Tray'ding Spaces

...you like that post title? I know, I'm clever.

Lately, I have been seeing laquered trays all over design magazine, blogs and catalogs.

Like these from west elm


I came across a tray that I bought a little over 10 years ago from Pier 1. It's a solid little wood tray but is dark and drab and totally not our style. I thought that maybe I could use some left over paint and make it into something new. Something pretty that could serve as a catch all for everything the hubby dumps from his pockets every evening.

I stole a couple hours during nap times and started a new project.

Here's the tray before her facelift


And that super low...obviously 10 years ago price tag from Pier 1


I spray painted the entire thing white


I couldnt decide what I wanted to do with it from there...but I knew it needed something. As I was digging around our "house stuff" shelf in our laundry room storage I found this little guy.


I bought this originally intending for it to be the color of our guest bathroom. All the boys in our house objected. Suprised? Yeah, me niether.

Anyway, here's the tray after the first coat. First coats of paint always look like crap. Thats normally how you know your doing a good first coat. It's kind of thin, uneven and not cute by anyones standards. Oh, and as you can see...I didnt even bother using another paint brush. I just used the one right out of the bottle. Super easy.





Then the second and final coat. She's all done!



And here she is in her new home...




The best thing about this whole project...was that it was free! Gotta love free!

Getting Undressed

...this has little to do with actually getting naked. But does have everything to do with nudity. My nude dresser that is.

I have had this dresser for almost 10 years and its in amazing condition. There are a lot of knicks, scratches and even chunks of wood that have chipped off, but it creates a certain character that you can only get with real wood furniture and with all the faux wood furniture out there, you have got to respect a little character. She's pretty much perfect. But the color? Oh the color was killing me! It wasnt a bad finish or a bad stain but the color was not working for our bedroom at all. We needed something sexier. Something a little more modern and a little younger. I thought white would be perfect with super modern hardware to tie in the other modern elements in our little love nest.

Here's the befores...



...and a courtesy before shot with my little helper



and now...my new dresser, all jazzed up



...and a close up of the hardware



How'd I do it? It was ridiculously easy.
1. Undress this pretty little thing. Take all the hardware off. Simple enough.
2. Use wood putty to fill in the holes were the old hardware used to be.
3. Very lightly sand the entire piece. This piece didnt take much sanding because it only had a very light stain. Anything shiny or with any kind of gloss would need MUCH more sanding.
4. Give her a bath. I took an old wash cloth and wiped down the entire thing. It helps clean up all the dust from sanding so your paint goes on smoothly.
5. Paint! I used a simple straight off the rack white paint in a satin finish. If your prego like me I suggest a low VOC paint, a room with lots of windows and a mask. Just to be safe.
6. Add new hardware. Measure and line it up. Drill the holes and screw in the new pieces. Easy peasy!

AND it was super cheap.
I literally paid...
$12 paint
$9 brush
$0 sandpaper (already had on hand)
$17 hardware
$38 TOTAL!

The makeover was super simple, super cheap and changed the entire look of our bedroom. With a piece this big we needed something that would pull everything together and I think this did it. High paint brush fives!

Renovation Inspiration

I bought my house from a family member during the ARM (adjustable rate mortgage) boom that caused so many families to foreclose a couple years ago. My intentions were to help save this persons credit and then to somehow slip out of the loan. My 21 year old understanding of mortgages obviously wasnt very strong, because, well...duh? You cant slip out of a mortgage. Now, here I am doing my best to turn lemons into lemonade. I am going to renovate this house and make it shine.

First on my list of renovations is the bedroom. I'm going for glam, fun, sexy. Very Jonathan Adler. Somewhere where I can take my spaghetti covered mom clothes off and wind down in pretty pajamas with my love.

Ready to be inspired?






Images from Jonathan Adler

The thing I LOVE about all of these rooms is how fun they are, but are still chic, sexy and super glamorous.




Images courtesy of Design Sponge Sneak Peak of Amie Corley's house

Bedroom TO DO list:

1. Make DIY nailhead headboard
2. Find a beautiful old louis chair and reupholster in FUN fabric
3. Paint dresser white
4. Buy a BIG fluffy flokati rug
5. Hang curtains on windows
6. Hang mirrored closet doors
7. Spray paint old brass chandelier and hang

Before and Afters to come!