Home Improvement

One of the best things about OWNING as opposed to RENTING is that I can do whatever I want, whenever I want, to whatever I want.  I cannot tell you what satisfaction it gives me to vaccuum at 1:30 in the morning, or to visit the paint counter with actual intent to buy.

With that said, I have some more things to show off.

It came with all its drawers and hardware; I forgot to take a picture before I'd started improvements.

I bought this dresser from a Craigslist seller for $25. When my mom and I went to pick it up, she told me not to buy it. It wasn't in the best condition, I admit, but I had a plan.

My $25 Craigslist dresser has become my totally unique dining room buffet. Some primer and a couple of coats of paint went a long way to making it more attractive. The insets are scrapbook pages cut to a template and glued to the drawers, and the formerly yellow brass handles are spray-painted with Oil-Rubbed Bronze (my go-to metallic).


NEXT!

I had to sand that spray paint off. It was offensive.

This lamp, with a shade (I used it on the other lamp), set me back a cool 15 bucks at a thrift store. You can see it has some of the same ugly green as my other lamp, but what you can't see is that, underneath that orange spray paint (that's my doing, by the way, because I started painting before I remembered to take a picture) is some kind of floral fantasy that was somebody else's bad idea.


When the orange spray paint didn't work out, I had to set this project aside for a while because I couldn't find the right color. I knew I wanted something in the orangey family, though.

This is craft paint. CRAFT PAINT. I bought it for, like, $1.99 at Hobby Lobby. The metal parts are Oil-Rubbed Bronze (yes, again), and I picked up the shade at the same Brunswick thrift store for three whole dollars.

Oh, and this is another re-wiring job, and I totally did not electrocute myself.

Here they are in my dining room.

Actually, the ONLY furniture currently in my dining room.

NEXT!


My backyard is fenced, but the yard kind of slopes downward, so I have a pretty good view into my neighbors' kitchen, and they can see into mine.  This just will not do.  

I bought some glazing spray paint, but I didn't want to just spray the door all willy-nilly; I thought that would be boring, and I didn't really want to worry about even coverage, because I knew that would probably be beyond my ability.  So I taped a random, abstract-ish design onto the door, then went to town with that glaze.

It stunk pretty badly, and I had to lock the cats in my bedroom.  Fortunately, it was a nice day in February when I did this, so it dried quickly and the house got an airing to boot.

There is still some visibility, so sunlight can get through, and the stripes make just enough of a pattern to be interesting, but not distracting.  I am so proud of myself for having had this idea.

NEXT!

I HAVE A WHOLE ROOM JUST FOR BOOKS.

And it is CLASSY.

 This is the only room in the house that has been painted.  My mom did most of the painting, as I was having some shoulder issues at the time.  I did pick the paint color, though.

The walls are lined with bookshelves, and each of them has a theme:

1.  Books I have not read yet
2.  Books for school (an entire bookshelf!  I am disgusted!)
3.  Antique books/Anne books/Little House Books/Betsy-Tacy books
4.  General fiction
5.  Young adult
6.  Non-fiction
7.  Classics/empty shelves

I was so disappointed about those empty shelves, until I remembered that I'd taken about 120 books to the used book store.  Yeah, the credit I got there lasted all of three months.  I'd also taken three large bags of books to the Goodwill bookstore, where I will probably forget I once owned them and buy them back eventually.

Walter doesn't like being left out of anything.

I knew exactly what I was looking for when it came to library seating, and it was difficult finding a chaise.  Everything I'd seen in furniture stores was huge and clunky.  I wanted a Victorian-style fainting couch, so I could practice being a damsel in distress if I wanted to.  Fortunately, this beauty showed up on Craigslist.  I had to drive all the way to Mississippi to get it, but it was totally worth it.

More improvements to come--I may or may not have bought out Lowes' entire paint department.