Mid-Century Nightstands

So I've been looking for 2 matching nightstands in thrift stores and Craigslist for a long time now with no success. But when I went antiquing with my sister I found a pair of mid-century nightstands!

They were in great condition and solid wood, just an ugly blonde color with even uglier hardware. They begged to be refinished. Here's what we've done so far...

• I removed all the hardware which just included the drawer pull and the little metal cap thingies on the tips of the legs.
• I sanded using an electric palm sander for the flat surfaces and by hand on the other areas. This was very important to get all that shiny finish off.
• I covered up the areas I didn't want sprayed using newspaper and painters tape. Really these areas would have been hidden, but now I know that underneath the drawer lies a clean untouched surface!

• Then it was time to prime!

I did two coats of primer. Now they are just sitting in the shed waiting for their final coats of paint and new hardware. Should we paint them a crisp clean white or a fun bright color? And what should the hardware look like? These unanswered questions are the main reasons they still sit, waiting eagerly for their final touches...stay tuned!

House Tour

Check out the new House Tour page I added (still a work in progress!).

Dining room chair plans

You know those desperately-in-need-of-a-makeover dining room chairs I bought a couple of weeks ago?

Well we have some plans in the works. Here's a sample of the Premier Prints fabric I'm eagerly waiting to arrive:

Fabric Guru.com

When it arrives I think we'll just reupholster for now; we'll make the decision about refinishing later. Stay tuned!

Dining room chairs

Every once in awhile, you can find some amazing finds on Craigslist...such as these chairs!

 

 

Six mid-century dining chairs for $50. I've been wanting to add mid-century touches to our 1960s house, so these were a perfect find. They desperately need to be refinished and reupholstered, but they have such potential! Stay tuned for their makeovers...

Millie is 2!

My furry baby girl is 2 today! It's amazing to think what the world was like without Millie...maybe a little calmer, a little quieter, and with fewer teeth marks...However, it was not nearly as fun! Her birthday had many highlights including...

...a new toy

 ...a special dinner

...and a trip to the dog park

Happy birthday baby girl!

Dining room trim

Our current project we're working on is installing trim in the dining room! When we painted the dining room (almost a year ago already, yikes!) we painted the area below the chair rail a glossy crisp white with the intention of putting picture frame molding underneath. Well, never mind how long it took to actual get around to installing the trim, but this weekend we finally started! Here's how we did it:

1.  First we had to measure and mark the boxes. We used a chalk line. 

 

2. Next we sanded and primed the trim.

3. Then my diligent husband had to learn how to miter corners-he got lots of practice. He cut the pieces to fit. This took lots of patience!

Notice our trusty assistant coming to check on the progress

Take a little more off that corner!

 4. He nailed the trim to the wall following the chalk lines, using a level. He used his awesome air compressor which made the job MUCH easier.

 5. We filled in the nail holes with wood filler and used paintable caulk around all the edges and corner joints.

 
6. Now all we have to do is paint 2 coats over the trim, and then we will finally be done with this project!

Here is the finished project!

Now all we have to do to finish the dining room is refinish the table and chairs, and hang artwork. We're almost done!

 See what a subtle difference the trim makes?
And if you remember the original dining room...

...there's no comparison.

Master Bath

Meet our over the top 1960s master bath. While I don't mind the aqua, it's too much. However, we wanted to maintain a 60s feel to the bath, it just needed to be toned down and updated. (Note the oddly placed medicine cabinet and light fixture)

Our very 1960s master bathroom.

Here's the beginning of the renovation

And here's the after (almost!)

Voila!

 Our new master bath redo!

It still needs some finishing touches, but it's almost there.