Furniture Rehab

Unlike our move up to NYC when we moved our stuff ourselves (read: Brian moved our stuff), for our move back to Austin we hired an evil moving company that I wouldn't recommend to my arch nemesis or any of the girls who were mean to me in 6th grade.

As is usual with moving companies they charged by the pound so we got rid of every piece of furniture we didn't truly love. And then we got home to Austin and nowhere to sit, put books, or store clothes.

So...I've been on the hunt for Amy Winehouse furniture: pieces that have done some hard living so no one else wants them anymore. I'm thinking with some intense rehab their good qualities can really shine through and they might even go on to have a successful career.

Project 1: Faux Bamboo Etagere

After looking at photos like these, I'd been wanting this style book shelf for months. Online they were all $1500+ which is silly business. Then one day I was having a half-hearted romp through craigslist and found one in Tarrytown for $45!! I went to pick it up and felt kinda guilty taking it from the nice lady. But not guilty enough to say anything. You can see I tacked on the paint colors I was considering. Ultimately, I've decided on a shiny black lacquer. And I'm smart enough to not do this project myself. I found a guy who will do it for $350 which seems like some expensive lipstick for a $45 pig but I think I'll be happier if I let a pro do handle this one.

Project 2: Fancy Arm Chair

I found this chair at the Home Consignment Center. It was $100 which was the high end of the chairs I was looking at, but it's in great condition and will only take 3/4ths to 1 yard of fabric to recover. Of course my current fave fabric is the most expensive one I've looked at. Why does that always happen?

Project 3: Dresser for our bedroom

This fine specimen was actually given to us by Brian's mom from a friend of hers. (Ignore the tree shadows across it.) Unfortunately, the wood grain/stain didn't really "go" in our boudoir where we're doing kind of a shades of blue thing. Originally, I wanted to bluewash it but talked myself down from that kind of bold statement and instead we spent last weekend whitewashing it. It was my first time to undertake such a task but I think it went well.

Stay tuned for my follow up post where I unveil all of my "after" pictures. It might be awhile until they're all done but I've got a hard stop on March 27th (peanut's due date). There's nothing like a hurricane of life change to motivate you to get a few things done.