Mid Century Garage Sale Find

Our master bedroom "redo" has officially started in that we now no longer have any of our furniture. We passed it on and we have just been staying in the guest bedroom. Its like being on vacation...in the upstairs of our house. Which incidentally is warmer, so maybe we should sleep up there all winter? Anyway. Part of replacing our bedroom furniture involves replacing the great big dresser that we used to have. I didn't really have any ideas of what type to get or where to get it. And then I remembered that we already have a dresser...upstairs in our spare room.

I bought said dresser last May at a garage sale. I had been out that morning with my grandmother at garage sales and then convinced Pascal to go with me to one around the corner at about 1 pm. It was one of the few times that he has actually gone with me. The garage sale was at an older couples house who was moving. They asked if we were interested in any furniture and said that they were really trying to get rid of it since it was the end of the day. The furniture was inside so we also got to see the house which is always fun.I am so nosy, I love to see what other people in the area have done to their houses since we all live in basically the same house.

They had what looked like a 9 drawer dresser but was actually a hutch. It had two bookcase looking pieces that went on top of the dresser part but were not currently attached. I didn't really need the dresser but it was beautiful and seemed like it was in good shape. It was a vintage Lane Furniture piece with dovetailed joints. I told them that I only wanted the dresser part not the top "hutch" part and the women said $25. I couldn't even negotiate with that fantastic price. She even said she would have her son drop it off since we lived around the corner and it was too big for my car. Sold. I decided that I would save it for when we one day have a nursery.

After I got home I did some research and learned that we really had gotten a great piece. I found a similar Lane dresser for sale online for $700! Here is another one that looks exactly the same as ours but smaller for $500! So all this time I have had this fabulous dresser just collecting dust. So it made sense to move it downstairs to our master bedroom where it would really fit much better than in a nursery.

The dresser did have some nicks and scratches on it but was overall in good condition. I cleaned it and used a magic eraser on some of the scuffs. I then bought Howard's Restor-A-Finish and Feed-N-Wax to polish the dresser. I read good reviews about it online and it was $17 for both products. I heardly used any of it so I will be able to use this on many other projects.

 

I used the Restor-A-Finish first and wiped it on with an old rag. After a half hour I wiped off any access. It already looked great but I then added the Feed-N-Wax once it was completely dry. The best part about that was the great orangey smell. Now I think the dresser looks basically new.

Before

After

Left Polished/Right Unpolished

Stylish Calendars

I am really bad about coordinating all of my calendars...Basically I use my desk calendar at work for everything. So don't ask me when something is on the weekend because I have to check my desk calendar. We do have a whiteboard calendar at home that I've tried to use in the past for personal stuff and bills but I always forget about it and everything just ends up being in my head.

This year I am going to try to do better with my date book. So keep it in my purse and keep it updated. I usually would just buy a simple one at Target but I happened to look on Paper Source. I got sucked in and ended up with not one but three calendars.

I bought this date book for $13. I love the brown paper and I think it looks kinda retro.

So that was the only thing I really needed but then I found a small motivational/quote calendar for my cubicle and a beautiful calendar for our house. These calendars are mostly just for looks...but I love the quotes in the small one and the pictures in the big one. I will definitely use them as art in the future. The quote calendar was $13 and the art calendar was $25. I never spent that much on calendars but they will get re-used. 

I like having it by the front door so I get to see it every day. And it makes me happy.

Master Bedroom Plans

I am so excited about this project and am trying not to get carried away...After 2.5 years in our house I am re-decorating our master bedroom. Too soon? I am justifying this because we hardly spent any money on decor in our bedroom. We got the bedding and the mattress as a gift. The bedroom set was passed down to us from my uncle. The lamps came from Pascal's old room. My chevron dresser was free from the trash! Really the only things we bought were the room darkening curtains and the $20 rug to cover up the patched floor.

The room is  functional but not really my style. Which is probably why I have never really finished it or hung pictures on the wall. So I have been saving my money to buy new things. Since this isn't for function, I didn't want to take away from our home renovation projects so I have my own little pot of money now just for the bedroom decor.

I am working with the existing paint color, the curtains, and the chevron dresser. Everything else is changing. I want the room to still be dark and cozy but not so "matching". We are also taking this opportunity to upgrade to a king size bed. Which also means new sheets, mattress pad, pillows, etc...

To help better show my master bedroom plans, I learned how to make a mood board for the very first time. Since I don't have photo shop, I did some googling and found this tutorial from The Weekend Homemaker on how to download Picasa and make a mood board through that program. It was so easy and quick- I can't believe I waited this long to do it.

1. Bed: The Ikea Brimnes bed is only $250 for the king size which sounds great to me. I love the white to lighten up the room some, the huge drawers underneath, and the fact that it has no headboard. This will give me a change to DIY a headboard. 

2. Bedspread: This West Elm Duvet Cover was my first purchase. It was on sale for only $80 for the king size. I looked all over before deciding on this one. I checked out Target, Pottery Barn, Urban Outfitters, Wayfair, etc. I love the color of this one and I think it will go along with the dark and cozy vibe. Pascal was worried it was too dark but I think the white bed frame will help balance it out.  

3. Curtains: I might not get these exact ones, but I like the idea of these white curtains from Ikea . I would like to layer white curtains over our existing brown ones. 

4. Rug: Not definite on this one, but I would like to get a bigger rug to better fit the room. Rugs are so expensive but that is why I have been saving for this for a while now...I am leaning towards this $250 7x10 from Target. It reminds me of these ones on sale for $700 from West Elm and $400 from Rugs USA. They are beautiful but I can't bring myself to spend that much. 

5. Lamps: I actually already bought these but am not 100% sold on them. I need to wait and see them in the room. I bought them on a trip to Target for shampoo because they were only $23 which I thought was amazing for the lamp AND shade.  

6. Sheets: Since I have to buy all new sheets anyways, why not do it in style...I got these Nate Berkus sheets from Target for $60 (darn, they are on sale now). So now I have sheets and a bedspread but no bed. 

7. End Tables: Not these exact end tables, but I plan to have dark wood end tables to contrast with the white bed. I have two mismatched ones right now that I am planning on re-staining so we shall see how that goes.

I can't wait to get started on this project! I think part of the reason I am so excited is I actually have money to spend on this and get to buy brand new grown up things. I love refurbishing old furniture, which I will be doing in this room as well, but it is nice to get new stuff too. And as part of the reusing/recycling, my younger brother is getting our bed, end tables, and dresser. So I feel good that they are not going to waste and I can pass on the gift. 

Guest Bathroom Update for $85

A few weeks ago I finally got around to painting our guest bathroom upstairs. It only took two years. I don't even see this bathroom very much so it wasn't really on my radar. However its the one our guests use so I want it to look presentable. It took me one weekend to paint everything and then I put it all back together the next weekend.

The day we moved in

The bathroom tile/tub/toilet are original to our 1963 house. They are in really good shape so I wanted to embrace the blue and not do a full remodel. The only update that I had done previously was paint some of the hardware which can be seen here.

My first task was picking a paint color. I wanted something blue or gray to match the existing colors since there is already enough color without bringing in a new one. But at the same time I didn't want something really blue since there was already so much...I narrowed it down to two choices. Barely Blue by Pantone/Valspar (bottom) and Tempered Gray by Valspar.

 

Pascal voted on the barely blue. My job is to narrow down the choices and then he helps in the final decision. I bought a gallon in Satin. It ended up being the Valspar Signature paint with primer. At almost $35 it was more than I have ever spent on paint but that was the recommended paint with that color. I don't know that I would buy it again but I will say that I got really good coverage with only one coat and it even covered up some oil rubbed bronze spray paint that I got on the wall with only one coat (more on that later). Since the room is so small and has a slanted wall I ended up painting the ceiling the same color as the walls.

Before I actually painted the walls (which I did all by myself thank you very much) I painted the sink vanity and the medicine cabinet. I painted the vanity the same Valspar Wet Pavement that I used in the office and on the credenza and painted the medicine cabinet the same color as the walls.

The laminate was peeling off on part of the cabinet so I patched it with some spackle

After taking all of the hardware and doors off I had to prime with my favorite oil based primer. I used a combination of a small foam brush and a two inch foam roller to apply the primer and later the paint. I did one coat of primer and two coats of paint. By the way, the oil based primer is very smelly. So if you have to use it inside, open a window and wear a mask. This bathroom doesn't have a window so I ran the fan. If it hadn't been December I would have taken the doors outside but I still would have had to paint the vanity and cabinet inside anyways.

In the above picture you can see the right side of the vanity with only about two inches between the wall and the vanity. So at first I thought that I really didn't have to paint that since you can barely see it. Buttt you really could see it and Pascal said it looked ridiculous...

Thankfully I have very small hands and arms so I was able to reach back there and just use a small roller. 

After I had painted the vanity/cabinet and the walls/ceiling I decided that I wanted to spray paint the sink faucet and the light base the same oil rubbed bronze as the rest of the hardware. I didn't really think this through too much and I did it while Pascal wasn't home...Again open a window/run a fan and wear a mask. Or better yet detach the faucet and light and take them outside. I have seen several painted faucets on Pinterest so I decided to just go for it. I figured that I would only be messing up a free faucet and I can always replace it later. By the way, I should have done this before I painted the rest of the room. 

I taped off as much as I could and did several light coats of my favorite Rustoleum oil rubbed bronze spray paint. 

Thanks Joann Fabrics for always helping me with my crafting needs

So shiny and new! Spray paint does seem to leave a fine mist everywhere so even with my taping off there was still spray paint on the sink. Thankfully it scrubbed right off. But I panicked for a minute. 

I am pretty happy with the result. I also painted the gold base of the original overhead light. I figured that even if the faucet starts to chip after only a year it was still a $5 fix instead of buying a brand new faucet like this $98 one. 

After adding some new accessories the bathroom was all put back together! I am really happy with how it turned out. Even though I just made little changes I think it looks much better than the original. 

I still have one more thing I want to do. I bought some Polyblend Grout Renew to redo the grout in the bathroom. So much grout. I think it was originally white but its pretty much gray in most spots so I am going to make it all gray. For $10 hopefully it turns out to be a good update. 

Here is the final budget breakdown for the bathroom remodel:

$35 Barely Blue wall paint

Already had the gray cabinet paint and the oil primer

$5 for the rug

$10 for two cans of oil rubbed bronze spray paint (for all of the hardware I did before and the faucet/light)

$5 plastic shower liner

$5 oil rubbed bronze shower curtain rings

$15 shower curtain (TJ Maxx!!!)

$10 grout renew

= $85

Not bad for the whole bathroom.