i have a new hobby.

so it hit.
nesting mode, that is.
i've been going cuh---razzzzyy the last several days with the most random of random projects.
my most favorite project that i've adopted:
refinishing furniture.
it's so fun!
it's like magic.
though i do admit, it does give me a major crink my neck, and make me a little woozy from paint fumes.
but still.
transforming old, weird furniture into new-looking, matching, even CHIC furniture, is so cool to me.
some things i've refinished:
a little, tall, wobbly table with the most personality you've ever seen. (yes, furniture has a personality, as i've recently discovered).
a shelf/coat/hat hanger thingie.
a long, weird-like table which is now in our doorway as a shoe rack thingie.
a little bookshelf for Ellie's room.
and my most favorite (which i will show you very bad pictures of):
a dresser/shelf combo for baby girl-to-be's room.

so the dresser was a dresser that i used in MY room when i was a teenager.
seriously.
but it was in good shape-and even though it was small, and in a weird yellow wood color that never matched anything, i never had the heart to get rid of it because i knew i could use it someday.
well, someday came.
i wish i had a good picture before..like when it was put together.
but this is the best i've got:

then several months ago, i bought this shelf off of craigslist for around $15 bucks thinking it would be cute as a bookshelf in Ellie's room if i ever got around to refinishing it. then M pointed out to me that it was really a desk/hutch/topper thing that wasn't a standing bookshelf at all. we almost got rid of it... at least 4 times.

this is the best before picture i have: (yes it is tilted on its side- i'll explain why in un minuto)

so i asked M...hey handyman of mine, maybe you could cut the bottom part off...so it IS just a shelf..and then we can hang it above the dresser? and of course he obliged. he loves his tools and any chance he gets to saw something.

so then i went to work.
i primed away.
and then i seriously used paint we already had.
like from our doors and baseboards...maybe i shouldn't admit that. but oh well.
i gave the stuff a few good coats of paint.
(don't want any chippin' going on).
and then i gave them an antique glaze...(you can glaze too- it's so easy! learn how here)...to make them sorta shabby chic-ish. because baby-girl-to-be's room will be shabby-chic- inspired by lilacs.
and this is how they finished up:
(now, don't judge the horrible pictures. i know they're horrible, ok? but i couldn't wait a second longer to show them to you. and lighting in a dang garage is tricky. i promise to show better pictures someday soon...like when the room is actually painted and put together...but for now, this is the best reveal you and me are gonna get).

tahdah!!

you like?
don't be too harsh.
i am just a rookie.
(and i'm thinking about changing the mismatched knobs (though full of character) to be all black...to enhance the glaze... i think the mismatched would be cute for a play room...but not as cute for a nursery..........thoughts? )
maybe i like 'em so much just because i spent so much time on them.
but i'm in love.
and i can't wait to set them up...and to actually give this baby the love and decor she deserves :)

next up:
kitchen table.
wicker toy trunk.
any other random treasure i can find to put lots of gobs of paint on.

one word of caution:
refinishing furniture is addicting.
so is checking craigslist.

oh, and one more little thing:
i love coming in from the garage...taking horrible furniture pictures...only to find my little Ellie like this, coloring her little heart + soul out, as if her life depended on it:

melts my heart into a big pile of goo.

xoxo