New To Old How To

I am diligently trying to write out all the steps DFE and I took to transform my dresser from this

to this!

Check back over the weekend for the post (I'm going to try to get some close up shots, etc.). Or email me (or, hey, follow me) and I'll let you knwo when I've posted it.

Thanks!! Thanks for all the emails and comments! You guys are TOOO kind!!

The New Adventures Of An Old Dresser

It's DIY Thursday and this is my official second entry.  WOOT!!

This beauty survived a house fire and was sitting in a warehouse with junk all over it. It had great bones, but was just a wee bit tired. I paid a whopping $25 for her, took her home and let her sit for a few weeks and air out (with the help of some charcoal to absorb the smokey smell).

From there she was sanded, sanded some more, and sanded still more.

FINALLY I decided her only hope would be some odor killing Kiltz and some good black paint.

About two years into our relationship, I saw this beauty in a magazine and KNEW "I" could m ake it happen.

So I went to my DFE (darling friend Everettt) and with pleading, begging eyes, convinced him that he could make it happen (confession - I had already tried.  I had ripped off the top and that was as far as I got).  DFE rolled his eyes and came over to pick up my sweet girl.


So DFE went to work (I so wish I had taken more pictures!) and SLOWLY she started taking shape.

(This is getting ridiculously long...)

FINALLY after weeks of sawing and sanding, only one near trip to the ER, more than one 'test' of our relationship (which resulted in "Look, I'll call you when I'm done, ok?), my girl was FINALLY ready to be picked up.

When she got to her new home (which turned out to be a new home for me too) I let her sit for a few weeks while I figured out how exactly to arrange her (something I'm TERRIBLE at).  But finally I got her all arranged and I was LOVING it!!!  DFE even made shelves out of her old top!!

Isn't she love-er-ly?

But, alas, I was never quite happy with how it all was looking and stuff, so NOW she sits by my front door, looking grand (as she should!).

 
Doesn't she just make your toes curl with glee?  She does mine!!

I am NOT at all pleased with how she's decorated, but I'm working on that (Seriously?  I have a red framed lamp and a pink matted picture?  REALLY??)  Yeah... I need to work on that one.

So if you're reading this it's because you wandered over here from either The Shabby Chic Cottage and their wonderful Transformation Thursday or  A Soft Place To Land, Thrifty Decor Chick, and (last, but FAR from least - Between Naps on the Porch and their AMAZING Metamorphosis Monday and one or two others that I promise to come back later and link to, like Hooked On Houses (LOVE IT!) .  So take grab a cup of coffee (and if you haven't tried Storyville, you haven't lived) and click away.

And one more place (because I fear y'all aren't totally tired of it yet).  Funky Junk Interiors is hosting a Saturday Night Special.  Check out some of the other COOL stuff!!

And ONE MORE!!  (I'm sure y'all are sick of this post by now!!)  Miss Mustard Seed has started a "Furniture Feature Friday" and well... yeah, I'm linking.

Enjoy!!

***UPDATE:  I am so T-TOTALLY stoked!!  Cheri over at It's So very Cheri gave me shout out!  She is most definitely one my of my FAVORITE places to stop and visit daily.  Check her out!***

A Bit Of A Tease

By far, the absolute most impressive thing I've ever re-did (ok, techinically I didn't do it, but it was my idea and my dresser and my pleading eyes that got someone to do it for me), is going to be my post on DIY Thursday. But for today - here is where I got my inspiration. It was from a magazine called, Junk Market Style from 2006 (I think).

Enjoy!!

It All Began With

See that dresser right there? The one right next to this post? The one that looks like it needs MAJOR help? Yeah that one. That's my very first dresser. My mom and dad purchased it from the William Penn Hotel in Pittsburgh when they got married. It used to have a mirror (no clue where that is) and once upon a time had casters (thank you very much, Howard Isner, for making those a distant memory) and it even used to have all of the original hardware.

I have bought, refinished, reused and sold more dressers than probably I can remember. But this one... my first... the one with the memories... I just can't seem to do anything with.

I think I'm afraid if I do, that the memories or something will disappear. I tried to just replace the hardware, but I obviously failed. And I can't even seem to get accessories right (and how appropriate this is to link to TDC's blog!!)

I will share some of my other treasures (including my favorite, "The Little Black Dresser That Could") soon. As soon as I finish painting the other lamp, redo the mirror, make some banana mocha chip muffins, do a load or two of laundry, set up a Facebook & Twitter account for my church...

Gosh I'm tired...

I Saw The Light!

(Addendum by a Dumb Dumb: I'm so incrediably embarassed. I'm a college graduate for heaven's sake!! DIY!! DIY!!! DIY!!!! Sheesh!!!)

So my main reason for starting blog #2 (even though I initially said I wouldn't) was so that I could participate in all the DIY days and such that happen on some of my new favorite blogs. So this is my first DIY blog entry on A Soft Place To Land and I'm so excited I could SPIT (I promise I won't!!).

I've lived in my new "hometown" for nearly two years. And for that entire time I've felt disconnected, unsettled and basically like I shouldn't be here. I think a good portion of those feelings came from abandoning my second (third actually) love of junking, antiquing, picking and re-purposing all things cool and preferably old.

So last weekend, encouraged by some of the COOLEST blogs I've seen, including ASPTL and Thrifty Decor Chick, I pulled out some of my once forgotten projects, made a "quick" jaunt to Walmart for some spray paint and let the good times roll!

Several years ago, while living in my beloved Florence, I made WITH MY VERY OWN HANDS all new bed coverings, including curtains. They were all based on a GORGEOUS pattern by Ralph Lauren, but cost about 1/4 of the price (oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I'm CHEAP!). One of the things I needed the most were new lamps.

Enter a Target end cap. I found 2, BEAUTIFULLY shaped wooden lamps for only $10/each. WOOT!!

But they were white-ish and I needed them to be black-ish.

Hello Krylon spray paint.

Now it only took me nearly 3 years to paint them, but I definitely think it was worth the wait. (No, I'm not a slow painter, just a terrible procrastinator.)

(And unfortunately I only have 1 to show because... well... when they tell you to make sure your surface is clean and particle free... turns out they mean it!)

Here's the lamp before:

During


After

And here are some of the items I hope to be working on in the coming weeks

As I mentioned this is part of A soft Place To Land and their DIY day. And it's my first DIY post!! YEAH ME!!

I Collect Dressers

Some people collect figurines, post cards, coins, vintage enamel ware... me? I collect dressers. I've got a serious, SERIOUS thing for them. Big, small, plain, detailed, painted, stained... I love them. I have 2 in my bedroom, one in my guest room, one in my living/dining room and I promise, if my kitchen had room, there would be one there, too. I've bought and resold nearly as many as I've kept. Dressers make me happy. Weird, I know. But I love me some dressers.

I'm not TERRIBLY picky, but I prefer my drawers to be dove-tailed and my wood to be real (no veneer or particle board, please). I bought one dresser and Renningers years ago that was green with orange drawers, I stripped it and stained it. I bought a walnut one and painted it black.

Yeah, I love me some dressers.

I started this blog because I've realized that so many of the blogs I hop to are all about my second passion in life - creating a comfy home for me and my "kids." (Ok, so they're only a dog and cat and really, they could care less about how my house is decorated) I've wanted time and time again to post a link or share a project I'm working on or completed, but my other blog just doesn't fit (and to suddenly start taking about a frame that I'm repurpsoing would have just seemed... well... odd...).

I don't claim to be creative. But I do love a good treasure hunt and a reason to break out my paint brushes, tools and sewing machine. So here I go, the good, the really bad and the, "Gosh that is ugly" of decorating and repurpsing with Dresser Girl.

WOOT!!

(If you bounced here from my over at Delicious Ambiguity, I hope you enjoy the trip. I started this one because many of the blogs I hop to and post on have to do with all things cool and exciting like bathroom makeovers and creative use for pine cones. DA just didn't fit.)