$15 Dresser Refinished... Finally!

Yes, I showed you this picture in May.  This has been a long time procrastinator project.  Somehow hauling out the primer and black paint took a back burner to the everyday schedule of life with my 'lil punk-a-noodles. Now this beauty sits in the corner of my bedroom.

Not bad for $15 eh?  See her sister in yellow?  I collect old dressers.  Truth: My new black dresser presently is empty.  It's missing the entire back of the cabinet and the drawers don't work... but it LOOKS fabulous.  I'm sure it will take me another 6 months to restore the drawer runners.  The husband gives me a sideways glance... why did I knock myself out for a broken dresser?

Why?  Because I needed black in that room to make it feel right.  I needed an upright substantial piece of non-working furniture for a mere $15 to take up floor space so I wouldn't have to vacuum in that corner.  And....?

....AND I'd steal horses for those knobs!  $15 dollars is chump change for handles like that!  I'm a sucker for a good drawer pull.

Now the room is balanced... though the dresser's not.  I can roll a marble right off the top.  Everything leans forward severely.  That's fixable too right!  Guess I should have closed that drawer all the way too.  Shameful.  No, this dresser isn't a waste of space.  It's great storage, even if I have to support the drawer when I pull it out.  I could keep plenty in them drawers:)

Now, I just need to finish this FREE dresser I rescued from bulk pick-up day on the side of the road.  No, the drawers don't work, but they will... in 6 more months!
Want to see more DIY projects? Go visit Kimba at her NEW home! or Wendy @The Shabby Nest for Frugal Friday! 

Seasonal Bedding

After nursing 6 children back to almost health from swine flu,

After looking around and noticing that the side effect of swine flu⁶ is a home that looks like a pig stye...

After putting yourself to bed for a week after 12:30 am and rising by 6:45 with 3 mid-sleep wake up calls for changing pee sheets, administering medicine and doing breathing treatments...

...One writes a blog post that is centered around what she desires most and is determined to get....

Sleep....
Photo Credits: PotteryBarn.com

Relaxing Space

Browsing HGTV again....

Now, the closest thing I have to a Master Bedroom retreat is my bathroom.  And sometimes in order to make that space a retreat I have to just put a towel over my head while I'm on the toilet and pretend my toddlers aren't breaking down the door or busting in on me... real motherhood moments aren't always pretty.  

I'm always trying to think of ways to make my room more of a retreat... keep in mind that I'm Pretty Organized.. not really super organized, or even close to perfect. I love how this little retreat is close and comfy... a place where you can relax.

My daughters would LOVE relaxing in here! AND... notice the pretty organizing.. Ooo and that looks like a great mistreatment (of Nester's fame) waiting to be copied!





Love this storage...






This desk is a great storage option. It screams thrift store find made classy. Give us moms a brush and some paint and a little painters tape.... and look how much you can hide in them drawers!  There is something so relaxing about a clean desk.... Ahhh.  I assure you mine looks nowhere near this clean. Ever. Not even after I've cleaned it. Nope. Sigh..

What things about a space make you feel most relaxed?

Arranging the Furniture to Welcome Fall

When the night-time temperatures drop below 80 degrees in Arizona, I think about fall.  Thinking about fall makes me thing about nesting... and projects... and entertaining... and cozy nights with lights low and curling up with a blanket (something Arizonans never do.  Ever.).

As the temperatures drop and you gather in your harvest, think about gathering in your furniture as well.

During the Summertime I open up my living space and traffic areas to allow kids room to run and play (remember, I live in 110 degree Arizona).  When October hits I begin to move furniture around... often. If you're blind or went to bed early, my home is dangerous.  Nothing stays in one place for very long and one is likely to trip over a sofa on the way to the bathroom.

Position your furniture for conversation.

Try to keep chairs less than 8 feet apart for easy conversation.  Coffee tables are comfortable at around 14-18 inches distance from the sofa.  Move sofas and chairs away from the wall and position them to face each other.  Choose a main focal point in the room... (like a fireplace or a window) and position furniture around that point.  Don't be afraid to pull in rogue chairs or ottomans to offer extra seating space and a second conversation area in a room... if you're lucky enough to have one that big.  Last year I found a way to seat  10 in a very small living room because I rearranged the furniture.

Don't forget to add the finishing touches to a great cozy fall room.  Books, close intimate lighting, blankets, and even floor pillows help create a space that will make your family and guests want to linger longer.

How do you welcome in Fall with your furniture?
Photo Credits: HGTV.com designer profiles.. living room.


UPDATE::  I am out of town for a family funeral. I'll do my best to have the Friday Weekend Boutique up on time but I'll be driving all day THursday so if it's a little late... be patient!

A Miracle Solution to Organized Drawers

There are homemaking days that stink like your son's dirty laundry after the winning baseball game, and then there are days where you walk into a room and the heavens open and you hear angels singing while a bright light shines on you're little homemaking miracle.

I have been fighting a mysterious foe for the last 5 years... his name is Nobody. Nobody wreaks all kinds of havoc around this house and is responsible for most breaches in house rules and routines. Lately Mr. Nobody (at least I think it's a MR.) has recruited inanimate objects and cursed them with supernatural powers.


You notice these drawers? They hold clothing that has taken on all of the properties of life. These clothes, eat, they shrink (not grow) and somehow they have managed to multiply.


When the drawers are open, shirts, socks, underwear and ties crawl out and sprawl on the floor. It's like watching Zombies emerge from the a crypt. Even when I fold the laundry neatly, the shirts somehow manage to roll over and resemble a teenagers bed sheets after a night of sleeping.

I thought I had been licked... that I had lost the Clothes War. Enters Bethany of OrderlyDrawer.com. She could tell the force was out of balance here and wanted to send me a little sample of the drawer organizers she and her hubby sell. Well, I ain't stooopid, I know a divine intervention when I see one and jumped at the chance to try these babies out!



Now I'm "Hooked On" Orderly Drawer organizers! First off, they're really affordable and they're for sale through the Palace Boutique Just Click the Pretty Organized button.



The dividers are made of REAL WOOD! (My husband is all for that manly natural grain stuff) They also take just minutes to install- you can easily put them to use the first day the arrive.

Bethany sent me her Cimple Expandable Drawer Divider line. The Cimple line comes in either 6" or 3" height and both sizes expand to fit your drawer. I put them to use in my boys drawers to sort socks undies and the living shirts that Mr. Nobody has been giving orders to.



Check out the after shots! These little miracle workers are making my boys room heaven and Mr. Nobody has decided to head out to the back yard and trash the patio instead.
No, these socks aren't folded... neither are the undies.... remember, I streamlined laundry long ago and shared the method to my madness HERE.

If you're loving the Cimple Drawer Dividers you'll absolutely drool over the custom dividers. I thought I'd have to save a year for such luxuries but ladies... head over to Orderly Drawer and see how affordable these babies are!


My junk drawer has begun to spit rubber bands and twist ties just to get enough attention so I'll buy her a custom organizer.



You can order the Cimple Expandable Drawer Dividers by heading over to my Pretty Organized Store. Shameless Plug. Just click the button below!



For other great ideas head over to my friend Julia's at Hooked on Houses and check out her "Hooked On" Party!

Fancy Tablecloths

Well, can you guess which of these tablecloths holds the $485 price tag? My shweethaht friend Nester girl is doing a crash course on fabric so you might want to head over there to hear all about how NOT to spend a TON of moola on a table cloth and still have it look fabulous.

I like looking at the finished product. Isn't this dessert table cloth delicious? It's even ironed... I never iron my linens unless the President is coming and even then... well,.... nope. I'll iron my linens when Jesus comes.

I love a good clean line cloth... these tucks make round look modern unlike the flowing tablecloth below... which yes, I also love.

And... Ooops! How did that get in there?!?! Dinner for 8 anyone? Is there any wonder why I dislike taking pictures of my house? I mean, just to get that table clean took me half the night and the floor... well, Happy 4th of July to me... I'm still working on it. Ooo... but stay tuned this week because there is an empty basket on that table that houses the most WONDERFUL gift a reader sent me. I'll show you soon!

Ahh... your eyes can all rest at ease now. This table cloth is casually elegant... and I think I'll paint my chairs 2 different colors some day because I love this shot.

Spring green... love this fun print. Will someone please tell my what on earth those 2 green egg things are there on the ground? That's a far stretch for photo staging... a green chair, a plant, the Hulk... something besides 2 green blobs.

So which one of these table cloths rings up just below $500? Take your guess... I tell you tomorrow!

So THAT's what it's called... Etageres

I'm embarrassed... Feeling a little like a decor dunce... Readers, please assume that I have been living under a rock. Sometimes changing diapers and living on a diet of Cheerios, PB&J crusts, and chocolate chips creates new vocabulary words for things we like.

For example: That picture up there has been a triangular shelf corner thingy to me for a long while. OR... I might have called it a vertical decorator shelf majig. Gramaticians, gramarians, and homonym police... please avert your eyes... I am not joking.

Thingys and Majigs are great descriptive words unless your trying to read off a measuring tape to your husband and it's neither a half or a quarter but rather, "2 smallest majigs after the 3rd middle size line thingy." Husbands find that vocabulary completely useless and perhaps painful.

No, until today I thought this was just a fancy tall skinny shelf deal. But, dear readers it is not. It has a name and all ya'll decorator divas and design savvy friends are rolling your eyes and shaking your heads in disbelief that I didn't know it.

This fancy shelf is called an Etagere. French? The official definition: A piece of furniture with open shelves for displaying small ornaments. (Duh) For the record... Blogger spell check hasn't caught up with the chic vocab either.

So, now you can all rest at ease and invite your girlfriends over to check out your new Etagere or finally find one on Craigslist because you know what it's called.... or I just revealed my total dorkness today.

Honestly, Did you know that word?

Dressed up Dressers Party

If you love dressers then today's your day to be a lookiloo and peek at blogland's best offerings.  I have been impressed as many of you emailed me and shared your dresser stories.  You nifty thrifty women are amazing and I KNOW I will have plenty of inspiration after a weekend of seeing your fantastic posts!  
Photo Credit: DesignSpongeOnline.com

You know the drill.  Link up below with your name or blog name and the permalink for your post, not to your general blog address... that makes things messy for our party and I'll have to delete the link.  If that doesn't make sense go ahead and leave some comment about how much these directions spark zero logical thought neuron receptors in your brain and I'll have my husband come over and grammar proof and defibrillate the post.  

I can't wait to see all of your wonderful ideas!  Link away my friends!

Dressers that Run the Spectrum

For all of you R.O.Y. G. B.I.V  fans:  I give you a spectrum of dressers; a parade by color.  Love that red dresser above.

And the white with 1 orange drawer... a designers solution for when you run out of paint.
Yellow... Oh how I love thee... let me count the drawers.
Green... simple, lively, lovely.
Blue... stripes speak to me.
Another blue... 
Okay smarty pants... YOU go find an indigo dresser.  I looked long and hard... and then I saw this sleek silver sweetie and had to share with my dresser savvy friends.  This one is silver leafed.  Mine would be Krylon Chrome leafed.
Violet.
Join me for the Dressed Up Dresser party!  Head on over HERE for inspiration on a few fabulous dressers!