Laminate Bookcase Makeover-Part 2

So, way back when, I posted the first laminate bookcase that I gave a makeover to. Then it took me several months to get around to doing a post about the second bookcase's new look. I think it's because I like how the taller bookcase is decorated and accessorized better. This one is a bit too cluttered compared to the first one, but it is useful for storage purposes. Here she is hanging out in a corner of our master bedroom.

This bookcase had the same paint treatment as the first one. Some primer followed by a coat of Behr's Pot of Cream paint in semi-gloss. I had to whack the shelves in place with a hammer because they were so tight fitting back into the bookcase after the layers of paint were added.

I also added the same moulding around the top using my nail gun friend.

I found some pretty damask wrapping paper at Hallmark to add to the back of the inside. I love the blue and brown colors together.

I decided to use the bottom shelf to hold my scrapbook albums. I wished that they matched a little better because all the colors look a bit chaotic together. I thought about doing a little curtain in front like I did for the taller bookcase, but the scrapbooks stick out too far outside the shelves for that to work. I also added a couple picture frames and some candles to fill in the shelves.

Over the bookcase, I decided to hang this shadowbox I bought at Marshall's for $12.99. The front of it has a handly little door that you can pull open to easily get to the inside. I figured it would make a nice place to hang and display some of my jewelry using the pearl pins that were included with the box to hang the necklaces and earrings on.

The door keeps my necklaces  safe away from Emma's little paws. She looooves to chase after my necklaces. In face, she even comes running as soon as she hears my jewelry box or the shadowbox door open and tries to grab the necklaces out of my hand.

I added a scrap of beadboard to cover the top of the bookcase. This also helped hide the gap between the edge of the top of the bookcase and the inside edge of the trim around the top.

A reminder of how the bookcase looked before in all her light oak glory holding books in my craftroom/workout room/storage area/room in progress:

And now:

Burlington Coat (And Home Decor!) Factory

I had not visited our local Burlington Coat Factory store in probably 10 years. That is until I saw Centsational Girl's post on all the wonderful home decor goodies she had discovered there. I was especially drooling over the variety of Waverly accessories in a lovely blue and white pattern. The colors were just too perfect for my craftroom makeover in progress that includes this spruced up laminate bookcase.

While I didn't find quite the variety of fun accessories that Centsational girl found at her local store, I did manage to snag a few cute deals.

The first thing I grabbed was this lovely, fabric storage box. I can never have too many storage boxes and the price was perfect at just $6.

I resisted all the other blue and white boxes, artwork, mirrors, and curtains. I did pick up one of these plastic bowls though for a whopping $1.49. It looks a bit green in this photo, but it is more blue in person.

My final Burlington find was this pretty blue glass vase or candleholder. It was on clearance for just $2.48 and I had to stop myself from picking up several. They also were available in a green and brown color.

All together I spent $10.74 including tax. Not bad for a shopping bag full of cheerful accessories.

Through the Lens

I posted the other day about how I recently purchased a used Canon xTi camera. I had also spent $100 on a 50 mm f1.8 lens. I love that little lens and it takes amazingly sharp photos for the price. However, it is a fixed lens. That means there is no zoom so 50 mm(or 85 mm on my cropped sensor camera) is all you get. I wanted another lens that would give me a good wide angle as well as a moderate telephoto zoom. Basically, a decent all around lens. After spending a few weeks researching my options on my very limited budget (lenses are super expensive!) I decided on the Canon 18-135 mm IS lens.

That lens happened to be sitting on my doorstep today.

I'm already loving this guy and have been going crazy snapping photos around the house. I'm super excited about the fact that I can now photograph entire rooms of my house because of the wide angle end of the lens.

I think that is the best photo I have ever taken of my living room. This super, little all around lens will come in quite handy as I document the many projects I have in the works. It will also help when I call on the assistance of all you readers out there to help me pick out paint colors, curtains, and even flooring. I can be a wee bit indecisive at times. Or all the time. =)

Kitchen Projects-Part 1

So for awhile I've been trying to be patient and not do anything to my kitchen cabinets until we replace the countertops. We are planning to do that sometime this year. I wanted to wait until we had the new countertops installed before going ahead with painting my orangey-oakey-boringey-me-no-likey cabinets. That way, I would have the counters to match different paint colors chips to and select the right tone and shade of paint. This is important because I'm probably going to be brave and paint the upper cabinets and lower cabinets two different colors.

However, I was off work the other day and I just couldn't take it anymore. My plain, unadorned cabinets needed something, anything to spruce them up. So I made a trip to Home Depot and $50 later I came home with some oil-rubbed bronze knobs and pulls for my cabinets. (One good thing about having a small kitchen, buying knobs is cheap when you don't need very many.)

After a couple hours of drilling and going back to Home Depot for longer screws, here is a peek at my cabinets now. These knobs were cheapies at $1.50 each.

The pulls were a bit pricier at almost $4 each. Good thing I only have four drawers in my kitchen. Well, it's only a good thing because it saved me money in this instance.

Mr.Delightful Dwelling came home from work just as I was finishing up. There was wood dust everywhere because I had to drill all the holes for the hardware since our cabinets never had any. He asked "What in the world did you do to make such a mess?!" He was totally oblivious to the new cabinet knobs, he just noticed all the dust everywhere. Men. As long as he lets me do what I want to the kitchen, I can't complain too much when he doesn't notice what I've done.

I can't show off the whole kitchen just yet without revealing my next mini-makeover project. I have a new wide angle camera lens ordered and on its way. Then I can get some good shots of the whole room to share.

Mirror Makeover

Ok, first off I'm sorry that I disappeared for a gazillion years in blogging time. If you are reading this, thanks for not totally forgetting about me! I have so many projects to share and some major changes planned for the upcoming months.

Let's start out with a super easy makeover. I found this gold mirror at a thrift store. I love the scrollwork of the frame, but wasn't so thrilled with the gold color.

Enter spraypaint of course. I used a black metallic Rustoleum paint. I sprayed on a light coat so some of the gold pops through. The scrolled edges of the frame made it a pain to tape paper over the mirror. I managed to only get a bit of paint to seep through which I was able to scrape off using a fingernail. Here is how she looks with her new paint job.

I decided the perfect place for the mirror was by our front door. I'm keeping an eye out for a small console type table to put under the mirror. Or I could add a shelf instead. I have a big project planned for this wall though that will have to come first before I make a final decision. (Hint, think board-and-batten.)

Too Many Projects, So Little Time

I didn't mean to drop out of blogland for so long again. I've been so busy working frantically on several projects around the house. We are planning on hosting a BBQ on Saturday and with up to 20 people showing up at our house, I've been very motivated to wrap up all the little changes around the house I have been putting off. I have three big kitchen changes to reveal, my second laminate bookcase makeover to show off, and a few simple makeovers to share. I'll try not to leave you hanging too long!

I also recently purchased a used Canon DSLR camera so I will have much clearer and brighter photos to share. I'm amazed at how sharp my photos are compared to my point and shoot camera, especially indoors where the lighting is always an issue.

In the meantime, here are some photos to share that I have taken around the house with my new-to-me camera and 50 mm f1.8 lens (the nifty fifty lens, what a bargain!) I'm still learning all the tricks to getting great photos, but the learning process is so fun.

A Custom Plant Bench

I posted a few weeks ago about this custom shoe bench we built using Ana's plans from Knock Off Wood. Since it hasn't fallen apart yet, we trusted our carpentry skills enough to construct another bench.

So it was time for some more compressor power with my newest BFF, the wonderfuly delightful nail gun.

Within 20 minutes we were the proud new owners of this bench. You can see the plans for this bench on Knock Off Wood here. We did modify the plans slightly by not notching out the legs on the sides. We were feeling a bit lazy even though we have a jigsaw.

I gave it a couple coats of paint and primer (Behr Touch of Cream) and brought my new bench inside. It was just the right size to fit in our kitchen bay window. I needed something to put my ever growing plant collection on and this bench was the perfect construction project for the job.

Of course like any project, it's not perfect. It's so hard to find lumber at the big box store that is not warped or has tons of knots. We didn't nail one of the legs on very straight. The bench even wobbles back and forth if you try to sit on it. However, I still love that we built it ourselves and it works perfect as a place for my mini indoor garden.

Now if only this photo didn't remind me that I need to replace or repaint that vent cover. It really sticks out against the white!