunt Sue went to the antique mall and talked the dealers down to $210.00. That’s as low as they would go, and since it was exactly what I was looking for, I decided to get it. :)

Thank you, Aunt Sue!

And here she is now…

Isn’t she cute?

I followed the same painting steps on this dresser that I used for my black armoire, except I cover the whole dresser with primer. You can read about the details HERE. I also will probably be putting a coat of polyurethane on this dresser for extra durability.

I did want to share with you how I did the drawer pulls.

They looked like this at first…

My husband primed them with some self-etching primer that he uses on his cars. (You could use regular spray primer.)

Then I spray painted them black (look at the handle at the top of the picture.)

I used a Folk Art paint from Walmart called Metallic Antique Gold ($1.25) and wiped it over the black handle with a paper towel.

It gave me exactly the look I was after! Can you see the difference in the picture below?

I love the way they look on my dresser…

Pretty close to my inspiration picture, don’t ya think?

LOVE IT!

Now for the hard part…accessorizing! I always struggle with this step. I’m not sure what I want to put on it…lamp?….pictures?….flowers?….we’ll see…

I am linking this project up to these wonderful parties…

Before and After Party at Thrifty Decor Chick,

Thrifty Treasures at Southern Hospitality,

Make it for Monday at Cottage Instincts,

DIY Day at A Soft Place to Land

Furniture Feature Friday at Mustard Seed Creations

Blessings!

Traci

Armoire Re-do

First of all, I want to remind you of my very first linky party….

(Click on the button to see my original post about my party.)

I am sooooo excited. I hope you can come. :)

I can’t wait to see the “best” DIY projects in blogland during the month of March. All you have to do is pick your best DIY project related to home decor or home improvement and link it to my party.

Then after you link up your post to my party, be sure to visit 3 to 5 other blogs and check out their best DIY projects. (And don’t forget to leave an encouraging comment.) :) Let’s spread the love!

I will be using a new linky system called “inlinkz”. You will be able to pick a picture of your project from your post and add it to your link. It will look something like this….(I just added a bunch of links from my blog to give you an example.)

I think it is so much fun to see a “snapshot” of each link! :)

Please pray that it will work out. I am hoping to have the link up and running by Monday night at 9:00 p.m.

Hope to see you there!

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Now to my latest project!

I have been working fast and furiously on my master bedroom re-do. I have gotten a lot done but still have more to do.

I wanted to share with you the entertainment armoire that I found for our bedroom.

As I told you before, I wanted to be able to hide the tv in our bedroom. To do this, I decided to try and find an entertainment armoire to re-do.

I searched at some antique malls and on Craig’s list, but had no luck. The ones on Craig’s list were all $200 to $300, and I didn’t want to pay that much. (Remember, I am doing my master bedroom re-do on a $700.00 budget.)

One day I ran into a Habitat store and saw this armoire…

I walked over to check the price and expected it to be way more than what I would have wanted to pay.

So you can imagine my surprise when I saw that it was only $40.00!!! I was so excited!

To be honest, it wasn’t exactly the style I was looking for, but for 40 bucks, I could learn to love it!

When I opened the doors, I quickly realized why it was only 40 dollars…

The back was gone!!

But that didn’t bother me or Eli one bit! That was an easy fix! (My 8 year old help me take these pictures.) :)

I called my honey and said, “Honey, I found an armoire for 40 bucks!”

He said, “Great!”

I said, “The back is gone.”

He said, “Oh.”

“Can you put a back on it for me?”

“Yup.”

So I paid my forty dollars and took that baby home! :)

Here it is from behind…

My hubby applied wood glue to the edges…

And then used his staple gun to nail the new back on…

( 4 x 8 sheet of birch plywood - $18.00 at Lowe’s)

I also need some more storage space inside the armoire for baskets, so my hubby built some extra shelving. He used a 4 x 8 sheet of MDF board for the shelves since we were going to paint them. It cost approximately $ 15.00 at Lowe’s, but we only used a little of it. My husband used the leftover wood to make a work table for his garage.

Here are the products I used…

First I applied a liquid deglosser over the entire piece to prepare the surface for painting.

Then I primed the fronts of the armoire with KILZ. Technically, I should have primed the entire armoire for the paint to adhere properly. However, I knew that I wanted to sand down the edges of the armoire after I painted it. If I had primed the edges, the white primer would have shown through, and I didn’t want that.

So I didn’t prime any of the parts that I was planning on sanding. Again, this is my way, not necessarily the right way. :)

I did prime the insides of the armoire because I knew I would be painting them black.

I used my favorite Valspar paint in black satin to paint it.

Then I used a medium grit sanding sponge to sand the edges like this…

I love the way the cherry wood shows through.

Here it is in my room…

(I am sorry these pictures are not the best, but I think I had my camera on the wrong setting. Now it is nighttime and too late to take any good pictures.)

I love the way it turned out!

I just threw some things on top to take these pictures. :)

And I haven’t bought any handles yet. I am still trying to decide what type I want.

Here is the inside of the armoire…

I got the baskets at Gordman’s. They were 10 dollars a piece. We are using them to store socks and such.

I love the way the doors slide back into the armoire. And the tv is up good and high so we can see it perfectly from our bed! :)

We are using the bottom of the armoire to hold some of my husband’s clothing.

Here are the total costs:

Armoire - $40

Wood for back and shelves – approx. $25.00

Paint - $9.00

Baskets - $20.00

So the whole project cost me less than $100.00! Not bad.

I found this armoire at an antique mall a few weeks ago and almost bought it…

They were asking $375.00 for it. I think my armoire turned out just as nice, and I saved $275.00 by being a little creative!

So I used the money I saved to buy a little “bling” for my room!

Here’s a sneak peak...

Ooh-la-la…I love it!

Stay tuned for more of my master bedroom makeover!

I am linking this project up to…

Metamorphosis Monday at Between Naps on the Porch

Make it for Monday at Cottage Instincts

DIY day at A Soft Place to Land

Furniture Feature Friday at Mustard Seed Creations

Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!

Traci

Great “before and after” Pictures!

Just had to share with you another great email I got from one of my readers a couple of weeks ago.

I love it when I receive these emails and pictures! :)

It is so much fun to hear and see that people are actually using the ideas I post about on my blog in their own homes.

What a blessing!

My friend, Gina, had written me last fall about the steps I took to paint the hutch in my kitchen black. Here is the picture of my hutch that she is talking about…

BEFORE…

AFTER…

Here is the email I received from Gina:

Hi Tracy-

I don’t know if you’ll remember e-mailing back and forth last October, so I just replied to your last e-mail to refresh your memory. After all these months, I was finally able to get to my china hutch. Here are the before and after pictures. It’s really hard to get a good picture of it. It looks better in person. I completely copied your hutch. I hope you don’t mind. Ever since I saw what you did with yours, I’ve wanted that for our dining room, even the white dishes. It took me awhile to find dishes that I liked. I found mine at Ross for $13. I had been collecting other things for awhile. I love the white platter on the bottom that was $10 at Goodwill. The green pitcher was a fluke. I saw that at Ross also and just loved the color. I had it somewhere else in the kitchen, but I love it in the hutch. If you look closely at the pictures, you’ll see I even have birdies in there! I got those at the dollar store and sprayed them gloss white.

Here’s what I did to this $65 hutch from Craigslist, with a little help from my husband. I added the beadboard to the back of the top part of the hutch. I wanted a “Ballard Designs” kind of look. The doors on the bottom took a little more work. I was kind of “winging” it as I went along. But, I basically replaced that hideous molding around the outside edges with something more simple and added new handles. I used a spray gun attached to our compressor and I loved using it. I’m very happy with how it turned out. The total cost including the cost of the hutch was around $150. I’m working on our dining room now and have a buffet that I got for $20 at goodwill that I’ve started on. I’ll send that along when I get done. Hopefully, it won’t take 4 months!
Thanks for your inspiration! I absolutely love doing this stuff and it helps to have ideas from creative and talented people like you!
:-)Gina

Here is her “before”…

And her “after”…

Bottom half “before”…

I love the way she took the molding off the doors. I wouldn’t have thought of that!

Here’s the “after”…

She also sent me a picture of a dresser she got off Craig’s list for 40 bucks…

She repainted the dresser and the hardware for her daughter’s room, and I think it is absolutely adorable now!!!

And here are some more pictures she sent me of the buffet she refinished. I love how she changed the look of the buffet by adding different feet to the bottom.

The buffet also had rounded edges on top, so her dad used his router to create a more interesting edge. I love that idea!!!

Edge before…

Edge after…

Gina, it turned out beautifully!!! I have been inspired by YOU to think outside of the box when picking out furniture.

You definitely have the gift of seeing the diamond in the rough!

Thank you for taking the time to email these pictures to me. :)

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If you haven’t already, be sure to enter my $50.00 Giveaway from Leen the Graphics Queen! It is ends on Sunday, the 21st, at midnight!

Click HERE to enter.

Have a blessed Sunday,

Traci