The following is a rambling post filled with no useful information, it’s basically me thinking out loud, or in type. My apologies.
Remember how the other day I was all “Books on the ground, gotta get me a shelf”, dog? Well, that very next morning I was one of the first people through the door of our local thrift store. After reading a comment from one of you locals who told me about a shelf I had actually had my eye on, I decided to get it. And when I decide something I want it done yesterday. As you can see I didn’t get the shelf. Who needs a shelf when you can get a sturdy chest of drawers for $80?
Wouldn’t some labely drawer pulls like these be nice? But I don’t want to spend $10 each. I want them to be like $1 each or in my dream world, pay me to buy them. Any ideas?
So, being the impatient, thrifty person that I am I immediately pulled out my trusty paint plus primer left over from the armiore. I mean, a different color would be nice but that would take time and patience, of which I have very little. So I hurridly coated the dresser with paint and it looks…ok.
I just realized that I don’t have a photo of the entire dresser–I put some spare knobs on it just to see but here’s a tiny bit of the dresser way down there at the bottom of the photo, can you see it? Again, the paint is fine but I can’t help the fact that I’m still infatuated with all things white. And what’s with me putting that bright blue frame everywhere in my house?
And then I saw this cabinet…
…and this sweet little number both masterfully painted/distressed by Holly from Life in the Fun Lane whom I’m pretty sure will be the official furniture painter in heaven. Y’all she’s got her own business painting her finds–this girl is killing me, I want to BE her!
Anyhow, I now am officially ready to paint my dresser white. It may not be in the next week, but I’m on the prowl. I’m ready for white. And no worries, I’m not painting everything, but I do love my other white dresser and I think I’d love this one if it were white too.
I’m kind of regretting my hasty decision of using what I had. There’s a delicate balance between using what you have and settling for something because you are impatient. I’m keeping my eye {eyes if you have two} open for some $5 oops paint. Gosh, for all I know I’ve got white paint in my garage.
Have you ever made a hasty design decision and then regretted it?
Yes – I painted a floral design on a black trash to treasure dresser my husband found. I painted the design turquoise to complement the Caribbean Sunset color of our family room walls. But I keep thinking to myself I should have painted the design red, since red keeps popping up in other items I’ve placed in the room. But now I’m thinking I should have gone with a robin’s egg blue. That would work with the room’s wall color and the red accessories. Hmmm…
There are a lot of people painting things white these days. I have white dining room furniture that I am dying to paint espresso brown. I’m always doing the opposite of what everyone else is doing, it seems.
Uhm, yeah…see my latest post on my “gallery wall” that I just put up and hate. I think I’ll be taking it down this weekend and starting over. But you’ve inspired me to paint a black piece of furniture that I have a color!!! I love Holly’s blog…she does have an amazing vision:)
I have this dresser in my guest room! I mean, this exact one! It has a huge mirror that goes over it with a great swirly flor-de-lis thing on it. I should send you a picture so you can show what it looks like with all the drawers! ha :)
hope you are well.
OMG i love the new chest of drawers!! beautiful! and OMG that’s the paint color i’m longing for to paint my furniture pieces for our new playroom addition that is ALMOST DONE! what color is that, if i might ask? :)
love the white too :) beautiful
Eighty bucks? A steal!
I learned the hard way never to make decorating decisions 2 weeks after you had a baby :) I made the mistake of buying several pieces from a consignment store to “fix up” right about my son was born and I regret it! I did fix them up, and liked what I had done for a short while, but you know how those hormones after pregnancy go, I can’t stand them now :) Not only do I dislike the furniture, but after many attempts to try and sell it, I just can’t get rid of it!
Hello..I think this might be my first comment on your blog. I have been following you on and off for awhile and just added you to my blogroll so I can remember to check in regularly. I love your toile sofa, where did you get it? yes..I too have painted in haste. My sideboard we originally painted it a yellow, I was inspired after seeing one on the cover of MS Living but knew right when it was done..to paint it my creamy white….
Hahahaha! Oh yes I have! I painted my neutral kitchen pumpkin orange! Loved it when it went up by day 3 I hated it! hahaha oh well lesson learned. Pics of my “halloween” kitchen are on my blog.
I just have to say, all of you craft chicks, DIY queens, make me want to bust the doors wide open at the Salvation Army and Good Will. Not to mention, hibernate at Lowe’s on the paint isle. I have been so inspired by all you creative gals that I hope to start my own projects this summer when I get out of school…or before, who knows. I feel like I have been resus…gosh how do you spell that word…resuscitated…there we go, from the dead and now I can breath again….I going to keep reading all ya’lls blogs just to see what you come up with… gosh, who knows what ya’ll will be paint’n next. Lotsa love, SusieQ
Have you checked out the pulls at Hobby Lobby? Do you have one where you are? I have bought several sets for different pieces, when they have their half-price sale of course! I have also bought pulls off of ebay, not as “crafty” looking but cheap. Great find!
Oh Yes! I found an antique piano (over 100 years old) at a church thrift store for free! It was in terrible shape but I felt the wood was beautiful and could be repurposed. All we had to do was take it apart to get it home. My husband kept bugging me about it taking up room in the garage so I let him get rid of a few of the wood pieces- but not all of them. I regret getting rid of even a few pieces of that lovely, old wood. I need to find a cheap shed to call my own to store all my cool finds, until I know what Im going to do with them. Regret is a terrible feeling!
My comment is more so a deisgner question sparked by a picture in this blog. I LOVE the style of the white drawers (linked for Life in the fun lane) and want to know what “style” are they. I would love to have a taller version that has a dresser feel for my bedroom as well as a longer one (like the one picturd) for my living room. I don’t know how to search for drawers that are curvy with legs because I don’t know what to call them! Can you help?
O’ I just love white furniture. It looks so clean and goes with everything. Great find!
Man, I’ve learned so much from reading all the comments. Seriously, I never knew about “Spray Painting Weather”. Last week when I painted my gold lamps white they turned out splotchy. Now I know why.
My regret is putting wipe on poly on a painted piece. I called Minwax and Martha, the grouchy customer svc rep, said their products are not for use on painted surfaces. Couldn’t argue w/ Martha since I hadn’t read the can but once I read the can it doesn’t say not to use on paint….
How do you protect the surfaces of your painted pieces?
Amy
sorry for rambling
Thank you for your best of the nest. I have been able to aply some your ideas like a cute little lamp on the dinner table and a throw pillow on each chair. I too live in a rental so my creativity feels sometimes restricted but that seems just like a challenge to try harder.
I make hasty decissions all the time. But when I paint I always remember a little bird once saying Who cares if you make a mistake just repaint it” This is what i told my husband just this past fall when I wanted to paint a blanket chest black with a red inlay and he had said to me “are you sure what if it comes out badly”. I said oh well if it does not look good or if I don’t like it I will just repaint it!!!!!!
are you kidding… that’s how I’ve made most of my design decisions. And yet somehow it all usually works out. (except for the bathroom… with three different paint samples on the walls… over about a 2 month time period… no haste there!) I’ll get moved to choose one some day : )
have you checked out D. Lawless Hardware on the web for drawer pulls? they have great prices. kelly
oh my gosh! we had that same dresser and whole bedroom suite when we were first married. dang it….i should have kept that dresser! i never saw the potential :(
I always make hasty decisions and then regret them…especially with decorating. I think it’s better to wait and get what you want or make it what you want. I think your dresser will look fabulous in white.
-FringeGirl
I LOVE your decorating style!!
Oh I am the most impatient slacker decorator ever. I am bad about not taking the time to properly prepare surfaces before I paint them. Most of the time it works out okay but it has definitely backfired at times. Especially with chalkboard paint! If it’s a surface you’re writing on, it should probably be smooth. Didn’t think that one through. I also have a white paint obsession. Painting my kitchen chairs and a desk this weekend as a matter of fact, hoping the paint fumes will dull my sorrow about not getting to hang with you girls at Blissdom. : ) Have fun!
Okay, here’s a cheaper option for pulls at about $3-4 a pop. Although this seems smaller. And it’s the wrong color, but there’s always spray paint?
http://www.dlawlesshardware.com/ancocuppuinc.html
Unfortunately, I don’t make enough hasty decisions. I would like to be a bit more daring, but I don’t know what to do most of the time. If anybody out there has any suggestions for me, visit my site because I could use some help making hasty decisions.
I kinda like the blue . . .
Oh, while you’re here in Nashville (and if you like burritos the size of your head) go to Baja Burrito on Thompson Lane. You will not regret it. (They are not open on Sunday, though, fyi) Best salsa EVER and the food is amazing.
I LOVE the old shabby pieces that Holly redeems. She has definitely made me look at ugly wooden furniture in a totally new way. Now if only I can get the nerve to actually try it.
I was thinking what somebody else said. When you get tired of the blue, you can just do white over it and distress it a bit so the blue shows through.
To your paint color issue, I think in short order, you’ll be pronouncing that “under coat” of blue as COMPLETELY intentional. :) Just go ahead and paint over him in white like planned, and give him a slip-shod sanding around the edges, like your fabulous paintanista has done on her pieces, so the blue shows through. It’s going to be a subtle, but fabulous tie to all of the blue accessories you having running around (even the omni-present frame, lol), without giving you white-out… and the kids can abuse it to their wee little hearts’ content… Just tell people you paid extra for the distressing!
To your pull issue – Hobby Lobby is my favorite place EVAR for fun pulls. If you don’t have one near you, get a map and start drivin’.
Can’t wait to see him all gussied up!
Nester, I totally second (or third, or fourth) Ebay as a source for pulls. Do a search for Bing cashback on Ebay purchases – I think it’s 8% or so. You might check Amazon as well. As far as paint goes, have you ever checked Craigslist? There’s free paint listed on my local Craigslist right now.
And have you seen the spring Pottery Barn catalog? You might have to sue for nesting infringment! Seriously, there’s a sign in that catalog that looks as if it came right off your blog.
Susan in San Antonio
Oh, Nester! White would be lovely. And a nice distressed look like the pictures you showed would be so nice too. About making hasty decisions…well, I recently bought some duponi silk checked fabric. I paid way too much and settled for a smaller check when what I really, really wanted was a buffalo check. But impatient me just couldn’t wait to search out just what I was looking for so I settled! Now I am so not happy. Okay, that was an expensive mistake but good news – I found another use for the silk and ran across the buffalo check I wanted – now the question is where to get the money to buy it! Maybe I’ll sell something.?!.?!.?!
I DO have an idea on the pulls: ebay! My husband replaced all of our door hinges in this house in a dark hammered bronze (they were bright brass). Lowe’s had the hinges for about $5 each. An ebay store had brand new ones for much, much less.
Hi there! I just wanted to let you know that I have nominated you and your blog for the “Sunshine Award.” You can read more about it on my blog, Beth Stone Studio at this link:
http://bethstonestudio.blogspot.com/2010/02/little-award.html
I’m enjoying your posts! Have a great day!
All my painted furniture is white except for one grey table that did not sell yet in my booth (and I needed a table). I love the blue color! Leave it for a while and let it wear the color for a time. You may decide to change to white, but the blue would look so pretty with other white pieces. That’s my opinion. And believe me I paint a lot of furniture in a year’s time.
I quite like the blue but white (or white distressed over the blue) would be great too.
Your home is lovely. The new TV and fish look great. However, I am so confused. Blue or white? I wouldn’t be able to make that decision. I have totally crippled myself with indecision. Argh. Since living with swatches has worked out well often, for so many…why not do the same with this bureau? Live with it for a few days. Yes, I’m stealing the ideas that you very clever and creative people have. If any one has any time I have an entire home that could use all conceivable ideas and opinions. It’s a small and tricky layout..be forewarned and money hasn’t grown on any of the trees. Who knows maybe someone can tackle it in the future. Until then..you’re so much fun to read and interact with.