Buffet Upcycle ~ Use What You Have

Welcome back! First and foremost, I apologize for the time that has passed since my last post. We had a death in the family so Mr H and I have been spending a lot of time with our families the last few weeks. And I must say, while everyone's hearts were saddened at our loss, we truly enjoyed the time that it allowed us to spend together playing games and reminiscing (Phase 10 and Sequence are family favorites!). I'm going to try and make up for my absence with a few extra project posts.

Today's post is about a concept that I'm desperately trying to embrace in my life-"Use what you have." One of the goals that I have set for myself this year is to: re-purpose what I have, restore what someone else had and splurge only on what I love. 

Yes, I would love to walk into both Pottery Barn and Restoration Hardware and say "I'll take one of everything." However, this is neither practical nor good for my young marriage - Mr H may kill me! So, I'm determined to make furniture that I have work by giving it a facelift, bringing furniture from a thrift store back to life, and splurging only when I fall in love with a piece. With that being said, I am going to try to avoid buying a piece of furniture (or anything for that matter) just to "make do" until I find something better.


Example 1:  Dark, Tired, Buffet

I bought this sofa table a million years ago at Target.

Before

Technically, this is a sofa table but it has been used as a desk and most recently as a buffet in our dining room (please ignore the tabletop decor as it was in the process of being transitioned to Spring).  I was/am tired of all of the dark wood furniture in our place so instead of hunting for a new buffet or sideboard, I decided to "upcycle" this guy by giving him a much-needed facelift.

Ever since I incorporated gold and gray as a color combination in my wedding decor, I have been in love with the combined hues!  So, I started with a light gray with beige undertones - Fieldstone by Benjamin Moore.

I am a BIG fan of this Behr Premium Paint and Primer in one (Home Depot color matched the paint).  While it is slightly more expensive ($14 for 1 quart), my experience so far has been that it cuts the number of coats needed by at least 1/2. 

Next, I ordered some gold drawer cup pulls from a hardware store online called Amerock.  I have ordered several pieces of hardware from this store online and have been very pleased with the price, quality and delivery time.

These drawer cups were about $2 each and I ordered a total of 3.

I applied the paint with a foam roller for even coverage and to eliminate brush-stroke marks.  A small foam brush was used for the detail on the fronts of the drawers.  After about 2 hours, 2 coats of paint (allowing 1/2 hour drying time between coats), and attaching some new hardware bling, this buffet got a major facelift:

After

For roughly $20, this buffet transformed from drab to fab!  The dining room has really benefited and brightened from this upcycle.  Here are some more shots of the new Spring vignette:

I staged the table with things I just collected from around our place-trying to keep it light and fresh.

I love the way the gold hardware brings out the beige warmth in the gray.

   

Nothing says Spring like some fresh cut flowers.  Submerging a stem of green leaves inside a glass vase filled with water can be an unexpected floral addition.  In this glass vase, I just contoured and wrapped the stem along the inside wall of the vase.

If you follow me on instagram (lori_bluegrasspearls), you may have seen the gold frame and mat that I scored at a thrift store for 75 cents!!  That's so cheap for a frame PLUS a mat!  I'm not sure yet what will end up in this frame, but I have some ideas.

 

I have not sealed it yet with a protective coating.  I'm going to watch the piece and try to decide if I think that it needs it.  If you paint a piece of furniture that gets a lot of use or activity, I would definitely seal it (Minwax Water-Based Polycrylic Protective Finish in “Clear Gloss” is a favorite).

Now, a final before and after (so you don't have to scroll up again):

Kitty cat tested and approved.

Source List:

Paint - Fieldstone by Benjamin Moore

Table - Target (not available anymore)

Cup drawer pulls - Amerock online

Silver candlesticks - wedding present from Pottery Barn

Lamp - Home Goods (many years ago)

White "H" pitcher - wedding present from Pottery Barn

Decorative grey "H" - Restoration Hardware

White platter - Pottery Barn

Seagrass market tote - boutique in Seaside, FL

Chair - TJ Max

Throw pillow - Target

Throw blanket - Target

I hope you enjoyed seeing an upcycle of an existing piece of furniture in our home.  What are your thoughts?  Have you upcycled a piece of existing furniture from your home before or are you more likely to go find something new for the space?

Happy restoring and recycling!

xoxo

{DIY} Painted Toy Animals

We've had a pretty quiet but fun weekend here complete with a visit from a special friend from college for a date night filled with reminiscing. The sunshine was a nice and welcome change.

Today's DIY is a two-parter. There are pictures all over Pinterest of the growing trend of painted animal figurines. So, today I tried my hand at a DIY animal toy makeover.

Part I

To begin this DIY, I made a trip to the store I despise the most-Walmart.  The truth is, it takes patience of steel for me to get in and out of this store without having a complete meltdown.  Just ask Mr. H.  The aisles are too skinny and the store overcrowded.  Just not my idea of a fun shopping experience.  With that said, it is common knowledge that Walmart has everything!  So after unsuccessful trips to the Dollar Tree and Target, I decided to give ole Wally World a chance in hopes of finding the perfect sized plastic animal toys.

I found these guys for $1 each.

Before (poor giraffe. Excuse my poor photography)

They also have lions, tigers . . .no bears (can't help myself).  But oh my, I was most drawn to the elephant, giraffe and naturally the horse.

To be completely honest, I bought these little guys on Saturday but never made it home with them.  After the excitement of finding the perfect sized animals for the perfect cost,  I apparently left the bag that they were in hanging in the carousel of shopping bags at the express checkout counter.  Has this ever happened to you?  I thought I double-checked every bag in that carousel!  Words can't describe the frustration!

Anyway, due to my complete obsession with gold I decided to try a new product out on these guys-liquid gold leaf.

I picked up this liquid gold leaf at Hobby Lobby for about $4.00.

I chose the horse to be the liquid gold leaf guinea pig:

The application was so easy with a small paint brush.  And, a little bit of gold leaf goes a long way.  It only took about 2-3 dips of the paint brush in the pot of leaf to coat this stallion.

Here he is in all of his golden glory:

After

 Here are a couple shots of this golden beauty in an equestrian vignette on the buffet:

Next up, the elephant.  Same application, same beautiful and easy results.

After

And who could forget about the giraffe.  Sometimes they all like to hang out in the jungle together on the dining room table:

Don't they look fun and chic?  I can see these figurines perched on bookshelves in a beautiful nursery (out of the reach of children-not sure gold leaf should be ingested), as table decor at a baby shower or just as a fun addition to a coffee table.

I found similarly painted plastic toy Elephants on Etsy for $25.00 - $33.00 each. For just a little more than $1 each, these are an easy and inexpensive DIY project to add some whimsy and fancy to a room.  

Part 2

Now, this part incorporates painting some smaller plastic toy animals with organization.

I searched for some smaller plastic toy animals and found a set of 3, white, paintable guys at a Kroger Marketplace for about $3.

While at Hobby Lobby buying the liquid gold leaf, I picked up 3 mason jars for about $2.50 each.  

 

 And also this pink spray paint on sale-30% off:

 

I knew I wanted a shiny gloss finish in a fun color for this DIY.

I used a hot melt glue gun to secure the mason jar seal to the metal ring.  Then I placed a dot of hot melt glue on each hoof to secure one animal per jar lid.

Before

After about 2-3 coats of spray paint, we have fun organization store-all's for a kids room or your own!

 

After

You can really choose any color you'd like.  I'd recommend a high gloss paint for this glossy shine effect.

 

These are so fun for a kids room to corral anything from hair bows and ponytail holders to rubber bands and paperclips.

For about $3.50 each, these animal-topped mason jars are unique and functional.  I may make myself some for the office in a glossy gold-of course.

Hope you've had a great weekend and feel inspired to go rummage through your little one's toy chests and paint some plastic animals - make sure you get their permission first!

 

Bedroom Reveal & IKEA Dresser Hack

Welcome back. I hope you all had as relaxing of a weekend as we did! We have cuddled up with hot chocolate and blankets, had a dinner date with some great friends and worked around the house (of course). I was very thankful for some sunshine, yesterday, so I could get some shots of our dungeon bedroom with a small amount of natural light.

We finished up a small project yesterday in the bedroom that really isn't a big enough DIY project to even be worthy of it's own blog post!  So, I've coupled it with a tour of our bedroom.

We bought a dresser from IKEA a few months ago to serve as Mr. H's bedside table.  I've gone back to try and find the dresser on IKEA's website but I don't think it's available anymore so I can't give you any specifics on it's name or price (thinking we paid about $50).  I really didn't like the hardware pulls on the dresser drawers so this DIY was simply changing the existing hardware.

Here's the hardware I ordered online:

Here's the dresser mid-hardware change.  You can see the horrible hardware that the dresser came with on the bottom drawer:

 

                                                                        Dresser before

  
The new drawer pulls were about $1.50 each plus shipping. 

                                                                         Dresser after

 I am loving the antiqued brass look against the dark ebony wood.  Easy, simple, IKEA dresser face lift.  If you find a piece of furniture that you love but the hardware is dreadful, just remember, hardware is an easy fix.

Here are some other pics of our bedroom.  Unfortunately, I don't have before pics but this bedroom has undergone a drastic transformation since my husband's bachelor days in this condo (just picture typical male dorm/fraternity room).

                                              

 

  

   

                                                                  DIY Upholstered Headboard
 

                                         Our wedding photos grouped together to make a bigger impact

                                           Love the texture the cowhide rug gives the space

                                                                            Sources:

                                                              Headboard-DIY project

Bedding-Lewis Paisley by Pottery Barn

Pillows-custom made by my mom

Dark bedside table-IKEA

Mirrored bedside table-Kirklands

Lamps-Stein Mart

Picture frames-Pottery Barn

Mirrors-Garden Ridge

Chest-Home Goods

Cowhide rug-Sams Club

Paint color-"Ashes" by Behr

 As you can see, this bedroom was pulled together with items from lots of different stores.  I like approaching a room that way because it gives it a collected feel with more depth.

Mr H says this room is very relaxing.  What do you think?

Do you prefer subtle muted colors in your bedroom sanctuary or bursts of color?

 (She always has to be in the middle of projects-maybe she thinks she's helping)

See ya soon, xoxo
  
 

Welcome

Well, here goes nothing. I would like to introduce to you, "Bluegrass Pearls", a blog on interior design, DIY projects, cheap finds, tablescapes, and just about everything else. I toyed with several names, but this one kinda stuck on me. "Bluegrass" because I'm from the heart of the Bluegrass State, Kentucky, and "Pearls" because they are my all-time favorite fashion accessory. I also like how the title is a sort of play on words, if you will. The old saying "pearls of wisdom" could also be inferred by the title. Although I don't consider myself to be wise in the field of design/DIY, I do consider myself to be passionate with a bit of experience. Okay, enough with the name.

As this blog grows and evolves (with formatting and colors), I am very interested in hearing from my readers on what I'm doing well, what I can improve upon and what interests you. So, please comment on posts to let me know how I'm doing! I am a first-time blogger so I'll definitely be learning as I go! My vow to you is to post ideas and projects that both succeed and fail. The last thing I want is for my readers to think that all DIY and restoration projects are perfect-far from it. You win some and you definitely lose some.

Initially, until I figure out how much time I can devote to blogging, I am committing to 1 post per week. This post will likely be published on Sunday nights but I'll be sure to announce it on Facebook and other social networking until things become more consistent.

If you follow me on Instagram (lori_bluegrasspearls), you may have seen this picture:

                                                                             Or, this one:

Come back tomorrow for a post on an IKEA dresser hack and a bedroom reveal. Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!