My first free find...

While I was researching how to refinished my daughter's dresser, I came across this blog by Shaunna West, PerfectlyImperfect. I was truly inspired! One of her projects was an old buffet that she had refinished and was using as a console table. At the time, my TV was sitting on a half falling apart particle board piece of furniture, so this became my next project.

I found this dresser on Craigslist for FREE!! That is, if you count carrying it down three flights of stairs free :-)

Even after the bedroom makeover my BF was still not convinced that this was a worthwhile endeavor.  This project has forever changed his mind. 

This was the free dresser before I painted it.

 This is another before picture of the dresser that was to be transformed.
You can see the rough shape it was in.

 I gave just a very light sanding to the surfaces.

 

After everything was lightly sanded and wiped down, I got out the paint.
I went with the brightest color I could find. Annie Sloan Chalk Paint in Emperor's Silk.
A bright Red!

 

This is after two coats of Annie Sloan Emperor's Silk. I liked the way you could still see some of the wood grain come through. I hadn't really expected that, although I read that was often the case with with this kind of wood.  

I was very tempted to leave it this bright color. I thought it looked great. But as I've heard it said, you can't really go wrong; you can try different things and see how they turn out. 

I'm glad I went with the more subdued look of the dark wax
on top of the Annie Sloan Emperor's Silk.

Close up after adding dark wax on Annie Sloan Emperor's Silk

I like the picture above because it really shows how the dark wax settles in to all the little grooves of the wood. 

Here is one drawer after the dark wax and one drawer before the dark wax

This was my first project using the dark wax and I will say that it took a little getting used to, and it was a bit more work than I anticipated.  Unlike the clear wax you have to be more careful in applying it evenly on various parts and pieces of your project.  Some parts ended up a little darker than others, but I say it adds to the charm.

After getting it painted,  I removed the two top drawers, painted the inside red, and drilled a small whole in the back for wires. My TV now sites on top with the cable box, DVD player, and video games where the top drawers used to be.  The bottom drawers are just the right size to house all our DVDs.


The previous particle board TV stand made it to the dump :-(

The glam girl's room makeover

When my daughter left town for the summer, we promised her she would return to a brand new bedroom -- she completely trusted us to give her a new grown up bedroom makeover!

When we bought our new house we had beige everything!  So her bedroom was a blank canvas. It had builder white walls, beige carpet, white slat blinds that we put up the week we moved in (It's one of those things we didn't even think before we moved in. When you buy a brand new house there are NO window treatments when you move in!)

Here is the list of  things we new we would have to include in the makeover:

1. Paint: We had to choose a color that was grown up, girly and sophisticated
2. Lighting: The house didn't come with any ceiling light and her old light would just not fit in to the new room (See the chandelier refinish project)
3. Curtains: We had put up 2" slat blinds, but she would definitely need curtains
4. Shelves or Storage: Her old bookcase had to go. She would definitely need some new storage
5. Furniture (Bed & Dresser): In the old house she had a bunk bed and when we moved she didn't want it going in the new room. So she had just the twin mattress on a boxspring and a frame.  (See the bed makeover project) And the dresser was a second hand dark wood old dresser (See the dresser makeover) 

1. Paint

The paint was surprisingly easy to pick out. We found a beautiful color that was somewhere in the middle between purple and pink. And the BF had a great idea to add a small accent color around the wall with door. We went with Glidden Rosy Mauve.

2. Lighting

What is a super glam room without a chandelier? While browsing my favorite online garage sale I found a beautiful chandelier that just needed a few changes to fit perfectly into the room. A little spray paint made the brass chandelier a very romantic and charming addition to the room.
Check out the chandelier makeover.  

 


3. Curtains

We had already chosen gray/silver as the main accent color and I wanted the curtains to make a dramatic statement.  Well, these did exactly that and for a reasonable price.  I couldn't believe how much larger the room looked after installing these floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall curtains from IKEA.

4. Shelves

I cannot take any credit for this one.  My BF was set on the floating shelves while I was leaning towards some sort of shelving unit. I have to say I love the way these turned out.  We mounted a new TV (we were able to pick up the display TV at Sears just after the new models came out) and had to have an electrician come out and help hide those cords.

5. Furniture

The dresser:  I knew her current dresser could be saved and given a fabulous makeover to fit in the new room. See the before and pics. Check out the refinished dresser project.

The bed:

I had looked around some furniture stores and was getting nervous that I wouldn't be able to find a bed within my budget that would fit into the new room. I was about to suck it up and buy a sleigh style bed that was much higher than I wanted to spend. Fortunately, I live nearby several antique furniture stores and while browsing for decorative accessories, I found it!! If you're ever in Leesburg you have to check out The Cottage.

It was rough around the edges. Someone had already tried to give it a make over, but the shabby chic bed was was waaaay to SHABBY for a girls bedroom.  So I took on my first Annie Sloan Chalk Paint furniture refinishing project. Check out the too shabby chic antique bed makeover

I LOVED the finished project.

And most importantly..... so did she!

When she finally came home I set up a video camera in her room and we had a TV worthy "grand reveal." It was great. She absolutely loved it and is still so excited to have friends over to show off her room. She brags about how cool it is. And she even takes extra effort to make sure her bed is always made and the floors are kept cleaned up.

It was so much fun to do this for her. I couldn't wait to start the next bedroom makeover for my six year old.