furniture reborn*

this past weekend i started repainting most of my furniture. over the years i have amassed an eclectic assortment of furniture. i'm definitely not little miss mega bucks, and i've never had room in my budget for designer furniture. my furniture is a mixture of thrifted items, a few family heirlooms and random free stuff.

i'm not much for matching, but i wanted to make the items i have, work together, not against each other. besides, i've moved four times in the past six years alone. moving is rough on furniture. so it was about time i spruced things up a bit.

unfortunately, i didn't take many before shots, so the results will seem far less dramatic. just imagine lots of dings + huge patches of missing paint, but not in a cool distressed antiques roadshow kinda way.... we're talking tired old furniture. seeing my scruffy looking dressers and bookcases next to my freshly painted walls made everything seem even that much uglier. so, before i started to unpack my books and load up my bookcases i decided to give them a fresh coat of paint. one bookcase became two, and then there was a dresser, a night stand, and the list continues. here are a few examples of my furniture reborn in the lovely springtime, easter basket shades that are slowly taking over my home.

lavender...

aqua...

+ pink.

i've also been busy modifying my great grandmother's push pedal singer sewing machine cabinet into a new home for nadine. for a brief time when i was in high school, i entertained the idea of using the push pedal to sew with. it's a very romantic idea, the self powered machine, but it's very impractical. you kinda need at least three hands to get things going, there's no reverse stitch, and the bobbin casing is a major pain in the ass.

for the past six or more years the sewing cabinet has proved and excellent tv stand. meanwhile, i've been sewing with my various machines, a top random table tops. so, i decided it was time i had a proper sewing table. it just made since to try and use the cabinet i have, as it was truly intended. i had to remove random bits of now useless hardware. i also cut out a few notches for nadine's slightly fuller frame. i will be losing the cabinet's drop-down capabilities for now, but i'm never one for stowing my machine out of sight anyway. after much sanding and a bit of spackle, here she is with the first coat of paint. more updates to come.

prep, paint + pretty colors*

so this is what the kitchen cabinets looked like friday night before my mom and i prepped for painting. i will not go into detail about the nastiness lurking inside, but lets just say it was far from sanitary. when a house in uninhabited by people for a couple years the varmints tends to move in a set up house for themselves. after an hour of shop-vacuuming, tons of scrubbing with spray-on-bleach, and four coats of paint i think the cabinets are finally clean enough for me. it is fun to see the before+after though. especially when the transformation is so drastic.

we spent four days painting in horrible cold, rainy weather, but it was worth it. the house is so bright and cheery now, and not to mention girly as hell. below is what the kitchen looks like now, all lemon yellow and aqua. i'd also like to say thankyou! thankyou! thankyou! to my mom for helping me paint all four days, and thanks to my friend cecilia for getting out in the nasty weather to help out as well.

these are a few pics of the den which is an extension of the kitchen.

this is the bedroom + guest bedroom,

pink sewing room,

studio + half bath,

and these are my future sinks.
the green one goes with the blue bathtub.

if you in the new orleans area and into saving money, vintage housewares, and recycling, check out the green project. it's by the railroad tracks off st. claude in the ninth ward near the spellcaster lodge. another great place to shop for building supplies and such is the Habitat for Humanity ReStore on airline at plank in baton rouge. i bought four brand new windows for about $160.00! they have an awesome selection of materials and take donations as well.

pre-demolition*

here's a few pics of the house before all the paneling was taken down. it's kinda hard to differentiate between the rooms because EVERY single room had wood paneling. all walls will be replaced with drywall and will be painted this week. so i should have new pics with colorful walls soon. all the 70's carpeting will be removed as well. [thankfully!]

the kitchen is prolly my favorite room of all. i love these cabinets!

guest room

sewing room

half bath

den pic #1

den pic #2

bedroom

paper studio

full bath with the blue tub

confessions of self-professed packrat*

this is my studio. it's even messier that this now. to make things requires materials, supplies and the like. i've been collecting stuff for projects since i was a kid. i also have a hard time throwing away anything that can be useful. unfortuately, this can become a problem over time. i out grew my apartment over a year ago. i have been struggling to be productive in cramped quarters ever since. i can be organized, but with as much stuff/materials as i have that requires space, space i didn't have in my apartment.

instead of trying to find a bigger apartment in the less than affordable rental properites of new orleans, i decided to buy a house. i've been dreaming of owning my own house for years now. just think of it, complete control of your environment. i can paint the walls any color i like, drill holes for built in shelving, or drip paint on the floors in my studio if i so choose, because it's mine. i have big plans for this house, including two studios, one for sewing and one for paper/drawing/computer/ect... + print shop space, as well.

i will be the first to admit that i am a true packrat space-monger, so hopefully the 1250+ sqft will tide me over for a few years. right now construction and structural repairs are underway. next time i'll try to post a few pics documenting the changes being made.