Monday, May 12, 2014

Drum Roll Please...

I've mentioned before in other nursery blog posts that this is the one update I couldn't wait to see. With the exceptions of the mobile (which will happen next month) and the actual child for whom the nursery is created, painting all of the furniture was the addition I have been the most excited for.

The plan was for all the furniture to be white, except for the glider which had a limited amount of colors to choose from and was by far the biggest financial investment in this room so we weren't going to be picky. We bought the crib off Craigslist back in the fall, half because of its ridiculously cheap price and half because it was white. The rest of the furniture, though, was a myriad of colors because it was gathered from thrift stores and other parts of the house. All the mismatched colors were super annoying to me and I couldn't wait to paint them white to match the crib and the rest of the color palette.

First up on the painting checklist was the dressers/changing table. The hubs bought these when he moved out of the Air Force dorms and into an apartment approximately a thousand years ago. (And by a thousand I mean...8? 10? They've been around for a while.) When he bought them they were the cheap 90s style fake pine color, and he painted them a much more attractive black as well as changed out the knobs. Since then they've served as the dressers for various roommates and as extra storage in our guest room, and they're the perfect height and amount of storage to serve as the changing table in the nursery now. They also fit my absolute favorite qualification of FREE. Here they are in their "before" state:


Because I would be painting white over black, I figured going against my usual lazy style and priming them first would be a safe bet. The primer we use, however, isn't safe for me to use in my pregnant state, so the hubs primed and then helped me knock out the painting before he left for his work trip.


Captain was really helpful as well.

Once he primed them all we were able to quickly knock out the first coat of paint together, and then I wrapped up with the second and last coat the next day on my own. It really didn't take too long per coat, and the results were so dramatic.


We were able to use the same knobs the hubs had replaced the originals with all those years ago, which was really exciting. They actually look way better with the white paint than they ever did with the black.

Next up was the little green bookshelf. When I moved out of the freshman dorm and into an apartment, one of my mom's friends let me rummage through her [super full] garage for furniture pieces I wanted to take for free (aren't those the absolute best kinds of people?). I painted it green and used it as a bookshelf/nightstand in my apartment for a couple years, then loaned it to my friend for a year (who tried to convince me I'd actually given it to him to keep), then used it as an organizer in my closet for a couple years until I reorganized and had no more use for it. It's been sitting, unused, in our extra room ever since, and I'd completely forgotten it even existed. Meanwhile, I was putting together my list of things I wanted for the nursery and realized that some extra storage in the back corner of the room would be helpful. The space would be filled and we'd get some more storage; win win. I put a 6-cube organizer on my shopping list and figured we'd pick one up from Target at some point this summer. But then I was casually speed walking through the house getting things done about a month ago and glanced inside that extra room...spotting the bookshelf. The bookshelf which I had literally once stored 6 cube bins inside at one time...AKA, a 6-cube organizer. Can you even imagine how happy I was? A $30 organizer from Target wouldn't have broken us financially, but $30 starts to add up after a while when you're adjusting to a new baby budget. Here's the bookshelf's before (including my sister's feet in the background):


Painting this guy was pretty straight forward; two coats later and she was white!


It's not very full or styled right now, but there are two cube bins that we've registered for that will hopefully appear during a baby shower later this summer, and I'll figure out the rest of it then. There's a lot of storage potential there, and I'll get to it once I have a better idea of what storage needs I actually have. But in the meantime...it's white, folks.

Last but not least was the side table for next to the glider. This guy was one of the only furniture purchases we had to make (the crib and glider being the other two), but he was a sweet $15 thrift store find that I'm in love with. I wasn't so in love with the grungy yellow, but I knew it would be awesome once it was painted. Here's the before picture:


I was a little nervous about the top of the table, since it was a weird plastic-y laminate surface.


 I wasn't really sure whether the paint would stick to it well, but I tend to put the paint on pretty thick and it didn't end up being a problem at all. And what's great it that the top doesn't have the plastic-y look and feel anymore; it just blends right in with the rest of the wood as if it's all the same. After removing the couple of screws holding the handle on, it was go-time. Don't think it didn't occur to me after about 20 seconds that those round legs look an awful lot like spindles, which we all know I don't have any kind of love for, but it wasn't horrible. The legs took a three coats, since I tend to go pretty thin on spindles to avoid drips, and the rest of it only too two. And just like with the others, the difference was incredible.


The whole room seems a lot lighter and cleaner with all the furniture painted white, and I love it. It's the effect and mood I was going for all along, and it's so fun to see it start to come together.


To be able to look in from the doorway like this and see all the white furniture instead of the mismatched conglomeration of furniture that had been there up until now is so much fun. As I look at this picture, though, I can't help but notice that I really need to bite the bullet soon and hem those curtains so the naked curtain rod can finally have a purpose.

Here's the nursery to-do list now:
That list, guys, is getting really short. Pretty insane. 
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