Ugly Dresser : AFTER

And you all thought I couldn't do it. Here it is, the completely re-finished ugly garage dresser turned nursery dresser! I spent a day sanding and painting the wood, pounding a few loose nails back into place, and replacing all the drawer bottoms and back before painting it. It took some time to get it cleaned up, pry off the warped and water damaged fiberboard back and drawer bottoms, and remove 10 knobs, but soon after it really began to change dramatically with paint. I really didn't expect it to get done in only one day so it was a nice surprise.

The dresser was free, I paid about $6 for some board that I had cut up at Home Depot to fit in the drawer bottoms and back, and I spent about $3 to replace the rusty metal feet on the bottom with new plastic feet. The paint colors I already had from painting the walls. Not a bad deal for a piece of "garbage" that was on it's way to the curb!

I did splurge on the 10 drawer pulls, purchased from Cool Knobs and Pulls online, at $4.95 a piece. But, this I think really makes it, for the bug themed room I've got going. Plus, I still paid way less than I would buying something new that would not work nearly as perfect in the room.

So, there you have it...even a water damaged, warped, oil stained dresser can be transformed and used again. I haven't surprised my doubting relatives with it yet...I'm banking on the fact that they probably don't read my blog. Next time my parents are over, I'll see if they recognize it.

Alright, enough of my crazy personal projects...I'll try to find something more interesting for my next post! ;-)

Ugly Dresser: BEFORE

Okay, I have one more ugly furniture makeover in progress to share. This is the dresser I mentioned in the "Ugly Lamp: before" posting from last month...I tried to sell it in my garage sale for my dad for $5 and it would not sell. It's no wonder I guess...it's been in his garage or shed as long as I can remember and is very beat up. The paint is chipped, the drawers are filthy, the back panel is water damaged, and the drawer bottoms are warped and stained.

When I first saw this I said, "I could almost re-paint that for the nursery!" My parents groaned, "no way, not once you open a drawer..." and my husband's reaction was "we aren't putting that thing in the nursery, it's garbage!" Well, I took that as a challenge I simply could not resist.

I spent the afternoon today, my first day off from face painting in 11 days, transforming this dresser. It's literally done now, except that I am waiting for the arrival of some bug themed drawer pulls I ordered online today. I will post a photo of the new and improved dresser once I get the drawer pulls to top it off, so stay tuned!

Recycled Bag Placemats

Check out these cool mats made from recycled bags, available through Ten Thousand Villages. Visit their site for more cool stuff and more info on the group of artisans who hand crochete these mats! They also have some really neat mats and coasters made from recycled newspapers.

Ugly Lamp : AFTER

...And, here it is folks...the after shot of the ugly lamp in a previous posting! Well, you may still consider it ugly, at least to put in your living room. But, I've converted this lamp especially for our bug themed nursery.

The shade I simply wrapped with bug fabric. Inside I filled it with fake grass and bugs from my local craft store, and painted the base white to go with the rest of the furniture. Not too bad for a lamp I was about to toss out.

So, here ends my little lamp recycling project! I have one more dramatic transformation project I'm doing with a dresser, which I'll show in another posting...