White China Hutch

After two and a half years of procrastinating, the china hutch is finally painted! Yayayayayayayay!

As a reminder, this is what it used to look like:

It was my grandma’s and it came to live with me after my grandpa remarried. At first I was hesitant to paint over such a nice piece, but I know that my grandma would prefer I paint it and enjoy it rather than give it away because it didn’t fit my style or begrudgingly keep it out of obligation. I knew that painting this piece was going to be huge effort and time consuming so I’ve been putting it off for years. Finally over Christmas break I decided to start painting.
 
Luckily it’s made up of two separate pieces so it’s easier to move and work on. I started with the bottom half – sanding, priming, and painting. I used Dove White by Valspar and I’m really happy with the color. It’s not stark white, but nice and creamy without any blue/green/purple/yellow tint. I used Rustoleum Paint + Primer in Oil-Rubbed Bronze to paint over all of the hardware.

Once the bottom was completely finished I started on the top half. This piece was a lot easier than the bottom, but that center piece of glass isn’t removable, so I had to work around that. I didn’t feel like taking the time to tape off the glass, so I just painted over it and used a razor blade to scrape off the paint. 

I left the inside wood because my ironstone and china are mainly white. I thought the wood would be a nice contrast against the white. I’m not sure if I’m completely sold on the look. I might end up painting the inside a nice light blue color like this. After how long it took to paint the rest of the hutch, painting the inside will be a breeze! 

I love how it turned out, but I’m glad I waited until I had a break from work to start on this project. It took for-ev-er and would have been completely overwhelming to work on over a weekend. If any of you have a painted a china hutch, you know what I mean. If you did it over a weekend, you are my hero! 
 

Painted Console Table

Alternate Title: Pitiful Wall: Take Two


Say hello to the pop of color my living room has desperately been needing!

Yes, I painted my new console table and I'm finally making some progress on my pitiful wall. Last you saw, the large statement wall in my living room looked like this:

Nothing impressive, but better than the IKEA nightstand that's been there for the last year few months. 

OK, back to my newly painted console table - I ordered the table from Wayfair, but didn't love the black and cherry finish. Mostly because I already have a black dining room table and it's a beast to keep dusted and clean. I started by painting a coat of primer on the table. Then I painted two coats of Lagoon by Martha Stewart - I fell in love with the color after seeing a coat rack painted that color in HGTV magazine.  Finally, I rubbed the table down with some Minwax Wipe-On Poly and replaced the knob with a glass one from Hobby Lobby.

I love it, but I still need to hang artwork and style the table. You'll see that in Pitiful Wall: Take Three, but for now, here's my plan of attack:

So, I definitely have a lot more work to do, but I'm lovin' the progress. The blue table is a lot more welcoming than the nightstand that used to be there. 

Big Fat IKEA Fail

Remember how one of my 2012 Home Goals was to buy a new entertainment center?

Well, I did it! Kind of…

Before

(Name that movie!)

It’s bad. I know.

The boxes, cabinet, and bricks were there to block the puppy from chewing on the drywall. The puppy pen is there to block the puppy from chewing on the boxes. Sigh.

A few weeks ago I went to IKEA to buy fabric for my headboard…but the lady 2 carts in front of me ended up buying the entire bolt of fabric I wanted. Ugh! Luckily the trip wasn’t a complete bust because I ended up finding my new entertainment center.

BUT I couldn’t buy all the pieces because they were too long to fit in my car, so I only bought the TV stand part. I need my boyfriend and his truck to get the side bookcases and the bridge piece.

After

Hello Ashton!

Oh, you didn’t think that was the end of the story did you? If you saw my facebook post from that day you know better!

Long story short: We got the TV stand put together and then realized 2 of the pieces were backwards…which meant we put nail holes in some of the front pieces! Yes, nail holes in my brand-new $225 TV stand.

I cried. And swore like a sailor.

I eventually calmed down and noticed that the nail holes weren’t really noticeable from the couch.  So I can sit on the couch watching TV without noticing the nail holes and filling with rage. Hooray! I'm going to try filling them with white putty. Hopefully that will help even more!

Today’s Lesson: Make sure your IKEA furniture is correctly built before nailing the back piece on!

Black Nightstands Makeover

So, I don’t have a proper before picture.

My mom bought these for me at a garage sale ($20 for the pair). She removed the hardware and sanded them before she brought them to me (Thanks Mom).

I honestly don’t know what the old pulls looked like. My mom said they were ugly and dated, so she threw them away. I was planning to replace the pulls with knobs anyway, so it’s all good.

My mom painted the first coat on both of the nightstands while she was visiting a few weeks ago. It took a couple more weeks of procrastinating for me to finish them up, but finally I painted a second coat and rubbed on some poly.

What once was pink now is black!

My boyfriend loves them too…probably because they aren’t white! 

Cost

Nightstands – Mom $0

Paint  – Mom $0

Poly – On Hand

Knobs – Hobby Lobby $3.99 $2.00 each

Total $4.00

Mom, thanks for hooking me up with these nightstands!