Before & After

One of my favorite hobbies is to paint and distress furniture — which is interesting, because it’s not something I EVER saw my parents do, and I honestly wouldn’t even consider myself to be overly creative or crafty.

However, my desire for “old farmhouse style” on a very limited budget forced me to get creative and start making my own “distressed furniture” from cheapy Craigslist finds! 

And over the past five years, I’ve become a much better painter, learned many new techniques, and figured out how to REALLY streamline and simplify the whole process — betcha that doesn’t surprise you though

Here are 3 of my favorite SIMPLE furniture distressing techniques:

1. Stain/Glaze Technique: used on green armoire

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I found this armoire on Craigslist and I immediately snatched it up. Yes, I know it’s ugly and made out of particle board, but it was only $20 and I was able to transform it into a make-shift mudroom!

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Clean the wood/board with denatured alcohol to remove any oil, grease, and dirt.

2. Remove doors, hinges, knobs, etc.

3. Paint 2 coats of whatever color you want the cabinet to be. Let Dry!

4. Use an old rag or t shirt to rub a dark brown stain or glaze over the paint

5. Make sure you really work the stain or glaze in with a “random” motion so it doesn’t look too perfect.

NOTE: If you use glaze, it will probably “harden up” quite quickly and then you’re finished. However, if you use stain, it will NOT soak in and will become very sticky. Once it gets sticky, move onto the next step.

6. Use a foam brush to apply one or two coats of polyurethane directly over the sticky stain {The stain will not soak into the paint so unless you do the polyurethane over top, your furniture will stay sticky!}

You can see the difference before {left} and after the glaze. I love the deeper green color after the glaze!

TOTAL TIME: 

About 3 hours plus drying time.

2. Dry Brush Technique: used on our changing table

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This was another fantastic Craigslist find. It’s an absolutely gorgeous, solid wood, Bassett dresser, and I loved everything about it… except the stain {very yellowy and NOT my style at all.}

However the structure was great, I loved the chunky wooden knobs, and it was literally the perfect size for our nursery — so I painted it red and then distressed it!

INSTRUCTIONS: 

1. Clean the wood/board with denatured alcohol to remove any oil, grease, and dirt.

2. Remove drawers, knobs, etc.

3. Paint 2 coats of your “base color” {mine was red}. Let Dry!

4. Use a VERY dry brush and get a VERY small amount of white or lighter colored paint on the tips of the bristles.

5. With a light “stroking” motion, quickly and gently “dry-brush” the white paint over the base color… always going in the same direction.

6. While the white paint is still a little damp, you can go over it with a steal wool to get an even more distressed look… or just leave it “as is”.

TOTAL TIME: 

About 2 hours plus drying time.

3. Steal Wool Technique: used on our nightstand

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Sorry, I don’t have any “before” pictures of this one!

This nightstand is another solid wood piece I snatched up for only $10 on Craigslist — and it was already stained a really, really deep brown. I loved the stain color but wanted to lighten it up a bit so it didn’t blend in with our floors.

INSTRUCTIONS: 

1. Clean the wood/board with denatured alcohol to remove any oil, grease, and dirt.

2. Remove drawers, knobs, etc.

3. Choose a contrasting paint color — if your furniture is a light stain, then choose a dark paint. If it’s a dark stain, choose a lighter paint.

4. Paint 2 coats of paint over the entire piece {I obviously left the top unpainted but that was just my choice}.

5. Wait until the paint is ALMOST DRY and then use a piece of steal wool to gently rub off the paint on the corners, around the handles, or anywhere else you want to look distressed.

I used the same technique on this night stand too.

TOTAL TIME: 

About 30 minutes plus drying time.

The Materials I Use:

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I almost always use Behr paint from Home Depot — and I ALWAYS stock up on Labor Day and Memorial Day because they have great rebates at that time. You can just purchase a bunch of un-tinted paint and then when you’re ready to paint something, go back to the store and have it tinted.

I use semi-gloss or satin for all my furniture projects, and rarely waste the money for primer!

I use whatever brushes and rollers I can get free after rebate from Menards — and I’ve never had any issues! I do always look for the 2″ angled brushes for furniture though.

For furniture, I use these 4″ foam rollers because they allow me to get into tight places, and they leave a really smooth finish.

And as you can see, I don’t spend a lot of money on paint trays and buckets — just simple paper plates and disposable food containers!

See, I told you it was simple!

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I know a lot of people are intimidated by painting anything… let alone furniture. But I want to assure you that you can do this!

Just find a piece of furniture for super cheap at a thrift store or on Craigslist and give it a try. If you totally fail, you haven’t wasted much except your time. And I guarantee you’ll get better with every piece you paint!

Have you ever tried painting furniture?

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This post has been a long time coming — and even though I’m still waiting on ONE more piece of furniture, I’m so excited to take you on a tour of our “brand new” Farmhouse Nursery! 

The nursery is by far, the smallest bedroom in our house; and as you might remember, we basically had to gut the entire room and start over again from scratch. We even knocked out one entire closet to make room for the walk-in shower in our master bath.

Our nursery now has all “new-to-us” doors, windows, floors, walls, wood paneling {I’ve always wanted painted wood paneling in my nursery!}, crown molding, base board, light fixtures, furniture, and accessories. So while it definitely does NOT look like a 120 year old nursery, I hope it still gives off a little of that farmhouse charm I love so much! 

Our Farmhouse Nursery — The Full Tour!

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The nursery, and the master bedroom are conveniently both off one “wing” of the living room… so there is just a very short hallway from our bedroom door to the nursery.

As you can see, our master bathroom is on the left side of the hall and our built-in medicine cabinet is to the right.

As you enter the nursery, it might look a little “bare” and that’s because I’m still waiting for a small white bookcase that will go against this first wall. Then I have some cute ideas for above the bookcase as well. However, I’m pretty sure the baby won’t care if she has a bookcase right away or not!

Once the bookcase is here, it will form a little reading/toy nook, along with my most favorite IKEA Poang chair and hand-painted night stand. We already have a little collection of books starting… and I’m sure the toys will follow in the next couple of months

If you keep rotating counter-clockwise in the room, you’ll see that our crib is to the left of our reading nook. This photo is a little blurry because there was so much sun shinning through the windows that I couldn’t get a good shot.

I purposely put the crib on an angle; partially because I think it looks better, but also because I wanted  a place to put my old wooden gate!

Here’s a BEFORE picture of this same wall:

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One of my favorite features of this room is the white porcelain chandelier. It looks so old, yet I actually found it a couple months ago at Home Depot!

I’m absolutely in love with this dark-stained Jenny Lind crib and how it contrasts with the stark white bedding I made. It’s exactly what I wanted… and I found it on Craiglist for a fraction of the price of a new one!

Oh, and I just have to mention the crib skirt — because I made that too — and I purposely made it long enough to touch the floor so we can use the space underneath for storage. Currently, our Pack n’ Play and BabyBjorn Bouncy Seat are nicely concealed until we need them!

If you keep rotating counter-clockwise, you’ll see just how small the nursery is… however I still fee like there is plenty of room for everything we need.

I recently painted and distressed the changing table {solid wood Basset dresser for $20 on Craigslist!} I was originally planning to paint it all white with a brown glaze, but then felt like the red /whitewash would give it just a bit more “farmhouse flare” — and I was right!

Thankfully, the dresser is still over half empty, so I have plenty of room for more clothes, blankets, diapers, etc.

The oval picture on top of the shelf is actually MY grandma as a little girl… so I think that’s a really special addition to this room. And I’m simply ecstatic that the changing pad and basket of diapers and wipes fits perfectly on top… it must have been meant to be

Just to the left of the dresser is our nursery closet.  

Here are two more BEFORE pictures!

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I’ve already shown you several pictures of this closet, but here’s one more — just to complete the tour {and I think it’s a little bit fuller than last time too!}

So that’s it… the full farmhouse nursery tour. 

Everything is washed, folded, and put away; our hospital bags are basically packed and ready to go; we have everything we NEED; and now we’re just waiting…

What do you think… will our baby girl like her new room?

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It’s been a very long road of home renovations these past several months…and we are FINALLY finished with everything we wanted to accomplish before the baby comes!!

I already shared our office transformation, and over the next month, I’ll be sharing lots of before and after transformations of our Farmhouse!!!

Today, I’m sharing our Master Bathroom…

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… and oh what a fantastic transformation it is!

Here is the AFTER picture — it’s what you see when you turn the corner to enter the bathroom.

This is view from the entryway. You can see the toilet, shelves, and shower entrance on the right, and then the vanity area on the left. It’s definitely not huge — but it’s quite a bit bigger than it was before.

THIS is what it looked like before!! 

We literally gutted the entire bathroom {walls, ceiling, floors, shower, cabinet, vanity, window, doors, bulkheads, etc.} EVERYTHING was ripped out so we could start over from scratch! 

Here are more pictures of the demolition process 

OK, back to the new bathroom…

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Here is the toilet area with shelves for decorative storage purposes.

These shelves are actually old stair treads that I found from a junk yard. I simply LOVE how they look!

Next to the toilet, we built in a bank of open shelves that I’m using to store extra toiletries and towels.

Then I installed a small set of Shaker Peg towel hooks right next to the shower entrance.  The old picture is actually one of my Grandma’s elementary school pictures!

This is a “before shot” of that same wall! The toilet is now where that green cabinet was.

Here is the entrance to our new walk-in shower – probably one of my favorite features of the bathroom! We actually had to knock out one of the closets in our nursery to make room for the shower — and it is totally worth it!

The window is facing the West and is at the “back” of our bathroom. I have to praise my dad for installing this gorgeous trim throughout our entire renovated area… LOVE IT!

Oh, and here’s how I made these super cute curtains in about 30 minutes.

Here’s our new vanity area!

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This picture is a bit blurry — for some reason, I couldn’t get everything to be in focus at the same time. I think you can still get the idea though…

Here’s what our vanity looked like before — now do you see why we just gutted everything!!

As you can see, we completely changed the entire layout of the bathroom to accommodate a double sink.

Here’s a MUCH better picture of the vanity that my uncle made to look like this one from Pottery Barn.

The middle section is a bank of drawers; the left and right sections are simply cabinet doors that LOOK like drawers!

The counters look just like solid marble, but they are actually Corian — which is a little cheaper, much more durable, and easier to clean and care for {win, win, win!}

I wanted to keep the counters really clear so I could fully enjoy their beauty… I just have a few decorative items that also serve a useful purpose.

I knew I wanted rectangular under-mounted sinks – and I managed to find these in the clearance section at Lowes… for only $24 {normally $167 each} SCORE!!!

And these are a few of my favorite things — little extras that I think REALLY make the space!

1. I simply adore these vintage looking hand-soap dispensers that I found at Target. The soap saver is a real antique — and even though I don’t use it, I still love having it next to my sink!

2. I knew I wanted fixtures that said “hot” and “cold”. It took me forever to find them, but they really put the finishing touch on our vanity area.

3. Old Aspirin and other pill tins from my Grandma

4. I {heart} old blue Mason jars!

5. Gorgeous antique mirrored tray that I keep all my cool bottles of perfume, lotions, etc.

6. Super cute tin star nightlight

Here’s one more before and after shot!

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What do you think? 

I’m simply thrilled with the results — and even though we ended up having to put ALL new plumbing and electrical in {which pushed us a bit over budget} I saved a ton on the sinks, vanity, and decorations so it all evened out in the end!

We love our new bathroom and I still feel happy every morning when I’m getting ready. I often think about how it used to look and then simply smile as I look around at the amazing transformation.

And seriously, I’m SOOOO glad we’re finished! I won’t be tackling another bathroom for at least… another few months

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As I mentioned the other day, I work A LOT of hours from home. So when we were looking for a new house, one of our top requirements was that it had a nice area that we could use for a home office.

We wanted that area to be big enough to accommodate my work, my business, my hobbies, Dave’s school stuff, Dave’s books, and a few fun things too.

And even though it took quite a bit of renovation {and knocking out an entire wall} we got exactly what we wanted!

A Few Before Pictures:

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Very “grey” and industrial looking… don’t you think? Plus, the nasty outdoor carpeting and that hideous office chairs just wouldn’t do

The thing we loved about this office though, is the set of French doors that lead out to a deck on the back of the house!

We also loved that there was potential to close off the door to the hallway and knock out the back wall {see below} to completely open the office up to our main living room.

OK, that’s enough grey and blah. On to the NEW, after photos!

Our Farmhouse Desk:

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I already showed you our farmhouse desk the other day, but here’s a second look at it. It is probably my favorite part about our office!

We purchased this 120-year-old farm table off Criagslist and NO, we did not cut it to fit!! The table is 5′ 11 3/4″ which is EXACTLY what we needed to wedge into our space {it was meant to be!}

We did sand it down a bit, dry brush white on the legs and base, and then stained/polyurethaned the top to match our floors. I’m so completely in love with this desk — which is nice since I sit here for several hours each day

I wanted to keep the desk very “clutter-free” since there are several times when both Dave and I work here together. So I decided to only have a few basic office supplies in the corner: pens, pencils, calculator, paper, paper clips, stapler, and some highlighters. I keep these supplies in an old bread pan and an old white measuring cup so they still look nice. I also put a basket on the right side for any mics. papers I have to deal with.

The TV was Dave’s request because he likes to watch TV while he grades papers and works on his computer. And as you’ll see later on, we also have a nice, comfy chair on the opposite wall, so it creates somewhat of a “den” atmosphere when the computers are put away.

One of the things I’m most excited about is that we managed to hide ALL our cord clutter {I know, I’m a dork!}

I mounted a large power stripe on the back side of the desk and then plugged in both our laptop chargers, the TV, the light, the cable modem, and the wireless router. Then I installed small hooks all along the back side of the table, wound up each cord, and hung them on the hooks.

As you can see by the image above, it still doesn’t look that organized underneath the table – but at least you can’t see any cords hanging down or laying on the floor!

Built-In Cabinets:

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We actually kept the built-in cabinets above the desk and just updated them with a fresh coat of white paint. They serve as excellent storage for all our craft supplies, mailing supplies, batteries, extra printer paper, folders for the different committees we’re both on, etc. etc.

The large basket on the top shelf nicely conceals many of my craft supplies, the rest are in the wooden crate on the bottom middle shelf. I store cards and photos in the two blue boxes, and the rest of our supplies are “out in the open” but still somewhat decorative {like the colored pencils, Sharpies, and crayons on the middle shelf}

I installed some cork on the inside of one cabinet door — which is a great place to store business cards, phone numbers, schedules, and other mics. information we reference on a regular basis.

Office Closet:

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We have a very large closet in our office {right next to the desk} and it goes under our staircase to maximize every inch of available storage space.

Not only is there enough room for our filing cabinet, wireless printer, shredder, and fire-proof safe. We also have plenty of room for a bookcase that stores our computers, my sewing supplies, and Dave’s school text books.

I hung a clear plastic shoe organizer on the left wall of the closet and we keep all our “cord clutter”, chargers, and other small electronics organized and easily accessible {I did label each pocket so everyone knows where everything goes!}

Then I hung peg board on the right wall and organized all the tools we use on a regular basis.

If you turn the corner to go under the stairs, I have all my gift wrap and packaging supplies shoved back there {but still organized!}

I am thrilled with how we were able to maximize the storage in this closet — especially since old farmhouses aren’t exactly known for their vast amounts of storage!

Office Shelves:

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I posted a picture of our new offices shelves on Facebook the other day — and I’m just SOOO happy with how they turned out. They are actually 120 year old barn beams that we cut down to fit perfectly along the west wall.

Of course, I immediately filled them with all my fun decorations… now we just need to find a piano or a sewing table for under the shelves.

We even made enough room for a smaller chair and side table for when we just want to relax and watch a little TV {or rock a sleeping baby!}

The natural light in this room is simply fabulous and even on gloomy days {like when I took these pictures} There is still plenty plenty of light.

So that’s it — our new home office!

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It’s so nice to have one place to keep all our office things and not have to work on the couch or the kitchen table all the time. It’s also wonderful that my desk is only about 12 steps away from our bedroom and the kitchen… and right off the living room. I still feel totally “connected” even if I’m working!

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Yesterday I showed you one black and white picture of the curtains I made for the small window in our master bathroom. And today, I’ll show you just how ridiculously simple they were to make! 

We honestly don’t even need curtains in our bathroom because it’s just trees and lots of grass outside… however it’s kind of weird not to have curtains in the bathroom. So after contemplating what type of window treatments I should use {I thought about using old shutters but couldn’t find the right size} I headed to my scrap fabric bin and pulled out an old white sheet — yes, an old white sheet — and made the simple curtains below.

Nothing special…yet!

Side Note: I’m obsessed with white, so I stock up on plain white sheets whenever they go on sale {I can often get flat sheets for only a few bucks} and then use these sheets to make pretty much everything I sew!

Although I love white, I didn’t want “plain white curtains” since so much of our bathroom is already white, off-white, cream, and beige. They needed a little something extra.

So I decided to add some very inexpensive burlap fabric to the top {it’s about $2 – $3 per yard!}

I also added wooden buttons with a piece of twine tied through the button holes.

However, I didn’t want to sew the buttons and the burlap onto the curtains in case I needed or wanted to wash them at some point {which I’m assuming I will want to do}. So, I totally “cheated” and pinned the buttons onto the curtains, and in the process, was able to secure the burlap in between the buttons and the white fabric!

The piece of twine provided a nice spot for the pin to grab onto, and by evenly spacing the buttons every few inches, you honestly can’t even tell that the burlap is just pinned  on.

Aren’t they cute!! 

I’m thrilled with the end results, and even happier that this entire project took me less than an hour and cost about $1.65 {I had the buttons and twine already, and the curtain was just an old sheet}

And if you don’t sew, this technique would work great on curtains you already have too — so it could literally be a no-sew project if you wanted it to be!

What are your favorite no-sew projects and/or inexpensive decorating tips?

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You all know I’m obsessed with Craigslist…right? I’ve gotten so many great deals over the past few years…like this Ikea sofa and this amazing red hutch.

Well last year, I scored this FREE Lazy-Boy recliner on Craigslist {I’m sure you can see why it was free}.

My original intent was simply to practice reupholstering a smaller piece of furniture — something I’ve always wanted to learn. Plus I had a bunch of heavy canvas fabric sitting around {in the form of a love seat slipcover!} So, I disassembled the love seat slipcover and use that fabric {plus about 783 staples} to reupholster the chair.

I had absolutely NO idea what I was doing, NO pattern, NO instructions, and NO intention of good results! I was also using a smaller hand-held staple gun…which I soon realized is not ideal for reupholstering an entire chair.

Here I am about half way:

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And here’s the finished product:

It actually turned out better than I thought it would

All in all, the entire project took me about 3 hours to complete and I only stapled my finger once!

It was a great learning experience and I’ll definitely try it again…especially now that I got a new shinny (not manual) staple gun!

My free chair was the perfect opportunity to try something new without fear of failure. And I even ended up with a new-to-us chair that looks great in our living room!

Ahhh…I love a good deal!

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I got this desk for free!

I know, it doesn’t look like anything too special just yet — but it was EXACTLY what I was looking for, and I can already picture where this desk will fit in our new farmhouse…

Plus, I never turn down free wooden furniture!

Obviously, the previous owner didn’t know much about painting — or that it was preferable to remove the hardware {and the drawers} before diving in with two different colors of paint and a VERY heavy hand.

And while I usually don’t spend the time sanding anything, this desk needed it. BAD.

There were lots of raised areas, drips, brush strokes, rough edges, etc. But nothing my little palm sander and some very coarse sandpaper couldn’t handle.

FRUGAL TIP — if you buy full sheets of sandpaper, you can cut 4 smaller rectangles that fit a standard palm sander perfectly.

So, after I removed all the drawers {and numbered them so I knew where to put them back}…

…and removed all the old hardware…

…I started sanding.

It didn’t take long to make a noticeable difference, and the result was a much smoother surface. Totally worth it!

Now for the fun part — painting!

I pulled out my very professional and expensive painting supplies and got to work.

F.Y.I. paper plates and small plastic containers work wonderfully for smaller projects like this desk

Oh, and these 4″ foam rollers are my go-to choice every time I paint furniture, cabinet doors, or anything else that needs to be really smooth.  You can pick them up at any hardware store for MUCH cheaper than the full-size rollers.

After 3 coats of Behr flat paint in Swiss Coffee, a little distressing around the edges, and new brushed chrome drawer pulls {Martha Stewart’s line at Lowes}, I have a brand new office area!

Here’s the BEFORE:

{One more time…just for kicks!}

And the AFTER:

I’d say it turned out alright!

See more in-depth painting tips here.

• Power of Paint Party at Domestically Speaking
• Just Something I whipped up Monday
• Metomorphosis Monday
• Make your Home Sing Mondays
• Making the world cuter Monday
• Making Monday Marvelous
• Market yourself Monday
• Motivate Me Monday
• The DIY Showoff Project Parade
• Tools are for women too

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