Desk Steal

I have been using an old vanity as a desk in our living room for a while now. It was slim and only had two drawers for storage and a cubby where you have to lift the top of the vanity to access it. It was not convenient what-so-ever. I search Craigslist quite often and see old desks all the time that could be easliy updated. It wasn't until Kevin mentioned the fact that we needed a desk for more storage, that I really got to searching! I always get excited when he actually says we need something...it doesn't happen very often. On a Saturday I found two desks almost exactly alike, one for $20 and one for $10. I quickly emailed both ads in hope one was still available. I received an email back that day telling me that the cheaper one was sold.

Bummer. 

The next morning, i receieved an email from the other ad telling me that it was, in fact, still available! I emailed right back asking if I could have it! She told me that if I came and picked it up before 1pm that I cold take it off her hands for 10 smackeroos!! I told Kevin and showed him the picture. He was less than thrilled. You see, he is the one who drives all over Memphis to pick up the pieces I have found on CL. Picking up a desk on a Sunday afternoon was not his idea of fun, especially when I pulled up the address and it was in a less than pleasing part of town. Luckily, when we arrived it was the most cute little quaint house in the heart of Midtown. The houses surrounding were all older, smaller homes and were just adorable! I was so excited to get it home and get to work on it!!

Here is the before

It was a little rough on top, but structurally in great shape!! I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it! I had been eyeing this desk that Miss Mustard Seed finished with the Annie Sloan Chalk Paint found here.

Isn't she lovely?? I think so too! I loved the look of the painted desk and stained top. I actually have a dresser done the same way. I was leaning towards a darker blue for the drawers on mine though. I hit up Sherwin Williams for some $5 samples and covered the whole desk without even making a dent in the samples! I used a foam roller for the sides and a foam brush for the smaller spots. I covered with Kilz primer first and then painted. I distressed with my electric sander. 

And here she is!!

Please ignore the Disney lap pad under the table as well as the plastic bag, this is Kevin's way of hiding cords. In this photo, you can also see why I hate the wall color.

The stain is something I had on hand and I'm not sure of the color.  I cleaned(tried) the brass handles, but they didn't seem to want to polish perfectly. I took that as a sign that they wanted to stay antique looking, so I left them that way. I still want to line the drawers with some fabric or coordinating paper, but we will see if I ever get around to that. In the meantime, we are enjoying all the extra storage this baby brings us! When we get around to painting the walls Sea Salt, the drawers may clash and have to be painted a different color.

Do you think I should paint the drawers white or another color??

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Sea Salt and Driftwood

After months of staring at our ugly green-yellow-tannish walls, I have finally decided on a paint color for our living room walls. I have been debating and finally narrowed the colors down to three, Contented by SW, Sea Salt by Valspar and Sea Salt by SW. Luckily, a friend I've known my whole life works at the paint center at Lowe's, any stranger would probably dismiss me after pulling all of the paint fans of brands they don't even carry. After having her mix the 3 colors and taking them home and trying the samples out, I chose Sea Salt by Sherwin Williams.

My official inspiration for this room comes from this bedroom at studio ten 25.

Isn't it beautiful??  I absolutely love the colors and love how bright the paint makes the room feel! Our current paint color is drab and uninviting. The paint color in this bedroom is Rainwashed by SW and is currently in my stepdaughter's room. Rainwashed is a little saturated for our living room, but when I saw Sea Salt in this room,  I fell in L O V E!! I had to have it!

So it's official!! I will be painting the living room within the next two weeks! I'm so exciting to have some bright and relaxing color on the walls and get rid of drab and gross green!

The Z Gallerie mirror in the second and third photo was giving me a panic attack. I wanted.it.now. Unfortunately, it's out of our price range. But I did score a gigantic mirror from Hancock Fabrics for only $39! There was no tag and no info on the mirror to indicate any price. It was sitting in front of another gigantic mirror of the same size and that one was currently $250 on sale 30% off. The young salesperson said he figured MY mirror was the same price. After calling around for over 15 minutes, he told me my mirror was only $39! I wanted to kiss him! Not many people will go out of their way to spend that much time on the phone researching prices. I'm grateful he did! It made my day! 

Now if I can only get my living room to look like this....

I picked this up over at a' la mode. Love the drapes!  I'm not sure of the original source, but the young guest blogger from the post has some wonderful design tips! Check out Michaela at Michaela Noelle Designs!

Also, on a recent trip to the in-law's at Pickwick Lake, I collected a ton of driftwood and shells! I can't wait to get to work collaborating a centerpiece of some sort to tie in the Sea Salt paint! Have I mentioned I love beachy stuff?? Here are some ideas with driftwood and shells I love!

PB Teen

 Shells with sand

Which is similar to the centerpiece we created for my wedding here

How about this mantle covered in driftwood and seashells! My kinda art. Actually, check out the whole web page filled with driftwood art! Karen Miller is obviously a talented artist, and the alligator made from driftwood!