Thank You, Spring Cleaning

I swear I can thank spring cleaning for my most recent thrifty finds.  First a Drexel dresser for the boys’ room and now two chairs and a foot stool.

ReStore-Chairs-by-Fireplace-Before

I found the chairs at Habitat for Humanity ReStore for five bucks each.  Sold!  They’re solid wood and should be easy to refinish and upholster.  Because one has a giant tear in the seat.

ReStore-Chair-Split-Seat

Oh, and the orange vinyl isn’t my fav.

ReStore-Chairs-in-Family-Room-Before

For now, the chairs will live in the family room, replacing the Target slipper chairs, which are in the living room now.  I’ve been looking for arm chairs with a smallish frame.  Ideally I’d stumble upon something like this for a fraction of the price.  But I’m not holding my breath.

Until that magical day happens, these are okay.  You know, with a little lovin’.

ReStore-Chairs-Before

Surprisingly comfortable, the small footprint of the chairs fits nicely in the walk path perimeter room.  A little more depth would be great to feel more lounge-y.  Eventually (when our kids stop wiping grimy hands on everything) we’ll man up and buy adult furniture.

ReStore-Chairs-from-Stairs

How ’bout that footstool/ottoman/side table for $8?  After a quick search, I saw many similar stools for sale, some as high as $300.

ReStore-Chairs-from-Entry

The cane top has damage, but the wood is in good shape.  I’m considering cutting a larger piece of plywood to set on top, making this footstool a round coffee table.

Thrift-Store-Foot-Stool-Cane-Top

What would you do to these pieces?  Sand and stain?  What type and color fabric for the chairs?  We’ve got cream leather in the basement that I think could look nice.  Thoughts?

Kitchen Chronicles

Oh yes, the kitchen.  We’re eagerly planning a full scale remodel complete with new cabinets, double wall ovens, moving the island out a foot for more work space, and a marble back splash.  But that can’t happen right now.  Fingers crossed it can happen within the next 365 days.  But, there have been a few minor changes since we moved in.  Remember the blue wallpaper?

New-House-Kitchen-April-13

Vincent and I tore it down, exposing the glue backing.  Already a vast improvement in the light and bright department.

Kitchen-Without-Wallpaper

Then I sprayed the glue, scraping it off.  And replaced the windows.  I didn’t do that, Ben did.  He’s far more skilled than I am.

Restore-Pendant-Toward-Kitchen

For months, the kitchen looked like this:

Kitchen-and-BN-One-Year-Later

Eeeesh, not good.  Scratched walls, filled nail holes, and dingy primed walls.  Last weekend I got so sick of looking at the ugly walls.  That’s what happens when our weather isn’t nice and I’m stuck in the house a lot.  I look for things to do.  To flow with the family room, I painted the walls Sandstone Cove, using Glidden’s Duo eggshell.

Painted-Kitchen-by-Family-Room

Ahh, the glory of solid colored walls.

Painted-Kitchen-from-Living-Room

Too bad the rest of the kitchen isn’t as easy to change.

Painted-Kitchen-from-Office

Because the kitchen wraps over to my office, I painted those walls, too.

Painted-Office

Black hole of electronics be damned.  Hmm, wonder if I could spray paint them…  Haha, not going to do that!

Painted-Office-from-Kitchen

If only the paint had been a bolder color to make the change more obvious.  One small step for me, one giant leap for our kitchen.  Do you get itchy when the weather doesn’t coöperate?  Look for something, anything to do?

P.S.  Our three-year blog anniversary is coming up in a few weeks.  If you have questions for us, maybe we’ll do a Q and A?  You can leave comments here or email at ourhumbleabodeblog@gmail.com.

I’m Bringing Drexel Back

Admittedly not as catchy as bringing sexy back.  On Thursday, the boys and I ran errands, then took advantage of the sunny weather by stopping in a garage sale and two thrift stores.  We left Goodwill with three small planters for $1.50 each.

Thrift-Store-Planters

But we hit the jackpot at our second store, striking gold with this beat up Drexel dresser.

Listed at 90 dollars, I wasn’t going to buy it.  I asked if I could get a discount for the scuffs and burns on it.  The manager took off 25% making it $67.  Not needing another dresser, I couldn’t decide.  Yes, it would look great in the boys’ room.  But they had a white one that worked just fine.  So I asked you, and nearly everyone said, “YES!”  Tipping point, I bought it.  Over the weekend, I sanded it down, getting down to bare wood.

Originally I thought I’d stain it dark (to match their bookshelf), but seeing the pretty grain made me question that decision.  Again, I asked you what to do.  This time, votes were about 75/25, so I went with a clear finish and gold painted hardware.

Drexel-Handle-Parts

Now, Drexel’s back and more handsome than ever.

Drexel-Dresser-front

He’s a far cry from the antique-y white dresser of yore, adding a warm wood tone and sleek lines.

Boys'-Bedroom-One-Year-Later

Drexel-Dresser-with-Beds

Look at those legs!  Slightly tapered, no cankles.

Drexel-Dresser-Handle-Stack

Drexel-Dresser-Side

Perhaps the handles are the furniture equivalent of a gold chain?

Drexel-Dresser-Handle-Detail

A few burns and one stain are still slightly visible on the top because they went too deep to sand out.

Drexel-Dresser-Top

Sixty seven dollars well spent.  Because we already had sand paper, spray paint, and clear coat, $67 is all I spent on this guy.

Drexel-Dresser-in-Boys-Room

Another change in the boys’ room that has me chomping at the bit to give this room some attention.  Like paint covering the walls.  All four.  And a twin bed for Ev, once he’s unhappy sleeping in his crib.

Where Are They Now?

This weekend marked our first house-iversary here.  So I thought it’d be fun to take a side by side then and now tour.  Think of this as a child celeb where are they now special E! special.  Everyone loves those, right?  If you don’t, think of this as an updated house tour.

Let’s start at the front door.  Here’s the entry on move in day:

New-House-Entry April 13 2012

Add a rug, small table, a few prints, and here we are today:

Entry-One-Year-Later

The living and dining rooms one year ago:

New-House-Living-and-Dining-April-13-2012

And now:

Living-Room-to-Dining-One-Year-Later

Our furniture makes a big difference.  The rocker has to go back down stairs, but my dad needs his rocker when they visit.

Living-Room-One-Year-Later

Other than moving furniture in, painting over the red accent wall (which might change-see the swatches?), and building an entertainment center, this room hasn’t gotten much attention.

Entertainment-Center-One-Year-Later

Same goes for the dining room.  Here it is before:

Dining-Room-After-Move-In-April-30

And now:

Dining-Room-One-Year-Later

Yes, that’s a folding table in there, but it’s better than nothing.  We’ve got plans that could change the flow of the room, so we’re waiting to buy/build a table to decide the size and shape.

One big change has happened in the kitchen.  Check out how it looked then:

New-House-Kitchen-from-Breakfast-Nook-April-13-2012

Now, the dark wall paper is gone.  Soon, I plan to finish the walls and paint.

Kitchen-and-BN-One-Year-Later

Of course we still want to rework the kitchen.

Breakfast-Nook-One-Year-Later

The dark wallpaper wrapped around to my office, too:

New-House-Office-April-13

It’s amazing how much brighter the room is without the dark walls.

Office-One-Year-Later

One of the rooms we’re nearly finished with is the family room.  On move in day, it was a blank canvas with a 70’s moss rock fireplace.

New-House-Family-Room-April-13-2012

The previous owner added some too traditional for our liking elements, like the sconces and arches.

Square-Pattern-Rug-in-Family-Room

Here’s the room after covering the fireplace, adding a bar/wood storage, painting the walls, re-arranging furniture, and squaring the arched doors:

Family-Room-Fireplace-One-Year-Later

Clearly the ceiling isn’t finished.  We’re fixing a few small cracks.  It’s on my to do list this week.  But the room itself is nearly complete, just have to shop around for furniture we like.

Family-Room-One-Year-Later

Along with the arches, the previous owner updated the main bathroom:

New-House-Main-Bathroom April 13 2012

Main-Bathroom-Sink-Before

Despite being the most recently finished room in the house, it was the first we remodeled.  More storage and a shower were necessary for our family.  And here it is now:

Main-Bathroom-Finished-from-Door

Light walls, a colored vanity, and coral accents make us smile.

Main-Bathroom-Finished-Vanity

The smallest bedroom, our guest/Handy Sammy’s room just got a make over, too.  Here it is on closing day:

New-House-Guest-Bedroom April 13 2012

Today the room is bright and sunny thanks to a larger window and happy yellow paint:

Guest-Bedroom-Painted-Safari-Overall

Reconfigured bookshelves allow more floor space while giving the bed a cozy nook.

Guest-Room-Headboard-One-Year-Later

Guest-Room-Closet-Side-One-Year-Later

Guest-Room-Door-Side-One-Year-Later

Our boys share the second bedroom, which was a plain box before:

New-House-Boys-Bedroom-April-13-2012

New-House-Boys-Bedroom-to-Hall-April-13-2012

And it still kind of is:

Boys'-Bedroom-One-Year-Later

Before we can do much else, the popcorn ceiling has to come down.  Then we can add trim and paint the walls.  Until then, we’re living with swatches on the walls.

Boys'-Bedroom-Door-Side-One-Year-Later

Same story in our bedroom.  Popcorn ceilings are preventing us from working on the room.  I can’t wait to paint over the cobalt blue walls:

New-House-Master-Bedroom-Front-April-13-2012

New-House-Master-Bedroom-April-13-2012

We have built a bed (though it’s not finished) and added art:

Master-Bedroom-from-Door-One-Year-Later

I guess that’s something.  Ha!

Master-Bedroom-One-Year-Later

Before, our master bath was a burgundy cave:

New-House-Master-Bathroom-Toilet-April-13-2012

A coat of green paint lightened things up, but we want to remodel this bath to include the claw foot tub we removed from the other bathroom.

Master-Bath-One-Year-Later

Most of the basement is unchanged, so I’ll just share the laundry room.  Ben pulled pet stained carpet out right after signing the papers:

New-House-Laundry-Room-April-13-2012

For now we’ve got an old rug in place:

Laundry-Room-from-Door

Gotta make things work, at least until we can really tackle each room.  So there it is, our house one year ago versus our house today.  It’s nice to take a look back, because sometimes it feels like we’ve barely scratched the surface of this remodel project we call home.  But, we’ve actually got three finished (or allllmost finished) rooms with lots of changes in others.  Slowly but surely, we’re making progress.  One day, weekend, and project at a time.

On a Safari

Okay, this should be the last of the guest room/Handy Sammy’s room chronicles.  Why?  Because  Ben installed the trim and I got it and the walls painted.  Meaning, this room is finito.  At least for a while.  After much debate and help from you, we settled on Safari from Benjamin Moore, color matched to Glidden Duo.

Guest-Bedroom-Painted-Safari-Overall

Ben said the darker color, Honeymoon, looked like (and I quote) “calf scours.”  No cow poop on the walls, thank you.  Lighter Safari it is.  Though the color is a tad brighter than I expected.

Guest-Bedroom-Painted-Safari-from-Door

Ben and I are happy with it, but more importantly, Handy Sammy likes it.  But, it is fun and warm.  Still dark enough to make the trim stand out.

Guest-Bedroom-Painted-Safari-from-Closet

Speaking of trim, I painted it off-the-shelf white Glidden Duo in eggshell.  Then gave Frog Tape a chance for redemption by taping off the trim before painting the walls.  And I cringed while doing so, because I had painted the trim the day before.  But, I also used the Duo to paint the bookshelves, and it seemed to harden quicker and be more durable than regular Glidden.

Guest-Bedroom-Painted-Safari-Headboard

Wouldn’t ya know it, I made it through the entire painting process without one swear word.  Yes, the tape came off clean without tearing off the trim paint.  Hallelujah.  Maybe the paint and primer combo helped.  Or the lower sheen could have been a factor.  I probably pressed lighter on the tape, too.  Whatever the reason, I’m happy.  This is probably the most accurate picture showing the color as it is in the room.

Guest-Bedroom-Painted-Safari-with-Door

Because I already had the pictures down, I filled the nail holes.  The bird, tree, and feather gallery wall fits well in the room (covering the old sconce covers), so I think I’ll rehang it.

Guest-Bedroom-Painted-Safari-Dresser

I asked Handy Sammy his opinions but he wasn’t much help.  He said having a comfy bed and place to relax was all he needed.  What do you think?  Rehang the gallery wall, or go with something new?  What do you think of the color?