Been Busy

I love to look at others blogs. I love especially when I stumble upon design blogs, where good ol' normal people like the rest of us are especially talented and share their talents. There is a specific blog that has my creative juices flowing. I have decided to embark on one project a week (I say a week but if it is every two weeks, I am all right with that too) to make my home a little more homey. I am the fix it girl in our house. Mike can do lots of things I cannot, but I happen to have some skills of my own. Before I got pregnant, I worked in a cabinet shop with my siblings. I sanded, stained, glues, sprayed, installed knobs, glued, etc. thereby helping to create some really gorgeous custom cabinets for some really wealthy people. When I got married, my sister gave me a piece of furniture that she had bought when they first got married. It is a small table with matching mirror. I have had it in my front entry way since I have lived here the last 4 years. It was cherry wood, and although I really loved the piece, it does not flow with the color scheme I have been trying to go with (distressed black furniture) and the nails and glue were starting to come undone rendering the piece unstable for the unstable 11 month old that likes to use it to walk around on. So I hand sanded (I think I will be purchasing a simple sander this weekend before the next piece I tackle!) I painted, painted again, sanded and distressed the pieces, and than stained. I still have to buy some finishing wax or something of the sort, but for today, it is done. I do not have a before picture, but here is the after.

An over-all shot of the finished project!

I think I need one more frame and stand to balance the look out, but I am loving how it looks.

If we decide to move and buy a house in Southern Utah, I will be painting in colors that remind me of the beach (soft blues and aquas, sand colors, and whites with accents of black.) So since I have time now, I have decided to get my furniture to what I want it to be once we do have our own home.

This is closer view. You can sort of see the sanded/distressed look a little better.

So if you truly want to get inspired, visit Christie at Just Beachy, and begin some DIY (do-it-yourself) projects! I know I will. I will share some pictures as I go along. I better head off and finish this one up. I think it needs one more picture and stand to balance the look out, don't you? And I even think that next year, I may look into buying a white tree. Isn't this gorgeous? (Don;t worry you natural tree lovers, Mike has already said no (for now ;)

So I had better get off the computer. I need to head back to good ol' Home depot and pick up some Polyurethane and finish my project. And I may just get started on the frames that need refinishing. I need to also send some pictures to Costco to get printed. I figure that while I am not in school, I will get some projects done that I need to do, while Collin is napping. So here's to one more New Years goal!!!!