2017.

Ah, a new year...

A time for fresh starts and clean slates and new beginnings. It's also a time of reflection for most as we look back upon the prior year and ask ourselves if we made the most of that time. The answer to that question generally shapes our goals (resolutions, if you will) for the coming year.

So my 2016... did I make the most of that time? In some ways, I'd say yes. I was busy most of the year, juggling a full-time job and the completion of a Master's degree. My hubby was a godsend, being Mr. Mom many evenings and nights so I could write papers and complete projects, meaning I certainly didn't spend as much time with my family as I'd have liked. Health-wise, I managed to finally take the reins of my health and fitness by working out consistently and changing how I fuel my body and that of my family. My career is quite fulfilling, especially now that I've let go of mom-guilt and embraced the work that I do in healthcare. It helps greatly that I work for an organization that recognizes that family is important. Through the efforts of friends who are much better get-together organizers than me, I was able to cultivate friendships that will last a lifetime.

Now on to 2017. This is big year for me, milestone speaking. I turn 40. My hubby and I will celebrate 15 years of marriage. Big year. I'm not sure that I've devoted quite enough time yet to figuring out how I want this year to look, but let's just say this blog post is a start. Do I have a word for the year? Not yet. Have I determined goals yet? Nope. I'm hoping more of that will be solidified in my mind soon, but I'm still reeling from finishing school and the end of a crazy holiday season. Here's what I do know I want more of in this coming year: More date nights, more conversations with my daughters, more wine shared with friends, more dinners in my home, and more intention. I also want less of some things: less stress, less fuss, less guilt, and less comparison. Am I right?

As for blogging, I do want to return to it but my focus has changed. I'm at a point in my life where my priorities have shifted and I'm no longer spending a lot of time crafting or redoing furniture. I want to share more life, style, and working mom tips and tricks, cause that's where I am right now in life. I'd like to just transition home.made to whatever this new theme will be, but not sure how easy that will be. Hang with me while I figure it out, gang?

Here's to 2017!

One Month, One Project–Distressed Coffee Table

Since switching out our giant leather sofa for the IKEA Ektorp chaise sofa, I had been on the lookout for a round coffee table since our old rectangle one was too large for the space. I fell in love with the Metropolitan Round coffee table from Pottery Barn, but was not willing to fork out $350 for it… so instead I perused Craigslist for months and months. This is where I tell you that persistence pays off people. I scored that very same PB coffee table on Craigslist for $35!! Sure, this one came with scratches and cobwebs but since I was planning on redoing it anyway, that worked just fine for me.

My inspiration was this distressed coffee table from The Painted Hive.

Because I wanted to re-stain the top, I stripped the orangey varnish with Citrasolve and then sanded gently so as to not sand all the way through the wood veneer. I have had previous experience with redoing PB furniture so I am familiar with their wood veneer – you want to be careful to not sand down to the particle board underneath.

I stained it with Minwax dark walnut stain and rather than coat it with poly, I opted instead to wax it with a few coats of Miss Mustard Seed’s furniture wax. The finish is soft and buttery and beautiful. I can’t say how it’ll hold up to two kids, but so far, so good. My girls have gotten accustomed to using coasters, so that helps.

I used my faithful Annie Sloan chalk paint for the body of the table so I wouldn’t have to sand or prime. The base is Old White and the rim just under the stained wood top is French Linen. I distressed the finish with a fine-grit sandpaper and then waxed with MMS furniture wax.

It fits the space so much better than our old coffee table, and I love how the lower shelf adds extra storage for books and magazines. I find it so funny how coordinated my furniture used to be and now it’s such a mix of everything: different wood tones, different textures, no matching furniture sets. It feels more collected and more cozy for sure.

Here’s a view of how it looks in the whole room: it really works well in the smaller space left since we have the chaise. Not bad for $35, especially considering I got $50 for my old one ;). One of these days I’ll post about that great board and batten entry you seen in the background – Mr. home.made. built that for me over a year ago! That plate wall definitely needs to grow too but I have hopes to fill that wall with a piano, so I’ll probably wait to work on the wall until then.

So there you have it, my project for the month of November. I’m debating over what to do next month but I can tell you that all of my options involve paint – it should be fun!

One Month-One Project Series

It’s been a busy past eleven (sheesh!) months since I last blogged… grad school will do that to a full-time working girl. But oh, how I’ve missed this little corner of the interwebs and diy projects and such so I’ve decided to squeeze my way back into blogging with a new concept: the One Month-One Project Series. It’s a low commitment commitment (pretty sure that’s not proper English) to help me progress on home projects by knocking out one project a month. Additionally, these projects are on a budget since we’re paying for this grad school thing as we go and it’s not cheap! (Thanks Dave Ramsey.) Here’s what I’m working on for November:

This round coffee table will soon have a home in my living room, but not before a quick makeover. I actually bought this off of Craigslist back in April or May and it’s been collecting dust in my garage all this time! I was able to get most of the work done on it this weekend and I can’t wait to show you the end result…

So here we go! Can’t wait to knock out some projects!

2015

So… it’s been all quiet on the blogging front as I decided to simply enjoy my holidays this year as opposed to the usual making things and taking photos, editing said photos and writing blog posts.  I put up old decorations, I hung the same wreath I’ve had the past three Christmases, and *gasp* I didn’t even take everything down until this past weekend.  The Flow Blue vintage dresser was the last piece of furniture in my garage for me to work on, so I have had a break from projects and you know what?  It’s been kinda nice not having the nagging feeling of “I’ve gotta get this finished or work on that”.

While looking through photos last week, I realized that over the past few years, I’ve filled up a lot of photo albums with tutorials and projects and progress updates and crafts and while it’s all been fun, it’s a lot of time and work.  While I still enjoy all of the creating and decorating, I’d much rather share snippets on Instagram and go about my merry day than create an entire blog post about it, link up to linky parties, etc.

My lack of blogging mojo isn’t helped by the fact that I’m also embarking on a new adventure this year… going back to school for the first time in 16 years.

*aaaack*

Yes.  In a little over two weeks, I will officially be a graduate student.  Suffice it to say that I likely will be replacing my crafty time with studying and homework.  I’m scared sh*tless to add student to my profile of 37-year old full-time working mom of two very busy chicks but it’s now or never, and I finally got the cojones to just do it already.

Lest you think there will be no projects going on at the home.made. casa, I can assure you that while my plate will be full, my to-do list won’t be going away.  I still have trim to paint, cabinets to paint, curtains to hang, closets to organize, etc.  DIYers gonna DIY.  I can’t promise a lot of updates other than instagram, so follow along there if you’re interested.

So there you go.  It’s gonna be a wild year.  I don’t know if I’m more excited or frightened, but either way, here we go.

Bring it, 2015.

Flow Blue and White Vintage Dresser Makeover

Happy Friday before Christmas!  This month has been packed full with activities and has flown by... which is why it's taken forever to share this latest makeover with you: my Flow Blue and White Vintage Dresser!

This dresser belonged to my great uncle, so it has loads of sentimental value... and while I wanted to breathe new life into into, I didn't want to take away all of its patina, its signs that it was well-loved.

When my sister dropped this off in my garage, it was a little worse for the wear.  The top had several peeling layers of varnish, the wood veneer was warped and dry... it was in need of some love.

I gave it a good cleaning, lightly sanded the peeling varnish, lightly glued the warped veneer, and stripped and sanded the wood top.

After staining with a dark walnut stain, I loved the sheen of the natural wood so I didn't do my usual polyurethane coating and instead added a few layers of Miss Mustard Seed's furniture wax, then buffed away.  It's so smooth I can't help but run my fingers across it when I walk by.

You want to touch it, right?  Mmmmm.  The wood frame around the mirror was in good shape and the color was close to the stained top, so I cleaned the frame and waxed it and it was perfect.

Since the original knob was missing a partner, I replaced it with this great pair of vintage-looking knobs that I found at Hobby Lobby.  While not a perfect match with the original drawer handles, they coordinate nicely and fit it well with the period of the piece.

It's a little difficult to see here, but this is the area where the veneer was warped and cracking.  I wanted to keep the veneer but didn't want to risk catching something on it and damaging it more, so I did a little bit of gluing and clamping to do a minor repair.

Now let's get to the best part... that color!  I used Flow Blue Milk Paint from Miss Mustard Seed with the bonding agent (so it wouldn't chip) on the body of the dresser, and Annie Sloan Old White on the drawers and mirror frame.  This was my first experience using MMS milk paint and it was... different.  I was nervous about mixing the portions correctly but I did two batches and the color matched, so I guess it was okay.  The paint was thinner than I'm used to (with chalk or latex paint) but the color was perfect so I didn't mess with it.  I ended up doing two coats and then waxing with MMS furniture wax, which I love.  The consistency is like buttah and it doesn't have a terrible smell.

I'm not a huge fan of the really distressed pieces, so I lightly sanded along the edges where natural wear would occur.  I sanded after waxing this time and I like the result much better than when I sand prior to waxing - lesson learned for future pieces, although with this makeover, I've officially emptied my garage of works-in-progress.  I KNOW.  Whatever shall I do now?!

I've moved this dresser into my master bedroom and am slowly building a gallery wall around it.  I'm new to the whole gallery wall thing so it's taking me a while to commit... remember, this is the master bedroom makeover that's been two years in the making so it's all about taking things slow around here.  Ha!

Here's hoping you have a Merry Christmas - may you be filled with the joy of Christ Jesus this season!

DIY Advent Calendar Roundup

Tomorrow is the first day of December - can you believe it?!  If you're on top of things, you are already prepared to start your holiday countdown with an advent calendar but  just in case you're still in need of ideas, here's a roundup of some fun advent calendars you can DIY before it's too late!

Advent Calendar Pillow

Santa Christmas Printable

Advent Wall Chart

Mantel Calendar



Clay Tag Advent Calendar

Pretty fun ideas, right?  I had an idea to make a new advent calendar this year but decided instead to be lazy just use my pillow again (see first link) --- next year though, it's on.  I better get started soon so it's finished in time for next Christmas...

Mid-Century Modern Peacock Blue Desk

Hey, hey there friends!  Happy Thanksgiving week to you!  I’ve got a short work week in store so I’m looking forward to spending time with my kiddos and getting my holiday bake on… #bringonthepie.  But first, how about a furniture makeover reveal?  Here’s my Mid-Century Modern desk, redone in a gorgeous peacock blue.

This makeover has been a long time in the making.  I bought this desk off of a local mom’s garage sale page a looong time ago and between the repairs it required and finding time to actually work on it, it took quite a while to finish.  Here’s the desk when I first bought it (for 40 bucks!):

Although it appeared to be in great condition, one of the drawer bottoms had a hole in it and the back panel had an even bigger hole in it.  Whoever owned this in the past was not very gentle with it.  There were numerous dings to the top and sides, but I just decided to embrace those as part of the piece’s history and after moving this desk, I have no doubt why it’s dinged up – this thing is seriously heavy.  No joke. 

After a good cleaning, I painted this with bonding primer and two coats of Martha Stewart’s Plumage Blue, a gorgeous peacock blue color.

The hardware was one of the reasons I loved this piece – it was a little tarnished, so I cleaned it and added some Rub-n-Buff in Antique Gold.  I love that stuff: remember this Golden Mirror Makeover?

I love fun details on furniture, so I lined the drawers with a gorgeous blue and green ikat fabric I found at Hobby Lobby.  Simply cut the fabric to size and use Mod Podge to adhere to interior of drawer.

I used the same fabric in an additional, unexpected place.  Remember the back panel hole I told you about?  I was concerned that removing the panel would damage the surrounding veneer, so instead I covered it, using a foam mat board, the ikat fabric, and some ribbon trim.

One last peek -

I am loving our new-to-us desk, which moonlights as a craft table.  It’s the most recent addition to our ever-evolving office makeover; I still want to add drapes and replace our existing TV cabinet with an IKEA Hemnes unit, among other small touches.  It’s neverending, isn’t it?

Hope you have a blessed Thanksgiving week!

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