Painted Dresser and Changing Table

Back when I was decorating the nursery, I came across this dresser for sale on Craigslist:

Although the picture made it seem like this dresser had seen better days, it was in fact very sturdy. So with $100 and the help of a pickup and some muscles, it was mine! After a little cleaning, two coats of Annie Sloan chalk paint in duck egg blue, some minor distressing, and a clear coat of wax, this dresser and mirror had a new life.

It works great in the nursery - lots of storage for clothes and blankets and the perfect height to use as a changing table.

xoxo, Megan

Fall Table Runner

Remember this WIP from way back in January? Well, it's finished and now adorning the dining room table. I love the warm colors, now all I need is a few pumpkins around the house to make it feel like fall.
xoxo, Megan

Fabric Crib Mobile

So remember when I was making the orange peel quilt, I had a stack of circles cut out?  Well... I used them to make a fabric mobile to hang in the nursery!

 Each circle is actually 2 fabric circles held together (with the ribbon in between) using double-stick fusible webbing.  The top part is just 2 embroidery hoops painted white.  Here's baby's view from the changing table:



I used the same pastel fabrics in the mobile as I did in the orange peel quilt, which you can see reflected in the mirror.  This photo also shows glimpses of three other DIY projects I completed for the nursery, which hopefully I'll blog soon :)

 xoxo,

Megan

Repurposed China Cabinet: Fabric Storage

So I mentioned in my last couple posts that I've been redecorating in the sewing room.  Since we replaced the carpet, I took the opportunity to do some rearranging, downsizing, and making pretty.  I'll share the full remodel soon, but this new cabinet is one of my favorite pieces!  For those of you new to my blog, here's the old sewing room layout.


Here's the $50 Craigslist china cabinet the day I brought her home:

Not horrible, but needed a little freshening up in my opinion.  And after a good cleaning, a few coats of Annie Sloan chalk paint (old white), some sanding, and clear wax (not to mention all the muscles involved toting this around for me inside, outside, and upstairs), here she is:

You can also see a glimpse of the new wall color: it's Travertine by Sherwin Williams.  A very sunny, happy color.  And a few close-ups of the details... the drawers are perfect for storing all those little loose items like ribbon and zippers and scissors/tape and books - nicely tucked out of the way.

I bought the antique Singer machine from a thrift store for $5 a long time ago, but never had just the right place to showcase it.  Now it has a proper home in the new cabinet.

I've painted a few pieces of furniture before, but not one this big or with windows or that needed paint on the inside.  I won't lie - it was time intensive, but I absolutely love the end result!

Linking up at Quilt Story.

xoxo,

Megan

Special WIP: Sewing Room Facelift

This week's WIP is a facelift for my sewing studio!  Thanks to a sweet puppy with separation anxiety issues, we were finally given the push to replace the carpet in the secondary bedrooms - a project we've only been talking about since we moved in almost 5 years ago :)

But wow, cleaning out those rooms and the corresponding closets has made me realize how much junk we've accumulated.  So I'm taking this opportunity to purge and reorganize.  Actually, I thought hell had frozen over earlier this week when the hubby actually agreed to get rid of 3 garbage bags full of his clothes, suits, & shoes.  You don't know how much I struggle with him to let go of stuff - I was seriously over the moon - that gift was better than any flowers, jewelry, etc could ever be :)  Now I hope he keeps the momentum going to tackle his mancave (a girl can dream, right??)

Anyways, I'm planning to repaint the sewing room and potentially shuffle the furniture around - I'll keep yall posted!

xoxo,

Megan 

Refinished French Chest of Drawers

It's been a while since my last furniture makeover, but when I saw this chest on Craigslist for just $30, I knew it was a perfect candidate for painting.  I used Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in old white, but added some latex black paint to create a pale gray color.

I love the curved feet and details.  I lightly distressed and stained it and kept the original hardware.  Here's the before and after:

Although I love the results, I will likely sell this piece (spring cleaning fever has hit me!)

Cheap Candlestick Makeover

Our house has a lot of dark, rich colors - walls, floor, furniture, accessories. But lately I've been wanting a change - moving towards lighter & brighter. Now we will never get to ultra-modern white on white (that would never stand up to my hub and pups!) But here's one project I finished over the weekend...

Before and after of the 2 candlesticks and picture frame:
These were really easy to do. Just 2 coats of paint (Old White Annie Sloan chalk paint on the candlesticks and Sherwin Williams Moody Blue on the picture frame - I already had both), then light sanding, then a coat of dark/clear wax mixture. Done. And I spent $0. Can't beat that!!

This is actually part of a bigger project of decorating the bookshelves in the office. I'll share pictures when it's finished. Oh and I should mention, I finally signed up for Pinterest - hopefully my productivity doesn't suffer toooo much ;-)

My affair with Marshall...

Warning: this post is very random. Here's what got me started:
yes, a harmless area rug. Beautiful indeed, but has sparked a crazy love affair this week between me and Marshall. I've been to Marshalls at least 4 times this week (all different locations, since we have so many in H-town) looking for this rug's smaller brother. It started out innocent enough, but I'm getting a bit obsessed. I think I need an intervention.

But really, I searched online for a new area rug for our breakfast area (to replace the still-in-good-condition but too-dark-colors one we already had). But all the ones I found were $400 and up. So I was thrilled to find the above gem at Marshalls for half that! Then I got reminiscing about when we moved into our ridiculously-too-big-for-two-people house 4 years ago. Here's a picture of our breakfast area the day we moved in (complete with finger in the corner of the picture!):
And here's a picture of it today, complete with my love-child from Marshalls :)
Oh man, how I've missed decorating these last 2 years...

Merry Christmas - oh wait! It's already January?!?

I had some leftover fabric after making the stockings and tree skirt, so I decided to make a few other Christmas decorations. But since we were out of town for the holidays, I finished these up today (just in time to pack away for next year!)

This is a little table runner for our coffee table, using a hourglass pattern and free motion quilting:

And I stepped away from my norm with some appliqued pillows:

I quilted in the ditch around the square border and echo quilted around the tree, stars, & ornaments.
I really love this fabric collection - so cheerful!
Ok, now on to something more relevant :)

Friday Night Sew-In: The Results {12.9.11}

More new Christmas decorations! This tree skirt was already close to being done, but I finished it off and put it under the tree. I used a 12 Days of Christmas panel and fabric leftover from making the stockings, and made up the pattern as I went along - it turned out ok, but more planning would have prevented some fabric puckering here and there. I also practiced machine-sewn binding on this. I prefer binding done by hand, but for this tree skirt, I was impatient and just wanted it under the tree already!

Linked up with Friday Night Sew In - more great projects at the FNSI Flickr group!

The best ornaments

I'm not the kind of person to have a ton of decorations for every holiday, nor am I one to have a fussy department-store Christmas tree. Our ornaments are personal, mostly gifts, inherited, or ones we made way back in elementary school. And that's just how I like it! It's hard to tell from this picture (plus I don't want to embarrass anyone!), but our tree topper is a cardboard star with a picture of my hubby when he was 4 years old. He has the cutest crooked smile, and I fell in love with this ornament the minute I saw it. It's been our tree topper every Christmas we've been married (8 years for those who are counting!)

Stockings were hung...

I L-O-V-E-LOVE the way these turned out!! After seeing this post last year, I immediately ordered some 12 Days of Christmas fabric and made a mental note that I would really like to make these for Christmas 2011. We all have those good intentions, but how many times do we actually follow through, right?? I'm so proud I did (and with plenty of time to enjoy them this season too!)

I have never worked with pieces so small. Very time consuming, but well worth the effort. The stocking on the left is made with 3" pinwheels,

and the stocking on the right is made with 3" double hourglass, also from Allison's tutorial at Cluck Cluck Sew. The backs of both stockings are simple 2" strips.
I have some 12 Days fabric left over, so next up will be some holiday pillow covers and a new tree skirt.

Linked up at Crazy Mom Quilts and Stitching by Starlight.

Paint Crazy - Tray Transformation

Call me crazy, but I actually enjoy painting - walls, furniture, decor... I find it therapeutic and love how a relatively small financial investment can completely transform a space. So when I was experimenting with the chalk paint on the nightstand, I started roaming the house looking for other items in need of a new look. I ultimately decided on a small wooden tray I picked up at the same garage sale as the nightstand.

Here it is before. In good shape, decent color, but kind of boring and blended in with the other wood furniture in our family room.

And here's the tray after some paint, distressing, and a decorative lining that looks like old letters and postcards. I think it gives the tray a nostalgic feel :)

Hmmm... what to paint next??

Nightstand Makeover with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint

After refinishing the shabby chic dresser, I thought, there's got to be an easier way! So I turned to google, and learned about Annie Sloan chalk paint. This paint is only sold at specialty stores (I got mine from Wonderfaux Studio in Houston, which btw I was like a kid in a candy store there!)

All I can say is WOW!! No sanding or priming needed! And distressing was so much easier compared to using latex paints.

So without further ado, here's the $8 garage sale nightstand before:

and after:

The books on the after picture were another garage sale find: a series called "The Great Ideas Program" published in 1961, which I thought was pretty interesting :)

Antique Dresser Makeover

Remember this antique dresser I bought back in June? Well... its makeover is now complete!

I sanded, primed, painted, distressed, glazed, polyed, and replaced. Whew!

The color is a very pale robin's egg blue with a subtle tea-stain glaze. So what do you think?

I think this dresser would look really cute in a nursery or with shabby chic decor :) And it's for sale (if you live in the Houston area).