Disco Baby!

Here is a dresser that I picked up on craigslist for next to nothing.   I picked it up just before Christmas and it has been sitting in my garage for months.  Picking this piece up, was  quite an adventure in itself.   We were forced to carry it up a set of rotten railroad tie stairs and it was just shy of weighing a ton.  Not the hubby's idea of FUN.  He is a really good sport though and played along.  I am a lucky gal.

I love the look of mirrored furniture, but know that it is quite expensive.  So I thought that I would settle for silver leafing this piece.  Then I saw THIS!  Game on, I can do this! 

GAME PLAN:

1. Paint the dresser Graphite ASCP.
2. Clear Wax
3. Adjust hardware so that it is all uniform
4. Take it to the Glass shop for a little Mirror cutting
5. Apply Mirror with mirror Mastic
6. Enjoy the "Glamorous Life"  --Whatever happened to Sheila E anyway? 

Here is a drawer after the first coat of graphite.  I ended up doing 3 coats total for maximum coverage.

 The hub's and I loaded it in the van and it took a little vacation at  a local glass shop.   I had mirror cut for all the drawers and the sides.  I used mirror mastic to adhere the mirror to the piece.  All in all the mirror was relatively inexpensive around $43.00, however the glass shop did charge me an additional $84 in labor!!!!  I was not happy with that. They said that it was harder to cut than they anticipated because my drawers were not square. They were kind enough to tape all of the mirror in the corresponding drawer.  I loaded my mastic in may caulk gun and squeezed it out in straight lines (per glass man's instructions) on the back of the mirror.  I made sure to allow for squishing allowance (so the mastic didn't squeeze out onto my mirror).

Here is the after shot.

My hubby thought this would be "hard to look at", but I can't take my eyes off of it.  I think he's jealous.

      

            

Home made chalk paint

Yes, I am venturing into the realm  of home made chalk paint.  I love the way chalk paint looks and the easy application, but it can tend to be a little pricey.  Today I attempted once again to make this paint at a fraction of the cost and success!   Here is how it all went down.

Several weeks ago, I made a trip to a local health food store and bought Calcium Carbonate.   I came home, put the bottle on the counter and there it sat, and sat, and sat.    Finally today I broke the seal and mixed it with some paint that I had on hand.  My ratio was 3 parts paint to 1 part calcium carbonate.

 I grabbed one of these mixing cups at the hardware store and it was well worth it.  there is a convenient chart on the side that makes measuring and mixing a breeze.   The calcium carbonate melted right in with the paint.  I  tried to make home made chalk paint in the past, using plaster of paris and it was to thick and just didn't turn out for me.  This, however, worked quite well.  I will add that you should use flat paint with this and you may need to thin it out a little.  All I had was Satin and I am still happy with my results.

This is just after the first coat. 

Another first coat shot. 

I did use Annie Sloan's Clear and Dark wax to give it an aged look.  

So, if you are in the mood for a little painting you might try this.   Plus, I  heard on the radio today that Westlake's is giving away free quarts of Clark & Kinsington paint on Saturday.  Go to Ace Hardware to print out your coupon--one per household.  If you don't have Annie Sloan's wax, any soft wax such as Johnson's paste wax, will do.

Here is the before of the table.

And the after.

Spring Cleaning!

Every year about this time, I lug out several rolls of paper towels a bottle of Windex, and a scrub bucket with cleaning solution and set out to clean my windows.  It is a long a tedious task and generally takes me all DAY!

This year I decided to call Zim's Window Cleaning, which was probably one of the smartest things I have ever done.  Not only did they clean my windows,

This window used to have dog snot all over it, but not anymore!

they cleaned my windows flanking the door, 

my outside lights, 

my porch from cobwebs, 

and the windows over the doorways!

I am so very pleased with this service and it was money well spent. Now I can enjoy beautiful windows without dragging a bucket of water all over the house.   I must also add, that Jay, the owner was extremely professional and easy to deal with.   He encouraged me to walk through each room and to let them know if I saw anything that was missed.  I will add that it was very affordable as well.  

Of coarse this is just based on my opinion, but I know I will be using them again next year.  If you do decide to use them, just tell them I sent ya their way. 

Finally Finished!!

I have been very bad lately about posting,-- it has been very busy the past few weeks.  We have had Swimming Division 1 & 2 championships, family visits and I have been busy finishing a project for a neighbor.   Now that all that is behind me I have had a few minutes to work on finishing the table set that I started about a month ago----agghhhh.

So here is a before shot of the table and chairs.

And here is the after...

You can check out this transformation of the table here.

So, who is ready for a game night!  

B is for bedding.

Once a year my husband goes off on a little skiing adventure or a business trip of some kind.  As a result, it has become a pattern for me to try to tackle some big project while he is gone.  The first year I tried this, I was half way through painting our bedroom and then Wham-O, I got a horrible case of mastitis. Not fun. Well this year is not any different.  Again, I wanted to tackle the master bedroom and calm the gray storm that we had going on.  Here is a rough before of our bed, after I had just painted the room.

Once again, I failed to get before shots of the old paint color.   It was a Slate Roof Gray, which was very blue and it was in complete competition with all the bed room furniture.  So I painted it Filoli Carriage House.  Here Is a picture of the tray that I still have left to paint.  I kind of like the contrast, and am thinking of using a stencil of some kind for just the tray.  Something to add a little drama.

Again, the old color is on top, and the new is on the walls

You can't have a new bedroom color with out revamping the bedding.  I scored this little number at Target and am loving it. It almost looks like a grown up bedroom!  It is amazing how changing a couple of things can bring life to a dull space.  

I have one more piece to do for the master and then I will give a complete tour, unless I decide to paint my bedroom furniture!  I think I need an intervention!