Stool for a Steal

I needed a new stool to sit beside my daughter's glider and remembered reading about an inexpensive garden stool facelift on Southern Exposure (one of my favorite blogs!). After reading about Big Lots selling stools for $20, I decided it was time to check that place out. I had never been in before, and have to say, there are some treasures to be uncovered in there!

I wanted to go with a colorful stool for my daughter's room, and this is what I now have...

...but it didn't always look so pretty 'n' pink - although, that's where the steal of the century comes in! The stools were on clearance for $10 but the catch was they were bright blue and all had minor scratches. No problem! I already knew I'd likely want to customize the color. I lugged my in-need-of-love stool to the cash register and was shocked when it was...

...$5.44! What!?! If you want a garden stool, RUN to Big Lots pronto!

Next I stopped at Home Depot and picked up some Rust-Oleum berry pink glossy spray paint and got to work! (ps. there are so many fun spray paint colors out there - I was really impressed!)

One can of paint covered well, but the stool needed a light sanding with 320 grit sand paper and was definitely NOT glossy enough for my liking...

I ran out and picked up a can of Valspar's Hi-gloss lacquer and after one good coat the stool was looking sleek and shiny, just like I wanted! I totally recommend this product - it covered really well and dried perfectly smooth (and they specifically mention it is safe for all households as it's non-toxic once dry).

This stool was definitely meant to be pink! 

Summer Slumbers: Bedroom Facelift

Tah-dah! The mirrors have settled into their new home...

Once the new mirrors were painted and hung, I decided that I wanted to change up the room a little. I guess I'm feeling fresh and summery and was looking for a brighter space! I really love the color of the mirrors, it is so cheerful. To compliment the green mirrors, I bought some ikat pillow covers in a coral and ivory pattern from eBay, and I absolutely LOVE them! 

A perfect bit of unexpected color...

I originally only bought a pair so I could decide on more if I liked the quality (they were coming all the way from Uzbekistan and I had no idea what they'd be like in person). Such a great purchase (seriously, you can't beat $30 for the pair!), and thus there are more in the works for my living room. ;) Lastly, I swapped out our duvet cover for our old ivory one. Such easy changes (and cheap!), but the room feels new and fresh!

~The Before~

{sorry about the white balance in this photo, should have fixed it!}

~The After~

So, back to the mirrors! We were worried they were going to be overpowering, as they looked HUGE when we hung the first one. But, once they were both in place, I was pretty smitten. What do you think?

PS. This room is a great example of how you don't need to spend a lot of $ to freshen up a space.

     Mirrors - $20/pair at estate sale
     Paint - $10
     Pillow covers - $30/pair
     Duvet cover - $0 from linen closet

     Heavy-duty 75-lb picture hooks - $6/pair....did I mention how heavy those things are and that I live in earthquake country!

Long-Awaited Mirror Reveal...

Some of you may remember the mirrors I scored at a local estate sale...

Well, I have finally got around to painting them and hanging them in my bedroom. After a very light sanding I did an extremely fast prime job. Funny but I kind of liked the haphazard look of the blue-grey primer, messily brushed on the mirrors...

I had originally thought of painting these mirrors with a matte blue-grey paint (perhaps why I was drawn to the prime job!), but I ended up going with a yellow-green to keep things in the room more cohesive. I chose Savannah Green by Benjamin Moore and also went with a gloss finish - total change of plans! :) 

Because I loved the worn, aged look of the mirrors in their primed stage, I decided to apply the yellow-green paint with a dry brush "technique". I didn't fuss about getting the paint to cover perfectly, and liked how the blue-grey primer showed through in some spots. (Note: the color is more accurate in the above photo, these ones below show the color MUCH subtler than it really is)

I LOVE the layered paint effect. It adds so much more dimension, texture and interest to the mirrors! Lastly, when the mirrors were dry, I look fine sandpaper and lightly distressed some of the raised edges to reveal the dark wood beneath. Et voila - mirror perfection!

In-room photos are coming this week, so be sure to check back!

Hope you all have a great day tomorrow with your fathers and/or husbands!

Projects On-The-Go

I've got two DIY projects waiting for me in my storage unit. I can't wait to get my hands on these!

I've been wanting to swap out our current, college-esque TV stand and last month I found a cabinet PERFECT for hiding our TV. It has doors to conceal the ugly flatscreen, not to mention a shelf that holds the receivers up high where my baby can't reach the DVD eject button (Open, close. Open, close.) Due to our non-existant budget, I searched Craigslist to find it...

We bought this unused, Pier 1 Imports cabinet for $80! I know it isn't the best quality around, but I think it was a pretty good deal...

We have a rug with a mix of persimmon, gold and blue-grey so I'm planning to paint it a high-gloss color something similar to this...

And these are the pulls I'm ordering. I like how they work with the gold nail head detail of my new sofa, but have a hint of black too...

After envisioning my new cabinet, I stumbled on this photo in Lonny. I'm liking the combo!

* * *

I also found some crazy mirrors at a garage sale. This pair was only $20, which is an amazing deal for mirrors! I really love the shape and think they will be great behind our bedside tables...

{Don't mind me in my yoga attire...}

As of now, the plan is paint them blue-grey in a flat finish...

Stay tuned for results! I always get worried about my painting technique and concealing brushstrokes - wish me luck!

Nesting

Well it has been another really busy week and what's sure to be another busy weekend is rapidly approaching. And since Saara is on break, with a lot going on in her life, I will share a few more of the happenings with the new apartment. First of all, I am posting a photo of the work of art that I came home to this evening. (Thank you, thank you, Craig the carpenter, I feel that you are owed my first born.) I am sorry that I do not have a "before" of this space, but imagine an oddly shaped, total waste of space, closet. And here is the after!!

Just look at the cut-out he created for the vacuum cubby!!! Ahh, it's the little things.


Next up, are the carpets to be cleaned first thing in the morning. I debated whether or not to replace them but as this is a rental apartment, I decided the expense was completely unjustifiable. Soo, I called up a great little company, Ultra Guard (if you don't have this carpet/stain remover, you must order yourself a bottle online immediately!)

and scheduled an appointment to clean my carpets. Here is the 10 year old oatmeal colored berber carpet as is (with George of course modeling):

No, that is NOT a shadow, that is dirt, silt, debris! eeewww! Check back on Saturday, and I'll post the afters. Let's see just how well Ultra Guard cleans carpets!


Lastly, a little kitchen improvement... Slug has been after me to stop leaving the kitchen cabinet doors open. I've never had this habit before but our cabinetry was missing knobs, and it was so difficult to pry open the doors, that I started just leaving them open!. Cabinets sans knobs here:

Soo.. after shopping around a bit to find knobs that were cheap enough (again, hard to justify spending money on a rental!) we selected these $9.99/box knobs by Thomas O'brien for Target.


And, after sweet talking my husband and supervisor George into helping...

We completed the not-so-difficult, but somewhat-time-consuming task of measuring,drilling, and screwing in the new knobs into our kitchen cabinetry!


and wha-la, kitchen function is vastly improved!