A Dresser Makeover – From Rough to Refined

My maternity leave is on the not-so-distant horizon (it officially starts Wednesday!) and with  my workload returning to a manageable level I can finally get around to showing you guys the dresser makeover!

I didn’t want to rush through this post, when the time came to do it, because this is one of the few projects for our home that has taken so much blood (Steve’s), sweat (Steve’s), and tears (mine — happy tears). Sure, it’s taken us a long time to build furniture in the past, but I can’t think of another project that has been so near and dear to our heart.

Let’s start at the beginning, shall we? We’ll skip the whole how-we-made-the-baby thing. I’m pretty sure you all have a fine understanding of that. Let’s start with the nursery…

When I first mentioned that we were going to refinish this dresser, a hand-me-down from Steve’s parents that has been in the family for decades, a lot of you said you liked the distressed look. And I do, too — don’t get me wrong — I adore a handsome piece of worn furniture.

This dresser wasn’t so much “distressed” as it was “completely falling apart.” That wasn’t going to cut it for our baby’s changing table. I needed to know with 100% certainty that my little girl’s tushie would be wiped clean on top of a sturdy piece of furniture.

Steve got to work. The feet were all removed (they were all wobbly and needed to be re-glued) and the mismatched knobs were tossed.

A close-up of one of the random square knobs:

Luckily our love for this dresser allowed us to see through the deep scratches. With dovetail-jointed drawers and solid wood construction, we knew we were dealing with some mighty fine bones.

The first thing my handsome lumberjack tackled was addressing the huge gaps inside the drawers. No one likes a drafty drawer. It would’ve been easy for diapers and clothes to slip through the gaping holes.

Seems pretty simple, but those suckers fit perfectly, now. They didn’t need to be stained since they aren’t at all visible when the drawers are in use.

Next on the agenda was fixing the entire back of the dresser, which was splitting and splintering under the pressure of an ill-fitted backboard.

When he removed the backboards he discovered the slots where these were supposed to easily glide were completely split and falling apart.

Nothing a little wood glue and a few days of clamping couldn’t fix.

Awesome. So, after that was fixed he discovered another lovely secret –this dresser was full of them. Once the drawers were back in place, he realized they overlapped where the imaginary backboard would go.

Below is a before and after of how he had to cut the drawers down. On the left, the too-long drawer, and on the right, the trimmed and handsome and no-longer-a-problem drawer.

A week had passed and we finally had a structurally sound piece of furniture.

Now onto the next phase: stripping, sanding, and staining!

No, this is not a sponsored post — but I did want to tell you what stripping agent we used. 3M “Safest Stripper” was really a lifesaver on this project — there’s no way we could’ve just sanded this stain off. It was old and gummy, and it would’ve completely ruined our sandpaper and sanders. The only solution was to strip it.

I made it through that entire paragraph without making a stripper joke. I would just like to point that out.

This stuff isn’t an easy fix, though. There was a lot of gooping it on, waiting for it to absorb, and then wetting it to scrape it off. The entire process of stripping off the old stain took about a week.

Here’s a good process photo for you, from top to bottom:

Isn’t it amazing how different the wood looks after it’s naked? I suppose we’re all like that, though, right? It’s like we stripped off the spanks and were pleasantly surprised!

Here are a few more photos of the actual stripping. Again, no stripper jokes. Please for the love of god somebody virtual-high-five me.

And then **POOF** went the dresser, and by the power of the internet it was all stripped and completely sanded, in all its naked glory (plus, 8 new 99¢ knobs):

Doesn’t that just look like a completely different piece of furniture?

Here is the new pegboard back piece:

A noteworthy tip: Steve used wood glue all around the edges of the pegboard to ensure the pressed pieces don’t ever come apart.

After the days of sanding it was time for stain. He put the first layer on and realized that he had some gouges in the wood that were very evident once the stain was in place.

A few of his lessons learned during sanding:

• If you’re using a belt sander, sand WITH the grain. This seems like a no brainer, but don’t even go at the slightest, teeny-tiniest angle. Lesson learned.
• Don’t go directly from really rough to really fine sandpaper. Take the time to use a few in between grits. It’s totally worth it as it will gradually smooth the surface to perfection.

Here he is sanding down his mistakes, so he can start with the stain again:

Yes, he always sands at sunset with an adorably mischievous smirk.

And then he stains like a boss. It’s totally hot.

Oh, and yes. He also polyurethanes like a pro.

Don’t you want to lick it? Or at least just press your face all up on it?

A close up of the feet. I love the feet.

Here’s the finished back-side:

And now, the moment you all have been waiting for (or at least the moment I was dying for during this entire process)… THE FINISHED PRODUCT!

Oooooh

Aaaaah

Isn’t she GORGEOUS? The variations of color in the rich, espresso stain just do it for me. It’s even prettier in person if you can believe it.

Here she is all loaded up with changing table accoutrements…

We added some drawer dividers, and yes I already know this dresser will most definitely not stay this organized once this baby makes her grand entrance. A lady can dream, okay?

Can we just take a moment to fawn over this sweater my mom and dad bought for our little girl? Sometimes I wander into her nursery with the sole purpose of opening the closet door and adoring her tiny clothes. Is that creepy? THEY ARE JUST SO TINY AND SWEET.

So, what do you think? Vast improvement from the original dresser, right? The coolest part of this project is although it took us (HAHAHA J/K I mean Steve) three weeks from start to finish, this dresser has been fully restored and can now continue to be passed on within our family.

I’m so proud of my lumberjack and the work he continuously executes around here. He can even scrub a mean toilet. Also, the back rubs are to die for. I MEAN THEY’RE TERRIBLE. YOU DON’T WANT HIM. (Reverse psychology for the win.)

Don’t you think for a moment that he’s not going to make our little girl appreciate all the hard work and time he put into this project. I’m sure bedtime stories will consist of her listening to papa tell the tale of how he rebuilt, stripped, sanded, and stained the dresser that she will be sure to cherish until the end of time.

Sigh. I can’t wait to tell her bedtime stories. We’re getting so close!

Mood Board vs. Reality

Having a grand plan when you’re designing a room is always helpful–it’s your vision, and your starting off point. One piece of advice I will always tell you though, is your plan needs to remain flexible. Liquid. Let it flow like the butter on my baked potato.

It’s always fun to see where you started vs. where you ended up. Remember my original mood board for The Alien’s room?

I had picked a wall color and the crib–those two things were the most important for me to begin the design of the room.

But how close is it to where we ended up?

It’s not the closest-ever representation of mood board to reality, but when you’re on a budget sometimes you have to make some smart changes. And that’s not a bad thing–I ended up loving the rug we found. I could’ve spent $900 on another chevron yellow rug that fit the space better, but this guy for $200 worked just fine for us. I am also thrilled with the way we were able to work in that rich, plum color. That never would’ve worked with the original mood board.

Here’s a visual breakdown of what stayed and what went buh bye:

Most of the items we already had on hand stayed: the dresser (the one pictured is just representative of ours) and the blue chair. Although, the floor lamp is OUT–please read that in Heidi Klum’s German accent. After working in the space we realized we had room for a small accent table and a table lamp… a total bonus!

The rug? Out. It was too itty bitty for the space, although I’m still in love with it. Now she lives happily in the guest bedroom. A few other things that didn’t make the cut were the window treatments. I marked the floral fabric with a green check mark because I did end up using that fabric for the letter “R” on the wall, but sadly not as a window treatment. The lace had to go, also. It just wasn’t doing it for me.

One of the best design decisions you can make along the way is to admit failure. Seriously. I know that sounds lame, but if something isn’t working? Don’t get hung up on it. Just let it go man, let it go. Even though the rug didn’t work out for us I still loved having pops of yellow in the room. And even though I couldn’t find a good place for the hanging jade plant, I managed to work in a snake plant that fits the space even better.

You just gotta roll with the punches. Unless you’re a millionaire and you can either A.) hire someone to do all this for you, or B.) put together a mood board and spend a kajillion dollars tracking down every single piece to match your vision exactly. I have a feeling I don’t have very many millionaires reading my blog. And if I do? ::batting eyelashes:: Hello! Let me tell you where I’m registered.

At the end of the day, my design advice to everyone is to go with the flow, and let the room evolve. Edit as you add pieces, and never lose sight of your vision.

[ This cheesy ending brought to you by lack of caffeine and a surplus of hormones. ]

The Baby Girl’s Nursery (with Source List)

Welp. It’s that time! The time where I show you all of our hard work from weeks and weeks of painting, sanding, spackling, curating, hanging, and creating. Our little girl’s abode is finally complete.

Kinda.

We still have to refinish the dresser, so politely ignore the unfinishedness of it. Also, my baby shower isn’t for another month so the room doesn’t yet house all of the baby accessories. I’ll probably do another “final” shoot of the room when it’s officially finished.

Until then, I thought why not just snap a few pics for the good folks in the internet.

For starters, let’s see where this room was when we moved in:

And here is where we are now–all ready for our baby girl:

Don’t get too excited about that letter on the wall, you little detective, you. We’re 97.999% sure what The Alien’s first name will be, but we’re 100% sure what her middle name will be: Rebecca. It was mine before I got married, so we were excited to pass it down to our daughter, and keep it in the family. Once we have her first name solidified we’ll add that initial on that wall, along with an “H” for Harpster.

I’ll be posting a tutorial on how I made that “R” very soon!

Yes, that is a baby picture of yours truly; Steve’s baby picture will soon be making an appearance in the room–his mom is finding the perfect one. The yellow chevron fabric was leftover from an old project, and the vintage botanical print was downloaded for free from here.

The changing pad will fit snug as a bug on top of the dresser, and our little nugget can gaze lovingly at the wooden bird mobile while she makes “HA HA I’M FARTING” faces.

I love the purple-ish pink ottoman, and the femininity it adds to the room. It’s just scrumptious. Also? Those rich, golden tones in the rug make me want to rub my face all over it.

I love that we can swap out framed art and pictures on the book ledges. This room will definitely grow with our little girl.

I’m sure these baskets will try their very hardest to corral toys. I’m also sure that most of the time they’ll probably be laying face down, their contents spewed across the room. Messy room = happy kid. I am trying deep breaths and therapy to get used to the idea.

The bunting height can be adjusted once she sprouts those long ape arms that we’re certain she’ll have. I love the flexibility of the decor in this room.

It’s hard for me to believe that we’re so close to being done with this room. I have spent so many days and nights trying to imagine what it was going to look like, and here it is. Neither of us can wait to have her here; we can’t wait to read books to her, sprawl out on the floor with toys and blankets, and get a whiff of her baby-scented skin every time we go in for a smooch on her cheeks.

I hope you enjoyed the tour! For any mothers-to-be planning a nursery of your own I’ve included a source list at the bottom of this post. Let me know if any of the links are broken–as I want to give credit where credit is due.

Thanks for all of the kind and supporting words–I do read every single one of them. You guys are seriously the best.

Source List:
Dresser – Hand-me-down from Steve’s Grandma
Mirror – Local antique shop
Bird mobile – petitcollage on Etsy
Collage frames – Target
Diaper basket – Hobby Lobby
“R” – DIYed
Rug -  HomeGoods
Planter – Old Time Pottery
Curtains – Target
Apple poster - Fine Little Day
Bunting banners – DIYed
Crib – SimplyBabyFurniture.com
Crib skirt – DIYed
Lamp – Mix ‘n matched from Target
Accent table – Target
Blue rocking chair – Hand-me-down from Steve’s Grandma
Ottoman – Overstock
Owl stuffed animal – Pier1
Hippo artwork – Twoems on Etsy
Book ledges – DIYed
“You Are Loved” artwork – thewheatfield on Etsy
Small metal shelf – Craigslist
Baskets on shelf - Ikea
Frog lamp – Goodwill
Books – Antique shops + mine, from childhood
Stuffed Animals – Mine, from childhood
Wall color – No-VOC Sherwin Williams color-matched to BEHRs “Rhino”

Wrapping Up

I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I think I’ve just about wrapped up buying stuff for the nursery. It’s feeling pretty complete now, and I’m almost a little sad about it. What am I going to obsess over until February? Because I am NOT ready to start reading about labor. Let me tell you what: this baby is just going to magically appear in my arms in 4 months.

But until then, I can rest my swollen, pregnant feet on this bad boy:

[ From Overstock ]

It’s going to bring such a lovely punch of girlyness to the grays and blues in the room, and the storage component is a total bonus. She can keep her dolls and trains in there. Or her boogers. Let’s be honest here, folks.

I couldn’t resist this print from one of my favorite Etsy artists:

[ Artist: TheWheatField ]

I ended up getting a greeting card instead of a full-size print because I have a perfect 5×7 frame for it. I just love it, though. The watercolor, the colors, and the phrase. This little alien is already so loved.

The last piece of artwork that I curated from Etsy is another long-time favorite:

[ Artist: twoems ]

I have had my eye on this big girl for years! Twoems shop has been a “favorite” of mine in Etsy, and I’ve just been waiting for the perfect moment to make a purchase. This happy hippo just makes me smile — simple as that. I love the pop of pink and purple it will bring to the room, and I just couldn’t resist the texture and the subject.

Whew. I can’t believe the nursery project is coming to a close. It started as an empty room with terrifying teddy bear wallpaper, and now it’s a little slice of heaven that our baby girl will call “home.” It’s still hard for me to believe that in a few short months we’ll be tucking her in at night (metaphorically — don’t call the Child Protective Services on me), kissing her fat little cheeks, and listening to her bloodcurdling screams during ungodly hours of the night.

Hopefully, after my weekend visit at home I’ll be able to finish hanging a few things and then take a few pictures. I can’t wait to show it to you guys!

Have a wonderful weekend!

The Cardinal Rule

Husbands, if there is one thing you need to understand about pregnancy, it’s Don’t Question The Fat Lady. We’re hormonal, we’re nesting, and our bodies are a veritable science experiment. If we suddenly change our minds about what we want for dinner, or whether or not we’re hot or cold, just go with the flow, man.

Steve learned this valuable lesson when suddenly one day I told him I wasn’t satisfied with the nursery window treatment. Remember this?

I loved it when we made it. I loved it when we hung it. And then suddenly, I didn’t love it anymore.

Another cardinal rule that I’ll share with you, that has nothing to do with pregnancy and everything to do with designing a room from the floor up — literally — is if you are on a budget, start with the most expensive item and mold the room around that.

We needed an 8×10 rug for this room. But I made the mistake of picking out the fabric, making, and hanging this cornice box before we had a rug. Now, if we had $1000 in the budget for the rug of my dreams than this scenario wouldn’t have been a problem — but I wasn’t smoking crack, so that obviously didn’t happen. When we found the perfect 8×10 rug for $200 at Homegoods, it was ours faster than you could say “but it doesn’t really match the cornice box.”

Steve thought the rug matched the fabric. Steve also thought that he was going to win an argument with a hormonal pregnant women. He’s so cute.

After a lot of discussion and “well, we could do this… or this…” we ultimately decided to replace the cornice box with light, bright, and simple white curtain panels. (It’s getting all Dr. Seuss up in here.)

And I have to tell you guys a secret. I’m a curtain panel kind of girl. I really am. I was trying to step outside of my comfort zone with the cornice-box-curtain-gathered-in-the-middle thing, and it just wasn’t working for me — rug or no rug.

And then just like that – SHABAM – the room was pulled together. Who knew just a $30 pair of white curtain panels from Target could do that?

In order for this new curtain scenario to satisfy us both, Steve insisted that instead of wasting the cornice box we had already spent the time to make, that it be moved to the guest room. So at least it’s not completely getting the shaft. It just got booted from one room to another 5 feet away.

So that’s our curtain debacle in a nutshell. A big thank you to my handsome lumberjack for not wheeling me to the nearest loony bin when I started talking trash about our window treatment that we worked so hard on. I think he’ll agree that it was all worth it — we are loving the nursery so far!

Have any of you regretted a home decor decision? Oh, please tell me I’m not alone…

The Book Ledge Post

I felt this post deserved a slightly more dramatic title since I’ve been talking about these damn things so much. And I will gratify you instantly with a few pictures:

They’re so simple, yet they make such an enormous impact in the room. Can’t figure out what artwork to buy, make, or hang? Just put up a few book ledges!

This just turned into a 2am infomercial. Now I’m craving cookie dough. Because apparently that’s what you eat at 2am whilst contemplating new exercise equipment.

We don’t have an extensive step-by-step tutorial of this project because all you really need is the next picture:

It’s all right there. I even showed you where to put the screws and nails.

Steve drew a few 3D renderings before we started, just to wrap our heads around the project. They do a good job of simply illustrating the final product.

Here’s the placement of the three shelves on our wall:

If my pretty, little illustrations didn’t explain everything crystal clear, well then… first of all, are you surprised? And second of all, don’t worry I got yo back. I had Steve type up a little diddy about the things he learned along the way.

Tips & Tricks from the Lumberjack Himself:

• Make your shelves the same length as standard boards (they come in 6′, 8′, 10′, 12′). Not having to cut the pieces saves a lot of time and waste.
• When attaching the 1x2s to the 1×3: use clamps to hold the boards together while you screw/nail. Move the clamps with you as you move down the board. It will take out any warp in the boards.
• Countersink the nails and fill the holes with spackle or wood filler. This will give your front a smooth finish.
• Sand with heavy grit (we used 60) first and then 220. You can also use the 220 after priming.
• Because the back piece is short I had to drill at an angle to attach the shelf to the wall (the front edge got in the way of the drill/screwdriver). If you don’t want to do this, simply use a taller, 1×3 board for the back, instead of a 1×2.
•  If using the angle method to attach to the wall: At an angle, drill through the board and the wall with a long enough bit for the length of screws you’re using. Countersink at the same angle and insert the screw.
• When hanging: If you space the screws at 16″ to match the wall studs then you won’t need anchors.
• Dab some paint over the screw heads to help hide them. (The books will cover them, too, so they won’t be too noticeable.)

Yeah, yeah. Enough chit-chat. What is this? The View? I know what you really want is more pictures.

The shelves are pretty full already, but I’d love to continue adding to our book collection and continuously swap them out as our collection grows. There are still so many stories that I’d like to see sitting upon these shelves. And by switching out the books you’ll keep the kiddo interested. Right? I mean, it’s just like switching out dog toys for your dog. Kids and dogs? Same thing. Probably. Maybe.

Here’s the sexy side view:

My mom and I have been snatching up books left and right; garage sales and antique shops are great resources. In fact, every single one of these books is second-hand, which I just realized, but it’s pretty cool because we’re just keeping the cycle going.

(The photo above and below most accurately represent the wall color. Sorry about the wacky lighting in some of these. It was getting dark out and we had to use artificial light.)

And here’s the very proud and goofy Lumberjack, showing off his latest accomplishment.

He’s the best. He is the goofiest, but also the best.

Wheew. I wasn’t sure I would be able to hold my end of the “we’ll show you the book ledges by Friday” promise. But, we did it! They’re not hard to make, they’re just time-consuming. As with everything. After buying all of the lumber and hardware these bad boys cost us about $13 per shelf. Not too shabby.

We’re getting closer to showing you the nursery in its entirety. I’m still making switches and additions, and we still have one big project left: stripping and re-staining the old dresser that will become the changing table. Ho boy – but after that we’re virtually done! All that will be left is adding the baby girl, and from what I hear they arrive on their own schedule.

Steve is F I N A L L Y able to spend a weekend at home, instead of working, and we have a lot of Fun planned: a Saturday with some of our favorite people, and then a Sunday at the pumpkin orchard. Maybe I’ll even bring my camera (which we say Ca-mah-rah now, because 30 Rock has ruined us).

Happy Weekend, everyone! xo

 

A Crib Skirt (Or Something Like it)

I hesitate calling this a crib skirt, because in reality it’s just two pieces of hemmed fabric tied onto the crib springs. But if you’re into calling that a skirt than be my guest. It’s like a really slutty skirt that’s missing a few sides.

I didn’t take pictures of the whole process because once I measured, cut, and hemmed, I was literally left with two rectangles of fabric (only two sides of our crib are visible, therefore I only needed two “skirts”). I very crudely sewed on some ties, and called it a day.

You can see in the photo above how it’s tied onto the crib spring-board. I have four ties on the long piece, and three on the short piece.

RUG SNEAK PEAK! I adore the rug. My parents found it at Homegoods and brought it with them last weekend. It’s 8×10 and fits the room like a glove. The best part, aside from its scrumptiously warm and delicious gold tones, is it has eliminated any echo from the room.

Rug Rant over. Back to the skirt.

That’s a view of the long side. The two corner ties are hidden in the corners — imagine that.

A close-up of the tie:

I used the leftover bias tape from the bunting project which worked perfectly. It’s unfinished and scraggly but no one will see it as the mattress smooshes this whole spring-board.

It looks wrinkly because of the bar shadows, but I promise it lays flat. There are way too many slut jokes in here for this being a tutorial on how to make a crib skirt… or maybe not, actually. Use protection, ladies, or else you’ll be making crib skirts!

Here it is with the still-covered-in-plastic mattress in place:

You may be wondering if I’m tightly cropping the photos on purpose. Well, you’d be correct and therefore you win a gold star for the day! Huzzah!

See? Once the mattress is down you can’t see any of the unfinished ties. It just looks crisp and clean.

Are you curious as to what’s in the crib? I thought so.

Let me introduce you to Bob:

He’s a puppet and Steve has already abused his rights as a dog-owner and teased Olive with it. She loved it, so it worked out.

Mr. Giraffe is hanging out in the other corner.

I think there’s something happening between those two.

I’m so lucky that my mom saved all of my beloved stuffed animals. I have a heap of them tossed in the nursery, waiting to be placed in the room. They’re all wonderfully unique animals and they instantly make the room feel like a kid should be living in it.

It’s really coming together and I’m getting more and more excited to see the whole thing finished! Our goal was to have the entire nursery completed before my third trimester, which is 3 short weeks away. It will be a tight race, but we might be able to pull it off!

Steve is home from work today and working on the book ledges. I don’t see any reason why those won’t go up some time this week, and you know I’ll keep you posted.

Have a happy Tuesday on this lovely Fall day!

 

 

 

 

 

Shopping Vs. Working

So, this weekend I was supposed to paint the book ledges. It didn’t happen. The reason why it didn’t happen was a mix between them not being sanded and ready to paint (which I could’ve done) and the fact that I spent a good majority of my weekend at Target scouring the aisles for my final nursery decor needs.

After I got the general cleaning / laundry / grocery shopping hum drum of weekend chores accomplished, I decided to spend the remainder of my weekend free-time shopping rather than working on the ledges. Sue me.

Target isn’t paying me to tell you this. Nor do they have any clue who I am. I am only mentioning their name because I am like a kid in a candy store in there. I could spend several hours just walking down the aisles, discovering new stuff I NEED to have.
And their collections are getting more and more impressive. They’re not the cheapest, but they’re a great one-stop-shop and I was very pleased to be able to conclude the Nursery Shopping Extravaganza in one fell swoop.

Here’s the new accent table that will live by the rocking chair. For when mama needs to set her cocktail somewhere.

I love the lines and the masculine texture that will tone down the femininity of the room. And of the new mercury glass lamp I had to have:

This was one of those mix ‘n match dealies. I chose a burlap looking shade because a white shade would’ve blended into the wall and crib. This one provides a striking texture to the lamp itself, and to the rest of the room. The mercury glass trend may be over, but it lives on forever in my heart and in our nursery, apparently. I’m still a sucker for it.

I was planning on thrifting a bunch of mix and match frames to create a small collage, but then I found these and they were perfect in price (Goodwill is getting expensive — I’m not even joking) and I adored the antique look of them. They had gobs to choose from, but these were the lucky three that came home with me:

I made a last-minute decision to register at a second store: Target, and I’m so glad I did because I had a blast in there over the weekend. Yes, this is what my life has come to. And I’m not ashamed of it. ‘Merica!

I did get a few other small nursery-related craft projects accomplished this weekend; It wasn’t all shopping and partying. I threw together some semblance of a crib skirt I can share sometime soon, and I’m still hoping to have pictures of the book ledges late in the week!

Are you guys tired of nursery updates yet? I’m not going lie — that’s all we got goin’ on right now. Maybe I’ll throw in a few new pictures of Olive and The Bump to make up for it.

I hope you had a great weekend! Have a marvelous Monday.