No One Would Riot for Less

Hi everyone! So lately I have been super busy, if I wasn't at work I was working on my dresser project which in total took probably over 7 hours. I was hoping to do an outfit post today, but that will have to wait till tomorrow since I unexpectedly had to work the morning, and Brian has to work the night - therefor no time for pictures ): But since the dresser is completely finished I wanted to show all of you! I am very very excited about it, mainly because of the cuteness factor.

Here's a recap of the dresser after removing the drawers, pretty much at blank slate stage.







and then we turned it into an adorable little cat cottage!
















Isn't it just adorable? I'm so proud of my sewing skills too ha, I used no reference and made the cushion and curtain as I went. (Aren't the fabrics so cute?! I just love fabric). I'm not tooting my own horn or anything, but I've gotten pretty good at re-doing furniture, as has Brian. I have also re-done a bookcase and recovered my computer chair. (I'll post pictures of those below!)

Since I want everyone to be able to do these kind of fun things I'll give you a few tips on re-doing furniture.

1. This dresser was completely free, picked it up off the side of the road. In the past I would not have been comfortable doing this, but to be honest I would rather get something for free than pay for it and then pay to re-furbish it. I suggest when wanting to re-furbish something go for either really cheap yard sale furniture, furniture being thrown out (yet salvageable), or something you already own that really needs a refresher. Never buy something expensive then re-do it, what a waste!

2. Think outside the box, just because it's a dresser doesn't mean it has to stay that way, sometimes you can come up with the coolest ideas if you just sit on it for a bit (aka cat cottage!!)

3. You don't have to buy any fancy paint to re-do furniture, Brian and I just purchase regular wall paint, the flatest, cheapest one. It's about $8 for a quart which is all you need. But before you paint make sure you either prime, or sand (which is cheaper) the surface, and then coat the hole thing in a polyurethane (mini wax), which is also only $8 (but comes in a much smaller container, which has more than enough since you only put on thin coats)

4. Don't expect everything to run smoothly. Many a time I have come up with ideas and then when actually trying to execute them they don't work at all, or they are much harder than they have to be. For instance, when I did my bookcase, I wanted fabric-ed shelfs and back but actually using fabric would be too difficult so instead I bought 20+ sheets of really pretty scrapbook paper and spray adhesived-them on. (So far no rips and it's been over 6 months!)


These are my other projects!



(Used to be a black bookcase that you put together yourself from Walmart)


(Computer chair from when I was around twelve, used to be bright blue with netting, horribly tacky.. Covered in toile fabric, and I also made that pillow which my dog now uses as his bed haha)




I hope you guys like this sort of stuff because I want to share it with you more often haha! If you have ever re-done anything I would love to hear about it/ see it! That kind of stuff is awesome to me, that's why I am such a Design*Sponge stalker I supppose!




Have a great day everyone!


Currently Listening to:
Through the Desert Alone - Circa Survive.