One of the things I most remember about my childhood is that my mom was forever baking meals and desserts and hauling them to people who needed them. It was so generous and a great example for me - something I very much enjoy doing now. However, as kids, we once accused her of only making dessert for other people! She felt a bit chagrined and from then on always baked two - one to take, and one for us. I, too, sometimes give other people my best. It has really been on my mind this spring as I give other people's furniture new lives. My boys' rooms needed updates badly and once our house in Kaufman finally sold, I devoted May to sprucing things up! I moved Cullen in with Blake, and Seth has his own room now - for those of you who don't know my kids - the youngest had his own room so he could nap and have different bedtimes, but now they are all school-aged, and I rearranged and my ten year old has his own room now.
When we bought the cabin - which had been abandoned for 7 years and was full of all sorts of furntiture- we really didn't have money to redo everything. We did so much, ( if you want to see THAT transformation, click
here,
here and
here and
here...) but these things happen in stages.
The first thing I wanted to go was the bookshelf that came with the cabin: super handy, but in no way my style. We don't have tons of toddler toys anymore, but I still need bookshelves. Right now if one book comes in, one has to go. Here is the bookshelf when it was Cullen and Blake's room:
I was on a budget, and this isn't where I wanted to spend it, but I wanted something super sturdy. So I bought a vintage door for $40 and spent about $50 in lumber. I split the door vertically and made it the sides of the shelf, and made slatted shelves out of 1x6s. The back is luann plywood. My father-in-law got me a compresser and nail gun for Christmas and it made this project SOOO much easier!
For some reason, presumably because I am a glutton for punishment and just can't do things the easy way, I decided to paint this French Linen and then dry brush a bazillion coats of Paris Grey, Provence, and Old White on top of it. I love the way it turned out!! I always have a moment of panic when I am only halfway through. It looks awful:
Here's a closeup of the dry brushing:
Next I took the old bed, which we bought new but Cullen had already scratched all up, and painted it Old White. I found all the decor at my two favorite stores, Home Goods and Target. And Ross.
Next I bought this dresser on craiglist:
And here is the after:
I finally bought a rug for the living room:
And I moved a desk out of the little boys' room and put in a dresser instead:
I'm not all done - I'm having drapes made and I haven't found decorations for rooms yet, but it already looks so much cuter and cheerful! I enjoy all the projects I do, but it was really great to do something for my own home!!
