My Gallery Wall

I mentioned this project many months ago, and though it was completed in October, I am just now getting around to sharing it on my humble blog.  How's that for procrastination?!? 

This project is special to me because now I get to proudly display pictures of our entire (large) family in our living room for every visitor to see, and for us to enjoy daily.  My main goal was to have a picture to represent every family unit including our parents and siblings on both sides, so this means we have 10 pictures of family- not even including Trace and me!  I did make a special "feature" for the middle of the wall, and that was a little project in itself.  The result...LOVE!

Without further nonsense- here it is!

I could not get a very good close up of the "J" picture I made (out of an old red frame, fabric, and buttons) due to my sub par camera and the glass that insisted on reflecting light in odd ways. 

My steps to this seemingly simple (but SO NOT) project included:

1. Getting pictures from the family.
2. Collecting enough frames.
3. Painting non-black frames so they would all match.
4. Making 2 frames out of former mirrors.
5. Deciding which pics to use considering portrait and landscape options, and color vs. black and white.
6. Printing pictures.
7. Making the "J" picture which was at least a 4 step process (sanding, painting, make "J" out of card stock and buttons, glue to fabric background.)
8. Making a paper template of each picture to put on the wall in order to decide on placement (this is where the measuring came in.)

         

    9.  Hammering nails and screws into wall and FINALLY hanging pictures.

   10. Rearranging a couple of pictures due to frame width and "flow".

Yup- it was a 10 step process (at least) but also so WORTH IT!!!  Although it may not look super symmetrical in the photos, it does look pretty good in person.  It's not perfect, but I simply adore it and am thrilled that I can see our family all in one place!

Dresser Details- Part 2

Welcome back to Part 2 of the oversharing detailed account of my recent dresser project!  If you missed Part 1 you can check it out HERE or you can also go directly to the short and sweet BEFORE AND AFTER version I did without the detailed explanations. 

{The Hardware}

While various stages of primer and paint were drying I tackled the hardware and intended to give it a good cleaning in order to spray paint it a chrome or silver finish. The handles are brass, and also a dated design but it would be nearly impossible to replace them (and expensive) so I was set on doing the best I could to update them a bit. As I was scrubbing the handles with Bar Keepers Friend, I quickly realized it was going to be A LOT of work just the clean the suckers! I spent well over an hour on them the first go around and while there was definite improvement I wasn’t entirely impressed. I showed them to Trace so he could validate that they looked better (not that I was seeking out praise for my hard work J) and he recommended that I forgo the spray paint because it would probably scratch and chip since he wasn’t super careful with the dresser. Sadly, I agreed- but at least my hard work would be on display! I continued to clean the darn things. After 2 separate times of scrubbing them, and one time of applying a polisher they were shiny and pretty well-restored! I estimate I spent 2-3 hours on these alone, and while brass is not normally “my style” they turned out great and I did find satisfaction in restoring them.

They were not quiiite done in this pic, but it's an idea of how they looked up close

{The Paint}

I used a latex Benjamin Moore Metal and Wood black paint and ended up doing 3 coats. Had I used a tinted primer I probably could have gotten away with 2 coats, but oh well! I am a foam roller and foam brush fan, and it worked out alright for me up to this point. The key is to go slow, and for me that takes practice as patience is not my most well-developed trait J  I will say that I LOVE this paint! I found out about it on another DIY blog and have been very happy with it (also used it for my sewing table project.)

{My Nemesis…a.k.a. Polyurethane}

Since I was using a latex paint I wanted to be sure to put a topcoat on to preserve and waterproof the dresser. We’ve established that Trace is not necessarily gentle with this piece, so a protective coating was a must. Before this project began I had determined to use Safecoat, a low VOC acrylic that emits minimal to no toxic chemicals. I checked to see where I could buy it to no avail- the closest store that carried it was in Dallas (1.5 hours drive away)! Brilliant and impatient as I am, rather than ordering it I went out and bought a Minwax oil-based polyurethane. To this day I cannot figure out why I bought an oil rather than water based version. I think it might have entered my brain at the moment that it would be more durable somehow, but I’m still annoyed with myself for this (if I had bought the water based I would have been able to paint over it with the Safecoat once I purchased that). Anyway, after a coat of primer and three coats of paint, I was sensing the finish line was at hand and the polyurethane would be a cinch- wrong! Turns out poly is a thin liquid that is supposed to be applied in a thin, even layer but when I used my trusty foam brush the poly came out thick and bubbly. I panicked- this was unfamiliar territory! So, I grabbed a regular paint brush to smooth out the poly and that seemed to do the trick. The only problem was that now I was doing double the work- application with a foam brush and then evening out with a regular brush, AND I needed to quick get some mineral spirits to clean my brush so it wouldn’t be ruined! As if this was not bad enough, the toxic chemicals in the polyurethane made me sick (and yes, my garage door was open, but no, I didn’t use fans because I didn’t want them to blow particles into my dresser.) For the three days of poly application every time I went into the garage I would immediately get nauseous. On the third day I wised up and donned the mask that I’d earlier decided against and it helped a bit. Needless to say I was thrilled when this step was complete and I am NEVER using that stuff again! Not everyone has this type of reaction- I am extra sensitive to strong chemicals. Seriously, if anyone wants the rest of the can (still about 80% left) I will gladly hand it over to you! I’m going to buy the Safecoat for the rest of the projects I do from now on…


Last note on this: I wanted to eventually use this dresser in the nursery as a combo dresser/ changing table, but now that I used polyurethane on it I’m going to err on the safe side and leave it in our room for Trace’s use. I don’t seem to have any reaction to it now, so I’m trusting that we’re good but don't want to chance it with kiddos!

{The Door}

This door turned out to be difficult as well, almost like Nemesis 2.0! I already mentioned how I ambitiously decided to use wood putty to fill in the design along with the border- big mistake. After three applications of the putty (after at least a day of dry time in between) I sanded it hoping to make it smooth and straight. Well, that didn’t work, it was lumpy and uneven…to put it mildly. After all this work I was determined to figure out a solution and find a way to make the door flat! My next hair brained idea was to get some sort of thin piece of wood cut from Lowe’s and glue it onto the door (it helped immensely that Trace hadn’t been asking me how much money I was spending on supplies- he saw a determined woman and *I think* decided to stay out of my way!) After becoming slightly overwhelmed, I decided to see what the dresser looked like without the door, and to my surprise I actually liked it! Getting to drawers behind a door are a pain anyway, and that was how I figured I’d try to “sell” it to Trace. So I called him into the garage to see what he thought and he actually REALLY LIKED it too!!!

This is what the door looked like with all the wood putty...ugh!

{Wrapping it Up}

Once the evil polyurethane dried, I was anxious to get the dresser in our room and put the hardware back on! I had my drill charged this time so putting the handles on went pretty quickly. Although imperfect, I am very happy with how it turned out, and the more we live with it, the more I like it! It looks like a black lacquer finish and is a pretty classy piece if I do say so J Surprisingly, this dresser has a lot of unique design features that I can now properly appreciate.  I certainly learned a lot doing this project, and since I have another 5 foot dresser to redo for the nursery, I will put that knowledge to good use (in several months)!


Without any further ado- here are more pictures of the “after”.

Dresser Love

                                    



Close up of the door-less middle and design-less drawer



From the front

From the side

THE END.  For real, I'm not talking about this dresser anymore...

Dresser Details- Part 1

This post will contain WAY more information than most of you want to know, so feel free to stop here if you are happy to have seen the before and after pictures in my Dresser Reveal post J

I tried to take a few extra pictures of the process so- 1. I could remember exactly what I did, and 2. A few people asked that I would post the various stages.  I’ve been thinking about this post off and on for a while, and I was (justifiably) concerned it would be long, thus it turned into a daunting time commitment (in my mind.)  I also decided to break it up into two posts because I wrote so much detail.  So, here goes…

{The Dresser Back-story}

This 5 foot+ dresser came into my life when I married my beloved Trace.  His mom had given it to him, and no one seems to remember how long it had been in the family (my guess- a very loooong time).  If you ever read this- sorry Mama Jones, but I NEVER liked it!  I thought it looked dated, old fashioned and beat up, plus it was HUGE.  I was thankful that we didn’t have to buy a dresser for Trace, and I tried to remind myself of that whenever I thought about how much I disliked the look of it J Most all of the furniture in our house was given to us so we have lots of styles, wood grains, and colors to work with, but this was one of my less favorites.  I’m not a great decorator (that talent all went to my sister Nickee) but over the past few months I’ve become bolder with trying new things thanks to many of the blogs that I frequent.  All that to say- I’d had it with the dresser being beat up and ugly and decided it needed a serious change!  Nevermind that we live in Texas and it was July- I had waited long enough to begin this project and nothing was going to hold me back…

{The Process Begins}

BEFORE

       Sorry for the blurry pics- I took them with my iPod!

Literally every step felt like a project in and of itself.  First was removing the hardware and I discovered that there were 17 pieces, and more than 40 screws on the thing!  I think I ended up using 3 different screwdrivers due to the varying size and shapes of the screws.

Next, I cleaned the inside of the dresser and employed the vacuum cleaner for help.  After that we carried the dresser and drawers out the garage- their new home for the next two weeks.  I used a TSP cleaner that I purchased at Lowe’s to thoroughly clean the wood in order to remove year’s worth of dirt and grime.  Since the cleaner was pretty heavy duty I wore chemical blocking gloves.  I’d also bought disposable masks to wear, but I couldn’t breathe very well so I ditched them.  I didn’t take a picture of the many rags it took to do the job, but there were several! 

{Corny Design Removal} 

Two of the drawers and the door in the middle-front had a flowery design that I decided just had to go!  I determined to use wood putty to fill the design and make the drawers and door appear “flat”.  I knew that I’d have to sand it when the putty dried and due to the wonder that is Facebook I was able to borrow a sander from a friend.  At first the wood puttying was going great so I decided that it should be a breeze to fill in the design border on the door front as well.  Famous last words…or thoughts in this case.  I quickly realized I had bit off more than I could chew if I wanted a straight and even door surface (who wants a lumpy and uneven surface?)   More on that later…

          

Blurry "before" shot of the drawer design

In process of filling in design with wood putty

{Priming}

I decided that I did not need to sand since I would be painting the dresser black, but a good primer would be a must.  When choosing a primer I did what many self-respecting, novice DIY’ers would do and checked out Young House Love to find out what John and Sherry recommend.  Since they said to go with an oil-based primer (that it’s perfectly fine to use with a latex paint) that’s what I bought!  This was my first time using oil-based anything and I was a little nervous about the clean up, but fortunately I was using sponge brushes so I was careful and just threw away what I used and didn’t need to buy any paint thinner or mineral spirits to clean up.  One coat did the trick and since I knew I’d have lots left over and wanted to use it on future projects I decided to leave it white, but wished I could have used a tinted primer.  Oh well!

Dresser with primer

I'm gonna conclude Part 1 here.  I'll be back soon with Part 2 and the "After" pics of the dresser all finished.

Dresser Reveal

This post is going to be pretty short and sweet as I show the before and after pictures of the 5 foot+ dresser I recently refurbished.  I plan to write another post going into detail of the steps it took to complete this {massive} project, but for today, here you are:

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

BEFORE

AFTER

I will say for the record that the dresser didn't turn out exactly the way I'd hoped and dreamed {it's a little pirate chest-y for my normal taste}, but I do think it's a HUGE improvement, so I'm actually really proud of it!  It took me just over two weeks from start to finish, but one weekend I was out of town so I didn't work on it straight through.  Next time I just won't tackle something like this in July...in Texas.  For now, I am thrilled to have a piece of furniture in our room that instead of taking you back to the 70's, actually fits and makes a positive design impact!

Random Updates...

So, life has been interesting lately. Lots of things are in-the-works so to speak, but there are a few things that I can give updates about, so I figured that was my best bet for posting on this blog for a while. Here goes…and I warn you it is a bit long, feel free to skim or skip entirely J

Update #1- Tulsa Trip No Go
The first weekend of March I (Randee) was planning to take a short trip to Tulsa to visit with family and a few friends. I was S U P E R excited because I had nephews to hug and kiss and lots of quality time to be had, but alas it did not happen. Trace had not been particularly thrilled about me going for the 2 weeks leading up to it, but I chalked it up to him missing me while I’m gone and just being grumpy about it J Well, the morning I was packed and ready to go he really prayed about it and felt he was uneasy so he asked me to reconsider going. I decided to trust him and stay home even though I was not happy about it. I eventually got over my sadness and tried to have a good weekend anyway. Well, about 5 days later we had a flat tire in the car I would have been driving and I KNEW that was the reason I shouldn’t have gone! I would have been driving on a dark highway late at night, and a flat would have freaked me out. So thankful for God and a praying husband!

Update #2- My Crazy Dress Up Week
You can see the pictures of me dressed up as Charlie Chaplin, a cowgirl and Belle if you click here and scroll down for a theme week we had at my company. There was a team contest and an individual contest so after I did well on the first day of competition I decided to really go for it and try to have a shot at a win. Well, it turns out I DID WIN the individual competition and I was rewarded with a brand new iPod!!! Since we raffled off the last iPod we had for our adoption this is our first to actually use, and I’m a little embarrassed to say that 2 weeks later the only thing I’ve done on it is play around with the camera app. We are not techie people, sooooo yeah- I promise I LOVE the iPod and will utilize it for real someday J

Update #3- Coming events
Any day now my dog Colette Simone (this is the middle name we picked- it means “listening” but I’m not sure that matters to her) is having puppies. This means I will get up with them every 2 hours to make sure they are eating and growing properly. I see lack of sleep in my future…imminently. One or both of my parents will be stopping by for a short visit the first weekend in April, and the second weekend of April we have an Ethiopia get together in Dallas along with an anticipated visit from friends. Better add “clean the house a lot” to my list of upcoming “events” J

Update #4- Yard Sale
We have decided to postpone our scheduled April 16th yard sale to a later date TBD. There are so many things going on right now (see Update #3 plus more not mentioned) that we felt it was better not to push ourselves right now. We WILL be having it, so please know that we are grateful for all the donations so far and we can continue to collect things for the BIG SALE.

Update #5- Ethiopia Adoption
There really is not much of an update to give, as we’ve not heard a whole lot. Next week we will be 5 months on the waiting list to be matched with the child that will become our son. It feels like there has not been any “movement” for a while and that can make this process seem never ending. The ministry in Ethiopia responsible for approving adoptions is still in flux regarding how they will handle certain things, so it is yet to be seen how this will affect the length of our adoption. Rumblings are that it will be worked out for good, so keep praying when you think of those precious children in Ethiopia waiting for a family.

Update #6- Guest Bathroom

You thought I would stop at #5 didn’t you? Well, I was going to do a “before and after” post about this, but my “before” pictures were so bad that I decided to lump it in with all my other updates. A couple of weeks ago I finally decided to go for it and paint the sad little hall/ guest bathroom. The walls were ivory and I had a white shower curtain and rug as accessories (complimented by cream tile)- boring eh? The bathroom is REALLY small, so it’s super hard to get any decent pictures but I did my best (my camera died during the before pics but I didn’t want to wait to charge it before beginning the painting). The actual color of the blue does not come across in these pictures (it’s less baby blue and more has more gray) but whatever, it is A COLOR. I have a couple more plans for this room, but my sweet husband needed a break from my project mania, so I’m going to hold off J

The "BEFORE"

The "AFTER"

I had these flowers and white hand towels already

This towel rack is the only thing I bought for the bathroom, the picture was a yard sale find that I hadn't found a place for previously.

First Project Completed

After many weeks of research (if you count Facebook advice and blog stalking as research) I finally built up the courage to buy my supplies and paint the sewing table passed down from my grandmother.  The table and sewing machine in it (solid metal mind you- I can barely move the thing around) is definitely older than I am, and it surely had seen better days.  It has been sitting in our garage for years, so I was determined to put it to use.  My family and friends know that I am NOT the crafty or fix-it type, so the refurbishing of furniture is not easy for me.  Hence the research.  So, after much ado (in my own mind) here are the before and after pictures of the ancient sewing table turned Pretty Table.

BEFORE 

AFTER

Now, this table sits in our front room and I am happy to say that I LOVE it!!!  It is not perfectly painted, but I learned a great deal and now have a lot more confidence to tackle the other furniture refurbishing projects I have coming up.  The right tools and paint really do make all the difference, as does patience, and that is a virtue I am long learning :)