Yay!

I'm super excited to show off my new desk! (Finally!)


So, here she is!

LOVE IT!

Here was my process...

Of course, I started with the bare minimum...

My fab freebie!

 Next, with the help of my awesome daddy, we removed the old hardware and sanded the entire desk with a palm sander and 300 grit sand paper.

This next step got complicated. The old drawer pulls were attached with two screws on each handle. Big screws. My new hardware was not so big screws and the old holes were obviously in the wrong spots. The holes were so big that filling them with wood filler would have been silly, so my daddy helped me cut a wooden dowel into small pieces and glue them in the holes. Here's how.

• We put a pieces of painters tape on the insides of the drawer faces, covering up the holes.
• We put a drop of wood glue in the holes. The tape kept the glue from going through the hole and just dripping off.
• We slid the dowel pieces into the holes and allowed the glue to dry them in place.
• This way, we only had to use a small bit of wood filler to even out the surface.

Then I primed the whole thing.

**tip** when using a new roller, make sure to soak it in water first so that the loose fabric pieces don't get on your surface

So, after waiting and waiting on coats and coats to dry, I painted 4 thin, even coats on the desk (as noted from my favorite blog YHL).

Then added two coats of my Minwax Waterbased Polycrylic Protective Finish in satin clear, allowed to dry, then drilled new holes for the new hardware and installed.

And isn't she beautiful??

I did actually go back with the sander and distress the edges just a tiny bit.
I love it!
And all for about $100!

• desk- free
• pub table- free
• pulls for desk- $44.88
• quart of Kilz oil based primer- $7.00
• Glidden latex paint in semi-gloss (yellow&red)- $20 ($10 per quart)
• quart of Minwax Waterbased Polycrylic Protective Finish in satin clear- $17
• rollers/brushes etc.- $10 (I had a few rollers already) 

      Total- about $100

I hope this can help for your future projects!

 Oh!

 

 

 

 

 

I did just celebrate a birthday and check out one of my presents!!

LOVE!!!

She isn't home with me yet, but she will be delivered in a few weeks!
It is my beautiful Rowe Sullivan Sleeper sofa!

I originally loved this next model... in white of course...

       but Gibson wasn't so comfortable. Beautiful... but not too comfortable. Not for my main sofa.

I love my Sullivan, and cannot wait to meet her!!

Quick Peek!

I'll say more later, but here is the final product!!

LOVE!!!

Refinishing!

Ahh! I am so excited about my recent craigslist.com steal! A man in Austell, GA was getting rid of his Grandmothers furniture since she recently passed, God bless her soul. He is completely overwhelmed and has NO idea of the value of some of the pieces she had. I wish him the best of luck and thanks!

My lovely freebie from him was an awesome antique desk. It needs some love, but it is SOLID wood and with a little tlc this piece will be awesome! It even has a file drawer which is an awesome plus for me!

So, without further ado, here is my beauty in the making!

Isn't she a beaut!?

Add some sanding, yellow paint!, a protective finish, and new hardware (or maybe the same hardware, I haven't decided yet) and this is going to be a GREAT piece!

Yes, I've decided yellow. I've been dying to have a yellow piece of furniture since seeing this next piece one of my favorite blogs 4men1lady, and it will be a pop of yellow for my new living room plan!

It is definitely time to embrace my yellow love and go for it!

Oh and while I am at it, I'm going to refinish a few other projects I've been stacking up!

This lovely's previous owner had cats that just clawed the legs to death!

You can't really see it, but the legs need some serious sanding down. The owner also tried to stain the wood, and I do apologize for being blunt but, they kind of failed. It is super streaky and the wood isn't sealed.

Well I've got my work cut out for me! Thursday is the day! I can't wait for the outcomes!

All things yellow

So yesterday and today I have been inspired by all things yellow, and I mean all things yellow. This isn't strange to me though since yellow IS my favorite color, but I've always been nervous about incorporating yellow into design since it is SUCH a statement-maker.

There are only a few ways yellow can go in design, in my opinion. There is country yellow, modern yellow, and children's yellow. I am interested in the modern yellow. This however does not mean that I have no respect for the other two yellow categories I've made, but modern yellow most fits my style. My interest is to use yellow as an accent color, but not the ONLY accent color.

Lately I've seen a lot of white, grey, black and yellow color palates. I love a lot of the designs with that palate BUT I require more color, more accent.

Now, once again, it isn't that this isn't beautiful, because it is, it's just that I love color. Lots of color! This is a modern style, so one might argue that is the problem here, so here are more examples.

In a traditional setting, in my opinion, I still left wanting more. I feel like this palate can be as sterile as just the greys and whites together.

This room adds some oranges and red tones, but still, too much yellow.

I love the idea of this color palate. Blues and greens and yellow in a modern setting.

So now onto color theory, because it plays a huge roll with the color yellow. Yellows and purples are complimentary colors, so they will play off of each other well and make each other stand out more. They will be attention rivals if you will.

I love this combination. I love the pop of color, but I want my place to feel a little cozier.

Yellow, blue and red are a triad color scheme on the color wheel, but this is the "childrens yellow" I was talking about before. I go back to my lego days. Very primary. Not me.

So, for my apartment, I am going to go analogous.

Analogous colors are those that are next to each other on the color wheel. To me, they make for really calming spaces. I love modern contrasts with white and black, but creating a cozy, comfy space is also really important for me. I want my space to be liveable. I want people to come in and think WOW! but I also want them to want to sit on the couch and cover up with a blanket, not be scared to get things messy. It is a house. It is where you live!! So for the final analysis of yellow, which colors do I choose? Will I go blue, green, yellow? Green, yellow, orange? Or yellow, orange, red?

I'm going to go.......

YAY FOR YELLOWS ORANGES AND GREENS!!

Aaahhhh... so relaxing! I would maybe do a different color on the walls; a grey actually. I think this would make the colors pop just a teeny bit more.

I love how soothing this space feels. I prefer a little more minimalist style, but I can't seem to find many examples of this color scheme online. Well, I guess it gives me more reason to get my space done and show it off! I'll post results in a few weeks.

Next challenge, making it do-able (affordable) for a working college students budget. More on that later.

Don't be afraid to be inspired by COLOR in your space!

Goodnight all!