Tackling the Elephant in the Room

Howdy one and all!  I know I've been MIA for a few weeks now!  Well, I'm feeling more like me and have begun to tackle my greatest task . . . the "Elephant in the Room", my china hutch! LOL!  The reason I call it the "elephant in the room" is because I live in a one bedroom apt without a patio for a painting area.  Plus the cabinet is much too large for me to use my usual outside space, my parking space. *_*    Thus, I have to paint it in place in my livingroom; inconvenient mess, especially since the piece is so large.  Here is its present paint colors plus a peek at some of my blue/white collection. : -)

It's been this color since about 2002!  I'll show the first original paint job when I do the complete reveal!  This hutch is the first piece of furniture I ever attempted to paint!  Please ignore the mess in the picture below; one of the challenges of diy in an apt - moving furniture and everything else around when you're painting. lol

 I had a challenge on this back area.  You can see where the top of the hutch sat; the last time I painted with the top in place.  Can you see the old turquoise color?

Here's a sneak peek of where I'm taking it now!  The first step of painting it two-toned!  This color is a bit misleading as I've since remixed the diy chalk paint.  But not by much . . . -_^  What do you think the second color will be?

So that's it for now!  I'm hoping to finish this by this weekend .. . energy willing.  Hope your week is going well.  Stay tuned . . .

~Barbe~

Italian Chairs - Yard Sale Jackpot!

This is the third time I've started this post!  Blogger image and design tools weren't working correctly.  So after a couple of days, I finally figured it out . . . too many apps on my browser! *_*

Anyway, on to my great yard sale jackpot!  Since it was so warm this entire holiday weekend, low to mid 90's, I figured there wouldn't be any yard sales this weekend!  Well, I was so wrong!  Okay, let me just say, I'm not usually one of those people who swing a u-turn on impulse; but this time I plead guilty! LOL!  You see, I was supposed to be going to the grocery story and return somethings at Ross!  I almost made it to the stop sign at the corner when I spotted these chairs.

Window Shopping!

I was feeling a little bored the earlier tonight so I decided to do a little window shopping but . . . . on Craigslist!!!  I was amazed what was available locally.  If only I had more space . . . . lol  *WARNING*  This post is HEAVY WITH PHOTOS!  So get your coffee or tea and whatever goodies to go with it! : )

First we'll start with the free stuff.  This is what was available as of today.  If only I wasn't going out of town, today I'd so be trying to pick these up. . .




I know your drooling right now . . . huh!  Just pull up and take it all for free!  There is also a king size mattress set; must take all or take none.
Next were these barraster(sp) cases below.

  Isn't this gorgeous!  There are two of them and totally for free, just pick up!

How's this for inspiration while potty training and only $25!  My youngest grandson just got potty trained. lol


Below I found another crafter with a Facebook page, Revolving Door Decor, selling these wings!  Such a simple yet pretty project.  She also has some awesome furniture pieces!


I might have to buy these:  bookshelf, table, and small painted chest all for $40!  I've been looking for a tall narrow bookshelf; other pieces a bonus. : )


Love the shape of these nightstands.  Notice the glass tops that come with them.


I'd love to see this made over, too much gold!!! *_*


Tissue holder, mirror, toilet shelf and magazine rack - all for $100.


They have 2 at $100 for both!


I recently saw one of these on someone's blog, $25.


Begging to go home with someone for a makeover, $5.


Beautiful but expensive, $400!


If only I had the strength to manage a business!  Only $50!


This one has glass shelves and the lighting for $40.


Awesome storage for a craft room.  Look at those shelves and the deep drawers plus a lock and key, $150
  

Now this takes me back to my first apartment!   Wonderful memories . . . -_^  I think they're making a comeback also!  Only $40.


I love this table and it extends to 60" oval with the leaf extension that sinks in the middle!  I so need a kitchen table set though this doesn't come with chairs.  But it is solid oak and can keep it round for everyday use.
  

I need to make arrangements for this bedframe before I leave this evening!  Just what I've looked for!  Just $100 or best offer!


Okay, so you see this could go on forever! LOL!!!  The interesting thing is I usually don't find much of anything locally, especially in furniture.  Hope you enjoyed window shopping with me and have a blessed rest of the week.  If you haven't already, don't forget the Frugal Treasures Tuesday party is going on through Sunday evening!
~Barbe~

Frugal Treasures Features!

Hello Everyone!
Well we've started a new week and the heat is crazy here!  Whew!!!  But you've all come up with some really cool things to share last week.  By the way, I love the variety we're getting with furniture and recipes.  A little something for everyone!  So lets take a look at the features from last weeks party.

Jamie's Italian Pasta Salad at Love Bakes Good Cakes.

Update - Creating A New Space!

Update one the new space. :  (
Well, the deal fell through!  Aaarrgghh!!!  The lady I was dealing with had her info wrong which made what I was planning everything on off.  The worst is I called back and forth double checking the info throughout the process.  I had to take a couple of days to get over it. *_*  : -(

But now I've calmed down and back to reality.   So I can start back to working on some of my big projects and plan for my beach trip with my friends next month instead of packing. *sigh*  : -)

Frugal Treasures Tuesday #16

I've decided to take inventory on some of my larger projects.  One is this tv cabinet turned pantry turned curio cabinet. lol  I've removed the slats in the upper doors to replace with glass inserts.

Then I primed and painted it.  Still need to wax and possibly embellish it.  Plus I need to add another shelf and overhead lighting.

Vanity Reveal!

I've finally finished the vanity!  Whew . . . lol!  How did such a small project turn into such a big job, I still wonder. LOL!!!    But I'm quite happy with how she came out!  NOTE:  Heavy photo loaded post. : )

Frugal Treasures Tuesday #11

Happy Monday one and all.  It's been a long week and busy, enjoyable, and refreshing weekend.  As I said before I had to take a break on my projects, but did manage to start my makeover of this cabinet.

Frugal Treasures Tuesday #10

Okay Lady's is party time again.  Once again, there were some amazing projects out there and great frugal finds.  So lets get on to our features from last week.
Your most popular choice with the most clicks was from Biljana @ Biljana Shabby for her beautiful
romantic cabinet.  You must see the before on this cabinet, you will truly be surprised!

Peek at Bedroom Update!

Well, I'm 3/4 finished with my bedroom makeover! Yippeeeee!  I can see the glow of the rainbow through the clouds!  So I thought I'd show you a peek of where I am.  Lets start with the fact that my bed is off the floor!  Yep, that's right, I found the rails to fit and for just $25!  So here is your peek . . . :

I'm finally happy with where its going.  As you can see from the drill sitting on my nightstand, I'm still working! lol   I got a few more of the smaller projects completed since I took this pic but they will have to wait for the final reveal. -_^
I still have two large paint projects to finish, but I want to wait until after I get my Annie Sloan chalk paint to do those.  Yes, I'm finally biting the bullet and will see how far that quart can really go. : )  I've been busy moving furniture around.  I don't know if I shared this corner amoire from my livingroom in another post, but I put it in my bedroom.  This was not easy, its soooo heavy!  *Whew*

    

Now it sits in the corner in my bedroom and will hold my sweaters and linens.  I bought this  at a yard sale for $50.00 a year ago.

The table to the right is what's left of the former desk turned nightstand; have plans for it also.  : )

I'm thinking of painting the inside and maybe adding a stencil to the walls so its pretty when its open.  Or maybe I'll cover the inside with a colorful fabric as I'm not so keen on the paint fumes being in there closed up with my sweaters.  It takes so long for the fumes to totally evaporate from the surface and yes, I'm impatient! lol
The other big project is this antique dresser I bought at a yard sale about 10yrs ago for $30.  The knobs are ceramic hearts painted white.  One was broken in my last move, but I still have an extra one.  I'm actually thinking of changing the knobs to handles as the original holes are still there but I've never used them.  It came with no knobs or handles.

Well, that's all for now . . ., the next time you see the room it will be completed.  I'll show the furniture makeovers in separate posts.  So look forward to a lot of photos with the reveal post.  I will try and do some of the photos in collages so you can see the whole story unfolding without it becoming too long.

Next week, I'll reveal the completed bathroom makeover.  But first I need to revamp this little cutie that was given to me by a dear friend.  Isn't it just adorable!  And it fits in the bathroom without making it look smaller or taking up any walking space.

Hope your week has gone well.  Thanks for taking the time to stop and visit.  I'll end this post with a bouquet of flowers I picked the other morning!

~BEE~

I'm linking to these parties:
Make the Scene Monday @ Alderberry Hill

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm

Power of Paint Tuesday @ Domestically Speaking
Tuesdays Treasures @ My Uncommon Slice of Suburbia
Show Me What You Got Tuesday @ Our Delightful Home
Whatever Goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts
Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style
Whats It Wednesday @ Ivy and Elephants
White Wednesday @ Faded Charm
Thrifty Thursday @ Thrifty Decorating
Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage
Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home
Inspiration Friday@ At the Picket Fence
Strut Your Stuff Saturday @ Six Sisters Stuff
Spotlight Saturday @ Classy Clutter
Saturday Night Special @ Funky Junk Interiors
Overflowing With Creativity @ Its Overflowing

Bathroom Cabinet Update!

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Well, the weather's been wet and my energy level has been low.   So I didn't get around to starting the Frugal Treasures party this week.  But I did want to give mention to the link which got the most links.  Last weeks most clicked link goes to:

Caps Creations for her great thrifty finds!  She really scored on these jars, as well as, some cast iron skeleton keys!

I would have to say my favorite was when Sherry @ Decorating With Cents took an ordinary glass vase and created art!  Awesome job!

So that's it for this week.  Sorry for not having the party link but my health tends to ride with the weather.  And right now, it's damp and blue just like me. : )  I hope you'll come back next Tuesday for the party!
But, on the days we had some sun, I did manage to finally makeover my Tri-mirror medicine cabinet for my bathroom.   If you missed that post you can find it here.   It's not anything special, particle board covered in a wood look laminate.

But it provided much needed storage, so I figured I'd give it a facelift!  So I taped off the mirrors and got it ready for priming.

After the primer dried I painted the cabinet box a sage green.  I then painted the mirror frame one coat of black and went back over it with Valspar oops can from Lowe's in a dark raspberry color.

I think it came out pretty nice.  What do you think?   It became too cloudy to take pics of it on the wall so will save it for the reveal of the completed room, which by the way is almost completed.  Have you noticed from my post that I'm doing 2 rooms at the same time? lol  The bathroom should be done by the weekend.  But I've come to a stand still with my bedroom until I get a working sewing machine and the correct size bed rails.  I should have the desk turned nightstand finished by this weekend also.  Here is where I am so far.

Well, thank you so much for visiting again.  We have sunny days coming this week, so maybe I can get some things done; if I get my energy level back up.  Hope your week is going well! : )
~Barbe~

I'm linked to these parties:
Furniture Friday @ Decorating Insanity
Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage
Thrifty Love Friday @ Cap Creations
Center of Attention Sunday @ Center of Attention Deficit Disorder
Sleepy Sunday Party @ Randee's Organized Chaos
Nifty Thrifty Sunday @ Nifty Thrifty Things

Frugal Treasure Tuesday #2 Is Here!

Update:  Yippee!!!  Frugal Treasures is up and running!  Whew!  That took longer than I thought.  Thanks for your patience and support!

Barbe 3/7/2012

 Do you ever just have one of those days  . . . 

sure you have; we all do.   Well, this is definitely one of mine!  I ask for your patience as I explain.  Yes, . . . you read it right, the party will be delayed. *_*   There were some glitches on my blog with comments and links.  Then I didn't realize my subscription was expiring for Linky Tool! *blush*   Sheeeesh*  But the good news is all will be fixed by tomorrow so be sure to come back on Wednesday and we'll be able to party to our hearts content!
Unfortunately, things continued to go wrong . . .  I thought I'd be sharing the completion of this little table I showed as my next project at the end of the 'Rainy Day' post.  But after sanding and priming the top dried and left me with this you see in the bottom photo:

 You'll notice a slight raised areas and bubbling.  This was the beginning of the problems.

When You Can't Paint the Walls!

Are you restricted in your rental and forbidden to paint?  It's okay . . ., don't despair.  There are options and they can be very beautiful.  But I've learned over the years how to work with the white walls and bring color in a room through accessories, both big and small, as shown below.

Bit of Victorian Bathroom

Just starting the makeover

Hello, its been a long day but my creative thoughts are flowing full steam ahead! : )  Just wish my body could keep up with it. lol

My most current project I'm tackling is my bathroom.  I've bought just about everything I want except for my decorative towels and new lighting fixtures, I'm thinking a pendant light over the sink and maybe a small chandelier over near the tub area.  My biggest problem is, I have a cabinet in their I want to make over but not sure about what to do with it.  I left it in its original color as it matched the ugly hollow door that I'm not allowed to paint! In the beginning I had it hanging next to the door so you really didn't see it when you came in.  But it was kind of awkward getting things out of it because of the way the three doors on it open and close.  So I moved it above the toilet.