Home Office Makeover

Let's be honest, the "home office" was more like the crap room. It was the room that the hubs and I would put random stuff that we weren't quite sure what to do with...plus it has a desk. And after living in our house in the 'burbs for almost 3 years, we accumulated a bunch of crap. Here is what it looked like...

I'm mortified that I am actually sharing these BEFORE photos with you. It was a white jumble of BLAHness.

Yuck, right?

Well we decided to give this room a makeover with some new, colorful, paint. It wasn't easy to de-clutter this room and paint around the large furniture.

But we I was determined to get this makeover done in ONE day. That's right...only ONE day. Tape, cut-in, move the ladder, use paint roller, move the ladder some more, remove tape and move furniture back. TIRING! But totally worth it!

Check it out!

What do you think?

It's 1000% better!

Curtains & A Corner Cabinet Makeover With ASCP

We finally have dining room curtains! It's amazing how you get used to living without certain things...like curtains...and don't realize how the heck you lived without them until you have them! Does that even make sense?!

My wonderful and talented mother

 who is a master seamstress made these. 

And I LOVE them!

But there is one major problem. Our black corner cabinet now completely doesn't match ANYTHING in this room. 

I love this corner cabinet. It provides storage without taking away much space in the room. My mother-in-law gets all the credit for spotting this in an antique store and purchasing while the hubs and I were out of town. We've had this cabinet for several years - it moved with us from our condo to the 'burbs.

I was desperate to make over this cabinet so it would 

fit better with our decor. Solution? 

Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP) of course!

I painted the interior cabinet walls in ASCP "Duck Egg" blue and the rest of the cabinet in ASCP "Old Ochre". Here is what it looked like after 2 coats of paint. 

And here is a closer look at the inside. 

The blue is a bit bright. I know. 

The next step was to distress the cabinet. I cheated and 

used my new electric detail sander instead of sanding by hand. 

Then I put on coat of clear Briwax followed by 2 coats of

 Annie Sloan "Dark" soft wax.

I chose not to wax the interior of the cabinet. 

Here is the finished product.

The blue is still a bit bright but it's growing on me. 

What do you think?!?

Winter Mantle

Once the holiday decorations came down, things looked pretty naked here in the 'burbs. I needed to come up with a "winter" themed mantle to hold us over until Valentine's Day (the next holiday that I have decorations for). It was slim pickins' in our inventory but I managed to put a few things together.

I love mercury glass and have accumulated a few pieces. The large tree on the right was a gift from the hubs this Xmas. Yes, it's technically a Xmas decoration but since it's not red or green, I figured I could get a way with it. The brown blobs are pine cones, and I put some silver glass ornaments in an urn next to the tree. The rest of the items are mercury glass candle votives. I thought the silver theme was wintery. In the words of Tim Gunn...I had to "make it work"!

Another Makover...Sneak Peak!

Life has been busy in the 'burbs. 

The hubs and I have been up to some minor home improvements. 

I also managed to repaint a piece of furniture recently, 

but immediately had to pack my suitcase 

for week of work travel to Savannah. 

Before I reveal what we've been up to, here is a peak at the furniture makeover to hold you over until 

I get back home and can do a full post. 

What could it be????? 

French Linen in the "Man Cave"

Santa Clause (and family) was good to me this year, I can not complain. My awesome sister got me a new color of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint (ASCP) for Christmas. And my mom got me another jar of Annie Sloan Dark Wax. I know what you are thinking....paint and wax for Christmas? What a weirdo. 

I was dying to paint something with my new ASCP. Then I thought of the perfect piece of furniture. You see, the "man cave" is a work in progress. We have a black coffee table in this room that the hubs and I have had since we first moved in together. It's great, but I was bored with it. Here it is...

I am not sure what style of table you would call this? It has 2 sides that fold up if you need more room. 

I knew this was the perfect project to tackle with my new ASCP. I was bored of the black and needed a change. So 2 coats of paint later, I got to applying the dark wax to give it more dimension.

Not sure I did the steps in the right order, but after I applied the dark wax, I distressed it and then finished with a coat of clear wax.

Here is the finished product. The lighting is horrendous in the "man cave", I do apologize. 

The table looks so much better in person, I swear. 

I love the makeover! What do you think? 

I'm linking this up at: