make it pretty: bedtime

logo, photography and styling by Corrin Acome

photography and styling by change of scenery

tip: Follow the rule of threes. Anytime your displaying items, try clustering in three. It will fill the space without seeming too formal or cluttered.

Want to follow along? Start from the beginning.

make it pretty: morning

 

 photos, styling and logo by Corrin Acome

my image

tip: Try not to make everything so perfect. The more lived in the area looks, the better styled it is.

check out the challenge details here.

How To: yellow nightstand

Remember this ugly Craigslist purchase? And how I said I loved the lines, hoped it was real wood and couldn't wait to stain it? And then how I sanded off the paint only find a veneer top (side table FAIL post here)? Huh? Remember all that?

Then do you remember seeing that little bit of sunshine just to the right of my bed (in the progress update post here)?

Now what if I told you ugly and sunshine were the same nightstand, only refinished?

Because they are. And look how pretty she (yes, she) is! I mean, completely adorbs, right?!?

So how did I do it? A complete how-to below. Enjoy!

Step One: Sand off the finish.

Now, keep in mind that I was originally planning to stain the table so the sanding pics below are a little extreme. For painting, you only need to take off the finish (read: shiny part) and smooth out any bumps, scratches or chips the surfaces may have. If you have a sander (recommended), you should be done in a couple hours depending on the amount of surface damage and stubbornness of the finish.

Now long did the process shown in the pics below take me? Two days of stripping (totally a gross process, I don't recommend) and about a day of sanding. Uh, huh. Yeah. FAIL.

Step Two: Prep and prime your piece.

Whether a couple of hours or three days after you finish the sanding (sigh), be sure to wipe off the piece REALLY well, removing all sawdust residue and excess finish. I recommend using either tack cloth (it's sticky so wear gloves) or a rag very soaked in mineral spirits. From there, let dry completely (about 15-20 minutes) and prepare yourself for priming.

To prime, I used a can of white spray primer and sprayed just enough to cover the entire surface with a very thin coat. Meaning, you don't have to spray the surface to the point where you don't see any of the wood/paint underneath, just so that the new paint has something to adhere itself to. Make sense? Let dry completely (read the instructions) before applying your actual color.

Step Three: Apply your color.

Once you've finished priming and let dry, continue to apply layers of thin paint until completely covered. In this case, I used two cans of high gloss, Marigold I purchased at my local Ace Hardware. This is the point in the process where you need patience. Apply a thin layer, letting go of the fact that you may be able to see some white coming through still. Wait 10 minutes. Apply a thin layer, and so on. I think this took me about 3 coats and maybe an hour to complete.

Step Four: Apply your finish.

Because this was a table that would be used to hold things like cups of water, I wanted to apply a polyurethane finish to protect the paint and make a little more durable to wear and tear. I waited 24 hours until fully dry (again, read the instructions!) and painted on a thin coat of satin polyurethane, lightly going over each section with a clean rag (read: ripped up t-shirt) to prevent drips and inconsistencies.

Always apply a finish to painted pieces that you need to be durable (i.e. kitchen cabinets, coffee tables, etc.) to prevent color transfer and showing general wear and tear.

So here's where I netted out. Cute, but I thought it was missing something. Then it came to me.

Step Five: Add a handle (optional).

I got this one at Hobby Lobby for $2 thanks to a 50% off sale. Woot woot!

To do this, find the center of the door, measure outward, mark and check to see if the two points are level. From here, drill holes using a drill bit that's slightly larger than the screws you're using to affix the handle.

Before drilling, make sure to double and triple check all of your measurements. I got cocky, only measured once and ended up drilling holes that were completely, 100% not level. Luckily, I was able to rig it so that it looks even now, but I'll eventually have to putty the hole up, respray the door and redrill the second hole.

Ugh.

But isn't she so pretty?!?!?!

Progress update on my bedroom.

My bedroom is almost complete so I thought I'd post some pictures to show the progress to-date, along with a nice and LITTLE to-do list for the remaining odds and ends. The two things I'm already well aware of? Yes, Ruby is in every picture (couldn't get her to move, the ham) and yes, the photos aren't great. One of these days I'm going to have my BFF Michelle either show me how to take pictures or just have her take them all for me (lol) so you guys can actually see what you're looking at.

So sorry in advance for the poor quality. But who really cares, right? It's Friday!

I restained my childhood dresser (DIY coming later) and featured some simple accessories help tie the white mirror into the composition. I am absolutely obsessed with the way this all came together and am trying to use this as the standard for mixing old and new things throughout the rest of my room.

This is the area that still needs some work. Still wondering about the curtains and the headboard wall. I like the dark curtains because they refuse to let any morning light into my room but think I need a darker brown to match the bed pillow and dark stained furniture. I also think I'm going to remove my most favoritest picture and try to find a spot for it elsewhere (sigh).

I LOVE my wall of pictures. It's a montage of empty frames, family, friends and places I've been - mostly in white. I kept a few (literally, three) frames their original color because I love them that way, but may just bite the bullet and paint white to match everything.

Hi, Ruby.

Another shot of the to-do area but with the cute dresser included. I'm planning on getting a RENS rug for some added texture and visual interest. And notice the "new" yellow nightstand? It gave the room a much needed dose of color and I hope to have a post on that DIY project later next week.

And then there's this. The gross closet wall. So gross I didn't even want to show you. As you can see, I have a huge box of a TV that will eventually be replaced with a cute little flat screen one to take away some of the bulk. I've also sprayed the necklace rack yellow, matching the nightstand, to give the wall some kick. But it's still pretty blah and is in desperate need of some life.

So what does the to-do list look like?

• replace curtain rods with ones in the living room (get new rods for living room)
• get new curtains (must block out any and all morning sun)
• get one (may two) RENS rugs for in front of dresser and maybe closet
• remove picture from above headboard (and maybe put on closet wall by jewelry corner?)
• must get flat screen TV (and rid of those bunny ears!)
• get white full length mirror for picture wall (replace black one)
• accessorize/brighten closet wall (plan tbd)

Another side table FAIL.

I had a bit of a DIY fail this weekend that I'm still trying to recover from. A while back, I purchased this little gem on craigslist for $20. Perfect size, perfect shape but UGLY color. I. Was. Smitten.

My plan was to strip off the gross burgundy paint and refinish the piece in a nice, dark stain and maybe add a handle on the drawer to create more interest. Sounds cute, right?

Well, after an evening of stripping and a day of sanding, I realized that the top of the nightstand was... VENEER. Read: not able to be stained.

For those that don't know, this isn't my first encounter with nightstand drama (post: here). Because of the awkward space, it's been outrageously difficult to find a nightstand that will fit. We're talking daily visits to craigslist, weekly visits to thrift stores and countless hours of trying to talk myself into the possibility of having to pay upwards of $100 for something that would work (sorry, dad but I almost had to).

So naturally, when I found the nightstand pictured above, I blocked out any possibility of the piece having anything wrong with it and focused on how cute it would look stained.

Where does that leave me now? Figuring out a Plan B. Which I believe is paint. Which I'm not sure will work based on the room's current balance of color and neutrals. Case-and-point being:

1. The nightstand is right next to a white plastic chair, making white a non-option.
2. The nightstand is right next to my duvet cover which is pretty much the only thing in my bedroom with some actual color. That actual color being one shade of green.

So I'm thinking I need to find a way to introduce an accent color that will allow me to paint the nightstand something bright - counteracting with the white chair and wood dresser while not blending in too much with the green duvet cover.

Here is a picture of my bedroom to-date:

And here are some photos I found to hopefully help me on my way.

fine green design

family circle

re-nest

pinterest

apartment therapy

Anyone else have any other ideas?