TV stand progress!

I'm slowly making progress. Let's see, last Sunday I primed. John took the girls to his Mom's. They came home, and Ellie got sick. Same thing I'd had a week before. Mary had it last weekend too. John waited all the way until this Friday to get it. Dang. I am so sick of puke!! The girls bounced right back, but John and I were out of energy for days. John still doesn't feel right.

Yesterday, we carried the dresser down to the basement. I'll be finishing it up down there. I also spray painted the handles. I mixed up the paint for the dresser. I used white, black and turquoise blue. Last night I gave everything a first coat of paint. Today I brought one of the drawers up to the TV room to see if I liked it.




The second picture is more true to the correct color. I think it looks okay with the walls. At least for now. It looks good with the carpet. Please ignore our beat up baseboard there. I'm working to convince John to replace them:). I want all white trim. Well, someday. It's on the list for sure.

After I paint it, I am going to apply a glaze. It will be a very dark brown. I'm hoping it turns out something like this:

(source: www.allthingsthrifty.com)

Now, if no one gets sick for at least a week, I'll be pretty happy.

Dresser/TV stand before

Mom saw the dresser. I believe she said "oh." That's fine though. I know will be awesome when it's done.


I love the lines and the shape. I got the hardware off and sanded it down this morning. It smelled like an old lady, but in a really good way. There's some vintage contact paper in the drawers. I'll be leaving it. It reminds me of my Great Grandmother Ethel. As I sanded, I wondered who had owned it, which drawer held what, and what happened to the owner. You can tell from the picture that the drawers have been opened and closed a million times. I think it was well loved in its former life. I'm glad I rescued it.

This afternoon, I primed:


And it looks a thousand times better already.

John took the rails and stoppers for the top drawers out. Those drawers won't be going back in. That's where the DVR and DVD player will sit.


So I primed into those areas where the actual wood is and it will be painted. In the middle drawer area, I think I'll stick a basket or something that can hold the remotes or other junk. The bottom 6 drawers will go back in and will hold our DVD collection.

I have no idea what color to paint it. We cannot get new living room furniture right now. So, do I paint it some random color and wait to get furniture, or try to match it to what we have? Hmmm. I'm thinking a light color since the room is so small. I'd also like to use paint we already have. I'd love to mix up a light blue gray. Or maybe a bit brighter....towards turquoise? OR maybe a really light olive green on the gray-ish side. Gray with a hint of green? That would match. I'm leaning towards the blue though (Ethel's favorite color was blue. She also loved to paint things. Oh my, the layers of paint on everything in her house!). The hardware will be spray painted oil rubbed bronze. It will be next weekend before I can paint again I think.

John is over at his Mom's with the girls. I should be cleaning. The house is a mess. But instead I'm sitting here enjoying the peace and quiet while blogging and Nascar. Life is feeling pretty darn good right now.

Back from vacation, sick and almost the weekend!

We survived our vacation! We had a great time. Of course traveling with two kids is a lot of work. But I think it was totally worth the effort.

Here's our little ski bunny Mary!


Taking a break to enjoy the view:)


Ellie and I are NOT cold weather people. I think it was about 40 degrees on Friday. She and I ate lunch with John at the lodge while Mary was in ski school.


And now, back to normal life. Sort of. Tuesday night I got so sick. Some sort of stomach virus I guess. Wednesday I was basically in bed all day. Yesterday was better, but I was still pretty sick. I feel almost normal today.

And it's almost the weekend! Mom's coming to visit tomorrow. Then Sunday I'm going to start sanding and priming the dresser I bought.

I'm going to bust out the sewing machine tonight if I don't go to bed at 9pm again. Ugh. I haven't done one crafty thing all week. Unless you count felting a thrift store sweater that I'm going to turn into the back of a cushion. I wish I'd taken a before pic. It's a 2x sweater....or was. Now It might fit Mary! Oops! I had tossed it in the washer but didn't even think to check on it while it was felting. I figured it would be fine and wouldn't shrink too much. Good thing I only need it for one side of the cushion.

Vacation bound

We're going on vacation! When we get back it will be spring. I am so happy. My daffodils are up. Poor little guys. They are growing up right out of the snow. I have a huge, exciting project for after vacation. I can't wait. I bought a dresser that I am going to turn into a new TV stand. Then we can get a flat screen TV. Maybe with our tax refund? Hmmm. Or the magic TV fairy? We're replacing a HUGE, expensive TV cabinet with a $40 dresser from Salvation Army. I told John maybe I'd find a new HDTV at Salvation Army for $40 too. Well, I can dream, right?

Hopefully I'll be back to blogging after we get back. If I fall off the face of the earth, it is because I'm trying to get 2 kids back on schedule after being two time zones away for a week.