Going Green – Campaign Dresser Makeover! (Plus a Review of Benjamin Moore's Advance Paint)

As much as I love classic blacks and clean whites, my last few makeovers left me seriously craving some colour. So I finally took the plunge with this fabulous little campaign chest – the perfect candidate for a bright & bold transformation! 

I’ve been crushing on campaign furniture for awhile now, what with all the gorgeous makeovers online. So when I found this piece at GW a few months ago, I may have jumped for joy. Just a little bit :) And at $17, it wasn't a bad deal for design inspiration come true.

The finish looks way better here than it was - really drab and dizzingly grainy. I knew I wanted to go bright - how great would this look in a deep red or indigo blue? Not to mention pink, if you’re not married to my husband :) But we both liked the idea of a fun bold green, so I went with it.

For starters we removed the hutch ('we' meaning my sweet husband, with the help of my parents’ awesome handyman friend Hai - I pretended to supervise). This was harder than expected because the screw heads were embedded, so it had to be pried + sawed off, after which we had to deal with the screws sticking out.  There must be a smarter way to do this, but all we could think of was to saw them off.

Since the dresser was in relatively good shape, the rest of the makeover was fairly straightforward.   

1. patched the screw holes with wood filler, plus all the major dings and scratches and one pretty beat up corner

2. primed with Zinsser Cover stain, a stinky but otherwise great sanding-free primer for laminate/glossy surfaces

3. applied 2 coats of semi-gloss paint, sanding lightly between coats

I decided to try out Benjamin Moore’s Advance paint, mixed in a custom colour. Can we just take a minute to talk about this paint?! It is aMAZING – I’d read good reviews, but nothing prepared me for the awesomeness that is this paint. Seriously! It rolls on as smooth as butter, and it has an extended drying time as well as being self-leveling, which meant the finish came out PERFECTLY. No matter what I did, by the time it dried it always leveled out to a super smooth even coat, not a hint of patchiness, let alone a single brush or roller mark. No need for paint conditioner! Plus I hardly used any of it (this dresser used less than ¼ of a quart), and despite the deep colour without a tinted primer, I was good in 2 coats. It's a bit pricier (here in TO, it cost me about $5-10 more than a regular good quality brand from a big box store) but it definitely goes a long way. And for an amateur painter like me it’s worth it for a guaranteed professional finish. Here's a close-up:

On the downside, the extended dry time does mean a much longer cure time between coats, but it was a reasonable trade-off.

As for a sealer, the paint guy claimed it wasn’t needed because this paint dries to a hard and durable finish over time. Not sure about this yet – it has got a few  tiny marks on the top already, but the sealer I tested dulled the finish so I skipped it anyway. Anyone with any tips please let me know :)

I’m really happy with the final results. So much so that I won’t be selling this one – it's the perfect statement piece for our living space.

The colour reads more turquoise on screen than it is in person, but picture a really bright deep green. I still felt a bit hesitant about it at first but now I totally love it -  it's so fun and vibrant and I just love how it makes the hardware pop.

I'm crazy about this Chinese porcelain lamp - it was an amazing Goodwill find for 10 bucks (right?!). I paired it with a simple shade from Homesense.

The lovely orchid was from my Mom :) and the mirror was another Homesense find. Picked up some of the other accessories on a visit to the US awhile back (at Homegoods - any guesses what my fave store is?)

Here's another before and after

I'm sad to say it got a little damaged in the move, but it's still the perfect pop of colour in our new home!

Linking up at Tip Junkie, Primitive & Proper, The Shabby Creek Cottage, Miss Mustard Seed, It's Overflowing, DIY Showoff, Thrifty Decor Chick, 

Bits of Summer - Easy Summer Decorating

Before this summer's over I thought I’d share a few little vignettes from around the house :) I didn’t do much seasonal decorating this year what with our big move to Orillia, but I did add a few simple summery touches here and there.

 

A quick an easy DIY, this print is just a piece of wrapping paper slipped into a GW frame. The smaller calla lily sketch is actually a greeting card (from my Mom :)

Changed out the red candles from my fall vignette (we totally skipped spring in our house :) for fresh and airy white ones. I love how they feel kind of beachy, plus they smell delish. I found the mustard flower at Walmart and it just made me smile :) Paired it with some other stuff I had on hand for a pretty summery arrangement!

This great big conch shell was too cool to pass up on a recent visit to the US. I still can't figure out where to put it, so for now it sits in this stone tray on our coffee table. I tried listening for the ocean but this one sounds more like a toilet. Still, it's pretty :)

Summery vase fillers were a Homesense clearance find, mixed in with some others from Dollarama and Walmart.

Definitely my fave piece of summer in the house! Orchids make me ridiculously happy :) I have another deep purple one that I was so in love with, and when the flowers fell off I just couldn't live without orchids in my life, so I went out and got another :)

Nothing like flowers to brighten your day :) Aren't they pretty?

Best part of summer in the new house: our little outdoor space!

Eid Mubarak!

We celebrated a beautiful Eid this past weekend, in the company of tons of family and friends :) Eid Mubarak! Hoping you & yours had a blessed and festive Eid as well! May all our efforts of Ramadan be accepted, ameen! 

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Our Little Outdoor Space

 Can't believe it's mid August already - we've been in the new place for over a month! I gotta say this little town is growing on me. Although it's still a bit lonely at times, I do love the peace and quiet and the people here are seriously so friendly. 

One of the best parts about moving was our great little outdoor space. We're here so short term that I didn't bother with any gardening, but I did decide to dress up our small deck so we could make the most of it :) (excuse the photos, it's been cloudy here all week!)

 

I love this space! It's a great place for cozy dinners, and after Ramadan it'll be so nice to sit outside for breakfast or, a even cup of tea in the afternoon :) My husband loves studying out here too for a change of scenery and some fresh air.   

 Before we moved I had my eye out for a bistro set on CL/Kijiji, but we ended uo getting this set on sale at Canadian Tire. I just love it :) It looks great, it's zero maintenance, plus it folds away for easy storage.

 

The outdoor rug is the Safavieh Courtyard in sand black from Rugs USA, who FYI have free shipping to Canada!! So I officially love them :) I hesitated before buying it because the graphic design was a little bolder than I'm used to, but I took the risk and now I totally love it! It brings so much more interest to our little outdoor space, plus it makes my toes happy :) 

 

This lovely little plant adds a pretty dose of colour, and at $5 it wasn't a huge investment. I'll admit the flowers were brighter when I bought it a few weeks ago, but at least I haven't killed it :) The planter was a great clearance find at Lowes.  

So what do you think :) ? Our outdoor space wasn't initially a big priority, but I really do love how it came together. We have no idea where we'll be come January, let alone whether our next home will have a yard, so I'm soo happy we did up this one and we can enjoy it while we have it!

Linking up at Transformation Thursdays, Addicts (not so) Anonymous,

Gratitude for the Home you Have

Just some thoughts to share today.

 

My husband and I are fasting for Ramadan, and this year the days are particularly long. The fasts get easier as the month goes on, but my first fast a few weeks ago I definitely felt it! It was ridiculously humid out and I got stuck in traffic (with no AC!) for well over an hour. By mid-afternoon I was thirsty beyond belief, as hot as ever, and feeling hungrier and weaker with every hour. But when I did finally break my fast at sunset, I can’t remember ever being more grateful for a tall glass of cool water! The next day the heat broke and there was an incredible breeze blowing through our home all day :)

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As much as we try to make gratitude part of our everyday, sometimes you just have these moments of really sincere and really profound thankfulness. Even when I felt that heat and that thirst, I knew relief would come. At sunset I would drink, and eventually I would cool off. But so many people can't take comfort in knowing relief will come – their thirst and their hunger is real, with no end in sight.

It got me thinking about how much we have to be grateful for. I’ve spent the last few weeks unpacking, organizing and decorating our new place, as well as thinking about all the other ways I wish I could decorate it…

If you’ve ever spent a couple hours browsing design blogs and magazines, it’s sometimes difficult not to feel a bit covetous. All those ridiculously beautiful interiors, the stunning furniture so perfectly styled with the most fabulous and interesting accessories - suddenly I’m finding myself an awful lot less interesting and my own home feels like it just doesn’t measure up. Tell me I’m not the only one who’s felt this way! But in that moment I have to catch myself, and remember that just having a roof over my head is an immense blessing. The freedom to dedicate a bit of time and money to decorating even more so. 

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Our home may not always be everything I could dream of, but so much of it is more than many others would ever dream of. I don’t ever want to lose sight of that fact, or forget why decorating is so meaningful for me.  It shouldn’t ever be about keeping up with the Joneses, or in our case as bloggers, making every space magazine-ready. It’s about creating a home that is beautiful - for my family, and as an act of reverence to God. He loves beauty, and so I want our home to reflect that. It’s about using the talents and the passions He has given me, in a way that pleases Him. I want our home to feel warm and inviting, a space we want to be in, a place where we can live comfortably, work productively, play happily, and be always inspired to worship. A huge part of that is being grateful for the home we have. That doesn’t mean I can’t aspire to prettier designs, it just means getting cranky about something I can’t afford is pretty ungracious when I have so much to be thankful for :)