Chest of Drawers Makeover - Before and After

We bought this 4 Drawer Chest when our first child was first born. It was unfinished and as I remember cost about $30.00. I saved a little every week for about 2 months to be able to buy it. Originally, it had 4 legs about 8" high. When our son and his little brother were a little older, we were finally to buy them nicer furniture. We relegated the chest to a utility room and later to my husband's workshop. In the 1970's, I covered it with the tackiest of Contact  paper........ seemed very stylish to me, at that time. This is what it looked like for the past 35 years. Tacky might be the understatement.

We needed a "new" piece of furniture for the side of the bed in the guest room. First of all, we stripped all of the contact paper off. My husband cut the bottom drawer off and added short legs. He also added molding to each drawer. Then I painted it a dark rust and distressed it. Finally, we added the little knobs from Hobby Lobby. This is how it turned out.................pretty cool, I think.

The lamp was repainted in Silver...........Lampshade was recovered in Burlap. The clock was a Thrift Store Find............. I just love how this turned out.

My "New" Favorite "Thing"

I can't seem to get organized enough to have time to blog, but am so excited about this......I just had to share. I have been making Leather Bags to put in my Etsy Shop for over a year. My sewing machine was not happy about this and kept complaining. I went to our local Singer store to see about buying a Heavy Duty Machine like I had 20 years ago, when I was making Denim Handbags to sell at Craft Shows......wonder why I ever let it go. I guess hind-sight is 20-20. The owner of the Singer store said he didn't carry any Industrial Machines, as they were just too heavy for hime to handle. He suggested I try and find an old Black Head 201 0r 15-91 Series Singer from the 1940's or the 1950's. After two weeks of searching, I found a 15-91 on Craigslist for $60.00.....including the cute cabinet. I do not think it had hardly been used, as the Gold on the base is just like new. The funny thing is that I learned to sew on a machine just like this. It makes the most amazing straight stitch (doesn't do anything else)......and it sews through Heavy Leather without any of the complaining that my Viking Designer E does...........and it was way more than $60.00.

I think I should paint the desk white to match the cabinets in the back, but hubby think it should stay the way it came. Perhaps, he just doesn't want to help.

What do you think????

Paris in the Winter Featuring my Handbag

Paris in the Winter by joyce-mercer featuring chunky jewelry

Burberry brit
$795 - net-a-porter.com

Tan pants
£85 - johnlewis.com

Sam edelman boots
$274 - coggles.com

Friis Company chunky jewelry
€21 - shopfriiscompany.com

Manumit link jewelry
£10 - fashion-conscience.com

Red Herring velour hat
£9.80 - debenhams.com

Fashion for the Weekend Featuring my Patchwork Bag - New in my Etsy Shop.





Fashion for the Weekend by joyce-mercer featuring ralph lauren cardigan

Lauren Ralph Lauren ralph lauren cardigan
£105 - houseoffraser.co.uk

Vince raglan shirt
$220 - barneys.com

School Rag bootcut jeans
€99 - placedestendances.com

Sperry Top Sider flat
$85 - nordstrom.com

Kenneth Jay Lane post earrings
$45 - maxandchloe.com

Mulberry wrap bracelet
$230 - mulberry.com

Lightweight scarve
topman.com

Fedora hat
€45 - shopfriiscompany.com

Painted Jars on my Fireplace

I am trying to bring a little color into my living room. Also, trying to do away with a lot of Country Clutter and redecorating with sort of a Cottage Look. I had a wood wagon with ivy on the corner of my Fireplace. It really looked Country and was very dark. I have had a 2 Quart Ball Jar just sitting in a cupboard for many years. I purchased a Quart Jar and a Pint Jar at a Thrift store for the sum total cost of 40¢.....not bad for a start. I painted the jars with a brush, as I did not want to invest in colors of spray paint that I did not have. It took about 4 or 5 coats.......a little time consuming, but I am retired and have more time than money. After, they were all painted, I sprayed them with Krylon Satin..........always have that on hand. Headed over to Hobby Lobby and after about 2 hours of hemming and hawing, finally chose my flowers. I put them on the fireplace where the wagon was and was not sure if I liked them or not. I kept looking at them for a day or two and decided to put them on the other end.......like them much better there. I spent about $10.00 on the flowers. All in all, I like the improvement.

Painted Jars

I probably could use some more "things" on the Mantle, but I detest dusting, so am keeping it sort of plain. We purchased the sign at an auction in New Hampshire about 30 years ago. My hubbie's grandmother lived in Hillsboro and his Mom and Dad had a summer place in Antrim at one time, so it has a lot of sentimental value. The Birdhouse came from a thrift store and we purchased the little Sheep in Sweden on a vacation. I love to purchase an inexpensive material thing to remind me of a vacation memory. The Wood Bear in the bucket came from a vacation to Northern California.......another happy memory.



Dollar Tree Bird at home in my Bathroom

I found this little Bird at the Dollar Tree. He was an atrocious green and certainly didn't fit into my Cottage Decor Bathroom. Thanks to a post on The Speckled Dog I was inspired to paint him (or her) white with a Blue Glaze. He is just perfect for the shelf and only cost $1.00. I had all of the other supplies. Sorry, but I forgot to take a "Before" pic.

Big "Bath" Sign

I just renewed our little Bathroom......... It was decorated in 1980's Country Wall Paper and was really in sad need of a facelift. We will probably put our home up for sale in a year or two, so I really didn't want to spend any money. It took 4 days and a lot of steaming to get the wallpaper off........too much work for an "Old Lady".

BEFORE:

 I had this space to fill between the cabinet and the door and this is what I came up with. Again, I didn't want to spend much money. Besides "Frugal Decorating" is so much more fun.

AFTER

The pre-cut letters came from Hobby Lobby for the fantastic price of 70¢ each for a grand total of $2.80. Hubby cut the board from scrap lumber and had the little hook for the top in one of his jars of "things". One of the nice things about being married for 54 years is all of the stuff we have on hand for this type of project.

First of all, I did a wee bit of sanding on the letters. Then, they were glued on the board, which Hubby had sanded smooth. Then, it was stained a medium brown, so the stain would show through. I then slapped a coat of Vanilla (yellowish off-white) colored paint, let it dry and then distressed it with rough sandpaper. Here is a close-up of one of the letters.

Hope you like my sign!!!