mini makeover VIII - cherry tree branches

This is actually a double makeover, first we cut the cherry tree in the front of the house as it was growing way out of control and getting too close to the overhead wires. When it was time to bag all the cut branches I had the idea to bring a few inside and put them in a vase. To make it a little bit more christmassy (is that a word?) I added some fabric mushrooms I bought at Ikea a couple of years back. I thought they were super cute in the store but then they got stuffed into a drawer and never saw the light of day again until now. Still think they are cute, now I just need them to face in the right direction, I want to see their dots in the front ;) Are your homes ready for the holidays or are you not decorating this year?

Have a great weekend and stay warm!

mini makeover Vll - dresser

Drum roll please! I finally finished the dresser I acquired on Craig's List, mind you that this whole process took over two years, this makeover was anything but mini in the end. When I first saw the dresser online my  idea was to quickly paint it another color but when it arrived I was intrigued what kind of finish might be lurking under all that paint. I whipped out my trusty stripper to strip a small corner of the dresser, lo and behold I discovered nice dark wood veneer. This motivated me to strip the whole dresser. Once I had most of the dresser stripped I started sanding the already stripped parts for what felt like an eternity, so I took a break from working on it. At that point I did not think that the break would be two years long but that is how long it took for me to get back around to this project. First thing on my to-do list after the break was scraping out paint residue from the grooves in the drawer fronts, I used wooden skewers for this because I did not want to damage the veneer, not the most fun job I can tell you. After that it took me another three weekends to finish sanding, my hand felt like it would be permanently stuck in the position of clinging to the electric sander. Once I deemed the dresser ready for some staining and oiling, the finish line was near. I stained the dresser on a Sunday and oiled it the following week while watching TV in the evening. Oh, I should not forget to mention the hard work that went into polishing the 12 brass pulls. All in all I am very pleased how the dresser turned out but the process of getting there was not fun at all. Now our TV finally has a nice piece of furniture to sit on, if only I could hide the cables, the DVD player and cable box. In my eyes they ruin the whole look but I did not want to get rid of the items for the photos, as they are there in real life and hard to hide. 

Have you ever dragged on a project as long as I did? I have to admit I have another piece of furniture that has been waiting for years to be finished, most parts are already sanded and only need to be painted. I swear this will be finished this year as well.

mini makeover Vl - spray painted lamp base

I know you are waiting for the photos of the finished dresser, I did take a bunch last weekend but there were so many of them that I was not able to make a decision which ones to include in the post yet. Instead I am showing you a table lamp I bought at an estate sale a while back, which was pretty much picked clean because it was the last day of the sale. One of the few items left was the lamp base, it didn't look like much and I was able to get it for a couple of dollars. The metal parts were in rough condition but I really liked the white glass pieces and thought a bit of spray paint could take care of the rest. I still had black satin spray paint on hand and got right to work, not really taking good before pictures, just some I snapped with my phone so I could look at them for reference when putting the lamp base back together. Because I did not trust the old wiring I ordered new cloth covered cable on Etsy, the new lamp shade I found at Target. On the before pictures you can see that two pieces were made out of wood but they were not the same kind of wood, which lead me to the decision to paint the upper wooden part as well and I am glad I did because I like the one wooden piece in contrast to all the black and white. This was my first rewiring project, I am somewhat scared of all things that involve electricity but it was much easier than I thought, a piece of cake actually. Have you ever rewired something?

mini makeover V - yellow letters

It is time for another mini makeover, this time it really does the name justice and is a quick project that took not even half an hour of my time, not including drying time though. I had been lusting for a mishmash of vintage letters to write fun things on our walls and checked on Etsy on and off but in the end I thought I could make some fun letters myself. The paper mache letters I used I bought at a local craft store, they might be the exact same ones like these from Jo Ann. I still had some leftover yellow spray paint in the basement from a previous project and used it because yellow makes me happy. All letters got three or four coats of paint and after they were fully dried I stuck them to the wall with picture hanging strips, this way when I take them down I will not be left with any marks, at least that is the plan. I thought the area above the opening leading from the kitchen to our dining room is a good spot for the word eat because it will tell you what you can expect in the next room...Looking at all the vintage goodies on Etsy I might still have to get some more vintage letters. What would you write on your walls?

PS. I do not know why my images are so dark today. They look fine in photoshop but get messed up when I upload them to the blog. Tried different solutions but nothing works...

mini makeover lV - front yard

This is not the most amazing makeover but it is one step closer to getting our front yard in shape. Although it does not look like a lot of work it took us three weekends to get from from the overgrown yard to its current state. Still need to trim the cherry tree and the lilac on the left side of the house. Might have to research when the best time for this will be first, so it might not happen until the fall or even next spring. We decided to take out the bushes and the two arborvitae trees in front of the bay window because they were planted way to close to the house. The roots might damage the foundation of the house slowly but surely. First we cut down the big bush and one of the arborvitaes with a hand saw. This was a bit too labor intensive so we bought a reciprocating saw to help us cut the remaining trees/bushes. I have to admit I am in love with the new saw and besides using it on our garden project I already used it for another mini makeover in the house. In addition to the saw we also bought a weed whacker and all I can say is hurray for power tools! After taking down the bushes we tried digging up the roots, it worked for three of them but there are still four big clusters of roots left. Hopefully they will start to die off and rot so we can plant new flowers/bushes next year. Right now the house looks a little bit naked with all the plants gone.

Another big item on our to-do list for revamping our houses curb appeal is repainting the fence. After cutting out the too frilly for us ornamental pieces we had left the spots exposed to the elements which left us with rusty spots wherever something was cut out. Three weeks ago I finally started prepping the fence for a new coat of black paint. First I brushed off all the loose and chipping paint with a metal brush, as well as cleaning the rusty spots. Once I had the rust off the fence I gave those spots a quick coat of paint. Still need to give the driveway gate and the railing at the stairs the same treatment. Before giving everything the final coat of paint we need to scrub the rust spots off the concrete, which unfortunately formed after leaving the fence rusty for too long. Might need to rent a power washer for this...

The dead plant in the pot on top of the stairs was replaced with a big pot of colorful flowers. It is still far away from being finished but it looks a bit more maintained now. 

We have not made any decisions what we want to plant next year in front of the bay window and below the cherry tree. Underneath the tree currently is just a patch of dirt with weeds. Because we are a little bit challenged when it comes to plants and yard work any suggestions are greatly appreciated. 

Have you been cutting, digging or weeding in your yard lately? Are you enjoying the yard work or are you more like me who loves to hang out in a nice yard but does not really enjoy the work that comes with it?

mini makeover lll - campaign dresser

The month is coming to an end and this can only mean it is time for another mini makeover post. You might have already seen some bits and pieces of today's makeover on Instagram. Painting this campaign dresser I got for next to nothing took only about two years from purchase to finish. The dresser had been sitting in our basement untouched because I couldn't make up my mind about what I wanted to do with it. Unfortunately the finish of the dresser was plastic laminate, it didn't look so hot with lots of dings and scratches but I still liked the overall look, especially the hardware. When P told me he needed  more storage in his office as well as a place to put his record player I knew I had to paint the dresser the same color as his desk. First problem solved! Next problem was that one of the pulls was missing and I had a hard time finding one that matched the original pulls closely. When I finally found one in the depths of the internet that matched close enough I ordered two. Because the replacement pulls had a different finish than the original pulls I spray painted everything black. The pulls on the middle drawers are the replacements, they are a little bit bigger but you can hardly tell now that they are uniformed by color.

I have to admit I am really enjoying this column, hope you are as well! It keeps me motivated to start and finish long dreamed up projects. In fact I already have the next projects in mind, actually started working on two of them. What I really need is warmer weather so I can do a furniture sanding session outside and don't have to work inside a dusty basement...

Happy hump day my friends!

mini makeover ll - necklace

It is time for another mini makeover post and this time the makeover is really small, minuscule really. I had purchased this golden knotted necklace a while ago because I have a similar longer one from Urban Outfitters that I love but also wanted a shorter option. At home I really did not like the gold tone of the necklace, it was way too yellow and I never wore it. Because I liked the shape I knew a little spray paint makeover would make a difference. Remember the necklaces I spray painted yellow and neon pink last year? This time I did not want to go as bold and since I had black spray paint on hand I started to work my magic. I can't wait to wear it with striped, white or gray tees once I am able to run around without with a chunky scarf. Are you also believing in the magical powers of paint to transform things that have lost their luster? You know I am!

mini makeover I - fence

Happy hump day everyone! It already feels like Friday, I have two deadlines looming above my head and my week has been all work and no play so far. Luckily I was a good girl and prepared this post on Sunday otherwise this week would be postless. 

I want to start a new monthly column called mini makeover where I post about small improvements to our house or other little projects. With the pressure of having to finish 12 small projects over the course of the year I will finally get on to some projects I had in mind for a while. Today's mini makeover is the fence in the front of our house. It had all these ornate decorative pieces in it and we wanted the fence to look more modern, so when our contractor was at our place to work on the bathrooms we had him cut out the decorative pieces. Now we are left with rusty spots where the pieces were cut out but once it gets a little bit warmer I will give the fence a good scrub with a metal brush to loosen up the old paint, maybe sanding it as well and then the fence will get a fresh coat of paint. Hopefully that will make the fence look like new again. Our railing at the stair needs a little bit more work, somebody has to come and fix the wobbly thing before I will be able to paint it. Can't wait for spring to come so I can start working on the fence and the overall curb appeal on the front of the house.

What's on you list for a mini makeover? Or did you recently finish one?