Free Paint Project

***Disclaimer-This post was originally started in June of 2012. I only recently finished getting all of the after pictures and putting all of the finishing touches on this post. Last summer when I had my third child and started working on my master's degree I had no idea what I was getting myself into! I have had to learn to say no to additional commitments, loosen some of my expectations on myself regarding housekeeping and manage extra hours away from home to take classes and finish school work while working full time and being the primary caretaker for my family. While the past year has been very challenging, it has also been amazing! I am so proud of all that I have accomplished and feel so empowered that I can do anything I put my mind to. With three years left until I finish my degree, I still have a long road ahead of me, but know that all the struggles will be worth it when I finally become a school counselor.***

When I saw the commercials advertising a free quart of Clark and Kensington paint from True Value, I knew immediately what I wanted to do. The paint giveaway occured on a day that I was in Dubuque visiting my family, so I begged my mom to go with me. When we arrived the gentleman at the paint counter told me that the free paint was an interior flat paint and that they only had dark base left. Though I wanted a gloss or semi-gloss, the flat would work. And I wanted black, so the dark base was perfect. They mixed me up a quart of their color "Ace of Spades" and I was on my way. Since moving into our home almost three years ago, I have wanted to paint the buffet and hutch in our dining room. I bought the buffet at Goodwill several years ago for around $40 and loved it. Unfortunately when we moved the buffet did not fare very well and wound up scratched and a little worse for the wear. Being as the buffet is made of particle board and not solid wood, it looked more shabby than chic.

I took the buffet apart and gave it a light sanding so that the paint would have something to stick to. Then gave it two light coats of paint and finished it off with a coat of poly. We also added a new back to give the buffet a little more stability. After putting it back together I could not stop starring at what looked like a brand new piece of furniture. Even my husband, who was a bit skeptical, could not believe how good it looked!

After the buffet turned out so well, I could not wait to get started on the hutch. I purchased the hutch off of Craigslist for around $100 after moving into our house.

The hardware was a bit dated and it was also a little worse for the wear, but two coats of paint and a coat of poly made her look brand new again! I also removed the decorative brass, choosing only to keep the hardware necessary to open the doors.

Though I love the look of both pieces, I decided during the process that refinishing furniture is not for me! While painting the furniture I had the contents of both cabinets scattered all over my dining room and kitchen, making cooking and cleaning very difficult. The amount of time required to refinish the cabinets was also difficult for me as I have very little patience. I had difficulty waiting the appropriate amount of time to let the paint set well before doing another coat. Though the cabinets look great, I can notice some imperfections in the paint job, such as places that did not get even coverage or places where the paint had not fully dried before I tried adding another coat. I used a foam brush to add the poly to the hutch and wish that I would have waited to purchase another brush. I feel that the foam brush left more visible marks and lines in the poly. Finally, there was a lot of hardware with the cabinet and I wish that I would have separated the hardware to lessen the headaches I had with putting it back together! I learned a lot for the next time that I attempt to refinish something, but I think that it will be a long time before I decide to do something like this again!

Freebie dresser and a fail

We have had my cheapie college dresser in Reese's room since she was born. It was a perfect fit flanked by several matching shelves to give her open closet a built in look. A little girls dream closet!

When we moved into our current house, the dresser was really starting to fall apart (I don't know why, it was only 8 years old!). Though we had glued and screwed it back together, the drawer fronts continued to pull off when you opened the drawer.
I had been trolling Craigslist and found a white Ikea Hemnes 8 drawer dresser listed for $100. It was too good to be true! Even though I contacted the seller immediately, I never heard back. Unfortunately, someone must have beat me to it!

Recently, my neighbor asked if I knew anyone that would be interested in a dresser. She was trying to clean out her garage and she was willing to give it away to get rid of it. I jumped on the opportunity and snatched it right up. I cleaned it up and drug it upstairs to my daughter's room. It fits perfectly on the wall by her closet and provides so much more storage.

My neighbor thought that I should paint it, but the chips in the paint add to the shabby chic feel that goes perfectly with the rest of the furniture in the room. I do plan to add some different pulls eventually, hopefully some dainty glass knobs to dress it up a little bit.

The old dresser found a new home hidden in her closet. It houses clothing that is out of season and therefore is not used as much.

I had added some cork board to the changing table/dresser in my daughter's room to make it functional for displaying artwork.

Unfortunately, the adhesive included with the cork board was not strong enough and the cork fell of within a few days. I reattached the cork using an adhesive spray that I had on hand and again, the cork fell of within a few days. I have not gotten around to replacing the cork, but hopefully some gorilla glue or other adhesive will be effective in keeping it in place because it is looking pretty ugly now!


On a positive note, roofing and siding has started on our house and we should be ready for a reveal in about 2 weeks! It is looking so good, I cannot wait to share!