Step by Step

We're back from our two week trip home, and things are starting to get close to picking up. My wonderful husband bought me an electric disc sander for when the time finally comes to start tearing stuff apart. He's currently working the midnight shift (10:30 PM-6:30 AM), so I've switched my sleep schedule to correlate with his. Since this is the case, I'm up most the night, and don't really want to be running a power tool outside after dark. So, for the moment, I'm focusing my attentions on paint choices. Really, the Valspar $3.00 paint samples are quite possibly my new favorite thing. If I don't like the color on one piece, I don't feel guilty and set it aside for a later piece. I'm also slowly accumulating a paint swatch collection. Each time we venture to Lowe's or Home Depot (True Value is next on my list, as soon as I can find one nearby), I come home with a decent stack of them. I'm so excited to get this project rolling!

I've been regularly perusing Craigslist in my region (and by regularly, I mean obsessively. Multiple times an hour obsessive.), and came across a darling little table for twenty dollars. When I showed my husband, he was less than enthused. While scouring this morning, however, I found that the poster lowered the price to fifteen, and managed to beg my way into this lovely piece. There is plenty of work to be done, including removing the folding leaves, as I won't have much use for them (I'm planning on using it as a nightstand for our spare bedroom). The light spots you see in front are pieces of...something (laminate?) that was placed along the outer edges of the top for protection, I'm assuming. I'm going to pry them all off and sand it smooth. Not worth bothering with too much, and upon further inspection, it pops right off. Wonderful. This table smells amazing. That smell that only old wood can take on, and the cherry color inside the drawers is absolutely marvelous. Whatever color I decide to paint it, I'm only going to put paper over the insides with a bit of glue, to allow the next owner to salvage the original color. The red just won't go with my scheme.  Here she is, flaws and all:

I think she'll look pretty chic once I get her cleaned up a bit, don't you? A fresh coat of paint never hurt anyone.

I've collected a few odds and ends in the past month, including a hand carved wooden statue my husband's aunt let us pick out for our wedding present. She's immensely talented, and I feel quite lucky to have been given suck a personal gift. I also retrieved a few things from my old home in Kansas City, and hope to incorporate some of those as well. So many ideas, so little funding! The cleaning begins soon, and then, the real fun begins.

Is anyone else a little afraid to trust me with an electric sander?

Marilyn

Piece by piece

I've found my first piece of furniture!
While visiting one of my local Goodwill stores, as I've decided to do at least once weekly to scan for glasswares and picture frames, I came across this:

she's kind of sad, right? it's pretty obvious this adorable little piece of furniture once (probably recently) sat in a kid's room. Note what I believe is playdough on the big door. I fell in love at first sight. All I could think is "how cute would THAT be if someone loved it?" That someone is me. And, for the super-awesome-makes-me-really-happy price of FIFTEEN DOLLARS, I immediately dialed up my husband, vultured around a bit to stake my claim, and had it in the truck about half an hour later. Swoon.

Here's the breakdown of her door/drawers:

 (it smells so nice inside this door, like a hardware store. I love that smell. Already considering the storage possibilities!)

 The two-disguised-as-one drawer thing always kind of confused me, but it's cute, it's quirky, and I will make use of it.

I also, as you might have assumed, found some more glassware:

 The husband thinks this might have been like a sake server or something of that nature. I just think it's cute.

 I love love loooooove this teapot. it's the cutest shade of light blue, and although it has a chip in the spout (see below, which I think gives it character anyway...), I think it's just darling. I got a set of raised eyebrows from the husband when I held it up, but some pleading smiles and the promise that it wouldn't be used in the kitchen (which, for some reason seemed to ease him) earned me this adorable little thing.

I'm so pleased! We're going out of town next week, and then it all begins! A trip to the hardware store Friday should prove interesting. I'm going to guess at least ten minutes will be spent contemplating paint swatches for my dresser. I'm already thinking blue, it's just the shade that's going to take some work. We shall see! I'm so excited to see how it turns out! :)

~Marilyn

Starting small

Welcome to 'Marilyn makes a home', my attempts (see: successes and failures) at making a livable space for my husband, our dog, and myself. We live on a military base, so painting the walls isn't really an option. I'll be redoing the (small) spaces based on pieces alone. We'll see how it goes. With a little luck and some work, I'm hoping to have a house I'm proud of. :)
I've already started creeping Craigslist and perusing our local Goodwill stores, and I've found a piece already I'm really happy with. I've given myself a 30 dollar limit on stuff, furniture and so on, to keep things thrifty. I may make a couple exceptions, we'll have to see. But, I wanted to share my find from yesterday, a vintage Mouquin brandy decanter. My husband and I both love old bottles, and this was a steal at three bucks! there was some residue in the bottom, which you can sort of see in the picture, but a little vinegar cleaned out most of it. I plan on using a hose to help blast out what's left. I'm excited to see where I can fit it in to the rooms! :)

Thanks for reading, check back soon!

Marilyn