Chandeliers, dresser, paint, dresser, bedroom, chandelierrrrrrs!

Define Obsession:

ob·ses·sion [ əb sésh'n ]

1. preoccupation: an idea or feeling that completely occupies the mind
2. uncontrollable persistence of idea: the uncontrollable persistence of an idea or emotion in the mind, sometimes associated with psychiatric disorder

As I was reading the definition of obsession, there I was nodding my head in complete aggreement until the words "Sometimes associated with psychiatric disorder" came up, O_o.. Er.. nope. Nuh uh... not me. Every thing else though.. is true. Hahah, poor Mike.

A few things have been consuming my mind, chandeliers, dresser, paint, dresser, bedroom, chandelierrrrrrs. (Have you heard the chandelier song? It's right over there <---- Her voice though!) Paint dresser, paint bedroom, find chandelier. As I kinda mentioned last week, the living room was our first obsession, *cough* project. I've gotten it to the point where it doesn't make me cringe every time Im there. I plan on sharing the progress on the living room next week. By progress, I mean, I cringe a lot less :)



The bedroom situation is a serious hot mess and my obsession with it has officially overwhelmed me and it needs to be dealt with. The closet is so awkward, it's really long, but you can hardly get to the clothes on either side because the opening is so small. You end up with a ton of wasted space. Both of the bedrooms house identical closets and we dont have a dresser. Therefore my clothes reside in the small bedroom closet accompanied by my shoes. We contemplated making the small room into my "walk-in" closet but, I rather be more productive with the space. Hot mess indeed, our socks are even just hanging out in a hamper. I know, I know, very creative.

Ziggy bomb!

We've contemplated opening up the closet and making the insides more accessible. But, when we thought about it, the original oak floor ended up being an issue. Where we take out some wall, flooring would need to be replaced. Anyone have 2 inch oak floor boards?

The sad hamper/dog bed corner

Our immediate solution was to get a dresser, so to Ikea we went.. and I liked none of them. My way of buying things is it has to speak to me. Have you ever seen the Pier 1 commercials? They're a must see, just click me! (Hey! that rhymed.)

After a few days of searching I found this dresser!

"Helllllo, arent I so pretty?"

It certainly needs lots of lovin' but, cant you hear it speaking to you? When I first saw it, it said "Buy me, buy me, before someone else does!" It's wish was granted. We got it a few weeks ago and I'm just now finding time to work on it. I'll keep you updated on its progress! Pinky swear.

Before I end this enlightening post I must share with you guys (what I think is) an awesome find! A bunch of Chandys that wont break the bank. Now that's rare huh?

Let me introduce to you the Chandy family.
They all reside at Lighting direct dot com

What a stunner! She's only $83.69

This simple beauty is $97.98

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the melting candles 

but, it's very glitz and at $87.77?

And how about this delicate Chandy? The most affordable one coming in at $61.15

I think the stunner at the top would be perfect partnered with our dresser, which will be mint green soon enough! Toggle between the two pictures, do you see it? 

Well friends its been great but that dresser wont paint itself! Sorry I'm a week behind hopefully it was worth the wait. :)

xo Breia

Chandelier

July 25th: The day our family grew.

We closed on our house a couple of weeks ago and learned a lot, apparently the little rose bush in the back is original to the home. A 61 year old rose bush? Who would've thought? The backyard is also full of raspberry bushes and grape vines! It's a new adventure every time we're outside.

The day we closed we immediately went over to the house prepared to start cleaning. We were greeted by my family who made it there first. :)

I had mentioned to my sister awhile ago that Id love some "new home" pictures. I haven't seen very many people do it but of course my dear friend Pinterest introduced me to the idea.

My talented sister was more than willing to capture a few wonderful moments for us. I'll just let the photos speak for themselves :)

We absolutely love our new home and our pictures! I know many are itching to see the inside, don't worry friends i'll show you soon. We have been keeping super busy with tons of projects, I plan on keeping everyone posted on our progress with our humble abode through the blogosphere! :D

xo Breia

If you want to see more amazing photos check out Alyssa Rei Photography, riiiight.... here

The Washboard Story

Once upon a time, there was a very sad looking washboard that was abandoned by it's owners who moved to Colorado. No one else wanted this old, dirty washboard, so he was placed in the "to be thrown" pile. The poor guy felt dejected sitting there in my mother-in-law's garage. I'm sure he was once loved. Little did he know that when I found him, he'd be loved again and oh boy do I love him!

 

 

When I found him in the garage he was so dirty I didn't realize there were any words!

I gave him a bath before I took a picture. You may just have to trust me when I say, it was dirty.

"Bonafide Brass"
 

After giving it a bath I took it apart and started sanding it. , I don't have any pictures of that. Its not the fun part to see anyways. When I was done sanding it I knew I wanted to restore it to its former glory and staining it would be the best option.

Since I got it for free I didn't exactly want to spend a whole lot on it. Frugal, I am. I searched my Dad's garage and found some Polyshades, (as you can tell by the rust, its been around for awhile). I'll let you know right away this stuff is sticky and isn't like a normal stain. It has polyurthane in it which also gives it a little bit of shine.You can find it here at home depot, they have all sorts of colors. 

 

Early on I knew I wanted the washboard to be useful and had decided that it would make the perfect shelf! My Dad and I once again went out and perused the garage, we found some spare wood and he helped me fashion a shelf.  

 

I'm sure it's a known fact that every project has a few bumps along the way, this one did not disppoint. The wood we used for the shelf, though wonderfully repurposed was a different kind and the stain color was way off. Before we set off to the store Mike and my Dad thought using different oils would darken it up. Haha trust me when I say, it didn't work. Valiant effort though boys. We caved and bought some MinWax Dark Walnut for the shelf. Before we stained it we used my Great Grandpa's old school wood plainer to rough it up a little.

 

 

 

The metal sheet of the washboard proved to be a problem when we were trying to put it back in. It was too big. Originally it was assembled in a way that the wood pieces were built around the metal piece. 

 

 

 Mike ended up using a dremel to cut it down. Each bit by bit we cut we checked to see how it was fitting. After a few cuts it slid in with minimal effort. Hooray!

  

 

After the staining the words were hardly visible. I hand painted the words using regular acrylic paint and a very tiny detailing brush. (The words were my favorite part from the beginning)

Tada!



 

I'll be using this shelf in the guest bedroom in our new house and much preferred a silver over the gold. Good ol' spray paint made it happen. I left one side gold in case one day I get a little crazy and change my mind ;)

 

 

The End

xo Breia

 

**Stay tuned to see where Mr. Washboard will live. We aren't starting on the guest room for awhile. The living room is our first project.