Thanks Value Village

Sometimes I go to Value Village on a nice lazy Saturday and walk around looking for gems.  Sometimes I get lucky.  I got lucky this weekend when I found this little cutie:

It is always half off everything in the store on the weekends, so I got it for $7.50.  Unfortunately, the top is a plasticy laminate, but the legs and bottom are gorgeous wood - and the lines are fab!

I used my beloved Howard Restor-A-Finish and Feed-N-Wax on all the wood, but I'm considering painting the top a glossy white because I really don't like the dark 'fake wood' look...for now, I just removed the price and shined it up until I figure it out. 

I think it looks pretty good in this before and after.  The wood on the bottom part is just beautiful.

I had planned on using it for a coffee table in my woman cave, but it's a bit too small in diameter and too tall....so it's acting as a side table in there for now.  Just don't think about drinking red wine on my couch.

To the people in my hometown, thank you for thinking pieces like this are 'outdated' and leaving them for me!  Smooches.

Woman cave is done

Behold, my very own TV and reading room!  Nothing but vampire and romance movies are playing in here!  I'm totally kidding.  Mostly.

The bookcases are complete, and I couldn't be more in love.  They aren't perfect, but that's ok.  I love that we did most of the work ourselves, and it doesn't look like donkey doo. 

This room has been a long time coming.  We've had it painted since March, oy! 

I'm so happy with the dark brown paint!  I was worried it would be too dark, but the light is perfect in here.  The shade is Glidden 'Bark', but I think you have to ask for it now.

I have the cable box stuck underneath the dresser.  Unless you're standing against the bookcases taking a picture of the tv, you don't see it.  I'm also happy with the cord cover I installed under the tv.  In person, it's quite unnoticeable.  Note: the dresser has to be a little off-center so the heat vent by the door isn't blocked.  WAH WAH.

Do you remember my awesome Goodwill mirror from waaaay back?  It looks mighty pretty with a few coats of white glossy paint. 

The light fixture is this one from Overstock.  I love it!!

The teal 'Kira' rug was picked up at Crate and Barrel last Christmas on clearance.  It's been sitting in a spare room for 12 months.  It was worth the storage time.  You can find a similar rug there now, called the Baxter. 

The french doors that lead out to the porch have been dressed with white Ikea curtains and bamboo panels for privacy. 

And of course, the crystal pendant completes the desk nook.

The couch is Rowe's Dorset model, I was able to order it with the fabric I wanted, and they also let you choose fabric (I chose funky!) for toss pillows.  It was a good deal, but I'm not thrilled with the wrinkly seat cushions.  I'm wondering if I should complain or just let it go....

My chairs were found on Craigslist awhile ago, and will eventually be recovered.  For now, the burnt orange seats look pretty nice with my couch pillows, go figure! 

Now I just need an ottoman to prop my feet on.  So, do you think it looks better than it did when we moved in?

Boozie Susie, I swear!!!  Maroon trim??  I hate you. 

I guess I showed her how it's done. 

And the whopping cost for this makeover:

Bookcases and trim (materials and labor) - approx. $2100

Rowe sofa - $825 (plus $70 for Scotchguard) = $895

Samsung 42" Plasma - $475

Crate and Barrel rug (6x9) - $440

Overstock light - $130
Pier 1 bamboo panels - $110
Pier 1 pillows on couch - $60
Cane chairs - $50
Loft double curtain rod - $45
Dresser - $42
IKEA curtains - $30
Pier 1 set of two frames - $25
Goodwill mirror - $25
Cord cover - $20
CSN crystal pendant - $12
Faux fur 'rug' on couch from Hobby Lobby - $10
Various accessories that I've collected over the last year, let's say about $100 for all. 
GRAND TOTAL: $4569
Yeah, pardon me while I go throw up.  No, really...I have to keep in mind that there was construction involved, and that major expense added to big-ticket items like the tv, rug, and sofa added up to about 4k.  I still think it's a pretty good total considering the one bid we got for building the entire bookcase unit and finishing it was $3650.  Feel free to make me feel better!!!  Or make fun of me, whatever floats your boat.

CSN Review

So, remember last month when I said that I was going to review a pendant light from CSN?  Well, behold.....my review.  Let's start with the basics.  This light came about a week after I ordered it, so that was sweet.  I only had to pay $12 due to the generous gift from CSN! 

This is the box.  Do not be fooled, contrary to the 'Easy Lite' reference you see here, this light was NOT easy to install.

The instructions were pitiful, the cord was about 10 feet long and needed to be cut and stripped more than once, and more than half of the crystals were wrapped like this:

The plus is that the crystals are all real glass, and beautiful.  The minus is that they are held on with these tiny little wire loops that have a tendency of stretching out and not meeting up anymore.  I had to spend some real time making sure they were tight.  The company includes extra crystals to customize the length of the light - longer and shorter ones. 

As you can imagine, the canopy part is super heavy.  And unfortunately, the entire crystal canopy needs to be removed in order to put in the bulb.  I didn't realize this until after I had everything assembled.  Apparently, I am not the brightest bulb....oh, yeah!  Awesome pun for you!  Anyway, I was quite pissed to take it down again to install a bulb.

Regardless of the annoying install, I LOVE this light.  I may be ticked off every time I have to change the bulb, but as long as I have a blanket placed underneath the fixture to catch any 'suicidal crystals', it's not that bad.  And believe me, a blanket saved a few already. 

The inside of the recessed area was just painted flat white to make it 'disappear,' and I'm really happy with the way it turned out.  Despite the issues, I would definitely buy this again because it is so perfect for my room.   

Do you agree it was worth the hassle?  Next up is my completed room!  For real!

CSN Review

Well since I just did a giveaway, I figured I would take CSN up on their offer to review a product from one of their many online stores.  They have everything from bar tables and stools to outdoor furniture, from kitchen sinks to lint brushes, from power tools to doorknobs!  Oh yes, they sell it all.  I have had my eye on this pendant light for awhile now, I think I may have to make it mine.

I'm hoping it will look great hanging from the old recessed light fixture above the built-in desk in my woman cave. 

It's not too cute when lit - sort of reminds me of a parking garage.  It really needs to be converted to a pretty hanging pendant, don't you think?   

I just need to figure out how to get the old fluorescent tubing fixtures out of there, as the previous owners converted it to a regular fixture already. 

I'll let you know how it turns out soon!  And possibly even show you the completed room sometime before the end of time.  The bookshelves aren't quite finished yet!  Gah, I'm slow as molasses. 

That room again

I think I did a pretty good job of cleaning up the closet in my brown woman cave.  I painted the shelves white and the walls the ceiling blue.  It was a pain and is hard to see the blue, but I still think it was worth it. 

It is also more empty than ever before, and it should remain that way for about 72 more hours until I start desperately throwing crap in there.  Ok, I've already started the crap throwing.  But it's a neat throw.  I think. 

That fine piece of furniture blocking the view of the closet door is the Craigslist dresser I raved about here.  It goes along with a very nice electronic device that will be great for me during the very loooong football season when I am banished from the living room.  

I got my own 42" plasma - awe yeah!  I chose to wall-mount it because it's a small room and I wanted as much space between me and the tv as possible.  I also wanted to have the top of the dresser clear of tvs, components, etc.  I will have to share my brillz plan later...I promise there won't be any wires hanging down when I'm through! 

The mount we bought tilts up and down (doesn't swivel though) and was pretty darn easy to install.  Finally, people.  Something was EASY to install and didn't require crying.  I got the mount from Walmart.com for $40....and I'm so happy with it!  Check it out here.  This room is finally starting to look good - one long paint-drenched day at a time, right? 

The painting never ends

So, I'm still painting the brown room.  The next thing I had to tackle was the closet.  I believe this room will have more storage than any other room in the world.  A 12-foot wall of bookcases and cabinets, a built-in desk with tons of drawers, and this guy:

As you can see, it's yellowed and chock-full of crapola.  The other side, too... 

For shame!  There is a jammed shredder in here that hasn't worked for years!  And an entire box of colorful file folders that I have no hope of ever using up in my lifetime!  That black strap?  It's a carrier for my yoga mat that is only used to cushion my knees while painting on the floor! 

 

It took me a little while to clean it all out, even longer to prime every inch of the inside.  Believe me, there is a lot of junk that will not be making it's way back into this closet.  And...this picture was BEFORE the primer, just so we're clear. 

I've been painting the shelves, trim and doors the same white as the bookcases, and the closet walls the same pale blue as the ceiling.  It's looking much better now!  Is it weird to spend hours painting a closet that no one will ever see?  Maybe. 

More bookcase progress

We spent a lot of time sanding the plywood and caulking all the seams on our bookcase framing.  Observe:

We also used wood filler on the holes in the plywood and 'counter top' because it is sandable and caulk is NOT.  Have you ever used caulk and later tried to remove the extra crap you left behind?  FAIL.  Use wood filler, or even simple wall spackle works!  We also primed.  

And here is proof that I am the muscle behind all these projects.  I was at it for at least an hour longer than Shaun, who was lounging in the living room before he meandered in here to snap my photo.  Pshhhhht!

Booty booty booty!  I may have been dancing to 80s music during this shot.  Anyway, we got the entire thing primed with two coats of BIN and it looks NICE! 

Why do I insist on using BIN?  Because this stuff sands like nothing else.  Yes indeedy.  When it's time to paint, you sand everything with 320 sandpaper.  It gets so smooth, it's like Nicole Kidman's forehead.  I'm not kidding!  We used it on the shelves as well.  The lawn guy came to spray while I was out here and promptly left, muttering he would come back later.  Ha!

Like Jenny, I decided to use Ace Cabinet and Trim paint on everything.  I used semi-gloss white, and I am very happy with the way the shelves turned out.

Most of the brush strokes level out while drying, and I think the glossy factory-like finish will be fabulous on the bookcases.  It's a little stinky and runny, but man the result is nice!  We will be cutting and attaching the shelf cleats this weekend, and hopefully will get a coat of paint on everything as well.  Has anyone else used this paint?

Bookcase progress

When deciding on materials for the shelving portion of our bookcases, we had quite a selection to choose from at our local Menards store.  Sorry, I couldn't resist this hysterical pic of Ray the 'Menards guy!'

For shelving, there's MDF, laminate, oak, hardwood plywoods like birch, specialty boards like ash or maple, and pine.  We didn't want to use laminate because all the other built-ins in our house are wood.  We couldn't use oak or specialty wood because it would've set us back a ton.  Despite them being excellent products for this application, we decided against 3/4 inch plywood or MDF because it would've been a royal pain to cut to size.  Menards does not do cuts for customers, so we would've had to bring the 4x8 sheets elsewhere.  That was not going to happen, since we don't even own a truck.  We ended up with 1x10in 'select' pine boards.  They were gorgeous and knot-free!

They did cost lots of monies - almost $20 a board for 8ft lengths.  But they were already the width we wanted, and the portions we cut off after creating the shelf support frames could be used for shelves.  Some people think that pine doesn't make good shelving because it's too soft, but with the proper prep and finish, pine can be just as durable as oak.  We created the support frames using 52 inch pieces of the pine boards with a 1/4 inch plywood backing. 

Hager chose to stagger the plywood backing among the frames, which was not something I wanted.  I didn't want to see seams in the plywood on the backs of the bookcases, but he was trying to avoid us needing another piece.  So, we will make the best of it with wood filler. 

Here is the last frame awaiting installation.

And it was put in place that evening. 

The vertical shelf supports line up with the cabinets, for the most part.  The two cabinets on the ends are 12 inches wide, while the middle four cabinets are two-door 30 inch wide cabinets.  We chose this combination because the wall was 12ft 1.5in long, so 144 inches of cabinets would be almost perfect.  We did have to add a filler piece to the right side, as they were a little short. 

The next steps are priming and putting up the shelf cleats.  Lucius approves of the project so far, which is good since I'm sure he will ultimately be sitting up there when it's completed.   

Can you see it coming together?  We are so excited!  PS - Hager did not help us just because he is an amazing person.  He helped us because we paid him.  Just wanted to clear that up for all you (unnecessarily) jealous people!