Friday, April 23, 2010

Apparently, you CAN make a purse out of a sow's ear.

We have this accent wall in our house. We call it the accent wall because it's painted a darker shade of green than the rest of the house so it kind of pops. We've been here nearly 3 years and I want just the *perfect* things to put on this wall.

I took an old window and painted it, behind each pane I put photos of our family, and beside it put the name "CEASE" in huge letters. It pretty much stayed that way for over a year.

I had a junky little table there and it had become the landing spot for Gene's bowl of change, drill bits, chargers, etc. I had pretty much had enough. I've really been looking for the *perfect* accent table.

It needed to be:
1. Not too deep
2. Less than 39" wide
3. Have at least one big drawer.

It was difficult, and every time I found something I really liked, it was way more than I wanted to spend. Which was exactly $0.00

I was at Nebraska Furniture Mart (I don't know why, I really don't like that place much), and saw this beautiful silver dresser and said WANT! Then I looked at the price tag and dropped it like my arm was on fire.

It was $600.

Oh hell to the no!

I knew I could do this cheaper.

04-23-dresser3

When Gene moved in, he needed a dresser. We found one at a garage sale for $40. He packed it with t-shirts and socks and we went on with our lives.

Then we moved, and got a bigger bedroom, and I got a big high boy, which I LOVE, and he got my old dresser.

I realized, that we didn't *need* this second dresser, and by golly, it fit in this spot perfectly!



04-23-dresser1

My sister and I both think that spray paint is the best invention EVER. It'll take anything dirt ugly and make it fairly *not* dirty ugly with 3 good coats.

I bought 2 cans of brushed nickel spray paint (and paid way more than I ever would for spray paint), took off the hardware and went to town!

04-23-dresser2

The knobs are so pretty, and my husband *insisted* on them, not me. And yes, they are pink and no they don't go with a darn thing in my house, but he insisted he liked those best, so to appease him and let him think he has some say, I bought them.

*grin*

I purchased the knobs at Hobby Lobby, which now has a huge selection of knobs, pulls and hooks. They put them on sale half price frequently and we got a great deal on them. They are glass with lots of trapped bubbles.

I was going to replace all the hardware, and then I realized that after I painted it, you would still be able to see where the old hardware had been, so I just sprayed it too and put it back on. That saved me a fortune as there are a lot of pulls on that dresser!

The bottom drawer will actually end up having electricity to it (I'm putting a hole in the back and running a power strip in there), for Gene's chargers (he has many for work). They will be hidden and no longer sitting on my kitchen counter *arrrgh!*

Cost for this project:
$10.00 - Spray paint
$18.00 - 4 knobs (on sale)
$0.00 - glass top eventually if my husband will ever cut me one!! (he's a glass man)

$28.00 total - $68 if you count the original cost of the dresser. I didn't make it to zero, but pretty darn close!

Savings = $532.00!!

Share with me any of your refurb projects! I love to see old things made new again!

PS. Don't forget to enter our tree giveaway. Still taking entries until Monday!

5 comments:

Tracy said...

Don't you love it when you find something perfect and its free.
Thank you for the kind comment on my blog. My daughter will be excited that you loved her picture.

LollyChops said...

I cannot get over how cool that dresser came out! I seriously love spray paint too! I think it's the greatest stuff ever!

I love a good deal - esp when it involves being crafty!

HUGS!!!!

www.quackandquill.com said...

You are brilliant. I love, LOVE the idea about using the drawer for all the chargers ... I can't wait to figure out how I can use that idea. When I finally get around to email you, I'll tell you my "silk purse" story!

www.quackandquill.com said...

You are brilliant. I love, LOVE the idea about using the drawer for all the chargers ... I can't wait to figure out how I can use that idea. When I finally get around to email you, I'll tell you my "silk purse" story!

Dharma said...

Well! Go you! I don't know if I'm brave enough to spray paint anything silver other than hardware....oh wait, I spray painted my Mum's concrete steps silver...cause that's how I roll. I'm giving you a lilnk to my "silk purse"

http://dharmainthefalls.blogspot.com/2010/07/corky-mofo.html

...it's cool cause my niece helped and she got to keep the goods!

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