Razzle Dazzle with a Beachy Vibe!

I love to shop eBay, Craig's List, and flea markets--sifting through the used and cast-off items to find potential treasures. It's not that I have anything against buying new--but as Anne of Green Gables would say there's "more scope for the imagination" in re-purposing old things.

Even better than buying good used furniture is re-purposing free family hand-me-downs.  And that is what I decided to do with this old dresser that once belonged to my parents.

First came sanding, priming with Zinsser Cover Stain with the gold label, and sanding again.

 

 Then it was time to paint.

This mid-century modern dresser had the simple, unadorned lines of furniture from that era and I was trying to think how to give it a little razzle dazzle with a beach-y vibe.  Taking a cue from something I saw on Pinterest I decided to paint each drawer a different color.  

Actually it was the same color in different levels of saturation.  I used Sherwin-Williams paint in semi-gloss with the lightest color on top and getting darker as we went to lower drawers. 

 First, I had SW 6763 Retiring Blue mixed and after painting the top drawer front, I requested the store to add pigment to make it into SW 6764 Swimming.  Once the next drawer was painted, we darkened the paint to SW 6765 Spa.  I painted the third drawer and the rest of the dresser with Spa.

Then I purchased one more can of paint in SW 6766 Mariner,  painted the next drawer, and  had the paint darkened to SW 6767 Aquarium for the bottom drawer.

I found these cool jute rope knobs on Etsy.com and ordered enough for the top two drawers.

I went to a marina store in Savannah and bought these boat cleats to use as handles on the lower drawers.

 This is how the dresser turned out!

 How do you like it?  Have you done any fun projects lately?

Magical Like A Blanket Of Snow!

You know how snow can cover up the ordinary view and make it beautiful?  That's what paint is like to me...especially white paint in a beach cottage.  It's magical!

 

First we had to put on a primer coat...

 

 

It's already better, right?  But just wait...

 

We painted the front rooms in Doc Holiday with MSL 8002, 

Martha Stewart's Glass of Milk.  Wow!  what a difference!

Before

 

 

 

After...The stains on the floor boards were too deep to sand out.  Thankfully, they will be covered with the bed and night stands.

 

Before

Before...with bead board walls and closet added

After

Before

After

And finally the last angle...

Before

After

Ahhhh.  Now it's time to bring in some furniture!

 

 

 

 

Time For A New Plan!

Things frequently don't always go as planned in remodeling.  Jane Coslick and I had already discussed our furniture layout for this master bedroom.  There really wasn't room for very much furniture--a king size bed, night stands, a chest of drawers, wall-mounted TV and maybe a small chair.  I knew exactly where everything was going to go.

Then one day after being away for a week, I walked into the house to check progress and froze in my tracks.  In the place where I planned to put my chair...

 

...I saw this :(

Let's just say that Mama was not happy and you know what that means.  Phone calls were made to the contractor and the air-conditioning company and they both came to defend their decision.  After a long discussion, they convinced me that it was necessary for the purpose of function to put the HVAC in that very spot.

I still wasn't happy but I had to adjust.  Time for a new plan.  Sooo... I decided to put a 

closet next to the HVAC.

The dresser will be on the wall to the left of the window and behind the bathroom door.  There won't be room for a chair but it can't be helped.  I had to choose between a chair and having my air conditioning cool effectively.  No brainer--I went with the AC.  

Jane gave me some very good advice:  Don't put your energy into fretting over what can't be changed;  save it for what you do have some control over!

We had to move a door also to allow for better traffic flow in the bedroom and the 

adjoining dining room.  There was also the matter of the former fireplace that had to be removed by the house movers.

See the hole in the floor and the wall above where the chimney used to be?  The chimney had to be taken out before the house was moved and we decided not to replace it.

We were out of recycled boards with which to patch the wall, so beadboard was used instead.  We had it applied horizontally so it would mimic the other walls.  Once painted, we thought 

it would blend in just fine.

The bedroom really started to come together when the floor was refinished.

We've come a long way from this.  I have hope. 

Can You See The Possibilities?

I hope you had a safe, fun holiday.  It's hard to return to the business of life when you've had a few days off, isn't it?  But after taking off completely for Labor Day and working hard yesterday, today I can finally take some time to write a blog post!

 

I'd like to show you what I've done so far in the third bedroom at Doc Holiday.  

It started out as a kitchen...

 

 

It had an adjoining full bath which seemed a little awkward to me so I decided to swap rooms and make this room a bedroom with ensuite bath and what used to be a bedroom (that you had to pass through to get to other rooms) became the kitchen.  We also created a new door to the back deck so that people would not have to come through this room to get outside.

The room was basically gutted.  Out came the old cabinets, appliances, chimney, and closet!

 

 

Happy discoveries were the wood floors and beautiful old boards that made up the 

walls and ceiling!  And I am crazy about the old door that leads into the bathroom!

 

 

It's rough but can you see the possibilities? Can't wait to show you what came next!

 

Are You Ready For Some Football?

The T-man, Tyler Man, Teebs, Teebles...all those endearing little names we've had for Tyler these past ten years are quickly becoming outgrown:(

 

Now it's #33 Patton...

 

 Yes, the times, they are a'changing...Last weekend Henry and I went to see  our 

grandson Tyler's first football game.

 

 It was a fun family day watching Tyler and his team. 

 

 

 

 

 I couldn't help wondering if this was just the beginning of bigger things for Tyler just like it was for my boy, his dad, who grew up and eventually played football for his 

high school and college

 

.

Who knows?  Right now it's enough to enjoy these beautiful Saturdays, look forward to the upcoming season and cheer for #33.  

 

 

Are you ready for some football?

 

The Little House Bedroom is a Little Jewel!

A little jewel--that's what this bedroom is going to be.  The floor space is fairly small and with its king size bed, it is almost all bed--but it is still very pleasing to me.  Our "little house" bedroom is still a work in progress but let me show you what is done so far....

The comforter and two blue euro shams are from Echo's Sardinia collection.  I wasn't crazy about the two regular pillow shams that came with the set but I think I will order one more blue euro sham.  I think maybe it would be good to find some decorative pillows that pick up some of the lime green in the spread to make the look more interesting....right now I am pondering.

As you can see I don't have a photo of the window with curtains.  The curtains are there now--Merete curtains in bleached white from Ikea but they needed hemming and were hung after I left Tybee.  I'll have to photograph them later.

 

I'm still looking at a way to improve storage for the room's guests and I'd like to change out a few pillows but it's almost there...a little jewel!

Oooo La La!

True Confessions...I am an eBay-a-holic.  I've found some great things for great prices using eBay and I love being able to shop in the convenience of my own home.

I began looking on eBay for a chandelier to use in the dining room at Doc Holiday.  I really love the vintage tole chandeliers that look like bamboo but are made of metal and there is usually a nice selection to choose from online.  My criteria was it had to be pretty and it had to be in working condition and it had to be inexpensive.

I finally found one I liked, bought it, and had it shipped. But it was damaged in the shipping.

Two of the arms were broken--Booo!  I was so disappointed but I didn't want to send it back because it was so well-priced.  So instead I found a handy friend, Drew McRay, who repaired it.

I was excited to try it out at Doc Holiday but booo again!  It seemed just a tad too small for the dining room but it was just right for the bedroom in the "little house".  So I asked Patricia from Tybee Girl Helpers to spray paint it and voila!

Doesn't this just beckon you to come closer?

It's amazing what a can or two of spray paint can do!  This one is Rustoleum Ultra Cover X 2 Glossy paint in Key Lime.

Ooo La La!  I just love it!

 Spray paint is awesome!  Have you ever spray painted something that transformed it's appearance?  I'd love to hear about it in the comments--share pictures or links if you'd like!