A Trash Tale
Today's the 7th anniversary of us finally becoming official "boyfriend and girlfriend". (Yes, it was a process...) We are also are coming up on our 3rd wedding anniversary next month. What better time to flash back to our anniversary last year, when we were just discovering a project we finally finished this summer. The story goes something like this:
I took Cody for a walk after school on our normal route through the surrounding neighborhoods when we walked past a sad dresser sitting out on the curb. I'm a pansy and too nervous to go in for a closer look, so as soon as Ryan pulled in the driveway I asked him to drive around the block once to go take a look at the dresser and see if it's anything worth grabbing. He drove around the block and said something non-commital like, "it looks fine". I asked him if he got out of the car for a closer look, and he said no- He looked at it as he drove by and that was that. I, of course, got frustrated because he was suppose to read my mind and inspect the piece of furniture up close- ya know, looking to see if it's a good quality piece worth taking home.
So that evening, we decided to get dressed up and enjoy an anniversary dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant, and, as expected, on the way to dinner I made Ryan drive past the dresser again. This time we got out, inspected it a little closer, and see that it is, in fact, all wood with dove tailed drawers and no obvious major defects. I want it! Got to have it! IT'S FREE! And Ryan looks at me like, really? So, in our nice clothes, we picked up the heavy piece of furniture and started the process of trying to fit it into the car.... someone smashed someone's finger.... frustration grew between both parties....What a way to start our night! While the beginning of dinner was a little quiet, wine and good food ensured that this free dresser didn't complete ruin our night. It made for a good story, too!
The dresser that night we got it home into the garage:
You can tell someone thought about fixing her up...the drawers were sanded down already and hardware removed, but then for whatever reason, it wasn't meant to be!
So, fast forward through Winter as she sat in our freezing garage waiting for us to do something, ANYTHING, to start our DIY process... until Spring, when Ryan finally had enough and decided to use his hand sander to scuff up the sides and wear the poly off of the top. (yes notice, the pronoun has changed as she has become part of our home...Yes, I know I'm a dork.)
We then moved her through the house and up the stairs to her new home (you guessed it, the accent wall room!) Where I did one coat of primer, and 2-3 coats of Behr's Cool Jazz paint. Once the painting was done, I added some Marth Stewart pulls and knobs from Home Depot, and TA-DA! She's a beauty! A total trash makeover!
We've thought about sticking a before and after picture in the mailbox of the former owners, but I think that might be too cruel...
By the way, the Cool Jazz is the same color I used on the accent wall, and I've also already painted two IKEA Malma mirrors (also FREE from my mother....) with the same quart of paint.
Slowly but surely, this room is coming together!!
Lesson learned: Keep your eyes open for great pieces out on the side of the road, and don't be a pansy! Go check out anything that catches your eye. We now have a great piece that cost under $100 dollars and we love it more than anything we could have bought in a store!
Happy trash-picking!
