File Cabinet Redo

I wish I could say I got this cabinet somewhere cool, like the side of the road, but it's from Sam's Club and it's been an eyesore since the day we got it. I've had dreams of painting it for a year and a half now, and they have finally come to fruition this spring break. Check out the process and the finish product:

Before: Blah, boring!

Saw the use of foil on Real Simple, would have rather used painter's tape all over

Love the subtlety of the result:

 

And one last view, in it's natural habitat:

The January Cure

Second to spending time with friends and family, my favorite thing about the holidays is the purge of belongings that comes right after. This year we really went for it, organizing and cleaning like never before. We also signed up for Apartment Therapy's January Cure , so each day we will get a task to get our house in better working order between January 2 and February 1st. We'll update the blog each week to show our progress. So far the tasks were simple: set up an outbox, buy flowers (we always do this), create a needs assessment list for the whole house, buy green cleaners (didn't do this because it seems more green to use the rest of what we have + I clean everything with vinegar), and clean the floors.

Here's our needs assessment list as it stands after week 1:

Living room
Clean out cabinet

Broken drop ceiling tile
clean behind couch

Bedroom
Mending box
Clean out closet
Organize drawers
Dusty chandelier
Burnt out bulbs
Broken drop ceiling tile

Dining room
Old computers
Broken drop ceiling tile
Christians closet
Christians drawers

Kitchen
Clean out fridge
Clean behind fridge
Pantry
Organize utensil drawers
Fix broken drawer

Bathroom
Clean out chest
Organize under sink
Replace shower curtain
Move medicine out

Laundry room
Organize side wall
Organize shelves
Vacuum
Spray paint lamp

Outside
Get furniture
Compost
Move spool to front

I wish there were before photos. Actually, it's probably best that there aren't. Trust me, behind the closet and cabinet doors, we were messy. The end of the day resulted in three boxes and one garbage bag full of stuff ready to be donated. And with the help of a gift card to The Container Store, we can all sleep a little easier.

The Closets: hers and his 

 The Kitchen Drawers 

organized hardware drawer

just forks, spoons, knives, and bottle openers :)

medicine moved to the kitchen

utensil drawer now holds only the most frequently used 

this drawer has everything else

The Pantry 

love from the container store

The Bathroom

Also with the help of the container store

Happy cat in a clean home :)

Bulletin Board Redo

Inspired by the painted bulletin board I saw on here Apartment Therapy, I decided to make my own. I used a very old, but awesomely large bulletin board that has been following me around since middle school. It has been stored in the back of my closet since moving here to Nola.

Check out the process and the final product:

The supplies: left over white primer, black spray paint, and brush

The original had all kinds of glitter glue and tweeny messages left over from my sister and I

roughly painted white: I wanted it to have obvious brush strokes, so I wasn't concerned about it drying before I layered on more paint

Last step: I spray painted the whole thing black before the white was totally dry. I made sure to cover the wood borders completely, but was less careful with the bulletin board itself. 

The final product hangs in the kitchen:

The Finished Piece

Well I was able to wait almost 24 hours before reassembling the dresser and moving it back into it's place. You'll remember that I wanted the finished piece to look like this. I think overall it was definitely a success and served it's purpose to brighten up the bedroom. Here's the final transformation:

Before:

After:

See the process here.