I Love Freebies!

Living in Chicago was SO awesome because I would be walking down the street and see something that someone else had put out for trash that I could see a treasure in.  I know that might disgust some of you, but let me settle your fears and tell you that NOTHING I have ever picked up off the street was in the actual trashcan or dumpster - all were just sitting on the side of the street next to the dumpster (not that I wouldn't contemplate pulling things out of the dumpster if the *right* item needed rescuing!).  I scored this awesome tray off the side of our street that someone else had deemed "trash", as well as this arm chair (Charlie the Chair, if you will....he's still awaiting to be 100% completed, although he's WAY more clothed now than this post leads you to believe).

In March, 2011 I was in our apartment getting ready for our trip to Salt Lake City to visit friends and go skiing.  Our apartment overlooked the side of a high rise building and I could see down into the area that was used for the dumpsters.  Next to these dumpsters, a certain piece of furniture caught my eye...

 I loved everything about this dresser - the size (it's a little bit higher than waist level), the drawers (I love the 2 smaller on top) as well as the pulls!  At this point in time, Stephen and I knew we were going to be moving back to Kentucky sooner than later and that a house was in our near future...furniture was going to be a must!  The only problem with this charming piece was the lack of a top piece of wood.  That's right ladies and gents, this dresser was topless!

{censored!}  Make sure you're 18 or older!!!

Despite Stephen's disbelief, this did not stop me from wanting this dresser to be mine.  My sweet husband went outside in the snow (it's March in Chicago) and carried this sucker down to the dungeon basement of our apartment building.  There it sat until the end of July when we were packing up our moving truck to head back to our Old Kentucky Home.  Our truck was literally filled to the brim and I almost lost this wonderful possession.  In fact, Stephen contemplated (I could see it in his face) trying to convince me to accept my loss and leave Debbie the Dresser in Chicago.  That moment only lasted a couple of seconds as I know he could read the longing on my face!

Fast forward to April, 2012 months after we have moved back to Louisville and Debbie (the Dresser) has been hanging out in our garage yearning for attention.  It was my Spring Break and I knew I needed to make room in the garage (my parent's old dining room furniture is also hanging out in there - even as I type...I haven't gotten around to tackling that monstrosity!).  So, if you ever come across your own slutty dresser that has lived a topless life and needs a face lift, here are the steps I followed:

1. Measured the opening in the top that was missing a wood piece.  Went to Home Depot and picked out a thick piece of wood and had them cut it to size ($18).  Used Elmer's Wood Glue ($6 - big bottle) to glue it into place and then used finishing nails (had them in my little kitchen nail kit from Target) to hammer it in around the perimeter.  

2. After attaching the new top piece, there was still some gaps around the existing trim and the new top.  I applied a liberal amount of wood putty ($8) to fill in the gaps.

3. I impatiently waited for this wood putty to dry and then I used sandpaper that I already had to sand down the wood putty I had put into the gaps.

4. I also used the same tub of wood putty to put on the drawers to fill in any scratches that I knew would be evident when I painted.  I also waited for this putty to dry and then sanded it down smooth.  (Before I did this, I removed the pulls)

5. My friend Jen told me about this blog where the blogger repainted her credenza.  I literally did exactly what she did, only I used a different color.  I went out and bought this Zinsser primer ($17) and I brushed it on, doing about 2 coats.

6. While I was waiting for the primer to dry, I pulled out some Krylon ORB spray paint that I already had on hand for this lamp project and I used it to spray paint the pulls for Debbie.

7. I used Rustoleum's High Performance Spray Enamel in White ($6 per can, I used 2 cans) to spray roughly 3 coats of white onto freshly primed Debbie.

8. I used a paint brush and sprayed the ORB spray paint onto a paper plate and then dabbed my brush into it to paint the keyholes without getting any ORB paint on my freshly painted drawer.

9. I did a thorough cleaning of the inside of Debbie (don't forget, she was a dirty dresser - that topless thang!) and then reattached my pulls.  I had my studly hubby (and a friend) carry face lifted Debbie up to her new home in our guest bedroom.

  The Price Breakdown:

-Dresser - free!

-Wood piece for top - $18

-Wood Glue - $6

-Wood putty - $8

-Primer - $17 (I bought a quart with lots left over)

-Spray Paint - $6/can, I bought 2 so $12

-Sand paper - had it so free!

-ORB spray paint - had it so free!

Grand Total: $61!  

Talk about a CHEAP piece of furniture!

What a transformation!!!

With a little elbow grease and paint!

Here is Debbie the Dresser enjoying her new life in the guest room:

What about you?  Have you found any treasures that someone else has put out for trash???  Tell me about your adventures!

I'm linking up with:

Fingerprints on the Fridge; TidyMom; Shabbynest; It's a HodgePodge Life; Finding Fabulous; Chic on a Shoestring Decorating; Simply Designing; My Romantic Home; Happy-Go-Lucky; Craftionary; Addicted2Decorating; Young and Crafty; Your Thriving Family; Tatertots and Jello; A Vision to Remember; Lolly Jane; Positively Splendid; Sundae Scoop; Making the World Cuter; Homemaker on a Dime; Sumo's Sweet Stuff; Sew Chatty; Craft-O-Maniac; CRAFT; DIY Project Parade; Etcetorize; Create With Joy;  Polly Want A Crafter; Boogie Board Cottage; Between Naps on the Porch; Keeping It Simple; Mad In Crafts; Sew Can Do; 

Catch-Up

Okay, so I've been a horrible blogger.  And by horrible, I mean HORRIBLE.  Things have been a little bit hectic here and when it came to blogging, it just had to take the back burner.  Before we moved into our new house, Stephen and I were living with my parents.  Our stuff was living at my parents house, in our new house, and in our storage unit.  I never had my camera cord whenever I needed it, which led to me not uploading pictures or blogging.  I'm considering my blogging vacation to be over, and I'm expecting to be back with a vengeance!

Just in case you're not completely bored out of your mind with pictures of our new house, I have somewhat updated pictures.  I took these pictures about 3 weeks ago, so while they're an update to you, they're not really an update because the rooms have improved so much more since these were taken.  However, I figured I'd share with you the ugliness that moving in, painting and situating things brings with it, so you can get a real picture of our C-R-A-Z-Y life right now.  Enjoy!


So we'll start with the first floor.  If you remember, when you walk into the front door, to your left is the Living Room, which we have converted into Stephen's office.  We snagged this solid wood antique desk and office chair off of craigslist for a steal, and I knew once I saw it and waited a week so I could talk the seller down, that it was just meant to be!

This is the view when you're standing in the Living Room/Office and you're looking out into the entry way

This is the view right when you walk into the Living Room/Office

Here is a view of the Living Room/Office from the french doors in the Family Room

If you know me, you know I'm totally NOT afraid of color.  I wanted to paint this office a color that would match our other color choices, and would go with my love for dark wood.  I didn't want to paint it a really dark color, and in real life, this green isn't as dark as it's appearing here.  I got all our paint from Lowes, and went with their Valspar brand.  We painted our apartment using this paint and I loved the results.  This color is Homestead Resort Moss.  In all the rooms that I have painted, I've also painted the trim as well.  I used a Porter Paint color, despite getting the paint at Lowes.  The color is White Umber.

Moving onto the Family Room.  If you remember, when you walk straight into the front door and to the back of the house, you walk into our Family Room.  I didn't think I was going to repeat the same orange that we painted in our apartment, but I loved it so much that I found myself going right back to it.  

Right when you walk into the Family Room, looking to the left

Looking into the Family Room from the french doors in the Living Room/Office

The Family Room, looking into the Kitchen

The orange paint is La Fonda Copper.

Here's our Kitchen, in it's crazy state.  This room is going to be the last room that I am going to paint.  I'm planning on painting it Cincinnatian Hotel Carl Tan, which is the same color that we painted our bathroom in Chicago.

Moving Upstairs...

This is our updated bedroom, which is at the top of the stairs to the right.  This is the same color that we painted our bedroom in Chicago.  It is called Olive Grove.  Now, let me tell you, it is not this green when you're looking at it in real life.  Also, with stuff hanging on the walls, the color is broken up.  In the near-er future, I'm hoping to DIY some crown molding up at the top of the walls/ceiling, which I know will help to chill out the green even more. 

This is standing in our bedroom, looking towards the bathroom (the door out is to the left, the door to the closet is to the right)

Here's our bed...if I pretend, it looks just like our room in Chicago (check it out here)

Walking down the hall...

Remember that pink room?  Well, it's now a calmer shade of tan!  This is a Porter Paint color that I got mixed at Lowes.  The color is Sea Sand.

Standing in the room, looking out into the hallway

Remember that farm mural room?  That room got a complete overhaul.  I chose this light shade of blue because it matched all my bedding that I had before I converted from a Miss to a Mrs. If you look in the corner, you can see that bedding :)  This color is New Day.

Here is a shot of the room looking out into the hallway

So, as you can tell, we've been busy little bees.  We've painted the family room, living room, and all three bedrooms; not to mention all the trim in the hallway.  Since these pictures were taken, I've begun tackling the dining room.  More to come on that later!  What about you?  Have you been doing any home projects lately?  How do you feel about painting???  I'm beginning to be annoyed with it...

Upstairs Tour

If you stopped by yesterday, you saw the downstairs of the home that my husband, Stephen and I just bought.  Now buckle your seat belts and get ready to see the upstairs :)

When you get to the top of the staircase and look to the left, you see the hall closet, bathroom, and 2 bedrooms (picture to the left).  When you look to the right, you see our bedroom (picture to the right).  We'll start in the master bedroom...

Right when you look in the door, you see where our bed will go (that is not our bed, it was the previous owners, they hadn't gotten it out yet..).  You also see our closet (to the left of the picture)

Here's a shot of our bedroom after you've walked in the door more (our bathroom is behind you, our closet is to your left and our bedroom door is to the right)

This is the view of our bedroom if you're standing in front of our closet door.  The bathroom is to the right - don't worry, Stephen was simply checking to make sure that the toilet had been fixed per our request after inspection, he is not doing anything that shouldn't be put on the internet!

This is our closet.  The picture to the left shows you what it looks like from our bedroom door (the door you see leads to our attic).  The picture on the right shows you what the closet looks like from the attic door.  You should've seen our closets in Chicago - this is a MAJOR improvement!

The master bathroom; the picture to the left shows you the right side of our bathroom and the picture to the right shows you the left side of our bathroom

Let's move on out and check out the hall closet and the hall bath...

The picture on the left shows you the hall closet - awesome storage!  The picture on the right shows yo the hall bath.  Now onto the bedrooms...

When you get to the end of the hallway and go to the room on the right, you go into what we fondly call the "farm room".  This room had a farm mural painted on the walls and ceiling...ay yi yi!  What a hard room to paint!  The picture to the left shows you what the room looks like when you're looking out the door and the picture on the right shows you the alcove window with the window seat.  

When you get to the end of the hallway, and go to the room on the right, you head into the pink (now tan) room.  The picture on the left is what the room looks like when you're looking out; the picture on the right is what the room looks like when you're standing in front of the door.

That's it for our upstairs tour.  This house has 3 different colors of trim throughout the house with 2 different types of sheen.  Needless to say, we've been busy!  We've already painted 4.5 rooms as well as the trim that's in that room.  I'll be back soon to show you our progress!