New look for an old dresser ~

This cute little dresser belongs to my friend, Linda.  She trusted me to give it new life!
I gave it a VERY good sanding and then a coat of primer.  Three coats of black paint later, and it was looking pretty good.  Linda asked me to give it a distressed look so I went after it again with my electric sander.  My husband walked by it and said, "honey, your paint's chipping off!"   Well, thank you!  I guess the distressing worked!  It's always a bit scary after working to give a piece of furniture a smooth coverage of paint only to chip some away afterwards.  I find that the most challenging part of distressing is to make it appear as though it's been worn down with time.

I thought that the finish of the original hardware was perfect for the new look.  I decided not to spray it a different color.  I love how the pulls are vertical on this piece because it adds to the character!

I have her a quick spray with a poly coat, and she was finished!

I hope that this little dresser fits just perfectly were Linda has planned to put it and that even though the edges are worn by an electric sander, that it will feel as though it has history behind every bump and bruise.

As she loaded it up in the back seat of her small car, I told her to not worry if it gets chipped.  How often can you say that about your furniture?

Sprucing up for Summer!

I haven't had a lot of time to devote to blogging lately.  Crazy things are happening in my life (I'll post about that soon since you're probably on the edge of your seat!) so I haven't been able to post or even more importantly, visit all of my favorite blogs out there!  Sitting down at my computer for a while to visit blog-land is...glorious!  The problem that I have is that one blog leads to another and well, you know...

Since I haven't done anything spectacular just recently, I thought that I'd at least share with you how much better my wicker chairs look since I finally got around to giving them a coat of fresh paint!  I have 2 wicker chairs on my front porch that I walk past every day, several times a day.  They were bugging me with their sun faded ugliness.  Since I have such a fascination for the color black, it was a given that it would be the color I would choose.

It took quite a few coats to cover them and sometimes when I walk by them, I still see a place that I missed.  That can of black spray paint is usually within arms reach so that I can give it a quick touch up.  I also gave my cushions a "bath" to freshen them up also.  While I had my paint out, I decided to give the plant stands a little boost as well.  No before picture.  I couldn't wait long enough to get one, but just take my word for it,  they look WAY better now too!

If your super busy like I am right now, consider just giving something a boost of color to make it feel refreshed and new.  It's a quick and simple way to at least help you feel as though you're getting more accomplished! It makes the craziness in life seem a little bit more bearable!

Eat your heart out, Pottery Barn!

If you were walking through a thrift store, would you give this little lantern a second glance? I'm sure that you would if you're like me and you know that a little bit of spray paint would transform it.

Have you looked at the lanterns at Pottery Barn and Ballard? I have and I love them, but those things are expensive!

Remember that you don't have to be crafty to push the nozzle of a spray paint can. Even less so if you have one of these awesome gadgets that I talked about in my post here.
Look at things for how they can look after you've spent a little bit of time on them. Cleaning, repairing and painting an item can make it go from blah to beautiful!

Tissue pom poms and birthday things!

My third grandchild just turned a year old. First off, I can't even believe that I'm old enough to make that statement. Being a "Grammy" is my favorite role in life! It's truly the best. I especially love being able to help out with their birthday parties. My daughters have seemed more than pleased when I've asked them if I could make the cake and help with decorations. Since Milly's party was to be at our house, I told her mommy that if she would just buy the paper products (plates, cups, forks, etc.) that I would take care of the other decorations and the cake. I decided that I was going to try to make all of the decorations using things that I basically had around the house.

For the party, we'd decided on a monkey theme. I googled some images online of monkeys and bananas. After printing those off, I had decorations for...zero dollars. I used a frame that I have in my bedroom that holds my daughter's wedding picture.
Since I love monkeys and I've started collecting things for my Grandchildren's monkey themed room at my house, I set some of it out on the table.

The cake

Let me just say that I'm NOT one of those people who make beautiful cakes! Duh! I am, however, pretty crafty and very determined. The only things that I purchased to make the cake were 2 cake mixes and two large tootsie rolls (for his tail). I had sketched out a picture of what I was attempting to make it look like. Of course it isn't perfect, but Milly did make monkey sounds when she saw it. That's how I knew that I'd done all right!

I looked through my stash of scrapbook paper for colors of pink, green and yellow. I made a birthday banner by printing off the words and cutting them out (I hope to have a cricut machine one day). It took time to cut and paste it together but it didn't cost me a thing!

I was most excited to try out the cute tissue paper pom poms that everyone seems to be making. They look more difficult than they actually are to make. I searched online and saw a lot of variations on how to make them. After working with them a bit, I figured out the easiest way to make them in my opinion. Here are some quick and easy steps on how to do it.

I used paper that was 18" x 26". Stack 10 to 12 pieces to make a nice, full pom pom.

I added the safety pin because after I made the first one, I found it difficult to reach into the pom without squishing it to grab the wire in order to wrap fishing line around it. By hanging them with fishing line, it looks like they're suspended in the air!

The yellow one is done with pointy edges. The pink and green ones are with rounded edges.

This is by far the trickiest part. You need to pull the layers out very carefully. They rip so easily. I pulled about four layers out on one side and then turned if over and did the same on the other side. Then I pulled the rest out to fill in the center.

Wrap the fishing line around the safety pin and hang from the ceiling.

This was such a fun party to decorate for. Now, you tell me whether you think the birthday girl seemed happy or not!

Designing small spaces~

The owner of this home has a large and beautiful house with a big spacious loft area upstairs in addition to the bedrooms. The problem is that the living room is rather small. (They have two small boys that like to play downstairs which makes it difficult to arrange a comfortable living room that also functions as a play area.)


~Click on pictures to enlarge~


Pulling furniture out from the walls doesn't make a room look smaller like many people are afraid of. It actually gives you usable space behind the furniture and allows the seating area to be pulled closer for conversations.



I angled the furniture in this room to create style as well as space to store toys behind the love seat. I found a toy shelf upstairs in the loft that fit perfectly here to hold the toys. Everything else in this room was repositioned to look and feel new.


I wanted to add some height to this area on the floor, so I headed outside to look for branches to stick into the vase. This home also sits on a beautiful piece of acreage so they weren't difficult to find!

Here's another home that was in need of a combined living area and play room.



This condo belongs to my daughter and son in law. There are 3 floors but all of the rooms are small and this living space is long and narrow. Pulling the sofa out from the wall divides the room into two areas. Now to be fair here, it's probably obvious that there were more changes made to this room than the new arrangement alone. They upgraded to laminate floors and got a new sofa and art work but the concept stayed the same.


Here's a view behind the sofa where my two beautiful little granddaughters play.

If you need your room to serve multiple functions, consider arranging furniture in a way that naturally divides the room into separate areas. Another helpful hint for small spaces is to consider having your furniture do double duty like a coffee table with baskets underneath to fill with anything from toys to office supplies. Even when the square footage is limited, you can always add shelving with baskets on the walls to hold essential items. Think about creating more space upward!

~ Accessorizing bookshelves ~

I just got back from a relaxing four days in Washington with my cousin. I needed to get away and relax a bit from thinking about all of the many things that I need to get done. There never seems to be enough hours in a day, unless of course your waiting for something. Then... time. stands. still.
While I was there, I spent three days relaxing, eating, shopping and then eating some more. By the 4th day, I was ready for a good project. My cousin wanted her bookshelves to look better, and I got busy working on them. It was the least I could do since she provided me with a wonderful place to get away!


(Click on pictures to enlarge)


Bookshelves seem to be something that are really difficult for some people to figure out how to display. They are wonderful for storing books on but they also work great to display some of your most valuable treasures. How do you do this without just lining things up? Here are a few things that I like to do.
I begin by unloading everything off of the shelves. By doing this, you can actually look at the project with "new" eyes. In this case, I removed one of the upper shelves on each side to allow the shelves to hold some larger items. It also seemed to break up some of the symmetry. The way that I like to begin is by placing larger things first. I place a large item in one area and then go to another section to place another large item. Then I fill in other areas with smaller things. I like to use books (I know, it's a book shelf) but not only for storing them. I use some as "bookends" and others as something to add height to an object. Placing some of your pictures on top of books or on an easel adds interest. I also like to add a little bit of greenery somewhere as well. Some people don't like silk plants. I however, love them. Not only do I not have a green thumb, but I live in the Northwest where there isn't an abundance of light coming in the windows a good majority of the year.
As you can see on this project, I removed the items from the top of the shelves. I normally like things on the top of furniture to add height, and even though this room has very high ceilings it just felt as though there was too much going on here. What we wanted to accomplish here was a cleaner, more simplified look and feel.
Another thing to remember when accessorizing is to stack and layer. This means that instead of sitting things side by side, try stacking them for a different look. Layering means that you want to place some items further in the back of the shelf and others closer to the front, and use items with varying heights.
You can view another bookshelf that I did in my living room at the end of "A Redesign of my own" post.
These are just some of the simple tips that I use. Please feel free to share how you accessorize your bookshelves and other areas in your home. I always love reading my comments from many of you!

If you live in the Portland/Metro area and are interested in having help with any of your design or decorating needs, please visit my website at www.myrenewedspaces.com or call me at 503-997-2325.