Shaker Kitchen Cabinet

One of the ladies I work with, Donna, inherited some furniture from her mother's estate, which she has no room for.  It's been cluttering up her garage, so she very kindly offered it to me.  Hmmm... free furniture.  Should I take it?  Yes, please!  I'm home alone this weekend, but I'm just hardheaded enough to figure I could handle the smallest piece on my own, so Saturday I picked this up.  Donna helped me load it in my little Honda, Zippy, but when I got it home I pulled it out and dragged it upstairs to my sunroom all by myself.  It's a solid, plain little knotty pine Shaker style cabinet that Donna's mom had made to hold her microwave and toaster oven.  I have a homeless toaster oven, so I knew I could make immediate use of it.  The finish looks really good in my photo, but it wasn't perfect and I'm sitting it next to the cherry hutch you see behind it, so I gave it a paint job to help keep things harmonious. Ok, so I'm in a white phase, I'll admit it.

Looking a bit too plain...

Ahh, that's better.

Now I need some input - I'm thinking this would look pretty darn cute with some feet and with a bit of molding around the top.  Do you think that would seem out of place?  I'm not sure, but I might have to give it a whirl and see how it looks.

Harmony City!

  I'm linking up to Met Monday at BNOTP.  Have a spectacular week!

DVD Storage Shelf

 

I'm still using up my vacation time from 2010, so I took a 4-day weekend. Note to self - 4 day weekends are awesome!  I didn't do a ton around the house, but I had a little paint project going, shown above.  I had been looking for something to set in the cabinet behind the TV to store my dvds, and nothing really worked, so my dad offered to build something for me.  I emailed him the measurements and a couple days later I picked it up, painted it, and it's perfect.

 Almost looks like it's supposed to go there, huh?

Didn't take long to fill it up, and it holds pretty much everything I have.  Well, I do have more CDs but they have a little cabinet of their own, and my LPs are down in the bottom of the cabinet.

My TV fits right in front of it and there is sufficient space to see what is back there.  I put the most frequently used things on top and the rest are easy enough to get to if I turn the TV a bit.  Yay more storage space!

Plus, I can close it!  When I picked this up, my mom gave me these little fleece slipper socks she made.  They make my feet look small so I think I'll wear them all the time.

 

Hope you are having a nice week!

Shabby Chic-ing my TV Armoire

One of the first things I did after I started my blog a couple years ago was to buy this TV armoire from Craigslist.  I loved it then and still do, but the heaviness of the furniture in my living room was starting to get to me during the long dark winter.  So I decided to paint it.

I've painted several things white so far, and while it still takes forever to do, I am getting better at it.  I invested in a power sander and using it made a big difference in my prep time.

I used Sherwin Williams "Creamy" which is a popular choice of Miss Mustard Seed.  I actually used SW "Marshmallow" on some other pieces before I ever heard of her, and it's almost the same color.  I sprayed the hardware in Krylon Oil Rubbed Bronze, and I like the contrast and patina, it's kind of a cast iron look.

I removed the doors, the inside shelves and all the hardware to paint it, and that took nearly as long to do as the painting part.  Putting it back together took even longer, but I only had 2 extra screws, so I don't suppose it's going to fall apart. I hope. :)

I did a minimal amount of distressing on it, and I intend to give it a couple coats of wax when I get around to it.  I thought about a glaze or stain, but I really like it the way it is now.

One problem is that I can't get the doors adjusted properly and they don't exactly line up.  My dad is making me a shelf for dvds to put in behind the TV, so maybe he can come by and help me out with the doors too.

Overall it really lightens up the room and looks fresh and spring-y.  I'm ready for as much spring as I can get!  I also just love to change things up from time to time. Maybe next year you will find me stripping it again (or not!)

I'm joining up with Miss Mustard Seed's Furniture Friday.  Have a great week-end!