White dresser.

There's something about white furniture. It's so classic, and clean and looks good practically anywhere! Plus, like I've mentioned before, it tends to sell quickly :-)

So when I picked up this beauty at the Habitat Restore, it was a logical choice to go with white! It was a pretty dresser before, but now she's stunning!

She's also bigger than she looks. Gosh, what a horrible thing to say, even if is about furniture! Haha! I just mean that she's a sturdy, solid piece and will, hopefully, make someone very happy!

The entire piece is solid wood and the drawers were in great condition!

While we were staging and taking pictures, my friend Jill's little boy, Grayson, just couldn't resist getting in on some of the action!

He's seriously the sweetest little thing and is practically the 3rd member of our design team :-)

**I'm linked up to Elizabeth & Co., Restore Interiors, Primitive & Proper**

Craigslist find & makeover.

Awhile back, I found these sad little things on Craigslist. They were listed for $15 each but we offered $10 each and they were sold! My friend Jill and I headed down to Belmont Shore (a cute little neighborhood in Long Beach) to pick them up.

They were in pretty horrible condition as you can see here:

 And here:

There was even some weird green slime in the drawers....super gross! But after lots of sanding, some wood putty, more sanding, primer and paint we were left with two pretty good looking end tables!

 We staged them in Jill's parlor aka showroom aka living room.

This is where our finished pieces live while they are waiting for a new home! I think they like it here because it seems like some things just don't want to leave (cough, cough, these end tables!)  

And just so you don't have to scroll back up, here's the yucky before again:

And the after:

Until next time...

 

Another amazing bargain.

Yesterday, I posted pictures of a sweet little nightstand that I scored for $5 at my local Habitat for Humanity Restore. I couldn't believe it was priced so low! I know some folks who say they never have anything good but mine is amazing!! Don't believe me?? Let me prove it to you...

This end table/nightstand or whatever you want to call it was in really good condition, it just needed a little boost! The price tag??

Five. Dollars. Amazing, right?? They're having a big sale on Saturday, too! I'm seriously getting spoiled with these ridiculously cheap finds! Anything above $5 just seems overpriced now :-)

So keeping with my "use the supplies I have" motto, I mixed some white paint with a little Behr "Black Bean" to create a nice light shade of gray. I don't know about you, but I LOVE these little sample sizes that Behr makes. It's the perfect amount of paint for something small like a night stand or end table. And the best part is they are only $3 each! I get mine at Home Depot but I'm sure you can find them elsewhere.

So are you ready for the after??

I have to say this has definitely become a favorite of mine!! I still need to line this puppy, but I just love the clean frame and line detailing on the drawers!

This jar of buttons is really meaningful to me. Both the jar and buttons belonged to my grandmother. She passed away when I was six years old. My grandfather never went through any of her things so after he passed away in 2010, we were left with lots of sewing supplies and I decided to hang on to these.

I just love them :-)

And I love this, too!

 

I'll add another picture once it's lined and then it's going up for sale.

Happy Friday!

*I'm linked up to Primitive & Proper, Elizabeth & Co. *

Striped aqua nightstand.

I picked up this cute little nightstand from the Habitat for Humanity Restore for a whopping five dollars!! I bought another one today (also for five dollars!) that is curing in the other room as I type. But back to this one...she was more of a minty green color with paint that looked like it had been applied with a rag - super thick and messy! The before picture doesn't really convey that, so you'll just have to trust me :-)

 I'm really trying to use up the supplies I have (since I don't have much space to store things like that) so after a really good sanding, I decided to freshen up the lower half with aqua and do a striped top in slightly varying shades of gray.

 The frog tape did really well and gave me almost perfect lines! Here's the end result...

 I kept the original hardware but just gave it a fresh coat of paint left over from my lamp makeover, added some accessories and admired the fun edges!

It's hard to believe this little thing was only $5!

I'm not sure who was manning the price gun at the Restore this week, but I just hope they keep it up!

**I'm linked up at The Not So Functional Housewife, Miss Mustard Seed, Happy Hour Projects, Nutmeg Place, The Shabby Nest, Southern Lovely, House of Hepworths, Elizabeth & Co., and Shine on Fridays**

Featured.

What a fun morning! Last night, I got word that Stacey over at Embracing Change is featuring my aqua dresser today!



She featured a lot of other really great projects, too! So if you have a chance, head on over and check it out!

Thank you, Stacey! And I love your tag line, "Change your perspective - love what you have."

 Good reminder :-)

Don and Sally.

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a nice weekend! I managed to get a lot done including cleaning out my dresser drawers, desk drawers and closet! Very productive :-)

I also finally listed and sold a thrift store dresser and side table that had been sitting in my business partner's garage for the last month! Well, technically, she listed it but it's sold, that's what matters.

Here it was before...

We felt it had a little retro Mad Men flair so we named him Don! It was in pretty good condition and we both loved the lines and detailing but it was yellowed and pretty drab.

So we did what we do best...we put a bird on it! Haha...just kidding. We painted it white. If it seems we opt for white a lot - we do! And that's solely because it sells the fastest!

 Don (above) and Betty (below) were listed around 7pm and picked up the following day by noon!

That's a Craigslist record for us!

And lastly, I must mention that for the 2nd year in a row, I am the Oscar predicting champ!

I successfully predicted 20 out 24 winners last night and walked away with what we should just call "The Rachel" and some movie tickets! All in all, not a bad weekend!!

**I'm linked up to A Bowl Full of Lemons**

Living room reveal.

I am so excited to reveal my living room today! I feel like this has been weeks in the making even though it's only been three days since my new furniture arrived! I can't wait any longer, so let's get to it!!

Here's a quick reminder of what this corner of the living room looked like before:

For more before pictures, feel free to take a look at yesterday's post here.

And without further ado, here we have the after:

Oh man...I can't even tell you how much I love it!! The only new additions to the room are a white Jonathan Louis sofa and a lovely side chair in a yellow, gray and white floral - also Jonathan Louis. Everything else is the same!

 Why did I wait so long to buy you, Mr. Sofa???

Your tight back cushion and smooth lines make me swoon!

 I just love the way the dresser pops with the yellow, gray and white tones of the room!

Here's the view of towards the front door...

I also added a few more accessories to the dresser. I had been wanting a sand timer for ever so when I found this guy on sale at Michael's, I snapped it up!  That and my newest letter "R", which I'm slowly starting to collect more of! I only have three right now but they are all featured throughout this post, can you spot them all?

Seeing the dresser in the room with the new furniture totally reassures me that aqua was the right choice! I am just giddy over how much I love it!

There you have it...my new living room!

There are still a few more things I'd like to do as soon as the budget allows including:

 -getting a new larger area rug

-doing something to the side cane chairs

 -adding artwork above my desk

But until that happens, I am absolutely thrilled with the room just as it is! I smile every time I walk into it and I immediately feel calm and relaxed, which was exactly what I was going for!

Feel free to stop in anytime!!

**I'm linked up to Happy Hour Projects, Saved by Suzy, A Bowl Full of Lemons, Southern Lovely, My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia, Our Delightful Home, and It's Overflowing**

Before.

If I ever needed a Monday off, today would be that Monday! I am beat! I spent Saturday celebrating my birthday with dear friends wine tasting down in Temecula. I had never been to Temecula even though it's just an hour and half away from home and it has an adorable Old Town! There are also a ton of wineries all up and down Rancho California Road but we just stuck to one - South Coast Winery. I kind of lost track of the number of tastings we had, but it's safe to say that we all great a great time and made lasting memories!

And just so you, Red Vine and wine is a great combination :-)

Anyhow, I spent all day yesterday arranging furniture, cleaning and taking pictures so I can show you my new living room! But before I show you that I thought it would be fun to take a walk down memory lane and see how this space has transformed.

I had mentioned before that my house was brand new when I moved in and I was able to see it during the construction phase!

This was the first time I saw it - pretty bare bones...

 Then it got baseboards, flooring and some primer...

When I moved in last May, I lived in boxed chaos for a couple of days...

 Then things finally started to fall into place when my dresser and starburst clock found a home...although it didn't stay like that for long.

This next transition was a favorite and my place finally started to feel like home when I made these changes!  I moved the dresser to the opposite wall, hung curtain panels behind my bed, bought a rug, and hung my wall ledges and mirror from Ikea. This is also when I got my new camera and boy can I see the difference!

I loved it like this but then (because I like change SO much!) I decided to switch my bedroom with my living room. Now just to recap, I technically rent a one bedroom guest house but it's a little unique where as both rooms have a exterior door. And the door that was in my bedroom (like pictured above) was the door towards the street so if anyone stopped by, they would logically knock at my bedroom door. Still following me? So the other room which I had set up as living room is connected to the kitchen and has a side door near the driveway. But I was bored one night and decided to switch the spaces and my bedroom ended up in this room...

If you'd like, you can read that post here.

Okay, that's all I'll say about the two rooms, I promise. I live here and I'm pretty sure I'm confused about the set up :-)

Moving on to the living room! I had meant to post pictures after the switch, but I kept putting it off because I just wasn't completely happy with the set up.  I loved that it felt so much bigger, but the layout didn't give me that feeling of being just right, you know? Although, rest assured, it feels like that now and I will show those pictures soon!

 But before I can reveal the new living room, I must show you the old. So here we go...

Please just ignore the random mirror and striped art still hanging - my bed used to be against that wall and I didn't want to move anything on the walls until I had a better idea of where things would go.

I didn't particularly care for the hutch and desk being right next to each other but they just kind of ended up there during the transition.

And finally, this is probably the least photographed angle of my house (but you can see both the front and side door, bathroom and a tiny glimpse into the kitchen!)

What's funny is that every single piece of furniture shown in the above three pictures is in a different spot now!  However, the good news is I have that "this is just right!" feeling with the new arrangement!

Stay tuned for the big reveal tomorrow!