My Painted Secretary

It is finished! 

Last week I wrote about how a visit to my blog reader prompted an inspiration for me to finally paint my Craigslist Secretary desk.

We had a very rainy week here in Central Texas and my husband was out of town for most of it. So, that gave me plenty of time while the kids were occupied to get to work painting.

Remember how it started?

The day my hubby left for a 4 day retreat/conference/wedding {three separate things...not a wedding at a retreat! ;) } I asked him to get everything all ready for me to paint.  I wanted to do it inside so I'd be near the kids and keeping tabs on them so he moved it into the entry way for me and disassembled everything.  Good man, Good man.

I had to prime it before painting and our primer is oil-based.  I can't stand oil-based paint.  Not because it stinks - but because I am MESSY with painting and messy with Oil-based means a lovely bath in Paint Thinner when I am ready to clean up.  So, it's not LITERALLY a bath...but really, I can get paint EVERYWHERE on my body.  It's ridiculous.  In an effort to protect my skin I covered up EVERYwhere.  Don't believe me...

And yes, that is a basketball hoop on our front door.  Somehow my boys {old and young} decided to move it here and it gets more use here than it ever did in our son's room so... it stays {for now}. Last night it provided entertainment for our college kids after dinner - competition can be found in anything!

After priming everything I let it sit overnight.

We removed the inner workings of the desk for two reasons. One: I didn't want to hand paint all those nooks, crannies & crevices. Two: I wanted it to be another color.  More on that later...

The front of the drop down desk had a ugly lovely to someone wharf scene. I'm sure someone paid a lot extra to have that etched into the wood.  But this girl wasn't a fan.  So, we used wood filler for the deep etchings and then sanded it somewhat smooth.

I was amazed that after just the primer coat how you really couldn't see the etching anymore. And after two coats of color you would never know it existed.

I bought a chair from TJMaxx that had a bit of sass with the zebra print, but still blends so well with my color scheme that's working in this room right now.  I loved the detail on the legs.

 

I love looking online to see if I can find where the chair originally came from.  I never found an exact match but I did find very similar chairs at some of the big name home decor places.

We also took the glass out of the doors to paint.  I wanted to remove the "panes" look that was on the front of the doors and to do that we needed to pop the glass out and then the wooden panes just pried right out of the inside of the doors. {It wasn't attached directly to the glass}

 

We ended up getting a new piece of glass cut & mounted inside the door after we cracked one side trying to secure it.  It only cost us about $15 and it's more professionally secure than what we were trying to do! :)

 I went to Lowe's and picked up new drawer hardware.  I settled on these because they were literally the only in-stock pulls that were the same size as the old ones.  Thankfully, I also liked the look of them.

I'm so happy with how it turned out! It's come a long way since my dad brought it to me from Houston after I spotted it on Craigslist.  I think I paid around $125 for it.  

And here it is today!

Where I happily have a new home to blog from!

And for the details:
Paint color is the same as our kids bathrom redo: Valspar Mountain Smoke
The interior part of the desk is spray painted with Rustoleum Painter's Touch Ultra Cover in Ivory {Gloss}
Drawer hardware is from Lowe's
Original hardware was spray painted with Rustoleum Hammered in Dark Bronze

Linked Here:
Fine Craft Guild
Someday Crafts
Southern Lovely

I'm going for it!

Don't you just love when visiting some of your favorite blogs you get inspired to GO FOR IT!?

That happened to me last week while catching up on my blog reader. 

I came across Layla's painted secretary and FELL. IN. LOVE. 

Even more awe inspiring was the before shot.

Doesn't it look almost identical VERY SIMILAR to mine!?

When I first found this on Craigslist I bought it with then intention of painting it.  But, I could never decide what color to go with.  I'd lived with it in it's natural state for about 2 years.  I've even tried selling it on Craigslist without any success. 

Seeing Layla's finished product I was convinced.  I'm keeping it! And I'm painting it! 

I've also decided to use it as a desk (and not just as another home for a lamp and decorative accents here and there as it has been used for the last 2 years!).  I can't believe I haven't used the three drawers for storage before!

What have you seen on your favorite blogs that have made you GO FOR IT?!
I'd love to hear about it.

Another find on Craigslist

Do you like my new end table??

I bought it from a sweet college student a few weeks ago for $10. That's right! $10! It costs me more to eat at Chick-fil-A!

Here's what it looked like when I bought it.

I spray painted the bottom off-white...

and replaced the knob with a $2 one from Hobby Lobby

that I painted & distressed.

And then accessorized with living room knick knacks.

I like the price & my hubby likes a place to set his drink :)

Thank you Craigslist.

Linked here:

Miss Mustard Seed

The little dresser that could

No piece of furniture in my house has been used & abused quite as much as this little dresser. It's been in all 3 of my kids rooms, at one time was our nightstand & has even served as an entry table.

But this is it's best home yet.

Right between my kitchen and living room. I've been wanting to bring more white into that area & this was the easiest (& cheapest) way to do it.

I removed the bottom drawers hoping that there would be shelves underneath.

There weren't.

No problem.

I purchased a $5 piece of wood from Lowes and made my own.

And I'm very happy with it.

Once again, my little dresser comes through in the clutch.

Craigslist find

So this is my current project! It's not much to look at right now, but it's got GREAT potential! The girls' bedroom now has 2 twin beds in it, so in lieu of a big dresser, this dressing armoire takes up half the space. I've just started with the drawers and hardware, but soon enough it will be shabby chic-ed, white & distressed. At least that's what I'm going for! Wish me luck!

Look What I Got!!!

So I have this wall in my living room that I've absolutely hated since we moved in. I just haven't known what to do with it. I've tried a few things here and there and it just wasn't working for me. Then I decided after seeing some beautiful secretaries out there in bloggy land that it was just what the wall needed. I searched at Round Top. I searched at Canton. I found a lot I loved... but the price tags made me gasp. I was not willing (or able) to spend $400-$500 on one of these babies. Enter CRAIGSLIST! I found this....

Now, I don't like the wharf design on it so that will get covered up (or opened so you can't see it). But I got this for $125 (and it has a lighted hutch). I couldn't believe that it was still available when I called the lady. I am pretty excited... but now I don't know what to do with it and here is where I need YOUR help!!! Do I paint it, do I stain it, do I leave it as is (and fold down the drop desk to hide the wharf?)?

Will you help me, pretty please?? I've got both black and stained furniture in the living room right now. My walls are cream colored. My gut is to go bold and do red with this piece. The sofa is leather, I have a greenish goldish chair that will be close by. If I was on the ball I'd show you pictures of my room... but that requires some advance planning and I just don't have motivation right now! :)

More Canton goodies!

We're showing more goodies from Canton today! One of our friends Amanda found a great desk for $40 that she bought to put in her living room. Can you see it in the back of her trunk?


These photos were taken with her cell phone...but I think you can get the picture. Here's the before.



And here is the lovely after! She painted it black and went back and distressed it. She added a new knob she found at Canton too. It's amazing what a little paint can do to turn around a $40 desk?!


Here she has it in her living room with a cute red stool she also found at Canton. I think it's going to look really cute with some fun accessories up top.

My New "Old" Rocker

This rocker may be one of my favorite finds from our recent trip to Canton. When I spotted this rocker out in the "junking" section I immediately was drawn to it. Ever since we moved into our house I've wanted two rockers to sit out on the front porch. Once we finally painted the house it moved up on my priority list. Last year I spotted a great looking rocker for sale at a home improvement store... for $88. I was willing to shell out the money for two of them but decided to wait until we painted. Imagine my delight when the price for this one was $25. I talked him down to $20 (I'm sure some of you could have gotten him lower...but I'm just beginning to master my negotiating skills....so I am proud of the $5 savings!). It was in great structural shape and I could tell it had even been "fixed" with screws and wood glue. It just needed a good coat of paint.

Here it is after a couple of coats of leftover paint (sorry for the sunlight in the picture...I'm impatient and the picture had to be taken RIGHT THEN!). Maybe on my next Canton or Round Top trip I'll find a suitable mate for it. For now my wicker rocker will work just fine.

I just need to get a new throw pillow for the wicker rocker to add some color and soften the look. Waiting for some good sales... :)