The Dresser Transformation

Two weeks ago I shared our plans for the dresser for the baby's nursery. For those of you who are not familiar with it, we will be repurposing the red dresser that previously resided in our old guest room.

 
To read the whole back story on the red dresser, you can find it here. The red dresser had a good run, and served it's purpose well. However, when we found out we had a little peanut on the way we decided the dresser would no longer hold my clothing, but would be given a new life and provide baby item storage, as well as a nice big surface for diaper changing.


After finally getting the room primed and painted white (which turned out to be a long drawn out task), we were finally ready to tackle the dresser (I'm dying to wash and put away the adorable tiny clothes we already have. However, priming and painting was not the only thing we had on our to-do list for this dresser. On top of changing the colour, there were a lot of fixes that needed to happen to make this dresser completely functional for baby.

- On the back of the dresser was some peg board someone had nailed on somewhere along the line, and we knew it would finally have to be replaced
- Most of the drawers were separating leaving gaps at the back, and one even worked as a "trick drawer". Every time I opened it I found only the drawer frame sliding forward, while the bottom of it more or less stayed put...

That would be the trusty old trick drawer pictured above, and you can even see the peg board backing on the dresser in the background. Solid piece of furniture, just needed some more TLC than we gave it the first time around.

As you can see from that same picture, the inside of the drawers were looking a little less than stellar as well. My plan was to paint the sides white and line the bottom of the drawers with some vintage wallpaper I had purchased last fall and had laying around. Yes, baby's dresser was going to be spectacular. With the whole plan laid out, B and I set to work priming...

(Yes, the whole project was completed indoors with open windows. It was not worth trying to manuever that beast down our awkward narrow staircase one more time. Plus, I think having it laid out in the nursery really motivated us to get moving). On Good Friday, while B and my Father were outside beautifying the exterior of our home, my Mom and I spent some time inside discussing the nursery plans (I've enlisted her to help me with a couple of projects). As we chatted, the first coat of turquoise went on and it was L-O-V-E! I must say once again, B deserves some serious recognition for picking out this colour... so proud of him!

I spent Friday night at my parents, and on Saturday before he drove out for Easter dinner, B got the second coat of turquoise on the dresser, and the first coat on the drawers. By end of day Easter Sunday, the dresser and drawers were pretty much done being painted (we just needed one more coat of white on the inside of the drawers), and the top of the dresser was sealed with a water based poly (care of B, while I was baking up some goodies for my last class).

Okay... so there's a little dresser sneak peak for you in the background. Gorgeous right? Want a little more of a look at that fabulous colour (It's a CIL colour by the way... called Thai Teal)? Well, two Sunday's ago B also managed to get that old peg board backing off, a new backing on and all of the drawers nailed and glued up to eliminate the trick drawer factor.

Once everything was all fixed up, our next step was to pretty up the inside of those drawers. They seemed to have some sort of dark red spray paint on some of them. I decided to use what we had, and line them with some wallpaper I had picked up on a thrifting trip last fall (I knew it would come in handy at SOME point!).

Our first step was to measure each drawer (there was a good chance the sizes could be different), and then mark up and cut our wallpaper...

Once all four pieces of wallpaper were trimmed, we headed outside with our trusty spray adhesive and got to work. It was no easy task trying to line those pieces of paper up perfectly inside of the drawers, but all things considered I think we did a pretty fantastic job. Only in a few parts can you spy some of the drawer underneath, which isn't even a big deal since we let white paint get on the bottom of the drawers while painting for this very reason. Also, let's be real here... most of the time the paper will be covered by cute, tiny baby clothes, so you'll really only catch glimpses of this gorgeous lining...

We let the drawers dry while B watched the Bruins eliminate the Habs in Game 7 of the first round of playoffs. He was pretty pumped after that, and had the energy to head back upstairs to apply the final coat of poly to the top of our dresser, as well as to the inside of the drawers (We wanted to make sure that pretty paper was protected from any potential spills / leaks in the future).

The final step was getting those beautiful rose bud knobs from Anthro onto the drawers and... finally my lovely readers, we have an after. But let's take a quick glimpse at what this beauty looked like when we first saved her from the dumpster area behind our first apartment two years ago...

And here she is today, looking all pretty and ready to hold some adorably tiny baby clothes for our little peanut...

There you have it! FINALLY, a finished dresser... and you know what a finished dresser means? It means time to finally start pulling the nursery together! More fun stuff to come!

What did you get up to this past weekend? Finish any fun projects? Enjoy some lovely weather?

Fancy Friday Love

April 29th! What an exciting day. I'm sure there were at least a few of you in the same boat as me, up a little early today to watch the Royal Wedding. Also exciting that May is just around the corner. I am kind of wishing time would slow down a little... still lots of prepping for baby's arrival that we need to get done. In the meantime, here's some fancy stuff from this past week...

Loved these DIY greeting cards from The Sweetest Occasion! There is nothing better than receiving a beautiful hand made card for a special occasion - talk about thoughtful... and beautiful!

How gorgeous, but simple, is this fabulous aqua and orange baby shower from Lovely Little Details. So sweet and feminine! You must check out all of the beautiful detail photographs over on the blog.

This is one awesome tutorial from Sarah on how to make a Book Mobile (she got her inspiration from this etsy shop). How incredible is that?

I found out about Coffee Joulies on Pinterest the other day... seriously cool! Must get once they are available!

Did you see the fabulous mobile home transformation that Renee shared on Tuesday? An RV transformed into a mobile "pop-up" shop for the Guelph boutique "Blush". How gorgeous and girly is this?

Mother's Day is coming up FAST! This cute little mother's day gift idea posted on little lovely this week made me smile. I'm so looking forward to being a Mommy myself...

As for us, we have a wedding to attend tomorrow. Other than that, I have plans of finally starting to get baby's room together. Cleaning that carpet and putting together the crib are high priority! Get ready for the dresser reveal next week as well. B and I finally got her all finished and she is looking mighty gorgeous in baby's bright white nursery! I hope that you all enjoy your weekend! Catch you on Monday!

Dream Home - A Castle in Portugal

This week's dream home is taking us away to Portugal... to a castle... dating to the 17th century. It blew my mind the minute I saw it and knew I had to share it. The price is available upon request, and you can find the listing from Sotheby's Realty right here.

Check this beauty out...

And the area surrounding it? Obviously just as stunning...

Are you loving it yet? If not, maybe the bare bones interior will sell you. I just think that these rooms have so much potential (they are pretty spectacular just the way they are...)

Love those floors, and the fireplaces! How about the ceilings and doors in that second room? Taking my breath away, seriously!

Or how about the windows here?...

I'm thinking that room would make a fabulous dining room! On gorgeous days you could open those doors in the middle and let the fresh air and sunshine (or sunset) flood in!

Did I mention that it comes with it's own chapel?

Yes... you're very own chapel... with stunning stained glass windows and those fabulous paintings on the wall. Unbelievable.

The details will just absolutely blow you away, like the details below from one of the castle's many fireplaces...

I could love a place like this. Imagine calling this your home (just don't try to imagine any of the bills that would come with a place like this). Just think about the history and the beauty of the place.

What do you think? Is a historical casa such as this something you'd like to escape to, or are you into something a little more new and modern? Where do you dream of laying your roots or running off to for a sweet escape? Shoot me an email or leave me a comment, and I'd be more than happy to search out your perfect dream home (or escape)!

Project Siding - Finally Complete!

Is it truly Monday again already?... and already the last Monday of April? Long weekends really do go by too fast, don't they? I don't know about where you were, but in our neck of the woods this weekend the weather was absolutely gorgeous, which meant B was finally able to get back outside and finish up our siding.

It's been so long since the day that we first ripped down the original front entrance of our home. You may remember that back in February we revealed the make over of the interior, but at the time the exterior still needed some work... mainly the siding was not yet complete. Yes, our home stood throughout the winter without all of the siding on, but we're happy to say our home is looking a little more complete after this past weekend after B and my father put in a hard day's work on Friday.

You may remember that last fall, our front entrance looked like this before it was ripped down...

Yes, not quite the vision of our dream home... a huge part of the reason we knew we had to renovate. By mid December, the exterior of our home was looking like this...

The only catch was that two of the three exterior walls (the two not visible, obviously) did not yet have siding up. Then last month, B got back to work on it before we got hit with another block of un-cooperative weather. Finally, this Friday B and my father were able to fit in a long hard day of work...

And we're so thrilled with how great our home looks now...

Looking better, but of course there is still no shortage of work left to be done out there, so we'll hold off on the big "after" reveal. The next biggest projects we plan to tackle out here are painting the red siding, our deck railing and the front door, as well as finally finding the right house number to fill the huge empty space to the left of our window. I guess we'll take down the Christmas lights at some point as well.

What did you get up to this fine long, Easter weekend?

Fancy Friday Love

Happy Good Friday! I'm so looking forward to this long weekend. Hopefully the spring weather will stick around. To try and conjure up some of that sunny, warm weather I've got some really seasonal fancy finds from this past week....

I LOVE when Kelley Moore shares her table settings (and all other events) on her blog. Last week she shared a kids table for Easter, based on the Dr. Seuss classic, Green Eggs and Ham. Every detail is perfect and so incredibly fun...

Shannon acquired these fantastic goblets and put them to good use for a dinner party. Absolutely love the shape of them, and they look gorgeous with hydrangeas in them...

Did you see all of the details of the 2nd birthday party that Jennifer threw for her little one? Her theme was "Little Bug Picnic" and she nailed every single detail of the day! See all of the pictures over here...

We all know how talented Lindsay is when it comes to decorating her home and creating beautiful prints for her business. This past week she shared this great little Easter project she completed in an afternoon. Rocks as colourful "easter eggs"! So smart and look so great!

Nicole finally gave us a real look at her gorgeous laundry room this past week! I love how their red washer and dryer pop in the space! I believe that nice clean, bright rooms make laundry a lot less of a chore...

We all saw it, and I'm sure we all loved it! The Console that John and Sherry DIY'd for behind Karl turned out fabulous! I especially love the idea they came up with for hidden storage!



After the first time they posted about this project, I mentioned to B that building a small console table for behind out basement couch is exactly what we need for placing drinks, a lamp, etc. We'll see if / when that happens...

Yesterday, one of my new blog reads, Ginger Flinch shared some Easter decorating ideas from Martha Stewart. My favorite had to be these awesome Daffodil Candy Cups! Great for kids or just place cards for Easter Brunch. Aren't they adorable?



OH... and how could I possibly forget to mention how excited I was to win an awesome giveaway from Janice? What was it? This beautiful faucet exactly like the one she just put in her basement bathroom (you have been following their basement reno... right?)

Big huge thanks to Janice, Delta Faucets and Beige is Dead for this fabulous prize! I'm looking forward to getting our reno on in the upstairs bathroom!

Our plans for this weekend? Today we just plan on sticking close to home. I think B would like to work outside (if weather permits) and I plan to make more progress on that dresser! Other than that, lots of time with family and friends... oh, and we may or may not purchase our new car as well. Very much looking forward to that! Whatever you're doing this long weekend, I hope it's as fabulous as all of you are! 

The Final Product

As I have mentioned more times than I am sure any of you cared to read about, I've spent the majority of my time over the last couple of weeks finishing up my final project. Monday night I headed to class with my two giant boards in hand, and a binder full of client questionnaires, a design concept statement, finishes and furniture schedules and all kinds of other fun stuff, and presented my final concept and space plan.

Since I already shared some of my inspiration photos with you the other week, I thought it would only be appropriate for me to share with you my final work.

Everyone in the class was given the same floor plan and we were given permission to remove and change interior walls as needed. Exterior walls were not to be changed. Here's what I came up with...

Please be kind... with the exception of the walls, I was drawing everything by hand. No fancy computer programs for me.

So what you're seeing is what B's dream home would look like if he were a bachelor. The double doors in the centre of the plan are the entrance. Everything to the right are the social spaces in the home, while the left portion of the home contains the private spaces. Let's start with the social spaces, shall we?

B wanted an open concept that was suitable for entertaining large numbers of guests... every weekend. He didn't require formal dining, but wanted special feeding stations for his two dogs. He also asked for somewhere to display his sports awards, memorabilia and professional recognitions, along with a large TV that would be visible to  the entire open plan entertaining space...

I removed all of the walls, and pushed the kitchen from it's original location in the middle, to where the formal dining area once existed. This gives him a ton of space to cook and still interact with his guests. At the bottom of the kitchen, there is a small bar area with a sink and under counter double "beverage" refrigerator.

The seating area located in the bay window also doubles as the dog's feeding station. Drawers underneath pull out and contain the dogs water and feeding dishes, and cupboards on either end act as storage for leashes, treats, dog food etc.

Since B didn't require formal dining, we decided to go with a Fushion Table just off the kitchen area which I am sure, would mostly be a pool table, but could also become a dining table when necessary (or a great place to just hang out with friends and play cards, etc). The far right is a seating area, where we placed the Fulham Leather L Sectional, a Leather Copenhagen Chair and a Brickmaker's Table, all from Restoration Hardware. The TV would be mounted over the fireplace, and all along the walls we installed built-in bookcases for B to display his collections. He loved that the TV over the fireplace would make for easy viewing right into the kitchen. Mission accomplished.

The other room considered part of his social space was the "Smoking Lounge" (again, B is not a smoker... I guess if he was a bachelor he would just enjoy cigars with his buddies).

I kept the layout pretty simple in here. Two humidors on either side the doorway, two Leather Copenhagen Chairs, a basic Fulham Leather Sofa and the Rotunda Coffee Table from Anthropologie.

All of the flooring through the social spaces was natural stone (12 x 24 tiles) with in floor heating. I wanted to use something durable that would stand up to the abuse of the guest's he would be entertaining, as well as two dogs. B was pleased.

Then there are the private spaces...

One of the additional bedrooms became B's home gym, while the second was transformed into a guest suite with it's own small seating area and TV, as well as access to the home's second full bathroom.

B's master retreat (at the top), is where I used two Industrial Tool Chest's as nightstand's on either side of the bed, and the Industrial Tool Chest Console was placed by the foot of the bed to hold his TV, and act as additional storage.

His master bath had double sinks, a separate water closet and a huge steam shower... Lucky boy.

My final concept board looked like this...

There you have it... my final project. I'll know on Monday how I did, but I felt pretty good about it - this being my first crack at interviewing a client and designing an entire home. Definitely a learning experience, and I for sure need to practice my rendering skills.

But that's it! I'm off until September, so I hope to have more time to share nursery progress and other home projects that I plan to take care of in the next few months! We're busy bees over here!