Skirting the Issue

If you read my Dresser Makeover/April Fool's Day Post, you know that I recently went furniture shopping.  We were in Omaha a few weeks ago & visited the marvelous place known as Nebraska Furniture Mart. Thank you, Mrs. B & Warren Buffet!

In addition to my wonderful new dresser, I also picked out this headboard/footboard combo for our bed. In almost 20 years of marriage, we have never had a "real" headboard or footboard on our bed. Just a plain old boring mattress pushed up against the wall.

I really like it a LOT! But I do have one minor problem. It has fairly low side boards, so I didn't put on a bed skirt, which I'm fine with. The comforter hangs down on the sides and you can see the wood which is very pretty. At least I think it is. 

The end of the bed, however, is where the dilemma comes in.

As you see (indicated by the big yellow arrow) at the end of the bed, there's a nice view of my box spring. It's ugly. (And even more noticeable in person). I would really like to figure out a way to fix this, but I'm not sure what to do.

I've thought about putting on a coordinating fitted sheet (probably the easiest) but I'm not sure if that would still look funny.  Or I could make some kind of half bedskirt (or technically I guess it would be a one-third bedskirt) or maybe just chop up my existing skirt & put it on the end of the bed...?

Since we've always been footboard-less, I've never had this problem before. Any suggestions?

Dresser Makeover - Part 2 - It's Done!!

Well, my dresser transformation is finally done. The difference between the "before" and "after" pictures is amazing...you won't believe it!

Here is my floral beauty before...

And here it is after...

Unbelieveable, right??!!

I know, I was pretty amazed myself at how well it turned out :) It was a lot of work, but I just kept telling myself that it would all eventually pay off.  It really does look like a completely different dresser!

......And if you haven't figured it out by now, Happy April Fool's Day!!

My one little crafty touch for the whole thing was a small "TV placemat" I made for underneath the TV which sits on top of the dresser, to avoid scratches.  

And as a little inside joke with myself....I used some of the extra fabric (yes, more than 10 years later I still have it!) that I used on the original Floral Dresser. :)

More about my new dresser (which I love, by the way!) later!  Have a great day!

Dresser Makeover Part 1

If you have been reading my blog for a while (or if you are related to me!) you may remember this:

This is the beautiful floral dresser that has been sitting in my bedroom for the last 10 years. For about the last 3, it has not matched the "decor" of my room AT ALL. (And I really use the term "decor" loosely, because sadly I don't have much of it in my bedroom.)  I created this floral monstrosity about 14 years ago when we lived in a different house.  It DID match the decor in that room, and I got a lot of compliments on it in the late 90's. 

ANYway...I thought since its now 2013, it was ready for an update!

The first step (and probably the hardest part of the whole process!) was emptying out the drawers and dragging it downstairs. I was secretly glad to do it though, since it forced me to get rid of some things I no longer wanted and/or needed.

Today I started on what I hope is Part 1 of a three-part process:

BYE BYE floral fabric!

ADIOS! Brass handles!

The fabric came off MUCH easier than I thought it would.  I was a little surprised, since I glued it on with a watered-down mixture of tacky glue! If that stuff was too hard to get off, it could have been a real deal-breaker! Now I am ready to start painting!

Stay tuned for Part 2...it won't be long. (Did I mentioned that in addition to dragging the dresser downstairs, we also dragged another older and much SMALLER dresser upstairs for me to use in the meantime? I don't want to use that thing any longer than absolutely necessary! It's painful, but great incentive!)

Patio Furniture Transformation

I'm happy to report that my "quick" project from early in the summer is FINALLY done! Once again, the summer has FLOWN by, along with my my hopes of various craft projects! I'm glad that this one is done, but my To Do list is still very long. (I'm embarrassed to say that I currently have a nice little 4th of July project sitting on my dining room table, just waiting to be finished. But that's another story!)

Anyway. Take a look at my patio chairs BEFORE...

 

We have patio chairs and a table that are several years old...hmm, make that at least 10 years old! This summer our house is 10 years old, and I'm pretty sure we inherited these from my parents the first summer we moved in. Since they had recently transformed their porch into a 4-seasons room, we were the lucky recipients of their patio furniture. It has seen better days - I've replaced many of the straps that hold the cushions in place, and have thought about the spray-paint idea for at least 2 summers.

Moving on...to cover up the rust, and for a bit of a new look, I chose a completely new color of spray paint (and not that ASCP stuff either, I honestly know nothing about that craze!) I went with Rustoleum Antique Brass Metallic.

I started by sanding down the loose rusty spots on the chairs & table, and used about 1 can on each chair.  The table took almost 2 full cans. I have just a little bit left for touch-ups!

Here are some shots of the finished product:

Look who has been checking out the "new" patio furniture!

Thanks for stopping by & checking out my patio project! I'm hoping to have my cute 4th of July creation done before August! LOL!

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